Valentines Day

We decided to celebrate Valentines Day last "weekend" (our days off are Wed/Thurs).  One of the sacrifices of working in a casino AND a tourist town is that you learn to celebrate holidays on days other than the official day...

We had to go to Newport to meet with the accountant for our taxes so we decided to make it a day.

We had lunch at our favorite seafood place:  Local Ocean.  It is located right on the historic Newport Bayfront and they serve the freshest seafood I have ever had in my life.
We shared a bowl of Roasted Garlic and Dungeness Crab Chowder and also had the Grilled Halibut with applewood smoked bacon, edamame, red chard, udon noodles, and ponzu sauce.

After running more errands and dropping the car off to get some maintenance done, we headed to Nye Beach in Newport to check out the local art co-op and other cute little shops.

I loved how the seagulls lined up in this one

After browsing for a couple hours, we stopped at an Irish pub called "Nana's".  We were really happy to find out they had Strongbow on tap (an apple cider ale).  They also make their own hot sauce here.  It is so amazing!  We managed to get there during happy hour so we enjoyed some appetizers with our drinks.  We had the chicken bites with their special sauce and some fresh cut french fries loaded with corned beef and cheese. Yum!

 Both of us were pretty full at this point, but then the waitress sold us on their homemade bread pudding

It did not dissapoint.

It was a wonderful day and I am so lucky to have such an amazing husband that loves and cares for me.

Phenomenal day

I admit, I woke up pretty crabby yesterday.  I had horrible dreams all night and a bad stomach ache.  When Skott suggested we go on a walk,  I was more than happy to head out and enjoy some of this sunshine.

The weather was perfect!  No wind, and lots of sunshine.  It was refreshing to see so many other people out enjoying the beach as well.  The color of the water was brilliant and the sky was an amazing shade of blue.

We walked about 1.5 miles to the bay.  By the time we got there, the tide was on its way out.  There was a rocky sandbar that got exposed and my dear sweet explorer of a husband waded out to see what he could find.

As he explored the other end, the sun was lined up perfectly.  I love these shots:

On another note:  I finally finished my first pair of (matching) fingerless gloves! ( haha the first set I did didn't look like a matching set by the time I finished them).  I wanted to drill some sea glass and put on them as embellishment but when I went out into the shop, the drill press was dead :( 
I will post pics when we get another drill press I guess.

You never know what you're going to find

My amazing husband has an incredible "eye" for finding unique items on the beach.  I think he out-did himself with this one:

front

back

It's a piece of pottery! 
I don't know how old it is but it is perfectly smoothed on all sufaces and edges.  You can get an idea of how big it actually is:

next to an itunes card

Anybody know their pottery?  I am very curious how old it is?  It is very worn so I know it has been tumbling for a long time in the ocean...

On our day off we went down to the bay for a few hours. Skott built a fire and we sat and relaxed in our camping chairs.  It was VERY sunny and warm.  Later we roasted pretzel bites over the fire.  It was so relaxing.  The experience was tainted a little by the drunken homeless bums that decided to stop by and camp near us, but once they passed out, it was quiet and peaceful again.

This crow was perched on the top of this stick the entire two hours we were there

Fucie had hurt his back earlier that day so the trip to the bay was cut short with an emergency visit to the vet, as he was barely able to walk as the day wore on.

All in all, a great day!

January wrap-up

The last week in January came with the news that I got moved to the same shift as Skott at work.  Skott and I were also assigned to "shadow"(training, kind of) new dealers that just got out of blackjack class.  You can imagine how well that went over with the "old timers".  Instead of them stopping to think of WHY we were chosen to shadow new dealers (hmmmm, that we actually follow security and gaming procedures and try to talk to and entertain our guests), they just complained and gossiped about us.  Gotta love work politics.  Ugh! 

It was actually very windy (hence the hair) and I can't wear my glasses to the beach or they get a nice layer of sea mist on them and then I cannot see

The weather was pretty nice all week.  We had one really rainy day and we took that opportunity to go to the Outlet Mall and get some shoes.  Skott and I both needed new exercise shoes and Skott needed work shoes.  I found a $100 pair of Nike Shox that I got for $50 at the Nike outlet.  Skott found work shoes, but not exercise shoes.  My last pair of Nike Shox I owned I had for 5 1/2 years and wore daily for many of my jobs.  They are still very comfortable, they just have zero traction left on the bottom.  I need to find more shoes to wear in the rainy season here.

I started over on my fingerless gloves that I am crocheting.  Actually, I set aside the first pair and started fresh with a different color of yarn.  I was more diligent about writing down the changes I was making to the pattern as I went along.  I have started the second glove, hopefully I can get it to match the first one!  I do the crocheting on my breaks at work.  It's very relaxing.

Met my January weight-loss goal so that was exciting!  Plenty more to go but it is nice to see progress.  I have been focusing on smaller portions and walking as often as possible.

We are hoping to head to the beach this afternoon for low tide.  It is a nice day so will try and take the dogs as well.  We found a newly exposed rock bed at low tide on Tuesday and found a TON of agates and sea glass.  I have been drilling a lot of the shells lately to make jewelry, but we haven't attempted drilling any of the glass yet.

Lots and lots of creative  ideas running around in our heads.  Skott has been toying with various recipes involving almonds and the food processor.  He made dark chocolate almond butter (like peanut butter), as well as a gingersnap cookie flavored almond butter.  Fun!  Still working on wine bottle lamps.  We found a website that sells unpigmented glow paint and glow powders, which has opened up a bunch more ideas.  I am getting anxious to start making terrariums.  I also have the stuff to try making some big hanging paper balls that I hope to do this week.  We have such high ceilings, I figured why not (I will have to avoid the leaky areas of the roof though).  Yes, still leaking.  Yes, still hounding landlord who is hounding a roofing company.... 

Hope everyone has a safe and happy week!

Seaside Trip

The third week of January brought us our first taste of Oregon Coast Winter Storms. 
WOW!

Luckily, we never lost power for any length of time here in town.  The winds got up to 100mph and we actually had to take our stained glass hanging out of the big window due to the panes rattling so hard we honestly thought the hanging was going to break!

We went to Seaside, OR (about 2 hours north) on our days off.  We got a great rate on an oceanfront room.  Gotta love off season rates on the Oregon Coast!  This is the view we had:

Seaside has always held a special place in our heart.  It was our "getaway" place when we lived in Tacoma.  A place associated with relaxation.
Although it was stormy and incredibly windy, we had a great time.  We met up with one of our old friends, Linda MacDonald Lewis.  She is an amazing ambassador for Scotland, a poet, and writer, to name a few of her many talents.  We stopped by her shop to visit and then ended up going out for lunch and drinks.  I laughed until my cheeks hurt.  Skott and I have said that when we get to visit Scotland someday, we are going with her as our tour guide....  Some day I will have to do a post about Linda.  She is incredible!

The dogs enjoyed the car ride to Seaside.  Haha.  Lazies!

Skott and Fucie relaxing in motel

Skott trying to mimic Izzy

The winter storms have really changed the beach.  A lot of debris has been deposited.  But then we can go out a couple days later, and it's gone.  Always changing.


Debris on beach.  (Don't mind my fat finger in the picture)



More debris.  (And more of my fat fingers! geesh!)

In between storms, we have been getting out and walking every chance we can (which lately has only been once or twice a week).
Yesterday, there were a lot of interesting things deposited on the beach:

Uprooted trees

The red was so brilliant!

Don't underestimate the power of the ocean!  This was a piece of plywood impaled on the tree

Winter storms also create a lot of sea foam

Second week of January 2012

The tale of the leaking roof continues :(
and we faithfully check the papers, Craigslist, etc every day for new places to rent.  I am most irritated about the fact that we have to shove everything in the bedroom over to one side to avoid the bed getting dripped on.  I have no nightstand and it feels really cramped in the bedroom.

The weather has been phenomenal and we have been able to take a lot of walks this past week.

Skott has been busy cutting bottles again.  He taught me how to sand them.  We spent part of Thursday working on them.

Most of the wine bottles he is wiring and turning into lamps.  We are searching for the right decorative bulbs to put in them, but this is an idea of what they look like:



unplugged

plugged in

a brownish green one

I know the pictures don't do them justice, they are actually very pretty and put out a wonderful, soft light.

Carolyn's liqueur bottles make wonderful ice cream dishes.  They are thick and heavy glass.  We are also going to experiment with vinyl lettering and acid etching on them:

ice cream dish

Skott made one of my favorite breakfasts for me- Belgian pancakes.  Mmmm
Diced ham, mushrooms, and onions cooked on top/into a pancake with cheese melted on top.
Seriously, its delicious!

I have been attempting to crochet fingerless gloves.  Learning a lot, will post pics when they are done.

Busy weekend again at work.  Next week Skott is starting an earlier shift.  Hopefully, it won't be long before I can follow.  There is a bad bunch of people on the graveyard shift that call in all the time so we have been having to stay late a lot.  Grateful for a job tho!

Hummus

We have been toying with the idea of getting a food processor for a long time.  We are really trying to examine our lifestyle, needs, and wants and live more simply.  We weren't sure if we would use a food processor enough to warrant the expense.
The town we live in has a fabulous outlet mall.  We go to one of the kitchen stores to buy refills for our soda stream  (http://www.sodastreamusa.com/ ) and the last time we went we also had to refill our CO2 canister so we got a $10 off coupon for anything in the store.  Nice!  We looked again at the food processors and then went home to think on it a few days, read reviews, etc.  When we went back that weekend, they happened to be on sale!  So we picked up a really nice Hamilton Beach food processor for $34.99!

love love love it!

We have used it for many things but perhaps my favorite of all is hummus.
I absolutely LOVE hummus!  We work with so many people that have never tried it.  I love bringing them samples of my hummus and seeing their favorable reactions.

So I'd like to share my recipe and encourage anyone who hasn't ever had hummus to give it a try.  It is very healthy and you can custom season it.  It makes a great alternative to chip dip or veggie dip!

Basic Hummus:
2 cans (15oz each) Garbanzo beans, rinsed and drained
1/4 cup lemon juice (or lime juice) -I have used both fresh and concentrate and both work fine
1/2 cup roasted tahini (can be salted or unsalted, you can adjust salt later)
1/2 cup water
slightly less than 1/4 cup olive oil
4 garlic cloves (must be fresh garlic, the minced stuff in a jar gives the hummus a "metallic" taste)
1 1/2 tsp salt (more or less to taste)

combine all in food processor and blend until smooth.  Then add "flavors".  If making just plain hummus, consider adding more garlic after taste-testing.
Flavors will be stronger (and better) after chilling for 24 hours so when possible, make in advance.

Some flavor ideas:
Roasted red pepper and chipotle
one large red pepper (look up internet directions how to roast them in your oven, it's very simple)
chipotle powder to taste (I used 2-3 tsp)
smoked paprika to taste (1 tsp)

Smoked mushroom, onion, and garlic
we pre-smoked with mesquite wood chips in our smoker 1/2 red onion, 2/3 pkg crimini mushrooms, and a bunch of garlic cloves, all tossed in olive oil.
We added all of the above to the basic recipe, using 6 total garlic cloves.

Spicy hummus (couldn't really think of a creative name)
2 roma tomatoes (smoked on the grill, but you could use the same oven roasting method as the peppers above)
1 tsp Sanaam peppers
2 tsp Aleppo peppers, dried and crushed
1 1/2 tsp Chipotle powder
2 tsp smoked paprika

Other flavor ideas/combinations that I want to try:

- "Pizza" hummus -using italian herbs and tomatoes
- Anything with fresh herbs (basil, rosemary, chives, etc)
- A "cheesy" hummus using cheese powder and hmmmm, maybe bacon salt??
- A curried hummus
- Toasted pine nuts and parsley
- Ranch flavored

Enjoy!  Let me know if you come up with any other ideas or suggestions for flavors to try