Ahhh ... A Weekend!

I've been away the past three weekends so to have a weekend at home was WONDERFUL! Not that cleaning one's house is all woohoo or anything like that, but it matters. And, I must say, using my new Norwex products made housecleaning almost fun! I didn't even need to wear a Cinderella gown to rise to the task.

I bought a Norwex moppy thing and I thus proclaim ... all you Swifferers out there ... abandon ye Swiffer and get ye a Norwex mop!! This works SO much better than my Swiffer wet jet ever did and no need to buy any other products. No toxins, easy peasy, it does a better job, and no streaks.

The dusting mitt, too, works really slick! I can get the house dusted lickity-split! I just have to be careful not to swish any breakables onto the floor with my lightning speed ... or carelessness. I almost tossed a much loved ornament and will try to be more careful in the future. The other cleaning cloths worked great, too, with the added comfort of not needing to use any chemical stuff. The cloths, even when wet, kind of wick away moisture from the surfaces you wipe, which is very nice. I'm hooked, Berny! I'll be calling you when I'm ready to try some of the other products.

Luke had a lacrosse game on Saturday so I was glued to the computer screen following live stats. They won. Luke got a couple of goals but just before the half there was a pile-up with him on the bottom and somebody fell on top of his knee causing a strain. Nothing more than a strain, though, by all accounts and he thinks he'll be able to play next weekend. They fly to Fairfield next weekend ... just north of New York. We drove past it on the way to Boston. It's great to feel like we kind of know the lay of the land out there now. Hannah is still having a wonderful time in New York but I think she's eager to get back to Vancouver, her own little apartment, and the people there who are dear to her.

After Luke's game, Kevin and I went to Gardenscape where we saw these amazing garden sculptures! They brought to mind Uncle Norman. I would love to have bought one for him, but after looking at the price sticker, I thought I'd just take a photo instead. They're made by Douglas Walker and you can learn more about them at his website, WaterWorks Garden Sculpture. The only thing we bought at Gardenscape were a few little ferns to replace the ones I killed last year. Mostly, I just loved seeing and smelling all the flowers. The Saskatoon Orchid Society had a stunning display of orchids!

Then we ran a few errands and stopped at Cava Wines to look for some Perini beer. It's an Italian beer that Kevin had at Frankies in New York and he really liked it. I inquired about "Sweet Tea Vodka" but, even though they had quite an extensive vodka selection, they didn't have any and hadn't heard of it. We then checked the liquor store on 8th street and I was thrilled to find Sweet Tea Vodka there! YEAH!! I need to get a couple of other ingredients and then, perhaps, I can perfect that Southern Belle drink I had Five Leaves in New York. I LOVED IT!! I don't drink much but one of those every now and then would be lovely! It could be my summer drink.

Here's the website for Sweet Carolina Sweet Tea Vodka. If you visit this website, be prepared to declare that you are, in fact, at least 21 years of age. HUH???!!! I mean, I know you have to be 21 to drink legally in the USA, but why do you have to be 21 to visit a distillery's website? That doesn't make any sense to me. The website provides this pdf of drink recipes using their various flavours of Sweet Tea Vodka, but none are MY recipe, though there are some that I'll be trying.

Kevin and I tried TWO new recipes this weekend. One for chicken and one for beef tenderloin. They were both in the Flavours magazine that I picked up at the liquor store. The beef tenderloin with rosemary and redwine reduction was very good! Here's a link to the recipe. The chicken recipe - Tex Mex Chicken and Rice Bake ... was in a Campbell's Soup ad and can be found here. It took a quite a bit longer to bake than the recipe indicated but when it was done, it was good. The rice was more like risotto, which was very nice. Next time I would add other vegetables to veg it up a bit more.

Tomorrow I get my stitches out (from that carcinoma that was cut off my back ... ewwwww). I'll be so glad to have the stitches gone! If I don't keep a bandage over them, they get caught on my shirts and they're a bit itchy now.

Have a good week, everyone!