...But first, coffee (with Jen)

Alright kiddo's!  This was a day trip that took planning - and for outsiders of the community, it took some backtracking and exploring to find.  But, we made it.  We finally got to see the abandoned Glovertown Mill. I love abandoned sites!!  Exploring warms my cold, mystery-loving, horror-reading heart :) The story of the Glovertown Mill is pretty interesting. The massive mill was strategically built in Glovertown, near a large river as it was planed to be a thriving pulp and paper mill.  It was expected that this mill would be open and operational in 1922.  However, not all plans go as scheduled. And this mill is an example of plans changing. The owning company, Terra Nova Sulphite Company, ran into financial problems when the Newfoundland Government denied their loan guarantee - ultimately shutting down this project - full stop.  In 1921 the mill was purchased by Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company.  The new owners determined ...

My husband and I love going on road trips - and this post is about the trip we took to Fogo Island. Fogo Island is located in central Newfoundland, and you have to take a ferry to get there.  Fogo Island has been in the news over the past few years due to the new high-end hotel that has been built - the Fogo Island Inn .  Because of our great friends on the island, we managed to get in for a supper (as we call it, but also referred to dinner) during their tourist season. For our meal, we were fortunate enough to experience a visiting chef's creations for our multi-course meal.  I can't remember the name of the chef, and couldn't find it online, but I remember that they were visiting from Toronto. After our meal we were graciously offered a tour of the Inn, including the visiting art exibit.  I have to say, this place is amazing - the rooms, the details around the inn (right down to the room keys), the views, the pedal bike rentals and the evening bon...

September weather has me feeling refreshed and ready for Fall.  There is just something about that chill in the air that makes me want to grab a sweater and get outside.  After a trying, and super busy, week at work a night out was greatly needed.  So, what prompted this night out you ask?  It was one of my very close friends' birthday and we were meeting for drinks and apps. I live outside the city, so going into town for a walk around always brightens my day. After circling the area for free parking we settled on paying the parking garage fee.  Not ideal, but the parking garage is huge and well lit, there are stairwells that lead to both Water Street and Harbour Drive - both areas where we were going to be venturing, and in the same building is a well-known coffee location (see below) and a restaurant. First stop, as usual, is Starbucks.  Personally, I love this location.  Inside is cozy, the staff are friendly, and it's usually a quite place to ...

I love making hearty meals that store well in the freezer (great for work!). With the warm summer temperatures gone, the cooler days means that I'm working away in the kitchen. Here's one of my favorite soup recipes - Turkey Soup. Time needed: 2 hours - ish (it's important not to rush, you want to release the flavors through slow boiling and not burning everything to the bottom of the pot) Ingredients: 2-3 carrots 1 small turnip 2 celery sticks 1 cup of frozen green peas 2 tetra containers of chicken broth 2 cups of turkey (of chicken) 1 cup of barley, rice, or a small cut pasta of choice 2 tablespoons of savory (or like seasoning of preference. I've subbed in oregano, basil or thyme) 2 eggs water pepper to taste Directions: 1. Add chicken broth to pot. Fill one of the containers with water and add to pot. Turn on high to start boil 2. Cut up carrots, turnip, and celery and add to boiling pot when you have a rolling boil happening. 3. Add turk...

I remember receiving my 10 gal aquarium for Christmas in 1999.  This was my second tank - the first being a 5 gal which was kept in the kitchen, but I don't remember when I started keeping fish in that tank. I had the 10 gal aquarium set up in my childhood bedroom for about 10 years. At first, this was a cold water set up with blackmore fish, comets, and a few other short-lived fish. My longest living cold water fish lived for about 2 years. Over the first few years of my 10 gal set up, my fish died quickly and I didn't know why because it was a similar set up to the 5 gal that I moved up from. That is, I didn't know why until I placed an aquarium thermometer in the tank. This was when I discovered my "cold water tank" was actually being heated to tropical temperatures because of the hood light and the exterior air in the house/room.  The tank water was far too warm for the cold water fish, which is why they kept dying a few months after being placed in the tank...

It's no secret that I'm a huge reader, and that one of my favorite authors is James Patterson.  In the "Top 5" tab at the top of my blog he is listed there under the heading " Top 5 Authors ". I've read SO MANY of his novels, and I'm not going to list them all here.  I use GoodReads to keep track of the list :) (This post contains affiliated links.  Meaning that I may collect a share of the sales or other compensation from the Amazon links on this page.) I will talk about my favorite series that he does write, though, and that is the Women's Murder Club.  Every year, a few days before my birthday a new novel in the series hits the shelves and I cannot wait to get my hands on it.  This year was the release of book 17 in the series -  The 17th Suspect .  So, this is an easy gift idea for me for my husband to note ;) (Source: http://www.jamespatterson.com/books/womens-murder-club-1st-to-die#.W4xZNehKg2w) Story line for the Women's...

Last week was super busy, and this week promises to be just as action packed! We have a bunch of family visiting and a group of the cousins spent some quality time in Petty Harbour . The town of Petty Harbour is beautiful!  The roads are narrow, the scent of the sea is everywhere, and there are great places to eat.  We certainly love our food here on the island. We all met at Chafe's Landing for great food, toe-tapping music and much needed catching up. It was a great time!  I was the last to arrive because I was waiting for a shuttle from work to the car dealership, so that I could pick up my SUV from a service appointment.  But, that was ok, I arrived in typical family fashion - late (LOL). Next stop was Hooked for ice cream.  I went way into the dark side of bad (but delicious!) eating this evening. Ha ha!  Hooked has a menu listing of a variety of ice cream options, one being "Freak Milkshakes" (I think that's the term) - and it d...