Wordless Wednesday

Depending on the day, I spend some significant time in the car going from home visit to home visit or appointment to appointment. The other day I had about 45 minutes in between meetings out in way Western Olathe and I discovered Lake Olathe. I parked and did some work remotely while I waited. It was the perfect spot! Why is that water makes everything peaceful?

Corks and Crafts Round 2

The 2nd round of Corks and Crafts was held in April at my dear friend and co-worker Lois' house. I loved it because she lives about a mile away so I stuffed my materials and wine in a bag and walked there.

My project was one I had seen on Pinterest- a wooden sign for the garden/yard that says grow damn it. Of course I chose to do it in pink. I somehow inherited several of these little boards from my dad years ago and this one I just spray painted gray. I had all the supplies so the project was virtually FREE! Who doesn't love FREE?

Lois' husband made some fantastic sangria which accompanied our wine. 

Finished project- really not digging it so who knows if it will show up in the garden or not. I think I have decided I don't like these stencils. This is the 2nd project I attempted with them and I don't like the letter style. Not sure what the next Corks & Crafts project will be! Stay tuned!

When Life Blows

I apologize for the post title but it goes with the story. Now moving on....

There are times when let's face it, life blows. You barely scale the garbage can going in and out of your garage several times a day and realize later it's leaving a mark on the entire side of the car. Your Governor is more concerned about transgender bathrooms than funding schools or the disabled. You get a speeding ticket in the wee hours of the morning coming back from one of the worst weekends of your life. Your dog poops on your brand new rug. You aren't paying attention and your dog poops on the leash you are using on your walk. You finish helping to coordinate the most successful 5k event you have put on yet and you have somebody complain that their son didn't win. You know people who are seriously considering Donald Trump for president.

You purchase a family size blow up pool for the backyard to ensure a summer full of relaxation and a place to cool off on the hot days, not to mention get a little color. You get it all blown up in the garage, cause you don't have electricity on the deck, go to take it around to your backyard where your gate won't open so you fiddle with it letting go of the pool only to have it land on the neighbors out of control rose bush remnants and hear the loud, POP. You hustle back to the garage and get the patch and patch over the hole caused by the rose bush, finally get the gate open only to realize you have drug the pool through dog sh*t as you place it up on the deck.

Then you just bust out laughing because what else is there to do?  Yep, friends, all of this things have happened to me recently or is happening in the world. Specifically the pool incident happened on Saturday.  As I was reflecting and still laughing on the deflation of my pool which now has one layer instead of two, it became a simple reminder to me not to sweat the small stuff.

So often we are wound so tight that we get overly excited about marks on the car, dog poop in annoying places, spilling wine on a leather chair (ahem, Dad) that we forget that it's just life. Life Happens. Now I know there are bigger issues stated above that are more difficult to refrain from sweating, Donald Trump (*cough *cough *throw up) and Sammy B.  But what I'm trying to say is, for the most part, we need to all relax a bit, chill out and recognize the importance of laughing. Yes, life does blow at times but things could be SO.MUCH.WORSE. (Donald Trump could be president........)

So next time you get yourself in a debacle, collect yourself, pull up your pants, put a smile on your face, breathe deep and remember, it's not the end of the world.

Miami County Wine Trolley

I recently went on the Miami County Wine Trolley for a Bachelorette Party. I have been wanting to go on the Wine Trolley for some time. We first gathered at the Jackson Hotel in Paola, KS to catch the trolley.  I learned later that the Jackson Hotel is actually not a hotel but just a restaurant on the main level, which looked adorable by the way, and then apartments upstairs. 

You must have reservations for the trolley and you can make them by clicking here.

The group gathered in front of the Jackson Hotel.

The group gathering at the first winery, Somerset Ridge, which I LOVE, by the way. They have great wine, great owners and most weekends have live music and a food truck. I have been there many times and it never disappoints! They also are pet friendly!

Let's just say the second stop on our trolley was about the worst winery I've ever been to. Well maybe next to Franklin (and I'm just thinking I've never done a blog post about Franklin Winery, we'll put that on the to do list!) So these chairs were the best thing about Middle Creek Winery. We sat on these chairs on the little porch of the general store, in which the winery was located, and laughed and laughed about the nastiness of the wine. While nasty, I did try every type, I think just to keep my buzz going so I could last through 60 minutes at this place! Then I opted to purchasing a glass of frozen slushie wine. 

Nighthawk Winery was the third stop for us on the trolley tour. It was a pretty cool place and I loved the grounds. The wine was ok. I would definitely go back and check it out. They also had live music.

* A few tips about the trolley, besides the food at Somerset Ridge there is not much food so what happens when you drink, you want to eat and you should eat and not much is available. I'd be sure to pack some snacks to take on the trolley. A few of us ended up grabbing a bite at the end at the Mexican Restaurant across the street from the Jackson Hotel in Paola. It was fine but they had none of the drinks listed on their cocktail menu except Margarita's and this girl doesn't do Margarita's! But after an afternoon on the wine trolley we probably didn't need more drinks. 

* Also, you must catch the wine trolley in Paola, which is about a 1/2 hour from KC. There is no uber home so remember to have a designated driver.

* The trolley is dusty and can be warm.

* Bring bottled water, you are going to a winery, not a restaurant so like we learned at the middle stop, no drinks unless you drink the nasty wine!

Cheers!

Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes

I really want to like Cauliflower Mashed Potatoes or as some places call them "California Mashed" due to the health benefit, vegetable intake, etc. I figure if I liked them they could easily take the place of my love of eating potatoes. I have tried a couple of recipes for them and finally decided to try a very unhealthy recipe for them to see if I liked them better. I found the recipe for Twice Baked Cauliflower on All Recipes.com.  It called for cream cheese and sour cream. What's not to like right? I even went as far as to remove one of the steps that I felt might be feeding into my dislike and purchased a bag of already prepped Cauliflower like this.

Verdict is in: good recipe but still not the same as mashed potatoes!

Parmesan Zucchini Corn

I went to a little pool party BBQ recently and needed to bring a side dish. I wanted to make sure it was a side dish out of groceries I already had. After scoring pinterest I came across a recipe for Parmesan Zucchini and Corn. It was so yummy and a hit! I had all the ingredient except needed to substitute corn kernels for baby corns that I had.  Just a side note, if you are wondering why the heck there is not corn posted in the picture, well it's because the jar of baby corns was impossible to OPEN and I had to take it to the BBQ and have stronger hands open it for me. And then I failed to snap a picture once the salad was put together.  So I guess to get the real effect you'll have to make the salad yourself! (or check out Pinterest for a picture!) Definite salad to add to my summer menu.

Wordless Wednesday: Hello June

Feeling excited for a new month, new adventures, summer time weather, deck time,  patio drinks and being poolside! It's also Myasthenia Gravis Awareness Month so I will take this opportunity to continue with awareness and education.