Wishes do come true!

When I lost my house due to a bad divorce and had to move to the city to live in an apartment I had to give up my dog Rose.  For the time being she moved in with my aunt and uncle on their farm but as soon as I had my own house again Rose would come back to live with me.  My aunt and uncle took good care of Rose and loved her dearly.  I would visit Rose often and she never forgot me.  Unfortunately being able to afford a house by myself has taken me 12 years and Rose passed away 2 years ago.  I felt so very sad.  The day after I moved into my house my sister made me the most wonderful gift of her 8 year old Boston Terrier named Poupoune.  Not overly fond of the name but can't change it!  Poupoune has settled in quickly.  She suits me to a tee, she enjoys a vigorous walk but over all is not active dog.  She even seems to enjoy settling down on the couch with me and a snack while we watch Mystery on TV.

This is a view of the west side of my little cottage and my red car Poppy.  The huge maple tree has already lost all his golden leaves and I did not get a pic!

Gorgeous wine colored fall mums I picked up at the local grocery store.

This is my statue of St Francis who now sits on a real lawn instead of a tiny balcony.  Moving has been a lot of exhausting work.  I am still not all unpacked and still painting.  Hopefully the kitchen will be finished for Sunday as Poupoune and I are having guests over for Thanksgiving dinner.

Talking To Spiders

I drove up to Lilac cottage today planning to work but it is sooo hot, like 40C.  The temperature inside the house was tolerable, I opened the windows to let the air in, the house has been closed up for over a year.  I really didn't have a lot of time had to come to work early today, all week actually, blah.....  So I thought I would have a little talk with the current residents, the lovely, delicate, long legged spiders that have been squatting in Lilac Cottage.  I sternly informed them that I have bought the house and if they did not want to be squished or vacuumed up they better vamoose within the next couple of days.  I really don't want to squish them or vacuum them, maybe I'll collect them and carry them across the road and let them go in the forest.

I read in some Feng Shui book or article that one should have something like a windsock hanging in the front yard to bring good fortune to the home.  So the other day I went to the dollar store and for $1.25 I bought myself a windsock.  I hung it in the cedar tree and think it looks quite nice, hopefully the good fortune will show up soon.

Lilac Cottage

After living in a Coop for 10 years, I have finally managed to buy a house!  It's a tiny house that I have named Lilac Cottage because on both sides of the property from front to back are lilac bushes.  I take possession next Tuesday.  I just can't wait, the tulip bulbs have already been ordered for fall!  The house needs a bit of work but I'm sure with some TLC the place will be just heaven.  No more noisy upstairs neighbor making a racket at 4:30 in the morning, no more counsel meetings that drag on forever and parking for friends who stay over in the winter. 

Pumpernickel sans le pumpernickel

I suffer from Celiac Disease which means I cannot eat gluten.  Gluten is found in wheat, rye, spelt, kamut, oats, barley, and bulgur.  So I can't eat your run of the mill bread.  I can buy gluten free bread which can be made from a variety of flours like rice, sorghum, fava bean, chickpea, soya, potato, tapioca, arrowroot, millet and teff flours.  Who knew you could make flour out of fava beans!  Now the store gluten free bread is very expensive and doesn't taste very good so I make my own.  The pic above is of my version of pumpernickel bread made from fava bean, chickpea, potato and tapioca flours.  It is quite tasty and high in protein.  This bread is so tasty you can eat it just plain, no butter no jam.