Tuesday 26 June 2012

Two more strikes from my Bucket List!!!

Hi everyone

Happy Tuesday!!

I've had an awesome couple of days.  Myself and my mom (who will be 87 years old on August 24!!) drove to the city to spend a couple of nights with my daughter, Rana.  Three generations---cool ;o)

I picked Mom up right after she got home from church on Sunday, and we set out on on three hour journey.  Mom loves to be on the go, still drives her own car and is very active.  The weather was beautiful, and all along the way we both commented as we passed many signs of little towns and communities that neither of us had ever been to many of them.  I suggested the next sign we come upon, if it wasn't too far off the beaten trail, we would drive down.  Mom was all  for that!!  It was a bonus that one of the things on my "summer bucket list" is to visit a place that I had never been.

The first sign we came upon after that was for Little Harbor East---neither of us had ever been there, so we agreed ..."No time like the present".  We turned off the TCH and drove about 12-15 kilometers.  We were starting to get a little worried when we saw houses off in the distance.  Wow, what a beautiful little spot.  Right on the water with a little wharf and stages scattered here and there along the rocky shoreline.  It was picture postcard perfection........

Little Harbor East

Little Harbor East

Mom, standing next to the sign....proof for my bucket list!!

Lobster pots on wharf at Little harbor East 


As you can very well see....we were not disappointed with this short detour. 

We continued our little journey and got to Rana & Mark's about 5 pm.  Mark barbequed a variety of sinful goodies for our supper, with sides of fresh sauteed shrimp and fried squid.  Rana did an awesome veggie dish of baked asparagus, cucumber, fresh mushrooms, cherry tomatoes, and shredded carrots, drizzled with olive oil and balsamic vinegar....Yummy!!!  We were all too full for dessert or even coffee......so later that night, to top off the day, us three girls went to Moo Moo's for ice-cream.
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Next day, we trekked about the city.  Rana did some uniform shopping, then we went 
to Manna Bakery for lunch..................


Let me say that if you are ever wondering where to go in St. John's for a great sandwich or a 
bowl of soup.....this is your spot!!!  The servers were super friendly, the place was super 
clean and the food.....GREAT!!!!  
I will definitely be going back.  When we saw how big the sandwiches were, we decided to 
order just two to share.  Mom had some chicken noodle soup as well.  I swear that 
there was a cup of chicken breast meat in her bowl of soup.  We were not disappointed 
in our sandwich choice...we had chicken breast on pretzel buns with whatever
fresh trimmings your little heart desired. 
(You watch your sandwich being prepared behind a glass panel)  
YUMMY!!!!!!


Mark was working the evening shift, so guess what!!!???!!!  The three of us 
girls decided to go out for supper...ha ha.  
Nan was in the mood for ribs, so we decided on Montana's.  Another good choice.

I had the turkey clubhouse wrap

Rana decided on chicken fajitas...yummm!!

Mom decided on beef ribs...we thought--it turned out to be a huge beef rib, but cooked to tender perfection!!
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 After that, we popped over to a couple of shops as Nan needed a 
sweater in the brown/beige color family(ha ha).  
We did find a beauty at Pennington's....on sale too!!

It had cooled down considerably, so we opted to go back home early and relax.  We all 
had hot coffees with a little shot of Bailey's and some great little pastries that
Mom picked up at Manna's Bakery.

It turned out to be a great little road trip...looking forward to another, maybe in August 
when my sister and my nieces are here from Calgary and Fort McMurray.
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Check below for the two items I checked off my Bucket List this weekend.

My Summer 2012 “Bucket List”

·         Have a few games of Scrabble
·         Sleep in a tent
·         Sit down with mom and get the last bits of information I need to finish her memoirs, that I’ve started
·         Do the Tely 10 (a 10-mile road race in St. John’s -- I’ve already registered!!)
·         Have several fires in our backyard and do “spider wieners” and S’mores
·         Watch the sun rise & set
·         Lie on the ground and watch the clouds
·         Take an early morning (and a late evening) walk on Signal Hill
·         Paint Mom’s toenails, roller-set her hair, and sit out in her lawn chairs with her and drink her homemade slush
·         Go on a date (with my husband of almost 30 years)
·         Spend at least one full day at the beach, complete with red wine, French bread and a variety of fruit and cheese
·         Play Frisbee
 Eat Ice Cream at Moo Moos, in St. John’s
Make a cake mix, cut it into squares and roll it in (almost set)   Jell-O, then roll the jelly soaked squares in coconut (just like Mom used to do for us when we were kids—yummy!!)

·         Walk the old rail bed (from the trestle in Gambo to the Middle Brook Park)
·         Pick blueberries, partridgeberries & bake-apples (Yes…me, pick berries!!)
·         Eat fries in downtown St. John’s (tried it last summer, but before I ate one golden brown, crispy fry from my vinegar soaked brown paper bag, I came upon a homeless guy sitting in a doorway, gave him my fries and 5 bucks and ran to catch up with my sister, nieces, daughter and mom
·         Take a nap in my new gazebo
·         Go on random midnight walk-with Lovey, of course!
  Visit some place new

·         Spend an entire Saturday morning at the St. John’s  Farmer’s Market
·         Do the “lighthouse picnic” at Ferryland
·         Go “zip-lining” on the west coast of NL
·         Go for a walk in the summer rain
·         Make a cream soda float
·         Donate blood
·         Wear a dress