Snowvember 雪が降った！

It started snowing on Friday night...
金曜日の夜に雪が降り始めた！

...and the snow is still around today!　今日でも雪が残っている！

There was an amazing ice pattern on the fence yesterday morning... 氷っているフェンス！

And after two days of sun there continues to be LOTS of snow and ice still around...
太陽があるけどとても寒いです。雪がかなり残っている。

 On the front balcony...前のベランダ。。。

 And the back balcony... 後ろのベランダ。。。

 The birds in the trees are even playing in the snow...
カラスが雪で遊んでいる！

This is the view out of our bedroom--and a key reason I am NOT venturing out today!　外の景色はきれいけど寒そう！
外には今日、行かない!

 I took pity on the plants and brought them inside!　
ハーブも中に入れてあげた！

Lovely Thanksgiving trip 感謝祭の旅

We had a nice trip down south for Thanksgiving 2014. Stayed at a lovely resort just across the border and enjoyed a delightful meal. 感謝祭に米国に一泊しました。とてもいい夕食を楽しめた。

We started with bread, wine (me only), and pumpkin potage with espresso crema. 最初はパン、ワイン、とパンプキン・スープ。

The main course was turkey breast roulade with yummy vegetables--the sweet potato puree was my favourite part of it.　次はしょうがなくお肉だった。七面鳥と野菜がメインで、サツマイモが一番美味しかった！

We finished off with pecan pie and vanilla ice-cream. It was a bit sweet--serves me right for reducing sugar intake--now I am in shock with desserts like this! デザートがピーカン・パイですごく甘かった！

The place we stayed was surrounded by water on three sides--absolutely stunning.　泊まっていたホテルが海のすぐそばでとてもきれいな景色だった。

We took a walk around but it was a bit chilly... 風が寒かったので外でのお散歩が短かった！

 A lovely seaside-themed Christmas tree in the lobby...クリスマス・ツリーがヨットのテーマ！

And finally, a running/walking track at the gym...ジムはすばらしくて、ランニングやウォーキングが中で出来る。

A really nice facility...　結構回った！

 Lots of machines to look at (we didn't use them).　使わなかったものがいっぱいあった！

Oh, and the 'heated' pool was not as hot as I would have liked!　温暖プールだったけど私にはまだ冷たかったのではいらないことにした！

Giving thanks...

Happy Thanksgiving...today and everyday...

Shepherd's pie...

Delightful dinner supplied by a neighbour recently: a fabulous shepherd's pie full of Guinness and red wine. How could you go wrong?

Tufts of deliciously cheesy mashed potatoes...

A bottle of bubbly to go along with the meal...

And some splendid pecan pie and coffee afterwards...

Yum!

Weekend wanderings...

A few snaps from the weekend: we saw this great purpled plant outside the library--no idea what it was but it was lovely.

  We then went to the mall--even santa needs a break...

Finally, we hit the Indian buffet on Saturday...to our disappointment...

It all looked pretty good but other than the naan, it was a big let down.

11 years later...one year in with paperwork...

Sunday was the one-year anniversary of our paper-signing ceremony in Washington state (and the 11-year anniversary of being together). We celebrated by going to Seasons in the Park for dinner.

It is a lovely restaurant in Queen Elizabeth park and has a spectacular view.

 

Unfortunately L was sick so we got our meal to go--we'll try again next year ;-D

Grits for brekkie! 朝ごはんはグリッツ

Breakfast was absolutely delightful--yellow grits! 朝食は信じられないほど美味しかった。グリッツというのは粗びき（あらびき）黄（こう）トウモロコシで作られているもの。

It may not look like much...黄色い粉みたいけど。。。

But boil it up for 30 minutes and...ボイルすれば。。。

...it makes a mighty meal!。。。とても美味しくなる！

砂糖。。。さようなら。。。Bye bye sugar...

Kさん。。。読んでいるかな？

この間この記事を読んだ。砂糖が体によくないのは前も分かったけどこれを読んですごいびっくりした。出来れば砂糖を避ける。I read this article recently and it really made me worry about the terrible effects of sugar on the human body.

http://www.livestrong.com/slideshow/1004201-15-reasons-kick-sugar/

砂糖が悪いのは：

１．中毒性

２．ガンになる可能性が高まる

３．心臓病

４．たくさん食べると太る

５．肝臓（かんぞう・レバー）によくない

６．腎臓結石（じんぞうけっせき）のリスクが高まる

７．歯によくない

８．脳によくない(特に記憶力に）

９．栄養のないカロリーになる

１０．自然の甘さ（野菜・果物)が分からなくなる

１１．にきびの原因

１２．しわの原因

１３．炎症（えんしょう）の原因

１４．食欲が高まる

別のところで読んだけど、砂糖は甲状腺によくないって。じゃね、砂糖!

Happy Thanksgiving! 感謝祭が来る。。。

Here's a funny picture that is perfect for the season. It is good time to think about what we have to be thankful for...I have a very long list...it has been a fabulous year. 私が撮った感謝祭のテーマの写真、どうですか。笑ったので撮った。この時期になると感謝するものを深く考えるよね。今年は私にとってすばらしい一年になっています。感謝するのは心からあふれている。皆もそう感じるといいね。

Poor puppy...

This is how I feel today--nobody's fault...just getting a darn headache from my left shoulder...

All cut up about AMEX

I finally cut my ties to my Japanese credit card. I had it since 2006, I think. And it was only going to expire next year. But I decided it really was time to cut it up and move on. I guess if I ever get to go back to Japan to live and work, I can get another one... ;-)

Giving up on biking to work...

OK, so I admit it--I am a wimp. I thought I would bike at least through November and maybe into December. I was going to draw the line at snow but apparently I am more pathetic than that. I took a week off exercise because of a cold and now the overnight temperatures are below zero. I am cold even in the car and have decided to hang up my biking gear until next year. Perhaps I will be a Daylight Savings Time cyclist (early March-early November)--that sounds about right.

No, it is not this bad...but somedays it feels like it...

And yeah...to those people who say I should bike to work...

Lovely dinner....オシャレな夕飯

This is a dinner from MUCH earlier in the year but it will be prettier than anything else I eat today...we went to C Restaurant for a date night that L organised and it was lovely...

Some bread and amuse bouche to start...

I had a beet salad...

L had soup...a tomato gazpacho

L had this--fish...

I had delightful gnocchi...

L had scallops and pork...

I had delightful fish on a bed of edamame...

There was lovely tea...

And little bites for dessert...