Vegan Maple Hot Chocolate, Raw Books, & Recent Stops!

This is my 2nd post of the day so be sure to keep scrolling!  This post you are reading now will be a lengthy one, too!  First up...I wanted to tell you about a lovely treat I am enjoying as I type this!  It's Maple Hot Chocolate from 3Leaf...and it's pretty incredible!  It's a combo of simple and pure ingredients including: Pure Cane Sugar, Raw Organic Cacao, and Natural Flavors...and it's VEGAN!  Today has been a dark, rainy mess of a day and I found this in my stash and FINALLY decided to try it!  I'm glad I did!  This was certainly a treat for me I don't have a lot of sweets and/or vegan dessert-like beverages or vegan hot chocolates.  It tasted like a darker chocolate with a nice splash of maple flavor!

 
I was telling you in my first post of today that I went with my parents to Sam's Club on Sunday.  My mother bought me two books!

Yup!  Here are the covers!  The first one is Raw Energy In A Glass.  I was excited about this one because I have the original Raw Energy Book and really LOVE it and I think this one I like even more than that one!  I already thumbed thru the whole thing and can't wait to try some of the blended soups, energy shots, and juice-smoothies...among others!

The 2nd book I got was this one and I about 70 pages in already!  It breaks down many of the fruits, greens, etc and tells you all about them and have multiple simple recipes on most pages highlighting that specific juicing or smoothie ingredient!

I know it sounds silly but I like the 'feel' of the pages!  They are thick and nice to grip!  This book is oddly sized but I like it!  It's tall and skinny almost like a half page in width.  I think it will stand out in my collection.  I can see myself referring back to BOTH of these books often!

Now on to some of the stops I have made over the last week or so!  In my travels for work I stopped at a local art gallery.  They have two art showings happening at the same time...and actually I think they are just finishing up with these two before they switch to another opening there!  One of the artists is a wonderful woman I know Ellen Paquette!  Her and her husband are so nice and SO TALENTED!  I linked her name to her website if you are interested!  I bought one of her Wee Beasties years ago and ADORE IT!  Check out her paintings HERE - these are the ones that were on display at The Crary Art Gallery.

Out of respect for the artists and their paintings and art I didn't take photos of them but here you can see some of the sculptures that are always on display at the art gallery!  Next...I'm looking forward to THESE oil paintings, too!

Yesterday - in between raining and crappy weather - I was able to visit Kinzua Wolf Run Marina and Docksiders Cafe up near Kinzua Dam.  Here is a photo from the marina.  In about 3 weeks this will look extremely different because then all of the docks will be full!  I hope to post more photos of my work travels in the near future.

Some of the roadside photos you will see in the next few months might just be over a lunch break.  A midday meditation of sorts.

Like these next photos from a local Pollinator Garden.  You may remember this garden from a VIDEO I did last year.

Here are some of my favorites from my recent walk thru the Pollinator Garden.  A group of local people do this garden every year.  They are called The Penn State Master Gardeners.

I hope to see more of what their group is doing at this years Warren County Fair and also our local Farmers Market which should start next month.

I'm also looking forward to seeing which growers will be participating in the local farmers market again this year.  Last year was a little rough on them.

And speaking of some of the festivities of last years Farmers Market I noticed you can see some photos of me HERE and HERE...from their Facebook Page.

That little sweetie is Cricket!  I can't believe it's almost been a years since we've had her!

You can tell from their PHOTO SECTION that it's a very Pet Friendly Farmers Market!

I'll leave you with one last photo from the Pollinator Garden that is under the direction of Penn State Master Gardeners and is inside Betts Park in Warren.  It's a large park here in the area that has many baseball and softball fields, Bocce Ball, Basketball, Pickle Ball areas - as well as a wonderful place to walk/jog/run along riverside.

I'm hoping the weather improves and it's more photo friendly so I can share some better pics with you soon!