The Fiats Are Coming! The Fiats Are Coming!

This past weekend was fun!  It was the first Fiat Meet Up of the season that Dale and I were able to make!  We first met another couple in Jamestown, NY, and then headed to Dunkirk, NY, to meet up with a group that was traveling from Buffalo, NY.  After chatting for a while we all headed over to Erie, PA.  There were about 12 or 13 cars that was on the ride!  It was a little cool and windy but at least the sun was shining!  The reason for the meet up was to get a group of us from the Western NY - Southern Ontario Fiat Club over to the Grand Opening for Auto Express Fiat Alfa Romeo of Erie.  During their Grand Opening of the Fiat Dealership they were raising money for an animal shelter there, too!  Dale and I made a small donation.  I think they raised over $1,000 for the shelter that day.  After we all left the dealership after spending a couple of hours there many of us went to Southern Tier Brewery in Lakewood/Busti, NY, and enjoyed the sun, some of the group ate, and others tried some of the brews.  There was a Reggae/Folk Fusion type band that played on the outdoor stage and we listened for a bit.  After Dale and I left the group we went out for dinner.  It was a great day!  We met some new people and met up again with some new friends we made from last year, too!  Oh!  We took our Abarth - not the Fiat 500 Pop - but we hope to take both of the cars to an upcoming cruise-in soon!

In case you are trying to find me in the photo above - I'm the one in the grey shirt next to the guy in the blue shirt to the left of the red car.  The guy in the blue is Dale.

Sunday - my mom and I traveled over to Nobel Winery near Westfield, NY, to meet up with my sister who was putting on a bridal shower for her soon-to-be-sister-in-law.  It was the first time I met her.  But it was a nice day and I am always happy to see my sister!

Monday - Dale and I did some yard work.  We did some major trimming of the trees in our front yard...which isn't much of a yard since we live so close to the street...we will call it our front garden instead.  It was long over due and now it's done...it looks much better.  So YEAH it was a busy weekend!  What did you do?

The Chi & Me

Since Suzie's Surgery - all 3 dogs and I have been camping out on the sofa and/or the floor for nearly a week!  I think the happiest camper of them all is Paco.  He's been VERY good thru it all!  I'm somewhat surprised.  After all, he's the youngest and the most playful.  But on the other hand he's very emotional, too!  I know he's been worried about Suzie and trying to be on his best behavior.  In addition to the 4 of us 'camping out' on the living room floor...Friday and Early this morning we've had snow.  So that means it's Blanket and Sweater Time!  Paco LOVES both!  Here you will see him curled up in a blanket on my lap over the weekend.  This is the most snuggly blanket we have in the house, I think!

He's been just too darned cute as of late!  BUT...with the cooler weather...it's not really helping his teary eyes.  It doesn't really seem to bother him tho.  He's been fairly good with his baths and his nail trimmings, too!  MUCH better than Suzie and Riley are.  I don't bath Suzie as much, tho, because her skin gets dry.  She gets baths a little less than Riley and Paco.  Riley is such a wimp when he gets bathed or anything else for that matter!  I'm sooooo NOT a fan of winter, snow, or the cold weather than goes along with it!  Uggg!  BUT...I'm trying to pick out some positives about the upcoming months of COLD...one would certainly be when the furkids snuggle more than usual.

I'm not even joking...Paco TOTALLY does this all by himself with the blankets!  He sure knows how to burrow in there!  Here's a photo of him in one of his sweaters! 

We've also been trying to catch up on some of our Netflix and Hulu+ Shows over the last couple of weeks since Hubby hasn't been moving very fast because of his stomach issues.  We've found that Paco is a fan of Bones as well as SNL and Jimmy Fallon.  Riley likes Nashville - we watch that after Hubby goes to bed.

Here's another photo of Paco sporting one of his favorite sweaters.  He ROCKS the Argyle.

In other news - my mom, sister, and I attended the Lake Erie Wine Trail Holiday Harvest on Saturday and we were at Noble Winery and it was CRAZY busy!  We did really well!  We have a few private parties coming up in the next couple of weeks as well.  One is a tasting, one is a book party, and the other will be our Holiday Open House that we do every year.

What have you been up to recently!?

My Many Mason Jars & The Vineyard is GREEN

 I will be doubling and tripling up on posts today to try and catch up from my wild week or weeks lately.  One of the many things I have been working on - it's a constant battle - but I couldn't be more proud of it as petty as it seems - is my Mason Jar Kitchen Cabinets!

My original post happened almost a year ago and I have been tweaking it ever since.  I'm not the most organized person but I try.  Mason Jar are the way to go for me!  It's what has helped me the longest and I have stuck with it!  I have been getting more and more grains, sprouting items, powders, and more and these are PERFECT for them!  Not only have I been using Mason Jars I have been reusing other glass jars that I have come across as you can see in the 2nd photo. 

The one with the Green Lid is a reused Tahini Glass Jar.  I believe I bought these sprouting seeds over at VitaCost.  Take a look at the right hand side bar for the refer a friend program.  I LOVE this online store!  Anyhow...back to the Jars!  You can see in the first photo I have Marrowfat Peas.  I haven't used them yet but I hope to soon!  On either side are some of my Wildtree items.  In the 2nd photo I have Arugula and Sunflower Seeds.  I sprouted Sunflower Seeds before but didn't blog about it.  I wanted to get a 2nd attempt under my belt first.  Yesterday I started my first attempt at Arugula and I will blog about that later today, too.

In my 3rd photo - you can see the glass jars I bought FIRST even before buying the Mason Jars.  I bought those from my local herb store where I buy bulk often.  I started using those for 'meals' and alternative flours but I also use them for sprouting beans, seeds, etc now, too!

In this last photo - I have some Quinoa but also some Farro.  I have to admit I am still new at using Farro but will be posting about this, soon, too!

In another section of my cupboards I have recently added Maca Powder containers and a Maca-Hemp-Cacao Powder. 


I have been running out of a few of my rices - wild rice, long grain rice, and various brown rices that I had from Lundberg as well as a few other brands.  I have also just finished up my Rice Crumbs and one of my Vegan Panko Bread Crumbs.  Lucky for me I found a box hiding and replenished my stock.

In other news - we went back to Noble Winery in Westfield, NY, on Saturday with our Wildtree set-up and did pretty well!  We LOVE the Noble Winery Crew!  They are beautiful people!  The last time I blogged about Noble - it was cold!!!  This time around it was gorgeous!  The grounds and vineyard were MUCH MORE GREEN!  Afterwards we went to Quagliana's Bark Grill - as we did the last time - it's becoming a favorite!  It has a neat set-up as well as SUPER FRIENDLY people!  They have an awesome cheese-less Bruchetta I had as well as something similar but with Eggplant and Red Peppers!  YUM!

I was wondering what the 4th would have been like on the hill of the winery!  You can see for MILES.  I bet you could see various fireworks that night.  We only stayed until about 7pm so it wasn't dark yet.

We have a party this Wednesday in Little Valley, NY, and we are expecting quite a few so we are looking forward to that and we have a few shows in the works, too!

Weekend of Remembering, Wildtree, Wineries, and Camping!

I have a lot to post, once again!  I will have at least 3 - if not more - blog entries today!  I figured I would start with some of the events of the weekend.  Of course it was Memorial Day Weekend a time to remember our Military Members - Past and Present.  My father was active during Vietnam.  He was in the Navy but in with the Marines on the USS Kitty Hawk.  My Grandfather was in the Military as well...During WWII.  My Cousin's Husband is still in the Military and made a life long career of it.  He hopes to retire in the next couple of years.  I had another cousin who was a Marine and in Desert Storm.  Many Co-Workers and others, too!  I think we all know some one who has served or is serving.  I thank all who have put their lives on the line for us and this country.  Thank You!

This past weekend a co-worker of mine attended our local Four Flags Ceremony in Heritage Park, Crescent Park.  It's always a wonderful ceremony.  The photo above it one that he took and we used for our FB Pages at work.

Another photo that wasn't taken by me is this one of Tiger Swallowtail Butterflies.  It was taken by the family of Melissa Swanson Braley.  Click on her name to visit the Caring Bridge Site for her.  2 days ago you will see the story of the Butterflies.  I cannot get over this story!  Unfortunately, Melissa lost her battle with cancer over the weekend.  You may have read mentions of the fundraiser we were doing with our Wildtree Stuff for her to raise funds for her treatment.  We are still raising fund for her family to help pay the medical bills as well as donate money towards her 2 young girls she left behind.  She was only 33 years old.  This weekend we will attend her service.  CANCER SUCKS!  Too many people are struggling with it and it's devastation is NOT slowing down!  I was chatting with Opal about this on her blog earlier today.  Each day - it scares me more and more!  It seems each day I hear YET ANOTHER person with cancer regardless of who they are, what they do, how they try to prevent it.  If you or someone you know would like to contribute to the Wildtree Fundraiser for Melissa Swanson Braley - CLICK HERE.

In other Wildtree News - we were over at Noble Winery in Westfield, NY, on Saturday and did well.  We sold out of the Hot Pepper Jelly and a few of the oils.  Here's our set-up.  It was really cold that day and we were near the water.  I did manage to get some neat photos of the land, tho!  Some of which are playing havoc with my blog post so I might save those for later in the week!  Here is one of them, tho!  I used a filter in a new App I am tinkering with!

Oh!  Here we go!  Here's another one I was able to insert in the blog post!  It's a view from the front of the tasting portion of the facility looking across the parking area and drive way - looking at the Vineyard!
They also have a wonderful dog that roams the grounds!  I didn't get a photo of her but she was awesome.  I took a break and played 'fetch' with her for a while.

Next time we visit there the weather will be MUCH better!  And I hope to get some better photos of the water past the "green" on the other side of their building.  It's beautiful!

Sunday and Monday my husband and I spent some time in the woods.  His family owns over 100 acres.  There are several branches of the family that camp there on occasion as well as other branches of the family who live full-time on the same road as the camp!  Here are some of the generations of the family as well as the greenery of the land.  You can see some campers, 4-wheelers, a campfire pit, picnic tables, and many people scattered throughout.  It was chilly but fun.  A few people bring their dogs up, too!  We brought Sammy up when he was alive but I don't think our 3 now would handle all of the activity - they are pretty low-key!

Here's one of Wendy's Dogs.  She has 'twins' and they are gorgeous!  Wendy is Dale's Cousin.  There was so much that took place this past weekend and I took LOTS of photos!  I have LOTS more to share with you, too, but the posts will be long so I will leave it here, for now.  In the meantime...how was your weekend?  Do anything special?  Take any photos?  How was your weather?  Anyone specific  you want to remember - feel free to do so in comments - too!  Thanks for stopping by!  More coming soon!