What would helen do?

March 27, 2013

Tuesday 3/26/13 gym, dog toys, PEEPSHI, Bird Club, Pour house

Tuesday 3/26/13

Great way to start the Day – at the gym with Maddie!

got the dogs Easter presents when I was picking up
their “special foods” at the pet store….Picassa photobombing….. do you see her?

Chester before the killing

Weasel sleeps with her new Baby!

Making PEEPSHI for a friend who L♥VES peeps!What is PEEPSHI?
Made from Peeps and Rice Krispies,
and held together by Fruit Roll Upshttp://www.seriouseats.com/2012/04/how-to-make-peepshi-peeps-easter-sushi.html

PEEPSHI

Peepshi in the Mail – who is getting them??

Chester & I went for a run in the park & I couldn’t
resist taking this picture of the ominous skies!

Poor Boy!!
My friends son fell off his new birthday bike
& broke his arm/elbow!! He needed surgery!!!
OUCH!Any ideas for a gift??I love how even the stuffed animal has a hospital band!

We received our first grandparent card from baby Danielle.
awwwww!

Attended our Bird Meeting at Peace Valley Nature Park.
Neighbor Deb & I are Bucks County Bird Club members.http://groups.yahoo.com/group/BucksCoBirders/

Tonight’s meeting was about Breeding Birds in PA.
The man who co-wrote this Atlas was the speaker.

There was also a Birthday Celebration for
ALAN – a member of our club.
93 years old – Whoa!!!!He’s seen A LOT of birds (& more) in his lifetome!

after the meeting, neighbor Deb & I stopped at the Pour House. It’s on our way home & Deb needed to do some
reconnaissance for her trip there this Thursday.The line-up, as usual, was quite stellar!

MARCH MADNESS is upon us!!
Anyone following??

We are watching the NCAA tournament.
Quite a few of us LaSalle Alumnus were
happy to see LaSalle make it to the “Sweet 16”.
Go Explorers!!Tune in to their next game
LaSalle vs Wichita State
in Los Angeles, Calif.
10:17 PM TBSIt’s going to be a Late Night!

I CAN DO IT

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Every solo on the stage
requires a team behind the curtain.

~ Ron Kaufman

March 25, 2013

3/25/13 SNOW, gym, volleyball

3/25/13

Marvelous Monday – Have a GREAT WEEK!

We got a somewhat unexpected Spring Snow Storm.
Chester waiting to go for a run in the Snow.

Our neighborhood definitely looks pretty in the snow.

Chester RUNNING!

Seamus snow covered

A bluebird in the snow covered tree.

AND….. this is the view from my friend Joslyn’s
apartment in San Francisco —
A little different than our Spring Snow Storm.

Today I tried the class of a new instructor – Debra.
well, New to me. She was ok.
Better than Melanie, not as good as Kristin.

Today was a “cooking day” —
The dogs always go outside when the kitchen gets smokey.
Then they wait for permission to re-enter.

A glimpse of the pool a the High School
where I play Volleyball on Monday Nights.

Tonight is the first week of Volleyball that I signed up for.
It was a FUN night – looking forward to next week!
Having fun & getting exercise is a good combination.

The dogs always think we need a cuddle.
They’re right, We do.

give up something now
to obtain something better later.******************************

“Set your sights high – the higher the better.

Expect the most wonderful things to happen,

not in the future but right now.

Realize that nothing is too good.

Allow absolutely nothing to hamper you

or hold you up in any way.”

~Eileen Caddy

March 24, 2013

Sunday 3/24/13 gym, Smokin’ Hot, Baby Danielle

Sunday 3/24/13

Hopped on the Stair Master at the gym while waiting for
my Bodyworks class to get started.

They don’t have an ELAVATORMASTER at my gym…
but it looks interesting……

The Sunday morning class is ALWAYS PACKED.
Here we are doing some Cardio hops.
The class is really great training for my
upcoming Volleyball season & pending races.

After the gym I was in desperate need of
a mani/pedi – it’s nice to get a little foot massage!The color I chose today was Smokin’ Hot by essie.

******************************

Each Sunday we’ve been going up to
Danny & Rachael’s house to visit
Baby Danielle. We also bring dinner –
so that’s been nice too – Sunday Family Dinner.
Who does THAT anymore?? really.

Aunt Pat & Baby Danielle (nice hair!)

First Easter stuffed animal.
I’m certain Chester would like it very much.

Mom mom & baby Danielle

Dani- Rae — 3 weeks old tomorrow.
Wearing an outfit from her great grandmom –
GG Betty (Michael’s mom)

Danny Diehl tending to his meat in the
Smoker we gave him for Christmas.
mmmmmmm meat!

Mike Mike & the baby — he is the “baby whisperer”

Friend Joyce came with us this week to meet Danielle

The Leopard (from friend Cat) wearing the
hat GG Betty knitted for Danielle.

Andrew is the Eternal Optimist.I ♥ Him

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“Happiness cannot be traveled to, owned, earned, or worn.

It is the spiritual experience of living every minute

with love, grace and gratitude.”

~Denis Waitley

March 24, 2013

March 23rd 2013 Saturday Hiking Allaire State Park

March 23rd 2013

Today we decided to HIKE with
the bike club instead of riding.
It was a nice Sunny day but a tad Windy.
AND we could bring Chester – something we
cannot do if we are biking, Win Win situation.
We all get exercize & enjoy the beautiful day outside.

Chester snarfing on our way to meet our group
for a Hike at Allaire State Park.He’s a HAPPY DOG 🙂

Chester Driving – he’s a guy –
thinks he knows the way……

We have arrived at Allaire State Park.

http://www.state.nj.us/dep/parksandforests/parks/allaire.html

A state park in NJ, about an hour from Ivyland.

Me & Chester!The Hike Leaders brought their dog Brindle.

off we go – a group of 7 plus 2 dogs

Chester really wanted to be the Lead Dog
& eventually got there!

We came upon this though we weren’t
quite sure what they were doing –
something with the wires high up in the sky.
Somewhere I’d prefer not to be on a windy day!

Hiking down into the Sand Pit.The State Park was near the Seashore.
Somewhat close to where I play beach volleyball.

Cairn is a man-made pile (or stack) of stones.
This one kind of toppled over.In Scotland, before warriors would go into battle,
they would toss a stone onto the cairn.
When the warriors returned from battle,
they would take a stone off.
The stones that remained showed
how many warriors the tribe had lost.
Today, cairns are used to mark things in nature,
like trails, or good places for gold mining.
I wonder what this one is marking?

We stopped here for a lunch break.

Chester – in the lead…finally!
He was sniffing a mountain biker of which we saw many.

WEASEL
– exhausted & she didn’t even go hiking with us!

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you can see all the pictures from today’s hike here:
http://helenspicturesoftheday.shutterfly.com/pictures/1726

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To get the full value of joy
you must have somebody to divide it with.

March 23, 2013

Friday 3/22/13 Taxes, Oyster house, Memphis Taproom, Grey Lodge, Horsham Pub +

Friday 3/22/13

Today our plan was to go into Center City & meet with our Accountant – grab lunch & go home.
Well, it ended up being quite the “accidental” day
& we had more adventures than we planned.

first thing in the morning, Chester & I went for a short run.
We usually run through Gilda’s Club – today I got
Chester’s picture with one of the LIFE ROCKS.http://gildasclubdelval.org/

We headed into Center City where our Accountants office is located. I always like to take the CLOTHESPIN statue photo
for neighbor Denise as she had never seen it in person.
HAVE YOU Never seen it in person either?????
This astounds me.

Our Accountants office building.
Do YOU see what I See??

Doggie in the window!!!

Tony our accountant – he’s the best!!
Anyone need someone to do their taxes??
He’s worth every cent!

Me & Tony. We’ve been using him for YEARS!

Afterwards we went to the Oyster House for lunch.
I had a gift card!
I got the Raw Bar Sampler & it was FAB!

Raw Bar Sampler.

This is Cornell. He is the Master Oyster Shucker.
I’ve known him for YEARS!

Next stop was Memphis Taproom.
It was on the way home & we love it here.
They had FOUNDERS ALL DAY IPA on Tap!!
Wow!

We got back on I-95 to go home but it was a Parking Lot –
sooooo we detoured over to the Grey Lodge Pub….
another famous craft beer bar….

The bathroom is totally cool!!

I tried the “DANGER WILL ROBINSON” –
Weyerbacher Insanity……
Then we got on our way home…..

THEN — friend Jim messaged us & invited to meet him at
this new place Horsham Pub for dinner…..
We’ve been wanting to try it – so why not???

Their beer list was quite stellar.
Decisions. Decisions……..

after Dinner — our friend Billy sent us a message to
meet him here at Maple Glen Tavern.
They were meeting friends to celebrate a birthday.

our last stop — with Mary – birthday girl,
Robin & Denise (right to left).We finally made it home after a day of adventure!

Do all the things
you’ve always wanted to do!*******************************
“Extend to each person, no matter how trivial the contact,

all the care and kindness and understanding and love

that you can muster,

and do it with no thought of any reward.

Your life will never be the same again.”

~Og Mandino

March 23, 2013

3/21/13 Beer tasting on a “school night”

3/21/13

Michael usually plays shuffleboard on Thursday nights when he
makes it home from NY in a timely fashion.

Tonight shuffleboard was on hiatus so

Michael decided he would have everyone over for an impromptu beer tasting.

We haven’t had one in a while.

Present Weasel & Chester got for my
gym instructor’s new puppy Chloe.
Our dogs are quite thoughtful!

I whipped up a batch of these – sweet potato chips.
They were originally going to be dog treats but
everyone at the party seemed to like them –
so the dogs got shut out.
Basically they are dehydrated sweet potatoes
lightly seasoned with my secret salt recipe.https://whatwouldhelendo.com/2011/09/18/ted-turner-secret-salt-recipe/

I had corned beef leftover from last week’s
cooking adventure so I thought I’d put it to use.

I concocted these tasty morsels of goodness.
Corned Beef Quesadillas.Basically I used Russian Dressing, Sauerkraut,
Corned Beef & Swiss Cheese. Grilled them up
& everyone ate them!

New beer on the Market – Very Good.
Grab some while you can!!

Suzy, Deb & MarySuzy was the only “non-biker” present.
We are working on changing that.

We LIKED the Terrapin Moo-Hoo

This also is a new one on the market –
Get some today – it is worthy!

MARY — FAILED POUR!!!
big head……

The Girls —
Joanne was drinking my tasty Sangria.
Me, Deb, Suzy & Mary.Absent from Photo:
Joyce was in the living room breaking up a dog fight
& Tanya was a late comer.

We broke out our last ENJOY BY 12.21.12Rebels – drinking beer past it’s expiration date.
It was still verrrrry good!

Towards the end of the night we broke out this
Imperial Porter – LIKED!!!!! Would recommend.

The guys – all cyclists. AT least we all have that
in common – we like to bike & taste Beer!Tom, Greg, Michael, Bill, Dean & Michael W.

Michael getting dog some dog germs as Judith watches.
Judith was Michael W.’s chauffeur this evening.

Suzy brought these tasty morsels which we
brought out later in the night.
Damn you Suzy!!

Some of our “dead soldiers” from tonight’s event.
All in the name of research, of course!

Polly wants a beer, forget the cracker!*************************************

see all the pictures from tonight here:

http://helenspicturesoftheday.shutterfly.com/pictures/1695

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Being happy doesn’t always make us grateful,

but being grateful will always make us happy.

www.marcandangel.com

March 21, 2013

3/20/13 SPRING, Snail Mail, Wine Tasting, Basenjis

3/20/13

Wednesday March 20th 2013 Puffin Day

Maddie says “Happy First Day of Spring”!http://maddieonthings.com/

first day back to the gym since Sunday.
I missed it! Wednesday is Boot Camp.

Chester sunning himself on a chilly day.

A card for baby Danielle

my first time “officially” signing mom mom.
Michael wants to be called MIKE as his
grandfather name so I assigned him
Mike Mike. What do you think?

Today was a day of catching up.
I had a bunch of Thank You notes to get in the mail.
This is “naked snail mail”.

Snail Mail all decorated.

FUN MAIL from Helen

Tonight’s Wine tasting

Why are self photos always dumb looking?
don’t like……

After the tasting I stopped at Brother Raymond’s
house & he made dinner for me!

Lila the Basenji “singing” along with a music video

neighbor Deb happened to be nearby
& stopped in to visit the Basenjis.

This is PAUGER – a rescue dog.
She is part of the WHY WE RESCUE project.http://www.whywerescue.com/monique_champagne

Why We Rescue is a yearlong story-telling documentary that is traversing across all 50 states

highlighting how pets transform our lives for the better.

This project is an opportunity to share everyday stories on how those pets

can open our homes and hearts to the world.

Our dogs are always waiting for us!!
Lucky us 🙂

HAPPINESS is a CHOICE******************************************

“I think the reward for conformity
is that everyone likes you
except yourself.”

–Rita Mae Brown