As I said in an earlier post, we were planning a trip to Key West to see if our pic made it a year. As the photo tells, it did. I got covered up,though. We left it just as we found it. It was a neat butterfly-ee feeling walking up to see. I don't know why. But there we are, still on the wall of a bar. In case anyone out there was wondering!

Can you believe... my sweet hubby left ALL our refrigerated items... so we had to go to the local store. AND!!!! I found a shiny new SWING A WAY for.. get this $3.99! I have the best souvenir already! YAY!

Hello friends.. weird I have more followers on my domestic site than this one... hmmm I need to start posting more useful information here! Well, I am leaving with my hubby daughter and boat for a little va-ca in Islamorada! I am bringing the laptop so expect some pics! And.. next week I am going to start putting more useful info for y'all on this site... unless there's protests? Much love, mamakeith

For years I had a "Swing A Way" can opener... YEARS I tell ya. Well, maybe that little can opener was just used to my southpaw way of using it, because it never worked right for my hubby. He got so frustrated with it one night that my can opener met its demise that way, and ended up in the trash. (sniffle...) since then, I have bought several other replacement that all broke. Or, maybe they can't handle a southpaw? My dear mother in law even got me a top of the line one as a "gag" christmas gift (she got me other things too!) and guess what? Broke. So, next week I am going to find myself a nice shiny new Swing A Way can opener. Yeah, I know I should have just gotten another one in the first place, but... then what woul I blog about?

A few years back, I purchased a ripe red tomato at a supermarket. I put it on my counter top. And I forgot about it, I went out of town for a week and came home to it. It was unchanged. So I said hmmmm. I left it there. Another week passed. Same. Now, at this time in my life, I was managing a health food store and I knew what was going on in the standard food industry. Maybe I just thought it was in an experimental phase. But no... this tomato had an EXTENDED life. Ugh. A month went by before it showed the tiniest speck of deterioration. (who needs green bags with tomatoes like these?!) I began to think, when I make cookies and bread... they don't last as long as the stores. Ugh. Now produce?
That's why I love produce stands. There's always rotten stuff around,(along with fresh, of course) and most of it hasn't traveled far to get there.Where I live we have lots of Latinos and Asians, so I can find the most unusual items, some of them would even inspire Dr.Seuss. I can always find something new and fresh... the drawback? I have to use it within a few days, because it goes bad. And, that's a good thing. (ooo I sounded live Martha Stewart there, eh?)

I keep binders with pages of magazines slipped into sheet protectors, I have been doing it since 1994, and they are my own personal "cookbooks". I will thumb through them for inspiration and lately, my (almost) 2year old daughter has developed a fondness for them. I realize that one day, they will be a small bit of food history... the same was my depression era cookbooks help to extend your food ration. These may be a bit of history... for someone one day.

I love this pic. It's my sweet husband getting a hug from our daughter. A picture is worth a thousand words. If I ever get down about life... I realize I have moments like these and it melts away any worry or stress that I have. I count my blessings each and every day.