Oh Man, A Day Without My Camera !!!!

Yesterday morning, I stomped my size 7 1/2 foot down and said to myself, "I am re-potting the plants I have wanted to do for sometime now !".  It was a "time-out" moment for "me" to do something I wanted to do, and I took it.  LOL, not that anybody, least of all Rob, prevents me from taking "me" moments, I just gave myself permission to give myself one....lol.

I love re-potting plants in their new pots with fresh dirt, so out to the deck I went with everything needed to get the task at hand completed.  Two Hoya plants and a Goldfish plant.  I was disappointed I had gone to all the work of unwinding the one Hoya plant from its kitchen perch to find the new pot I had for it was no bigger then the one it was in .... but I did find another more suitable pot in my travels yesterday, so it will be disrupted once again from its perch .....

"It takes a bit to untangle and unwind, but shouldn't too bad the second time around....."

 "....giving it much more room in this larger pot will mean a longer wait for it until the next re-potting session."

"This fairly new Hoya, was a perfect fit for its new pot."

"I hope the Goldfish is happy with its new pot, as I think once the orange goldfish come out they will display themselves rather well in it."

After my "me time-out", I got myself cleanup as best I could, as we had been invited down to my Aunt Gladys and Uncle Basil's in Port Elgin for a ham & scalloped potato dinner, along with fresh Peach Pie for dessert, and I didn't want to miss out on that !

We left early, as I was stopping around to my girlfriend, Fran's place in Southampton to do a beet drop off to her, which turned into a much longer visit then I had planned, as that is what happens when we start "catching up" on stuff when we haven't seen each other for some time....lol.  Then we went on where our horse's new home in Southampton is to drop of some horsey type accessories there, before we headed on to Port Elgin.

Okay I DID NOT forget my camera .... I forgot to put the recharged battery back in my camera !!!  I was so MAD at myself....lol, all the fantastic pictures I could have had yesterday now dissolved to ashes of memories down the Memory lane into the caverns of my brain..... dang, dang, double dang !!!

Bottom line was Rob and I had a fantastic day visiting with people along the way to a fantastic dinner at my Aunt Gladys & Uncle Basil's .... minus the pictures.

Uncle Basil cut some ham for me to take along home so I will able to try out another new recipe I had just recently came across for French Leek & Ham Shepherd's Pie, that had been posted on The British Woman's blog I believe.

French Leek & Ham Shepherd's Pie

Prep Time: 15 Min
Cook Time: 45 Min
Ready In: 1 Hr

Ingredients

• 2 1/4 pounds potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks
• 1/2 cup heavy cream
• 3 tablespoons butter
• 1 pinch ground nutmeg
• salt and pepper, to taste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 onion, chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds leeks, sliced
• 2 medium tomatoes - peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
• 1 1/2 pounds cooked ham, thinly sliced
• 1 egg yolk, lightly beaten
• 1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F (190 degrees C). Lightly oil a 2 quart casserole dish.
2. Bring a large pot of salted water to a boil. Add potatoes and cook until tender but still firm, about 15 minutes. Drain, cool and chop. Stir in the cream, butter, nutmeg, salt, and pepper and mash until smooth.
3. Heat the olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Cook the onion until translucent. Stir in the leek and cook another minute until the leek is soft, but not brown. Mix in the peeled tomatoes, lower the heat, and simmer five minutes, stirring occasionally until the tomatoes have lost some of their shape. Stir in the ham and season with salt and pepper.
4. Spread half of the mashed potatoes on the bottom of the casserole dish. Pour in the ham and leek sauce and cover with the remaining mashed potatoes. Brush the surface of the mashed potatoes with the beaten egg yolk. Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes, or until golden brown.

Nutritional Information
Amount Per Serving Calories: 675 | Total Fat: 40.8g | Cholesterol: 143mg

Recipes Compliments of AllRecipes.com

I hope I am able to adapt this recipe by using fresh Ontario Leeks from our own garden????  as I ain't importing any from France ! LOL.

I think I am starting to get slower and slower every morning in getting my day started.  Actually it is beyond the thinking it, I know it, and I am wondering with Fall/Winter approaching if I am going into "Hibernation" mode?  I think I will keep that as being the reasoning behind my continuing slowness....so that is my "new" story and I am "sticking" to it !

Let me see if today's weather will be having an effect on my mood for the day ahead or not?

Today:

Cloudy. Periods of rain beginning this morning. Amount 10 to 15 mm. Wind south 30 km/h. High 18.

Tonight:

Periods of rain ending late this evening then clearing. Amount 5 to 10 mm. Wind south 30 km/h becoming light this evening. Low 10.

Today is a very special day for my Mother, Stella, as she is 84 years young today !  I will be seeing her sometime later today, so I will then be giving her Birthday Wishes in person.

In the meantime, there are things to be done, so I had best be off and running, "Just North of Wiarton & South of the Checkerboard".