A few days in Louisville

 Last week I went away on a girls' trip with my mom and one of my sisters to Louisville, KY. 

Electric charging station at a popular chain gas station.  Nice to see more availability. 

We stayed in an Airbnb in Indiana, across the river from Louisville, and it was a good location. The house had 2 rooms with queen beds and one room with 2 twin beds.  I chose this room and I was surprised at how easy it was to sleep in a twin bed, not having done that in 30+ years.  We had a nice covered patio area too, and we enjoyed sitting out there in the beautiful weather.  

The first night we went to a Chinese restaurant that appealed to all 3 of us:  Mom could have chicken, I could have sesame tofu, and my sister could have either. (She chose General's tofu.) I love anytime I can get a vegan sesame dish, and this was a good one.  We also had an appetizer of dumplings and they were delicious.  

The next day we went to a casino, which is something my mom enjoys and my sister and I are happy to go along with her and play a bit.  

For dinner we had pizza.  Again, it's so nice to be in a bigger city where there are restaurants that serve both vegan and non-vegan food, so my whole family can enjoy.  Mine had pepperoni and cheese, both vegan of course, and roasted garlic.  Yum!  I ate on this thing for 2 days.  My sister and I drove to Cinnaholic and picked up some yummy dessert.  I had the maple pecan pie cinnamon roll.  

The next morning we had two events scheduled.  In the morning we took a trolley tour of downtown Louisville.  There were only 5 of us total so it was almost like having a private tour.  The tour guide/driver was great.  She enjoys history and she knew a lot about the area, even though she's not originally from there.  I love learning about the history of an area so this was the perfect tour for me.  We went through a large area of Victorian homes and stopped at Churchill Downs.  

After the trolley tour we went back to the house and rested, because that evening we were signed up for a sunset riverboat cruise.  I enjoy being out on the water, but only if I'm out in the fresh air.  We needed to sit inside because my mom was unable to walk up the 17 stairs to get to the outside area.  I was glad to do it so we could all be together because that was the whole purpose of this trip.  There was a band playing oldies and new songs.  It was basically like being in a loud nightclub on the water. Outside the music was fine but inside it was a bit much for those of us who weren't going to be dancing and would have liked to have seen the sights.  Oh well, now I'll know if we ever do it again.  Daytime narrated cruise ONLY if you have to be inside.  We still laughed a lot and enjoyed being together.  

The next day we had scheduled a day of rest, because we knew Mom would be tired from the late evening.  We slept in, then went to a breakfast/brunch restaurant.  This vegan was able to have a bowl of oatmeal with pecans, strawberries, and brown sugar, and I liked it.  My mom is a big breakfast person so mainly we wanted to make sure she got to enjoy herself.  

We just hung out most of the rest of the day.  In the evening I drove to a nearby town and picked up Indian food for my sister and me. I ordered naan, vegetable pakoras, samosas, and gobi Manchurian.  Yes I made a meal out of bread and appetizers.  My mom is not what you'd call an adventurous eater so she stuck with a frozen meal she had picked up.  We all got in our pjs and while we ate we watched a movie.  

The next morning it was time to pack up and drive home.  Once again we went by Cinnaholic and got some cinnamon rolls for ourselves and for the family members who had to stay home.  

My husband got the blueberry pie version.  

It was a wonderful few days but I was glad to get home to my husband after being away.  I'm so glad for the memories I got to make with my mom and middle sister.  

  

My little garden

I have a small container garden on my deck.  When it was cooler I had two lettuce plants that grew very well and gave me lots of crisp lettuce for veggie burgers.  They of course are bolting now that it's 100+ degrees outside and I'm just leaving them to see what it looks like when they flower.  I also managed to grow some turnip greens for my husband.  Again, not a hot weather crop so they are gone now.  

I had decent luck with bell peppers and cucumbers this year.  I really only grew the cucumbers for my dog.  He likes to pick them himself. Yes, I'm serious.  I'll include some photos of him and his beloved cucumbers next time.  

A few peppers and green beans

On this day, everything was chopped and frozen for future use.  I have a few recipes I use the bell peppers in and it's nice not to have to worry about whether or not I have a fresh one.  The hot peppers I didn't grow on purpose.  Apparently one of my supposed bell pepper plants was actually a Hungarian wax pepper.  When I saw it growing I thought it was a banana pepper so my husband crunched into it.  Needless to say, he only ate one bite.  Those are also chopped separately and I'll use them sparingly for recipes that call for a jalapeño. 

There's a couple extra yellow bell peppers in this photo chopped up that I got from the grocery store on clearance.  

Zinnia in my pollinator garden

Last fall I dug up a large flower bed near the deck and transplanted most of the flowers to a shady spot in the back of our yard.  It's actually a small fenced area where we have our pet cemetery where they are buried and more recently, their ashes sprinkled.  I decided to turn the deck flower bed into a wildflower garden for pollinators.  It's doing pretty good for the first year growing from seed.  Since the majority of the plants are perennial I'm hopeful they will be back for many years to come.  

8 years

I haven't posted here in EIGHT years.  I just kind of lost interest in blogging.  Probably because I was posting more on Facebook.  And now I've lost interest in that, and have for the last couple of years.  I miss posting photos so thought I might give blogging a try again, and here I am.  

Update on who I am:  I live in the Southern U.S, am in my 50's, married for over 30 years, no kids, house full of pets.  I have a mom, a mil, two sisters, and a nephew who all live nearby.  I fostered cats and kittens and did TNR for many years but am taking a break right now.  I do hope to get back to it in the near future.  

 I sell a bit on Ebay, although frankly I've lost most of my interest in that too.  I'm just working through what I already have in inventory.  I try to live life frugally where I can.  Helping others and donating to causes we believe in are very important to us.  My husband and I are vegan and have been for over 20 years. I don't believe in being a pushy vegan.  Nobody else we are close to is vegan and we happily eat alongside them.  

Please enjoy a photo of our (almost) 15 year old dog, Milo, recently enjoying his first ever pup cup.  He can't hear anymore and doesn't see all that well but he can certainly taste that whipped cream. 

I suppose that's enough of an update for now.