this little life of mine

Created by Train Horn

I'm actually surprised that I DID hear it! I'm 43 after all! But, there it was, the high-pitched tone that makes me want to claw my eardrums out. Guess listening to music with my headphones on all these years didn't damage my hearing after all!

My blogger friend Bozoette Mary gave me an "O"! (No, not that kind of "O", you silly perv!) It's an alphabet meme going around the web. You get a letter and write 10 things about it. She had "S"; she gave me "O". I've decided to add a twist to the challenge by posting photos of things that start with the letter "O" as well! Off we go!

1. Ocean.  It's no secret that I LOVE the ocean! Particularly the Pacific Ocean, but that's just because I'm a West Coast girl born and raised, so it's really the only ocean I know.

2.  Ornament. This is one of my favourite Christmas ornaments, given to me by my Aunt Alice many, many years ago:

3.  Organic.  I know everyone is trying to be healthier nowadays and one way is to eat only organically grown foods, like these tomatoes mom and I grew in the garden last summer:

4.  Old.  I love old stuff - antiques, vintage, retro, doesn't matter. I especially like to photograph old stuff like these old wine bottles at the Beringer winery in Napa Vally, CA.

5.  Oak.  Oak trees are apparently very important to the Central Coast of California. They're protected, even. Personally, I don't like them. They're ugly in the winter and bit of them break off and crash onto people's cars. (No one I know, but I've seen ...) Still, wine aged in oak barrels is quite tasty and a collection of barrels make a great photo op:

6.  Orange.  A woman I work with (okay, one of my bosses!) has an orange tree in her back yard. Lucky duck!

7.  Octopus. The Avila Beach Marine Institute has some awesome displays of marine life including this very active octopus:

8.  O.P.I.  It's my favourite brand of nail polish, and my favourite colour is Malaga Wine!

9.  Olive Oil. It's a very heart-healthy, good-for-you fat. I always cook with it now. I can't remember the last time I used a vegetable oil in anything.

10. Outdoors.  I should really spend more time outdoors, I know. Especially here on the Central Coast where there's so much natural beauty. I really will try to do better. Later. When it stops raining.

After last night's disastrous dinner, I'm back in form with this delicious Spinach and Chicken Sausage Pizza from the March/April edition of Clean Eating magazine:

Extreme close-up of the scrumptiousness:

And, it was SO easy! It only took about an hour from start to finish!

Well, this is my first major FAIL in Clean Eating cooking. I had to substitute eggplant for the zucchini and while it still tasted okay, the eggplant skin was tough and nearly impossible to cut. It turned out being less a lasagna and more of a stewy mess:

I would like to try this recipe again with zucchini, or, if I have to substitute with eggplant again, I'll peel the skin off first! 

My friend Jewel's pet Fester.