5 Things that Make Me Happy, Passing It On

I got tagged today by Tina at Life is Good so I now have to think of 5 things that make me happy to tell you about. Obviously this is over and above family and friends. Tina showed her Vibram shoes which sound wonderful, but are somewhat expensive.

These are 5 things that make me happy, not necessarily in order of importance, in fact they are all very important to me.

1. Spring

I love all the fresh green colours which appear on the trees every spring, the gorgeous blossoms which are so delicate and don’t last very long, the promise of summer to come. One of these days I would like to see the cherry blossoms in Washington – I will never manage to get to the cherry blossom festival in Japan sadly. I used to love the azalea festival in Wilmington, NC.  I have mentioned before how I love to see the glorious green of spring grass mixed in with the warm golden of dandelions. Such rich colours.

2. Sunsets

We are lucky where we live right now because we see lots of sunsets from our balcony. I would also include sunrises, but I don’t see too many of them any more. I just love the colours a really good sunset can produce. This is one of the many pictures Matt has taken from our balcony. He is a much better cameraman than I am but he uses an old fashioned camera so we have to wait to see what the results are. We get very good sunsets in Canada, I have no doubt there is a scientific reason for this, but to me, I just love the beauty they produce and the fantastic colours. You gather I get pleasure from visual things.

3. Good Food

Not something that will surprise anyone reading my blog. I love going to a top class restaurant and being served something absolutely delectable to look at and delicious to eat. I love cooking such foods although these days I am unable to stand for very long in the kitchen so can’t do the things I used to do which gave me such pleasure to share with friends and family. Of course, good food needs to be complemented with good wines

4. Wildlife

Matt and I used to sit for hours watching birds in our back yard in North Carolina, unfortunately we are not allowed birdfeeders  on our balcony so don’t really get to see a lot of birds close up any more although we can enjoy their songs. Mainly because we live in an apartment we don’t have any pets any more either. I do enjoy watching black squirrels in the park outside our window. I also love to watch wildlife programmes and am never happier than when I hear of successful preservation attempts whether by the World Wildlife Fund or someone else. Picture is of Cardinals on our feeder in North Carolina.

5. Classical Music

My love of classical music came mostly from my father although my mother did enjoy Rachmaninoff. It was further developed by both my husbands, Matt in particular who has been involved with music all his life. I am not fond of some of the more obscure and/or heavier classics but Beethoven, Bach, operas and so on, I love to hear. Matt always ends up crying from a well rendered version of Nessun Dorma, Luciano Pavarotti was the best in our opinion.


Now I have to tag five more bloggers  who are encouraged, but not forced, to list their own Five Things that Make Them Happy. I would actually like to tag lots more, but I will stick at five.

Jeff Hargett at Strands of Pattern
Yolanda Renee at Defending the Pen
Jenn at Scribbles from Jenn
Al Diaz at Father Dragon Writes
Bob Scotney at Bob’s Home for Writing

As it was a lovely afternoon, we headed for Barrie’s Asparagus Farm and bought some asparagus. When I got home, I chopped up 2 lbs of it as the basis for more soup.

Talking of good food, this is what we had for supper last night. We saved half in the freezer. It was very enjoyable, only one problem, the marinade caught slightly whilst it was grilling which rather ruined the picture. You can only just see the dish of sauce, but it’s there and it was good. Told you, I am no photographer.


Thai Marinated Grilled Chicken Skewers


3 lbs boneless, skinless chicken breasts, cut into
1 inch cubes

Marinade:
1/4 cup soy sauce
3 tbs firmly packed dark brown sugar
2 tbs fresh lime juice
2 tbs oil
1 tbs curry powder
2 cloves minced garlic
1 tsp finely minced fresh ginger 
1/2 tsp ground cardamom 

Peanut Coconut Sauce:
 
1 can (13.5 oz) coconut milk (not fat free or lite)
1/4 cup peanut butter
1/4 cup packed brown sugar
1 tbs soy sauce
1 1/2 tsp red curry paste

If using bamboo skewers soak them in ice-cold water for 15 minutes to prevent them from burning; set aside. I use metal kebab skewers.

Whisk all ingredients for marinade together and pour into large plastic bag; add chicken and marinate for minimum 1 hour or overnight.
 
Combine sauce ingredients in saucepan and cook over medium  heat for 3 minutes, stirring occasionally. Remove from heat and set aside
.
Spray a grill pan with nonstick cooking spray. Thread chicken cubes onto skewers. Over high heat, cook the chicken for 8 to 10 minutes, turning the skewers over halfway through. Remove skewers and allow chicken to rest a few minutes before serving.

Serves 4 to 6.

Have a great day