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Did Someone Say Truffles?

Going Keto Doesn’t Mean No Dessert

*This post may contain affiliate links, please check my disclosure.

Happy Monday everyone, sorry I am blogging so late but it’s been a busy Monday here on the patio. After a pleasant weekend celebrating Dave and Sean’s birthdays, visiting with family and friends, and enjoying delicious food, I needed to get busy before the rain returns. It’s been a beautiful, warm, sunny day so after kitchen duties, I needed to work in the yard a bit and clean up my beds, and get rid of an abundance of clover that had taken over. And did I tell you, I made truffles? More on that in a moment.

Dave with his birthday present from Sean
The other birthday boy, Sean, with his brothers Chris and Josh and Josh’s girlfriend Chasity

I’m working from my new laptop, made possible by my hubby Dave and Apple support! See, I had to figure out why I could not retrieve my mail before I could start working on this machine. My Mac was nice, but Dave decided that I would like the new laptop better because it uses the windows platform. Well, I guess we will see, first I have to get used to a new keyboard, a new way of doing things, and figure out where everything is located on this new machine. Then, I had to work on the website itself, get SiteGround on here so everyone knows what great hosting I have and how you can too, and then Apple had to help me fix my email, which they did, and now I’m all set! I’m a happy camper at the moment.

This morning was very busy in the kitchen as usual. I made our egg cups for the week, boiled some eggs for later use in salads or just a quick breakfast or lunch, and then I made the most delicious version of No-Bake Almond Joy  CheesecakeTruffles. Can you believe they are Keto? Wait until you taste them, it really is miraculous they taste so good. Mine are a little bit different because I was out of Vanilla extract, so I used Orange and Almond extracts instead. I followed a recipe I pinned from Mouthwatering Motivation. Super simple, and if I hadn’t used orange extract, it really would have tasted like an Almond Joy! Ya’ll understand that clicking on the link will take you to her Pinterest page right? Cool! I personally LOVE the chocolate/orange taste sensation, but if you don’t, then just stick to her recipe. Now I will have a snack ready to grab when other people are eating dessert. Or when I’m tired of fat bombs or need a change of pace. After this weekend, I need to get back on track. 😉

Guys, these are seriously yummy!
Fresh from the freezer and ready to devour!

After kitchen work was yard work, I wasn’t about to waste this beautiful day inside writing all day when the rain will soon return.  I literally filled a garbage can full of weeds, leaves, and clover. If I could have mowed, I would have! Before you ask, Dave would have a fit, that’s why! I even took my outer shirt off for a little while (gasp!) it was that warm while working hard. The minute I came in, cleaned up, and got busy writing, I became cold again, so I had to close all the windows and put my shirt back on.  🙁

Not perfect but better after weed removal

I hope you’ll try the truffles and that your Monday was enjoyable if not productive. Shoot me a question or comment and thanks for stopping by the patio!

 

 

 

*Disclosure: Mentions of associated products, services, or businesses within the content of this blog may or may not be noted as an affiliate in every reference. I only choose to promote products, services, or businesses that I trust.

 

 

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Watering, Weeding and Writing-How I Spent My Morning

Good morning everyone and how are you doing today?

Well, I started my morning literally “in the weeds” but that’s not a bad thing. I spent 30 minutes watering and weeding while it was relatively cool before the sun was up, and only made a little progress before I was sweating like a hog and slightly nauseous. See, I’m having a bit of trouble with my right eye (my contact eye) so I decided to see if I could wear my glasses for a day. Sadly that will be a no go if I’m to feel nauseated all day. Maybe little breaks without my contact will help but I realize that I just need to go see my eye doctor and get this straightened out.

My overgrown bed
A slight bit of progress

The turtles are not my thing, they were gifted to me from the previous homeowners (along with many, many other things). So, after a bit of hoeing around, lol, I came inside to the cool air and a nice cup of coffee.

I’m also happy to report that after signing on with Crowd Content, I have completed my first assignment for a client and am now waiting for an approval from the editor. I’m nervous because there are lots of rules you have to follow and certain infractions cause you to get strikes and so on, but I will learn how to work with clients and editors this way. What it is, is a place to get paid (albeit a tiny wage in the beginning) per word for your writing by doing small jobs for different clients. They may need product descriptions, blog posts, posts for their social media, etc. As you prove yourself and have successful jobs with no strikes, your pay increases per word. There is even the opportunity for bonuses! My first assignment was just a 20-60 word pd (product description) and yet I’m sure I did something wrong. We will see, I will keep you posted. Eventually, if I get the hang of this and move on to bigger projects, I can start writing those white papers that I took that other course for. That is a real juicy project with a real earning potential. In one way I feel I’m going backwards as long as I have been writing and now I apply for a job making pennies, yet at the same time,  I’m glad I waited until I learned to write daily, and quickly because all that will help me do many assignments per day eventually. The more you do the faster you climb the ladder and make more money.

Would any of you, as bloggers, be interested in how to make money this way? (I’m not getting anything in return for your interest, just trying to help I promise) If so, just check out Crowd Content by clicking the link and read the writer’s guide, rules and regulations. Give it a go and let me know how you get on! Have a great Thursday everyone and I’ll catch you later, on the patio.

 

 

 

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Day 265-Free Days-How I Spent My Weekend (Spoiler…Not Writing)

Happy Sunday everybody! I hope your weekend has been as productive as you wanted it to be. Mine was, if yardwork is your bag.

Dave and Chris building me an acorn sieve
Me using it

Athough I was supposed to write another review on the website-Products From the Patio, we spent most of yesterday working in my Mother-in-law’s yard and today in our own. Not to mention I’m going on 4 hours of sleep, due to my son waking me up coughing from working in the cold in shorts and no coat yesterday (he has bad allergies and asthma…and smokes 😡) and the other thing is that I’m still having computer problems and did not get what I needed to write my review today. Hopefully I will get it soon and I will compose the post as soon as I do.

On the plus side, I surely worked off lots of calories this weekend with all the exercise I got raking, sweeping, root pulling and shoveling on the two yards. Wish I had taken before and after pics of Claudette’s backyard, but I was cold and tired when we finished and was ready to get home and take a hot bath.

As tired as I was from not getting sleep, I worked my tail off for another four or five hours in my own yard, maybe getting energy from a combination of lemongrass essential oil and a new coconut water I tried that was infused with coffee-not to mention sheer will of wanting to get the job done. The boys worked hard as well, chopping and digging out the roots of eight more bushes, building me an acorn sieve for the thousands of acorns accumulated over years of neglected yard work by the previous owners. They planted that darn jasmine ground cover and let it take over the beds completely. We found everything from trash to shingles in that stuff!

Add to that, my husband built the brackets needed to hang the tv in the soon-to-be-remodeled game room (man cave) even after all that yard work and is kindly cooking dinner for us now! That man is a keeper!!

I will be so glad when the tilling gets done and I am able to start planning and planting new things. I’m very sore and tired, but glad for semi-clean beds. In retrospect, I did more work than necessary, I should have waited until we tilled to sieve and pull roots, it’s ok though, we have several bags of leaves, acorns and bush roots to show for it. Sometimes, writing has to take a backseat so other things can be accomplished…and that’s ok too. 😉

 

 

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Day 230-Free Days-Sunday Happenings

I so hope you have enjoyed the beautiful day this has been! Sunday in our part of the world got up to 80 degrees, and was spent working on the blog, the yard and dinner for family. Now, to be honest, Dave did the yard, I worked in the office and cleaned up after dinner, but hey-it was still a team effort…go team Smyth, lol.

The family, sans Chris, enjoyed thick, juicy Angus beef from Sams, baked potatoes (some of us had sweet) and salad. Unfortunately, Chris opted to go play disc golf with his friends, which is his choice of course, but he missed out for sure! I did try to help him out before he left by preparing him a special foot soak to treat his athletes foot (poor thing has a chronic problem) and dab treatment with specific essential oils. The foot soak had Epsom salts, tea tree oil, lavender oil, eucalyptus and peppermint, along with baking soda in warm water with apple cider vinegar. After he soaked for five minutes, he dried them well and I dabbed them with a cotton ball that had a few drop some of lavender and tea tree oil. These oils are anti-fungal and anti-bacterial, and some, like lavender, provide anti-inflammatory benefits. I sure hope it helps, but truthfully, he should do the treatment every day.

Now, everyone is gone and I have the evening breeze flowing through the living room, as I Watch Shades of Blue and compose this blog. A perfect end to a joyful weekend. Join me this week for my regular daily features and to hear the outcome of my appointment with the ENT and kidney doctor, which will hopefully end my doctor chores for the month. See you mañana, on the patio! 😎

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Day 69-Free Days-Home and Garden

After a leisurely morning where we actually got to sleep in for a change, the hubby and I got up and prepared for a long day working around the house and yard.

After a mandatory trip to our home away from home, Home Depot, we got back and he proceeded to ready the hallway for paint and flooring. He also plans to replace the stairs to the attic, since our present one was quite rickety. He got the floor scraped and the walls prepped for paint, then painted. Although the color I picked for the hall didn’t change the look much, at least it’s fresh and clean now.

The hall after fresh paint
The hall after fresh paint

While he was busy with all that, I decided to tackle some much needed yard work. First I weeded out the bed with the little bush plants that line the outer wall of the garage. I had really let that go but after the rain we had yesterday, they came out pretty easily.

Then in was time to give the roses a much needed hair cut. What a job that was, and of course I’m bearing a few scratches and thorn pricks, plus I have no idea what I’m doing, I just went with my gut. The roses appeared to be suffering some kind of sickness, having brown sickly looking leaves clustered among the good ones. Snip snip, and the diseased bits are all gone. Hopefully they come back just as beautiful next year as they were this one. I think it is a big improvement.

Freshly trimmed rose bushes.
Freshly trimmed rose bushes.

I’m still not sure exactly what the plants in the front are, they were pretty when they bloomed out. I just cleared the dead parts away and they can finish out the season where they are. Now for a hot bath or shower and a rest for my already sore back. I hope you all had a productive happy day!