Visitors and More......

     My morning walk in Birch Bay is lovely.  I can see all of the surrounding islands in the distance, and when the fog lifts, I can see the snowcap mountains surrounding our beautiful space. When the tide is out, the fishing birds hang around, particularly the herons, watching for wayward crabs or fish come darting through the shallow Waters. During my walk, giant fir trees are on my left, and an eagle often perches on the top of one, scanning the bay for a meal.  A canal runs in front of them, providing a home for mallard couples who will be nesting soon. Later, the Canadian geese will come through, pair up, and nest as well. The cool breezes make the walk comfortable. Birch Bay is a delightful place, and I'm so happy we made this place part of our retirement plan.  This week I remained focused on staying within my calorie range of no more than 1200 calories a day. I'm managing it by sticking with salmon or chicken accompanied by coleslaw or broccoli salad. I'm avoiding making all of those rich foods like chicken tetrazzini, beef stroganoff, cabbage lasagna, and, of course, laulau. I'm sure those foods kept me from losing more quickly in Hawaii, although I did lose consistently. It'll be interesting to see if our calorie reduction makes a difference this week.  Steve's brother and his wife visited this past weekend. We celebrated Steve's success in obtaining his Ph.D. together. I served chicken fajitas and pinto beans as a side for the guests. Of course, I'm unable to enjoy pintos because they are so high and carbs, but I do enjoy the bean juice and sometimes serve a cup of that to myself. I'm sure that's providing more carbs than I need, but it doesn't take me out of ketosis. We also enjoyed our favorite Birch Bay brunch, including smoked salmon, eggs, and cream cheese. I have mine in a low-carb wrap, but I serve toasted bagels to everyone else.  We had a fun weekend together!  Ken brought champagne to celebrate Steve, as well as a gift and a cake.  I avoided that, but the others enjoyed the treat.  We will head to the east coast on Wednesday and spend the next several days enjoying site seeing and visiting several of our favorite area restaurants.  The primary purpose of our trip is to attend Steve's hooding ceremony on Sunday.  We're all very proud of him!