Berried

Even in a time of elephantine vanity and greed, one never has to look far to see the campfires of gentle people.~Garrison Keillor

My friend's dad died the other day and, while he was well into his 70's, it is sad to lose your dad.  We were talking about him while at the dinner table recounting stories that made us smile or laugh and I was reminded of  a time when Sean was four and in daycare.

His daycare provider, Donna (the most wonderful woman I have EVER met), had taken the kids to O'Keefe Ranch.  The ranch is a reconstructed village of old buildings, main "big house", a store, church, blacksmith shop, pottery shop, wagons, horses, steam engines and lots of things to do and see.  They made their way through the village and up to the church and then out through the cemetery.  Tierney O'Keefe, a descendant of the original family,  had died two weeks previous and the mound of dirt at his gravesite was very large.  The kids saw the pile of dirt as an opportunity to play but Donna asked them to respect it as Tierny O'Keefe was buried there.  No problem for the kids there was so much more to see and do. 

That night after I read Sean a bed time story, I asked about his day . He told me that he saw the pile of dirt where Mr. O'Keefe had been buried.  He seemed really excited about it so I took it as an opportunity to talk further about death and burials and all of a sudden noticed the look on his face changing.  I then realized he had confused "buried" with "berried",  hadn't really known that a body was in the ground,  and was thinking more about fruit than death.  I asked if he was ok and he said yes that he was.

 I few seconds later he said "mom, when I die will you come into my pile with me?"



this picture is from http://things-we-heart.blogspot.com/




I love this song  "Forever" by Vertical Horizon

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RRw5XWp-saQ&feature=related

A bit of Stuff about Nothing

Clown Poppies

I planted these things one year and now have a yard full - they are everywhere.

We saw written on a T-Shirt the other day:

Dear Math,

I am not a psychologist.

Solve you own problems

T-shirt logos from http://www.snorgtees.com/

 

While I was in my sewing room cleaning up (yeah right)  I thought I would make my boy a new lunch bag, the fabric has kevlar in it.  Not bullet proof and certainly not "lose" proof.  Lunchbags are like socks in the laundry - it's a big mystery on where they end up.  I have my suspicions that he's throwing them away - the lunch bags - not the socks. 

The garage sale went well - I still have the mystery press, the onion blossom cutter, the piano and the old stove but boxes and boxes of stuff went to some very nice people and I hope they will not have buyers remorse.

  I also sold a lot of pottery.

It was a great opportunity to see neighbors that we haven't run into over the winter months and to meet the new neighbors who moved in across the street two weeks ago.  My husband met her husband the day after they moved in when her husband was trying, single handedly and unsuccessfully, to haul a washing machine up their front steps.  I was watching his attempts from my front window and poked my head out to ask my husband, who was pruning trees, to go over and help.  "It's the neighbourly thing to do" I said.  His look was a dirty one as the last time I said that it turned into a four hour job and he was not a happy man.

 Helping someone is just the right thing to do.

Confessions of a Shopaholic

My husband is having a meltdown.

I'm posting my blog early today as Garage Sale is tomorrow morning.  People always come early, looking for bargains and to be first in line for treasures.  I spent most of last night hauling our treasures from the basement to the garage which in itself is not a problem but it gives my husband a first hand look at all the gadgets and stuff that I "had to have".

I'm not sure if this is a hamburger press or a tortilla press - I haven't used it.

I just bought this a month or so ago.  It's for deep fried onion blossoms but since the fryer is going then, sadly, so must the blossom cutter.

I thought I could get into shape by rollerblading everywhere but it's hard to press the gas peddle with these things on

Poached eggs in a microwave explode no matter how closely instructions are followed

Pewter soup tureen - can anyone say "lead poisoning"

My list could go on and on.  apple corer, slap chop, electric knife, avocado slicer (Adam said I could use a knife instead - wise boy), juicers both manual and electric, tiny muffin tins, oversized muffin tins .....

Husband is right - leave the bank card at home - sigh, I hate it when he's right.

Rain Coast Style Cracker Recipe and For Sale - Cheap

Saturday is the annual community garage sale where everyone puts out the junk articles they no longer want or need.  Things are usually pretty cheap  inexpensive and you have to watch that you don't bring home more useless crap  things you don't need.  As well as a slightly used deep fryer with bear scratches on it I am trying to unload the following

I bought this when Sean was about 4 months old because I wanted him to be a beautiful piano player just like my sisters two girls.  Neither he or his brother have a shred of interest in it.  You can lead a horse to water......

I'm also trying to unload this

This old wood cook stove was in the kitchen when we bought the house.  It wasn't the main stove or oven but I used it sometimes just to see if I could.  I'm glad I was born in the age of electricity.

I couldn't have made these crackers in that old cook stove as they would have been way past zwiebach and right into burnt offerings and what a shame it would be to ruin a batch as they are so delicious.

You should make these because they are really simple.

Watch out - it's way too easy to eat a pant-load of these things.

Raincoast Style Crackers

2 cup flour

2 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 cups buttermilk (or *milk w/1 tbsp vinegar)

¼ cup brown sugar

¼ cup honey

1 cup raisins (or *dried cranberries/apricots)

½ cup chopped pecans or *walnuts

½ cup pumpkin seeds

¼ cup sesame seeds

*¼ cup sunflower seeds

*¼ cup poppy seeds

¼ cup ground flax

½ tsp dried rosemary

* indicates that the original recipe didn’t call for these but that’s what I generally use – also you can switch up the flavors by changing the rosemary for another herb that you like. Last time I added Chia seeds as well.

Preheat oven to 350

Mix together dry ingredients, stir to combine.  Add wet ingredients and stir only until blended.  Pour batter into two 4 x 8 loaf pans that have parchment paper or are oiled and floured.  Bake about 40/45 min until golden and springy to the touch.  Remove from pans and cool.

Put the loaves in the freezer as they are easier to slice when frozen.  Slice as thin as you can and put slices on a cookie sheet in single layer (melba toast style).  Bake slices at 310 deg for about 10 min then flip them over and bake for another 10 min or so (watch closely as you can go from crispy to burnt in a very short time)  If you make both loaves at once you will get about 8 doz crackers.  These crackers are exceptionally good when dipped into asiago artichoke dip.

I am not one to leave well enough alone.  Faced with the task of using up three bunches of quickly ripening bananas, I adjusted the recipe above to get a pretty delicious version of these crackers.

I added to the recipe 3 medium ripe bananas, 1/4 cup oat bran and 1/4 cup whole wheat flour, 1 tsp cardamon, 1 tsp lemon pepper and I switched the pumpkin seeds for slivered almonds and that was it!  They taste a bit like dried bananas.  Yum.

These will take longer to bake about 10 - 15 longer depending on the thickness you cut them.

Deep Fried Bears

We live at the base of a small mountain (not an Alps style mountain but a mountain none the less)  There is a lot of wildlife that call this area home.    It is not unusual to see bears or raccoons in our fruit trees fattening themselves up for the winter.  Similar to what I do as well .

Every year or so I will pull out my deep fryer and make donuts or calamari or some other equally unhealthy delicious dish and, because I don't want my kitchen covered in a fine film of oil, I put the deep fryer outside on the deck to do the cooking there.   I  also leave it out there to cool down after all the frying is done.
Last time I forgot to bring it in.

  Look here  

 This is where the fryer hit the deck when the bear tried to get to the oil.  

 Look here

This is the bear paw-prints showing the trail where the bear dragged my deep fryer  into the flower bed at the end of the deck to lick up all the oily goodness. 

  Look here

 This is my deep fryer going into this weekends garage sale.

Darn Bear!

Banana Hair

I found on a blog  http://aprilbaker23.blogspot.com/2011/03/banana-rama.html a recipe for banana hair conditioner that I thought I would try.  Mostly because my counter was covered in bananas (I don't know how that happened) but also because I have bad hair and love home remedies.
I mixed up the concoction, moistened my hair as instructed and slathered it on.  It smelled nice and felt awful - it was pretty cold and slimy.  There was extra so I thought good for the hair, must also be good for the skin, so on my face it went. 
I didn't have a plastic bag that was large enough so I got a blue recycle bag and wrapped that around my head but thats a lot of bag!  I found duct tape and taped the bag so that it wasn't hanging in my face and, timer set for 45 minutes, went about my chores.  The doorbell rang.

It was a representative from a local church.   He looked scared - not to blame him, I really was not at my best.    He thrust his pamphlet into my hand and ran. That, without a doubt, was the  quickest invitation to meet Jesus I've ever had!

My hair, by the way, looks great!


We live in a beautiful part of the world

this is Archie - he has a smiley face on his hip

Earthquest and Ulcers

Our 15 year old son Sean will be going into grade 11 next fall.  He is a “keener” – loving everything. His arm shoots up in a "pick me pick me" kind of way every time there is a request for a volunteer, participant, member, accomplice, whatever ... and he is happy, happy, happy all of the time which, as I understand, is pretty unusual for a teenager.  When the opportunity came along to sign up for Earthquest, http://www.earthquest.ca/  an outdoor educational program in his high school, there was no question in his mind that he would enrol.   He received his acceptance letter yesterday.

Now I have a stomach ache.

 I have to sign a waiver that states that  I won’t be able to file a lawsuit if his beacon locator fails should he be hit by an avalanche,  or if his ocean kayak flips and he’s eaten by killer whales,  or if he falls into a crevice on a glacier,  or if his mountain bike goes off the edge of the trail and he lands in a raging creek 60 feet below.
I can hardly type these words.

We go for our first parent/student meeting with the leaders of the program, Moe and Barrie Reid, on April 28th.  http://www.earthquest.ca/home#!__instructors .  They were the leaders when Sean’s dad (my husband) took the program.  He, my husband, will be attending his 30 year high school reunion this July.

 Sean’s first expedition is August 15.  I am hoping not to turn into a nervous, hovering, panicking, worrying and tense mother but I fear that ship might have sailed.

This is Sean last summer on Okanagan Lake

Walk of Shame down Memory Lane

Today I  started sewing this bathing suit.

 It is a pattern that I come back to time after time.  Its easy to construct and the end result is very comfortable and quite forgiving visually .  Each time I make a new one, or even put on an old one, I am reminded of the summer my sister and her family came for a visit. 

Adam was 3 months old and they wanted to go to the beach.
It was hot.      
So hot that children were crying as they walked across the beach to the lake as the sand burned their feet.  I was wearing this suit (see above) which I had made in a very bright royal blue.  I thought I looked pretty good for just having had a baby 3 months earlier.  The bottom of the suit was bothering me, riding up a bit.  I kept tugging at the  side trying to pull it down thinking that I couldn't have gained that much weight.  I am quite verbal so the people around me knew I was having an issue with the suit.    To be honest, probably everyone on the beach knew of my problem. After about an hour of tugging and complaining and carrying on I pulled the waistband out a little thinking that  might help the situation and what do I see?

   The crotch lining!!!   
. 
The waistband was around my right leg, the right leg was on my left leg and the left leg was around my waist.  "I'VE GOT MY BATHING SUIT ON SIDEWAYS!'  I blurted out

The elderly gentleman sitting on the beach chair next to us  gave a smirk, a wink and a nod as if to say "you are an idiot"

I thought I was going to burst a blood vessel .

this is Adam and a buddy thirteen years later

Some Days......

I don't know who wrote this or who to give credit for it but this sums up my day ! 



I decide to water my garden.
As I turn on the hose in the driveway, I look over at my car and decide my car needs washing.
As I start toward the garage, I notice that there is mail on the porch table that I brought up from the mail box earlier.
I decide to go through the mail before I wash the car.
I lay my car keys down on the table, put the junk mail in the recycle bin under the table, and notice that the bin is full.
So, I decide to put the bills back on the table and take out the recycle first.
But then I think, since I'm going to be near the mailbox when I take out the garbage anyway, I may as well pay the bills first.
I take my cheque book off the table, and see that there is only one cheque left. My extra cheques are in my desk in the study, so I go inside the house to my desk where I find the can of coke that I had been drinking.
I'm going to look for my cheques, but first I need to push the coke aside so that I don't accidentally knock it over. I see that the coke is getting warm, and I decide I should put it in the refrigerator to keep it cold.
As I head toward the kitchen with the coke, a vase of flowers on the counter catches my eye: they need to be watered.
I place the coke down on the work surface, and I discover my glasses that I've been searching for all morning.
I decide I better put them back on my desk, but first I'm going to water the flowers.
I set the glasses back down on the work top, fill a container with water and suddenly I spot the TV remote. Someone has left it on the kitchen table.
I realise that tonight when we go to watch TV, I will be looking for the remote, but I won't remember that it's on the kitchen table, so I decide to put it back in the tv room where it belongs, but first I'll water the flowers.
I pour some water in the flowers, but quite a bit of it spills on the floor. So, I set the remote back down on the table, get some towels and wipe up the spill.
Then, I head down the hall trying to remember what I was planning to do.
At the end of the day:

• The car isn't washed.
• The bills aren't paid.
• There is a warm can of coke sitting on the work surface.
• The flowers don't have enough water.
• There is still only one cheque in my chequebook.
• I can't find the TV remote.
• I can't find my glasses and I don't remember what I did with the car keys.

Then, when I try to figure out why nothing got done today, I'm really baffled because I know I was busy all day long, and I'm really tired. I realise this is a serious problem, and I'll try to get some help for it, but first I'll check my e-mail.
I just remembered, I left the water running......................................


So, to whoever wrote this - thank you.   J

Watercolors - note to self - don't quit the day job

I live in an area of British Coumbia that looks quite similar to this.  I moved here from the Prairies (Manitoba to be exact).  Its very flat there.   I have a fear of heights and sometimes the BC roads are just too "perched on the edge of a cliff" for me so I just shut my eyes which works unless I am the one doing the driving,

This is where we live - this picture is from the top of Bluenose mountain.  Our house is situated in the area on the very far right side of the picture where the grass looks mowed!

Perfect really.

Except for the driving part.

This is our son Sean.

He's such a great kid.



Soft Pretzels and a Bad Hair Day

Today I was in the bank, paying some bills, and a woman came up to me and said"you have beautiful hair"


I think she might have been drinking.

Soft Pretzels Recipe

Into the bowl of a mixer with a Bread Hook add:

3 cups Bread Flour (2 1/2 Cup White and 1/2 cup Whole Wheat)

1 tsp Instant Yeast

1 tsp Salt

2 tbsp Sugar - (1 tbsp White and 1 tbsp Brown)

1 tbsp Powdered Milk

With mixer running add:

1 tbsp Oil

1 cup Warm Water (Skin Temp Warm) 

You might need to add a bit more water but mix well and add dribbles of water if necessary to get a smooth dough. It should feel like your breasts did when you were 25. 


The dough should look like this and This is what your thighs will look like if you eat too many

Remove from the mixer bowl and knead a couple of times on the counter and place back into the mixer bowl that you’ve oiled slightly and let rise, covered with plastic wrap and a towel, for about an hour until doubled (more or less) in size.  Set oven to 425 deg. F.  in about 15 minutes.  Punch down dough, cut into 8 pieces, roll each into a log shape, cover with plastic wrap and let rest for about 30 minutes.  Roll each log into long thin strips about 15 - 18" long. 

Twist into a knot. 

 Drop into a pot of boiling water for 30 seconds, flip, wait 20 seconds and remove to an oiled sheet pan. 

Sprinkle with sea salt and poppy seeds or sesame seeds.

  Bake immediately at 425 degrees F for about 18 - 20 Minutes.


Make and eat these and it will take your mind off my hair.

Happy Birthday andThe Seeds of OCD

Our son Adam will be 13 tomorrow.   He is a boy with a killer sense of humor who always has us laughing.  I am so happy we have him in our family! 

This is him on the right trying to look tough.

Happy Birthday Adam

This is some of his art

I started some seeds tonight - I should be able to put the resulting plants in the garden at the end of May.  Last fall when I was dealing with the intense amount of produce (canning, freezing, chasing neighbors down the street with bags of tomatoes, squash and carrots, and making numerous trips to the food bank) I decided that NO MORE!  I would NOT plant 24 tomato plants, I would NOT plant 20 hills of potatoes,  I would NOT plant artichokes (artichokes??? what was I thinking!!!) I would NOT be planting every seed in every spare corner of the garden because there was just too much.

 It must be OCD because when I pulled out the bag with all those beautiful seeds I was overcome. 

You'll hear from me again in the fall when I complain about having too much produce.

Music - How Could I Do Housework Without It?

Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1BK6mIIZc84

Prairie Oyster
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5-BDqlwI-Hs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J-S_L5UjrKM&feature=watch_response

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxAu8elBXiQ&feature=related

Adele

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s_Zs7XS3XUo

Jimmy Eat World

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Qmc5lOhcfo

The Vanishers with Ginger St. James

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t1Zjex8VaeU

Please SUPPORT THE ARTS


Two days ago I put some bisqued bowls into the kiln and tonight I took them out - the kiln didn't reach cone 6 but the sitter shut the kiln off and here is the result.  I won't quit my day job....

Two days ago (maybe three) I brought in some forsythia and witch hazel branches and this is what they look like now - I love Spring.