Journal

HERE THEY ARE

2008-08-23T01:09:37Z

BLUEBERRIES! VEGETABLES! CHEESE!

2008-08-22T06:53:14Z

I've made this Blueberry Crumb Cake twice this week! I went down to the market to gather together all the ingredients and asked the woman at the blueberry stand for 4 cups of blueberries. She said that would be 3 pounds. I ended up getting just over that amount and when I got home discovered that I had enough to make the recipe twice and still have some left over.

The first batch went to the ladies at work and the second batch made it over to Trish's house for Jason's farewell dinner. He's off to China for at least a year, possibly three. He was on the last day of a 12 day cleanse and we provided him with a dinner that included at least 6 things that he wasn't supposed to be eating. Oops! But I think he enjoyed it anyway. The little cherry tomatoes came from the farmer's market. They were so pretty I couldn't resist! And the cheesy vegetable pie was delicious - even though it had parsnips and I forgot to include the potatoes.

MORE DUDES

2008-08-22T06:43:01Z

These twin birds were made for Thomas. I'm a big fan of the pink and orange combo. Next up are some birds with embroidered eyes - a little more suitable for the little kids.

QUEEN ELIZABETH PARK

2008-08-22T06:25:18Z

A SECOND SHOWER

2008-07-30T16:01:01Z

Last Sunday Trish hosted a second baby shower for Emma. What a lovely bunch of ladies! Trish made my favourite egg dish and foccacia bread. The smell of roasted garlic and tomatoes is seriously good. Way off in the corner you can see the strawberry buttercream cake that I made. It's probably been a couple of years since I pulled out that recipe. Tasty and pretty!

I must say that going to potluck events these days is so much better than back when I was 20. We used to be quite lazy and end up making a last minute stop at the store to pick up a bag of chips. But now, everyone makes a real effort to bring something homemade and delicious. Check it out! Watermelon, feta cheese & mint skewers, apple custard, bread made with currants from Emma's garden, cookies with lavender, peach crumble. It was quite the spread! Plus Emma received some lovely gifts for when that baby arrives.

JULY CRITICAL MASS

2008-07-26T23:18:01Z

Devon and I went out to the New India Buffet before heading over to the art gallery for this month's Critical Mass. We had a great meal on the patio, overlooking the city. But we arrived a bit late for the ride and there were about 12 of us wondering which way the group had headed. Everyone was on their cell phones trying to make contact with someone who was in the know. I finally managed to get in touch with Trish and we headed off toward Main & Broadway to try and catch up. We made it to Main & Terminal just in time to join in at the front of the crowd.

Here are pictures from 3 of the bridges we crossed: Burrard, Lion's Gate, and Granville. In the end, I figure that we were out riding for about four and a half hours. Not a bad way to spend a Friday night.

BABY CRAZY

2008-07-26T22:08:46Z

This week has been all about sewing baby stuff. Here are some bibs and burp pads...

And these little kimonos were made using the tutorial over at Habitual. Trish has requested an adult version of the elephant one but there's no way my sewing skills would be up for figuring that out. The second one came together much faster than the first, which I guess is to be expected. Can't wait to see how they look on an actual baby...

IT'S BEEN A YEAR

2008-07-24T16:15:50Z

The twins had their first birthday party! Karen made a chocolate cake for Julien and a pink cake for Amelia. And she wasn't kidding when she said it was really pink. I took care of the icing while the other preparations were going on.

Karen was concerned about the lack of shade available in the back yard so she had picked up supplies to create some shaded areas. The final result was pretty impressive and quite effective. Last time I was over it was still up but I imagine it's come down by now.

And here are the twins, at one year old. Julien enjoying his cake and Amelia more interested in the toys.

A TRIP TO OREGON

2008-07-24T04:56:52Z

A group of us headed down to Coos Bay, Oregon for a conference last week. We had a stopover on the way down in Portland where we stayed at the Heathman Hotel. It was lovely - my only complaint was the quality of the robes that were provided. Denise and I thought we would lounge around on our beds in our robes but they didn't really live up to that dream. But we loved the L'Occitane soaps and were especially a fan of the valet service. Our time in Portland was rather limited so I'm definitely planning on going back to do it up right. We went to Byways Cafe for breakfast before heading out on the road to the coast. I think Kimberly made the best choice with the amaretto infused brioche french toast - she was kind enough to share a bit with me and Andrea.

We stopped at Woodburn Shopping Mall for a bit and then headed out toward Newport, taking the winding scenic route. It was quite beautiful and then we stopped at this beach for a bit to stretch our legs. The coast turned out to be much chillier than expected and our hands were red from the cold by the time we headed back to the car.

Then we were off to Coos Bay to stay at the student residences at Southwestern Oregon Community College. Needless to say, the accommodations were much less glamourous than what we had in Portland. But we had a good time in our 4 room apartment. The campus is right next to Empire Lake which we went to check out one evening...

And Denise found out where the tree frogs live...cute!

On our last day before heading back up to Canada, we drove down to Bandon where we saw the King of Jordan's entourage leaving town while we had lunch at Tony's Crab Shack. Then we made it over to the beach which was fantastic! Oregon treated us pretty well and some of us are already making plans to go back...

FINISHED BLANKET

2008-07-23T19:57:22Z

Here's the baby blanket that I finished up a couple of weeks ago. It's based on the Purl Bee's Super Easy Baby Blanket. It went to Emma last weekend, at her first baby shower. It was a lovely backyard event complete with a 3 tiered diaper cake. Jessica was organizing the 50/50 baby pool - all you have to do is guess the date, weight and gender of the baby. Just a few more weeks before we'll find out who the winner is...