Ice Fishing

This past weekend Ike's Scouting group had a family ice fishing trip planned....and it was loads of fun.  We were fortunate to enjoy good weather (slightly above freezing), good company, and good food.  The ice was a several feet thick, but the group leaders arrived an hour early and made quick work of the holes with a gas powered auger.  Fun times with friends, roasting hotdogs and marshmallows, and catching fish....all good things!  We almost had one, but it was the one that got away as it took the hook and the worm.  Surely it must have been huge!  I spent a lot of time trying to decide what to bring along for food to share and in the end just made a double batch of chocolate chip cookies.  You really cannot go wrong with those.

The kids each had their own hole to fish, and the people next to us caught two rainbow trout.  Ike's attention span for jigging was a little short, so much of the time his hook sat fairly still.  Still, it was nice to get outside with friends and do something a little different.  I hope your weekend was fun too!

Kids + Dirt = Fun

Wow, this weekend was very busy indeed!  A lot of time was spent out doors, which is nice since the weather was beautiful.  Saturday morning was spent at the school on a little project that has been brewing for a few years now.  Now....it is finally done.

I

As we left our yard, pushing our wheel barrow filled with tools, we could hear the banging from the dump truck as it left a load of soil on the school field.  We were right on time!  

People were sorted into groups....some constructed the planting beds while others measured and cleared sod.  And the kids wanted to help too, which was nice.

It all came together much quicker than we had thought it might, and the weather cooperated perfectly!

We even had extra soil..... You can never have too much dirt!  Soon the classes will be out planting their little crops.  The kids that showed up that morning to help got to plant up some flowers...............................

and a rhubarb plant too.  We finished up just in time ..........we could hear thunder in the distance as we pushed our wheel barrow home.  Hope your weekend was enjoyable:)

Spring in the Yard

Lot's of things are happening outside now.  We are seeing more neighbours out and doing yard work. This past weekend (Victoria Day weekend) is the typical weekend for yard work and for planting annuals for this region.  I braved the crowds in the garden center and purchased most of what I needed to fill the flower bed along the front of the house.  I also got myself a little treat.  I purchased a 'Juliet' sour cherry shrub for my yard.  Now comes the debate over where to plant it.  I have little doubt that this decision will cause some controversy as DH has a simple plan of having nothing in his way when he mows the lawn.  We shall soon see who gets their way I suppose. This sour cherry is compact, hardy to Zone 2 and is a very prolific producer, producing dark red cherries suitable to eat fresh or to process. 

I managed to spend a few hours putzing around the back yard as well, cleaning out dead foliage from last year's blooms and removing the dead canes from the raspberries.  I don't know why I always wait until the spring to do this....oh  yes....because I am a procrastinator!  I was very excited to see if the onions that my friend's parents gave me last summer had survived the winter......And yeah!!! They had!

They are an intriguing little plant called an Egyptian Walking onion because of the way they spread.  Interesting and useful little plants:)  I have already been in and used quite a few of the greens already.  I am really liking this little plant.

Canadian Health Care Adventures

Time always seems to race by and this past weekend was no exception.  Before it all hit the fan........I did manage to squeeze in my annual birthday pedicure.  What promised to be a weekend with a relaxing pace quickly turned into a frantic balancing act to juggle volunteer time and cooking commitments with two visits to emergency followed by 2 days of back and forth to visit poor DH for his hospital stay.  Finally after  2 years of continuous back pain, 4 weeks of curious abdominal cramping and unusual bowel habits, the abdominal pain reached levels which brought DH to the door of the emergency room.  On Thursday there was a visit to the family doctor who set up some initial tests.  Then the next day (night actually...2am Saturday more specifically driving like an idiot through every red light with wailing DH) was the first visit to emergency  which resulted in some pain management and an appointment within hours for a CT scan.  The second  emergency visit (also on the weekend more crazy driving and less substantial wailing) thankfully resulted in a consultation with a urologist to assess the results of the CT scan.  Within two hours in emergency, the culprit (a 3mmX 9mm kidney stone) was identified, his pain was managed, DH was admitted, and his name was added to the emergency OR list to have the stone fractured with a laser.  The most inconvenient part for him, I think, (aside from the initial pain that brought him in) was fasting while waiting for his turn in the OR to come up. While he did not make it to the OR that first night, he did make it the next day at 7pm, resulting in a second night stay.  This is poor little DH's second experience with kidney stones and as his symptoms this go around were less typical , was not diagnosed with the same speed as the initial stone 2 years ago.  As with anything, I suppose, we encountered some excellent and some not so excellent doctors and nurses........but overall I think our experience with the health care system was quite positive. Through this whole experience we will see no bills and will spend no money.  The hospital stay was just long enough.........plenty of ipod entertainment, family visiting, Ike's night time homework to do, and all kinds of action in the public ward room he was in as the 3 other patients were fairly entertaining.  Although we do have extended health care through work.......we did not bother to see about having a semi private room.  He most likely would not have been nearly as well entertained.  The care we received is that which is given to any who find their way into the hospital system here.  We live in a country with universal health care, and while it may not be perfect....... for the most part....it's pretty damned good, and we are very luck to have it.  While no doubt there is waste within it, (as with anything government run) it is well worth the effort to be diligent in working towards reducing it so that these services continue to be available to all who need it, regardless of their ability to pay. Now we wait to see if the back pain, which he had assumed was a separate issue, is cleared up as the kidney stones make their exit.   Life is pretty good:)

Ever Root an African Violet?

Friday night we hit up a friend to stay with Ike while DH and I did a few shops and stopped for a bite to eat.  I NEEDED to stop at Michael's to pick up some worsted weight wool yarn......only $3 per 200m ball (who could blame me) and to pick up some new colour of size 3 crochet thread for an up coming swap-bot project.  But I digress......my point to share with you is that while stopping at a home reno store, I made a quick stop in the gardening section.  I wanted to see if they had any gloxinias.   (They did not:)  I have not had a gloxinia in over 10 years, but it is a plant that reminds me so very much of my gramma K and I have been feeling the want for one lately.  That's my gramma's farm in the photo above.  Her farm house was filled with plants....when Gramma died, I can even remember some of my cousins while carrying her coffin commenting on how heavy it was and wondering if she had taken all her plants with her.  I totally smile when I think of that comment as she would have loved to take them with her......I'm certain of it.  Gramma loved flowers and there are a few that stand in my memory of her as being  the flowers that defined her.  She loved white flowers and would be drawn to them over other more colourful varieties.  Gloxinias, African violets, ferns, and Christmas cactus is what I remember most about her indoor flowers, and for the outside there were lilacs, peonies, Iceland poppies, Daffodils, Dahlias, Flocs and Sweet Williams. When I was little (and even now) I thought gramma's flower garden was the most beautiful place on earth.  Gramma's farm was filled with lilac bush tunnels, jungles of rhubarb, an interesting huge rain water tank (very fun for paper boats), rows of raspberries, forests of Saskatoons, tempting haylofts sometimes bounding with kittens, implement sheds filled with even then antique farm equipment, and beautiful flowering crabs just bursting with over 50 years of growth.

Well Friday night while in the garden section looking for a gloxinia....I did something that my gramma had done a thousand times.  Don't tell anyone, but I pinched a leaf from an African Violet for a little rooting experiment.  Gramma used to do this all the time.  I remember taking her grocery shopping when she no longer drove her car, and being so embarrassed when she would spot a violet or other plant that tempted her.  She would pick it up and comment on how beautiful or unusual the shade or colour was (and how expensive it was)....then she would quickly pinch a leaf from the bottom and carefully wrap it's stem in a wet tissue and place it in a plastic bag to take home to root.  All the while commenting on how this one little leaf would never be  missed and how it was actually good for the plant.  Then she would take it home and let it set in her window in a small glass or jelly jar of water.....patiently waiting for it to root.  When it did root she would plant it in soil and up onto the window sill it would go in a little pot with a margarine container lid or a jar lid underneath.

 Well my little leaf made it home Friday night and after a rough night of the cat swatting it out of its water drink.....I rescued it this morning and replaced the water that Ginger had drank.  It now sits under a protective cat proof glass on my window sill waiting to root.  So this is a tribute experiment to you Gramma:)....let's hope I don't go to jail!

Anyone know how long this should take?  I have no idea what I'm doing here.

Laziness, Productivity and Food

Life has been slow this week.....and that's a nice change of pace. There have not been too many things on the to do list.......at least not so many that it's hard to keep up. We've had a few lazy days....which always slip by much more quickly than you imagine they should. The only thing on the must do list each of these days was to make something for supper. Which, lazy as it might seem, didn't happen at all one day. Curiously enough as supper time was approaching yesterday, I was left to make supper without the benefit of a trip to the grocery store....so I was limited to what I had on hand. Strange as it sounds, this left me with the unusual option of making Ma Po Tofu for dinner. I cannot recall if Ike has eaten Ma Po Tofu before.....we used to make Ma Po a lot for dinner....but not in the last few years....so this was a bit of an experiment. Oddly enough he enjoyed it....I mean I think he really liked it. When I placed it down in front of him, he asked...."is that Tofu??" in a hopeful voice.

Aside from all the laziness.......I did have one project that I needed to get out in the mail. So I finished it up, and this little bit of embroidery is now on it's way to sunny New Zealand to become part of a bigger quilt project. I'm excited to see the end result as this lady does some beautiful work. She was a partner I had for a swap last year, and when she asked if other bloggers would take part in her quilt project, I promised I'd do my part. Being a procrastinator by nature....mine will likely be the last to return:(

If you find yourself wondering what to make for supper.........make some Ma Po Tofu, here is a recipe for you to try.
Ma Po Tofu
(serves 4)

200-300g package of firm tofu
about 15 cm across piece of tenderized beef steak (the kind that's perforated)
1 1/2 Tbsp Soy Bean Paste
1 tsp garlic chili paste
1 inch cube ginger minced
3 Tbsp oil
2 tsp fermented black beans
3/4 cup chicken stock
1 1/2 tsp sugar
1 tsp soy sauce
2 tsp tapioca or corn starch stirred into 1 tbsp cold water
1/4 tsp szechuan peppercorns, ground
2 tbsp scallion chopped
1/2 cup optional vegetables, (chopped peppers, carrots, peas)

Drain and cut tofu into 1/2 inch cubes and set aside. Chop up beef steak to mince. I usually do this while it is partly frozen. Fry beef in oil in a wok over high heat until most of the pink is gone. Add ginger, soy bean paste, black beans, chili paste and stir fry 30 seconds. Add chicken stock and bring to a simmer and turn down heat to keep simmering. Add tofu cubes, sugar and soy sauce. Add in any optional vegetables now......I just used frozen peas this time. Stir carefully so as not to break up the tofu. Simmer 5 minutes. Thicken with starch solution and let bubble 2 minutes. Turn into a serving dish and garnish with chopped scallions and ground peppercorns. Serve over hot steamed rice.

You can make this with tenderized pork rather than beef if you prefer or omit the meat altogether.

Cold Weather...Hot Beans!

The walk into school has been deceptively cold these last two days. It has looked so absolutely gorgeous outside (although overcast) for the last week or more.......I finally remembered to bring my camera on the walk. Although......it and I......were a little slow moving in the cold -20C this morning, I did manage to snap a few before my fingers threatened to not cooperate.

The landscape has been very monochromatic for the last little while. While it is pretty...I'm hoping it will warm up just 5 or 10 degrees at least for the nights of snowboarding lessons I have booked for Ike next week. Since we are in the prime months for really cold weather.....I may be out of luck. With these lower temperatures.....I've been craving some of Grama's Stove Top Pork and Beans. A slight search revealed a hand written recipe with a sample bean taped to it.....just to make sure I got the right kind (thanks mom!). This recipe is one that my Grama K made often for lunch for my mom and her siblings back in the 1940's. You can double the batch to make a larger quantity too:) If I had thought about it more.....I might have made some homemade buns to go with it......Maybe tomorrow then......since these beans are even better the next day. When it's cold out....there's something very satisfying about cooking a pot of beans don't you think?? I can hardly wait for them to be ready:)

Grama's Stove Top Pork and Beans

1 cup beans (Yellow Eye Beans if you can find them....if not just white beans will do)
Soak these over night (or at least for 2 hours) with water covering them by 2 inches.

After soaking,

Bring the beans and water to a boil and simmer slowly for 30 minutes, removing and discarding any scum or foam that rises to the top...this is just starch from the beans. After 30 minutes, dump the beans and water into a colander......return the drained beans to the pot and refill with clean water to cover the beans by 1 1/2 inches. Return the beans and water to a boil and reduce to a simmer. Remove any further foam that rises and discard it.

To the pot add,

1 minced onion
3 strips bacon finely chopped
1 tsp dry mustard
4 tbsp brown sugar
a few dashes of Hungarian paprika or (smoked paprika if you have it)
a few dashes of cayenne pepper
1/4 c ketchup
4 cloves garlic minced
2 tbsp molasses
1 tsp beef soup base

Simmer until done (1-2 hours). I also added 2 tbsp of whiskey but it's not necessary. Cooking time varies with the freshness of the dried beans you can get. My mom grows and keeps her own beans to make this recipe and these beans have been kept for a very very long time now. I will have to get me some beans from mom and continue the tradition. Tastes better the following day.

Goodbye Halloween....See you next year!

We are just settling down from Halloween now. It was a busy weekend with lots of trick or treating for Ike. Ike has very much missed trick or treating with his friends Rhys and Jasmine since they moved away. This year we were a little more prepared and asked a friend from school if Ike could come along. Trick or treating is always more fun in a group, and more so if there is running and screaming involved. The number of kids out for treats was way down in our neighbourhood this year....much more than expected. Lots of kids have been home sick, as it is flu season,.......plus I think this neighbourhood is growing up. This has left us with 70 left over chocolate bars. I wonder how long they will last??? Plus the two bags of candy that Ike brought home. I'm thinking this should last us right up until next year. I'm actually tired of looking at all the candy....how crazy is that?? Well, with all the decorating, costumes, running and fun and candy and fireworks it was definitely a memorable evening for Ike. What's not to like about Halloween?

This was the second year that Ike has shown interest in carving a pumpkin.......and since he was lucky enough to win one at the Halloween party......He had one all to himself. He picked out his pattern and with help from Dad to make sure he cut out the right areas....this is what he made.

With Halloween behind us......maybe I can be a little more productive now:) Off to start my day now. Have a great day and I hope you enjoyed your Halloween weekend as much as we did!

Happy Halloween

Halloween is finally here! Ike was so excited....when he woke up he said 'It's time to get up....it's a big day today' Ike waits all year for Halloween with just as much anticipation as Christmas. Last night was the big Kids Halloween party put on for children of the Pulp Mill employees. There are always carnival type games to play, inflatables to jump in, and treats and drinks to be had. Each year one of the most exciting carnival games for Ike is a chance to win a pumpkin. Each child takes a seat on one of 16 numbered chairs....and a wheel of fortune is spun to see which chair is the winning chair. Ike spent an excessive amount of time trying to win a pumpkin this year and finally got one to take home:) He is carving it up with dad right now.....picture to follow.

Well Ike was right....it is a big day with lots to do. After pumpkin carving, there will be some baking to do, supper to make, a big clean up from sewing and cooking projects, house and yard decorating, dressing up time, trick or treating with friends in a new neighbourhood this year.......followed up by fireworks at another friends home. Good thing it's on a weekend this year! Happy Halloween everyone:)

Pilaf, Pork Chops and Snow

When I got up this morning....I was in for a bit of a surprise! There was snow.......falling.......and the clusters of snow flakes (snowballs if you will) that were falling were 1/2 inch across. At that rate we'd have 6 inches of snow by noon. It is unusual here to have snow here on the ground on Halloween. Some years we do.....but most years we don't. Our snow doesn't tend to come to stay until much later though and I am hopeful that this crop will melt off before we are fully committed to winter.

The snowy walk into school with Ike this morning was gorgeous....I should have brought my camera and you could see that all the kids were super excited to be playing in the snow. Halfway there I called back to Ike...."Do you think the snow is damp enough to be good for snowballs???" My answer grazed off my shoulder and rolled to the ground in front of me. Perfect snow for snowballs!

It has been a busy time here getting Ike's costume ready, finishing swaps, and keeping up with the usual home and school commitments. Last night had to be a quick supper and I decided to make the America's test kitchen pork chop recipe I posted about here. Again they turned out fabulously and are now a family favourite. To go along with them I made auntie Lucille's Rice Pilaf and although I thought that I had previously posted the recipe......I could not find it here....so here it is in case you'd like to try it.

Aunt Lucille's Rice Pilaf

1/4 cup butter
3/4 cup chopped onion
1 cup chopped celery
1 envelope (about 2 tsp) of chicken soup base
2 1/2 cups water
1 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp thyme
1 cup rice (uncle Ben's Converted)

Melt butter over medium heat and cook onions, celery until translucent. You may also add in chopped peppers and mushrooms as I did this time if you like. Add all remaining ingredients except the rice. Bring to a boil. Add rice, stir and turn down to a simmer and cook with the lid on for 20 minutes. Remove lid, stir and cook about 3 minutes further with the lid off.

To Get to the Other Side of Course!

Yesterday was a busy day here as I had some errands to run down town and a school assembly to attend after lunch. As I scurried to finish my errands to be back in time for school, I did stop here and there to admire the scenery on the way. This little fellow was on the side of the road....patiently waiting to cross. I pulled over, backed up and snapped a photo from the safety of my car. He had a bit of purpose to his gate, so this was the best I could do.

A few minutes later, quick walk into the school yard showed more evidence of fall in the air. The leaves are turning and beginning to pepper the ground.

Kids are still out enjoying the fall play time...but it is getting close to the time to haul out the winter wear. My next project on the list is to knit Ike some mittens. He has requested some wool ones as his winter ones are a bit too heavy for this time of year.

I found Ike and some friends gathered around this brash little guy who was pecking at all the dandelion seed left on the ground. They have named him Boo.......I think because all the kids have Halloween on the brain now. Now I need to seriously begin thinking about Halloween too........lots to do....lots to do!

Fall is Here and it's Fabulous

It's amazing how quickly the weather can change.........I guess it is fall already........and we have been very lucky this year with the best summer I have ever seen here in 16 years. So I cannot complain. Plus I LOVE FALL. It's gorgeous colours, it's interesting smells, it's fresh brisk temperatures, and of course it offers a backdrop to cooking soul warming family recipes to be enjoyed by the fire....it's all good. The above photo was taken last week in the heart of another unusual warm spell (28C) and a few short days later............temperatures are dropping and leaves are turning like crazy.

It's starting to look like fall.......and in no time at all it will be time to start preparing for Halloween. For me this means making a Halloween costume for Ike (he'll be a little devil this year...watch for it soon), making some new tombstones to add to our collection, and replacing all the chocolate bars that have mysteriously vanished from those purchased last month for Halloween treats..........(32 full size bars and counting......shhh....don't tell my mother) I hope you are enjoying your change in seasons as much as I am:) If you'd like the experience the Fabulous Fall Feeling that we are check out this video ........it pretty much sums it up. If you notice the little girl in the video with the pig tails..........I had pig tails like that when I was little..........and my brother used to grab hold of them and try to drive me around the house like a motor cycle. That's right BROTHER..........I remember........and when you least expect it.........I'm just saying........watch your back!

Pampered by Post

When Ike and I returned from out trip there was quite a little pile of mail waiting for us. I had a few swaps come, one of which is pictured above. This was the Friends Swap which was hosted by Sew Prim Kris who is a wonderful swap host...and I will definitely be keeping an eye open for any future swaps she might host:) It was a sort of 'scavenger hunt' swap where you needed to find items to represent each letter of the words 'friends'. So my partner sent me Fabulous fabrics, Recipes galore, a little pouch for Incidentals, Energy food (peanuts slab, mmmmm, and minties), Note cards (of her very own photographs....absolutely lovely), Doilies and an absolutely gorgeous Summer embroidery (she does beautiful work) My Ike has been into the minties and is quite enjoying them and amazingly enough I still have the peanut slab in the fridge. One night we will all have to share it. Peanut and chocolate is one of my favourites:) In fact I love peanut butter chocolate ice cream is one of my favourites as is peanut butter and chocolate milk shakes. Thanks so much to my partner Kiwicarole for putting together such a great swap:0

Well if that wasn't enough......Ike received a thoughtful birthday package (also from NZ) from our neighbours who left us:( It was filled with all kinds of goodies by Smiggle. (Which I had not heard of before.........it's very kawaii!) And a great souvenir t shirt that Ike has already worn. Thanks heaps! I managed to get a little something in the package for me too....a cute little pouch for a cell phone:) We are spoiled aren't we?

Then I got this mystery package that took me some time to figure out. My good friend Jeannie had this cute little sampler sent to me from Out of the Box. What a great idea! Thanks Jeannie! I am so looking forward to your visit:) The cat absolutely adored the cat nip toy BTW.

I'm a Little Teapot Hiker:)

Today was my first hike up Teapot Mountain. It's just north of Prince George on Hwy 97 near Summit Lake. Ever since I had agreed to make the August weekend hike with my neighbour to Mt Robson, people have been making me nervous about my ability to make such a hike. So I started to wonder if maybe I was biting off more than I could chew. And........since my neighbour took a little trial hike up Teapot.....I started to feel like I needed to as well....just to make sure.

I'm not sure what I learned from my hike, as far as assessing my abilities.......as the teapot hike is a little itty bitty hike. Only 30 minutes to the top and another 10-15 minutes of ring trail around the top before the trail loops back and overlaps to take the original trail back down. It is however, quite steep on the way up and there are a few spots that are slippery with no real footholds or even branches to assist your balance. I had worried about my son making the climb as he's told me many times that he is not so much 'a nature boy', but he did quite well with no complaining. There are spots at the top where he went too close to the edge for my comfort. I myself am not too afraid of heights, but I also think my son over estimates his sure footedness. Usually he is bouncing around and nearly falling over on flat ground. But he didn't want my help, except for a few select spots. Mostly to remove some offensive looking shrubs.

The trail was much more scenic on the way down as we took the time to soak up the scenery and take photos. We saw all kinds of interesting foliage and even Ike enjoyed the scenery. All in all, it was a very nice little day hike! I would definitely like to to it again some time. It's a quick drive to get there and quite scenic along the trail and up on top. This little mountain (it's really tiny and I don't know why they call it a mountain) survived the last ice age due it's Basalt composition and it sticks out of the landscape quite noticeably. Once on top you have a nice spot to have a snack and overlook the beautiful view of Summit Lake below. Well, we all made it back safely and just in time for lunch. Now it's time to make some more syrup........Apricot:)

Peek From My Window

The weather here has been beautiful for the past few days and the melt continues. Some are getting tired of waiting and have snow blowers out on the front lawn and back getting rid of the last bits of offending snow. Many are out washing cars, raking leaves left behind from last fall, and others are playing basketball in the driveway or having lemonade stands (like the little girls across the street from us.)

The kids are starting to show up at school in shorts already to play soccer during recess, and lots of kids are now riding their bikes to school.

The back yard is nearly free from snow and even I've been out cleaning up the flower beds after my mother commented on how completely neglected they were. I'm now closely watching my raspberries for signs of new spring shoots which I can move to better locations, and getting ready to split my primrose from my MIL which is now huge. Never done it before...but....what's the worst that could happen?

I've finally raked out the debris from the back corner of the yard with all kinds of ideas on what kinds of perennials I can stick back there. Now I just need to bring in some soil....hmmm it's beginning to sound like work already.

I love spring, when all the little plants are getting green and growing. My peony, primrose, ferns, iris, lilies, globe plant, flox, chives, rosemary, thyme, and strawberries are all showing signs of life. So far though no signs of any lily of the valley. And they said you couldn't get rid of liliy of the valley even if you wanted to. We'll wait a bit longer before we panic on that one. Well, I'm off to tea with the neighbour and then to the plant nursery to scope out what I might need for my garden this year. Hope your spring or fall as the case my be....is going well too!