Winter

Has arrived here. It started sprinkling down this morning as I fortuitously put away the trampoline. After hauling in some wood, cutting my own hair and feeding the masses the wife finally arrived back at home. There was some serious snow playing and now there is a 6' snowman in our front yard. He did not figure in the picture taking session. As for dinner I had lentil stew on bread with some of our hot peppers sprinkled liberally. This was of course after I had eaten a bunch of the pizza the wife brought home after lunch. And a cinnamon bun. You just have to love knowing someone who works in a bakery. It just makes everything better. We are off to watch a basketball game that I will be refereeing. I also managed a trip to be the dentist and hardware store. Unrelated events. I have some video I will edit and upload later. Stay tuned.

All in one day.

So I woke up this morning to the sound of pancakes being made. Then I found my daughter styling my mother's hair. We had cinnamon buns, fruit salad and pancakes with the honey my mom brought from the dutch place in Keremeos. Very good breakfast but I ate a little too much this would be a theme today. Quick aside. I took this book out of the local library. Some guy did a research project on names and his basic premise is the consonant sounds in a name affect the way people see us. Certain consonants resonate with certain words and when we act accordingly we are positively reinforced by those around us. Thus we end up being the people our names say we should be. It sounds like a load of crap but some peoples name descriptions were surprisingly spot on. Especially my moms. So that was a nice point of discussion this weekend. Back to the food.
For lunch we broke out a pumpernickel loaf the wife brought back from the bakery. This was sliced and then filled with turkey, some lovely swiss goat cheese (see. Keremeos) and other left over tidbits. We also whipped up some nachos to go with the guacamole the wife made and some of our salsa. Shouldn't have had the third sandwich.
Then there was dinner. It was like last nights dinner all over again with two major exceptions. We had the turnip this evening and it was great. Also I had seconds.
As for todays outings we went for a bike ride this morning. We took the long way to a coffee shop down town. The daughter made it the whole way there. Can you see it coming. After having hot chocolate and coffee and chatting the daughter decided she couldn't sit on the seat any more. It hurt she said. So the wife got the kid trailer and both kids while I rode one handed carrying the daughter's bike. It was a heavy bike when we bought it. By the time I got home it weighed at least four times as much. On the bright side my arms are longer. I'd help you with that but someone stepped on all of my fingers. I said I'm sorry.

Then this afternoon before dinner we went the park at the school near our house. We played frisbee, soccer, ran around on the climbing thing, swung like monkeys on the jungle gym and I gave my son the ride of a life time. We didn't get a picture of the one where I dropped him.

Because I didn't drop him. Damn worriers. Finally this is mum and Harry enjoying the sun. It so nice having them here. Just wish it could have been longer. Thankfully, it always seems that way with guests.

Happy Handles.

Well with the heat still on today we hit the granby river for a change of pace. Nice, but much colder than the kettle. This followed hard on the heals of a morning of gardening. Almost ready for Kiyomi's b-day party in two days. I am trying to green up the lawns. The veggie garden is ready for display, mostly. I have to prune the apple tree both for production and the pruned bits will be used for the fairy houses that are going to be built on Saturday. So yeah things are getting done. Speaking of which I finally changed the faucet in the upstairs bathroom. Moen, buy it for looks, buy it for life. It really does look much nicer don't you think. A really organized person would have had a before and after picture. Well at least some of you gave me the benefit of the doubt. Suckers. This all managed to occur with water still running through the rest of the house. No hot water but toilets and washing were all going. Everyone was happy. Upon finishing I was greeted by this lovely summer dinner.


The pasta salad had a mayonaise and vinegar dressing. Lots of big chunky fresh vegetables, some steamed for ease of munching. The sandwich was a black forest ham, cheese, lettuce and mustard on whole wheat bun. By the time I took this picture I had already finished the first one. Fixing bathrooms is hungry work. Thirsty work too. Of course I finished the second beer minutes after finishing this first one in the frosty mug. Two more days till show time. Wish us luck.

Sunday Lunch

This was in actual fact dinner but due to the menu it sure seemed like lunch. We went with clubhouse sandwiches, french fries, roasted orange peppers and steamed cauliflower lightly dressed. It was fabulous. This was originally the rest of Saturday evenings menu but we held off and it was great today. The sandwiches were made with a sour dough bread bought from the previously mentioned bakery. Fabulous. Then we had sliced smoked turkey, bacon, lettuce, tomato, real mayonnaise, butter and mustard (for those who wanted it). Simply outstanding. The french fries were thick cut and then baked after being drizzled with olive oil and lightly salted and peppered. There may have been basil involved there but I didn't notice. The peppers were done the same as the potatoes and were unbelievably rich and sweet. Couldn't get the kids near them in a radiation suit but they have to come around some day. I mean roasted orange peppers. These are the moments and this is our life. The cauliflower on the other hand was devoured by the kids to the tune of three and a half helpings (between the two of them). The like the white vegetable. Interesting. Well this weeks menu is in the planning stages and I am pretty sure we will start to see some repeats. Not identical but definitely similar. Keep tuned dear reader.