Eat Eat

The Chicagoan in me thinks it is absurd to call off school for three inches of snow, but I am happy to say it is heavy, wet, snow which means snowman building. Lately our snow has been so dry it can't be packed into a ball-no such problem with this stuff! It was like slush falling from the sky. It will be dangerous when it freezes overnight, but for now it is providing the local children with some fun. I've been watching cars attempt to struggle up our hill before giving up and bailing out down the side-street in the photo. That's not a road to try without a truck when it snows! The city ploughs have been out, but there's only so much they can do. Friday, I took Danny to the Automobile Show. We went early in the day, and it was largely empty. He was able to sit in, and try out a number of sports cars. It was fun. I've been taking him to the show every January since he was about three to break-up the long, dull winter days after Christmas. There's the home and ga...

Thank you everyone for your well wishes. I do try to avoid complaining but sometimes it gets the best of me. I'll try to keep the grumbling to a minimum though as I get sick of hearing about it too! Thanks for indulging me though. How's everyone's Rocktober  coming along? We've been trying our best to get into the Halloween spirit  (see what I did there?) but the rainy, steamy weather has been most uncooperative. I think today was expected to be the last of it, though we don't have a frost in sight for a while. I don't have plans for the green tomatoes beyond a few batches of chutney, but it might make sense to make a batch of vegetarian green tomato mincemeat. I could pickle the tomatoes, but I'm the only one that will eat a sour pickled tomato and I rarely want more than one. I'm still pulling in ripe tomatoes, so with a bit of luck I won't be too overwhelmed with underipe ones.   I've owned this sheer jacket for a few years, and it was only as...

My Mexican shell flowers are blooming! I'm so excited, as this is the first year I've grown them, and didn't know what to expect. I've tried to stagger the blooms in my garden planting things that flower throughout the season-but that doesn't always go to plan with our unpredictable weather. These will be a welcome burst of colour as we wait for the gladiolas to bloom. The wasps and bees are enjoying the garden as well. Danny tells me this is in fact not a wasp, but a robber fly. I learn all sorts of interesting things from that kid. Speaking of beautiful florals from Mexico...here's the vintage hand-tooled leather bag I bought last week. The inside is lovely too... In person it looks like pale, watercolour flowers. My camera isn't doing it justice. Sadly, the Armadillo bag arrived broken in pieces from poor packaging, but the seller issued a full refund so at least I wasn't stuck with a, "Busted Armadilla". On the positive side, I get to shout...

I spotted this Great Blue Heron at where else...Heron Haven. Strangely enough, this was the first time I've seen a heron there! It was such a beautiful evening, we decided to take a detour on the way to the market to have a short walk along the trails. I love this time of year when there's more hours of sunlight, but the evenings are still cool enough to enjoy a walk. The garden is doing well. We had fresh strawberries for breakfast last weekend and it was a true delight. The first borage flowers bloomed and the bees are spending their days gathering pollen. Over the past few years the borage has blown through the neighbourhood re-seeding itself, and I was pleased to see people leaving it. The dianthus are happy as well.  The summer wardrobe is getting worn. This Marimekko set isn't a playsuit, but rather shorts and a matching top I bought at Target last year during their designer collaboration. The pattern is supposed to look like orange slices. Very, very underripe orange...