Saturday, February 26, 2005
A dog, waiting for a dog!
Friday, February 25, 2005
Irish Ballad Lyrics
Irish Ballad Lyrics
Just in case you wan to hone up on those Irish ballads in time for St. Paddy's day. E and I visited our newest Irish establishment tonight...used to be the Civic and now it is called Finleys. Quite a crowd on their opening night which was good for them after being shut down for several weeks after a water leak problem that ruined the whole floor. The place looks great with a new bar and new rugs. The food is good, and so were the"refreshments!"
Link
Just in case you wan to hone up on those Irish ballads in time for St. Paddy's day. E and I visited our newest Irish establishment tonight...used to be the Civic and now it is called Finleys. Quite a crowd on their opening night which was good for them after being shut down for several weeks after a water leak problem that ruined the whole floor. The place looks great with a new bar and new rugs. The food is good, and so were the"refreshments!"
Link
Thursday, February 24, 2005
President's Choice - Home
President's Choice - Home
Well, well! Who would'a thunk-it? President's Choice has a great website here chock full of recipes and not only that, you do a simple registration, then peruse the store and add things to your shopping list. At the end, you may print it out, and voila...you are ready to go shopping with products arranged in their correct departments, as long as it is a President's choice product, that is. Anyhow, I got so carried away with looking at the great recipes that I only ended up with three things on my grocery list!:-) Seems to be a pretty decent site with foods included with a "Blue Menu" Label to show you that they are healthy low fat products. In the shopping lists, they have a blue check mark beside them. Enjoy!
Link
Well, well! Who would'a thunk-it? President's Choice has a great website here chock full of recipes and not only that, you do a simple registration, then peruse the store and add things to your shopping list. At the end, you may print it out, and voila...you are ready to go shopping with products arranged in their correct departments, as long as it is a President's choice product, that is. Anyhow, I got so carried away with looking at the great recipes that I only ended up with three things on my grocery list!:-) Seems to be a pretty decent site with foods included with a "Blue Menu" Label to show you that they are healthy low fat products. In the shopping lists, they have a blue check mark beside them. Enjoy!
Link
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
Productive Day
Still working on the picture frames.. I gave ten more, two coats of paint and then washed about fifty pieces of glass. Yes, one needs to be reallllll careful when fooling with glass,a s it has incredibly sharp edges. I nipped my fingers at least three times, and I bled like a stuck pig each time. Now there is a supply of band-aides upstairs in my sink room!
I popped into town to pick up some black spray paint. I bought a laquer based semi-gloss type, that I hope will do well covering all of the miscellaneous odd coloured frames. Also, I picked up a spray semi-gloss varathane that will give any of the frames the proper amount of shine or lack of.
I'll test that out tomorrow. The bottom line is that I put one photo into one white frame and it looks fab, so now I am very excited to finish at least the white ones...What to frame, what to frame!
I have such a mess of photos to deal with! The good news is that the frame pile is looking more manageable each day.
Well, my dear friends and relatives., it is clear that I am falling asleep in my chair here. The Mr. was up a 5:10 am, and thus, so was I.
I looked into computers a bit today at Ramsbottom's for Joyce and was quite amazed at what a good deal one can get in terms of capacity in a computer these days. Things change over a few years, that is for sure. Mine looks like it is out of the stone age already. I guess mine is five years old and could be considered a pensioner now! It still works, so that is the main thing.
Have a great night! Hello to everyone...Does anyone else want the hilarious joke with the funny wedding pic of Prince Charles and Camilla???
"The Creator"
I popped into town to pick up some black spray paint. I bought a laquer based semi-gloss type, that I hope will do well covering all of the miscellaneous odd coloured frames. Also, I picked up a spray semi-gloss varathane that will give any of the frames the proper amount of shine or lack of.
I'll test that out tomorrow. The bottom line is that I put one photo into one white frame and it looks fab, so now I am very excited to finish at least the white ones...What to frame, what to frame!
I have such a mess of photos to deal with! The good news is that the frame pile is looking more manageable each day.
Well, my dear friends and relatives., it is clear that I am falling asleep in my chair here. The Mr. was up a 5:10 am, and thus, so was I.
I looked into computers a bit today at Ramsbottom's for Joyce and was quite amazed at what a good deal one can get in terms of capacity in a computer these days. Things change over a few years, that is for sure. Mine looks like it is out of the stone age already. I guess mine is five years old and could be considered a pensioner now! It still works, so that is the main thing.
Have a great night! Hello to everyone...Does anyone else want the hilarious joke with the funny wedding pic of Prince Charles and Camilla???
"The Creator"
Taken around 6:30 am or earlier...very early, very cool out, but quite beautiful. What you can barely see in the photo is the steam rising up at the narrows in wispy columns..maybe if you click on it to enlarge it.. 
Tuesday, February 22, 2005
Photos and Frames!
Another beautiful day in the neighbourhood...all sunny and wonderful out. I spent an hour scanning ( no, not tanning!) some very faded old studio photos that I had removed from picture frames. In fact, I've removed nearly every photo I had in a frame. My studio looks like a bad framing shop. Piles of beat-up old metal gold wal-mart like frames in one corner. The glass is stacked on the table. Under the table is fifty or more backs to various sized photos. On the tables are all of the weird "don't match a thing" frames. Down the basement are 25 or more wood frames that I am in the process of painting. I gave the first 15 or so a light sanding and then started in with the paint...3 coats later, they look ok in an off white that matches our trim on the crown molding and door jambs. I might have to do something to spruce them up, but generally they turned out ok. One thing you discover is that the paint enhances any flaws in the wood.
Meanwhile, I used Picasa to lighten and brighten all of the photos that had faded to almost white. Amazingly, the program re-energized the colours quite well. The one below, of Sonia and Annette was almost pure white! The other of V. and C. was very very dark. I was impressed with what this little program could do! Now I could print those out and frame them instead of the faded originals. First I'll get all of the frames repainted, then I'll work from there.
Deciding what to frame and where I want to hang it will be a grand challenge!
Not only that, but I found a little collection of 6 photos and 3 prints and 3 watercolours from Peru that need to be framed. This doesn't even begin to tackle the art that is in my folders, hidden away. Seems to me I recall a few pieces that I wanted framed, back in the old days. Then there is a years worth of photos I backed up onto cd..and some of those warrant being framed...hmm...If I could only develop a theme...flowers in the bathroom-kids in the bedroom- family somewhere else-trips elsewhere, and then what about all the black and white oldies? Can a person wallpaper a wall with photos?
If I get all of this dealt with, it will clear up one HUGE pile-o-mess! I know, I know, I started this last week, but with all of this wonderful weather, it is hard to stay indoors!
E. and I pruned fruit trees on Monday,and I have been raking the beach and walking the Silk. She is still looking for those last remaining patches of snow to have a little roll in..I told her she better get it in now, because the snow will soon be all gone!
"The Creator"
Meanwhile, I used Picasa to lighten and brighten all of the photos that had faded to almost white. Amazingly, the program re-energized the colours quite well. The one below, of Sonia and Annette was almost pure white! The other of V. and C. was very very dark. I was impressed with what this little program could do! Now I could print those out and frame them instead of the faded originals. First I'll get all of the frames repainted, then I'll work from there.
Deciding what to frame and where I want to hang it will be a grand challenge!
Not only that, but I found a little collection of 6 photos and 3 prints and 3 watercolours from Peru that need to be framed. This doesn't even begin to tackle the art that is in my folders, hidden away. Seems to me I recall a few pieces that I wanted framed, back in the old days. Then there is a years worth of photos I backed up onto cd..and some of those warrant being framed...hmm...If I could only develop a theme...flowers in the bathroom-kids in the bedroom- family somewhere else-trips elsewhere, and then what about all the black and white oldies? Can a person wallpaper a wall with photos?
If I get all of this dealt with, it will clear up one HUGE pile-o-mess! I know, I know, I started this last week, but with all of this wonderful weather, it is hard to stay indoors!
E. and I pruned fruit trees on Monday,and I have been raking the beach and walking the Silk. She is still looking for those last remaining patches of snow to have a little roll in..I told her she better get it in now, because the snow will soon be all gone!
"The Creator"
Remember these little cowgirls?...Straight off the farm and ready to wrastle those Doggies...well maybe not V !
Monday, February 21, 2005
Roasted Veggies for Dinner -South Beach Style
Did I mention we were having roasted veggies for dinner? I'd forego the parsnips next time as I think I was the only one, beside's Joyce who liked them, but the rest were dee-licious!
How To:
Veggies prepared this way make your life easy and they are as tasty as they look right here in the photo before they were cooked.
Turn oven to 400*
Spray the bottom of a broiler pan with Pam.
Chop up any variety of cleaned veggies, but these particular ones are lower in carbs and roast up well:
Red Peppers, Green Peppers, yellow peppers, aspargus, onion red or yellow, zuccini, butternut squash in thin slices, and they say to use snow peas, but they got a little too cooked for me. Stir in two tablespoons virgin olive oil and any or no spices. I have used Greek spice, Roasted red pepper dip spice( Victorian Epicure) or Lemon Pepper . I am sick and tired of Italian spices on veggies, but that would work. They are also just fine with reg. pepper and a dash of garlic salt on them.
Once all the veggies have a light coat of oil on them, put in the oven on a middle rack, and roast for thirty minutes. I peak at about 25 minutes. If they aren't turning dark brown at the veggie perimeters, let them cook some more without stirring. It is when they carmelize and brown up a bit, that they become so sweet and tasty.
Serve while hot and enjoy! Trust me, they cook wonderful at this temp!
How To:
Veggies prepared this way make your life easy and they are as tasty as they look right here in the photo before they were cooked.
Turn oven to 400*
Spray the bottom of a broiler pan with Pam.
Chop up any variety of cleaned veggies, but these particular ones are lower in carbs and roast up well:
Red Peppers, Green Peppers, yellow peppers, aspargus, onion red or yellow, zuccini, butternut squash in thin slices, and they say to use snow peas, but they got a little too cooked for me. Stir in two tablespoons virgin olive oil and any or no spices. I have used Greek spice, Roasted red pepper dip spice( Victorian Epicure) or Lemon Pepper . I am sick and tired of Italian spices on veggies, but that would work. They are also just fine with reg. pepper and a dash of garlic salt on them.
Once all the veggies have a light coat of oil on them, put in the oven on a middle rack, and roast for thirty minutes. I peak at about 25 minutes. If they aren't turning dark brown at the veggie perimeters, let them cook some more without stirring. It is when they carmelize and brown up a bit, that they become so sweet and tasty.
Serve while hot and enjoy! Trust me, they cook wonderful at this temp!
Barb and E. with his new Bernstein Bear book about Babies. Barb is due in mid April! Yippee...another baby on its way!
Not so tiny, Little E is nearly three feet tall,and not even two! Here he is learning the finer skills of flying a paper airplane with dad! We had fun with him!
Sunday, February 20, 2005
Great Backyard Bird Count-Tally Sheets for BC Interior
Great Backyard Bird Count
At this page you may print out the tally sheets for the bird count.. remember the time you started the count and when you finished it, then submit your results at the top of this same page. Have fun...I've already seen a multitude of little babies this morning..
Link
At this page you may print out the tally sheets for the bird count.. remember the time you started the count and when you finished it, then submit your results at the top of this same page. Have fun...I've already seen a multitude of little babies this morning..
Link
Great Backyard Bird Count
Great Backyard Bird Count
It isn't too late to participate in the great Backyard birdcount. The tally sheets can be printed from here and they also tell you where to enter your count on-line...no fees, no registration...just count the birds!
Link
It isn't too late to participate in the great Backyard birdcount. The tally sheets can be printed from here and they also tell you where to enter your count on-line...no fees, no registration...just count the birds!
Link
