Holiday Baking - Day 14

Oatmeal Blueberry Muffins

and they are cute too

Holiday Baking Day 13

It's alright, I know I've miss a couple of days but I have been sick.

Did you really want me baking while I sneezed, coughed and blew my nose?

I didn't think so.

Today's offering...

Raspberry Cutiepies

They are so good served warm and a scoop (or two) of President's Choice Vanilla Ice Cream.

Holiday Baking - Day 10

Sorry I missed yesterday, but I been a bit under the weather.

I thought I would make up for it today.

Raspberry Pie-pops.

Can it get any better than pie on a stick.

Holiday Baking - Day 8

Murray's Birthday Cupcakes

I have been sick the last week or so with a nasty head cold.  I had great plans for Murray's birthday dinner, but the cold has flatten me or the day.  I did however manage to get the Murman his cupcakes.  I hope I can find a candle for him.

Holiday Baking - Day 7

Chocolate Sugar Cookies

Holiday Baking - Day 6

Chocolate and vanillas sugar cookies

Holiday Baking - Day 5

Vanilla Sugar Cookie Cutouts.

Holiday Baking - Day 4

I didn't forget - Oatmeal with red and green M&Ms

They are still warm and a bit gooey.  I don't like how the candy coating colour ran, BUT, gosh darn they taste good.  

I have a batch of vanilla and a batch of chocolate sugar cookie dough, setting up in the fridge for tomorrow.  

I have plans.............

24 Days of Baking - Day 3

And then there were three.

I have a set of mini loaf pans, so one recipe will make four minis

But it was breakfast and one had to be consumed

Banana pecan bread.

Oh, yeah, you know you want some.

24 Days of Baking - Day Two

Red Velvet and Cream Cheese Brownies.

They're still warm.

24 Days of Holiday BAKING

Day 1

Shortbread with dark chocolate almond 

Oh gentle readers, I don't know what got into me last night, but I made a decision,

a very important decision.

I am going to bake once each day from now to Christmas Eve

and share (only visually) with you.

I must say today's tastes so much better than it looks (looks aren't everything you know).

The pan was to show the little snowflake pattern on the shortbread, and the chocolate chunks were my idea, and is was not a bad idea at that.

I have yet to decide what today's confectionary delight will be.  

I might need to get out the fancy plates and create daily "Food" shoots.

til later

A little diversion

Moose Man

Here he is sending telepathic messages of love to his Mom (a.k.a. me)

Here he is sing me a love song.

Well not really; he wants to know WHY I am pointing that 'thing' and him and why we are not heading out for a walk.  

He really doesn't care how much rain is falling.

I have four pounds of butter

I sense some SERIOUS baking in the near future

Bananas are almost ready for banana bread.

I have dried cranberries and pecans for shortbread.

Stand back, 

and no one will get hurt.

What every holiday parade needs

Chickens...

Not just any Chickens, 

Gonzo's Chickens.

Everyone is Waiting for Santa

Hannah and I went to the Toronto Santa Claus Parade today.  

I haven't been in maybe 15 years.

  The weather was perfect.

The promoters for Kung fu Panda handed out panda ears to the crowds.

  Brilliant marketing

picture close to half a million kids and adults all wearing your product with glee.

This little one got to stand in the middle of University Ave. (normally, I wouldn't dare cross except at the light) looking north towards Queen's Park, waiting for the big dude to arrive.

My favourite, part of the entire afternoon ....  the Canada Post guy with the real white whiskers and white hair strolling behind the mail truck (collect letter for Santa) and the kid rushing out to hug him because they thought he was the real deal.

Made me a little misty it did.  

Dad's Birthday

Today my Dad turns 82 years old.

Here is is with Zack, one of the GrandDudes

Congratulations Dad.  Good Luck with the Driver's test.  

Daughter #1

Before and After

Change comes quickly.

5:00 p.m. Wednesday

7:30 a.m. Thursday

We had "gusty' winds overnight.  I took the before image last night because the light and the colour was so lovely.  I'm glad I did.  This morning our tree was 'bare naked'.  I have already raked about 4 big bags of leaves from our yard, now I can collect the rest.

Long Lost Fur babies

I found this sheet of photos of Rocky, Bonny and Hershey when they spent a weekenk UrberDog about 5 years ago.  They had such a good time.  It is such a great shot of Hershey's tail.  And Bonny, such a princess there in her bed.

They are now all gone.

Oh how I miss them, but I will never forget them.

I'm a little bit crazy

I'm sewing a crazy quilt for my granddaughter as a Christmas gift.  It's been interesting and frustrating at the same time.

The top is almost complete and I have sewn the back.  

Being 10, I hope she likes the colours.

Pumpkins and Candy are at the Ready

Happy Halloween Everyone

On The Road Again

Can you believe it???

This scary looking woman, who completed the Goofy 2011 Race and a Half

 has gone back to school.

It's a good this too.

While I am not huffin' puffin' as I once did,

it is obvious to me that my fitness has slide a little (alright, maybe a lot).

My new friends at the "Not Free Zone" (we are women's only, learn to run group) are keeping me moving forward 

and pushing me a bit further each week.

Stay posted for updates.

Scary Treats

My secret sister left these cool treats (double wrapped to protect them from the rain)

 on my door step today.

I am a lucky girl.

Thank you secret sister.

Exceptional Customer Service

This is me with my Mac Guru Trevor today.  I had a wee panic moment when my nose started to drip and after rummaging through my purse, pockets AND computer bag I realized I didn't have a tissue to my name.  Trevor, the wonder MacGeek that he is, said "no problem - and can get some kleenex from the back for you".  I said "Oh, you are the best", and he brought me this brand new roll of toilet paper for my nose.  He even said I could take it home.  But I declined.

Thank you Trevor.

Here I sit ..

No No No, not that!!!

I am filling in time while I wait for a workshop I am taking (Wet felting) at the Creativfestival this afternoon.  I'm looking forward to the workshop but I took the train into the city this morning, and, as a result arrived 5 1/2 hours early for the class.  No problem.  It's just that if I have too much time on my hands I am inclined to shop.  I resisted the urge to purchase a 2012 daytimer (I still have time), BUT, my new custom made eyeglasses (they weren't any more expensive that Hakim Optical???) will arrive in 3 weeks.  So now that I have exceed my shopping budget for the day, I sit and wait.

As I take this opportunity to observe my fellow man (I will admit it, I LOVE to people watch), I wonder, was I ever like these people, working in the downtown business core, thinking they are oh so important (who really is?), strutting their stuff.  Oh My God I do believe I was.  Maybe worse. Maybe not.  I certainly didn't have the toys then (yes I did get to carry my 2-way radio - LS1 here) but really, I never had the time to sit and chat.  Maybe I did.  I have to say though, I am feeling a bit older today.  There are kids in suits, and turned out, that are old enough to be my children.

I have to admit, since that is what I am doing at the moment, that I do enjoy a midweek trip downtown, to get my blood flowing again.  I just don't think I can do it daily anymore.  It the commute that's draining.  I could happily live downtown I just don't want to work in this frenzy.  I need calm, Moose, my garden, my studio and my kitchen.

I can't seem to wrap this ramble up, so, I will share the results of my wet felting workshop with your all tomorrow.

ttfn

Off to Seize the Day

It's been grey, damp and blustery

I've have no desire to get outside

The sun is shining today, it's not raining

and Moose is desperate to go for a romp in the woods.

He's such a lovey, it's the least I can do.

In dire need of a nap

Yes, I know that it is only 10:30 a.m. and I have already had two cups of coffee, but, once again sleep eluded me last night.  My kind doctor has prescribed medication to help with my sleep but yesterday we had a problem renewing the scrip.  The good doc prescribed 1.5 tablets each night with a prescription of 100 tablets.  The script can only be refilled every 100 days which leaves a bit of a short fall and will require ANOTHER trip to the doctor (and a conversation with his most charming and social receptionist, and and hour reading 2 year old magazines that I read the last time - sense my sarcasm) while we discuss basic principals of math.  In the interm, I am exhausted, again.

PERFECT Thanksgiving weekend

A perfect fall weekend.  

The sun only shone.

We ate only the most delicious fresh food.

Wandered the trails with my husband and Moose the wonder dog.

Played in my garden.

Life is Good.

It's me

Got home last night from a four day trip with my running girls to Corning N.Y.

Other than the rain, Corning is a lovely little town with the most amazing glass museum and gallery of contemporary art glass.  

I have more to share with you, but for today, this is me, in the reflection of the glass wall.  What you see behind me is a tower of corningware casserole dishes.  How appropriate for the upcoming Thanksgiving Day weekend.

31 pairs of shoes

My parents had 31 people in their two bedroom apartment this past Saturday for Applefest.

31 people means 31 pairs of shoes of all sized at the front door.

such choice

I'm fond of the silver glitter pair there on the right

Applefest Weekend 2011

The family ventured to Brighton Ontario for Applefest Weekend.

The main street closes for Saturday to make way for booth the sell lots and lots and lots of stuff.

This year cupcakes were popular.

Apple shaped cupcakes

Too Cool

It's true, Who doesn't love cupcakes.

Where to go from here?

I need to clear my mind and decide what I am going to accomplish from this point onward. It is a rather odd feeling as I have achieved many of my life "to dos". Where do I go from here? It is time to create an updated "life list". I dont' want to take this casually, because the original list has developed over the course of 30 years (I remember writing it over lunch, which sitting in my office at 2 Bloor E.). I also don't want to restrict my list to items that I can pop off with some effort but with no real planning or consideration. For whatever reason, I feel that I need to leave my mark, to leave some sort of notice that I was here and this is who I was. Now don't think it sounds macabre because I have no intentions of leaving this mortal coil for some time, but I want more from my life than the fact I existed. I need to spend some time with a pot (or two) of good tea, and then I will get back to you.

The Wedding Cake

You know I love cake. If you didn't, then you don't know me that well. Katie and Luke (aka the Bride and Groom), asked me, Mom if I would like to take care of the cake. At one point Pam and I thought we could make it. While we could have made a spectacular wedding cake it was the transporting of same to the wedding location (hours hours away) in unknown weather (the heat) with everything else that needed to be transported (clothing, family, decor centre pieces) that I decided to call in the pros. It was worth the research and trips to Kitchener to "The Cake Box", and they made and delivered this beauty on time to the reception. The bottom layer was lemon with butter cream (it had real lemon zest in it) and the top two layers where chocolate with chocolate butter cream and raspberry puree as per the grooms request. Murray suggested the raised cake plate (a gift to the couple) and I added the garland with the mini twinkly lights. The wedding had a sunflower theme and the bakery added little texture dimples to the centre of each flower to look like the centre of a sunflower. The cake was perfect visually and tasted AMAZING. We were (and still are) very happy.

My green thumb is out of control

This sunflower has now been picked clean by the birds, chipmunks and squirrels. I have other sunflower that have to be 12 feet tall (really with about a dozen smaller flowers on top). My tomato vines are taller than the deck fence. I am going to need a ladder to pick all the tomatoes.

I still miss her

Life with Moose is good, great even, but I still miss Bonny.

It's all about the socks

Another softball season wrapped up last night for the mighty 'Killer Bees' of the Newmarket softball league, mites squirt (???) division. For those of you who don't know, it's ALL about the socks. You need to be able to see them from space and they can't match. I didn't know this until my grand-daughter (age 10) and her fellow players brought this to my attention. These are Hannah's feet from last evening. We may not have had a 'successful' outcome to the season from a scoring perspective, BUT, other that that, we had an AWESOME season (notice I said we, like I had anything to do with it) and the coaches, parents, grand-parents and other team fans felt the girls did themselves proud.

On another note, posting to this blog may be a bit scattered over the next three weeks. We have a family wedding over the Labour Day weekend so we are going to be BUSY BUSY BUSY. But, as they say.... I shall return.

Day four with new hair

and I'm not sharing ..... yet. Give me another couple of days. I think I may have towelled out the hair product and the humidity isn't helping.

Big, Huge Even, Plans for Tomorrow

I have made an appointment to see a hair stylist who specializes in curly hair. My hair isn't curly, it can be down right fuzzy. Right now is resembles a rusty brillo pad. Nasty. I just think that now that I only have about a half century left to my life I need to take control of my hair and not just cut it off and keep it short. Though, I have to admit, that me in short hair is the three "S"s - sexy, sassy and salacious. I can only image what this salon can do for me. Stay tuned.

Happy August - mid point of Summer

It is hard to believe that the summer is already "half" over. Next long weekend will be my son't wedding. I have so much to do to get ready. I am creating a "video/slideshow" of the bride and groom and have been scanning the family archive like a crazy person. I am also scanning pictures of my husband, sister and me when we were small. This juicy wee one is me taken sometime during the summer of 1961. This is the only nude image you are going to get of me so enjoy it while you can. As I look over family images, and dig and discover some I haven't seen in a long time it is bringing back so many memories of when my boys were small. At the time it was so difficult raising three active busy boys who were always into something (often the fridge). I remember how tired I always was and frustrated by the mess, their hormones, and the "tude" (a.k.a ATTITUDE). Right now, I miss all of that so much. I miss breakfast before Saturday morning hockey games. I miss having to drive home after soccer with all the windows open because the smell was overwhelming. I miss Rocky when he was a puppy and like to swim in the pond with the ducks and the geese and he would emerge covered in sludge. I miss holidays when we would all climb into my bed and watch movies on the TV in my room.

I am very excited that they will ALL be home at the end of the month for Luke's wedding. NO, there will not be any snuggling in bed to watch movies. Hold on now, may if we have a king sized bed at the hotel the weekend of the wedding with can all climb in. Just for old times sake. Or just for Mom's sake.

A rediculous crop of Tomatos

I planted three little tomato plants back in May. One patio variety (it is short and stocky and does well in a container). Then I planted one that I thought was the same little yellow variety of a cherry sized fruit that I planted last year. The tomatoes are about the size of peaches but they are turning yellow. Finally I planted a little heirloom plant that produces tiny yellow fruit that look like little pears. I am hereby giving warning to friends, family and neighbours, I am going to have more tomatoes than I will know what to do with How cool it THAT.

It's daylilly week(s)

You would never know that I divided my daylillies last fall. I think I ripped almost half of them out. They seem even fully this year. I really don't know why I love them, but members of the Ontario Daylilly society agree with me, you can't have too many.