Busy Sunday

So busy today that I did not even have time to take photos. Worked yesterday so spent all last night getting all my junk ready for my garage sale today. I had it set for 10:00 am but I had people waiting at the bottom of the driveway for almost an hour. The sale was not a money maker - most people just wanted to talk - should have charged for my time, I would have made more money as a therapist. The highlight of the sale - four year old twins showed up with their grandad - they rummaged through my .25 cent boxes and both found a couple of toys. The girls were dressed exactly alike in sundresses and sandals except one of them had on a beaded anklet. They were so cute I almost took their picture.
The good thing about a garage sale is that you actually clean out the garage so in between customers I managed to clean out half of it.
Yesterday at the farmers market I bought a few bundles of parsley and got some for free. The green gold is now sitting in our freezer - just can't cook without it.

I will be heading North tomorrow so I will be away from my blog until next weekend. Hope everyone has a great week.

Friday collage

One of my favourite things to do is to use tea to dye fabric. Our duvet cover was too white for the newly painted bedroom so I filled the old washtub with tea, let it soak in the sun for several hours and we now have a linen coloured quilt that is not hard on the eyes.
Could not resist this very large enamel ware cup from Sweden that I found at the thrift store. It holds all my pens and pencils and markers - it's huge.
This is now one of our favourite dinners - so easy and so good! We brown two turkey and two chicken breasts in olive oil with garlic. Throw in some cherry tomatoes, kalamata olives, and wine. Put the pan in the oven and roast until juices run clear. Try it - you'll like it.



This is the view from our house across to Dufferin Mountain and Kenna Cartwright Park. We never tire of this view - it is an ever changing show of clouds and colours that my camera just cannot capture.

Spectacular commute

On a good day, the drive from my house to work is less then ten minutes. I play my favourite cd as loud as I can which is not very loud when I'm driving with Valodya. There is construction going on at every corner or so it seems. But as soon as I turn onto Columbia and head down the hill, the view is spectacular. On my left the mountains and the river, and on my right are the huge cement planters filled with flowers that remind me of an island in the Mediterranean. Every morning.

Back-alley flower show

Grey clouds to the east, blue skies to the west, the sound of the gurgling creek in the background, Danish meatball sandwiches on our laps, and giant russians overhead.

Friday dumplings

There are apples and peaches piled everywhere so today right after work we peeled and pitted and made sixteen dumplings. Some will go to the neighbour. Some will go to our friend who lost the love of his life a few years ago. Some might even make it to the freezer and some will be eaten for breakfast tomorrow morning.

Just peachy

Not too many Saturday market days left so we try to go every Saturday. This weekend I bought a basket of peaches from my favourite vendor from Keremeos. I was going to make peach dumplings which were a hit last year, but this time I decided to try a new recipe from Martha - peach and cornmeal upside-down cake made in my cast iron skillet. We love anything made with cornmeal and this is a keeper.

Treasure hunt

Why would I get up at 6:00 am on my day off? Today was 50% off day at my favourite junk store and the sale started at 7:00 am. All the treasures, except one, that I had scouted out the day before were all there waiting for me. A demijohn with the willow cover for my collection. A heavy lead crystal vase, a mother of pearl necklace, an abalone pendant, blue fabric and several embroidered scarves and hankies to be sewn onto a quilt. A very successful treasure hunt.

Terry Fox Run Day

Every year since 1982, we have participated in the TERRY FOX RUN. That first run was very special because we were living in Port Coquitlam, Terry's hometown, at the time. And Rick Hansen was there, we got to meet him and he autographed books and shook everybody's hand.
This morning we did a 7k walk in the blazing heat and we did it in 1 hour and twenty minutes and that includes water breaks and time to snap some photos along the way.
Normally we would go out for brunch to celebrate the day but this time we decided to have our breakfast of champions at home with homemade blueberry buttermilk muffins, sausage patties from the Calgary Stampede, and potato patties.

Busy and relaxing

In honour of Labour Day, I made a special brunch. These cinnamon buns are the best I have ever tasted. Yes, they are a little extra work (they have to rise overnight in the fridge) but they are well worth it. The recipe is from FAMILY MEALS by Maria Helm Sinskey.
So in order to burn off all those calories, we took a hike in Kenna Cartwright Park. It was overcast but by the time we got to the top we had to take off our jackets. The view as always was fantastic.




Spent the afternoon in the kitchen - I tried another new recipe - Apple Galettes. Rustic individual pies - Valodya was in seventh heaven when he had a taste. I used the recipe from the June 2008 issue of Canadian Living magazine.
And for dinner, Valodya really outdid himself on his favourite Onion Tart. He added roasted red peppers and lots of olives to the onion and cream cheese mixture. With an insalata mista it was a perfect ending to a wonderful long weekend.

Labour Day long weekend

This is Maura's t-shirt quilt, a quilt that has been a year in the making. It took me quite a while to find just the right blanket for the backing. It had to be cotton and it had to feel good. The only size I could find was a twin blanket so I bought two because Maura has lots of t-shirts. The t-shirt squares are pinned on and I have basted the cotton twill tape over all the edges. This is a labour of love.
As a little reward for getting so much done on the quilt, I whipped up my favourite pesto recipe using the basil from the farmers market. I mixed walnuts and pecans, added extra parmiggiano and lots of olive oil. It was a hit at dinner.
Our beautiful rain barrel was overflowing this morning so we did not need to water the garden. Just had to grab a bowl and fill it with golf ball sized squash, celery, tomatoes, and cukes.
We tried cantaloupe for the first time this year; we have three babies and they look really cute but we will not be enjoying our own melons this time.
The celery went crazy and it tastes wonderful. Somebody mentioned that they were going to make Ceasars - can't wait.
Our turkey stir-fry consisted of veggies from the market or from our own garden.
Yellow beans from Rock Creek - so good and so simple to prepare. Cooked until al dente, added garlic, salt, fresh parsley, and olive oil. Serve cold with vinegar.