A grape idea

Finally, after months and months of procrastination I have cleaned out my closet. I filled three shopping bags with clothes, some with price tags still on them, and donated all of this to a womens's shelter. Just down the road from the shelter, I came across a cabin. On the porch a cat was surveying his domain. Behind the cabin was a smaller outbuilding; a bleached cow skull hanging from the door. And just across the field was a log cabin with a red roof. But what caught my eye was the stack of Zinfandel grape boxes neatly piled on the front porch; a great idea for a windbreak or privacy screen.

Doukhobor cake

It's been quite some time since TG baked this tasty banana cake. She always uses the same recipe from the John A. Hutton Elementary School cookbook from Grand Forks. But this time she used almond milk, substituted butter for the margarine, and instead of walnuts, she added chocolate chips. When you are a confident baker, you can pretty much write your own recipe.

Less is more

This was our first flea market of the year and it was so successful that we cannot wait to do another one in a few weeks. Usually when I sell I will walk around and check out what the other sellers have and inevitably I will come home with another 'treasure' that I just had to have. But not this time. I still did my walkabout but knew that I was there to declutter. My mantra was 'I have everything I need' and it worked like a charm.

Just ducky

It was so foggy we could barely see across the river but we were snug and warm with our coffees and scones and muffins. Tried something new this morning; an Italian scone made with spicy sausage and lots of cheese and veggies. I was totally awake after having that for breakfast.
The ducks on the beach kept us company. In the background we could hear the Canada geese as they started their day under the bridge.

Venetian birds

It was so nice and sunny on Sunday that Mr. Cowboy raked the lawn and I actually hung clothes out to dry with my new bird shaped clothes pins from the Guggenheim in Venezia. Well, not clothes but new fabric which was on sale for half price. Plus a friend at work gave me a whole bag of fabric and other goodies; it was like Christmas. Then at the flea market I found this delicately embroidered remnant for fifty cents. It will become part of the baby quilt I am currently making.

For Junko, Natsumi, and Aki

As I steep the tea leaves, the aroma takes me back to that blistering hot summer when three Japanese girls came to stay with us. I take a cup in both hands and quietly say a prayer that they are all safe.

For sale

The inside of this button-encrusted wooden jewelry box was originally painted a very bright pink. But when I found the antique butter pat at the Sale last week I used that as my inspiration for the colour scheme.The tiny plate makes a great ring bowl.

I could not resist attaching the amethyst crystal to the royal purple jewelry box. Both of these are on sale at The Art We Are.

Spring coffee cake

This is one of those recipes that is a little convoluted but I made it anyways and was glad I did. It's from Martha Stewart. It's called yeasted chocolate coffee cake and it is great served warm. Instead of putting chocolate on the inside, I used cocoa for the topping. Won't do that the next time I make this.

No, these are not from my garden.

The Art We Are

I'm selling again like I used to years ago. So far it's button boxes and cards but also have a baby quilt on the go. I really like the atmosphere of the tea joint; you can enjoy a great lunch and shop for unique handmade items.

Windy lunch

Very windy yesterday but after a quick stop at the Antiques and Collectibles sale, we had a Cowboy lunch up the hill.

The 'F' word

This is one of my favourite foods - pickled eggplant.
Then you've got your absolutely wonderful chick peas and homemade sausages.
Add the aforementioned absolutely wonderful chick peas to homemade tomato sauce with fresh spaghetti and Bob's your Zio.
Fluffy pancakes are a great way to start the morning when you are snowed in.
The famous Deruta egg salad sans mayo or oil - great stuff.
Risotto naturally follows a roast turkey dinner, every time.
A little colour to minimize the glare from all that snow.
And what nugget of truth did I glean from this latest trip to the centre of the province? There is always room for Jello!

The 'S' word

Had to use special mitts as I attempted to shovel some of the million cubic metres of SNOW off the driveway. I have never seen so much SNOW. The roads were awful, SNOW on top of ice and ruts everywhere and to make matters worse the sidewalks had not been cleared. Real fun going for a walk.