paraskevidekatriaphobia

tHAT WOULD BE FEAR OF fRIDAY THE 13th... hmmmm...my font came out a little weird...I didn't really come across any black cats today, nor was I forced to walk under a ladder, and thankfully, no mirrors broke,even when I looked in them!!
Wow!
I am eating that lo-carb Orville R. popcorn that tastes like chunks of cardboard until you doctor it up a bit... .. drizzle on a blend of 1 scoop of brown sugar and a dollop of whipping cream that has been nuked for a minute and voila....a treat worth writing a blog about...
Silk is waiting at my chair for handouts, but she only gets the popcorn that missed the caromel bath. I am drinking a Perrier water that Emil brought home from a recent air trip...Yum-yum...no wonder Carolyne's sister has one as an after dinner drink...Aqua con gaz... I drank so much of it in Peru, once I realized normal water made me ill. You could buy it by the litres down there...
I guess that Club Soda is the same as a Perrier, but it just doesn't taste the same! How come?????

A big thank-you to Neil an Jim for stopping up at Kolmel's to meet Sonia's mom and to select some fun pieces for their significent others! Nice to meet you fellows -Always interesting to actually meet the peops that tune into my blog...thanks for your readership (to all)!

So. it was a busy week at work, hence the lack of being on the blog... I went for groceries after work last night and by the time I arrived home it was 8:00 and then after unloading the grub, I decided to clean out the fridge and before I knew it ,it was 9:00 and I was starved and I still had a bag of produce to figure out what to do with. The good news is that I cooked up a bucnch of ribs that I bought at Super Store. They were the long strips that are the left overs after the breast part is cut off ( the rack of ribs) . I chopped the strips into riblets, and coated them with Costco bought chopped garlic , some Lawreys non MSG seasoning salt and some Garlic Plus seasoning ( from Costco) , and some black bean with garlic sauce and then lime juice squeezed all over them. I tossed them into a big tupperware to season them all, then threw them into a broiler pan ( without the rack) that I had sprayed with PAM and lined with Parchment Paper. No need to PAM the PArchment... just toss in the ribs. Grind on some of that Kirkland Sea Salt from Costco for a nice touch. I roasted them at 350* for an hour and a half ...tossing them around every half hour or so until they were all golden brown. At this point you can use them for sweet and sour ribs , or just eat them the way they are.

Lynn is coming out tomorrow,so I thought I would make some Chinese food. I will forego the sweet and sours and just do the ribs and also some dry roasted wings. We will celebrate her birthday with a birthday dinner... Now what about desert?

We had a wonderful ham dinner over at Dick and Anne's tonight and she made a lovely blueberry pie for desert. It was my first ever blueberry pie, and perhaps the most perfect berry pie ever...not too thick, not too thin , and a crust to die for. She adds a teaspoon...or was that a tablespoon of baking powder to each pie crust pie that she builds. Her crust is enviable and delicious and maybe the best piecrust I have had! One thing about Anne...she is a great cook!
Dick showed his National Geographic quality film of their trip down to Mexico where they camped with Lynn and Rick at Penasco. It looked to be awesomely warm and delightfully full of white herons and pelicans and gulls. They travelled back up to Joshua Tree Park California,and on over to Montecino and Santa Barbara and Monterey, before heading back home to the mega snow of Harroponia.
I'd say that if you have some retirement time on your hands and a month or more to explore, you could follow in their footsreps for a beautiful holiday. The Aquarium in Monteray was incredible...

Ok. Back to reality.
it is half past my bedtime...Lynn is due to arrive in the morning...also some lady interested in Emil's tin boat....
I better take out the wings to thaw for tomorrow night's dinner.

Just a little side note to say the Loreen, my cousin. Lorne's daughter, was in the store the other day. It is always an adventure to chat with her... She was writing her final exam in Golf management up at Selkirk, in preparation for a trip to Morocco to manage a golf course there.!!!
You heard me... and if you do a few google searches ,you'll discover that Golf and Morocco go hand in hand! Meanwhile her daughter, Nicole, (age 19) will be in Kenya ,working at an orphanage for her second year...at the same time. Nicole just spoke at the opening of a seminar in Vancouver,that the noted Canadian and Humanitarium, Stephen Louis, was the key speaker. He is devoted to the issue surrounding HIV/AIDs and the orphaned children of Africa.

Loreen's fifteen minute visit to the store made me feel like grass was growing under my feet as I stood there!!!!!
Kudos to her and her daughter for taking on the world!

Joyce stopped in to say hello with her new "Doo" Looked great Joyce ! She is off to Rupert to see the kidlets and celebrate little Jamie's birthday. My goodness...we were all in Edmonton at her baptism, at this time last year! My how time flys.

Carolyne gave me a copy of her "Biodynamic Gardening Calendar... today, in hopes that I'll read up on it and get my garden planted on time...and Joyce gave me some Lucifer plants today to set into the ground...Thank-you Joyce! I'll get on that in the morning! ( but only if it is recommended in the calender!)

Speaking of plants, Lynn from down the street opened her new gardening store today..right in her shed! Erindale Road Nurseries . Way to go Lynn! We'll be down to see what you have...japanese maples and dahlias...Yum!



"The Creator"

Happy Birthday Lynn!

Wishing Lynn a very Happy Birthday today! Her and I will celebrate next week-end...Whahhoooo...Party-On in the Hot-tub!
"The Creator"

Commercial Commodity Unbundling Program and Stable Rate Option for Residential Customers

Commercial Commodity Unbundling Program and Stable Rate Option for Residential Customers
Listen up gang...In less than a month you will be asked if you wish to purchase your natural gas from a gas Marketer instead of Teresen gas... thus, in order to make an informed decision, you must become an instant specialist in projecting gas prices over the next five years, cause that is how long you will be able to lock into a fixed price that you pay for your Natural gas...if you purchase it from a Natural Gas marketer. The list of Marketers are on this web page above.
For a list of FAQ's provided by Teresen gas... read up about it here.
Perhaps, someone who has moved here from Ontario will have some experience regarding buying gas, as they have had this option since the early nineties. in fact , I ,myself , went to a job fair once , in Quebec or Ottawa and this is precisely what the position was....to go door-to-door to market natural gas to the locals. Half the people in the room, left in disgust, because the pay was of course related to the amount of customers you drummed up...much like selling Amway or Fuller Brushes.

The head honchos at the job fair had many maps showing pipelines and had an explanation for how they could supply gas better than their opponents. Well, maybe they could. The CARP website I pointed to a few weeks ago has a preferred Natural gas supplier that saved their customers 136%...so I will be contacting CARP to see if they have any preferred suppliers out west for their members.... I'll keep you posted!

Happy Easter Sunday

Moi and Emil and Annette after the first course!

Janice , Ed, Gord, linda nd Elli...

Emil and moi and Annette on Janice and Gord's beach soaking up the rays

Janice and Gord...with the Balfour narrows behind them

Miss Sunshine herself!

Yoo-hoo...We had a wonderful day on Easter Sunday once we all got up and got mobilized. Emil had made reservations over at the Balfour Golf Club for Sunday brunch...along with Janice and gord and Ed and Linda and Peter and Elli... My oh my...what a feast they put on. The Golf Course has hired a new General Manager and two new chefs...The chefs are from the college and one is a pastry chef...Yum-Yum. He had every pastry from danishes to big fat cinnabuns to muffins and cakes and pecan pie! The whole setup was done up right and the selection of foods were awesome...Eggs benny, Ham, hash browns, pancakes, french toast, bacon, sausages, cold cuts, salads, pickles, buns, fresh fruits, ice cream, fruit mousse, tortes, fried bananas, & creme brullee! Lets just say that if they keep up the good work, it will be a full house every week-end! Perfect for getting a good bang for the buck, because your coffees and orange juice were all included, and the service was excellent for the amount of people being seated. I would highly recommend it!


After lunch, we stopped off at Gord and Janice's for beer in the sunshine, on the beach...felt like summer. Gord even flew his kite for a bit before it tangled in the dead birches... It was a picture perfect day for spending with Annette before she had to end her vacation with us.!





When we returned home, no-one could hardly move...too much food!


Emil was first to get mobilized, then me...We brought down a load of manure from out in the front yard to the garden. I raked up a little patch of the fresh tilled garden and dug in some manure and then planted my strawberry plants. Morgan also brought me straw and I was able to surround my four new rows of strawberries with straw. It looks magnificent.


Then it rained last night and today. With any luck, that will give the strawberries a good start!Yea!
Oh yes, I have to mention that Annette ,our Easter bunny, brought Joyce and I a set of firefly solar lights for the garden! These are the cutest...about five 2"long fireflies on bendable wire stems that shoot upwards about 15"out of a weighted fake rock...They absorb the sun's power by day and by night they flick on and off ,just like a real firefly... awesome! Thanks, Annette! I hope they scare the deer away!








"The Creator"