Mark Cullen

If you are into gardening, please check out Mark Cullen's garden site for great Canadian tips. Lynn and Val went to one of his talks in Trail and totally enjoyed all he had to say.Check out the info under his Gardening Guide and particularly, the garden planner that you can download.

Brenda's Fruit Streudal

We had a nice hen session at Connie's on Thursday...always a blast of laughter,that is for sure. So a few people enjoyed the Fruit Streudal I brought...and thanks Zelda for inquiring about it. A person has to scroll down on the right hand sidebar until you pass the photo section, then you will arrive at the recipe section which is arranged under alphabetical order.Click on the recipe entitled "Brenda's Fruit Streudal" and you will find the recipe on that page as you scroll down. Any probs, and we can work it out through email...give me a call.
Hope that clarifies things! Or you can click on the streudal links I have underscored...
Thank you for it being Saturday today!
by the time I shopped for groceries last night and came home and cooked up my fishy wishy, I was tired. I still putzed around on the computer...till I found the Funny Video of a four guys on a tread mill...doing some tricky treading. I don't know if that was the one Z. was talking about,but this one is pretty good. Click here toTake a look!

So the other very neat thing to download if you have an Itunes account, is the phenomenol performance of Celine and Elvis on the American Idol Gives back show on Wednesday night. For $2.98, it is a piece of technological history worth keeping. Open your Itunes program, click on Itunes store and check the available downloads to find the Celine and Elvis performance... I couldn't find it by googling Itunes store...funny eh?

So have a good week-end. We are expecting John and Ronda today...so lots of food, fun and festivity...

"The Creator"

Happy Belated Birthday Virginia!

39 and holdin' You look great Virginia...and it looks like a fun night out with your friends!
Cheers everyone.....
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, this cutie is sucking up the noodles!
Thanks for passing the pics along... Mom and daughter look alike with that blonde hair...Very sweet!

"The Creator"

Train Derailment in Trail

Lawrence and Lori's neighbour,Bob took these photos today,before the engineer was discovered dead. The other two workers jumped free of the train.
And I was just thinking the other night, that the train passing by our house at 3:00 in the am, sounded very loud and squeely as it rounded the corner..it gives me the "Kreeps!"

"The Creator"

Some garden pics.../Newly Painted Store!

I started at the top of the flower bed where I could see some semblance of growth that wasn't all weeds
The Lavender Heather is in full bloom. I planted my two new heathers near by,in hopes they grow just as big.
This is on the outside of the fence. I salvaged a poppy or two and many globe primulas, but had to quit when I reached that knot of grass at the top of the photo. Any diggers out there???
The swallows have returned from Capistrano...and are back to their old house. I was hoping a pair of bluebirds would move in, but no luck so far...even if they have visited us two week-ends in row.
Talk about Margarita green...Not bad for bright! The jewellery looks fab against the new walls, and check those shiny refinished hardwood floors! Better yet, drop in and take a boo.

"The Creator"

Good Garden Week-end/ Pork All in one dinner.

This is what your All in One dinner will look like ,before it goes into the oven, after it comes out of the oven and before it goes into the fridge...Ha-ha... I have to say the dinner tastes better than its brown gravy looks in a picture. Maybe one could add some bright veggies to give it some colour! Dinner recipe at end of post...scroll down...

We couldn't call it a heat wave, but it wasn't raining. It was pleasant enough to get our tails outside and dig into the garden. Lets say I was the one digging in! At first I thought there was no hope for my flower bed along the fence. It was over-run with grass and the worst section was a chunk that I couldn't face last year. In fact I took out half of the matt of morning primroses last year, but couldn't face finish removing them, thereby leaving a good six foot run still suffering from that wild perrenial that went crazy on me. The roots were in a thick knotty mat over five inches thick from fence to border. I took the pitchfork to them and wiggled and jiggled and hunked off a chunk at a time until I removed the whole lot of them.
Voila! Reclaimed flowergarden.
By then I had snippets of "good" plants from iris to bleeding heart and globe primulas that needed to be replanted. It helped fill in a few holes in the now barren chunk of flower bed.

I made it all the way down to the lilac tree and only severed two roots of the peony! In the end , I even got some of the outside of the fence dug up and did move to a point whereby I could plant my sweet-peas. That was the point of the whole exercise. I accomplished what I set out to do, and even a little more. I stuck in a few marigolds and then some Cosmos on the outside of the fence and even some radishes inside the garden.
By the time I finished, around seven tonight, I was pooped out, but feeling good at what I got done. Silk and I took a walk on the beach while my dinner cooked.

Emil's mom often made this quick dinner that I made tonight.

Save-On had big trays of pork sirloin steaks on sale. They are perfect for this rather quick dinner.You need :

Pork steaks...they are large but tasty . (I can eat one by myself. )
an onion chopped in a large dice
a can of mushroom soup
a can of button mushrooms or sliced mushrooms
Potatoes peeled and quartered lengthwise for however many you are feeding ( 4)
salt and pepper
A mushroom or brown gravy mix
Pam and a little oil to brown the steaks in.

Preheat the oven to 350*

Salt and pepper your steaks and spray your fry pan with Pam and add a little oil so the steaks don't stick. Pop them in the hot fry pan and brown each side until golden. In the meantime, get a nice pyrex casserole dish ( 9x13) ready by Pamming it. Then chop up a good sized onion into a large dice. Open a can of button mushrooms. Don't drain. Open a can of mushroom soup. Find yourself a package of gravy mix.
Once the steaks are browned on both sides, you can remove them and lay them in one layer in the bottom of the pyrex or casserole dish.
Now toss the onions into the hot frypan with the brownings from the pork.
Saute them...stirring until they are soft.
Add the can of mushrooms, including the juice.
Add the can of mushroom soup.
Stir with a whisk to mix in the mushroom soup as best you can... don't worry if a few lumps remain. Mix your gravy mix according to directions ( stir into a cup of water or a less) and add the mushroom soupy mixture.
Stir to cook the gravy a bit, then dump the whole works over top of the browned steaks in your pyrex dish. Top evenly with quartered (lengthwise) potatoes , so that they are submerged in the soupy mix if possible.( Salt and pepper the spuds). Cover with a sheet of tinfoil, then pop into your hot oven and bake at 350* for about 45 minutes. It will smell so good when you are baking it, that you will be sitting at the table waiting for the dish to come out of the oven! Be careful when you remove the tinfoil, as the steam that escapes could burn you!
Enjoy!..I did!
"The Creator"