Look Up!

Its the Northern Lights! Wow!!!!

And then they glowed.....

I lightened this one up

Once again, contrasted to show off the display.

That was about 9:30 pm on Saturday night , looking straight across Kootenay Lake and up towards Balfour...

Joyce and I are off to see Uncle Paul and Auntie Mary tomorrow. Uncle, is in hospital now and not doing so well. I'll keep you posted.
Don't forget to spring ahead tonight... I already sprung my kitchen clocks ahead and now I need to do my radio alarm so that I can get to Joyce's at a ridiculously early hour...That will work best for us.TTFN.


"The Creator"

Beiging Olymics Primer

Thought everyone could use some humour!

Prepare now for the Beijing Olympics.


Learn Chinese in 5 minutes (You MUST read them aloud) If you are under 13, you must get your mom's approval!


English - Chinese

That's not right! Sum Ting Wong
Are you harbouring a fugitive? Hu Yu Hai Ding
See me ASAP; Kum Hia Nao
Stupid Man Dum Fuk
Small Horse Tai Ni Po Ni
Did you go to the beach? Wai Yu So Tan
I bumped into a coffee table! Ai Bang Mai Fu Kin Ni
I think you need a face lift! Chin Tu Fat
It's very dark in here! Wai So Dim
I thought you were on a diet! Wai Yu Mun Ching
This is a tow away zone! No Pah King
Our meeting is scheduled for next week! Wai Yu Kum Nao
Staying out of sight Lei Ying Lo
He's cleaning his automobile Wa Shing Ka
Your body odor is offensive Yu Stin Ki Pu
Great Fa Kin Su Pa

PASS IT ALONG. DON'T LAUGH BY YOURSELF!



"The Creator"

While the cat's away, the birds will play

Could I be putting out too much bird seed?

Are the big birds coming for the little birds?

Was it one bird doing the Cha-cha-cha, or was it a dozen birds doing line dancing?
So, we woke up to a major snowstorm this morning... Just a reminder that winter isn't quite over yet!
Fortunately, it never built up more than an inch or so around the house...more on our frozen roads, but the highways were clear.
Meanwhile, up in Prince George, where Emil was visiting his buddy, John, they woke up to a foot of snow!
Nothing like north of P.G.. at Ness LAke...they were dumped on to the tune of two feet of snow!!!
So everyone feels sorry for themselves until they hear the plight of others!
Speaking of plight, Emil got the word that the plane had no intentions of landing in Castlegar...so he is stuck in VAncouver, having an imprompteau visit with Stan.
How was your snowy day?


"The Creator"

Pesto Aoli

I was chatting on the phone with Annette and she gave me her tasty little recipe for Pesto Aoli...a flavourful garlicly/basil cheesey dressing that is used as a base for little mini appetizers, or in my case, for my dinner tonight. You could vary the toppings, but the end result is a yummy appie that you can pop into your mouth in a bite or two. This is the time to dig out your frozen pesto and make a little tupper container full of this yummy dressing.

Mix up a couple of tablespoons or cubes of pesto that has thawed out, if it was frozen, and add a tablespoon of crushed garlic, then add mayonaise until you have a taste you like. If you desire more garlic, go crazy! if you want it more creamy, add more mayo...You be the judge. I guarantee it will wake up your tastebuds!




Next, ready some slices of baguette or french bread, or use little pitas, and then slice up a slice of cheese for each piece of bread . ( I used Mozzarella ) and had some shredded cheddar to top the Appies with. I chopped up a tomato, and a stick of beer sausage, but Annette used cooked chicken breast. Use your imagination...a veggie, a meat, a combo...anything that you think would go with the basil flavour of Pesto, and the garlic flavour of Aoli.


Pick your ingredients and get them chopped or sliced, then stack them on the Aoli that you have spread on your baguette slices..see the next pic, and below.




On the slice of bread, spread some of the Pesto Aoli, top with a slice of cheese, then I added a tablespoon or so of chopped tomatoes, then some beer sausage, and on the very top, a bit of shredded cheddar cheese.


Toast for a few minutes in a toaster oven, so the bottoms and the tops of the bread get slightly browned,and the cheese melts.



Yum!


Pop them into your mouth and enjoy... a sunburst of flavour! Thanks Annette! They remind me of those little Sammies that I had at Quiznos the other night... little, and packed with lots of flavour!

"The Creator"

Was this the most beautiful week-end?

We tried out the Nordic Ski walkers...

Then we tried to cross country ski... more like ski slogging..

Then we gave up and just walked on the beach which is growing bigger every day,as the lake drops.

The sun and wind turned the the snow into a moonscape

My favourite shot...the cottonwoods reflected into the lagoon.

Lynn came out on Saturday for a little week-end visit...It was sunny and warm and the most beautiful day we've had...well, the most beautiful one that I have been home to witness...
We had an early brunch and then headed outdoors...first for a bit of a walk to try out the Nordic walking Stix, then on went the skis and Lynn started out first...down the hill by the garden...

A week ago, a person would have been skiing on top of the snow, but this week, the warm weather had softened the snow to the point where it was pretty much, mush. The skis sunk, and Lynn sunk, and I sunk, and all in all , the trip to the beach was a hell of a work-out for abs and flabs and pecs and tibs and fibs and one eyed jacks...ooops, that doesn't belong! Snow slogging...that is what I called it!

The nice thing was finally getting down to walking on the beach. The lake is rapidly dropping, giving us plenty of beach space...all I really need is Emil to snowblow a trail to the beach!

Shine on Sun! ( because Emil ain't doin' no snowblown trail)

Just as we returned from the beach, Joyce arrived and we all headed into the hot-tub with a Corrona in hand, that Lynn brought...Yum. We had worked up a big thirst! Iam so happy when my sister takes time out of her day to join Lynn and I for a visit. We are like three peas in a pod..make that a hot-pod We all love the hot-tub! It felt SOOOOO good on all of those achy tired muscles!

Joyce manned the BBQ ,sizzling up the last of Stan's Rainbow Trout...Yummy! It was a good to catch up with everyone's family and to enjoy a nice dinner together...Thanks to both Lynn and Joyce for coming out and helping get the dinner together and do the cleanup too...Sisterly love!

Sunday was another gorgeous day..warm enough to work up a sweat! Lynn and I walked all the way down to the ferry,then took a little ferry ride across and did a tour around Pippers Lane and then walked back home. That would be more than 3 kilometers! At least our road is showing signs of the dirt, instead of compact skating rink... It was pleasant to have a brisk walk and take in all the sounds and sights of spring...no daffodils yet, but the buds on the trees are growing larger and before we know it, the lawn will be showing in larger patches than just around the septic tank!

Lynn left after lunch and then I brought out the bucket of water and started on the exterior sides of the house windows I could reach... a little of Shell Buzzy's CV9 in the hot water and it leaves the windows pretty much streak free...just using the spongy side of a BEE-MOP. In warmer weather, one first rinses the window with the hose, then scrub over the window with the CV9 mixture ( a capful to a gallon of H2O) then another rinse with the hose. No need to squeegee or rub dry with a cloth. The windows dry streak free..especially on a warmer day!

I got carried away and did the all the windows out front, then as many as I could reach without a ladder ,out back, plus some of the glass on the balcony railings... I just kept washing down everything... and changed my water three times in the bucket. You can't wash the outside of the windows without doing the inside windows..well, at least some of them...and then there was the matter of the mini blind in the kitchen...pure filth. I cleaned that too... By then, it was time to call it a day.
HAve a good week, in case I don't get back at it!








"The Creator"

My Sweeties...

And here they are....MY Grandaughters...Ms. K and Ms. M...

Looking more and more teenagerish.. oh right, KAleigh IS a teen already!

It was so beautiful out that my primulas all bloomed!

Lynn cam out and spent the night...tried some Ski walking...


"The Creator"

Sonia, another weightlosing wonder

Here's my daughter with her new "doo"
...Cute, you'd laugh, because mine is the same sort of colour...much lighter and straight...only much shorter. Looking good! I'm proud of you and Eva both for taking the bull by the horns...ha-ha!...losing pounds and goetting fit and going blonde!
Looks like this is the year that everyone is trying to get a little more fit and the women are looking fabulous. Kudos to all you gals out there who are walking and exercising and eating less carbs...hmmm...its the sugar that I can't seem to abandon...I have been doing my morning walks and or my toning exercise with Richard Simmons... Don't laugh, he is motivational...and I can do it in my bedroom! I see he has many new DVD's and CD's out there...I'll have to check those out... OK...beddy for this freddy

"The Creator"

The New Eva

Hey girl, you look terrific!

Lots of hard work here to lose those nasty pounds...Now if only I could button MY OWN MOUTH!

Nothing like a sand box in winter!

Kendra skating...good idea to have a helment alright!

"The Creator"

Joyce's Trip

Daughter and mom , Virginia

Kendra and Grandma Joyce

Off to see the Wizard.....love those shoes

Looks like the Stuffies/Webkins are taking over! Such cutie pies!
Thanks Joyce for the pics!



"The Creator"

They Just Keep on Growing!

That baby there is a whopping three inches long!

"The Creator"

The weekend

Wow...that one went by quick...the week-end that is! On Saturday, I did get Emil to help me turn the mattress, then I changed the sheets, did a little laundry, and did a tidy up in the bathrooms before going for a Nordic walking stik walk..after I walked Silky. By the time I got home and ate brunch, the afternoon was there, and our new neighbours Mike and Alyssa, were knocking at our door to return a drywall knife. They are doing a total reno of their new house ( the brown one to the Nelson (west) of us). Well, we had a drink, then some snacks,and another drink, and before you know it, it was dark out.

I had put a semi frozen Toupie ham in the oven and it was no where near cooked till somewhere around 8:00 pm... You could say that the evening was shot, before we finally sat down and ate dinner.

Sunday morning, however was only the beginning of another similar day... cleaned a little, vacuumed, did some laundry, then Emil and I cooked up a nice ham and egg and hashbrown breakfast, using the fresh and yummy eggs that Emil collected from Lynn and Rick's chickens while they were in Kelowna.

Ashley and Deb, our other rather new neighbours ( Bill's daughter), joined us for breakfast. Guess I should have had some champagne for the orange juice, but we survived without it!
Everyone filled up with the essential kind of breakfast,then topped it off with one of the date muffins I made the night before. After we were all plumped up, we decided to go x-country skiing out to the BAlfour golf course. It was still frozen enough that we could slip slide right along easily on top of the snow, even tho it hadn't been tracked. Deb and Ashley prefer snowshoeing, s o they shoed and we skiied as best we could , choosing any one of many tracks to follow, or to make our own.

Right off the bat, we had to navigate down a little hill just beyond the golf course, and both Emil and I crashed! Too funny! That is one thing about snow shoes, you seem to stay upright!
We slogged our way, or should I say...I slogged my way through all nine holes on the front nine. Only thing we were missing was the golf clubs! Ashley is like the energizer bunny, and Deb hopped along without any signs of the huffing and puffing that Emil and I had!

We opted to quit after the first nine, but last week-end Deb and Ash also navigated their way through the entire back nine...made me tired just thinking about it!

So instead of going to the BBI, Deb and Ash invited us over...That was nice...we were tuckered out....well, I was tuckered out. My knee and ankle aren't being kind to me these days, so I was happy to veg out for a few minutes.

That, however didn't last long!

Ashley brought out his Wii game for his new huge flatscreen, and before you know it, we were all bowling in the living room. Of course, one doesn't really bowl, but how you hold the Wand thingy and when you release the button, all has considerable bearing on the way your bowling bowl goes down the alley.

Emil and Ashley had Strike after strike,and spare after spare, while Deb did pretty good, and lets just say, I struggled... I broke a hundred on game two, but that was quite pathetic. Seems that even in my old worst days of bowling, I could bowl about 150 .

After two games of bowling, my wrist felt like it was going to be in a permanent droop. It was excrutiatingly painful and aching...still is. Imagine if it had of been a real bowling ball? Ha!

So the fellows, continued to play golf, and we all continued to munch, as Deb brought out one delicious snack after the next.

Deb's daughter, Cait, is a hairdresser, and she cut my hair last Thursday, s o she continued along with the process and foiled my hair at Deb's. So we ate some more and drank some more, and the guys were still golfing and the Academy awards had begun... another day, zapped out from under me! Finally we made it back home somewhere around eight o'clock and pretty much, went to bed after we had some ham...always seem to need real food, even if we were stuffed with snackie-poos.

Oh yes, I talked to Joyce, and she made it home safe and sound after a huge trip to Virginia's and then to Derricks...all by bus! An avalanche near Golden, kept them waiting in the bus for three hours... how awful!

The kids all seem to be doing fine and Emil is basking in retirement mode. He is all excited to bring his boat back home ( to Peter's) now that it has been fixed up. As Cheryl says...B.O.A.T stands for BRING ON ANOTHER THOU!

Chris and Carolyne are on their way to the Dominican to exactly where we went...They fly out tomorrow for two weeks. I hope they love it as much as we did...the temp is around 28*...so it should be balmy.

Have a good one...thanks to everyone who has replied about Emil's party... we will figure out accomodation when I see how many can't fit in our house. The Balfour Beach Inn will probably be able to give us a pretty good rate if we need other rooms. I'll check with the owner in another month or so. We'll have lots of room for camping and rigs.

"The Creator"

French Pink Willows

Aren't these delightful?

After a week in some water, the cut pussy willow will first turn pink, then later start to grow, until the catkin is almost two inches long...then it breaks out in yellow pollen for the bees. Unfortuneately, I relieved the entire tree of every pussy willow branch,s o the bees are out of luck!




"The Creator"

Grandma Shumey's Date Bran Muffins

Easily mixed up in a food processor

Not too sure about these new silicon muffin cups, so I didn't fill them too full. I sprayed the muffin cups with Pam ,first.

Cute new mini baker that Sonia gave me for Christmas . I sprayed that with pam too, before filling it with the left over batter.

Voila... all done...and yummy!

First, chop nuts a bit in the food processor then take out and set aside.
Second, heat about a cup of dates in the microwave for 30 seconds...makes them much easier to chop. Chop into small bite sized pieces and reserve for later.

Heat oven to 375*
Spray muffin cups with PAm


So back to the food Processor...

put in 1/2 cup of margarine
1 cup brown sugar
2 tblsp of Karo syrup ( corn syrup)
1 egg.
Once it is all in the food processor, give it a whirl to cream up the ingredients nice and smooth.

A 4 cup measuring cup works ideal...Put in 2 cups of bran buds, and 1 cup of white flour. Stir a bit to make an even blend. Add 1/2 tsp of salt. Stir altogether and set aside.

In a one cup pyrex measure cup, pour in a cup of milk and add 2 tspns or a little more of white vinegar to make sour milk and then just before you use it, add 1 tsp. of baking soda. This will foam up, so be ready to dump a bit into your creamy mixture.

Now, you are going to add wet and dry ingredients to your creamed mixture, alternately. I dump in about half the flour and bran mixture, then half the milk, then give the processor a whirl, then I add the remainder and give it another whirl. You don't need to over mix this,as it is muffins, not a cake that we are making:-)
Lastly add your chopped nuts ( walnuts or pecans) and add the chopped dates ( or raisins). give it another whirl and then you are ready to fill the muffin cups. I had a little extra, so I used the mini-baker.

Bake at 350 for ten minutes, and then lower heat by ten degrees, and continue baking until they are cooked...about 20 minutes ,more or less. Take out of oven and immediately dump out of Silicon baking cups. Those are some fun and come in cute colours and are easy to store and clean up quick. No need to bake in a muffin pan, apparently....just on a cookie sheet.


"The Creator"

Nordic Walking USA

Nordic Walking USA
If you are inrterested in any more of the many aspects of Nordic Skiwalking, then check out Claire's website, that offers links to many other Nordic walking clubs, and tips on suitable shoes for all seasons. Thanks, Claire, for visiting my blog.

"The Creator"

The Great Lunar Eclipse...

Emil and I took it all in, right from the bedroom window! Actually, I nearly drove off the highway several times on the way home, just trying to get a glimpse of the moon slowly getting munched away by earth's shadow.
The photos above are in reverse order, so this one above is of the moon as it was coming out of the eclipse, taken from my studio balcony.

I love this one, because I caught the Saturn and Regulus, framing the eclipsing moon.

This is about half way through the eclipse.

Finally, this is the beginning of the phase after the total eclipse,when the moon is starting to light up again. Much to our surprise, the light crept in from the bottom...seemed all wrong, but what the hay do we know?
The next one won't happen until 2010, in December, so I hope everyone caught a glimpse of it tonight, because it will be along time until the next one! For some outstanding photos, go to Spaceweather.com
"The Creator"

Lunar Eclipse

I nearly forgot to tell everyone that on Wednesday the 2oth, there will be a full Lunar eclipse...the last one we will get to see until 2010!

It starts at 5:43 PST and will be in full darkness around 7:03pm. Check here for a nice animated look at the moon eclipsing.

LUNAR ECLIPSE: On Wednesday night, February 20th, the full Moon will turn a delightful shade of red and possibly turquoise, too. It's a total lunar eclipse-the last one until Dec. 2010. Sky watchers in Europe, the Americas, parts of the Middle East and Africa are favored for good views of the two-hour event. Visit http://spaceweather.com for full coverage including maps and timetables, live webcasts and discussion.

"The Creator"