Happy Spooktacular 65th Birthday to Joyce

It says Happy 65th B-Day and hanging on!


The real cake tasted better than this cardboard one.


Joyce will have a brand new Pumpkin tealight holder for Hallowe'en collection, or her garden...

OMG...Are they real???

It was a Spooctacular cake

Don't worry, I washed them off!

Now if this isn't a morbid piece of work arggghhhhhh

Awwwweeee Only for my sister would I go to the ends of my tendons to make her birthday special!

Joyce and I did a little tour of the two painting exhibitions at the Museum.. Peter Valisik's works were crazy wild and pretty interesting, despite his odd size relationships. Who else would think of seating three full grown men on a sagging very long horse... I love that weird painting!

Also he did a cool cluster of chickens...in painterly blue outlines on a sparkley whitish background...another favourite of mine... maybe because it was huge. I was a little disapointed that more of the paintings weren't recent.

I wasn't too crazy about the other show by someone with the name of Pixie in the middle...the exhibit was called Milk and Blood...lots of red and white. One small painting of African people holding a cup to their mouth, with two hands... only about 12x12, but well executed in muted tones of reds to blacks...very little of the "Milk".

Joyce and I enjoyed taking a look see, then made our way over to the Hume Hotel to the library where we promptly ordered a cool Honey ale, brie and garlic with Pitas, Calamari, and chicken wings... alll very yummy. We yapped while we ate and pretty much solved all the problems of the world before calling it a night there. We hauled the cake and gifties back to the store, where we made a cup of tea and had a piece of yummy Carrot severed finger cake! It was a good night ,and always it is fun to do a little HAllowe'en celebration with Joyce near or on her birthday.

Tomorrow night we are heading over to the BBI for some dancing to Mystery Train... a bluesey band that has good dance music...sounds better the more you drink.

Have a happy and safe HAllowe'en!

Oh yes, if you are up in the middle of the night, take a peak at the night sky to see if there are any Auroras.. they were spotted in the northern countries of Denmark and Sweden... and the auroras were amazing. To take a look at photos ,go to www Spaceweather.com

A big HAppy 65th to Joyce... she doesn't look a day over 55!


"The Creator"

Breakfast Pitas

If you haven't tried these yet, then give them a go...

They kind of look like a flat scone, but have the texture of a pita or panini...almost. They do have 200 calories, but no trans fat and no cholesteral at all. I like them! I like their texture...a little chewy and great when they are toasted in the toaster oven. For work, I spread on some light cream cheese and added a slice of ham and it was a filling sandwich for me.

They are full of flax seeds, so they have to be good for you!

They are advertised as an alternate for a hamburger bun...and they look like they could work as such, tho, I don't think the calorie value would be any less.
Anyhow, give them a try if you are tired of plain old bread.
Hmmm...It is so dark out in the morning, that now I am looking forward to the time change so I can get back to a proper walk in the am. THis morning, it was so frosty that even Silky turned around and headed for home when she reached the beach!
Well, time to get the costume spruced up. There is a few of us heading to the BBI for some dancing to Mystery Train... a bluesy band that I like a lot. The new Dock and Duck has something going on ,so some of our group are going to dinner there first to check it all out. Last year we listened to someone elses plan...went to Proctor and it was pretty dead, so it is back to the BBI for us.
Tomorrow I'll meet Joyce for a tour through the museum to see Peter Valisk's paintings, then we are off to dinner at the HUME hotel for an early celebration of Joyce's birthday... anyone is welcome to join us ,just after 6:00pm, in the library. I'll bring the cake!

"The Creator"

Beautiful afternoon in the bay

The calm days of fall on the lake

Then there is the what may be the last bonfire of the year

Hung my hallowe'en lights... I know...people are hanging their Christmas lights...not us!

Deep conversation between Deb and Emil.

Yesterday was windy but gorgeous out... I nearly finished the great transplant of flowers from old garden to new... Just a pile of iris left in the wheel barrow for me to figure out where to place them. No lack of space...just the decision process... Amazingly, buried in all the weeds, I could still find little tidbits of iris trying to survive the weedwhacker that took them down in the first place. I dug out as many as I could see, plus a whole lot of columbines, much to my pleasure. Maybe I'll even buy some more bulbs! The guys went out fishing for a choppy day on the lake...waves over the bow!!! Thats when they called it a day...and came home...only one little fishy.
Ashley fired up the fire pit and Deb brought down some awesome Beef barley soup and I brought over the hotdogs and smokies and so we had a campfire dinner... Ashley threw on some huge chunks of wood to keep us toasty warm! we stayed out till about 8:00 when it became unbareably cold... We abandoned the firepit for the warmth of Deb and Ashley's fireplace... and played half a game of Mexican train... Deb won that half! Way to go Deb! It was a challenge!
Have a great Sunday...I'll be back outside. It is clean the hot-tub day today ( drain and refill) and then cleaning of all the furnaces and the filters...and then back to my garden... I have the old pink rose to move. Emil said he would help.


"The Creator"

Grizzley Pics

Now that is a grizzley bear. Lynn sent these photos taken in Prince George...

Pedicure?

Now what does a person do with it... a bear rug...ewwwe !

Giant claws

Don't want to be the recipient of those babies... Thanks Lynn for passing the pics along.
That is one big mother of a bear!

"The Creator"

Joyce and anne visit Aunty Mary

Joyce took Anne up to Naksup to visit Aunty before the snow flies... Looks like she has some good space in her room there.


Anne brought a plate of deleicious nalesniki for Aunty, which she very much enjoyed..

Anne and Aunty

Aunty and Joyce...LAter, Joyce and Anne went to the Hotsprings and took a dip... nice way to wind up the afternoon...
Thanks Joyce for bringing some sunshine to Auntie's day!

And last but not least, a view down BAker Street looking west... The colours are lovely at this time of the year.
I am enjoying my cup of java this morning before digging into more work around the house and maybe a walk once the frost is out of the air... and the wind subsides. iI still have more plants to relocate into my new garden...if I can find them in their grassy weed patch. I had forgotton about all of my beautiful poppies,so I will try to find their roots today. This afternoon, once Emil rand Ashley retrns from fishing, we'll have a weiner roast...to warm up our bones....I'll be putting long underware on and mittens before venturing out. Take care and have a sunny week-end. Absorb it all before the flakes fly!


"The Creator"

Beware da bear

Yep, right out front on the lawn toady ...a pile of poo-poo from a bear that ate one too many apples...
Silky was onto its scent in a second and was prancing after the large paw depressions int he frosty lawn. The tracks headed toward the bushiness of the adjoining lot. Lets say, I wasn't going into the thicket for a closer look. The poop looked extremely fresh. Had I been really concerned, I would have given it a prod to see how warm it was, but rlying on common sense, I saw no steam rising, so like a good tracker, I figured it to be a few hours old... I turned back towards home and directed my walk to the beach instead. No sign of Mr. Bear

Looking back to the house on this frosty morning

I stopped on my way into town to snap this photo of the still lake and the beautiful fall clours of the trees

Coming home, this was the vista fromn the deck of the HArrop ferry... red sky at night sailor's delight!
I'll be looking forward to yet another sunny day in the neighbourhood, tomorrow. Don't we live in a majestic part of the world?


"The Creator"

Peye for a Peye

Who Knew she would ever do it...This is the sign of a maturing woman. She made PIES! I'm talking about my neice Correna, the woman who is out for adventure, likes to take a risk and most of all, rises to a challenge! Kudos to her for being so brave. However , like every great feat, there is a story to be told, and because it is such a Hallowe'en mystery, I thought it would be fun to share...Thanks C. for bringing laughter to my day with your charming wit!
Enjoy:

Oh, the unfairness of it all.... life just throws curves at every
opportunity and there are times when we have to endure the hardest of
hardships - the worst of the worst - the test of all tests.
I wanted to make a pie. The first hurdle, of course, is baking in
general - my motto has always been that if it comes from a box and I
put it into an oven, that classifies it as "home made". I'll also add
that my oven is rather black inside and unless this is its natural
color (which I somehow doubt, but really have no supporting evidence
otherwise), I'm actually waiting for it to catch on fire from
"whatever" is stuck to its sides. In any event, baking is not really
my thing and I have long since subscribed to the notion that the art
of making pies is better left to the professionals, like mothers.
This year, however, mom made her visit in the summer - when apples
(and therefore apple pies) were not ready. I didn't appreciate the
full impact of this until now, when I was faced with a Thanksgiving
weekend without a pie. Now, I should mention that I've watched my
mother make pies a hundred times - and I've even written down the
recipe. Really, I said to myself, how hard could this be???
Well, I'll tell you. It started with buying apples.... what kind do
you buy, how many make a pie, organic or not??? I ended up picking
out 5 macintosh and went back and bought 3 more... (just for those who
may have the same question, and by the way macintosh were not the best
in the end because they fluff up too much and turn into sauce, and
yes, I went with organic). I took out my recipe and read the first
line: Peel a pot of apples ... I started looking around to see if
there was anyone to ask - how big of a pot, how many apples, how
full??? The room was silent. The rest of the recipe followed along
the same lines but I meandered my way through arrows and brackets/side
notes and scribbles - guessing as I went along. In the end, the whole
pot of apples was done and actually tasted pretty good so I went with
that. I was mildly impressed by the whole thing.
The following day, I tried my hand again. This time it was in making
my favorite - lemon meringue. I watched the pastry shell cook to
exactly 3 shades lighter than the sides of my oven. I expertly (if I
say so myself) put the filling into the shell and waited precisely the
right amount of time for it cool. I then topped it off with the
"white stuff". It could not have been more perfect. The pie was a
piece of art, a master piece of baking excellence... a beauty to
behold... And it was after this that life became so incredibly unfair.

There I was, enjoying a perfect slice from a perfect pie... savoring
every mouth full. I actually made a conscience effort to eat only an
appropriate amount in order to draw out the whole affair over days
instead of minutes... I even wrapped the pie under saran wrap - not
too tight but secure enough to protect its flavor. And then the
unthinkable happened. It was during the darkness of night when the
moon lined up with all the stars, when the thunder and lightening came
and the electricity sliced through the air giving life to all the
pre-halloween possessed creatures. Y'know, those creatures who sneak
around like ghosts into defenceless kitchens like mine.... It was
unheard of and I actually let out a yelp of sheer anger when the
evidence of the foul creature came to my attention in the light of
day... It was a beast of great courage that came and ate my pie in the
middle of the night! Such a beast will not be forgotten and will be
hunted down to the ends of the earth. It will be prosecuted to the
full extent of the law - my law.... snappy mousetrap law!




A Peye for a Peye...Look out Mousey!

"The Creator"

Day in the garden

Well, returning to work the day after I came home was a little crazy, especially since I had a the runny nose cold... and then I worked on Saturday, because my boss was away. Thank goodness I had a helper, a new gal that we have hired... She is very sweet and works hard...I hope she is a keeper!

Sooooooo, today, Sunday was my only day off that I was at home.

Lets say I started and never stopped all day... changed the bed, put on laundry, then did some online banking, then headed outside and never looked back.

My garden is so nice now that it is all fenced and has two side gates...I had it all cleaned up with the exception of the raspberries and in back of them, near the new fence. That was my first task...cut out all of the old canes, and tie up the new ones and similtaneously, weed underneath the raspberries. I have so many thistles popping up... and they aren't even the worst "Canadian thistle" that has taken over the vacant lot next door. I'm sure those will be springing up all over next spring. I hate when grass or weeds try to take over my raspberry bushes!

I accomplished the tyeing of the raspberries and then buckled down and dug up most every blade of quack grass that was invading the two foot space that runs along the length of the fence and the raspberry bushes. It wasn't an impossible task, but it tested my strength and will many times. I finished that little ugly, and emptied out the wheelbarrow full of grassy weeds two times...

Finally it was time to dig my poor lillies up and whatever else I had strength to dig and then transplant it from the old garden of weeds to the new weedless garden surrounded by deer proof fence... oops...maybe I shouldn't say that.

More or less, I was creating my new flower bed , on the spot, s o who knows what it will look like if it doesn't fill up with weeds before any of the plants get to bloom. I still have many more irises to transplant and my big rosebush, but I will need E's help for that... so possibly next week-end.
I was pleased to have relocated my peony. Just reminded myself of my poppies... being dead now, I am not even sure where they are...but I should try to rescue them also. Don't let me forget that!

I am kind of excited that I gave liberation to all of my poor darlings that were choked up in weed ville. I figure this is the next step to making my own park and it will just be a matter of time before its trees and plants are all overgrown too and then it will be all park and no garden.

I wound up my day in the hot-tub for a lovely soak...now I think it is time to get horizontal and read some more of my book! Have a good week everyone...especially Lynn...she is going to see Celine Dion with Nadine, in Vancouver! Wowzers for her! We'll hear all about it, real soon! Thanks Dick, for making Lynn's day!

"The Creator"

Thanksgiving at Joyce's

Whats a visit to Gramma and Grandpas without a weiner roast?

Ethan, savoring the whipped cream

Dad is supervising, but you can see who thechef is:-)!

This would be Buster, the little donkey, who is doing a homestay at Joyce and Morgan's!


Jamie, enjoying the hot chocolate with the whipped cream...Yummo!

Thanks Joyce for sharing your Thanksgiving with me ( and everyone!) Looks like fun ws had by all. It is so nice that Derrick and Barb live close enought to pop down for these special days. You get to know and enjoy those cutey-pie grandkids much more often now...way to go!

"The Creator"

Visit to Victoria

I took a few days off to go to Victoria on the Thanksgiving weekend...just Silky and I. Emil stayed to be in a fishing derby with Stan and Jerry ( which they did well with catching fish, but never won the big trophy). We had an early Thanksgiving dinner at our house, on the Friday night before I left. I must say it was yummy...but how can one go wrong with turkey, stuffing, cranberries and gravy ???...followed by apple pie? Yum -Yum!
My drive down on Saturday was lovely, tho the day got off to a cool start.
One of my first stops was at a little lake between Grandforks and Greenwood, where there is a rest stop. The bathrooms were clean and heated...much better than I last recalled them to be!
This is a photo of the lake.



Next stop was in Keromeous at my favourite fruit stand, Sandersons.

Squash and pumpkins were in abundance everywhere by the bin full, but I settled on Ambrosia apples and nectarines...all fresh and yummy



They had the gourds hanging up for a dsiplay of them...cute eh? Also, the fruit stand now sells Samosas and Pecoras...both vegetable filled and hot and Indian spicey. They are very reasonable and come with a chutney flavoured dipping sauce... Silky and I enjoyed them while we drove, but I must admit that dipping and driving at the same time can be a little dangerous!


It was great to see my kids and granddaughters once again...Both Kaleigh and Madeline played the piano for me and both play very well, indeed... Makes me proud, especially when I can't even play "Mary had a little Lamb!"

Maddie was getting a little help from Mom to build her art project...a spaceship. The capsule was created from two seperate 2 litre pop bottles...one a nice shade of green and the other clear. Maddie built the cockpit, all the rooms and set the little astro-people inside . She didn't give up ,even after a few frustrations with her walls. In the end, she amazingly stuck on smaller half pop-bottle wings, and here, Sonia is helping put on the drinking straws to complete the air exchange tubes. She even built tiny treadmills for exercise and also a private bathroom, complete with a toilet and sink and bathtub. We didn't go into details about how the water was to stay in any of the aforementioned pieces!


Sonia looked great and was doing pretty darn good, considering all the fanagling she contends with to get the kids back and forth between school and friends and afterschool... tricky when your work schedule has you at work about 7:00 am., and you have a cat and dog to worry about also. I am proud of her too for doing such and awesome job!


Annette, before work , one morning...also looking terrific! Nice jewellery too!


You'll have to crank your head around to view this one of MAddie finishing her cross country race. She beat her own last record by moving up a notch or two. They race once a week against students in their same grade, from many many schools... I'd say she raced against a hundred and came in 34th...way to go MAddie!



On Sunday, Annette and the girls and I took a drive up to Nadine's to see her cutey babies, and visit with them and Dick and of course, Gramma Lynn who was there for Thanksgiving. We spent a lovely afternoon, catching up on everything and having fun with those cutey -pies. Nolan is almost walking and was happy to try it out when you held his hands and pointed him in the right direction. Thanks Nadine ,and Dick and Lynn, for having us for a wonderful and yummy lunch and visit. It was a rainy day, so a good way to pass it.


Annette outside of Sonia's, before we left for Nanaimo


Maddie after she chased away Kaleigh!


Kaleigh with her sweet smile... still a few more weeks for the braces, then they are off!


Where to find KAleigh? At the computer. contributing to "Potter's World"


My days in Victoria went all too fast, but it was very good to get down there after a year. Next year , I hope to improve my stats. The kids are growing up so fast that it is hard to believe! Sonia and Annette are doing very well also, and it is always a pleasure to visit them in their own homes and still feel so much at home, myself. Emil will take a turn and go down in November to spend some time helping with maintenance... They need a hand in a few areas that are better left to the men folk!
I also got a quick little visit in with Eileen. She has her hands full nearly raising two grandkids...I wouldn't trade for her day to day duties. She is a good grandma , trying to do the right thing for her grandkids. They'll be better because of her.

A big hand to all the grannies out there who spent Thangsgiving with their grand kids!
Woot! Woot!

Bedtime now, as I brought a little germ back to Nelson with me...some sort of cold, throat, ear thing...it didn't make for the best return trip, and having to return to work today and tomorrow isn't all great with the snuffies, but I can look forward to Sunday off, which is supposed to be quite pleasant out... Have a great week-end everyone!













"The Creator"

Early Hallowe'en

Soleil tried it, but clearly didn't like it!

Kaleigh tried it and was paralyzed

Silky let out a yawn of boredom

Sonia thought it was a pretty kinky prop!


"The Creator"