Nice day,nice night

Hello everyone..Sorry I haven't been in blog mode the past week or so...just too many things on the go and...and I have had the dreaded cold. It is now on its way out, which is a good thing. So wasn't it an awesome day outside today? The sun was up and shining and we were outside a little after ten. I hauled up the hoses and sprinklers from the garden finally..We had a little frost last night, thus it was time.
I spent over three hours in my garden and did a lot,but it still needs lots of homework. I don't know if the alf- alpha weeds came from the manure or the straw,but holy christopher! The roots are longer than a parsnip and had to be half dug out to get them out of the ground. Lets just say it was rather back breaking and there are still more,all integrated with my strawberry plants which I would like to try to salvage, since I planted them new last year. 2008,technically will be the year that I get the best strawberries...if they are purged of weeds!

After my back couldn't take it anymore, I came up for a pop and then progressed to the Walnut trees. Surprisingly, they both looked like the past...initially, many walnuts,and then it looks like there are hardly any.. I am sure that last year, the whiskey jacks and squirrels hauled off most of them. Things are different this year...we have NUTS! Yea!.. Morgan suggested to use the pruner to waggle the tree limbs and that is what did. Kabonk! Off the nogan a few times, but the the nuts in their pods came down like a bad a hail storm. Then it was a task to shuck them of their husks,and pick up all the nuts.

More backbreaking as I stomped and picked and then finally cleaned up the mess and the leaves..seems as tho the leaves and nuts fall at the same time! I amassed one nearly full bucket of lovely walnuts. Our first real nut harvest! Hmmm...lets see, once they are cracked open, I'll be lucky to have a sandwhich bag full of the nuts! Can you believe that the tree has been growing there for well over ten years,and this is the first real crop!

We headed for the hot-tub, once the nuts were picked up. Emil had mowed the lawn and the two of us had sore backs by this time. We opened up the hot-tub and climbed in for a half hour. It felt very good! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that in the process of shaking the trees, I was stung by a badassed wasp on the inside of my upper arm. You should see it now...swollen and red down to my elbow. Where he stung me, it was inflamed with a little bubble of yuchy stuff.
I didn't see any stinger, but picked away at it anyhow and put on some polysopporan. I think I'll try some aloe vera cream before bed.


Tonight,thanks to Chris and Carolyne for an early Xmas present, we forayed into the city for the grand wine tasting event at the Grand hotel... How very cool. The entire first floor of the hotel was transformed into the wine master's dream come true... In every room, and every nook and cranny, there were representatives from probably every Okanagan winery, plus a few from the Napa valley and Trail's ne and only. In addition to probably over a hundred wine reps,with not less than five kinds of wine each,there was also the best selection of appies and deserts in every room.
Now get this , they even had the kitchen opened as one of the wine gallies..so here you could watch the chef prepare appetizers such as ,spring rolls,skewered chicken, mushroom tarts, deep fried prawns in a crunchy batter. Lets just say, the food was extraordinary ... breaded oysters, filet minon chunks, in wine and served with a peppercorn sauce...then there were the scallops in butter and lemon..YUM....and at the other end of the hotel, in the banquet room, a chef was frying up giant tiger prawns... By 9:00, I was too full to eat those, but Emil had a couple.
Allen's gourmet chocolates had a chocolate fountain that you could dip fresh sticks of pineapple or fresh strawberries into.. Follow that with a fresh made truffle or a piece of chocolate coated ginger.! The hotel spared nothing, because the food kept on being cooked and served at every little station until we left at 10:00. By then the empty wine bottles were stacked up in tubs and bins by the dozens and again, if you never got your fill of wine, it was your own fault. All the while, servers walked around, offering delectables from their trays. I was full after the first hour.!
Emil sampled loads of wine, but we both agreed the best was one red Foch from the winery in Kelowna called House of Roses it had won 8 awards and when you sipped it, you could see why...No bitter aftertaste, not too sweet and it flowed over your pallet as smooth as ever. I even had a taste and quite loved it...now if all red wines were as wonderful, I could graduate into red wine! I did taste a few whites and then went to H20..I was the DD, so I was good!
Ok...nighty night...My back is still giving me some hell, asking for horizontal...Love ya all!

"The Creator"

Audio Sandbox

Give Audio Soundbox a try for enhanced sound ....I found that it improved my pathetic speakers to make it sound like super surround sound. You can free-trial it for 14 days. I thought it was worthy enuf to buy,using PayPal, for 19.95 USD...and translated to Canadian...you guessed it...big savings of 1 cent!!! Your music on Itunes automatically opens this nifty player up. BTW, you can make the player sit on top, and it can be downsized.

Nice visit with Auntie Mary and Uncle PAul

I told Auntie, she could leave her rollers in... I had a yummy bowl of borsht and a nice visit today with Aunti Mar and Uncle PAul, on my way home from Vernon. I thought I'd try Highway 6 from Vernon to Needles, then across the ferry to Fauquier and on to Nakusp. The route is quite wiggly and winding, but considering the day was sunny and very pleasant and I was in no rush... it worked out perfectly, and gave me an opportunity to see my favourite Aunt and Uncle.

And here is my new baby...a little IPOD Nano...8 gigs! It kept me company for the whole trip ,listening to Coffee Break Spanish and my tunes.. Que tal...and Buenas Notche! Way too late...I'll fill in the blanks tomorrow about the rest of my little trip with my visit to Sandra's and to Ronda and Johns... Meanwhile, enjoy the pics....

Mini Vacation

The sunset on Saturday night, in Kelowna

Laverne and Sandra, on the balcony at Sandra's

We had a Snichtzel dinner out at the Gasthaus Pub in Peachland...Yummy!

Ronda and John's new hot tub and new balcony!

Play Blogger.com

If you haven't clicked on the Play Blogger link to the right on my sidebar, just give it a try. It shows all of the photos that people are uploading to blogger in real time. It is mezmerizing and totally addictive... Once at the sight, if you see some photo that is interesting you can click on the See info button at the bottom right to see more of the post or to visit that person's blog.. I love it,but can never see the pics that I have uploaded... Its a trick, I know it!

"The Creator"

Gramma Lynn with her kididdles

There's always room on the knee for one more!

Brand Spanky New Boy! Job well done, Nadine and Dick!

Wait a minute...who is the real Princess here!

Lynn sent me these cute pics of her new grandson and her having fun with the Princess... One big happy family that has grown by one more..., so now Lynn and Bob have five grandchildren... Ok, looks like it will be awhile before I catch up! Good thing we are all pretty close...I can have fun with all of them too!...which begs the question...When do we get to play with the Babies???

Meanwhile, Joyce is on her way to Edmonton today...if she got beyond the Salmo-Creston.. I heard it was a real mess with a heavy snowfall happening... She at least had her snowtires on. I'll calll Morgan in the am to see how she did...or someone can email me...I always worry about my sister, but she is a pretty tenacious driver , making me think she did fine.
I hope to get away myself, at the end of the week... but no snowtires so I will be checking the weather reports! Might have to put them on!
In the first place, I have come down with a cold that came right out of the blue. I gardened all Saturday afternoon and felt fine, and then whammo...on Sunday, I was sneezing and blowing my nose like crazy all day and my sleep Sunday night was the pits.. plus the power bumped on and off seven times at 3:30 am...What was with that? Probably some newbie at the controls.
So tonight I still don't feel wonderful, but loaded up on drugs at Walmart after work,thus my nights' sleep ought to be improved.
Have a good week.
I am slowly making small accomplishments in my upstairs... I repainted my white frames that used to be all oak finished. Now I have begun to fill some of the picture frames with photos...my latest batch was from the Grand Canyon and I must say , they look pretty good. I have a big poster from the Grand Canyon, as well, and Sonia had it backed for me at Costco. Once I get the poster , I can hang all of the pics in one of the bedrooms... sort of like surround sound... only this will be surround Canyon:-)
ok...to bed, before I nod off.. g'night!

Burning slash above Redfish

Just above Ed and Linda's house, across the lake from us, on Thursday


It started small , but ended up in a raging inferno in an area that had been logged last summer. I thought rage would surely take out every tree on the mountain,if it kept moving uphill at its present speed.

This is when a huge pile of slash was ignited. By nightfall, it looked as tho the whole mountain would burn up.
Fortunately, the big pile burned rapidly and the fire that seemed to be going straight up the mountain and into the trees,just subsidedinto a hot red glow by midnight. This morning it was still smoldering and tonight, there are only a few hot-spots left.

Coming home from work on Wednesday, I could this slash burning up the mountain above Sitkum creek. In total the forestry conducted three big burns over two days. This is to clear the forest floor of debris, to prevent a real fire from taking off, during the next dry season.

Snow on them thar peaks...The Purcells

New Bling

A beautiful Cherry Amber ring...beautiful on a real finger, that is! There is also a matching pendant.. quite gorgeous! This pic doesn't do it justice.. It is bright like the last cherry ring.

Another ,in yellow amber...both are about $79. 00

This is a cute cherry amber

Not such a great pic, but shows three new cubic Zirconia rings...they are all shiny and nice...
The good news is that I took more ring pics today and will try to upload a few more. The amber jewellery has been flying out of the store already...

Halo Moon

If you were looking at the full moon last, you may have seen it get surrounded by a fluffy cloud that then started to glow with a rim of pink...very beautiful... We are also supposed to be in a good position to see Northern Lights over the next few nights...so look up!
I guess the sky has to clear up before we can see anything...it is drizzling out this morning! Have a nice day...and just as a ps...Correna's chow mein turned out fabulous! Way to go girl. Stay tuned for some of the new amber rings we received at the Bling shop!

VivaLaGames.Com - Flight of the Hamsters

VivaLaGames.Com - Flight of the Hamsters
Here's a fun little game to while away mindless hours...

Here is the ferry, if anyone was wondering

Check out the mountains up around Kokanee...Looks a little like white snow starting

The mountains behind us did get a nice white frosting on this day...Wednesday, I think...

A new addition to the Ferry Landing

This si our new bulletin board and seating area on the north side of the ferry landing

The sign on the front matches the other signs that announce "Welcome to Harrop and Welcome to Proctor"

Nice little shelter by one of the Timber Frame companies who build houses this way ...In this structure, their are no nails ...just wooden pegs and maybe two bolts on the seat at the base of the structure... Well done!

The sun was just going down by the time I came home.

Chow Mein Recipe

Correna asked for the Chow Mein recipe that Debbie made for the golf tournament, cause C. wants to make it today. This is a recipe that you bake in the oven for an hour or more. It allows you time to complete the rest of your meal which is a good thing. Deb keeps her cooked meat seperate from her cooked veggies and from her noodles....then layers them into a roaster pan ( sprayed with Pam) and then bakes it. I also cook the meat seperate from the veggies, but I add my noodles and then a little more condiments and stir it altogether and serve it up so the noodles have a little crunch in some of them. The crunch can be obtained at the end of the baked variety by just adding a handful of Farkay Chow Mein Noodles before serving.

Here are some ingredients to strive for: This will make enough to feed about 6 hungry people. Boost up the ingredients to make a roasting pan full and feed ten or more.

1/2 pound pork ( roast) or chicken 1-2 breasts slice into thin long strips or a small dice while partially thawed ...slices much easier
2 cups fresh bean sprouts
3 stalks of celery chopped on the diagonal into slices

2 carrots grated.
1 onion diced
1 can of button mushrooms, or sliced mushrooms (drained) or use fresh mushrooms...about 5 or 6
1 1/2 cups finely chopped Chinese cabbage
1 can sliced water chestnuts drained
1 can bamboo shoots drained
2 green onions chopped finely for garnish. Roasted sesame seeds for garnish if you like.

( Also people will often add diced peppers, brocoli and cauliflower florets...so it is up to you)

1 package of Farkay Chow Mein Noodles ( the no-cook crunchy type that soften up in the chow mein after you add them) or you can use half of the steamed Farkay noodles found in the deli section and half the chow mein noodles, but then you have to cook the steamed noodles for a minute or two before adding them to the chow mein, or at least pour boiling water over them. ( I just use the Farkay noodles)

( those are the main substantial ingredients)

Then you need:

2 or 3 cloves garlic
fresh ginger ( peel and chop, then crush with a big knife- about a tablespoon)
1 tablespoon cornstarch or Chinese Tapioca starch
3 tablespoons soy sauce and some Oyster sauce
salt and pepper
1 tsp. sesame oil ( you can buy the sesame oil and the tapioca starch in the chinese section)


1 and a half cups chicken stalk or water with chicken soup base mixed in it


The one ingredient I left out was bamboo shoots, but it isn't vital and not always easy to find,so don't worry about it. Deb used both the steamed noodles that you buy in the dairy section and the dried Farkay Chow mein nooodles. To soften the steamed noodles, you just pour boiling water over them and let them stand for a minute or two, then drain the water and they are ready to use... Do that just before you add them to the chow mein or they will stick together if you leave them sit...If you use the other packaged dry steamed noodles they only need a minute in boiling water, and drain... or they too will turn to mush.

Ok, so to begin, you should have some stuff ready. Start this earlier,so it is ready to fry up, and then Debbie baked hers in the oven for 1 and a half hours. I never bake mine, but I guess that is a good way to make it and get it out of the way. You can always add a few of the dried chow mein noodles at the end to give it some crunch...that is what your mom does.Start by peeling the ginger and finely chopping and mashing slices of it until you have a tablespoon or two... Same with about four cloves of garlic, as you will add some to the oil and sesame oil in your wok or big frypan, when you fry the meat separate from the veggies.Then mix up or pour out a cup and a half of chicken broth and have that ready.Get out the oil and sesame oil. You can pour some oil in the wok to coat the bottom and make a little pool there and add a liberal dash or five of the sesame oil ( a tablespoon) . This will be for the meat that you cook up.

Then you will cook the veggies with more oil and sesame oil and the rest of the ginger and garlic,later.Spray a roaster pan with PAm and have ready.

Next, chop up everything.Lay it it out on a spare chopping board in piles or on a couple of dinner plates or bowlsDeb said she used lots of onions, so dice a big onion or two smaller ones, or more if you are a big onion fan.chop your 3 celery in diagonal slices.

She added grated carrot,so try that with a couple of carrots. Slice finely regular or bok choy cabbage until you hacve a couple of cups of it ( because what do you do with the left over...fried cabbage?)Rinse your bean sprouts in a sieve and let them drain.

Slice up your mushrooms if you have fresh mushrooms, or open the can of mushrooms..Open and drain your can of sliced water chestnuts.

Finely chop your two or three green onions. This will be for your garnish later...so put them in a little bowl and set aside. Open your can of bamboo shoots if you have them. Get your meat ready...as I said, slice it thinly or dice small( 1/2 inch cubes) while it is just in the thawing stage. Set this aside... you can salt and pepper it a bit.

Now you need to get out your soy sauce and maybe oyster sauce if you have it...And also mix up a couple of tablespoons of cornstarch or tapioca starch with 1/4 c.water and a tablespoon soy sauce till you have a thin mixture that you can add to the chow mein at the end to thicken it a bit.Now you get to cook. Have your pot of water on the back burner to boil if your steamed noodles need to be boiled, or have a kettle of boiling water ready for when the veggies are finished cooking,so you can soften the deli steamed noodles. If you just have the dried Farkay chow mein noodles, then omit that step.

Heat the wok with the oil and sesame oil...add your crushed garlic and ginger...when it sizzles, add the meat and I usually add a handful of onions at the same time, then stir fry it until the meat is cooked... At the end you can add a few dashes of soy sauce for flavour. Dump out the cooked meat into a bowl or dish to stay warm. If the wok is a mess, then wipe it out with a paper towel...don't burn yourself... and then rinse it clean and dry with a paper towel, so you are starting in a clean waok with no burnt bits in it.Add fresh oil and sesame oil and some more of the garlic and crushed ginger and start to heat up the oil and stir around the ginger to flavour the oil. When it starts to sizzle, add your onions, and celery and wok them a bit, then add your mushrooms, cabbage and bean sprouts and water chestnuts and bamboo shoots if you have them... and your grated carrots ... stir it around while on high heat until it looks like it is getting cooked a bit.( add more oil if it is sticking).Add any other veggies I omitted...except the green onions. Some people add broccoli or cauliflower florets, as anything is good. Add your meat and mix in. You can then add about half a cup of of the chicken stock and put a lid on the wok and cook for another minute or two. when it smells awesome, stir in a little of the cornstarch mixture to thicken the juice in the wok... not too much or you'll have glue...so I do it a teaspoon at a time.. I add oyster sauce and soy sauce at this time to give it a little more flavour.When it all smells awesome,just turn the heat off .. Read next section before proceedingDo your steamed noodle thing and drain them, then stir those in, and then stir in the dried Farkay noodles... You may only have to use a half bag of each if you are doing both, or a full bag of the farkay noodles if you are using just them...( reserve a handful or two to add just before serving) you can judge how many total noodles you want in your chow mein.

Your wok should be plum full by now. If your wok is too full of veggies to add the noodles, then you can just do it all in the roaster pan . Debbie poured the other cup of chicken broth over the the mixture in the roaster and then baked it in a slow oven...maybe 300* for an hour or more .Check periodically to see if it needs more broth to keep it moist...not runny). I usually like to serve it right away, but I guess the flavours get better in the oven and also it allows you time to get the rest of your meal ready.When it is ready to serve, I would add another handful of the dried farkay noodles to give it a little texture, then I would top it with the chopped green onions and some toasted sesame seeds if you have them...Otherwise just serve it up...people will think they are in the Emporer's palace!

Correna can send me some pics of her creation.!

"The Creator"

Congratualtions to Mataya and Jorje!

Congrats to the new parents to be...we'll all be looking forward to the excitement of John and Ronda being Grandparents...whooppee!
Now we have to meet this handsome young Jorje!

Good Luck and Congratulations !

Congratulations Nadine and Dick and Georgia!

Its a BOY!!!! Nolan Thomas, born on September 19th...awwwwe...He's a cutie!

And there's little Georgia with her baby too!

Proud dad with his little family...

I love this pic of the two of them.
Well done Nadine... Now its time for Grama Lynn to go ga-ga over her two newest grandbabies...Have fun Lynn!

YouTube - Ric Mercer Talking with Americans

YouTube - Ric Mercer Talking with Americans
If you didn't catch 20/20 tonight,then tune into a few of the interviews with Americans that Rick Mercer did....Good for a laugh,for sure..

News from abroad....

going and picking up a couple of lambs turned into a bigger fiasco than Morgan and Joyce bargained for... Looks like some fun! Thanks Mo-gan!

Wow...did we look this terrifc at 40? Amazing vitamins or whatever it is that you are taking...Keep up the good work..!FabSisters!

Then there was the case of the giant wasp nest and the extended family living plan...all discovered just after the mole hill in the concrete basement...ask Joe about that dilly!

Life is good for a pup on the good ship Annie...and yes, she did wear her lifejacket when we were topside at the back of the boat. She likes it.