Grown Up

This was Jesse's contribution to grocery night.

And I worried about the fact that my baby is now old enough to vote!

It looks like he'll be my baby for a few more years. . .

Okay, okay, he might also have unloaded most of the groceries and put a good number of them away,

but still!!!



Morgan

Morgan went to a work function last night where they had a girl how did caricatures
This is what she came up with. . .

Isn't he cute?!!

I'll Be Outside All Week

At least I hope so!
It's cooler today and the rest of the week is likely to be cooler as well.
Still a few degrees above seasonal but. . .
It can't last forever!
I'm hoping to spend this week tidying up the garden, emptying the water barrels, cleaning out the greenhouse and then, as a reward, decorating my outside front entry for fall.  This is what I did in 2008. That was lots of fun!
I do like to do a little something for Halloween as well, as the kids who go to the school across the street enjoy it.
Nothing gory of course but I was just bouncing around the web and came across this at Naps On The Porch.
Wouldn't that huge web and spider look awesome on my gazebo?!
I'm going to see if I can figure out how to make it because I think the kids would love it! (Okay, so would I!)
Once the kids have done their annual pumpkin carving , I'll have four jack o'lanterns to add to the decor.
But now I have to get off the computer and out into the garden or all this fun will never happen!
Happy October 18th!

A Warm Fall

Jesse's opinion on the long spell of unseasonably warm fall weather:
"It stinks!"
"It just doesn't feel right!"
"It should just get cold and snow already!!"
??!!!
Can this be MY son???

Granville Island

After Tam and I finished our delicious lunch on Friday we headed over to Granville Island in Vancouver.

It was under a bridge and what could be better than a bridge support covered in vines when you're a gardener? This is certainly not something we see in Edmonton!

There were so many things to see and do.
What should we do first?

Of course we started with plants and flowers. . .

And then went on to more flowers. . .

We made a quick stop in the Emily Carr Art Institute and checked out some of the art on the walls. It was too deep for us,(They were literally scribbles) so we moved on to the indoor Farmer's Market.



Tam and I both drooled over the handmade pastas and fresh boccincini so we picked up butternut squash ravioli with roasted red pepper pesto , linguine with basil pesto and two boccincini to have for dinner one night.

(Which by the way, was fabulous! Especially since we also added some spicy chorizo from the sausage stall.)

We spent some time checking out the various kinds of freshly made sausages. I was intrigued by some of the more interesting types such as the one that had apricots in it. (It was quite nice. You definitely tasted  the sweet apricots.) As I hope to try sausage making when/if  Henry brings home a deer this fall, I took lots of notes!

Thursdays  there is also an outdoor Farmers Market and we headed over to see what was being offered. One stand was selling organic vegetables which Tamara found rather lacking. Although I only grow organically and so have a higher tolerance for blemishes, I must admit that those veggies were rather sad looking. While perusing the stands we were serenaded by a man playing the steel guitar. I  picked up a CD  to both enjoy his music at home and have a reminder of a lovely day. (It's playing as I write this.) The best stall came last, as we stopped at Masion Cote (http://www.maisoncote.com/) where the fragrance of fresh herbs wafted to our noses. I hit the jackpot there, as the lovely owner was a passionate foodie and gave me great ideas for my deer sausage endeavour. I did not leave that stall empty handed!

One last stop at a little shop on our way back to the truck scored us both beautiful cashmere scarves for only $15!



Another exciting adventure came to a close.

But not to worry, there were more adventures on the way. . .

Coming Home

Well, I'm home again.

The blogging weekend is over.

My reporting on it however, is not.

Which means this is going to be a blogging week! (There may be a small interruption as mom and I can apple pie filling on Wednesday. Because, as you know, I don't have enough apple products preserved!)

Before I left today, the three of us met at a restaurant for breakfast. Lisa ordered organic Earl Grey tea.

It seems Tamara finds the scent of bergamont irresistible!

Oh Tam. . .

Lisa and I had taken our cameras along hoping to get a picture of the three of us.

Mine didn't have a timer, so Tam set Lisa's on the back of the seat, rushed over to the bench and the three of us smushed together, big smiles on our faces which faltered when nothing happened.

Tam jumped up to try it again, bumping her head against the blinds in the window as she attempted to peer into the viewfinder to see if we would all be in the shot.

As it looked good, she set it again, ran back to the bench where more smushing and smiling ensued.

Nothing happened.

"Where's the light? Did anyone see the red light?"

More head bumping, peering, smushing and smiling.

Still, nothing. . .

"Seriously, did anyone see a red light? There's supposed to be a red light!"

A very lovely man from another both came over smiling and asked if we would like him to take our picture.

"Yes Please!!"

He took the camera, stood back and pressed the button. . .

"The red light! The red light is blinking!"

He smiled again and said "That's alright, I'll just stand here and hold the camera until it goes off."

He was even gracious enough to take one with my camera as well.

All good things come to an end though and it was time to wing my way home.

Ahhhh. . .

A beautiful prairie quilt, lying under a blue prairie sky.

It's good to be home.

We Interrupt This Blogging Weekend. . .

As many of you know, I have two sisters.

One who blogs. . . http://thegreenhousediaries.blogspot.com/

And one who doesn't.

Many of you may also know that I am not photogenic.

My non blogging sister Lisa has been behind the camera for the last few days and this was the best she could come up with. . .

Ah, Lisa????

The next time Aunty Nancy pesters you to start blogging. . .

Please don't.

I don't think my self esteem could take having these kinds of pictures plastered across the web by two sisters!!!