Pocketful of Memory Cards

The last day looking at old photos has me posting this gem.  My Nana Smith , my Great Nana Johnson (née Caine), me and my Mom.

The best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago. The next best time is now.   ~Chinese Proverb When we moved to West Lynde Subdivision in 1979 it was still in its infancy.  A leafy sapling with a trunk no more than ten inches in diameter had been planted on the front lawn of every house, and another was planted on the boulevard in front of every lawn.  This photo documents the result. That was one wise planner.

This is my favourite picture of my baby sister and I was thrilled when it fell out of the photo album I was flipping through here at my parents' place.  One of my first memories was riding in an elevator with my dad when I was four years old.  He took my hand as we stepped out of the strange room and walked down a bright hallway, stopping in front of a giant window that was inside the building. I looked up to see a lady in a white dress with a matching white hat, standing on the other side of the glass. She bent over something beside her, and lifted a small bundle.  She turned towards us, revealing a  rosey cheeked, blue eyed baby with fuzzy blonde hair, wearing nothing but a bulky white diaper.  As she let out a wail my dad tilted his head towards me, eyes still on the baby.  "That's your sister." he said.  I remember a tight feeling in my chest and a lump in my throat.  My nose felt strange and prickly, my eyes prickled too, and suddenly it was hard to se

photo by Mike Ormshaw One day last Fall, my facebook status announced that I had an extra peach pie and would deliver it to the office of the first person to reply.  My friend Sue, in Ontario was the first responder and as much as I would have loved to take the pie to her, I figured it wouldn't be worth eating after a five day drive.  I thought about trying to phone a bakery to deliver one to her, but didn't pursue it.  Then several months later when my husband reminded me I was going to be about an hour away from her for my high school reunion, I thought it would be great to surpriser her at her house, pie in hand.   After a few emails, facebook messages, and cell phone calls to her husband Mike, operation Peachy Reunion was a go.  Mike recently retired from the OPP, but he still excels at disinformation and subterfuge. Sue was very surprised to see me, though we had a change of venue and they came to me.  Thanks go to Mike and Mike for their input.  It was so nice t

Went to my 30th High School reunion tonight.  Snapped a photo of Ann, Susan and Glynis in front of the Home Ec room.  Saw lots of old friends and aquaintences.  Stood in a group for 10 minutes with one ex who didn't recognize me until I flashed him my name tag.  Then across the room saw another ex and he waved me over immediately.   It was nice to see these happy, friendly people, but I'm sure glad highschool is long over!

My Mother kept a garden, a garden of the heart, She planted all the good things that gave my life it's start. She turned me to the sunshine and encouraged me to dream, Fostering and nurturing the seeds of self-esteem... And when the winds and rain came, she protected me enough-- But not too much because she knew I'd need to stand up strong and tough. Her constant good example always taught me right from wrong-- Markers for my pathway that will last a lifetime long. I am my Mother's garden. I am her legacy- And I hope today she feels the love reflected back from me Author unknown

There's nothing like visiting the homestead to tweak the old memory bank.  Here's our old piano with so many memories attached...more for my sister than me.  I was almost sixteen when I took my first lesson and I was much harder to motivate than she.  I've noticed many pianos in people's homes are covered with family photos, particularly grand pianos.  It's fitting when you think of how memories, family or otherwise, can be sparked by music.

Saturday night I made Greek Food:  Greek chicken, Greek potatoes, Greek salad.  Sunday night I made Indian:  Cashew and Coriander Chicken, Eggplant Bharta, Thai Red Rice and Naan,  Monday night German:  Sausages and pretzel buns from Illichman's ,  roasted some potatoes with the sausages on the grill and made a salad. Tuesday night Asian:  Five -Spice Noodle Bowls (love this recipe, so easy and quick with Chinese Five Spice freshly ground from Abby's ).   Now that's what I call Canadian Cuisine!

One stop shopping for the season This is not an advertisement and I'm not getting any kickbacks for this post, it's a public service!  I have to believe I'm NOT the only woman who doesn't like shopping.    I hate it .  I am terrible at picking my own clothes, I'm cheap and I'm hard to fit.  Being overweight is my own fault I know, but I'm certainly not morbidly obese.  Most of my challenges are genetic... I'm short waisted and I have long arms.  I have  broad shoulders and no hip s,  and though I was pleased to inherit my mom's lovely calves, I have my dad's muscular thighs and broad feet; triple E for him, D for me.    So when I absolutely, positively HAVE to buy myself some clothes, Benita is my saving grace.  I head to  Melanie Lyne's,   and hunker down in the change room while Benita brings me an amazing selection of patterns and colours and styles, most of which I would have passed by on the rack or not bothered trying o

Perhaps you'd like to buy a flower? But I could never sell. If you would like to borrow Until the daffodil Unties her yellow bonnet Beneath the village door Until the bees, from clover rows Their hock and sherry draw, Why, I will end until just then,  but not an hour more! -Emily Dickinson

The thing I enjoy most about photography is when you're in the right place at the right time and capture a really neat shot.  One's ability as a photographer has nothing to do with the result and it feels like a magical moment when it happens.   I was hoping the goose would swim farther into the ripples so he'd be surrounded by the watercolour effect, but I think he was hoping I had some bread crumbs and headed towards me instead.

This is what remains of a collection of glasses I bought about eight years ago. They caught my fancy one day while browsing at the now defunct Laughing Moon Gallery and at  The Blue Ginger Trading Company . I liked their weight and their colour, and the feel of the raised pattern on the outside of the glass. They were much too expensive, around $8.00 each I think, but I bought them two at a time over the period of a year or so and asked for them as gifts for Christmas and birthdays. My mom gave me four as a hostess gift when she came to visit one summer. I think the most I had was twelve; six indigo and six teal.  I didn't save them for special.  I used them with pleasure at every meal, for every glass of water, diet coke, and every apple juice emergency. I was the first to break one and though I was a little disappointed I tried to remain detached, remembering how many sets of glasses my mom had purchased over the years. Broken glasses are a fact of life, though if I'

The fabric I ordered from Ma Maison  arrived today and it is truly a thing of beauty created by the fabric designer  Manuel Canovas . It's shown here over the purple heart occasional chair that my father-in-law made. I'll be using it for a small pillow on the bed,  to re-upholster the vanity cushion and as a throw on the end of the bed.  Now heading into our 27th year of living together we are finally going to have a bedroom that is actually decorated!

" But a weed is simply a plant that wants to grow where people want something else.  In blaming nature, people mistake the culprit.  Weeds are people's idea, not nature's."  ~Author Unknown A few houses down the street from me, a lush row of dandelions fills the gap between the asphalt and the curb for at least a hundred feet.  It's really quite lovely.

There are many things I dislike about my 1970's raised bungalow, but the one thing that will keep me in this house for a long time yet is the deck.  It's private and shady and is my favourite place to sit on a summer evening surrounded by candlelight, friends and family.  It is my sacred space and I do miss it in the winter months.  At the moment it's my preferred location for working on a collection of stories from my father-in-law's time spent in India between 1937 and 1944. I write here on sunny afternoons, nestled in a chair Dad occupied for many years.  Wind chimes ring softly behind me and I find myself transported into a past I've never seen.  I am with them in the garden where they sit on the bamboo swing, his head in her lap.  His eyes are closed and her soothing voice flows over him as she strokes his brow, telling him of the myths and mysteries of India.  Overhead the heart shaped leaves of the peepal tree brush against each other, and b

Pitou!

Tonight we enjoyed a very nice 2009 Calafate Reserva Pino Noir from the Patagonia region of Argentina.  Though it tasted a bit too fruity for me to start with it turned out to be a good compliment to the brined pork tenderloin I served and definitely benefited from decanting.  It lost that initial juice like taste and developed some depth and a richer flavour after sitting for a bit. Salut!

Here's a photo I took shortly after getting off the water taxi at Granville Island Ferry Dock. Did I take it today ? No, I took it in April. Did I take some photos today?  Yes, about 12 photos.  Were they all blurry and/or overexposed? Yes. Does it say somewhere that the daily photo has to be a photo I took today ? No.  My blog, my bendy rules.  :)

I can never resist photographing a mess of chopped vegetables.  Here we have the holy trinity of Cajun cuisine:  onion, celery and peppers... all ready for tonight's Creole Chicken & Okra with Parsley Rice.  Bon Appetit!

Bellevue Creek is rushing through my neighbourhood.  With more snow yet to melt in the mountains (just have a look in the background at yesterday's photo), I'm glad it's banks are fairly high!  I am thankful for this water though, as I hear it's going to be a dry summer in the Okanagan. If you're wondering why there's two posts for today and none yesterday,  blogger was out of commission Thursday and I could not post my daily photo.  I did post it on my facebook page, but unless you are an fb friend of mine, you didn't get to see it.  

Took the roundabout route (literally) to Benvoulin today. Was pleased to get a photo of these blossoms before they fell.  Looks like it will be a good year for apples ...or maybe they're pears....  

Looks like we skipped spring and are now into summer!  I made a quick stop on my way past Gyro Beach   to capture some of the first sunbathers of the year.  Didn't want to get too close and become known as that creepy old lady with the iPhone.

This photo represents how I feel my day has been going.  I'm in a endless loop, an infinite regression, working on several projects moving between computers and cameras and iphone.  Cue the theremin and start the photo spinning....

Summer 1994 near Peterborough Ontario. On this Mother’s day I’d like to take the opportunity to brag abou t say how proud I am of my children and all they have accomplished this year.   Last year's move from Calgary to Vancouver was not quite as smooth as Adam would have liked.  Though he struggled at first, he persisted and overcame a number of challenges that were thrown his way.  He now has a place in the city, is working two jobs, and still has the time to write and record music and play guitar in a  heavymetal band with some very fine young men. It’s such a treat for me when he calls me in the middle of the day, just to say hello.   Nicole recently finished her first year of University in the Fine Art program at UBCO.  She lives with a friend in an apartment downtown and she paid for her entire year herself, including tuition, books, rent, food and a class trip to New York during reading week.  In order to do this she has two part time jobs but this doesn’t effect

The first opportunity to use my new tomato keeper has me longing for this year’s harvest. I could easily live on those juicy red wedges dotted with fragrant basil and a liberal splash of olive oil.  And then there are days when I’d just pull them off the vine and take a bite, filling my mouth with that warm flood of flavour.  *sigh*  I’m sure that’s what sunshine tastes like.

Today I googled " Chef at Home Spicy Chili " after watching Michael Smith prepare a fantastic dinner for his poker buddies (guess what we're having for dinner on the first cool day next week). After I made my list,  I headed to Abby's Spices and Tea Store to find some dried poblano peppers, and few other spices I was low on. Abby didn't have any poblanos but she tempted me with some ancho peppers that smelled amazing.... they should be a great substitute.  She also had some interesting hot sauces that I thought I'd share in this post.  Michael Smith says it's the adrenaline rush that draws people to the super hot sauces - I think that's too much adrenaline for me!

Hit the Mission Creek Greenway again, this time for a lunch hour walk with one of my besties (and one of my beasties) starting at the Spiers Road bridge. Afterwards it was a short drive to Kelowna Flower Farm where I used my iPhone to capture the brilliance of these lime, lemon, orange and pink grapefruit watering cans.     Keeping in the citrus theme, I was surprised to come across this lovely grapefruit plant at the Flower Farm.  Wouldn't you love to grow fresh grapefruit in your own home?

My friend and I stopped at The Roasted Bean Coffee House  after our bike ride along the Mission Greenway this afternoon.  Despite our extreme efforts and  the heat,  I couldn't resist a cappuccino ..... or the brilliant colour combination Donna created on the patio.

Nikki and Cleo, two of the dogs in the pack we are part of at the Mission dog park.

On a friend's recommendation I stopped by Abby's Spice and Tea Store this morning.  An hour and a half later I left laden with a new mortar and pestle, fresh cinnamons sticks, an excellent bottle of olive oil, a cup sized wire strainer and 60 grams of Market Spice Tea, which I am currently sipping.  A lot of restraint was involved in those few purchases.  I  think I might go back tomorrow though after I peruse my spice drawers, as well as for the Bodum French Press... at $15.99, I don't think I can resist.   Abby's is my new favourite store!

The most beautiful magnolia tree I have ever seen is located on Richter Street in Kelowna.  The Magnolia Pinkie is the result of crossing  Magnolia Lilliflora with Magnolia Stellata.  This one is stunning but I'd be happy to see bigger one if anyone finds one out there.