Blog Break

I'll be taking a little break from blogging for the next week as Greg and I are getting married this weekend - hooray!

I will be sure to post pictures of all of the fun.

See you soon!

Socks!

I did it! I finally finished this pair of socks after far, far too long.

I followed the pattern and instructions at Silver Sock Class (I used the pattern for "one sock on four double pointed needles), and if you're interested in knitting socks  I recommend it. It was my first pair and the instructions (with lots of pictures) were really easy and straightforward to follow.

For my birthday last year Greg gave me a ball of wool to start another pair of socks. So now, with one under my belt I am getting around to the second pair. Hopefully this project doesn't take me quite as long.

Fall Photo Checklist

While on the internet prowl I came across a few photo checklists that might inspire some festive snaps throughout the year. Some items on each list are a bit cheesy but others are a nice way to be sure I take my camera out to photograph more than what Greg and I cooked up for dinner.

Here is the photo checklist for fall:

Source

For other photo checklists (holiday, spring, summer) check out the website where they came from: Simple As That.

Pub Night

On Friday evening Greg and I ventured to Halifax to pick up my altered wedding dress (4 inches were taken from each hip, I really have no hips) and caught up with some great friends at the Hart & Thistle pub down on the waterfront.

It was lovely.

If you haven't been to the Hart & Thistle I highly recommend it. Not only do they have a great menu (I had fish and chips and it was heavenly) but they brew their own beer and I have yet to find something I dislike. I'm not even an IPA person but their IPA was yummy (I had a sip or two of Greg's). My preference is for darker beers so I enjoyed their interestingly named Sweet Baby Jesus Porter.

Fundraising Fun

Yesterday I played three games of softball. I can't remember the last time I played a game of softball, let alone three games.

It was for a good cause, a fundraiser for the Adopt A Library Program, and I had a great time.

The games were in Stellarton and we couldn't have asked for better weather.

The Worst Email

For a mini-honeymoon Greg and I are spending a night in a Bed & Breakfast in the Annapolis Valley. The folks who run the B&B sent me an email to inquire if either of us have any dietary issues. Me being the unfortunate person I am disclosed my dairy allergies. The MOST unfortunate part of this whole thing is how I explained in to the Inn Keeper:

Yes, I wrote this and even sent it to a person who I do not know.

I only came upon this error this evening when looking back through the email thread. Needless to say Greg and I had a tear-inducing laugh over my poor, poor grammar. I have also learned a valuable lesson, two in fact:

1. Multi-tasking while emailing can lead to dangerously embarrassing outcomes
2. Read over every email before hitting send

I hope you too can learn from my silliness!

MORE Flowers

On Thursday our wonderful neighbour brought MORE flowers to our door. I had a lovely chat with her on Wednesday evening and asked her about these huge hydrangea trees in her front yard. She promptly took me into her house and showed me a beautiful basket of dried hydrangeas and offered to cut some flowers off for me to try and dry on my own. 

So that's what I'm doing now, I put the cut stems in a bucket and let them sit for 48 hours and have now taken them out to let them dry. Lets hope for good results!

She also brought over another bouquet of flowers from her garden. Check out these blooms!

Lil Wayne Documentary

A few nights ago we watched this documentary about Lil Wayne (Tha Carter Documentary) that Greg stumbled upon (I was surprised to learn that you can have videos that are longer than 10 minutes of YouTube!)

Now we aren't Lil Wayne fans and after watching the doc I haven't warmed up to him anymore. But it was interesting to watch. If you have some time to kill or are in the mood for a look into a bizarre man's life check it out (as you might assume this documentary has lots of offensive language, heads-up):

Friendly Feline

While cat sitting last week for a friend we met a very friendly cat outside of her apartment. At first we thought it might be the cat we were supposed to be cat-sitting since we didn't encounter a cat inside. We soon realized the mystery cat was much to friendly to be said cat...and it was also outside. That didn't stop me from getting some cute pictures:

Stars: The North

As I mentioned earlier this week Stars has a new album out, The North. I didn't think of it at the time of my post but I found a few YouTube audio versions of some of my favourite tracks as well as a trailer for the album:


Trailer:



Hold On When You Get Love and Let Go When You Give It:


The Theory of Relativity:

Homemade Bread

I have been trying for awhile now to make a loaf of bread that's not a dense brick of carbs. A few weeks ago I tried an oatmeal molasses concoction which turned out okay but it still didn't rise enough for my taste (sorry there is no photo).

Today I made a loaf using a recipe that I've had lots of success with in the past to make a garlic and herb braided bread. I didn't include any of the spices so it's just a plain loaf.

It even has the bulge on top that is typical of breads - hooray!

I also made a pumpkin loaf (remember how I told you it was time that pumpkin made its way into everything?) this morning and put it along side the bread to give you a comparison.

So for the bread recipe:

• 4 - 4 1/2 C bread flour (I used multigrain)
• 3 tbsp sugar
• 2 packages of quick rise yeast
• 3/4 C milk
• 1/2 C water
• 1/4 C butter (cubed)
• 1 egg

1. In a large bowl combine 1 1/2 C flour, sugar and both packages of yeast. Whisk to mix
2. In a small saucepan heat the milk, water and cubed butter until it's heated through, but not boiling
3. Add this milk/butter/water mixture to the dry ingredients and beat until moistened
4. Add the egg and beat until smooth
5. Stir in the remaining flour (I sometimes don't need the full 4 1/2 C, and just for for 4 C total) until it forms a smooth dough
6. Knead until smooth
7. Cover and let rest for 10 minutes
8. Grease a 9x5 pan in preparation
9. Punch down and let rise in the pan you are going to cook it in (9x5 loaf pan) for about 25 minutes in a warm location
10. Bake at 375 for 20-25 minutes or until golden brown
11. Remove from the pan to a wire rack and let cool

Artwork Tuesday

Just because it's Tuesday and I stumbled across a great graphic designer, Masako Kubo. I really like the style and suggest you check out more images on her website: www.masakokubo.co.uk

Two images (from the image gallery) caught my eye and made me think of Greg. The first is called "Escalator", and is very reminiscent of our time living in Saint John where people will opt for the escalator ride up rather than exercise a little.

The second is called "Celebrate Libraries", and as Greg is a Librarian it just made sense:

And lastly, here is a video from Kubo's site where she completes a beautiful print:



*All images and video in this post from www.masakokubo.co.uk

Pumpkin Pie!

It's getting to be that time of the year, where pumpkin makes its way into everything!

I picked up a pumpkin at the grocery store yesterday and made this tasty treat:

Here's my recipe!

Pumpkin Filling Part I:

1. Cut the pie pumpkin (much smaller than one you would carve) in half and scoop out the seeds
2. Places the halves cut side down on a cookie sheet lined with wax paper and with a little oil
3. Bake at 350F for 45-60 minutes, the time will depend on the size of the pumpkin so just check it once it hits 45 minutes and go from there
4. Remove from the oven, flip the halves over and let them cool. Scoop the flesh from the peel 
5. Puree with whatever form of blender/hand blender you have or mash with a potato masher

Pumpkin Filling Part II:

• 1/2 C brown sugar
• 1/4 C white sugar
• 1 tsp cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp ginger
• 1/4 tsp nutmeg
• 1/4 ground cloves
• 2 eggs
• 1 tsp vanilla
• 2C of the pumpkin you just pureed
• 1C coconut milk

1. Combine the brown and white sugar and spices in one bowl
2. In a larger bowl: beat the eggs, add the sugar mixture, pumpkin and vanilla and mix until smooth (I use a whisk and that works really well)
3. Fold in the coconut milk
4. Bake for 15 minutes at 425F
5. Reduce to 350F and bake for 50-60 minutes (or until the knife comes out clean

Pastry for Single Crust Pie

• 1C white flour
• 1/4C whole wheat flour
• 1/3C butter
• Cold water

1. Use a pastry blender (or fork) to cut in the butter until the pieces are pea sized
2. Add 1 tbsp of cold water at a time over the flour mixture and toss with a fork. Repeat this until you have a dough and can work it into a ball. If it gets too wet just add a bit more flour.
3. On a floured surface use your hands to flatten the ball into a circle and roll the pastry into a larger circle that's about 1/2cm thick.
4. Transfer your pastry to the pie plate by rolling it onto the rolling pin and then rolling it back out over the pie plate.

Summer Sonic 2012

I headed to Halifax on Friday to check out one of three days of the Summer Sonic festival.

I had some observations:

1. There were not many people in attendance (at least on Friday)
2. There was an excellent choice of eats from food vendors at reasonable prices
3. The music was excellent

Upsides to a small crowd:

1. No lines for anything
2. You are easily spotted by friends who didn't know you'd be attending

I was happy to be scared to death by two friends I hadn't seen in awhile and we shared a giant bag of kettle corn - it was lovely.

The line up Friday evening was: Bahamas, Father John Misty, K'naan and Stars. Each act was great, I was impressed with K'naan's band and Stars played their first show of their current tour. I was quite taken with their new tunes and happily handed over $15 at the merch table for their new album, The North. I highly recommend it.

I didn't take many pictures, the first is from my vantage point sitting on the hill when Bahamas was on stage. The second is of K'naan and his band:

I had two opportunities to eat downtown while in Halifax for my short visit. On Friday I went to Hamachi House for a really (4:45PM) early dinner. I was really excited about it since I couldn't remember that last time I had sushi. On Saturday afternoon I grabbed lunch, the biggest sandwich on a bagel at the Paperchase:

I will make another recommendation: eat at both of these places!!

Sheet Harbour Cottaging

Last weekend Greg and I were invited to spend some time at our friends parent's cottage just outside of Sheet Harbour. It was a beautiful spot on a man-made lake and was previously a camp ground so it was perfect for our myriad of tents! I say we were cottaging because the only thing we did in regards to tenting was sleep and change in it. The cottage has a full kitchen and bathroom and there is a huge deck where we stuffed our faces on several occasions.

It was a great day when we arrived and although I don't have any pictures folks went swimming and other kayaking. Greg and I opted for the kayaking and it was great to explore the lake. We actually tried to chase a loon for awhile....it was on to us.

Pipes direct water from the lake into this pond just next to the cottage, there are a surprising amount of fish and ducks here regularly:

Left: Pitcher Plant found on our Sunday hike. Right: washer toss, what's camping without it?!

After a large, late lunch on Sunday we decided to go for a stroll before eating another large meal. We piled into vehicles and drove about 25 minutes to reach this beautiful walk which ends at the ocean:

The sunset was beautiful, unfortunately my iPhone camera doesn't quite capture it:

Interesting rock formations along the coast, one of the friends along with us is a Geologist so we all learned a bit about rocks:

Left: sparklers by the camp fire - amazing! Right: Instagram shot of a snail:

Left: one of three very cute dogs with us for the weekend. This one wanted to eat all of the food on the table and was successful in a few attempts. Right: freshly made biscuits and cinnamons bunts with homemade jam was ready to go on Monday morning as a breakfast appetizers. Did I mention how amazing this cottage and its cottage owners are?

After eating another extraordinarily large meal we headed out again for a hike. This time we piled in the cars and went to Taylor Head Provincial Park. There is a nice walk along the beach (with clear, cold waters) and it turns into the woods for the rest of the 3km:
 

Barren landscapes and lots of smelly seaweed baking in the sun (it smelled awful!)

Thank you Donald and Renee for inviting us!!!

Delay of Blogging

So it turns out in order to continue posting the many, many photos that I do Google is asking that I pay for storage. To be fair, it's a reasonable amount but unfortunately the extra space that I just purchased is not available to me for another 24 hours...or up to 24 hours anyway.

I do have a post pretty much already to go, but I will have to be patient to get it online.