I ate a flower .. and I liked it.

Yesterday, Cécile dropped by with a large box of organic veggies she'd got from her new co-worker at Bodhi Bakery.  Inside was a bag of mixed salad greens that were stunning both visually, and as it turns out, in taste.  Included in the greens mixture were baby beet greens and nasturtiums.  They made a great shrimp salad for lunch!

Céc is a pretty fine hand when it comes to baking bread herself, but she's learning fast at Bodhi, an education that includes the making of a fine cappuccino.  Once she learns how to make designs in the foam, I'll grab my camera and go.  In the name of journalism, ya know.  It will have nothing whatsoever to do with those lovely chocolate croissants they make.  None at all.

August garden

I don't think we need many words here.  Enjoy!

Family smiles

Dusting and cleaning isn't something that happens often enough at our house.  Oh, you'll say, but we've been there and the house is fiiiine.  That's because occasionally, we are motivated to move beyond our slothful, sinfully negligent ways and actually do something about the cat hair in the house.  We find a slightly furry house to be a sign of comfort because "cats live here" and its only natural they should also want some say in the decoration.  At least that's what we tell ourselves on the days when visitors are not due.

A visit from family or friends warrants a tidy up and a quick check around to make sure there are no stray socks in sight.  A visit from our cat allergic friends always results in a full-blown massive, hospital-size cleaning.  On those days, I come armed with toothbrush to get the dirt in all the cracks.

So Kent's arrival is always preceded by "the big clean."  Which I'm sure most people don't recognize when they step in the door, other than maybe the odd lingering whiff of cleaning product.  Still, Bruce and I both know that we've done what we can to put the welcome mat out and make our guests as comfortable as possible.

This is a truly fantastic picture of the two brothers.

In other family news, Myranda and Ryan are to be married in four days time.  Sadly, Bruce and I are not able to be there, but we sure wish it were otherwise. I just got an email from Trina who will be there.  I'm sad I'll miss gossiping with her as well as seeing the rest of the Gideon gaggle.

I had planned on visiting also with Samantha and DeeWynn who have just added a new member to the family.  All dolled up for his introduction  ... may I present Layne Harrison Toews.

Grandma Debbie reports that he arrived at 5:08 am after just two hours of labour!  He weighed in at a healthy 8 lbs, 3 oz.  Congrats DeeWynn and Sam!  Won't be long until you'll be adding another dirt bike to the collection in the garage.

Working on the Stain Gang

As is Bruce's wont, we sang showtunes ... with slight variations ... as we painted the fence these past couple of weeks. Chiefest among the the soon-to-be broadway versions was his interpretation of "Chain Gang," entitled "Stain Gang."

Here, for your amusement is The Pretenders version.




The fence along the steep drop off has needed painting for a year or two, but you know how it is ... you convince yourself that you'll get to it "one of these days" and that turns into "one of these years."  This was the year.  Now, unfortunately, we can no longer purchase the oil base stains we've been using, so we're trying out an latex version to test its durability against the fence we painted on the other side a couple of years past.

It's not all been singing and dancing though, Bruce has been working on perfecting his high wire act as well .. kinda.

Bruce at the start of the project.  You can see how faded the headers are.  We eventually
removed them for painting as it was a lot easier and faster.  You can also see how clean
Bruce's pants are.  He's as messy painting as I am in the kitchen.  Creativity requires
a bit of chaos, after all.

Through the pergola fence you can see the neighbor's house roof below.

A climbing harness has been part of the daily suit-up for Bruce as we work on the lattice panels, since he's on the neighbor's 20 foot drop side.  When he puts the headers back on, he'll be working on the top of our fence, adding another 10 feet to the drop.  I'll be within listening distance, but I can't watch.  Besides, I often add advice, which he doesn't seem to appreciate at the moment I'm giving it.  :D

Have you been watching Continuum on television?  Season finale was an awesome ending in a true science fiction "wtf" sort of way .. will keep me wondering what's going on until the new season starts.  The website link is full of all sorts of things to keep you poking around and you can influence the storyline too.

I've got more garden pictures, if you're not tired of them .. sorry, but my garden is an absolute delight to me and I insist upon sharing it.  :D

More posts to come in the next few days.

[Edit:  update to fix typos]