Lilies incoming ...

I should really be awake earlier in the day more often to take  pictures in the backyard.  These were astounding. For the most part, I've done zero retouching in my graphics program.

Enjoy!

Day lilies

I'm having problems with the lily garden ... two years ago, I moved the lily bed because the flowers were being overshadowed by the maples and elms.   The new location, while sunny,  has turned out to be too wet for the bulbs and I'm losing the battle to keep them healthy.

At least the day lilies are very, very happy.  I can't imagine a garden without lilies!

During the bright of day, these flowers can look a bit washed out, but an overcast day
really brings out the peaches and corals.  

Orange and red together is a terrific combination in the garden.  Don't try this on your wardrobe.

This is just one of the reasons ...

... that Bruce and I moved to Nanaimo.

This is a view of our city from Newcastle Island.  A few of the boats in the front are permanent homes. My dragon boat team, the Nautical Dragons, paddled over to Newcastle Island for a picnic one bright evening; a well-deserved night off.  Right now, we're planning a September Race in Sproat Lake and have just had a successful beer and burger fund-raising night.   The team is doing well, coming along nicely, looking strong and able to kick a little butt.  Big words from the coach .. we'll see how we do come race day!

It's about time!

For years ... since I was old enough to 'help' Grandma in the kitchen and lick the beaters when she was done with her Sunbeam ... I've been in awe of the cooks who were good enough to justify having a stand mixer. Those things are expensive!! I resigned myself to using hand mixers for life, all the while wistfully casting an eye over the bright shiny displays in the home supply stores as I wandered past to collect another set of white towels.

My grocery store has a points program where you can save up and eventually, with diligent application, get various goodies. I'd been lazy about it, often using points for reducing prices on foods and not really looking through their little booklet. Once I did that, I had my eye on a wireless speaker system .. and then I saw this beauty in their online catalogue. That's when I started to get serious about collecting points. Two months later, this Kitchen Aid stand mixer has found a home on the counter.   I think I hugged the box it came in .. and did a little dance. I can't be more exited and a little nervous at the thought that I may now have to turn in my feminist lapel pin.

Then I baked a batch of cookies ...

Coconut Confetti Cream Cheese Cookies

This was adapted from a recipe I found online at Food52. If you follow that link, you can see the original, single recipe. I made a triple batch - our cookie jar is always empty, it seems.

Here are the adjustments I made:

1 ½ c unsalted butter
1 250g pkg cream cheese
2 ½ c sugar
2 ½ c flour
1 c shredded coconut
1/3 c candy sprinkles

Use teaspoons to drop them onto a parchment covered cookie sheet. They spread out quite a bit .. even more without the parchment. Bake at 350°F for 12 min .. or until the edges are browned.  They are very soft and chewy, so make sure they are fully cooled before putting them away.  

Enjoy!

June Garden

June is the month that my garden shimmers with excitement.  Every day you go out, there is something better to see.  It doesn't hurt that the weather turns to summer and stays fixed there.  So far this year, we've not hand too many rainy days .. nor too many really hot days.

The double mock orange frames the stairs to the lower lawn

Early morning sunshine bounces around the gazing ball and sends little dances of light
to the nearby plants.

Every time this iris flowers, I can't help but think of elegant ball gowns

Oh man .. this is why I love peonies.  A fragrance, hard to catch, but so
enticing .. and look at all those ruffles ... like the plant just can't give us enough 'fancy.'

This isn't a shot of my double mock orange so much as a little grin at
last year's nervy red snapdragon trying its best to arrange its own display

Morning sunshine over our side stairs.

May Promise

May is the month that my garden begins to show its promise, like it's waiting to be spectacular, waiting for some signal to be glorious. It's also the month I probably have the gardening bug the strongest.  Maybe its just waiting for me to quit my planning.

The campanula softens all the granite squatting at the edge of my patio like a huge, stern
relative who can't help but smile at the antics of the kids

I can't tell you how happy I was to see the peony flower buds.  This is the first year they've been
happy enough to want to flower.  However,  we've seen this stage in Calgary too, and not
had them flower out, so I held my breath and crossed my fingers.

The coral bark, in need of a trimming, does its best to off set the rock wall.  

 

I love having different coloured rhododendrons in my garden as it means
a parade of colour through many weeks.  Here, the purple grabs your attention
from the back of the yard.  We don't normally see this from our patio, as its tucked in behind
the Japanese maple.

Maybe next year, this clematis will learn to flower at a more respectable height!

Of ninjas and relatives ...

It was a dark and somewhat stormy night; I say 'somewhat' because we rarely get real lightning-bolt-on-black-skies-thunderboomers, so in all likelihood it was more of a grayish and sopping night with no real fireworks. I, on my way to write an update to my blog - complete with stunning pictures and witty commentary - was accosted by ninjas.  What the ninjas were doing in my house is somewhat of a story in itself, but to shorten the long and improbable story, they've apparently taken up residence in the sports closet under my stairs.  What's more, they are encouraging a population explosion in summer dust bunnies - you know, the ones with the darker coats.  I've just spent two months trying to outrun the ninjas and escape the dust bunnies.

There's no question that both have become somewhat of an issue to my getting downstairs to write.  I've taken to sleeping with a baseball bat. While I do that, the ninjas have encouraged the neighbor's cats to come visit as often as they wish. I know this because I'm pretty sure our cats don't have enough fur for the sheer number of dust bunnies roaming the halls late at night .. and I'm constantly chasing them out of our garden. Cats, not dust bunnies, although brandishing a broom at a dust bunny rolling through the shrubbery brings to mind a funny image. Usually the chasing is done in my pajamas at an ungodly hour of the morning (ungodly hours start with smaller numbers than 7:00) and I'm alerted to the presence of an enemy by frantic scrabbling at the window and huffing and puffing on the part of Murray and Mr. Tippy. Fortunately, they have not discovered that howling and meowling are a real thing. But there I am, sun not quite up, chasing a cat off my deck with hissing sounds, flailing arms and ungodly hair.

So yea ... obstacles to writing this summer.  I blame the ninjas.

I've been waiting for Aunt Sandy to send me pictures I took on her camera for their visit here in late May. My own camera decided to take the weekend off, but I did manage to get some photos before the battery packed it in.  Sandy may have not have a way to transfer pictures or the knowledge, but she may also have ninja issues of her own.  ::shrug::  who knows?

Late May in Parksville Community Park.
Sandy's first wish was to do some beachcombing in order to bring home driftwood and shells.
She and John posed for a picture against  the ocean backdrop .. looks like John
found something interesting just off camera.

Just to the left of John in the previous picture, some kids took advantage of low tide
to get a bright red kite aloft.

Sandy with some of her treasures.

The one that got away!

I couldn't take my eyes off this old building  at the edge of Black Creek Marina.  Unsure what style
you would call this, but interesting and spooky both seem to apply.  According to locals, the
building stands empty most of the year.

The first day on Vancouver Island, John learned to dislike the rainy weather in the same way that born-n-bred British Columbians do.  Driving around, wipers on high failing to keep up with the downpour, water splashing everywhere .. road signs obscured until you realize you've just driven past your turnoff .. yea, fun times.  Right John?  As a result, they found themselves staying in a hotel near a dodgy part of town, but the staff treated them like gold.

Next day, we were off and running for northern parts and beaches.  John and Sandy had a Three Hills friend who lived in Parksville, so we dropped in on them.  Sandy and I toured the home art studio while John caught up with his friend.  After a light sandwich and tea lunch, they took us down to Black Creek Marina where the wild driftwood grows.  Sandy managed to collect enough driftwood to make her Three Hills home look like a beach resort.  I took home a small collection of shells to clean and bleach overnight so Sandy could take home non-stinky souvenirs.

The day warmed up and we went to visit Goats On The Roof market in Coombs as a diversion on the drive home, where Sandy and I did a bit of shopping. I actually managed to get a picture of the goats, but at the last minute, they turned away and I was left with a shot of goat butts. You can thank me for not posting them.

Not a clue what this is, but gorgeous doesn't begin to do it justice.  It grew beside
the church across the street from the Goats on the Hill market.

The day after Parksville, I sent them over to Gabriola Island to sight-see without me getting in their way. I've always done the art tour and chatted with artists when I'm over there. Sandy and John simply spent the day wandering through shops and taking in the sights, so I'm glad they had the space to enjoy the day in their own way.  We had them over for dinner after the trip and were very careful about John getting too close to the cats, but they weren't bothering him.  Maybe next time, they stay with us!

John enjoying the sun and a glass of wine on our balcony.  

Next day was a big one ... we took a winery tour of the south central island, visiting Merridale Cidery, which I had to admit was my favorite of the day.  We also stopped three other estate wineries and managed to purchase something at each.  The Siegerrebe from Rocky Creek has proven to be a favorite of mine.

The pictures that Sandy has are from the winery tour.  Love to have them  Sandy, if the ninjas haven't put them up for ransom.

The  official "Yellow Door" picture.

All in all .. we had a wonderful visit and we are really hoping that the promise of a house to look after in a warmer winter climate than central Alberta will lure them here for a few months later this year.  I can guarantee rain though.  But as we Albertans say .. at least it's not snow!

More posts to come as I sort out pictures I've taken the last couple of months.

Beauty in the back yard

At first glance, you might think this a small crow, but its actually a Brewer's Blackbird giving our backyard the once over from his lofty position atop a spruce. Alas, this shot doesn't show the iridescence on his body.

Now, I'm not one to get all gaga about sunsets, but sometimes, the sky just begs for a camera. This was taken from our balcony where I think I was out directing Bruce on how to properly barbeque.  Since he's only done it for as long as I can remember, he probably needed my help, right?

Family update

When I last spoke with Ian via text .. 'cause we're all cool that way ... he showed me his new fridge.  It was so shiny, I just had to share it.  Congratulations can be sent in the form of frosty beverages.

He and I have always had a four-leaf clover as a lucky symbol .. as kids we'd go out and spend hours hunting the clover fields looking for them. At least, I remember doing that. He says this was a cover-up of a pre-existing tat.  Gotta say, Ian, your arm is looking like it needs a wee bit more gym time to make it as sexy as that tattoo.  Just kidding!

Speaking of brothers, Kent's youngest, Elina, turned three a few days ago and he sent us a picture.  He and family are moving to Oslo for a year with plans to move back to Singapore for another two, possibly three years.  For the next couple of weeks, Ilana and the kids will be in Vancouver, so I imagine I'll soon have pictures of my own to post.

4:00 am

Sound asleep.  Then ....

Bruce:  (shouting)  It doesn't get more extreme than this!
Mo:      (blinks open one eye)  It doesn't?
Bruce:   No, it doesn't.
Mo:      What is  it?
Bruce:  (singsong voice) ... I'm not telling.
            (silence for about five seconds)
            (laughing) ... but it involves goats!


Half an hour later, I'm still trying to get back to sleep ...

Bruce:  Aromatherapy.  I believed in it .. until I smelled  a rat.

-----------------

Honest to god, I have no idea where this comes from.  I'm just reporting it.

May catch up

In way of preparation, I find myself scrambling to put together some posts to cover the events in May.  I honestly was thinking of writing, but you know how it is in the spring ... there's always something interesting to do outside. (In Calgary, its shovelling snow.  ::grin::)  Fortunately, my camera was there to record things and keep them somewhat fresh.

First, I guess we should cover acquisitions.  My office lamp packed it in early this month.  I loved the look of that lamp, but it had a major design flaw that caused the lampshades to drop down and rest on the lightbulb instead of in their housings, with the last event causing a bulb to burst into tiny shards.  I'm often barefoot in this room, so ... I packed the lamp off to the garage and I headed out on what became a three-day quest to replace it.  I think I did okay.   This is my first Tiffany style lamp.

Right around the same time, we were having a disagreement with our kitchen faucet over what the proper rate of flow should be.  Pressure had dropped off  (only in the kitchen tap) to the point where it seemed you could turn on the water to fill the cofee pot, go take a shower and return before the pot was full.

I'm not sure why we put up with it for weeks.  Maybe we hoped that it would miraculously fix itself in the way that gadgetry sometimes does.  You know, when you're trying to describe to a puzzled repair expert what the thing had been doing 100% of the time until they arrived and it mysteriously stopped.  Well, it didn't do that.

A call to Superplumber!  Did you hear that echoey reverb in your head as you read Superplumber? Yes, they have superheroes on their vehicles.  Its kinda cute, kinda funny and a whole lot dorky.  Which may be why we chose them in the first place.  You gotta call someone, right? Fortunately, they've been good to us over the years.  They'd even repaired this particular problem once before.  Unhappily, this time they could not.  But our rep did recommend several extremely pricey options as replacements.  I'm betting she gets a bit of commission on up-sales.  She was good, she almost had me.  Then I remembered Ian, so I turned down her options in favor of a consultation with my brother.

Ian's advice was somewhat along the same lines, although he didn't necessarily agree that Delta wasn't a good tap.  He did suggest I steer away from in-store brand names and use a plumbing supplier rather than a outlet store.  So I found myself at Splashes one afternoon looking at pricey faucets and mentally putting them on my own sink.  I'll bet that, other than Ian, you don't know how much variety there can be in simply getting a sinkful of sudsy water.

With the help of the lady across the desk, we found a discontinued Delta product (discontinued only because they no longer package soap dispensers with taps) with the auto-touch feature in the swankier stainless steel type .. for less than half the cost of the taps quoted by our Superplumber friend.  Who came back to install it.

She also freaked Mr. Tippy out so badly that he wouldn't come eat until he knew she was not in the house. No telling what's going on there, but its happened twice now.  Same person.

Please tell me that your kitchen window sill is also a collect-all for stuff you have no idea where else to put

I've got another post coming up for family stuff, including a shot of Ian's new tattoo, but for now, I'd like to say hello to Bruce's sister Bonnie.   Up to this point, she's likely been unaware of my blog.  Bonnie, the site address is www.neumansofnanaimo.blogspot.ca if you care to catch up on any older material.

Bruce Fest - the First

To celebrate Bruce's birthday yesterday, since I was coaching on Thursday evening, we invited Richard and Cécile over for a tapas sort of evening .. a bit of this, a bit of that .. with wine and food all night long. We had a somewhat eclectic menu, and I thought I'd share ideas.

A quick note .. with the exception of the green potatoes, none of the pictures here are mine.  I just didn't think to take pictures yesterday!  I spent more time cooking than I did for Christmas!

Flatbread with tomatoes and basil

Panini bread, Sliced tomatoes, Fresh chopped basil, texmex cheese. Mmmmm.

Sweet and Sour Ginger Pork Meatballs

Orange juice concentrate, water, vinegar, brown sugar, juice from fresh grated ginger, 

red peppers and green onions - simmered in a crockpot for about four hours.

My sauce was a bit too vinegary, but the meatballs themselves tasted divine.

Pea & Radish Salad

Recipe here from Molly Stevens on Epicurious. I was looking for an alternative to the usual green salads and came up on this one.  For the first time in a decade .. or maybe a generation .. I have peas in my house. Everyone swore this tasted more like fresh peas than cooked.  I'll take them at their word.  No point in taking chances, right?

Dolmades

Céc and Richard brought Dolmades and a selection of green and black olives.  Bruce loves olives in limited quantities and prefers that I don't purchase them, but he's a huge fan of people bringing them over.

Tiger Prawns

Sauteed in butter with garlic and fresh basil

Twice-baked Green Potatoes (no cheese version)

Baked potatoes, sour cream, avocado, green onion.  These are always a huge hit.

Yam Salad

We all know a good potato salad recipe, right?  Just substitute cooked yams (don't overcook) for the potatoes for a much healther version.

Grilled Salmon with fresh dill

Candied Pecans

Pecans.  Sugar.  So simple.

Cheddar Popcorn

This cake was so easy, it felt like cheating.  I can't recall ever eating a better chocolate cake, however, so I'll probably cheat again. This recipe came from Live | Craft  | Eat, a site I stumbled upon when I was looking for ideas for a DIY project.  The icing I chose to use was again, something of a cheater recipe, but was the perfect complement for the cake.  From Tunisianswife on Allrecipes.

Yup, the first time I bought it, it was because of this label.

A perennial favorite

There is no better way to finish a meal

This was such a resounding success, we've determined that we'll be holding Brucefest each year.  

Save a spot at the table, make your reservations now!