Day 308

As I was washing up in the kitchen, I spotted these little gold finches in my black eyed susans. They're all picking out the seeds and fattening up for winter.

After I was done, I came into the back room to find that Alex had fallen asleep looking at the Sears Christmas Wish Book. I wonder if he's dreaming about what Santa will bring him?

For supper we had baked salmon steaks with a Garlic and dill lemon sauce that I made from scratch. It was to die for delicious. The steaks were huge and I ate the whole thing!

Day 290

The weather today made me feel like making a "fall" meal, so I decided to cook up a batch of chili. Yummy!

Day 237

Alex's room has never had a light. Because this house is so old, there really isn't any wiring in the ceilings etc...the only lighting was from a plugged in lamp that turned on and off by the light switch. Today I put a real ceiling light in Alex's room because I was tired of the inadequate lighting. It's not the prettiest, but with some added wire, it still plugs into the wall, and at least now the whole room is illuminated. We can see what we are doing!

Tonight's dinner was steamed baby spinach, Boursin cheese mashed potatoes, and steak with grilled mushrooms and peppers.

Day 195

Cats are weird. Bobby Blue Eyes catches a few Z's

Tonight's dinner was orange sesame pork with steamed baby spinach, and mashed potatoes. I haven't cooked for so long, it's just been too hot.

Day 166

Today I tried my hand at making my own roti. I had a chicken and potato one in Toronto 2 years ago and it was so good, but the place has since shut down ,so I'll never have another one like it again. I tried my had at it myself when I found this yummy curry sauce at the grocery store that reminded me so much of that roti. The bread is hand made, it was a bit tricky, but I'm sure it will be easier next time. I'll definitely be having it again!

Day 165

Our usual baby sitter wasn't available today, so I had to take Alex with me to Ryan's school Aqua fit that I car pool for. I expected Alex to be a handful in the water but he really surprised me. He's never taken swimming lessons because last year the pool was closed for renovations. Within 5 minutes Alex was swimming by himself (with the help of a floatie suit and a pool noodle) and he was even doing cannonballs, with me cacthing him, into the deep end. He's a total water rat whereas Ryan won't stop clinging to the side of the pool.

After we dropped Ryan back off at school, Alex was all sad and pulled this awesome pout:

All the excitement of the day left him totally pooped. I gave him a juice box in the car and he fell asleep half way through it:

Once I brought him inside, he slept on the couch for over an hour. He hasn't napped in so long. The quiet was so nice :)

Supper today was steak with peppercorn sauce, tomato and basil rice, and corn on the cob.

Day 161

Leftover potatoes + an egg and some shredded cheese = Potato pancakes!

Day 159

Terror on the tracks! An unknown giant tunnel monster had been seen terrorizing the passengers of the local express train...

Oh wait...it's just Julian :P

For supper today...

An asparagus, mushroom, and bacon galette

And Salisbury steak, with garlic chive mashed potatoes, and roasted brown butter beans

Day 153

Oops! I posted about day 154 before 153, I guess that's what happens when you fall behind on your blog, you get all mixed up!

Nothing too exciting for day 153...Alex came up with a new use for his pull-ups since we have been doing potty training, and for dinner I had made a marinated pork loin with spicy dijon potatoes and spring peas.

Day 150

Ryan and Alex braved the frigid water today and had a splashing contest in the pool.

One of the perks of having pork chops for dinner is that you can fry up the trimmed fat and it tastes pretty much like bacon. A little salt, a little pepper, and you've got bacony goodness in your tummy.

Day 148

The boys and I cruised around town today looking for some garage sales. Nearby there was a community yard sale where they had some bouncy castles set up for the kids. The kids however were more interested in the fire truck they had there. They were checking it out when a fireman offered to let them sit in the drivers seat. Ryan got to turn on the sirens and blow the alarm horns. Alex was excited, but also a bit nervous.

I found some toys and books for the boys, and for myself, I found this silver bracelet. It was a steal for only $1

For dinner tonight, Dutch croquettes with an Asparagus and Emmental Cheese Tart

Day 147

I usually don't spit my gum out the window, but I had cleaned out my car the day before and forgot to put in another garbage bag. My gum was getting horribly stale, and my jaw was getting sore from chewing it, so I rolled down my window and *ptoui!* Only I could make a shot like this. I had to drive home with it like this until I could get a kleenex and dispose of it.

Dinner tonight was a chicken, bacon and pasta casserole

and for dessert, a strawberry tart a la mode

Day 144

"Hey Alex, I hate to tell you this, but, the Habs lost last night..."

Tonights supper was chicken alfredo with roasted veggies.

Day 139

Somebody dropped a little kitten off at Wally's store. The little guy was really young and he wouldn't take any food or water, so Wally mentioned that we have a lactating cat, and he brought him home hoping that our cat Ennie would adopt him as her own.

At first it looked like things were going well, she sniffed him up and started licking him. He started to nuzzle with her, when she got distracted by a noise in the kitchen and she took off. When she came back, she started making this weird panting noise and then started to growl at him when ever he got close. I kept sneaking him onto her whenever she let the other kittens on her so he did get a few meals into him.

Tomorrow I'm taking him to my kid's daycare provider as she also has a cat with kittens, and we'll try him out there.

Meeting Ennie

Tonight's supper was plain old sheppard's pie. Simple, easy and yummy!

Day 136

Work continues getting ready for the garage sale. I went to the local newspaper office to day and placed an ad. Wally made a sandwich board type sign for on the road, and I painted on the lettering. Just one more closet to go through, then we hit the kitchen, the living room, and if we can squeeze in Wally's workshop, then we will be done. After that we have to start pricing... I swear it never ends.

The wild garlic leaves are dying off and looking pale, so I picked off the best looking ones and made a pesto out of them.

Supper was Cheesy Boursin Noodles and Chicken, Battered and Fried Beans, and Toasted French Bread with Wild Garlic Pesto.

Day 135

We went to a place not far from here where a bunch of model train enthusiasts have these big trains you can ride on. They open up to the public the first and third Sunday of every month and give people free rides around their track. Today we took the boys who absolutely had a great time watching all the trains and getting a ride.

Alex and I riding on a train (picture by Wally)

After 2 rides around the track, we had a big derailment and operations for the day had to stop.

Back at home we enjoyed the rest of the day outside with the kids. Ryan caught his first frog by himself and the mosquitos stayed away enough that we were able to enjoy dinner outside.

Dinner was pork saté with spicy peanut sauce, stir fried peppers, and noodles

Day 133

I wanted to take a nice close-up picture of a dandilion, but when I uploaded it, it came out a little dark. I put it through the auto adjust function of my photo program, I got this. I love the funky blue background, so I saved it this way :)

I planted my wild garlic garden today and surrounded it by 2 big ostrich ferns. Not much longer until the leaves die off of the garlic plants and the flowers bloom, only then will I know for sure if it has taken to it's new home.

I also dug up 2 of these gorgeous flowers I found in the woods. I thought they were pitcher plants at first, but it turns out they are called Jack in the Pulpits, and you can eat the root bulbs. Apparently they taste like turnips, which doesn't appeal to me, and I couldn't destroy this beautiful plant just for a taste of it's tiny bulb.

For supper I made bacon carbonara with fiddleheads and some of the wild garlic, and for dessert, a lemon poppy seed loaf.

Day 132

After finishing our garage sale cleaning and sorting in the barn today, we took a nice walk in the woods. We took another old over grown horse trail that nobody has been on in over 10 years. We went off the beaten path and found this little lake. It ran down into a creek that was filled with minnows and tadpoles. Must go back with a bucket and a net :)

On the way back towards the house we went straight through the deep woods and came across a large patch of wild garlic, or as some people call them, ramps. I picked a leaf and tore it in half taking a sniff, and was instantly hit with that garlic-y smell. I have been looking for some of this stuff in the woods for years, I can't believe I finally found some. :)

For dinner we had planned on making hamburgers, so we chopped up some wild garlic bulb into the meat, chopped some of the leaves into the rice, and I sautéed some smaller bulbs and leaves up with tomato in olive oil with salt, pepper and rosemary for Wally.