Three-Dog-Day

We had a three-dog-day today. Dianne and her friend Mary came by on their walk with their dogs Rosa and Molly respectively. After they left, Becky and Kae-Lee came for a visit with their new Chocolate Lab Cain who just moved in with them yesterday. He is two years old and very rambunctious. Rosie is exhausted after a sunny, blue-sky play in the yard with her new dog friends. 

Official Gardening commenced today! Not only was it a sunny, blue-sky day, but it was also warm enough to spend some time outside doing yard work. Frank pruned the peach tree and the wisteria while I started raking amongst the trees.

We had our trip to Duncan this morning.  While Frank got what he needed at the marine aquarium store (and what he "needed" included two fish!), I wandered off to Fabricland, but left empty-handed. On the way home, we bought some halibut for dinner tonight and scallops for dinner on Friday.

I poached the halibut in water with a glob of Meyer Lemon Chutney and some lemon pepper and sprinkled spinach and asparagus with soya sauce, rice wine vinegar and sesame oil and cooked it in the microwave. I had made extra Thai black rice last night, so I heated the leftovers and added a dash of chili oil. I put some fresh cilantro and Thai sweet chili sauce on top of the halibut. We both had two servings. It was delicious and colourful!

I added some beads to one of the trading card pieces last night. I will take more pictures of this experiment in a few days. In the meantime, this is a picture of the other side of my altered book.

MORE Excuses!

Today's excuse?  It's too tidy in here!

OK already!  Enough!  

My sewing room is now as tidy and clean (dusted, vacuumed, windows washed, Christmas fabric put away) as the rest of the house. I am afraid to go in there because I don't want to mess it up.

I have a plan (and the ingredients) for dinner - chicken breasts with a white wine/mushroom gravy, asparagus and rice.  While I was thinking this dinner plan through, I thought perhaps a dollop of Dijon. Imagine my surprise when I found a Rachel Ray recipe using almost all the same ingredients as my plan. I have made the mushroom gravy. I think this may turn out to be delicious. (Update:  It was!)

Sadly, the vacuum cleaner is not working properly and needs to go to the vacuum cleaner fixing place.  A terrible state of affairs since I still have that one room to go and it is VERY dusty. Then, of course, the rest of the house will need vacuuming again ...  Happily, the vacuum cleaner fixing place is in the same mall as The Cactus Club ... and we haven't been there for several weeks for wonton and Kim Crawford Sauvignon Blanc!

I shall leave this blog for a while and return later - after I have created something.

Well, it turns out I did not create anything, but I brought out a piece of painted fabric/paper that I made this summer with my friend Becky.  I cut it into ATC size and ended up with about 20 cards.  I then started to put Kreinik braid and beads on two of them - until I jabbed the needle straight through the grown-over holes in my middle finger. I had forgotten how much that can hurt! I just packed all the paraphernalia up and put it away. Now my sewing room is back to where it was a few hours ago - tidy. I am beginning to think the creative switch that was turned on about 4 weeks ago has shut itself off again ... and I have not been for a walk for about four days.

I need to start taking pictures of things that I have made and putting copies in my altered book/ journal. The above is a picture one of the covers. It was made with pieces put together from a class I took with Pat Crucil (curved piecing) and with Barbara Shelly at the Thread Bear in North Van before we moved to the Island. I love it!  

I understand from a news clip that a Birmingham, England has eliminated the use of apostrophes on their road signs. I wish they had eliminated periods some years ago!