Busiest of Weekends

Wow, what a great weekend. On friday Andy and I quickly put together our bags and headed off to join Todd at Honeymoon Bay. We had a great evening full of yummy food (Malay chicken kabobs with bbq baby potatoes and mixed vegetables) and even better conversation. We had a campfire complete with roasted marshmellows.

We had a relaxing morning and went for a nice walk out to Gordon Bay campsite and got back just before the rain settled in. We then packed up and headed towards home with a quick stop in at the Saturday market to pick up some fresh corn and baby potatoes. Quickly completed some chores around the house and then headed off to pick up Bill.

We then went down to the government whalf in Mill Bay, loaded up Bill's sailboat and motored and sailed our way to Todd inlet. We found a great little place between another sailboat and a huge 50' powerboat and anchored for the evening and awaited dusk to come.

As dusk grew nearer more and more boats made their way into the inlet. And then we enjoyed the show - Butchart's fireworks from a sailboat. When the fireworks were complete we bunked down for the night - my first time sleeping overnight on a boat! In the morning we enjoyed a family of raccoons running along the beach, a sea otter on his morning swim and an assortment of water creatures and birds that inhabit our local coastlines.

We made our way back to Mill Bay and after dropping Bill off we then joined Andy's family for a late brunch. We dropped in at Blue Rose on our way home and picked up some New Zealand flax - a cute green/black variety that looks great in our new black pots and a water hybiscus that I am hoping will not be eaten by the deer. If it gets a chance to bloom I'll post a picture. We completed our weekend by starting on our rockwall in front of our bay windows - halfway completed already!

Patterns

The self portrait project for the month of august was patterns. And I could see patterns everywhere but where could I see pattern of myself.

I could see many of my habitual things I do or think of that create patterns but how to out them onto a picture I don't know. What did come to mind was my chewed on fingernails. I never can seem to leave them alone - a pattern of nervousness(?) perhaps .

I want this playing with self portraits to be a discovery of myself. To push myself into looking at things that I have been ignoring or unaware of but also to discover the beauty within. I know it is there even if the little voice tries to tell me differently. It is about ignoring the self doubt and discovering the positive, the unique and that which is within.

At first glance of this photo I see the pudge - that darn extra weight I have put back on. I could view the extra weight as a positive - that obviously I am not lacking in food and that the food I do have tastes good but that feels like acceptance and if I accept it then perhaps I will not work to lose it. I see the hairs on my belly - hairs you don't see on the models in magazines - yes, I know they airbrush them away before publishing but.....there is the hairs on my belly.
I took this photo because of my freckles. I have freckles here and there all over. As an adult I have come to love my freckles. They are unique, they are fun, they are cute and ...... they form patterns. Sometimes squares, triangles, straight lines, kites, smiley faces and the list goes on. Imagination can tell you what a grouping of my freckles might be. They are something that has been a part of me throughout my life.....a pattern...and a part of me that I love.

My little Tibo

I am so excited. This little plant was given to us last year when we moved to our new house. It survived neglect, lack of water and nibblings by deer. I brought it in the house over the winter and dutifully watered it and amazingly it actually grew over the winter.

I put it outside a couple of months ago and have tried to remember to water it. It has grown a little since being moved outside and strangely enough it decided to bloom the other day. Though this photo doesn't do it justice the flower is quite pretty - a beautiful purple.

It is a tibouchina ( sometimes referred to as princess flower or glory bush )

The Roasted Vegetable

So I am currently reading through a cookbook called The Roasted Vegetable (see list of good reads).

As Lisa had given us some carrots and a patty pan squash I decided to try roasting on the bbq. The carrots were done in olive oil and butter with salt, pepper and a couple of thyme sprigs. The squash was olive oil with garlic cloves, basil and parsley. I have to say I prefer the oil/butter combo over straight oil and will keep that in mind in future.

Not sure if Andy was to impressed with the garlic breath but I just love roasted garlic cloves so you know where they all went - tee hee.

Long weekend fun

This past weekend we were up at Honeymoon Bay again. Todd has this great little RV site up there and we get invited up on a regular basis. Christine came up and her new beau Carson and his buddy Ian came up on Saturday. We all knew Ian from school days so Carson was the only new face. Kathryn, Leif and family and Elisa, Brad and family came up for the day of Saturday. This picture is of Matt - such a little angel.

There isn't much to say about the weekend at the lake - that is why they are such great weekends - you do nothing when you are at the lake - sit in the sun or shade, have a couple of drinks, go for a swim or a boat, maybe read a book or do a craft. Pure relaxation.

It was the annual bake and craft sale this past weekend. Christine picked up a 2lb bag of baby red skinned potatoes for $1 and I picked up a glass plate full of rice crispy squares for $3. The potatoes made delish hash browns on Sunday morning and the rice crispies were quickly demolished by everyone on Saturday.

I roasted some corn on the bbq for dinner on friday night - a little disappointed by the lack of sweetness in the corn - I guess that's what happens with grocery store corn though. Have to see if I can track down some nice fresh stuff.

We came back from the lake early (Todd wasn't feeling well) so Andy and I visited the grandparents on monday morning. It was good to catch up with everyone.

Garden of Eatin'

So I wanted to post something before heading out to the lake for the weekend. I didn't make anything that exciting for dinner last night but it was more about what we have been eating that is the exciting part.

This is a picture of salad greens, onions, radishes and basil all freshly picked from my veggie garden. I made a mixed green salad - even tossed in some greens from the nasturtiums. Paired with some smoked salmon, mushroom caps (thanks for the inspiration Patricia), foccacia bread and some fresh from the garden carrots (thank you Lisa). It was a light but filling meal and gave me time to get organized for the weekend.

Look out Honeymoon Bay - here we come!