Blueberry Picking

Tom, Lewie and I managed to get a Blueberry picking trip in before Tom had to go back to Quebec. Went out to Bauline and had a really nice hike. Unfortunately there was not many blueberries so we decided to pick Partridge berries as well as blueberries. I was a little daunted by having to separate the berries. I put them into the water to wash and in the morning I noticed that they separated themselves. The Partridge berries were at the top and the blueberries were at the bottom. Made cleaning them much easier.

Lewie's Birthday

Well it never fails. The beginning of the new school year always occurs on or slightly just after Lewie's Birthday. This year he was fortunate that it was the second day of the school year and not the first day back. He had a good birthday. Unfortunately his dad is away but he got to speak to him on the phone so that made up for it. Lewie had a Football match on his birthday. Last one of the outdoor season. His football team the Rangers where playing the gold medal match. Each season the teams have a playoff and medals are given out for gold, silver and bronze. This year Lewie's team got through and played for gold. It was a very exciting match and the teams where very evenly matched. All of the kids played really hard and seemed to really enjoy themselves. The game came down to 10 minutes of extra time. After which the score was still 0-0. It was getting quite dark so some guys drove their big monster trucks onto the field and parked across the field so that their headlights would light up the penalty box and goalie but not so that it would be in the goalie's eyes. They spent quite sometime lining it up so that it was just so. They then had penalty shoot outs. After 5 players had gone they were still even 2-2. So they had sudden death penalty. Which ever team scored with one last player would win. Lewie's team scored and his team won the gold medals. I think it is a hard way to end the season and such a good game. All of the kids did so well. There is so much potential in some of these kids. All in all he had a good birthday just a little out of the ordinary.

Were all going on our Summer Holidays.

We went to St Pierre for our summer holidays this year. St Pierre is a little Island which is part of France in the middle of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland's Burin Peninsula. We drove down to Fortune and took the Ferry across to St Pierre. We went on a Catamaran
with a twin engine. It was really fast and sprayed up the water. You barely noticed the waves when we were traveling in it and it was very comfortable. When we came home we came back on an older boat that was a bit more choppy and turbulent. We got to sit outside on the top deck and see a lot of the coast which we missed on the way over because we were indoors.
I was surprised when we arrived how European the place is. I was expecting it to be a little like N. America because it is so close but it is really French. I knew people would speak French, but I guess I didn't know what to expect. The Roads and Houses are really very different. They have roundabouts and no traffic lights (which is a great thing). The houses are quite different. Some of them are really colourful and stand out. Some are like N. American wooden boxes with vinyl siding. Others are poured concrete houses. Some are so close together that you would not be able to get between them. As you can see in this picture this house is very colourful and close to the house next to it. Have a look at this house. I found them very different. This is a poured concrete house and you can also see how close together this house is to it's neighbour and still considered detached. Here is a very Eclectic house. It has "fish" drying on the window sill and plastic peppers hanging from the drapery. The whole of the pavement and side of the road is painted to "coordinate" with this house. It is very unique.
St Pierre is a reasonably small town and you can walk all around it in a day. We were unable to take our car so we were back packing. We spent most of the days out and about exploring the culture. Our B&B room was quite small and better only to sleep in. The shops are an interesting combination of N. American shops and French. For example we shopped in the Boulangerie for bread and went to the Magazin for stationary. All of the shops are specific for a certain item. You buy bread and cakes in the bakery and pens and stationary in the newsagent. The off license sells liquor. There is a general grocery store selling groceries. It is not like here in Canada where you can buy everything in one shop from groceries to paint to stationary/greeting cards to tools and household items. It felt out of place when we discovered Canadian shops such as Canadian Tire outlets, Home-hardware & Rona in France.
Tom's Blog has lots of scenery pictures of St Pierre, Miquelon and Langlade. We did manage to get some climbing in. There were some cliffs we noticed on the boat ride in. We took a day and went climbing. The walk there was tiring as it is across town, over a pool of water and up the side of a cliff. Tom and I put into practice our new knowledge of knots and anchors. We climbed all day and had a brew up. Tom got a lot of new gear from MEC on his last trip to Montreal and we christened all of the new gear. The Nuts and Cams are no longer shiny, they are a little scratched up.
Lewie has a great love of cars and really enjoys reading about cars and watching Top Gear. He was really excited by the French Cars here. They have some American cars but mostly Citroen, Peugeot and lots of mopeds.
Our French held up well. We were able to order food in the restaurants and cafe and get ice-cream and bread. The people were really friendly and if we attempted French they were very willing to speak in English to us. All in all we had a great holiday, we only went for a few days but it was great. We changed some money to Euros as their currency is Euros and we needed our passports to go there. We went through customs on arriving their and now we have a new stamp in our passports.

New Nephew

I want to welcome a new addition to my family. I am an Auntie of a gorgeous little boy William Alfred Goulding. He was born this morning at 7am UK time. Both Mum, Dad and Baby are doing really well after a long night. Baby is named after our Granddad Alfred William. He was born 8lbs 4 oz and is absolutely perfect, he has gorgeous red hair. Congratulations to my Brother and Sister in law. You both are fantastic beautiful people, I hope you enjoy your new baby. Can't wait to come home and meet him.

Woodpeckers

So I popped Home from work this morning to bring in Lewie's Paper's. I thought it was going to rain and they often just deliver them in a bundle without any protective bag or anything. I went down the driveway and was totally focused on the papers. I turned around and spotted these little guys in the hanging flower basket. I think they are babies and learning how to peck. They look a bit fluffy. They were pecking at the wood in the basket. Not sure what they found to eat but the image of them both together pecking at the basket was spectacular. Unfortunately I have not quite been able to catch that image as they moved away to the tree. One did return but the other one did not join him again. This year has been a wonderful treat for wildlife in the garden. By the Way this is Tom's Hanging Basket Design he made it using left over bits of wood and string. Quite a Cunning Idea, and yet so simple!!!!

A Lucky Break

Lewie and I had one of those days on Friday best forgotten. Started out with me slipping down the stairs. There was a puddle of water at the top of the stairs left over from a shower. Unknown to me until I slipped on it and fell 4 steps down the stairs. I was incredibly lucky that the banister was there and I grabbed it. Could have kept going to the bottom. My toe popped and it sounded like it was broken. It swelled immediately and turned black. I called in sick to work and went to the doctor. This lead to us having to go to the Hospital for an Xray. Turns out it is only badly bruised and not broken. It is quite tender and ugly looking.

Lewie ended up staying home with me and doing his paper round, instead of going to summer camp. At about 4pm I received a call from Lewie. (I let him borrow my cell phone in case of emergencies while out on the round) He had fallen off his bike in the church parking lot and couldn't get up. I hobbled to the car and went down the road to find Lewie sitting on the grass with blood all over his knee and hands. I cleaned him up best I could on the side of the road. We managed between us to finish the round and get the bike and trailer back home. Once home I was able to assess his injuries a little better. He had a deep cut on one knee and road rash on the other. Road rash on his chest, and palms of his hands. The cut on his knee didn't look like it needed stitches so I patched him up using a butterfly bandage. Later on in the evening Lewie still seemed to be in pain and favouring his wrist. I checked it out but couldn't really tell if it was just badly bruised and swollen or broken. So we had a quick trip to the Janeway to have it checked out. (The Janeway is the Children's Hospital) Lewie had an Xray and his wrist is also only badly bruised but not broken.
So all in all a very lucky but eventful start to Tom's Birthday weekend.

Time Flies

Well Tom has been home now for 4 weeks now and is due to leave again on Tuesday to go back up to Northern Quebec, Raglean. We have had a lot of dilemmas since he has been home and time has really flown on by. Firstly we were thinking of buying a new car. Which we still are looking around for but are finding that the car we want is very desirable by others and hard to come by. Secondly Lewie wanted to get a paper route, this has cause some discussion around is he really old enough. We decided that yes this responsibility will be good for him. Lastly we have been looking for a new house. Not that there is anything wrong with our current house. It is just that we are steadily outgrowing it and space is getting limited. Of course everything always happens toward the end of Tom's time home leaving it all very rushed and chaotic. Still it hasn't stopped us taking some time and sitting back and smelling the Lilacs. I know the saying involves Roses but mine are really not that spectacular. Not like the Lilacs. They have been really amazing this year attracting all kinds of wildlife to them. They smell absolutely fantastic. If only we had smell-o-vision. Anyways we will make the right decisions and we will try not to be rushed by time as it flies by.

The New Paper Carrier

Lewie has entered the Workforce. I know he seems way too young!!! He has a job delivering the paper in our local neighbourhood. He has a route with 20 papers during the week and 35 on the weekend with 22 on Sunday. He seems to be getting on really well with it. He has had a few teething troubles but all in all is quite enthusiastic about his new responsibilities. He learned the hard way that carrying a paper bag over your shoulder while trying to ride a bike with heavy weekend papers in the rain is a challenging thing to do. His dad (thankfully was still home) came to the rescue and made this trailer for his bike. He is now able to deliver his papers a little faster. Not sure what he'll do when the snow comes.

Warm Days

We have had some very warm days the last 3 days. We had record breaking temperatures yesterday, it was 25.9 degrees C. The Humidity has been really intense, we really need a good thunder storm or some rain to break the humidity. I was out in the garden this evening after the sun had gone down fending off the flies. It had cooled off a bit and was a lovely evening. I spotted these little guys in bloom on the bank by the truck. They look beautiful along side the truck with the yellow Alyssum and White Candy Tuft all in bloom together a mass of colour, such simple beauty. My love and thoughts go out to my Step family this week, they lost their Wife, Mother and Grandmother to Lung Cancer.

Iceberg Hunting

Here are my attempts at capturing the beauty which is an Iceberg. There are lots around at the moment. On Sunday I spotted one in Pouch Cove, but did not have my camera. They come in all shapes and sizes. They are a long way off so it is hard to capture the uniqueness and beauty the human eye can see.

The Price of Progress

I had a day off today after working 7 days straight and I heard on the radio this morning that there were Icebergs in Freshwater bay. This is off the East coast of Newfoundland. I decided I was going to go Iceberg hunting. I drove to Signal Hill after dropping Lewie off to school. Armed only with my little camera. There are 3 visible Icebergs from the top of the hill. The biggest one is close to Blackhead and I am sure you get a much better view from there. In my pursuit of Icebergs I drove along Marine drive and stopped by MUN marine lab. There is one visible from there too. I thought I spotted another one that looked to be by motion point. So I drove to our favourite location Motion Point. For me this place has it's own beautiful spirit. A place where you are one with nature. A place that makes you respect the powerful and unstoppable force of the Ocean and Mother Nature. I pulled up to our usual parking spot to find that there is now a road there. I drove along the dirt road and there are building lots for 15 houses marked along the side of the road. My heart sank, I hardly recognised the place. I went for a short walk and found that the green space by the cliffs and down to the waterfall is still open but for how long I do not no, there are survey posts along here too. A beautiful space to have a home but at what cost.

S'more

A S'more is a traditional campfire treat popular in the US and Canada. To make it you roast a marshmallow on a long stick over the fire according to personal preference. Some people like it to be brown, charred or even on fire. You then put the marshmallow on a Graham Cracker or digestive type biscuit. You place a piece of chocolate again your preference what type of chocolate on top of the marshmallow. The chocolate starts to melt a little. You then sandwich it together with a Graham Cracker on top.

Now there are some variations in making this tasty treat. Some people like to use chocolate Graham Crackers. Some people put the piece of chocolate inside the marshmallow so that it melts a little in the fire. Some people put the chocolate on the Graham Cracker close to the fire so that it melts before the marshmallow is added. Some people assemble the whole thing together and then cook it over the fire. Lastly some people use Nutella chocolate spread on the cracker instead of a piece of chocolate.

No matter how you make it, this is one of those tasty treats enjoyed by many and is better when enjoyed in the company of good friends and/or family.

May 24th Cont.....

We ended up having a BBQ on my newly acquired BBQ. It worked really well. We ate outside on the ground picnic style. There were a few bitey flies around but not too bad. It was really warm and slightly cloudy. I caught the sun a little which I didn't expect. After the BBQ our Neighbours lit a fire in their pit. It was a really clear night, still warm from the day and the flies were all gone. It was an excellent evening. I think it was better then being at a campsite because we had more space in the backyard, no obnoxious Irish music until 3am (only Lewie's choice of Music) and the kids could run around and make as much noise as they wanted playing spotlight and tag as everyone in the neighbourhood were either at our fire pit or down the road a little at Burt's or gone out of town. All in all a good night. S'mores, Toasted Marshmallows, various slushy drinks and a bottle of wine later the best part was that I got to sleep in my new bed and not walk miles to an outhouse.

May 24 weekend

The May 24th weekend is a big deal here in Newfoundland. It has gone from a celebration of Queen Victoria's birthday to the weekend when a 2four( Pronounced too fer) is drank and people get plastered in a tent. A 2four for people who do not know is a create of 24 beers. People head out into the "country" have a fire and camp out and get plastered. I say country in "" because people often are camping in the city campsites and their backyards. Some people head out to campsites just outside of the city limits and others stay in gravel pits along the side of the road. "Gravel Pit" camping is famous here in Newfoundland. Gravel pits along the side of the roads are often full with RV and campees. When we first moved here we did a bit of gravel pit camping as we couldn't afford the prices of the campsites. We however were not in RV or camper vans. We had a tent. It was not all it is cracked up to be. Not only are you sleeping on gravel by the side of the road, which in itself can be quite ominous. There are no bathroom facilities. The campsites are marginally better as they have "facilities" which are outhouses. This can be particularly disgusting depending on the time of the year that you go. In the heat of the summer with the number of flies we get here it can be quite horrid.
Anyways back to my topic. Newfoundland is one of those places in the world that has unpredictable often strange weather. A common saying here is if you don't like the weather wait 5 minutes and look out a different window. It is because we are an Island in the Atlantic Ocean on the cold side of the golf stream and Labrador current. Often on the May 24th weekend we have snow & rain. This doesn't stop people from going out into the "country". The May 24th weekend is considered the beginning of the summer parties and celebrations. So the Question is what are we going to do with this long weekend......
Lewie has a friend coming over for a sleep over tonight. We may have a BBQ if the rain holds off. Mostly I am going to enjoy having an extra day off work after a particularly long and stressful week.

New Skills

Tom is home for a couple of weeks. He was delayed leaving Raglan and ended up coming by Halifax from Montreal. We were happy to see him and Lewie was eager to demonstrate his new skills learned while he was away. Lewie is in the junior climbing program in our local climbing gym and during this round of lessons he learned how to belay. He was so proud of himself when he first learned. I am very excited but initially was quite dubious as he is only small. The instructor reassured me that he is now old enough and responsible enough to belay for other people and that they have taught him how to and he passed the test and now has his very own belay License. We have been climbing a lot more since he did this as it now means he can belay for me when Tom is away. Lewie is very proud of himself and enjoyed offering to belay for his Dad.

There it was Gone.

The Ice is Gone, Spring is finally here. Well Maybe!!! For today anyway.
The Croci are blooming and it is finally warm and sunny. 15 oC warm. My seedlings are growing in the greenhouse in the porch. It just feels like spring today. There are a lot of things changing in my life. I have a new job working as a Public Health Nurse. I look after new Mum's and Babe's. Seeing new families, new life makes you feel great. I am also A School Nurse so I get to go in and be the proverbial Nit Nurse, along with other things! My Brother-in-Law and Sister-in-Law are moving back home to the UK at the end of the week to start the next phase of their life. I will Miss them terribly. Although I do not see them as often as I could. (Life gets Busy sometimes!) It is nice to know that there is some family, some piece of home nearby. All these changes make me thing of Spring. Springtime is after all a time of growth, renewal, new life (both plant and animal) being born, and of the cycle of life once again starting. It is widely accepted as the start of better times. And that is what I wish for My Brother-in-Law and My Sister-in-Law.

The Ice is In

It has been very foggy and cold the last few days. We have had little sun. This morning we had a freezing rain warning and the car and trees were completely covered with frozen rain drops. This is a spectacular sight to be seen but nothing compares to the sight at the beach this evening. Before Tom left to go to Raglan we went to Middle Cove beach. There was a little bit of ice floating in the sea. It was large chunks of really magnificent blue ice. On the way home from taking Lewie to karate this evening I noticed how white the sea was in Torbay. We took a little side trip on the way home to Torbay Beach. The Ice in the Sea is really amazing to see. It is white all the way out to the horizon. The air is really chilly as it is coming off the sea. The Ice has the blue tint to it and is completely packed into the bay. I am no great photographer so these pictures do not do justice to the image but hopefully you can see all the Ice. A truly spectacular sight, especially as the Sun came out after being absent all week.

Puri

Ingredients:
2 cups of Wheat Flour.
1/2 cup of Cream of Wheat.
1/2 Tsp of Salt.
3/4 -1 cup of Warm Water.
2 Tbsp of Oil.
Oil for Deep Frying.

How to:
Mix Flour with Cream of Wheat, Salt and 2 Tbsp of Oil and rub into crumbs.
Make dough by adding warm water gradually until it is smooth but not sticky.
Knead well for a couple of minutes.
Leave dough in a bowl and cover with a damp cloth. Leave for ~15 minutes.
Divide the dough into 12 portions. Shape them into balls.
We usually squash the balls with a hot panni grill, but you can roll the balls flat on a lightly oiled or floured surface.
Heat the Oil and Deep fry when oil very hot.
Press down on the puri while in the oil and they will expand and puff up.
Turn over when lightly browned.
Remove from oil when golden brown and place on paper to absorb the excess oil.

Alternatively if you make too many puri's you can freeze them when they are flat between pieces of greased proof paper. Remove and Deep fry as before.

Final Project

This is the Final Project Completed. Lewie had the Heritage Fair on Friday at his School. They were open for the general public to come in and look at all of the projects from all of the kids from grade 4-6. They had a team of assessors who went to every kid and asked them some questions. They were assessed on their knowledge of the subject, public speaking and presentation. Lewie was a little disappointed that he didn't win this year. I think he did a Fantastic Job. It was a lot of work and he was really interested in the topic. He won last year when he did this Heritage Fair in grade 4. In total I think it has been a really great experience for him. All the kids put in so much effort and the projects were amazing. I think not winning has it's own lessons.

Wasted Week

Well I have been poorly the last week. I had Tonsillitis which by itself has been painful and difficult to swallow. But I had a really high temperature, chills and headaches to go with them, thankfully I am well on the road to recovery now. At the beginning of the week it felt like we slipped back into Winter. We had a fair amt of snow on Tuesday and I had to call out the Cavalry to come take Lewie to school. I am really grateful having such supports around when I need them, others are not so lucky. I have had one of those weeks where everything I usually do in a day off has taken all week, because I have had low energy. So imagine my surprise on Friday when I checked on the seeds I sowed. Quick side note. I planted a few seeds a couple of weeks back to try and give them a head start. They are the ones that always are so small and seem to take a long time to grow. Lobelia, Candy Tuft, Stocks, some dried flowers. The package always makes me chuckle as it says sow in early March when ground is warm. There is no way these seeds are talking about where we live. We still have snow, lots of it and the ground is frozen. The seeds are growing. I think they are doing better because I have ignored them rather then pay attention to them. Not sure exactly what that says about my gardening skills!!!

Early Signs of Spring

Well as everyone know we put our clocks forward 3 weeks earlier then normal. I am not sure if it has made much of a difference and saved us any money. The First day of spring was a few days ago. I don't know what it is like where you are but it really doesn't feel like Spring here. It has been cold and we've had several snow showers. Not at all my idea of Spring growing up in Southern England. So... I went outside into our garden and put up a new bird feeder. I know you are asking yourselves what is the connection. Well I thought to myself if it is now spring and the birds are returning from down South they should have something to return home for! There are a few juncos feeding at it most days now. Hopefully they will stick around and use the nesting box we have in the tree. The return of the birds makes me think that spring is really just around the corner. While out in the garden putting up this new feeder I discovered poking out of the ground(Well der well else would they be poking out of) some Crocuses and Tulip that we planted last Autumn. It amazes me that they can survive the Winter. It helps me think that shopping for and sowing seeds when there is so much snow around is not nuts after all and that warmer days are truly just around the corner.

Project Torture

It has been a while since I was last blogging. It got kind of busy there the last few weeks. Tom went away to Northern Quebec for work, so I am a single Parent for a bit. I really admire how single Mum's do it all the time. Lewie had his 2nd report card and various school projects. The School projects have been all consuming the last few weeks. Side note. He did really well in his report card A's in all subjects. Only negative ish comment was that he needs to become more organised in his work and desk. OK back on topic. Lewie has to do a Heritage project about something historical to do with Newfoundland and the theme this year was "Where they Once stood" . He decided to do a Project on Fort Townsend. Fortunately his Uncle Had A LOT of info on it. But....... As you know there is always a BUT. We were not sure how much of the info we were "officially" allowed to use. So we went to the CNS at MUN and got a lot of the same info from there. Lewie decided he wanted to do a model of the fort, a poster, and a topographic map of the area where the fort once was. Sounds good easy really. We started the project early but.... Like I said before there is always a BUT. Tom (the Creative, Handy one) went away and most of the project was left for Lewie to do with some help. An awful lot of work later the project is nearly finished. It is due on Wednesday so a few finishing touches and it should be ready. Thank Goodness, I really don't remember doing anything so elaborate when I was in Grade 5..........

Another Snow Day

Where's the Driveway? We woke up this morning to find that there was a lot of snow in the Driveway this morning. I say a lot. It is more like 8ft of snow at the end of the Driveway. Here is a picture of Tom tunnelling his way to the end of the Driveway. You can see how high the snow is on Tom who is 6ft.


Where's the Car? You can see the wind mirrors of the car poking out of the snow. A Hyundai Elantra.


Here is Lewie for scale. You can see the snow in the background is up to his head. It was a lot of snow in one storm. 40 cm accumulation in total. But the winds were high at 90 km/hr so the snow really drifted in places. All business, schools and offices were closed this morning. The Main highway was closed in sections because of drifting snow. It brightened up in the afternoon and turned into a nice day off from work.



A Good Job finally completed. It took us both, well I say both, Tom mostly with a little bit of help from Lewis and I all day to shovel out. We took it slowly and took some breaks but it took a good 4 /5 hours. You can only just see the tracks on the road from the cars, mostly snow mobiles.



Well Tom was supposed to be heading off today to Corner Brook. He is supposed to be doing a quick job out there. He couldn't go obviously but is hopeful to head out tomorrow.
I am just Hopeful that we don't get any more snow like this lot!!!

North Pond Loader's 5 mins of Fame.

We have all had a busy couple of weeks. I started some training for Public Health which means I have been working full time hours this last week. It is really great but also means that other things get left on the back burners for a while. The training is really interesting and involves a lot of new information for me. I will be working with a completely different population from which I am used too. Exciting stuff! I found out that I am gonna be an Auntie which is fabulous news. The Best News really. We are planning a trip home for Christmas to see the new arrival to the family. At the end of this week we were asked by a friend to be interviewed by the local TV channel to promote there gym and talk about Physical Fitness. Initially I thought we weren't the best choice really because come on I am not exactly the ideal image of physical fitness but we agreed. There theme was families who are physically active together. I guess we fit that image. We were interviewed on Thursday at the gym and she took a lot of footage of us climbing together. It was very nerve racking being interviewed as we were not sure what to say but I think we came off OK. Hope so it is due to air on Living Nfld on CBC next Tuesday. Here is the link http://www.cbc.ca/livingnl/

Snow Day

The One day all Kids and some Adults alike in Northern climate in the Winter look forward too. This morning was a Snow day. The weather had not been too bad overnight with only 6cm of snow having fallen, but deteriorated rapidly. We had a blizzard with blowing snow and near white out conditions. The wind was high so the snow drifted everywhere. Lewis laid in bed this morning with baited breath listening to the radio, for the announcements of school closures. A delighted Whoaaa Hoooo rang out from his bedroom when they announced that all schools in the Metro region were closed. The List went on and on as Business, Doctor's Surgeries, Government Buildings and University all announced that they were not opening this morning. The sound of snow mobiles and snow blowers rings out throughout the neighbourhood as people get to have an unanticipated day off. Lewis looks forward to getting outside and building a snow fort, snowman and having snowball fights with his friends. Something that he can do in this place where we live. I think mostly he looks forward to coming back indoors and having a mug of hot chocolate, as is his tradition. I stop for a moment and am grateful to all those people that despite the weather still have to go to work......

Patchwork Quilt

Update from Last Blog.
I had managed to go through all my clothes and decided that some were pretty old and falling apart in desperate need of throwing away. They were certainly taking up too much space in my room. I had them bagged up and the bag sat in my dining room all week. Wednesday night I asked my Husband to put out the Rubbish for me as the Rubbish Collectors come on Thursday. It was too cold outside (-16c) and I really didn't want to go outside. He unfortunately spotted the fat heavy green bag, that had been sitting in the dining room all week and asked how come there was so much rubbish. I told him how I was throwing away some clothes!. He looked at me with those sad eyes and asked if he could go through the bag to see if there was any clothes that could be made into rags. I should have known what would follow!!!!
We now have the makings of a patchwork quilt on the floor in our living room.
Stay tuned for the results.

Waiting to Work.

It is funny really. I spent most of the week waiting for my work to call me. I finally got a call to work on Friday and the weekend. Which wasn't the best way to work but what can you do. I spent the whole of last week organising and sorting out stuff and have come to the conclusion that I am a Pack Rat. My Husband cannot criticise me because he is just as bad as I am. We tend to keep a whole pile of stuff that May come in handy one day, only Our house is not big enough for all the accumulation of stuff. We are literally outgrowing our house. It made me think is this interesting phenomena an inherited thing??. You see my Mum is just as bad, if not slightly worse then I am. She keeps a whole manner of stuff, it just looks like more as she has had more years to accumulate stuff. She, unlike me, is married to a man who likes to have his house organised. He unfortunately doesn't get to have it this way very often!. I felt I was doing really well sorting out stuff, organising them into boxes, Chucking stuff out. Only now I have boxes of stuff that I know we will not need but we cannot throw out "Just in case". I have to try and store these boxes somewhere. It makes me think where does this need to keep so much stuff come from. I mean we don't really need 5 years worth of electric, phone and visa bills, but why do we keep them. What is the rationale behind it. Why is it so hard to simply throw stuff away, or give it to those people in need of it????

Contradictions..............

Today I was struck my the contradictions there are all around us. I was recently given some very beautiful Tulips. They are beginning to open up and show us the simple beauty which lies beneath. I am sure they will be photographed by other more talented photographers then I. Outside it has been snowing. We had a fair amount ~10 cm of the very sticky, ideal for snow ball fights, kind of snow. The weather is sunny and the temperature is rising so the snow will melt. It makes you think how temporary everything is. Something we often forget in the midst of our busy work day and the depths of a long winter. Everything we take for granted all around us is only temporary and can change in an instant...........

Kofta Curry

Ok, Well My Husband and I really like cooking Indian Food. We have no formal training or anything but follow different recipes. We have got to the stage in our cooking where we can adjust the recipes and they still come out tasting really good. I have decided to post a recipe we have for Kofta Curry. It is really delicious. My Husband made this recipe while in the wilderness using a lot less ingredients and says it tasted really good!!! My Picture is not as good as the recipe. I am not gifted with the art of photography like the rest of My family.

Ingredients for Kofta: (Balls)
31/2 cups of Shredded Cabbage
1/2 cup of Carrot
250ml (3/4 cup) Chickpea Flour (Besan)
1 tsp Ginger
11/2 tsp Coriander Powder
1 tsp Garlic Pepper Seasoning
1/4 tsp Tumeric
1/4 tsp Chilli Cayenne (Powder)
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
Salt to Taste
For Frying 21/2 cups of Oil.

Ingredients for Curry Sauce:
1 cup Chopped Onions
1 clove Garlic
2 tbsp Oil (Any kind)
1 tsp Coriander Powder
1/4 tsp Tumeric
1/4 tsp Garam Masala
Cayenne Pepper to Taste
Salt to Taste (~2 tsp)
2 tsp Tomato Paste
11/2 cup Water
1/2 cup Cream (optional)

How to Make:
Kofa Balls: Mix all the Ingredients for the Kofta Balls together and form round balls. You don't need any water. When they are formed deep fry them in oil over a medium heat until they are brown. Remove from oil and set aside.
Curry Sauce: Fry Onions and Garlic in oil until brown. Add Coriander, Tumeric, Garam Masala. Fry for a bit making sure not to burn the spices. Add tomato Paste, Cayenne and Salt. Add the Water and bring to a boil. If you like add the Cream, it gives the sauce a richer taste and changes the colour slightly.
Now: Add the Curry Sauce to the Kofta Balls and allow to soak for a few minutes before eating.

But What if..........

Ok, Thing is as a Nurse people look to you to have all the answers to all the questions, when in fact there are some subjects we know as little about as the general public. Yes we have studied it all in school and learned all the theories of how things should work but reality often strikes and these ideals are far from what is real. One of the hardest things I struggle with is biting my tongue. Now if you know me at all you would say that is not true. This is a very confident women who is very outspoken, tactless and says exactly what is on her mind. Thing is this is not always true. Especially where family is concerned. Why is it the people we love the most are often the hardest to tell exactly what you think too. I mean intuitively you would think these people are the easiest to talk to as they love you and will continue doing so. But What if.......... These self doubts are where the reality and ideals collide. Recently I held my tongue when I really should have stood up and said something. I rationalise to myself saying it preserves family harmony and unity. But my Question is what does it cost us in our families and relationships to constantly hold our tongue and not say what is on our minds.??? How does it impact our future generations of relationships. Granted not all relationship need to be completely open and do not thrive on such honesty. Can the conclusion: As long as you know what kind of relationship you are in, there is no harm in holding your tongue ring true?

Downtown St John's

Ok, So Today was a Miserable, Wet Grey Day in St John's. We have a lot of these but not so many in January. It was 6 Degrees C. It seems unusual for this time of year as we have no snow. I guess global warming is a global thing not just in some areas. My Brother went skiing after Christmas, I hope he had some snow because a lot of the resorts over on his side of the pond in Europe were struggling to get enough snow. We, the Inlaws, Tom, Lewie and Me went to the Rooms. The Rooms is a giant building with an Art Gallery, Museum and Archieves here in St John's. It was really sweet because they had an exhibit of the House of Wooden Santas. This is a kids Christmas book written by Kevin Major. It is a really nice story enjoyed by kids of all ages. I especially like Thinking Santa. Anyways I am distracted, Yes the Rooms. It was hot and stuffy in there and we needed no excuse to go outside onto the balconys. The view is spectacular. St John's is a truely beautiful city, even on a grey day. I took this picture of the houses downtown looking West. I particularly like the colours of the houses. It looks as though St John's is a really heavy populated city. Which it is isn't compared to most capital cities. I also like the triangle effect of the houses.

First Blog

After Hours of agonising over what to call this blog. I have finally entered the blogging world. Believe me it took several goes at deciding what to call it!. I even went online to see what popular names were out there and all that. Harder then naming my first born child. ( Well sort of) I am not sure exactly what I will post from here on in, but thought I would try my hand at blogging. I will either really hate it and only blog a few things or get totally addicted and be at it all the time. Time shall tell!!!! Anyways here goes my first Post.