All the pretty pastries

Day one of our two-day cake and pastry class.

Another day, another church

Like someone threw a sunshine switch, all the grey went away, leaving me weirdly elated. When I was little, on a sunny Sunday like this, my mom and dad and I would head down to the Stanley Park seawall for a stroll. Today though we went forging for kitchen appliances and came home with a brand new potato ricer -here's to ricey potatoes.

Tile crossing

Do these tiles look familiar? They cover Our Lady of Sorrows Church - and while I've been in that church for one reason or another over the years, I only recently noticed the tile pattern. I think it's actually quite beautiful.

Bobby Flay Friday

Dreary day. I fought off the winter blues with a run through the rain forest with my faithful hound, a spot of work and then a lunch with old friends. And of course finished off the day watching Throw Down with Bobby Flay. I love that show and secretly wish I could be one of his assistants.

Notice the absence of a picture today - I meant to take a picture of my lunch (portabello mushroom foccacia with goat cheese and caramelized onions) at The Red Wagon, but I forgot. Then I meant to take a picture of my supper at Stix (chicken skewers on noodles with salad) but I forgot.

So instead of a picture I've started a second blog called Chair Orphans.

I'm on the road to nowhere

or at least that's how it feels. I wonder if my inability to move forward with my project is some kind of self-sabotage or if somewhere in the back of my mind I know I still have time.

Blue skies

I'm not the only one, I think, who appreciates a blue sky.

There was all kinds of commotion in the bird community - and there are reports of hummingbirds in the hood - must get a feeder.

A little run

Tried a new run today. Echo accompanied me through Trout lake and up under the skytrain route to Rupert - and back down the hill. I am a very good down hill runner - and so is Echo.

Say you're saury

Fish seems to be the theme these days. I don't know what a Pacific Saury is, but this little group looks bright and shiny - I can almost see them swimming together in the ocean.

Everybody loves fish

The roast beef dinner on Sunday: to children of my generation it was a specially fancy meal that took place because Sundays were - special. Now that I'm the chef of the house I know why all those moms cooked up a big roast on Sundays - to generate easy to cook left-overs for the rest of the week.

I've adopted this habit - though not too often is it roast beef. Last night I tried a new recipe for fish cakes with a Meyer lemon relish. Even though I left out an important step, the result was tasty - and voila! leftovers.

Late entry: I sent these pics to a few friends and asked them to come up with a caption. My favourite was "Having used all his catnip, Skippy turned to the pipe." Ya gotta have friends.

Saturday is the best day of the week

...it really is: quality time with the Globe and Mail; a walk to the pool; a good swim; a walk back and so on.

The day ended with a lovely meal with friends - in a warm house filled with art - a brisk walk home.

A very good day.

I'm thinking of starting another blog called Lonely Chair's Club - this would be my first entry.

On 12th Ave

This is what happens when I don't take my picture early in the day. It's almost sunset, and I take my camera down to New Brighton and in the poor light I get a completely dark photo of a tanker ship. I've played around with it a bit - just to add some colour.

Meanwhile, what I should have done is stopped somewhere along 12th Ave, which today offered a variety of visual attractions such as a cluster of brightly painted whirly gigs twirling on someone's front lawn or City Hall all scaffolded and wrapped up like a present.

Lesson learned, I hope.

Galettes save the day

Well, the day started off badly - and bloody. Number two boy suffers from an occasional bleeding nose and it flowed freely this morning. All that can be done is a long firm pinch with the knowledge that no nose clots before its time.

This morning's derailment caused the rest of the day's plans to spill off the tracks; things were looking grim. But I zipped on my shiny rain boots and headed out to do my errands, one of which was a stop in the East Village bakery. And while I was planning to purchase only one baguette, I couldn't resist the squash gallettes. Such humble loveliness....

Feelings, nothing more than feelings

I operate on the belief that I'm not special - that the feelings I have are similar to the feelings of others. So sometimes I wonder if other people feel a similar kind of e-dispair. It comes from reading emails - sometimes they're boring, sometimes they mean more work, and sometimes - though unintended, I'm sure - they can make you feel as low as a fly. Sigh.

Phoenix rising

Sedum

Sarcococca

My garden looks neglected. Artichoke leaves, once tall and smokey green have wilted into a slimy mess. Perennial stalks and flowers are brown and dry. There's a general dirth of colour.

Despite this barrenness, surprisingly, things are growing and flowering. There's a sweet smell that seems to be coming from the sarcococca, now blooming with white feathery blooms, and bright green sedum florets are clustering low on the ground, waiting for warmer weather.

Everything grows.

Cynthia, Helen, Diana

I wonder how many other people have notice these names posted on chain link.

This green graffiti demonstrates the lure of guerrilla art - who put it there? whose names are they? Why do they feel the need to do this?

My imagination goes wild. They must be made at leisure and then quickly hung on just the right fence. Are they some one's sisters? Some one's loves?

Someone knows.

Witch hazel stubbornness

A few years ago, a friend decided it was time she started gardening. So, being an industrious soul, she went out and purchased a whole raft of plants to place in her new garden. When I gave her a few plants from my garden, she asked me if she should put a tag on them so people would be able to identify them.

My snarky plant-snob reply was, "I don't put name tags on my children, and I don't put name tags on my plants." Shame on me. But it's true, and while there are times when I really wish I knew what that lovely plant is in someone's garden, I accept that I'll have to find out for myself.

I do have a naughty child in my garden. It's a witch hazel that is supposed to be fragrant. This little shrub not only refuses to flower much, but it also fails to turn on the scent, which can be beautiful, and at this time of year, welcome.

Sigh, maybe it's just a phase?

Water and fire

It was a tough decision: salsa or swimming?Swimming or salsa? In the end I've decided since I can salsa at other times in the week, Saturdays will go to swimming.


It was great to be in the water again, though at times I felt as though I was dragging a heavy coat through the water. I wonder why?


And here it is almost midnight and I don't have a suitable photo of the day. So I thought I'd take a snap of the fireplace I sat in front of for a while today - at one point, as a jazzy number played on the radio the flames seemed to be leaping in time with the music. Surely just an illusion.


So I thought I'd take a picture of this fire (in the spirit of televised yule logs and all), but I see that perhaps I need a little more know-how to get a good one:

Happy spice

A collection of twigs, bark, and seeds wrapped up in a gauzy strip of cloth, boiled in water with two dollops of honey and finished off with added milk - served hot. While I'm part of the coffee camp, chai tea has its definite attraction.

The added bonus of making your own is the musky sweet smell of crushed cardamom that continues to waft off your fingertips for hours.

Bicycle accessories

On Main Street even the street signs are artier.

Slaughterhouse 5

Tonight the whole family; two boys, me, a husband, and a grandma; celebrated a birthday at L'Abbatoir in Gastown, and I have to admit the name has me a little uncomfortable. But animal husbandry has been with us for generations, so if I'm going to eat meat, I'll have to acknowledge that it came from a live animal. I just have to be thankful and hope it lived a good life.

Snow hits the city

Jack Frost on the window


A big beamy boat

On this chilly day, I whipped up a second batch of chicken soup and a bunch of chocolate chip cookies. I love how my kitchen can hum with productivity.

Trying to wrap my head around a new project - just a little overwhelming. But I'll keep chipping away at it.

Here it is; the end of the day, and not a whole lot to show for it, but I've decided to tally the things that I have accomplished rather than the things I haven't.

Random acts

Out for a run this gorgeous morning. I forgot my camera, and of course, there were a million things to take pictures of - a dilapidated and dusty Volkswagen, squirrels, flickers, public art.

But I did double back to take a picture of this tiny display. What's this all about? Are they tiny offerings to the god of small things? Miniature canoes bearing berries? That's the beauty of such easy-to-overlook installations - they're all a matter of interpretation.

Let's just pretend I didn't forget to post yesterday.

Blustery Day

Today the wind played havoc with the clouds, confusing them, scattering them here and there. Beautiful.

The heartbreak of insomnia

I'm bleary today - fuzzy thinking, no energy - even a little self pity. I'm starting a big project and I should know things always look insurmountable at the beginning.

But there's been some good news. I won two movie tickets, and was asked to write a few things. So that's not so bad.

Must go to bed now - Happy Three Kings Day.

Rain, rain

Rain, rain go away
Come on back another day


I think everyone who grew up in an English-speaking country learned this rhyme early on. So maybe it's cliche, but as someone who lives in a rain forest - those two little lines come to mind fairly often.

Is it me, or do they also express that melancholy that some of us feel on grey dreary days?

Thank goodness for shiny rain boots.

On ice

Much the way people cover their heads when they're expecting something to rain down on them, Vancouver is bracing for snow. That's no surprise. Yesterday there was ice covering several shallow bays in Stanley Park - and that was sea water. Lost Lagoon looked like it was covered in ice and today, on my run through the Hastings Park Sanctuary, the little lagoon there was also glazed and frozen.

Lord Stanley

Spent a little time in Stanley Park, with it's old green trees, now somewhat sparser than in years gone by. Today tourists were out in full force, toting cameras and all wrapped up in fleece and Gortex. For me, the park speaks of Vancouver's history - of the people who lived in the forest and used the trees for shelter, clothing, fuel, and worship.

In a way I worship Stanley Park. It's attached to so many memories: my family strolling along the seawall on Sunday afternoons, swimming lessons at Lumberman's Arch, field trips to the Aquarium, of lazy days at Second Beach, cruising the the windy roads just for something to do. Stanley Park been good to me.

Green...no, blue

It's no wonder blue is the colour so many people call their favourite. Is it because blue skies signal clear bright days or are we programed, somewhere deep in our genetic code, to prefer blue?


As for me I'm torn between a preference for green and blue, much like the indecisive Sir Galahad of Camelot:

This is the first day of the rest of my life - and of 2011. Since writing work has been scarce of late, I've decided to keep a daily log. Small things of interest - the everyday, every day.

And since New Year's day is all about beginnings - I thought I'd post a picture of how I start my day, ever day - with a steaming cup of coffee.

Far from everyday was the beautiful ray of light marked out on my floor this morning, fractured into all colours of the rainbow - Red, Orange, Yellow, Green, Blue, Indigo, and Violet, (if I remember my Grade 8 science) The sun had hit a pane of glass at just the right angle, sending it's colorful beam straight through the house.

So it's been a beautiful, shiny day, with lazy beginnings, a batch of madeleines, a walk by the ocean, and a pink sunset.