Today is Pie Making Class!

Tonight I’m switching gears from cooking jam, taking grandchildren to the park and wedding dress shopping . . . to rolling out pastry in front of a live audience.
Truth be told, all week it was never far from my mind and, whether in my mind or in reality, I did enough practicing to be relieved that the day is finally here.

I have no problem with blending lard into flour to make a chunky, crumbly texture … whirling it up with a fork to shape into a pastry and rolling it out. I love piling on the fruity mixture and topping it with crumbs or more pastry. There is something satisfying about pulling a bubbly pie out of the oven.

But when I think of being in the company of my talented MGCC friends … a mirror above me … and TV screens too . . . well . . ..I’m a tad jittery. . .

hoping the dough will roll . . . hoping my fingers will not turn into thumbs . . .hoping my thoughts will be clear . . . my words will make sense . . .

and most of all … hoping we will have a lot of fun!

Although that part is quite certain to come true!

Vintage Photo Albums

 

I've been meaning to share some ideas on what to do with those old black and white (or not so white) photos stacked in a shoe box or, worse yet, disintegrating into some sticky photo album. I've been quite pleasantly surprised how fun and easy they are to work with. Whereas today we take countless photos so that we can fill a few large pages in detail on a given subject . . . in those days, film was costly and you may be lucky to find one photo to remind you of a specific occasion. I thought this would make it difficult to scrapbook, until I figured out that it's actually quite easy if you use a small photo album, using just a couple of photos or, oftentimes, just one enlarged photo per page.



Background colors and paterns are fun to choose, since anything goes with black and white: but I do try to keep it quite plain and simple, focusing on the era and whether it's a feminine or masculine photo album I am creating.


If the majority of photos are quite clearly black and white (not yellowed) I have chosen clean looking colors to co-ordinate with the photos ...



If the photos are more sepia colored, I have chosen cream and brown colored embelishments or accessories.



This combination is a little more masculine looking. If the photos are difficult to remove from an album or if you would like to enlarge and/or crop photos, the best thing is to scan all of your photos. That way you can use your Photo Shop or Picasa to tweak colors to match, make them all sepia colored or crop and enlarge. (If I can do it... it's easy enough for anyone to do it.) If you have a group photo you can crop the main subject to add a second photo to a group photo etc.

I've done albums for several family members now, and like to begin a story with the wedding photo of the parents . . . then continue with baby photos etc.

Simple accessorizing with buttons, rickrack, ribbon or anything that depicts that era and framing photos is all that is needed. Little notes to add to a photo will allow them to have meaning for future generations as well.

If all of your paper is coordinated, you can mix it up any way ... and it will look nice.

For this photo album I used a tan background and accessorized with a small checkered paper, brown ribbon,

buttons and ant stickers ... because there were plenty of those where he grew up.

I photoshopped the color of some of the photos to blend better with the tan background.

The next time you see a 9X9 inch photo album that could work . . . check it out . . . and record your story or give someone a gift that displays their photo story.

Sunday Afternoon at the Cabin

It's been a good weekend.  My favorite being some family time at the cabin . . .

The guys prepared the fire for our dinner.

Some enjoyed their first rock in a hammock.

The smiles . . .

the joy . . .

and shared giggles were contagious.

Begging to be wrapped like a cocoon to be twirled, brought yet more laughter.

Shadows followed them as they walked hand in hand.

Cousins . . . easily entertained.

And I think we saw the beginning of a new connection.

When the burgers were ready

we gave thanks . . .

and continued with the games while eating.

Except for the adults . . . it appears they were quite serious about their burgers. (probably wondering which photo was going to be on a certain blog)



The old highchair was brought out for the youngest one

while someone else was quite happy to not have to sit in there.

Eating while slouching . . . or standing . . . is allowed when eating outside.

As promised, fresh beaver tails came out for dessert.

They passed the taste test . . . but still, for some, came in only second to buns with jam.

Like I said, it was a good day.

Oh Canada!

"O Canada! Our home and native land!

True patriot love in all thy sons command.
With glowing hearts we see thee rise,
The True North, strong and free!
From far and wide, O Canada,
We stand on guard for thee.
God keep our land glorious and free !
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee.
O Canada, we stand on guard for thee."

words by Justice Robert Stanley Weir

The miniature uniformed Royal Mounted Police characters are our great-nephews,
partaking in a parade earlier this year. Their dad, is an RCMP officer.

I want to fry up some beaver tails
and make sure there are people to share them with.
Happy Canada Day to all!

Reaching High

The rose bush, between our house and the neighbors, was starting to encroach on my washline space so I had to lop off about two feet.
It seems it was reaching high for sunshine. Is there a theme here?
Not all is lost, as I get to enjoy the blooms inside.
However, it will be a while until there are more to share.

The scent is heavenly!

Loving Clean Glass

After I gave the shower an above average scrub and the blinds got a good wipe . . .  slat by slat
. . . the window got cleaned with my trusted microfibre cloths.
Then I slipped the sheers on to the rod . . . to play with the summer breeze.

Truth be told, one tiny reason I knotted the sheers was
so that they would not hang too close to the electric heater under the window just yet.
It may still go on.

I did not notice the shower door was open
until I had photo on my blog!
What is with that?

Add to my moments of forgetfulness and disorientation,
obliviousness.