My photo a day page.

On the forum there was talk about how we'll scrap our photo a day photos and I am going to do something similar to the page below I did for May last year.............

I think I'll rotate the sketch or change it a little somehow but I'll pick my favourite photo and enlarge it.This has to be my favourite double page I've done,not that I've done many !!

October Sketch #3

Here's this weeks sketch over at Scrapbook Centrale,no time to do this one myself though.

I'm here but........

....I'm busy,still working on the kitchen and with Mum here my computer time is a lot less than normal.

I'm missing scrapping like crazy,a combination of not enough time and the fact all my stuff is in boxes still,although the washer and dryer went back in this weekend and my desk.My old kitchen shelves went up in my space but I dare not put everything else back as I'm scared it will all get covered in dust while work still goes on.
I'll check in when I can but I did have time to update my photo's here......

A page and I'm still busy.........

My Mum arrived on Tuesday evening so I've been busy with her in between working on the kitchen.The floor is down and grouted(ouch my back and knees !) and today the top coat on the windows went on.I've been without the sink and my washer and dryer for a week but Saturday they should go back in until the 22nd which is the big day and I can not wait.

Above is my page based on this weeks sketch,my best mates cute little bundle of joy,just had to scrap that photo.

I've had 3 requests for pages over the last 2 weeks which has been rather nice and will top up my scrap fund for all those purchases I really don't need :)

I've still been taking my daily photo and just updated here.

12 years ago today.....

........10 days late this boy came in my life and I remember holding that little 5lbs 14oz baby and hoping like hell that nobody would leave me alone with him because I had no idea what to do with this tiny baby!! 12 years on we're doing fine,he's a wonderful,friendly,confident,polite,happy boy who could talk your ear off ! and who was over the moon at getting books for his birthday( and a fair amount of cold hard cash !).

I think he's 8 months old here and I had these on the computer as I plan on using them on a page.Time flies....



Added photo's here from the weekend.

October #2 Sketch

Here's my sketch this week over at Scrapbook Centrale,I did a page for this at my cottage weekend so I'll post it later this week.

October DT

Here are my DT projects this month for Scrapbook Centrale using the really fun Moda Bella line from American Crafts . When I first saw this kit I was a little scared and wondered what the heck I was going to do with it but I actually really enjoyed making these pages.

He didn't care his popsicle was pink he was just too happy to have passed white level swimming !!

I have journaling about being married 10 years(later this month)but no way it was going to fit on here so I'll do another page.

I did an extra page this month,I had the scallop circles ready for a card and then had an idea,it wasn't exactly how this one turned out but you can't win them all !

Lastly 2 cards using the thicker accents as i hadn't managed to put them on any pages.

Just took my photo for today and hopefully I'll have time to upload it here later this afternoon.

Busy doing laundry before I lose use the use of my washer/dryer for another 5 days !

Another blog

So I made another blog for my photo a day pictures,it's here.Hopefully I'll use it after the month is up to post other photo's and stuff,hopefully being the key word !

It's Friday and my walls are painted the skanky old floor is up and gone and we are all set to tile tomorrow.I actually have the installation date of the 22nd a day before my Mum leaves,so lots of time to get the little bits and pieces done,like the top coat on the woodwork,phew I won't be scrambling at the last minute and getting all stress out although looks like we'll be forfeiting the traditional Thanksgiving dinner this year,Oh well maybe I'll enjoy my turkey more for Christmas dinner.

I don't like to post without a photo so here's one of my photo's from my photo a day last year,this was February 5th 2007......................some heat on a cold day.

A photo a day

So Nathalie set a challenge of taking a photo a day for the month of October over at Scrapbook Centrale.I'm joining in and will post the photo's here.I did this last year as a photo a day and used it as a way of getting to know my camera and shooting in manual only.I think I averaged about 25 photo's a month and I'd link them here but when my computer crashed,I lost my original log in details to Flickr where they all were,oh well !

Off to paint.........

Behind schedule.......

Well due to the havoc that the tiles have caused we are behind schedule with the kitchen so I will be working my arse off this week painting like a mad woman because the floor has to go down this weekend.I got one coat on the ceiling this morning and after I've eaten something I can get another coat on.

Luckily a friend came over Saturday to help drink beer,sorry rip out this side of the kitchen and also helped us install new Sheetrock or whatever the stuff is called because it's called plasterboard from where I'm from !! As the tiles this side were glued on even better than the other and there was no way they were coming off without bringing the wall with it.

So above was my kitchen Saturday and below is my kitchen this morning.My lovely husband re plumbed in the sink on a makeshift stand because I really couldn't handle washing up in the bath for the next 3 weeks.Those wood window frames are taking more coats of primer than I thought but primer is my new friend and they will look so much nicer white than before.

No rest for the wicked so back to it........

October sketch #1

Here's this weeks sketch over at Scrapbook Centrale.I've only had time to do one sketch myself this month and it wasn't this one !!

Back later with a kitchen update.......

A page and stuff.

So here's my page I made with this weeks sketch,we only made 1 visit this summer to the sprinkler park.........how sad is that ? and it is sad because my kids love it and we have 2 to choose from.
I got home today to find this on my doorstep,completely forgotten about it.I think this magazine is really great for what is essentially a free magazine(you were buying those scrapbook goodies anyway right !)

Ok well back to priming woodwork........

kitchen nightmare #1 !!

I am lost in all the work that needs to be done on the kitchen,we worked so hard last weekend and no doubt this weekend will be the same.My house is chaotic to say the least...........one level with no basement is fine when you don't need to move one entire room into another.Most things went OK last weekend except this ...........

That is what happens if you remove tiles from a wall that have been glued on,yes GLUED,I'll repeat it since it's so bloody stupid,who glues on tiles ?

September Sketch #4

Here's this weeks sketch I posted over at Scrapbook Centrale I'll post my page later this week.

I actually did 6 pages from my 4 sketches this month,not so for next month !

Last Weekend

It's Friday and taken me all week but last weekend I went away with some great friends up North,we scrapped,we ate,we laughed,we scrapped we ate,we laughed some more you get the idea ! Unlike last year the weather wasn't on our side and this was pretty much how we saw the lake,when we saw it because normally it was hidden completely by mist.

Last year we were spoilt because the cottage we had was brand new,this year it was definitely 'cottagey' complete with creepy shack next door.

Saturday the sun did eventually show up long enough for us to get out for a walk,where I took more nature pictures.....loved the colours here........

This weekend will be spent starting to rip out the kitchen,I'm excited about getting a new one but I want to wake up and the new one be there,little kitchen elves in the night,kind of thing.But that's not going to happen and to keep the costs down we've opted to do all all the prep work ourselves..................it's going to be long and torturous if the bathroom reno was anything to go by,but that's a whole other story !

One page.

I'll just post one,even though I did 2 for this sketch,it's very sad but I could take photo's of flowers all day long !!! Love black eyed susan's,they are still blooming out there in my garden.

I'll be back later with a normal waffling post !!

September Sketch #3

Here's this weeks sketch for Scrapbook Centrale. I'll post my page later this week,I actually did 2 pages,I like my first so much.

Bad blogger !

It's Friday....already,I don't know where the time is going,I seem to be busy,doing nothing,well not nothing but really it's Friday !

Only managed to run twice this week at least it's still warm enough to wear shorts,really hope it stays like that for a few more weeks :)

I had O's school meeting last night,sat there as usual understand about 5% of what was going on,I did understand the bit where she said she had no trouble if you wanted to write in the agenda in English,so I went up to her afterwards to confirm what I thought she's said and she offered to meet me another time and discuss what the year would involve.........................Hallelujah the first time this has ever happened,at last I will know what my kids are supposed to be learning.

Above is my take on this weeks sketch,he's my little fisherman,absolutely loves it.He's pretty good at it too................caught more than his Dad.................again :)

Here's to the weekend.

September sketches #1 and #2

Here's the the sketch for this week over at Scrapbook Centrale,I made 2 pages with this one and I'm thinking of doing a 3rd !

and I was so busy last week I never posted the sketch so here it is.

Cards

So here are the cards I talked about below,we had to make either a card or altered item to go with our 3 pages and of course I chose cards.I can never just make one,so with the scraps on my table I quickly made these 3.............

and then realised I hadn't used the magic mesh in the kit,so made 2 more................

All in those lovely colours !!

It's Friday ?

Friday,already where did the week go ?

Here are my pages for this month at Scrapbook Centrale we got to work with the fun Doodlebug products.My kit was red so of course that called for at least 2 pages with my favourite colour combo of red,white and black !!

You can't see it well here but that flocked paper was perfect for this Santa page....

This year I actually got to see my poppies open,normally the big buds will be there and then it will rain and they will rot and not flower :( I really loved this quote too..........

This was my 3rd page and that's all i have to say about it.I definitely used more paper this month than I normally do,I always feel so guilty if I'm left with all this stuff at the end !!

I also made 2 card sets but I'll post those later today.

We had to wait all summer.....

..............for a glorious weather weekend but it was worth it! We went to see our friends at their cottage in Ontario.
It was a wonderful 3 days.
The sun shone all weekend.
Took a great walk and saw,frogs galore and a baby snapping turtle.
We had 2 nights of magnificent stargazing.
The kids all had fun together.
The lake was warmer than it was in July so lots of water fun was had by all !
Had a great cook out down by the lake......no bugs.
Drank too much wine ;)
Took lots of photo's.....no surprise there.


I can't do the early morning shots but I can do sun setting ones !

Quiet again.

So the boys went back to school yesterday,only 2 half days this week but I'd forgotten how quiet the house was with them not in it.

I haven't run all week,I feel guilty about it but in my defence I wasn't well at the beginning of the week.Anyway no excuses, I shall start fresh next week,as soon as the kids are on the bus Dave and I shall go since the mornings are getting cooler the extra hour and a half later should help with that.

Well it's already Labour day weekend,I really don't know where summer went? all I do know is it went too fast.

I really don't like to post without a photo to go with it so I'll post this one that my early rising husband took the last time we were at our friends cottage.I always aim to get up and take shots like this but really to be honest I think I'm content to leave this job to him !

Pages

3 pages to be exact.The one below is based on this weeks sketch,I couldn't believe both my boys had yellow and black uniforms this year..........I am not a fan of yellow.Anyway I did this one and then.............

I made this one using the same sketch,I've been doing that a lot recently,doing 2 pages from one,speeds things up.

This one is based on last weeks sketch,it's pretty simple and it isn't one of my favourites but the fact I actually did it at a Friday night crop is an achievement in it's self !

Potato & Goats Cheese Quiche

Last night I made this quiche it's so yummy,it's one of my favourites !
I cheat for the pastry.My grandma used to make the best pastry(she also made the best trifle and roast potatoes too) I used to help her make jam tarts and lemon curd tarts whenever I went to stay.She always said I would never make good pastry as my hands are too warm and she was right,I can't make pastry to save my life.So I buy the Tenderflake frozen deep pie cases and since there's 2 in the pack I make 2 quiches and freeze one.

Makes 1 quiche.

400g of new potatoes (cooked and cut into chunks)
250g sliced pancetta( cut into strips.Dry fry until crisp half and save the other half)
2tbsp chopped chives
125g goats cheese(crumbled into good size chunks)
3 eggs
200ml cooking cream.

1. Pre heat oven to 375 f.

2. Scatter the potatoes,cooked pancetta and chives into the pie case.Sprinkle over the cheese.

3. Beat the eggs and cheese together and season with salt and pepper.Pour over the the filling and arrange the remaining pancetta on the top.

4. Bake for 40 to 45 minutes until just set in the centre and the pancetta is crisp.Leave to cool slightly before serving.

Original recipe: Good Food magazine,August 2001.

Header woes !

Argghhhhhhhh !

I get round to making the header and I must of tried 6 different sizes,using pixels,dpi etc,I've tried bigger and shrinking it when it's time to load but it just doesn't sit right.................it's either massive and across the page or it's this,what you see above.I don't mind if it sits in that box properly,which it isn't right now or really I'd like it completely over that box but I'm not happy with what it's doing right now and no idea why it's doing it ?

Any help would be greatly appreciated :)

Edited......Thanks Mel !

August Sketch #5

Here's my sketch for this week over at Scrapbook Centrale. I've actually used this for 2 pages which I'll load later this week.I still have last weeks to load !

Creamy mushroom and prosciutto pasta.

This is what I cooked for dinner last night.Sorry no photo to accompany this post as as much as the sauce was yummy,my mushrooms were not at the freshest and the sauce was a grey rather than mushroomy in colour.

I'll credit where this recipe originally came from but I have altered it considerably, of course it's much better and I would say it serves 3 not the 4 it quotes.

To make it veggie I would add a pinch of salt and a good dollop of mustard.

Ingredients:

6 prosciutto slices (ripped into shreds)
2 tbsp Olive oil
1 medium onion (finely chopped)
2 garlic cloves (finely chopped)
350g assorted mushrooms (cut into good size chunks) I normally use chestnut/portabello and shiake or some dried if I have them.
good pinch of chili flakes
200ml of vegetable stock
100ml cooking cream
1 tbsp chopped parsley
fresh parmesan to serve

1. In a non stick pan dry fry the prosciutto until crispy,set to one side.

2. In a heavy bottomed pan,heat the oil over a medium heat and cook the onions until softened slightly,add the mushrooms,garlic and chili and cook until the juices are out of the mushrooms.

3. Turn the heat to high and add the stock,bring to a boil and then reduce the heat and simmer until the sauce is reduced by half.

4. Add the prosciutto and cream and stir,warm through and then add the parsley.

5. Pour over pasta,I tend to use pappardelle for this one and top with the parmesan.


original recipe: Delicious magazine,November 2006

9 years ago

On this day 9 years ago we arrived in Canada.Sometimes it seems as if we have lived here a lot longer than that and other times it seems like only yesterday.I've survived 9 winters,I knew it would be cold but not that cold ! I will never forget feeling for the first time my nose being frozen on the inside.Still I'll take the cold and the snow over dull damp rainy English days anytime.


I made this layout at the NSD back in May,used the photo's from our estate agents brochure.We moved in and out of that house 3 years later on roughly the same day and then we bought our house here in Canada 5 years ago at about the same time too..................must be something about mid August!

The Weekend.

It looked like finally being a good weather weekend so we went to our friends cottage.The sun shone all weekend and we had a great time.Water was a little on the cool side but didn't stop us swimming both days.We took our usual walk to find frogs,turtles and snakes,all those things boys like to catch !!

Someone was happy with his frog finds and is more than happy to catch and release.I'm more than happy to let them do that while I take more pictures of flowers and weeds,one can never have too many floral photo's.

August Sketch #4

Here's my sketch for this week over at Scrapbook Centrale.I'll post my page later this week,it's one I created at a Friday night crop a week ago.

Spicy Bean Salad.

So while I was preparing dinner I had a thought.............why don't I put my favourite recipes on the blog and that way I'll either be able to get them from here or at least know where they came from because I waste valuable time trying to remember just where my recipes are :) I even have a photo !


So :

1 tin of sweetcorn(drained)
1/2 tsp chili flakes
3 large tomatoes(seeded and diced)
2 cloves garlic(finely chopped)
1 medium red onion
1 tin black beans(rinsed and drained)
3 tbsp coriander(chopped)


DRESSING:

2 tbsp Olive oil
2 tsp Honey
2 tbsp lime juice
1 tsp chipotle paste(or 2 tsps of tabasco chipotle)
salt and pepper.


1. Dry fry corn and chili in a non stick frying pan until looking charred ! Cool.

2. Once cool add to a large bowl with the tomatoes,garlic,onion,black beans and coriander.

3. Mix the all the dressing ingredients together and pour over the vegetables.Stir well.

Best left to stand for an hour.It's good the next day too.

I would like to point out this is not the original recipe but my (better !!) variation on it.

Original recipe: Food & Drink,Autumn 2005.

Run Forrest Run !

No not a post about movies or Tom Hanks ! It's about running and it's a long post for me !
Last week I decided to start running again.I dabbled in it last summer but just couldn't get into it on a regular basis.I am not a natural runner,in fact I don't really have any athletic ability if truth be known but running is something I can do early enough in the morning that it's out the way and what's more it's FREE ! So I've been getting up with the other half and I'm home just as he leaves for work,the kids are still asleep and I get some quiet me time.I'm aiming for 4 times a week and already I've added and extra 1/2 a km...............I want to get to 5km before it's too cold to run outside anymore.
What's making the running easier......................



That little device above :) No longer do I have to hear the thud thud of my feet on the road.Do I listen to something with a nice rhythm..........do I heck,the louder and grungier the better ! The only down side,seeing the lovely early morning mist rising above the fields and not being able to take pictures.

Far away Cousins

Here's my page based on the sketch #3 below.Photo's I had from last summer that I hadn't got round to scrapping !

I am making an effort to post everyday this week and I'm working on that header because that plain old one up there has got to go :)

Sketch August #3

Here's my sketch for this week at Scrapbook Centrale.I'll be back later in the week to post my page based on it.I am actually well ahead of the sketches,I spent last week drawing a whole batch up and doing pages for them as I've a busy couple of months ahead of me and I like to be on top of things :)

White Magic

Here's my page based on the sketch in the post below.Yep,another flower page.....I love my garden,even though it is a huge amount of work .It needs a serious overhaul but that will have to wait until next Spring,I have done my 2 jobs for the yard this summer :)

August Sketches #1 and #2.

Above is this weeks sketch (August #2)I created for the sketches challenge at Scrapbook Centrale and below is last weeks (#1) which I didn't have time to post :) I'll post my page for #2 later this week.

I'm back ........

.....with a few photo's.Well about 400 actually !!

Phew,well I thought I'd have time to pop in but I didn't............what a busy 2 weeks,the weather could have been a little better but that didn't stop us having fun,we went to our friends cottage,walked,swam,fished,ate and drank too much :) took in a Blue Jays game,came home,got projects done in our garden and then returned to our friends cottage to spend a few days with them.I've a few things to post but I'll leave you with just a couple of photo's because I'm still working this blogger thing out !!

See the world really is round !