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 :)