Sunday dinner for the family, planned ahead cuz' the Hostess is in the garden!

Sunday dinner in the Bungalow April 25th, 2010

On the menu:

Baby back ribs in BBQ sauce

Coleslaw

Spinach and Strawberry Salad

Heirloom Tomato Salad 

Scalloped Potatoes

Watermelon for dessert

One of my favourite cook books

An easy peasy tasty salad, full of goodness and looks wonderful

Cut in half Heirloom Tomatoes

add aged Balsamic vinegar

salt and pepper

top with fresh grated parmesan cheese or feta

I spent the better part of the day in the garden so I prepped the 3 salads ahead and just need to put them together when the ribs are ready.

The ribs are easy too, just precook the ribs for 20 minutes, drain, place in shallow roasting pan, add bottled BBQ sauce.

 (I like Diana's sauce for chicken and ribs)

Cover with foil and let cook at 325 degrees for about an hour.

The scalloped potatoes take the same time so it all comes together without a lot of fuss.

I had time for a soak in the tub with my bath salts and feel much better although my muscles are sore and will be letting me know again tomorrow!

I was sifting soil, loading up the wheel barrow and moving it around the yard top dressing the beds.

I need to get some gardening boots, my socks and clogs do not keep my feet clean or dry....any suggestions as to what boots I should look for?

 Hunters are good, but there must be others that perform and last.

I hope that you all had fun this weekend.

Post Earth Day, I am going green this weekend.

Maling heavily decorated plate in the back and Franciscan ware in Sprout Green, everyday dishes.

Circa 1950's 

Le Creuset, my go to cookware

Mr. HB built in a wine rack when he designed the kitchen renovation years ago and it still gets play!

Unmarked matte green arts and crafts pottery.

Large cones collected after a windstorm from the heritage tree in the cemetery close to our home.

The cemetery is a lovely space full of interesting gravestones, heritage trees and is a quiet respite from the hustle and bustle of everyday life.

It is a surprisingly beautiful place in which to saunter and ponder

replete with

 cacaphonic birdsong and the scrambling of squirrels.

Succulent

New porch plantings

White geranium in a chipped and crazed Medalta pudding crock

My favourite colour just happens to be green...can you tell?

What colours speak to you?

Is there a colour in your home that you instinctively embrace and use again and again?

Digital tricks for the hostess...lets start with sepia...

I attended a workshop on the Digital Camera today.

I took copious notes, they are a mess of abbreviations and scrawl.

I was advised to come home and play with my new skills, do some homework!

I loved the colour options and had no idea how these worked.

 I thought that photoshop did the colour changes...I never knew it originated in the camera.

I am starting out with the sepia as I like what it does to textures.

We were advised to shoot from unusual angles and to use some new composition guidelines.

The rule of thirds, full frame focus, and the golden mean.

These are suggested areas on where you'd place the emphasis or focus.

Walter Bosse or Baller bronze cat from Austria, vintage thrift shop find. 

I have not researched this new find yet.

Cute face!

Oak candle sticks made in shop class by our son, when he was in grade 9.

He surprised me one year and gifted them to me...I will say...there were tears involved!

Copper framed photo of our Chris Craft on the desk. 

Mrs. Plant, long time Bungalow resident, in vintage sepia, so fitting!

We watched the hockey game this evening and had our dear friends join us for a simple dinner.

 On the menu-

Gin and Tonics

 Goat cheese, bite size heirloom tomatoes, Carrs water crackers, pepperoni sticks.

Homemade beef chili and garlic bread

rhubarb strawberry pie and ice cream.

The score was 7 to 2...and the Canucks won.

Have a great weekend!

What do belly dancing and cameras have in common?

Well...they are on my agenda tomorrow...LOL!

I am signed up for a workshop in both and am hoping to come away with some new skills.
I will probably use the camera tips more than the dance steps...but I could be surprised.
I take a lot of photos....especially on holidays.

I try to capture images from various angles and perspectives.

I like to frame my subjects or add something a little different.

Sometimes the subject is different enough on it's own and needs nothing.

The image is self explanatory

Sometimes, even in motion, the camera surprises you!

Images record holidays spent on the ocean with friends.

Ours a Chris Craft, theirs a Monk

Good times

great memories!

I'll hone my digital repertoire

and the dancing?

I'll report back later

She who must be obeyed!

Meet our aging feline Stickley, faithful Bungalow cat.

She has given us many years of affection, purring and pats.

She has accompanied us on the boat trips in the summer and she does not like the rumble of the twin 350's or the fact that she is surrounded by the ocean and does not like water, except to drink!

The roles are reversed and now it's PAYBACK!

She is 17 and has developed high blood pressure and is hyperthyroid.

So every morning our day starts with many a meow....the food bowl is empty.

We mash 1/4 tablet of an amlodipine between two spoons and then add some cream cheese into the mix and smear it on her lips to lick.

Sounds tasty...she hates it!

Breakfast is kibble and a dish of gourmet chicken a la florentine.

We take the opportunity to rub the compounded pharamceutical cream on the inside of her left ear...right is done at night!

On days that I am at school working she greets me at the door meowing when I get home and the first thing I must do before removing my coat is to top up her chicken a la florentine.

I then put on the kettle and sit to read the snail mail, emails and blogs.

She will purr and settle in for a patting session beside me while I am at the laptop sipping my tea.

Did I mention that she sheds?

Handfuls of fur float to the floor and heaven forbid, I am usually in black...thank goodness for the sticky roll that has become my favourite tool in the cat hair battle.

She has been much better of late, sleeping on our bed at night and sitting beside MR. HB on the leather love seat.

She used to sleep beside him on her blanket until she did a face plant when her retina was detaching...we did not know that she had this condition until this fall alerted us.

We got her to the vet asap and many tests later she is in fine form...ruling the roost here, calling the shots.

We love her dearly and feel that she is living on borrowed time with the help of modern science.

Pavlov and dogs move over!

Stickley is in the house!