Pasta salad, a post surgical meal.

One of my colleagues recently had to undergo emergency surgery and will be off work until after Christmas so a bunch of us are prepping and delivering meals to her home so that she rest up and focus her energy on healing.
There is a great array of dishes that people have chosen to make and many she will be able to freeze.
The deliveries will be once a week by a designated co worker so as not to tire her out with all of us keeners ringing her doorbell.
We all wish her a speedy recovery...

I have mentioned her before on the blog as she is the chic French femme who eats her burgers with a knife and fork and could wear a paper bag and make it look like haute couture. If you could see how she dresses and ties her scarves you'd know in a heart beat that she is as feminine and French as can be.

I chose to make a simple but nutritionally packed pasta salad.
She may decide to eat this for her lunches or add it to another main course.

It makes a large bowl and is really tasty.

It's a great dish to take to a pot luck dinner too.

Bon appetit!

If you can help someone in need ~ please do.

~ Bungalow Beautification ~

Living in a 100 year old registered heritage home comes with responsibility and means keeping on top of the maintenance and is not for the faint of heart.
There is always a long list of things that need doing and we take on a few projects every year.
Mr. HB has been quite busy around here in The Humble Bungalow this month. Besides priming and painting downstairs in the laundry room he's been working on the front porch.

Here is the new front door made by a talented local craftsman Percy, an exact replica of the former 100 year old one that was seriously delaminating. The hardware is new and in the Craftsman style from Classic Brass.

Mr. HB has been busy down in his workshop testing out stain colours to get just the look and shade that we like.

The original bevelled glass was saved and used in the new door.

Mr. HB painted the old house numbers black as they were corroded from the salty ocean breezes.

For the same reason we replaced the porch light...

Waterglass Studio 

had an arts and crafts style lamp suitable for the porch.

There will be a bus full of arts and crafts enthusiasts coming through our Humble Bungalow this month.

We have been busy cleaning, tidying and tending to the garden 

 putting our best face forward.

Do you remember the glove?

I read Faux Fuchsia's post this morning and was astonished to read that her "baby" is now 18 months old!

I remember clearly the day she announced that she was expecting him and it seems like yesterday.

Time marches on...

Chester napping and groggy after his surgical procedure yesterday.

Poor little fellow...

we had to entice him with treats so we could give him the pain medicine this morning.

When one adopts a rescue kitten part of the agreement is that you will have them spayed or neutered.

I am keeping him company and blogging from bed.

It's a tough job but someone has to do it!

Hope that you have a fabulous weekend!

Hostess

XO

Do you judge a book by it's cover?

Technically speaking this is a magazine not a book
I did buy it based on the cover...

Modern Women: why we need to take control now

Amazing Fashion Under $100

Spend Less, Look Great

131 Flattering Styles

Stop Emotional Eating: Here's How

and the best

slow cookers

concealers

fitness trends

September 2012 Real Simple $5.99

The tea is steeping

the sun is shining

dinner is planned and I am taking a wee break after a busy day...

it's just me and the cats here in The Humble Bungalow.

Pepper is happy as she got some cuddles and treats

Chester just loves the sunshine

he "helped" me put a load of laundry in the washing machine.

He'll be around to help when it's time to fold it too!

Not too much is happening here but that's OK with me

I don't need or crave drama or excitement.

I like the simple life.

How about you?

Eating local ~ morsels of goodness.

Tasty, juicy and sweet.
Three words that sum up Nature's late summer offering / gift ~ freshly picked local black berries...

alone or with some cream

 Mr. HB prefers his

 atop of some Coconut Dream "ice cream."

Any way you choose to serve these morsels

they are delicious.

One of Mother Nature's late summer harvests

so worth buying 

or if you are lucky enough to find a bramble 

picking your own.

Look at the size of these beauties...

I've had some on hot oatmeal

and a few stirred into Greek style coconut yogurt.

I can't quite say I've had my fill of these yet.

I hope this sunshine sticks around awhile longer and ripens the rest of the crop.

Is your mouth watering yet?

I do hope that your week is off to a fabulous start.

Please tell me what fabulous things you've got planned.

~ ~ ~ 

Hostess

Two reasons I HAD to go shopping.

You might be curious why I needed a reason to go shopping.
Trust me I do need a legitimate reason.
I have been avoiding the shops because we are knee deep in renovations and are having an identical newly crafted  front door made to replace our 100 year old door which is delaminating.

First off I've been down with a cold and my head has been stuffed up and fuzzy.

I managed to stay in bed for two days and then got up and about thinking I was cured....
until I went to do a load of laundry ~ black clothes.
My mind was obviously still foggy as later I discovered that I forgot to check the pockets.

When I went to hang them up to dry I was shocked at what I saw...everything was covered in small white bits of Kleenex, yes people I had left all my spare tissues in every pocket of every garment and I think there must have been a total of say 10 tissues which simply was a snowy disaster. As it turns out I was able to rewash the load several times and spin in just the air cycle the garments before attempting to de-lint and hand pick off the bits which were resistant after 3 washings. Not all garments survived...one dress and one top were down.

The second reason that I needed to go shopping is that we do not have doors on our bedroom closet and Chester attacked and shredded my basic black tunic top the very one that I wear several times a week to school.
It's rather disconcerting staring at a knit jersey top that has holes and runs in the fabric trying to figure out if it can be repaired and salvaged.

Which takes me back about 20 years when I came home from work to find our adorable kittens Stickley and Teco had had a shredding party of their own and were swinging in large holes that they had made in our imported Scottish lace curtains that hung in the living room windows...these were so pricey that I did spend many evenings attempting to stitch them back together...but they were never the same and as soon as the cats matured and I could afford to, I replaced them!

My new purchases are hung up on a higher rod and I've left only sturdy denims on the low rod for the time being.

think of this plain tunic as a layering piece

a backdrop for want of a better term

I'll show you what I will be pairing this simple top with...

all with medium weight leggings in black

This one replaces the lint top that ended up in the rag bag.

Both pieces are made of sustainable Bamboo by the Vancouver Company Gilmore.

I'll be showing you the new door soon

it has been installed but still needs to be stained.

Percy, is the talented artisan who crafted the door

he salvaged the original bevelled glass and the end result is brilliant!

Stay tuned.

~ ~ ~

Thanks for stopping by!

Hostess