It snowed and we had a white Christmas. Apparently, the first one on this island since 2009!
Holly bush outside my balcony.I made this Christmas tree for my mother many years ago. (Remember when ceramics was all the rage?) It’s mine now. I am happy I took a lot of care when painting it. Always give your parents well-made things because they will become yours eventually. 😉
My daughter and son-in-law came over for an early Christmas dinner. We looked at each other and thought we had accidentally coordinated well, in black, red and plaid. We thought it would be good opportunity to take a Christmas photo. Clearly I am we are not good at this.
Photo fail #1. Do not show the remote shutter in the photo. Also (another note to self), do not take photos when hair is still wet and unbrushed.Photo fail #2 The one holding the remote shutter is not sure it is working.Photo fail #3 And then we decided we really needed to try to get more of the snowy background, well…in the background.Photo fail #4 Someone is distracted and not looking at the camera. Someone else is looking oddly and excitedly cheery. No, I was not drinking yet.Photo fail #5 We decided to move out onto the balcony. Daughter decided husband’s hair needed some attention.Photo fail #6 OK, this is really not working. Get it together, people.Photo fail #7 We give up, almost.Photo #8 Not a fail. Let’s quit while we are ahead, and eat!Roasted Brussel sprouts with bacon and balsamic glaze. Mmmmmmmmmmm.The glorious turkey of 2021. Soon to be expertly carved by the son-in-law.
A tiramisu was requested, which I had assembled a couple of days before.I decided to finish it with a Dutch twist, instead of cocoa powder: dark chocolate hail. The tagline (in red above the words Jumbo Hagelslag) translates to “a party on your sandwich”. Yes, Dutch people put chocolate on their sandwiches. What a country! 😉The final verdict was that it was no Widow Badass trifle, but it was tasty. Ignore the bloom on the hagelslag. Being a non-chocoholic, I can’t go through a box fast enough so why did I think it was a good idea to buy such a big box of the stuff? Beats me.Postprandial food coma relaxation.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas celebration, if you celebrate. I know I did.
Unexpectedly beautiful day. Waiting for the Brentwood Bay ferry to take us across to the Saanich peninsula.Nice views while passing the time.Our tickets were for 3:45 so we explored the gift shop etc., until it got a little darker. This is me and Sarah (friend of my daughter’s – now also a friend of mine!) – under a beautiful tree. Pic of said tree in full dark coming a bit later on…Immediately we were impressed by the sheer number of lights and the quality of the displays.The theme was the 12 days of Christmas…and we saw the partridge in the pear tree first, natch.Gorgeous projection on these trees.Looking down into sunken garden.Of course we brought along the trippy special viewing glasses from Milner Gardens. This is what the displays looked like with the Christmas Star ones. In sunken garden. My son-in-law looking like a demon…LOL. Thanks, Sarah! 😉Now, in his human form. With cute wife (I made her!) and the lovely Sarah. 🙂And here is the lovely Sarah revealing revelling in her true form. Sigh…there’s always gotta be that one in every group…. 😉5 golden ringsWe were lucky not only with the weather, but that it was also the night of the full moon! Expect a lotta full moon photobombs…Gorgeous lights AND the full moon!Per the sign: clap or sing loudly to brighten/change the colours on this treeThat’s a lotta maids for milking only 1 animated cow!I don’t remember “1 dragon spitting” in the song but I am sure it is in there somewhere 😉Giant Christmas bauble topped by the moon.The Italian gardenLast full moon photobomb, I promise!Wire-framed trees and icicle tree, now in full dark.Back where we started. Tree from beginning, now in full darkWe couldn’t figure out where the 12 drummers drumming were at, until we exited the gardens and saw them overhead. Pardon the blurriness. Taken by me in the back seat of my car as my daughter drove us home.Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays from all of us to all of you!
Dinner at the White Elephant first, in Parksville. Thai food, yum! With my daughter and son-in-law, and Donna and Richard.Milner Gardens & Woodland– offering a festival of lights as a fundraiserStarBrowsing doeGingerbread manReflections in the pool beside the gift shopSnowflakesThis way to Santa!Swans in the pondSnowmanDonna and I, having a good ol’ time!The former residence, now a tea roomPeeking in the windows to see the decorated roomsA teddy bear ChristmasPictures of some famous visitors, including Princess Di and that dude she married 😉Santa’s sleighWearing our trippy glassesDonna gifted me a pair. I had never heard of these.This is what my balcony lights look like normally.This is what they look like on drugs with the glasses on. Like I said, trippy!
Next weekend I am heading (with the fam) to check out the light display at Butchart Gardens, strictly for comparison/research purposes only 😉 . My daughter and I will be packing the trippy eye wear, for sure!
I have known for some time now that we were approaching the magical event of having 500 posts published. And I had promised myself that I would make a big deal about it. And I was counting it down, from about #493 until, well NOW.
So imagine my surprise when I realized – only AFTER yesterday’s post went live – that it was indeed post #500. And that I had completely missed it.
Well, fear not my faithful long-suffering blogge friend….It is Not. Too. Late.
Inspired and informed by fellow blogger Rivergirl, may I present to you and all my readers: a piecaken (dessert’s answer to the turducken) that I had made just for this wondrous occasion! 😉
From the Food Network. My teeth ache just looking at it. Not going to appear as a #WOYPBC post anytime soon.
Here’s what a piecaken (Thanksgiving version) is comprised of:
In other words, a fat and sugar bomb. A conglomeration of pie and cake what, no pudding?. Not that anything is wrong with that! Why take multiple trips to the dessert bar when you can put a slice of this beauty on your buffet plate instead?
Anywhoodle, I digress as usual.
Back to you, Dear Bloggie…I apologize for having missed this momentous…uh…moment. (But only by one day, so can you give me a break?). I also apologize for having taken so long to get here. Despite you being in existence for over 12 years now (yup, missed that one too), it has taken me until now to get to this milestone.
I spent a lotta years in Crazytown (as the Mayor, no less) and the lack of blogging during that time is the proof in the pudding piecaken of that.
So please accept this piecaken as my sweet attempt to make up for all the lost years and forgotten milestones. Enjoy! And don’t come crying to me when your teeth hurt.
Luckily we brought both the good gear and the good attitudes to this rainy day hike.I wore my bear bell, just in case (not needed on this hike, fortunately).Today’s hike.Part of THIS trail (old sign).Now known by this name.We went in search of this.Known as “The Abyss”. Apparently caused by an earthquake in the 1940s.It’s quite deep but not very wide. However, sometimes small dogs fall into it and have to be rescued.Donna, photographing The Abyss.There were many other stunning sights and views, even in the rain and mist.Closeup of arbutus bark.Arbutus berries.I think this is called bristly beard lichen.Beautiful foliage. So many shades of green.Misty view of Nanaimo and the Salish Sea.Tansy.Donna capturing the view looking east from the ridge.Hawthorn. We were also this dripping wet during our hike. 🙂I’m so glad we got out on this trail, despite the wet weather.
For witnessing sunrises like theseFor clouds reflected in lakesFor warm, comfortable footwearFor views from the pathFor the sun lighting up the changing leavesFor experiencing new hikesFor finding new trailsFor beautiful wooded pathwaysFor big trees and moss-covered branchesFor someone to share the mysterious woods withFor visiting my first hatcheryFor beautiful, musical spawning streams and riversFor witnessing the annual chum salmon runFor learning more about the salmonid species that inhabit the rivers and seasFor gorgeous views everywhere I lookFor fish tacos and Jarritos at Tidal TacosFor sneaky, cheeky birds eyeing our lunchFor friends, both near and farFor the beauty of a Vancouver Island autumnFor Thanksgiving gatherings with family and friends
Yesterday was one for the books! (My personal history books, I mean 🙂 ) My sister and Donna and her husband had arrived in Campbell River, BC the day before in order to be on time for our early morning Homalco Tour’s Great Bears of Bute adventure. (You might remember we were in Campbell River earlier this year…so of course part of the agenda for THIS trip was to revisit our favourite Indigenous woman-led businesses there and to stock up, which we happily did!)
On the dock at 7 am, a bit bleary-eyed and raring ready for adventure! L – R: my sister, me, Donna and Richard.
We eagerly boarded the beautiful Klohoy (Homalco word for chum salmon), a comfortable aluminum boat with 2 seats per person on the tour (1 in the indoor heated cabin with onboard loo, 1 on the viewing deck). After a brief safety lesson (including being instructed to wear our masks at all times), we were off on the 2 hour journey to Bute Inlet!
Words and pictures cannot begin to describe the beautiful views we encountered at every step of the day’s adventures.
We weren’t too far into the trip to the mainland when Captain Flavian noticed whale blow. Which meant of course we had to stop to investigate.
Humpback whale blow – photo by DonnaNot the greatest photo of 2 humpback whales. For better shots of these magnificent mammals, please go to an older post, here.
After enjoying the whales for about 15 minutes, we continued on to an inlet where Captain Flavian had grown up, to learn some of the more recent (last 200 years) history of the Homalco people. Our guide Holly also tried to teach us some words in the Homalco language.
From Donna’s notes, here are the English translations from top to bottom: 1. The language of our people (4 tribes); 2. Grizzly Bear; 3. Chum salmon (name of our boat); 4. Whale; 5. Seal; 6. Sea Lion; 7. Eagle; 8. RavenHolly and Flavian.
Holly told us to notice that the waters of the inlet were the most beautiful colour, due to glacial sediment from the rivers that feed it. And that the boat’s colour scheme had come from the colour of the water. See for yourself!
Orford Bay, Bute InletA pretty good match, don’t you think?Orford Bay welcome signWell, actually I am kinda hoping there are lots of bears in the area 🙂
After docking, we made our way to the cultural centre to get a safety briefing from our bear guides: JJ and Ian. Basic takeaway: Listen to your guides! When they say “back on the bus”, this means NOW, not 2 more photos first! On the bus, JJ also regaled us with stories involving bear spray…er…misadventures from his childhood, and cultural stories of what the Homalco learned from observing grizzly bears.
At our first stop, a bear ambled into view even before we were all able to get off the bus. And there were bears at every stop thereafter. Holly mentioned she has yet to be “skunked” on any bear adventures she has hosted. Please check out my Instagram for the many videos I posted of this adventure!
Of course the bears were there for one thing only: to fatten up on the many chum salmon in the stream! Unfortunately the fish – although plentiful and easy to spot – were very hard to photograph through the running water.
Where there are bears, there are also many birds (including bald eagles – no good photos to share, unfortunately) – also there for the salmon…both for the eggs in the river and to clean up the fish who had already died on their journey to spawn.
Everybody’s gotta eat!My sister and I are beaming, under our masks. Taken while visiting one of two specially constructed bear viewing platforms.Donna, my sister and I in front of the bear sign. We asked and were granted permission from our guides to move to the sign for a photo. The Homalco word for grizzly bear is pronounced “howgas”. (I hope I am not butchering the language too badly.)
After 3 hours of being awestruck in the presence of the magnificent grizzlies, we were as hungry as the bears themselves.
Eating our delicious boxed lunches in the world’s most beautiful outdoor “restaurant”.
Once back on the boat for the journey back to Campbell River, even more wildlife was spotted.
Harbour seals sunning on a log in Orford Bay.Orca! My first sighting!!!! This male is T11A, and you can read more about him and wild transient orcas here.Steller sea lions having a bit of a bro fest.Adult males can weigh up to 2500 pounds.The stunning views just never stopped on this trip.
After over 8 hours on the water and the mainland of British Columbia, it was time to head back to the dock in Campbell River, and from there back to home in Nanaimo.
Today I received the following (excerpted, from the email) from Homalco Tours:
Thank you for joining us on a recent tour from Campbell River. We sincerely hope that you enjoyed yourself!
By travelling with us, you are contributing to the growth and preservation of Homalco First Nation culture, Indigenous employment, and to the restoration of wild salmon populations in Bute Inlet. “I:mote” means “it is good” and is the word for gratitude in the Homalco language. We extend that gratitude to you.
I don’t think there is a big enough word for me to express my gratitude to the Homalco people for providing me the opportunity to partake of this adventure on their land. IT IS and WAS GOOD.
My sister from Ontario is here on Vancouver Island, visiting for 2 weeks. Last weekend we spent a delightful 2 nights in Tofino. Here are some pictures from our stay. Hope you enjoy! (We sure did!)
My sister enjoying the washed up wood on Chesterman BeachOf course we had to visit Tacofino for a trio of delicious tacos: fried fish (lingcod, I believe), seared tuna, beefRainy Long Beach walk on Saturday, followed by lunch (Zoe’s Bakery: highly recommend!) and a visit to the Aquarium in Ucluelet.There is a tuna derby going on all week long at our resort (Tofino Resort and Marina). $40K grand prize. Exciting!This was cause for celebration on our part. It was so much fun to sit at the pub and slurp back oysters, and watch the fishermen bringing their catch of albacore tuna in at the end of the day.Caught in mid-bro fist. Sporting his lucky fishing wig? Or did he lose a bet? 😉Official weighing: each team brought forward their 4 biggest fish of the day to be weighed.Leader board with Day 1 resultsSunday morning found us on the Rainforest Trail.Looking up at a giant cedarOf course we had to visit the tree my daughter and son-in-law chose for their nuptials.After checking out of the resort, we were off on a whale watching journey, guided expertly by Elder Moses Martin of Clayoquot Wild.There were stunning vistas all along the journey. We spent a good amount of time watching a gray whale (named Orange Crush by the locals because of an orange spot on its fluke). I was too awestruck to get out my camera…sorry (not sorry).We did see a good number of sea otters, and those I did capture a few shots of. They are much bigger than river otters. These guys were hunting salmon.So many beautiful views.Gorgeous.Happy, tired faces. Ready for the drive back home over the mountains, and to get rested up for our next adventure.
This is going to be somewhat of a looong story and a picture-heavy post so I hope you don’t mind. If you do mind, I don’t mind – so feel free to click away. My introduction to this recipe started way back at the beginning of the pandemic, when my good friend gifted me the most delicious loaf of homemade bread you could imagine. Jonathan somehow secured not only flour but yeast (remember those days?) and told me that this bread was not only insanely good, but insanely easy to make. He was 100% correct on both counts. His recipe came from the New York Times, I believe…and there are a bazillion versions of this bread recipe floating around Ye Olde Interwebs. Even recipes for gluten-free doorstops loaves, which I have tried (and failed miserably at).
The loaf that started it all. In my old kitchen, back in Ontario. March 26, 2020
Despite having issues with wheat (not gluten, but something else in bread), I can digest this bread just fine and without pesky heartburn. I think it is the very long rising…something that doesn’t happen in a production bakery. Anywho, here is the recipe (adapted by me from a gluten-free one I found somewhere…) told in pictures for this no-knead rustic bread loaf; pandemic and/or lockdown not required.
Assemble your tools and ingredients!
You will need:
3 cups of flour plus a little extra for dusting
3/4 tsp active quick-rise yeast
2 tsp kosher salt (I don’t see why you couldn’t use regular salt)
1.5 cups room temperature water
measuring cup and spoons
large glass bowl (Why glass? Does yeast hate metal/ceramic/plastic?)
wooden spoon (Don’t ask me why it has to be wood. Aesthetics? The anti-metal thing? I don’t know.)
Dutch oven
tea towel
parchment paper
cooling rack
oven (duh)
Mix dry ingredients together. The wooden spoon does look nice though…Add room temperature water and mix (with pretty wooden spoon) to form the dough. Cover with tea towel and let it do its thing for at least 8 hours (overnight works well). In winter when the air is drier, I make the tea towel damp first so the dough doesn’t dry out too much.Amuse yourself for the next 8 hours. I made and served a blackberry trifle for my son-in-law’s birthday. I think he liked it. 😉 (Completely optional but if you do choose to do this, invite me over 🙂 ).What it looks like after 8 hours of rise time. Finish admiring the magic, and then take a large piece of parchment paper and dust it with flour. Take the dough out of the bowl and mound it up on the flour-dusted parchment paper. I pre-crease the paper to make it a bit easier to fit back into the bowl, and eventually the Dutch oven.I usually put it right back in the bowl again once it’s on the paper…so the dough doesn’t spread itself out over the paper too much over the next hour. You probably don’t have to do this. But it bugs me, OK? There, I said it. Cover and let rest for 1 hour. Meanwhile, pre-heat oven to 450 degrees Fahrenheit. When oven comes to temperature, place the empty Dutch oven (with lid) inside oven to pre-heat for at least 30 minutes.Very carefully place the dough (in parchment) into the extremely hot Dutch oven. Can slash the top of loaf several times with a knife, if you actually remember at the last damn minute. Put the extremely hot lid on it, and put in the whole shebang back into the oven to bake for 30 minutes. The loaf looks like this after 30 minutes covered bake time. Remove the lid (careful!!!!) and let the loaf bake uncovered for the final 15 minutes.Cool the finished loaf on a rack. Resist eating it because you made it to share with friends, for lunch the next day. (Optional, but highly recommended! Your hips will thank you for sharing. 😉 )Next day: Go on glorious hike with friends, on Hornby Island.Take in the views: Helliwell Provincial Park, looking east.Explore tidal pools.Helliwell Provincial Park, looking west. Me, trying to enjoy the view and not think of the tasty food waiting for us back at Ann’s place. Photo by Donna.Finally – Lunch time! Photo by Donna. Ann (between Janis and I) provided us with the most delicious Maui chicken and sides, and I provided the:Homemade bread! And it was mighty tasty. I’ve made this recipe many times now, and it has never failed me except for the gluten-free experiments that we really shouldn’t talk about anymore.
So…enough about me. What’s on your plate this month?
As always: please feel free to let my co-host Donna or myself know what’s on your plate at your house, in the Comments of either Donna’s or my post (or both, if you are so inclined!). My partner-in-crime Donna has crafted a beautiful post about food and friendship (a theme I have shamelessly incorporated into my own post, in a minor way). Please check out her post, to read more about the many happy hours spent sharing meals with friends over the past month.
Remember: if you decide to blog or Facebook or Instagram about it, to use the tags #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge or #woypbc so we can find you out on ye olde interwebbs!
Happy August, everyone! July went by like a flash, didn’t it? And to cap it all off, I had a birthday last week: #62, and life is still amazing and grand!
Adding another 12 dots to my Precious Life painting. You can read about it: here.
In my honour, my friend and What’s On Your Plate co-host Donna kindly offered to make me a birthday lunch (remember this…it’s important). Here’s what happened…a birthday lunch tale, told in pictures:
I got to choose from several meal kits just delivered to Chez Retirement Reflections from this here food cult Donna belongs to. 😉 I went with the salmon, since my momma didn’t raise no fool.What the finished meal will look like.Donna made sure I read the instructions…hmmm, why? DAH DAH DAAAH! (foreshadowing music).The veggies, herbs, and spices were in the brown bag. The salmon and yogourt were in another container, more suitable for keeping them colder during transport.Next thing I know, I was cutting up potatoes.Then I was cutting up zucchini. Then I was grating cucumber for the tzatziki.Then I was MAKING the damn tzatziki. BTW, don’t my nails look birthday-fabulous?Then I was on to prepping the salmon. Remember when I told you Donna was going to make ME a birthday lunch? Yeah, not so much…Well I guess Donna DID work the oven and stove top. Yet, here I am anxiously watching over stuff cooking because I am all alone in the kitchen and Donna is nowhere to be found. Oh yes! This happened!And here is the delicious finished product, artfully plated by Donna. See, she did do one thing something…Closeup of what’s on my plate!AND THEN after our delicious lunch You’re welcome, Donna, she had the NERVE to ask me to pose as if I was relaxing on the couch the whole time it was being prepared. Seriously! I kid you not. My expression says it all: this is some kinda bullshit right here.MEANWHILE Donna is pretending to be exhausted from making lunch and loading the damn dishwasher. As if! Should you ever get a lunch invitation from this woman, be forewarned! Whoever said there is no such thing as a free lunch was spot on. AND THEN Donna hands me the birthday candles she forgot to use on my cupcake, so I brought them home. Woman, you had one job…Which were put to good use the next day (actual birthday) when my daughter (and fam) brought over Vietnamese food and a homemade trifle for dessert. WHICH I DID NOT HAVE TO MAKE, DONNA…TAKE NOTES!All kidding aside – you know I was kidding, right?!?! – we had such a fun time and were hooting up a storm planning this blog post. (I think I have some pieces of lemon in my eyebrow WHICH A TRUE FRIEND WOULD’VE TOLD ME ABOUT, DONNA.)
So, that’s my tale of woe and foul treatment by Ms Donna, my lovely co-host. 😉
What’s on your plate this month?
As always: please feel free to let my co-host Donna or myself know what’s on your plate at your house, in the Comments of either Donna’s or my post (or both, if you are so inclined!). Donna has made an amazing dish with great significance for Indigenous people. And she has created beautiful badges for this challenge, should you want to place one on your blog. You can find them here.
Remember: if you decide to blog or Facebook or Instagram about it, to use the tags #whatsonyourplateblogchallenge or #woypbc so we can find you out on ye olde interwebbs!
