Garden Potatoes ...

What a delight to have fresh little potatoes ...
dug from the garden ...
for dinner ...
along with a bunch of fresh Swiss Chard ...

Baking With Cherries ...

The house was quiet first thing this morning ...
everyone still fast asleep ...
I snuck down into my summer kitchen ...
and decided to make a cake ...
using the cherries that we had picked ...
gathering the ingredients ...
creaming the butter... eggs and sugar ...
adding the flour and baking powder ...
then folding in the whipped egg whites ... 

Pouring the batter into a prepared springform pan ...
topping it with cherries ... pits and all ...
baking it in the oven ...
The result was a delicious ... one of Oma's recipes ...
for
Kirchen Kuchen  ... also known as ... Spuckkuchen ...
which means Spit Cake ...
Knowing that every bite had cherries buried inside ...
you were ready to spit out the pits ...
mmmmmmm
sucking on the tasty little morsels ... !!!

(next time I will use a larger springform pan ... and add a lot more cherries ... !!!)

Pocket For Henry ...

James had asked me to make a pocket for Henry ...
My dear friend Dagmar ...
had made all my grandchildren "Stuffies" ...
they all had pockets except for Henry ...
James was so excited when I delivered him yesterday ... !!!

Perfect fit for his iPod ... !!!

Cherries ... Cherries and More Cherries ...

Processing has begun ...
taking the time to pit the cherries ...
to get them ready to be processed for canning ...
it's a tedious job ...

In the jars ...
water added ... sealed up ...
and place in the Pressure Canner ...
voila ...
enough to be enjoyed over the winter months ...

The rest were washed ... and spun to dry ...
then put into bags ... for eating ...
and to share with the family and friends ...

Guests Gone Fishing ...

July 22, 2013

We decided to go fishing ... had a wonderful day ...
Hugh was the first one to catch a fish ...
It was quite exciting ... Victoria was so happy for him ...
In fact he caught the first three Kokanees ...
My first catch was a Squaw fish ...

We saw lots of birds and wildlife along the shore ...
they were needing to cool off from the extreme heat ...
We brought home quite a few fish ...
Guess what we are having for dinner ... ???

After our day out on the water ...
we ended up jumping in the pool to get refreshed ...
as the thermometer  indicated that it was 100 F (38 C) ... HOT ... !!!
relaxing in the water ... watching the clouds go by ...
then enjoying our dinner of fish ...
and out on the deck for their last evening here ...

Sight Seeing ...

July 21, 2013

We ended up taking a day ...
touring around the area ... showing our guests the beautiful sights ...
took a drive up to see the Falls on the Bull River ...

Amazing view of the Falls ...
even was brave enough to lean over ...
and look thru the bridge rails ...
to capture a picture straight down ...

Other side of the bridge ... looking south ...
it's a long way down ... !!!

 

We had a great day ... took the back road to Galloway ... 

decided to stop and have lunch at the Jaffray Pub ...

then made our way home ... 

to sit back and relax ...

I also had made dinner ahead of time ...

perfect for these busy days ...

This was the first time that Hugh & Victoria had ever eaten ...

Austrian Goulash and Spaetzle ...

It really hit the spot ... after a really wonderful day ... !!!

Guests Arrive ...

July 20, 2013

Mike's cousin Hugh and his wife Victoria ...
arrived from Westlock ...
to take part in the July Fest Parade in Kimberley ...
hauling a float for the Elks Lodge ...
then coming out to our house for a visit ...

Dinner first night ...
was Halibut ... fried potatoes ... salad and steamed fresh garden vegetables ...
They enjoyed having this treat of fish ... !!!

Picking Cherries ...

We had an opportunity to go pick sweet cherries ...
our neighbours invited us up to their place ...
all we had to bring were buckets ...

Ladders ... buckets ... and a sheet ...
Mike would drop the cherries unto the sheet ...
then pour the cherries into the basket ... or bucket container ...
we were asked to pick everything ...
as they wanted the trees bare ...
in order to keep the bears out of the yard ...

A couple hours later ...
we had picked 25 lbs of cherries ...
enough for us and to share with others ...

Ooooohhhh they were delicious ...
it was difficult to stop eating them ...
but we knew what the consequences would be ...
if we didn't ... !!!

Going Batty ...

Well today is the day ...
to figure out where all the bat droppings are coming from inside the house ...
it was determined that they were crawling in the crack of the stringer log ...
and working there way in along the logs ...
Mike took out some of the foam caulking ...
and there was copious amounts of Guano ... (bat droppings)
hence bringing out the Shop Vac ...
to clean it out ...
 

As Mike was working ...

the bats were trying to get out ...

it was quite a sight ...

Mike then closed up part of the log with foam ...

and placed a stocking over the hole ...

nipping the end so that they will be able to crawl out ...

and not be able to get back in ...

Hopefully this will solve our problem ... !!!

We were entertaining guests at the time ... 

Mike's cousin and wife were here from Westlock ...

they were enjoying the goings on here ...

sitting back ... chuckling and cracking bat jokes ...

I'm sure they thought we were a little "batty" ... !!!

Oh what fun we had ... !!!!

Blossoms and Fruit ...

Delighted to see my first Eggplant blossom ...
Zucchini plant still flourishing ...
just love those large yellow flowers ....
Dill popping up all over the garden ...
surprised as I didn't plant any ...
seeds were still in the earth from the old garden ...

 

Tomatillo Plant exploding with flowers and fruit ...

while the apples continue to grow ...

Drizzle While Warm ...

 

A sugar glaze ...

 drizzled over a warm Lemon Loaf ...

It was a perfect day for baking ... a bit overcast and cool morning ...

Getting ready for visitors ... !!!

Three Raspberries ...

Oh what excitement to see ripe raspberries ... my favourite ...
couldn't believe the size of them ...
but I guess with all the rain we had ... they should be big ... !!

And no Dagmar ... I do not have quite enough to make jam ...
YET ... !!!
These little morsels wouldn't have made the pot anyways ...
as they were meant to be devoured .... all 3 of them ...
MMMMMMM ... !!!

Preserving Broccoli ...

July 6, 2013

Headed out to the garden ...
to pick an over abundance of broccoli ...
cleaning ... blanching ... vacuum sealing ... freezing ...
  

Decided to pick some rhubarb as well ...

was hungry for a Compote ...

Rhubarb and Apple ... with a few cloves ...

served with a dollop of yogurt ...

perfect dessert ...

mmmmm

An Exchange ...

July 3, 2013
 

After meeting up with Nathan ...

returning his family to him ...

I on the other hand ... hauled the trailer with the new lawn tractor and other stuff on it ...

that Nathan had brought to me ...

Arriving home safely ... (I was a little nervous driving ...)

unloaded the snow blade for the quad ...

and then the lawn tractor and little trailer ...

I was hesitant to use his trailer that tips backwards to get the tractor off ...

so I packed our ramps to the trailer ... to unload it ...

and that was still queazy for me  ...

driving backwards heading down hill ... !!!

Everything put away ...

parked and unhooked the trailer ...

Glad to have that job done ... !!!

Excited to play with my new toy ... NOT TONIGHT THOUGH ... !!!

too tired ... !!!

Last Day Here ...

July 3, 2013
 

After a morning of crafting ...

making friendships bracelets ...

it was time to pack up ... and head for home ...

this was probably the last time ...

the kids will be visiting Grandma & Grandpas house ...

for awhile ... 

We had a wonderful time together ... !!!!

Crochet Friendship Bracelets ...

July 3, 2013

When Craig awoke this morning ...
he noticed that I had my coloured yarn on the dresser ...
and had asked what I was making ...
I told him that my dear friend Dagmar ...
had shared this nifty easy way to create friendship bracelets ...
and before I could finish them ...
I needed to get his wrist size ...
Once that was determined ... I had seven made before we even got out of bed ...
he was so delighted ...

James was the next to wake up ...
he wanted the same ones as Craig ... and Ella did too ... when she saw them ...
They were really interested in learning how to make the bracelets themselves ...
so I gathered up more yarn and crochet hooks ...
and began to give them lessons ...
I was amazed at how quickly they were able to start creating them ...

As you can see ... they continued to craft ... making a necklace too ...
Ella wanted one for her ankle ...
so Grandma whipped one up ... !!!

I also made up a care package of yarn ...

for the kids to take back home with them ...

as well as giving them the crochet hooks ...

I heard that they were still creating the bracelets ...

and sharing them with their friends ... !!!

My Rose Bush ...

 

Just a little sunshine ...

make the rosebuds open ...

into beautiful little flowers ...