Weekend Camping ...

September 25-27, 2015

We spent Friday night enjoying dinner outside by the campfire ...

about 40 km up on Caven Creek Rd.

We accepted an invitation to spend the weekend ...

with our friends Denise and Rocko ...

It was a beautiful evening sitting by the campfire ...

watching the almost full moon rise ...

The morning we enjoyed fresh eggs for breakfast from their chickens ...

before we headed out on the quads to Cherry Lake ...

stopping along the way ...

when Rocko spotted 2 Grouse ...

They were going to be part of our evening meal ...

Travelling on the bush roads ... we passed by a couple trappers cabins ...

we were fortunate to meet the grandson ...

that used to stay out at the one room collapsed cabin ...

The larger building belonged to Chris Olson ...

We finally made it to Cherry Lake ... we were surprised to see how low the lake was ...

Denise and I made our way around the lake ...

with our fly fishing rods ...

Casting our lines out ... and within a few minutes ...

Denise caught a fish ... and while she was tending to her fish ...

I had caught one too ... taking a quick picture ...

before I brought it up to shore ...

We continued to fish ... but the wind was picking up ...

which made it difficult to get a good cast out into the water ...

We decided to go to the other side of the lake ...

where Mike and Rocko were fishing ...

they also caught a couple fish ... but released them as they were too small ...

We all stayed a little longer ... casting in our lines ...

the weather was getting worse ...

We packed up our gear and started to head back to the campsite ...

stopping at the creek once we crossed it to check out the watercress ...

Our round trip to Cherry Lake and back ...

was about 17km ...

Quads tucked away ...

taking a break ... enjoying some socialbles ...

before Rocko started making dinner ...

his famous spaghetti sauce ... with penne noodles ...

Denise was inside the travel trailer ...

making appetizers ...

delicious zucchini/vegetable patties ... pan fried ...

then topped with grated parmesan cheese ...

We had a lovely pasta dinner ... out in the wilderness ... !!!

Sunday morning we enjoyed another delicious breakfast ...

before heading out in another direction ...

to go fly fishing again in the pools ...

It was a beautiful, sunny warm day ...

We stopped at a couple spots along the trip ...

unfortunately we did not catch any fish ...

even though we could see them in the crystal clear water ...

We were close to the campsite ... all of about 2 km ...

We had a great weekend ...

no phones ... wifi ... nothing ...

just good friends getting together having fun ...

outside in the good old fresh air ...

We plan on going on a camping adventure again ...

only the next time ...

we will hopefully have our travel trailer ...

when it finds its way back home ... !!!

 

The Business of Fall ...

September 22, 2015

More tomatoes to be processed ...

today I decided to make tomato sauce ...

blanching them and chopping them up in the food processor ...

cooking it until it was a thick sauce ...

I love these little Tupperware containers ... which are usually used to make hamburger patties ...

to pre freeze the produce before putting them in the vacuum sealer bags ...

Once again I received some garden goodies from our neighbour ...

some delicious celery and bok choy ...

The celery was prepared ... the stalks going into the refrigerator ...

the leaves placed in the dehydrator for a few hours ...

then stored into some mason jars ...

 

September 23, 2015

The first day of Autumn ... nothing better than processing an abundance of apples ...

making them into applesauce ...

There was a pleasant aroma in the kitchen ...

Once again using the little containers ... which are the perfect size for a cup proportion...

placed them in the freezer until they were firm enough to be placed ...

in the vacuum Food Saver Bags ...

It was a warm afternoon ...

so we decided to close down the pool for the season ...

The hot tub needed to be drained and refilled as well ...

Instead of draining part of the pool water out onto the grass ...

I suggested to Mike to fill the hot tub with the pool water ...

which would be better than filling it with the water from the well ...

As you can see by the thermometer ... it was time ...

just a little too chilly to go swimming now ...

The hot tub was cleaned and filled with the pool water ...

the rest of the pool water was drained out on the lawn ...

taking it down just below the outlet ...

We finished with covering the pool with a winter pool cover ...

cleaned the sand filter ... drained all the lines ...

and put the solar panels away ...

This job was done and ready for next year ... !!!

 

Eavestrough Installed ...

September 22, 2015

It was the perfect day ... weather wise ... to have the eavestrough installed ...

It was an interesting machine ... making the continuous eavestrough ...

a flat piece of aluminum fed thru the machine ...

producing a well formed tray ...

We were impressed with John ... working alone and getting the task done ...

by the end of the day ...

He also attached all the downspouts and leaf guards ...

Happy to have this part of the renovations finished ... no worries now if it rains ... !!!

While John was working on the house ...

Mike was out in the shop ...

working on the VW ... sandblasting parts ... getting the pieces ready for the next phase ...

Mike welded some pieces of metal on the frame ...
and ground it down smooth ...
I enjoy watching the process of the VW being restored ...

It is going to take a bit of time to before it will be put back together ...

 

Fresh Produce ...

September 20, 2015

After the pictures were taken of my bouquet ...

the parsley was washed ...

and placed in the dehydrator ...

Ten hours later ... the parsley was dried ...

The next step was to remove the parsley from the stems ...

then putting them into glass sealer jars ...

to use when fresh parsley is not available ...

Our neighbour Bonnie ...

has a beautiful bountiful garden ...

she is always sharing her produce as well ...

Today I was given some fresh leeks ...

decided to make Potato Leek soup ...

using my garlic, onion and potatoes ...

This soup makes a hardy meal ...

especially when served with fresh bread ...

It sure was thick and creamy ...

stick to your ribs ... delicious ... !!!

 

 

All Things Edible ...

September 19, 2015

After working on stacking the firewood ...

I decided to go into the garden and pick some parsley ...

to dry in the dehydrator ...

Having a bouquet of parsley in my hands ... thought I would add some swiss chard ... kale ... etc ...

and before I realized it ... the colours were popping out ...

a beautiful arrangement was created ...

My camera within reach ... I proceeded to take a few snapshots ...

Love this app ... Waterlogue ... on my iPad ...

taking a couple of my pictures ...

and had them painted in the natural watercolour theme ...

Just puts a whole new look on the produce ... !!!

 

 

Firewood Day ...

September 19, 2015

It was a cool day ...

perfect for getting a load of firewood ...

Mike did all the cutting today ...

and I stacked the logs into "Old Blue"...

We ended up getting two loads of firewood ...

the second load was really full ... we even scraped the ground going up the little road ...

Happy to have stacked ... another half a row of fir logs done ...

a couple more hours and the second row will be finished ...

with only one more row of pine wood to cut up for the not so cold days and nights...

It felt good to be outdoors and getting a great workout ... !!!

 

 

Silver Fox Run ...

September 18, 2015

Joseph Creek Senior Village held the Silver Fox Run ...

for the Terry Fox Foundation ... and Canadian Cancer Society ...

There were a lot of the residents and family members taking part in this activity ...

There were a couple routes for the runners and walkers to take ...

Our group did a 2 km route ...

arriving back at the starting point in time for a BBQ lunch ...

It was a party ... with a new band playing music ...

and trekking around meeting people I had not seen in a long time ...

 

There was a Silent Auction held as well ...

to raise more funds ... Last call for the prizes was announced ...

As I was walking back inside the building ...

I stopped at a couple tables ... added my name to the list for 2 gift packages ...

I was so excited with getting the beautiful wicker basket ...

It was a good day all the way around ...

Joseph Creek Village did well with their contributions ... !!!

 

Last Batch of Plums ...

September 17, 2015

This was the last of the plums that were going to be used ...

Figured I would make some Zwetschkenknodel (Plum Dumplings)...

to have during the winter months ...

making them and putting a few in the vacuum sealer bags ...

and put into the freezer ...

After the dumplings were made ...

it was time to go outside and enjoy the rest of the day ...

It's hard to believe these mushrooms were popping up all over ...

with the amount of rain we had ...

after such a dry spell a few weeks ago ...

Our lawn and grassy areas were beyond growing anything ...

being dry and golden colour from lack of moisture ...

Thought our yard care was finished for the year ...

but it looks like we will still have to cut the lawn a few more times ...

into the fall weather ...

 

Working With Plums ...

September 14, 2015

I had always talked about getting a dehydrator ...

having another way to preserve my produce ...

I was fortunate enough to receive one from Dagmar ... she no longer needed it ...

I was grateful ... !!!

So ... I began pitting lots of plums and placing them on the trays ...

ended up using four trays ...

then plugging in the Dehydrator ... letting let it run all night ...

I was amazed at how well they turned out ...

plus being so tasty ... !!!

 

September 15, 2015

The dried plums were packaged up into vacuum sealer bags ...

I also pitted about another few pounds ...

to be vacuumed sealed and placed in the freezer ...

A treat to look forward to in the winter months ... !!!

September 16, 2015

Still have lots of plums ...

decided to bake a cake ...

using moms "Simple Cake" recipe ...

Oh my ... the aroma in the kitchen was overwhelmingly delicious ...

couldn't wait for this Plum cake to finish baking ...

Once it was cooled ... I cut myself a small piece to enjoy with and afternoon coffee ... !!!

MMMMMMMM

(I did share a portion of this cake with the neighbours ... in exchange for some different produce)

While the cake was baking ...

more plums were pitted ...

to make a batch of Plum Jam ... !!!

Excited to have some fresh biscuits ... spread with a dollop of fresh jam ... !!!

I needed to work with a different colour of produce ...

Thought cooking up a Spagetti Squash for dinner was a great idea ...

This was enough of being in the kitchen for one day ...

it was time to go for a quick walk before dinner ... !!!