Kootenay Environmental Video Contest

Great opportunity! Hope to see lots of entries.

Backyard Booty

I had such great plans of devoting a bit more time to my blog, but alas, it's not to happen just yet. However, to sate you all, those of you who are still around, here's a sweet nugget from home. There really is no place like home, is there?

Backyard Booty Segment: Natural Progressions from Ryan Flett on Vimeo.

Moving Forward

They always say time changes things, but you actually have to change them yourself."
~ Andy Warhol

Whitewater Winter Stoke

As we quickly tumble away from summer into cooler weather here in the Kootenays, our thoughts move away from all the summer joys of beaches, bonfires, swimming in the lake and the like and we start to dream of the winter fun that lies just beyond the horizon. For many of us, that means Whitewater ski resort. Here, we love big, fluffy flakes the flutter fearlessly thick and carpet the mountains and tree tops. We love how the snow crusts over and sparkles like diamonds. We dream of deep powder that goes flying as we glide through it. Through those dark winter months, this is what keeps our hearts beating. If you are lucky enough to find yourself in the Kootenays in the middle of winter, tap into the pulse that keeps us going. Check out the magic of Whitewater.

Success

What is Success?

To laugh often and much;

To win the respect of intelligent people
and the affection of children;

To earn the appreciation of honest critics
and endure the betrayal of false friends;

To appreciate beauty;
To find the best in others;

To leave the world a bit better, whether by
a healthy child, a garden patch
or a redeemed social condition;

To know even one life has breathed
easier because you have lived;

This is to have succeeded.

~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

Jammin'

It's that time of year again when the trees start to be laden with fruit and preserving hangs heavy in the air. As luck would have it, I was gifted a box of jamming cots. I hardly eat jam myself as I prefer to stay away from anything with too much sugar in it, however, it's always nice to have around the house for when company arrives. And truth be told, I can't resist how pretty the jars look sitting on my shelf. There are also the odd times when I come across a recipe that calls for apricot jam and it would be a pity to not have a jar or two around considering how easy it is to make and how plentiful the fruit is this time of year.

I did save some of the fruit for smoothies as I am crazy about smoothies and have been freezing up fruit where possible to get me through the winter.

As you can see, I also made some spicy red pepper jelly. Now this is a treat that I will indulge in every now and again. It's a real hit around the holidays if you pair it with crackers and cream cheese. If you'd like the recipe, you can find it here.

Chocolate Moose

Morris stood there swaying on his gangly legs, munching on whatever tasty morsels he could find. Occasionally he would cock his ears and toss a completely uninterested glance in my direction, mostly at my pathetic whistles. Typical male, eh? Well, serves him right to serve him up with chocolate. There ain't no better way to eat moose. Let's be quite frank here, most things do taste better with chocolate. Melt it and then drizzle it lightly or thickly, add cream, because most things taste better with cream too...and yes, of course, it has to be real. Someone really was dreaming when they dreamt up Dream Whip and thought they could pass it off for the real thing. Well everybody, let's hear it for Morris! Mmmmm Mmmmorris.

*Thanks for being such a good sport, fella. You're pretty yummy. Don't worry...if they don't catch on, we'll post the real pictures later.*

Chocolate Mousse

1C Sour Cream
1C Whipping Cream
1 1/2 tsp unflavoured Gelatin
2 Tbsp Water
2 Tbsp Milk
1/4 C Brown Sugar (firmly packed)
1/8 tsp Salt
6 oz of Chocolate Morsels (of course you can estimate...I personally like using a rich dark chocolate)
1 tsp Vanilla extract
2 Egg Whites

• In large bowl, combine sour cream and whipping cream. Refrigerate.
  
• Soften gelatin in water by heating.
  
• Heat milk with half the brown sugar, and salt until the sugar dissolves.
  
• Add chocolate morsels and continue heating until melted (be careful to not overheat...you may want to melt your chocolate first and then add to your milk/sugar mixture).
  
• Beat egg whites. Gradually add remaining sugar. Beat until stiff.
  
• Stir 1/4 of the beaten egg whites into the chocolate mixture until blended.
  
• Fold in remaining egg whites.
  
• Whip cream mixture until stiff.
  
• Add chocolate mixture and fold until well blended.
  
• Spoon into dishes and chill until set.

Coffee, Tea, or ....

There are at least three possible parts to a date, of which at least two must be offered: entertainment, food, and affection. It is customary to begin a series of dates with a great deal of entertainment, a moderate amount of food, and the merest suggestion of affection. As the amount of affection increases, the entertainment can be reduced proportionately. When the affection IS the entertainment, we no longer call it dating. Under no circumstances can the food be omitted.

Breath of Hope

Deep inside all new beginnings, there breathes a song of hope.

Pay Attention

"History, despite its wrenching pain, cannot be unlived, but if faced with courage, need not be lived again."

~Maya Angelou

Lessons

It is true that we do not know what we have until we lose it, but it is also true that we do not know what we have been missing until it arrives.

Nostalgia

When she finally got back to her old home town, she found it wasn't the old home that she missed, but her childhood.

Merry Kitschmas

Yes, even in the very heart of the Kootenays where beauty often surpasses beauty itself, kitsch is alive and well if you know where to look. And I wish I could add the sound bites that go with these photos. Yep, that's right, you've got the non-stop music ting-a-linging away as well. It's quite a scene. I mainly have two thoughts: first, where do they store all this stuff? Honestly, you haven't seen the half of it here. And the house is quite tiny, so I'm really not sure. And it's not just Christmas, almost any holiday that comes along, they've got a whole yard display. My second thought is that I hope that this is making some child extremely happy, although it could just as easily give nightmares. I certainly wouldn't want these images in my dreams.


Other than that, despite my silence, I wish you all extremely well. Life kind of got away from me for a bit and when I had the chance to sit still, that, not surprisingly, is all I wanted to do. And there is no better time to sit quietly than in these dark winter months. I am very much enjoying them, although I might protest the cold as I occasionally have want to do. I shall be back...most hopefully very soon.

One Thousand Years

A thousand years from this tonight
When Orion climbs the sky,
The same swift snow will still the roofs,
The same mad stars run by.

And who will know of China's war,
Or poison gas in Spain?
The dead ... they'll be forgotten, lost,
Whether they lose or gain.

Of all the brilliant strategies
Of war-lords now alive,
Perhaps a Chinese iris vase
Of porcelain may survive...

Perhaps a prayer, perhaps a song,
Fashioned of love and tears,
But only beauty, only truth,
Will last a thousand years.

~T Malone

Elderberry Magic

Here I've done it again. Life has gotten in the way, and I hardly have time to breathe, let alone blog. But for the past couple of weeks, I've been ruminating about everything I want to tell you about Elderberries and quite frankly October couldn't be more perfect month to broach the topic, for no tree is so magical, nor none surrounded by as much folklore and mystery than that of the Elder. Alas, it is the tree upon which it is purported that Judas hanged himself, as Langland's Vision of Piers Plowman stated:

'Judas he japed with Jewen silver, And sithen an eller hanged hymselve.'

Although the branches of the Elder are so willowy that I find it hard to believe that anyone could hang himself upon such a tree. But perhaps, as another tradition states, the tree only became that way after the cross of Calvary was made with it:

'Bour tree - Bour tree: crooked rong
Never straight and never strong;
Ever bush and never tree
Since our Lord was nailed on thee.'

But the Elder's mystery and folklore predate Christianity. Heathen myths of northern Europe talk about Hylde Moer, the Elder-tree mother who lived in the tree and watched over it. Should the tree be cut down and furniture be made of it, Hylde Moer would follow her property and haunt the owners. In fact, if one wanted to cut from an Elder tree, he had to first ask permission and not cut until consent was given through silence to prevent ill luck from befalling him.

Numerous other bizarre superstitions regarding the Elder extend well beyond the small borders of northern Europe. Russians believe the Elder tree to drive away evil spirits, Bohemians go to it with a spell to take away fevers and Sicilians believe that sticks from the Elder tree will kill serpents and drive away robbers. In England it was once thought that the Elder tree was never struck by lightening and that a twig of Elder tied into three or four knots and carried in one's pocket would prevent rheumatism. Some in Britain also collected Elder leaves the last day of April and affixed them to their doors and windows to prevent witches from entering their homes. In Denmark, one might see the fairy king and all his attendants go by, simply by sitting under an Elder tree on Mid-summer's Eve.

But more exciting than all this folklore, is what I shall get to in my next post: the medicinal benefits and folk remedies that come from Elderberries.

Being

At the end of the day, all that matters is who is in your life.

Dreamy

We are such stuff as dreams are made on; and our little life is rounded with a sleep.

~W. Shakespeare

Market Street Fest

Nothing incites the imagination more than one of Nelson's summer street festivals. Hippies descend from the surrounding mountains to dance freely in the streets to local bands. The artistic crowd sets up tents and tables to display their offerings. A large smattering of Nelson's residents and many tourists turn up to enjoy the festivities and breathe it all in. It's a place to run into old friends and meet new, try Little Miss Gelato's new summer flavours or some old Doukhobor specialties. It's a place to be transported to another plane of reality (but we won't go there). Merchants keep their shops open late and there is no better place to sit back and do some serious people watching. If you happen to be passing through Nelson during the summer and you're curious to discover the "true" flavour of this unique little town, find out when their next street festival is and head down to Baker Steet.

Crazy Making

A fanatic is one who can't change his mind and won't change the subject.

~Winston Churchill

Unfortunate

Adulterate: to debase or make impure by adding inferior materials or elements ; use cheaper, inferior, or less desirable goods; to falsify.

latin - "adulteratus": to falsify.

In one context, making an impure substance.

A substance can also be the opposite: unadulterated, pure.

In another to make a relationship impure, harmful and less valuable (adultery).