How Could They?

Today we went down to a local garden to take some photos for the latest course.  On the way in, we noticed a cage that had sawdust on the bottom, looking like it belonged to a bunny.  It was sitting beside a garbage can and the lid was off.  We expressed our distress and kept our eye out for the bunny as we walked through the park.  On our way out, we saw a bunny sitting across the parking lot, walked over and discovered, this was no wild bunny.  Someone had left the bunny there, probably thinking it would survive in this nice garden with lots of plants to eat.  How could they?  With the help of some other people, we quickly caught the bunny and put him in his cage.  We called the local Humane Society who came to pick him up a short while later.  I didn't take his picture but he was a cute little guy, very comfortable in his cage and with people, including kids, and I don't know how someone could do that to a defenceless animal.  If we hadn't decided to go to this garden today, would anyone else have seen him?  How long before he was eaten by a coyote or a fox or run over by a car?  I just hope he was micro chipped so they can slap a fine on whoever left him to die.

Hendrie Valley

Yesterday we went to Hendrie Valley part of the Royal Botanical Gardens property in Burlington.  It's a great place to go for an easy hike.  They have a lovely boardwalk and well maintained trails.  Unfortunately (or fortunately depending on how you look at it), it has gotten a bit smaller as they have recently closed parts of it for conservation purposes but there is still an hour or two of hiking to be had.   You also used to be able to get into the RBG proper through a back gate instead of paying the admission.  The accountant in me did wonder why the RBG didn't lock the gate and they have finally done so.  Which is too bad because I wouldn't have minded stopping in at the tea room but wasn't about to pay a $13 admission price just to go for tea.  Whenever I walk through this park I come up with lots of great ideas for the RBG.  I probably should send them a note with my thoughts just for fun.

As well as being picturesque - the boardwalk is bordered by marshland and there are nice trails surrounded by trees - The thing you will always see there - birds.  Lots of birds.  Most of which are quite tame since everyone (except for us because we forgot) brings bird seed.  They will eat out of your hand which creeps me out so I leave that for others.  The railings of the boardwalk are a perfect dinner zone.  There were also many chipmunks some of which were being hand-fed by other hikers.  Also creeps me out.  Again, a little pile of seed at the edge of the path works just fine as far as I'm concerned.  But, as I said, we forgot our seed so just walked.

The first thing we saw when we parked were this swan and its mate having a big bath.  I love how they stand on one leg for a really long time.   These swans were completely oblivious to me being only a few feet away.  They are used to being photographed as there are always a number of photographers in this park.  I can't do bird photography justice with my little lens.  My lens feels very inferior to the lenses used by the dedicated bird photographers - those are as long as my arm.

Fending for myself

My husband has been away for the weekend so last night I got to cook what I wanted most to eat which is always fun.  I picked a butternut squash from the garden and roasted it in olive oil and a few sprinkles of curry powder.  I tried this mix a few weeks ago and would say that it is positively addictive.  So very good.

While that was cooking, I defrosted some chickpeas I cooked up from the dried beans a while ago, stir-fried them with some garlic until they were getting a bit crispy and added about an equal amount of chopped tomatoes and some rosemary.  I cooked that mix for a few minutes and then added a glug of red wine, cooked it down for a few minutes, added about a tablespoon of whipping cream and cooked it again for a minute or two.

Dumped both of these in a bowl and both were delicious.  I wasn't sure the combination of spices actually went together but it did.  I enjoyed the combo again on a panini maker at lunch with a bit of tangy cheese.  Yummy, yummy, yummy.

New Jersey

I just came back from a business trip to New Jersey.  The business part went well but the purpose of the post is to a) wonder why clothes are so much cheaper in the US than in Canada and b) mention two restaurants that I very much enjoyed.
a) I don't have much to comment on regarding the first item except maybe because the market is bigger, prices can be lower.  Import duties might have something to do with it too.  The difference in the dollar can no longer be used as an excuse.  Anyway, I bought a cute skirt, a long sleeve burgundy t-shirt for under jackets (moving away from the 15 black ones I own into something a little more complementary to my skin tone) and a pretty blouse all for under $100.
b) On the restaurant front, I enjoyed two really nice dinners.  The first was at Seasons 52, a great spot that serves dishes under 450 calories.   Tasty and relatively guilt free at the same time.  They also have  avery nice wine list that, of course, increases that calorie count.
The second was Bonefish, also a good spot where our grilled fish could be had with a delicious mango salsa.  The waiter told us that a similar recipe for the salsa was on their website which is where the link takes you.  This was great too because I met up with my oldest friend Heather who lives in the area and we had a great time catching up.  It's amazing how you can link up with someone you haven't seen in a couple of years but those years melt away as you start talking and it feels like it has only been a few days.

Tomatoes!

I picked up 1/2 a bushel or whatever the metric equivalent is of plum tomatoes at the market yesterday so my day was pretty much consumed with finding delicious ways to use them.  My main goal was to make some tomato sauce for the freezer.  In other years the plants in my garden have provided me with enough tomatoes to make a couple of batches.  But this year my plants didn't produce enough for sauce.

Also, I have stumbled upon this blog recently and found a good sounding recipe for tomato jam on the site which sounded good - and it is.  Very spicy - in the flavourful as opposed to hot sense.  Lots of ginger, cinnamon and cloves.  We had some of the extra on homemade bulgur wholewheat rolls that I also whipped up and a taste with the lamb for dinner.  Very, very good.

Even with a huge pot of sauce and 5 pounds going into the jam, I still had quite a few tomatoes left over so decided salsa sounded like a good idea too.  The salsa had the added benefit of using a couple of the hot peppers and basil from the garden.  The basil is plentiful and starting to flower so needed to be used.  The salsa is a bit on the sweet side - these hot peppers aren't very hot - but very tasty.

This morning, because all the canning gear is still in the kitchen and because I can't resist buying more than my body weight in peaches, I made peach jam.  Just my standard of peaches, sugar and lemon juice and boiling the heck out of it essentially.  But I found a recipe that had lavender in the peach jam so threw in a couple of pinches to see what it tastes like.

I do have to pick up some labels so when I go to eat it in February I don't think there are bugs in the jam.  And look at that 3/4 full jar at the back just waiting for my toast tomorrow morning!

We really don't drink this much ...

... honestly!  A few years ago, I started keeping corks because the LCBO had a recycling program.  Then one day, I took my little bag of corks in and found out that they had stopped the program.  This got me thinking about what I could do with corks and trivets came to mind.  After making one and then making more for others who liked it (basically wine drinkers), people started giving me their corks.  And giving me their corks.

Despite making several trivets and Barney (see a previous post), I still have tons of corks.  So it being Labour Day weekend and with my annual desire to be more productive setting in, I was sort of cleaning up the craft room, looked at my previous, really small 8x10 cork board and decided something needed to be done.

I happened to have this frame waiting for a project, lots of glue sticks, lots of corks and time.  The other half nailed a nice sturdy board to the back of the frame, I glued the corks on (crookedly in some places it looks like but we'll just cover those spots up) and voila!

I'm so excited by all of the space to post things that inspire me or that I want to refer to regularly.  On the previous board, the 12 reasons to exercise was buried under 4 or 5 other things.  For this regular, but reluctant, exerciser having this visible is not a bad thing.

Photo Classes

I've recently finished an 8 week course at Betterphoto.com.  I've really enjoyed it.  I'm not sure whether my pictures have gotten any better but I've been taking a lot more which has upped the chances of finding a better picture in the batch.

Betterphoto have 4 week and 8 week courses on a bunch of different topics, including how to use Photoshop which I might investigate eventually.

I wanted to do an 8 week because I felt like by the time a 4 week was over, I would feel like I was just getting started.  With the 8 week course, every Wednesday, the instructor sends an email with a lesson and an assignment and it is due for submission a week and a half later.  I like that set up because I can't always guarantee time during the week to take photos so it gives me two weekends to do the assignment pictures.

While I obviously signed up to learn, my main motivation for taking the course was to get interested in taking pictures again.  I used to take pictures all of the time but have lately lost my enthusiasm.  I wanted to get that back.  I would say that I have accomplished both goals.  The critiques from the instructor are very useful and practical.  The ability to see what the classmates are submitting and the critiques on their photos has also helped me learn.  And I'm really interested in taking pictures again.  I've been going out at least one weekend morning each week to catch the sunrise.  I had forgotten how different each of them are and, actually, how addictive it is to see what the next one will be like.  So far, while all have been lovely, I'm still looking for that spectacular sunrise so it keeps me going back.  There are far worse addictions.  And as the weather changes the other changing aspects of the scenery will keep me going back.

I uploaded my final assignment for the current class yesterday and am looking forward to my first assignment for class number two on Wednesday.

A Public Service Announcement

So, I'm quoting what I remember the doctor saying before he gave me the sedative that made me "legally drunk".  If you want the accurate stats, go to the Canadian Cancer Society or other fabulous websites out there.  You have a 1 in 16 chance of getting Colon Cancer in your lifetime.  If, like me, you have a first degree relative (mother, father, sibling) who has had Colon Cancer, you not only get a special early trip through the screening, you have a 1 in 8 chance of getting it in your lifetime.  This is on par with breast cancer.  The thing about Colon Cancer, it is highly preventable with screening.  The test is actually quite simple, especially with that aforementioned legally drunk thing happening.  The lead up to the test, not the nicest process I've had to deal with.  But better than the alternative.

Since I'm still considered legally drunk, I'm not supposed to make any financial decisions because I won't be responsible.  Maybe I'll head on over to Pink Chalk.  If a parcel should arrive in the mail next week, I can claim that I wasn't responsible for my actions!