Year Two Day Two Hundred and Twenty Four - Cleaning Paint Brushes

Dear all, 

Yep this is 'unusual'. 

School is nearly here and I decided to be *extremely* proactive today and [wait for it].... clean my paint box! People who know me and my paint box ways (Darren and Karen) will be shocked/ bewildered/ overwhelmingly surprised by this act of defiance. I am not known for my 'tidy' method of painting (i have been described a 'loose and free'), nor my abilities in paint brush wrangling..... so, check this out!!!!!

Here are my (lovely yet yukky) paints exposed and being cleaned. I checked, squeezed and rolled all my lovely oils, threw away any duds and wiped my lovely paintbox clean. Darren bought me the paintbox in an attempt to contain my 'expressive use' of paint. He did well... but it meant that this 'expression' was directly entirely into the box ( ie. horrid colour mess). Lovely Karen, also has tried to help me.. she is so tidy.. I literally wish I could have a paint set like hers! I know, however, that she will be proud of my latest endeavours!

Here are my paints! All cleaned and colour coordinated in the lower tranche of the box. Hurray! I must add - it was a decidedly meditative experience... now I pledge to keep my paints clean all year! 

Hurray for school! I can't wait! 

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Twenty Three - The Hoe

Dear all, 

Today, Darren and I are back at the weeding! Darren picked up a 'hoe' to help us try and banish those weeds! My attempts from earlier in the summer where already thwarted... the weeds have been loving the weather clearly *gaaa*. 

Here I am (appropriately dressed of course) using the hoe!

Getting those weeds hacked out! Nothing like spending an evening gardening. 

Darren had been doing some research and had found that a combination of dish soap and vinegar kills weeds! We thought we would give it a try.. nothing to lose and chemical free!

Here is Darren blasting those weeds! The only downside - we both smelt like a fish and chip shop afterwards! That vinegar sure was potent! 

I'll keep everyone posted as to whether it works!

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Twenty Two - Cabbage Casserole

Dear all, 

Today we tried about a fabulous new recipe sent to us by Darren's amazing mum, Joyce: Cabbage Casserole! Joyce had mentioned that they had tried it and everyone had liked it - the cabbage was apparently 'disguised' very well within the dish - no a problem for some { for example - i love cabbage} but possibly a useful quality for those who find the cruciferous vegetables not to their palate). 

I started out with a cabbage and onion, chopped them up, popped them in a dish and seasoned with salt and pepper. 

I then melted some butter (around 1/2 stick) and poured it over the cabbage/onion mix.

 Next, the magic ingredient: Campbell's cream of mushroom soup! I mixed in 1/4 cup mayo to the soup and then poured it on top of the cabbage.

I then combined 1 cup of shredded cheddar cheese with 1 sleeve of crushed crackers. Joyce used Ritz crackers but all we had some some trusty Bretons which seemed to do the trick. Around 33 of the crackers in all. 

Then melt on stick of butter and pour that over the top of the cracker mix. 

The cheesy cracker mix covers the cabbage as a 'crumble'. 

Bake at 350oC until it looks golden brown - around 35/40 mins. 

It smells great in the oven and is very tasty - a great addition to my culinary repertoire, thank you Joyce for another wonderful recipe!

 And in other news:
1. A quick sketch for the weekend!

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Twenty One - Creemore Coffee Studio

Dear all, 

Today, Heather and I tried out the newest coffee shop in town - The Creemore Coffee Studio!

It's situated in the renovated 'Enterprise Bulletin' Building in Collingwood, another amazing project from the Masterminds behind the Tremont, Rick and Anke. http://www.thetremont.ca/

They have a fantastic array of coffees; I chose a frozen Latte and Heather picked a frozen 'Peruvian' latte. Both were refreshing and extremely tasty.  

It's quaint, small but has a cosmopolitan feel (and the coffee tastes great)... there were also some delectable treats on offer but we decided to stick with beverages....

Definitely a great addition to the Collingwood coffee drinking scene!

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Twenty - Vita Mix

Dear all, 

With huge excitement today, Jenny and I went around to Karla's to try out her new pride and joy: The Vita Mix!https://www.vitamix.com/Home

 We had a ton of fruit and veg so got to work ( Jessie was helping, of course). 

We started off 'making' from scratch, the almond milk. After peeling the almonds that had been soaked overnight.. we popped them in the Vitamix with some water and blend blend blend!

If you can believe it - here is the finished milk! Karla strained the pulp and this is what's left - pure, delicious almond milk. 

SO - the first smoothie! Karla put an orange, an avocado, some lime and a banana in the Vita Mix. Then some kale and apple. And some peach. 

The Vita Mix is the Porsche of the blending world - it manages to blend to an extreme level, even pulps seeds! Now that's healthy. 

Here is smoothy #1. Amazing! It looks green but tasted smooth, of peaches with a hint of banana... just delicious. My body was saying yay yay health!!!

Yep - I drank it quickly!

Next up ( after a quick clean - you add a drop of dish soap inside the vita mix and turn on - brilliant!)... a berry bonanza! 

Here we have apples, peaches, berries... milk.. ahhh!

And here is the finished juice - amazing!!!!! Fresh, tangy, cold and delicious! 

Such an amazing evening - I love the Vita Mix! Thank you Karla xxx

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Nineteen - Railway track Run From Stayner To Collingwood

Dear all, 

This is a *slightly* delayed blog post... I found these photos tucked away on my blackberry, hurray! Karla and I ran from Stayner to Cwood (around 15/17km) along the railway track as part of our half marathon training ( but more importantly - social time)

Karla's wonderful partner, Jay dropped us at the end of the disused railway line in Stayner...with our mission: to run back to Collingwood! 

It was a fantastic day and the view was just incredible - the trail was impeccably maintained and so quiet, we saw virtually no one for the entire run. 

I would highly recommend this route to any avid local runner looking to find a picturesque route as part of their distance training. 

It was such a glorious day, we put the world to rights and ended up at Espresso Post for a lovely latte... sigh. http://espressopost.com/ Life is great! Karla is the most amazing running partner I could ever wish for! 

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Eighteen - Ground Hog

Dear all,

Today, while Rebecca and I were out walking along towards the Collingwood terminals we spotted a ground hog (also known as wood chuck, land beaver or whistle pig (??) http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog) ... not so strange in these parts... but this ground hog had absolutely no fear!

It wasn't this one (above), I just thought he was cute. Below you may see the lake... and the skyline...and some rock... but look a little *closer*

Yep - here he is! He was brazen as could be... we were about 1 metre away when he decided to 'saunter' back into his nest. amazing!

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Seventeen - Georgian Registration

Dear all, 

There is a cool breeze in Collingwood.. I spotted a fallen bright red maple leaf on my run yesterday... The Fall is coming! *(FYI - for the most part, I do still call the season between September and late November, Autumn). Anyway, back to school in September and today we registered for classes!!!! All online using the Georgian website, it took all of 2 minutes! I was on a compulsory conference call with Karen throughout to ensure we had registered for the same classes... Actually, in the 2nd year, we don't get to choose... so an easy sign up - it took a couple of clicks of the mouse!

We have 5 mandatory courses this semester and a busy schedule...including WELDING! haha.

 Back to school! HURRAY! 

And in other news:
1. I am almost positive I could write a daily blog just about little boy, Dan. Check out that smile!

Year Two Day Two Hundred and Sixteen - Painting the Tremont

Dear all, 

I spent a wonderful part of today painting with Michelle and Darla at the The Tremont - fine artists are work on mass!!! 

Darla is a fantastic painter and so skilled - she taught me how to roll properly, how to 'cut in', how to hold my brush - it was fantastic!

We made small work of painting the huge space, listening to wonderful jazz and chatting away. I was running backwards and forwards from work but still managed to squeeze in quite a few hours of painting which made me very happy. 

Here we are in action! Wonderful.

Such a great day - more photos to come, I'm sure. The studio is looking brilliant white, clean and fresh!