Huckleberries

I've never seen or thought about huckleberries before until I moved out here to western Canada. But I think that, that has got to be one of the best names for a berry! I saw an ad in the paper for a Huckleberry Festival and liked the way it sounded and so off we went on a two hour drive to this ski resort that was hosting the festival. It didn't look like the nicest day but checking the weather before hand I decided we would be ok with light sweaters and shorts and I even chose to wear sandals. When we arrived at the mountainous location it was six degrees. And everyone had on hiking boots, pants and lots of layers. But I was bound and determined to make the best of our huckleberry excursion. We got lift tickets some buckets and slowly, slowly got lifted to the top of the hill. The slow progression on the lift made it all the more cold while I endured all kinds of comments about the choice of my attire. Yes, thank you, I realize I made a bad decision with the sandals and shorts, I want to say as I smile, and gritting my teeth! 

 At the top we take a few steps and my husband says to me so what do they look like, and I say I read that they look like a blueberry (what a boring name for a berry) so we look a bit and I found a little bush with burgundy leaves that had deep purply blue berries and I pick one. I eat it and fake a dramatic choke and then say well they are safe, these must be it. So we start picking tiny berries from soaking wet bushes on top of a mountain that must have been 3 degrees (IN AUGUST!!) ! And also I should mention they are pretty sparse little bushes.

 I'd say we endured about 15 min. only because our hands stopped functioning at around that point, and collected half a cup of berries. Good times, good times. 
 On the way down, as it was on the way up the lift we spotted deer walking by and this time they were walking even right beneath our chair! That was cool. The sights were awesome. The experience was....an experience. And hey, I got to make some Huckleberry muffins after!

2 cups flour  1/2 tsp. salt  1 tb. baking powder  1 cup sugar
Sift these ingredients together. Stir in 1/2 cup huckleberries (or more if you could gather more:) or just plain old blueberries)
In a separate bowl mix
2 eggs  3/4 cup oil  1 1/4 cup greek yogurt  1 1/2 tsp. vanilla
Gently stir this into the dry ingredients with 1/2 cup white chips
Plop into greased 12 cup muffin tin and bake in preheated 400 degree oven for 20 min.

 

 If its a typical August day sit outside and enjoy the fruits of your labor!
 So from all this I guess I should learn, always be prepared and don't have to many expectations!

Learing from Mistakes

Now I know…

 

::Even though I’d like to do less work on the weekend, because it’s the weekend, I now realise there is just more to do because everyone is home, making more of a mess in the house.

 

::Just because I like trying new recipes, doesn’t mean everyone else does. “What your not excited about beans in cookies?”

 

::There is no proper schedule for house keeping.

 

::We all need the space, patience, and time to be each our own person.

 

::Beer does not taste good in soup or bread. It’s just good for a drink.

 

::Life never gets easier. You either learn and move on, or adapt-whether the situation is good or bad.

 

::A large amount of chopped onions in the freezer stinks up the freezer and even the room the freezer is in for a while L

 

…now I just need to remember all the mistakes I learned from! J

Super Slippery Fun

"Buttercup", our new addition is doing very well. She has grown and it is still hard to believe she even weighs about 3 lbs.! Holly is doing an awesome job being her mummy.

Another cucumber idea. Its something of a cold cucumber tea. I adapted it from the prevention's flat belly diet. To 8 cups of water add a large sliced cucumber, tsp of ground ginger (I would have used fresh if I had it, but this tasted fine) a couple tablespoons of dried peppermint (again with the woulda used fresh if I had it) And half a lemons juice. Toss the pieces in with the rest ( but of course I only had bottled juice) Let sit overnight or so and the water is so tasty and refreshing. Its ugh hum.....spa water. ;)

This is a great idea for kids (sorry I should not limit this to just childs play), or anyone, on a hot summer day. 

You stick the kids in the trampoline, and just add soap and water!!

Ever seen a soap angel before!?

Its handy too for when they are looking a little dull, and crusty. They clean up real well with this fun. :D

Super Slippery Fun

What is it that killed the cat again?!?!

Ya that's my cat "Saraphina", I guess she needs to go check out the roof or something. I don't know what she's thinking, maybe "I've never got this angle before to see where the birds are at" or "I wonder if moles, mice, or shrew hide up here?" or probably "I cant help myself, I just have to go up here!"

Hello!

(insert cute squeakie tone of voice) "Hello, My name is Buttercup. I was adopted a month ago and I'm 12 weeks old. My new family LOVES me so much. I am super cute, can u blame them?"

My oldest, Holly was allowed to buy herself a puppy with money she saved up. And so we all have the advantage of helping out and enjoying Buttercups company as well. She is such a blessing. A lot of work and patience is needed but I believe she is being used to teach us all many good things. And the fluffy snuggles and stinky kisses are a huge added bonus!

Great Grand Questions!

We recently had a visit from Great Grandma, and a second cousin who travelled many provinces over. My youngest made the visit very memorable for me. She clearly remembers her Great Grandma, and with having only met her a couple of times is pretty impressive. But I believe its that she finds Great Grandma very fascinating. And she was quite impressed that she wore a "princess dress" the last time she saw her. Well the curiosity of her 4 year old self got the better of her later on when she stared asking about Great Grandmas moles, her gold teeth, her wig ...um hum, yup I don't think she left any questions unasked! Oh ya she also asked "why do you have cracks in your face?" So she tells her little 88 year younger great grand daughter, "well when you get my age you will have cracks in your face too." But really I was so thankful that my Grandma was so kind in all her answers, being understanding of her curiosity. 

Little Great Grand Daughter giving Great Grandma a stuffy to sleep with at bed time.

Four Generations of mothers and daughters! (Gods richest blessings)

A Local Garden Centre with a Sense of Humour

I'm sorry...but I thought this was funny!

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Happy People...enjoy the fundamental, often very simple things in life...They savour the moment, glad to be alive, enjoying their work, their families, the good things around them...Their eyes are turned outward; they are aware, compassionate. They have the capacity to love. -Jane Canfield

This was a sight that I had to capture, while we were driving down the highway!