blackberries

We are on the Sunshine Coast, visiting with Andy's brother Dave and his wife Pam. Their home here is just beautiful. We are having a lovely time, exploring, swimming, cooking, eating and lounging and enjoying the beautiful view out over the ocean.

On Friday evening we went out for a walk after supper. We brought a bowl and picked blackberries along the way. Blackberry bushes are fierce, with thousands of slanted prickles. People try to keep them cut back, so you often have to perch on the side of a hill, or wade into the brush to get to the good berries. Then you have to find the ripe ones: All of the berries are black, but the ripe ones come off the bush easily. The sour ones hang on tight. So you have to shake hands with 50 blackberries to pick 20 good ones.

Here are some photos of our blackberry adventure, which began around 7:30pm and ended as the light was failing just around 9.

The reward? A brimming bowl of late summer sweetness. We gobbled them Saturday morning with our breakfasts.

question: do you pick blackberries?

mompoet - shaking hands with summer

fringeburger

Andy and I went to volunteer training tonight, for the Vancouver Fringe Festival. We're going to be ticket sellers for some Fringe venues. Here's the yummy burger that members of the Fringe staff team cooked up for my supper.

We're pretty impressed - not just with the supper, but with the organization and spirit we felt all around us. We know the shows are excellent. Now we're going to get an insider's perspective on the festival. We hope to see a bunch of shows too.

question: what's your fringeburger?

mompoet - I like doing new things.

flusterbucket

Fiona has been in Toronto since Monday. I miss her a lot. I'm also very curious about what she's doing and how she's feeling. On the surface, I'm pretty calm about the whole thing. After all, this is an amazing experience for her. I'm sure it's stressful but it also has to be a wonderful treat to be immersed in what she loves to do, and surrounded by people who love it too. I am cool with that.

There is, however, evidence that I have been experiencing moments of extreme dunderheaded panic and bewilderment:

1. We left our house Monday at 4:45am, to get Fiona to the airport for 5:30 check-in. We parked at the airport. I got out of the car and checked in my purse for my cell phone. Guess what I found? The cordless phone from my kitchen! Um, I think I brought the wrong phone. So I took it out of my purse and stuck it in the console of my car. Then I forgot about it when I got home, but looked at it and remembered, whenever I was out in the car. On Tuesday evening I finally remembered to get the phone out of my car and back into my kitchen.

2. Tonight I was out with Andy at volunteer orientation for The Vancouver Fringe Festival. What a wonderful night we had! The training was excellent, and we're going to have a splendid Fringe experience. We got home and there was a message on our answering machine. It was a nice long message, and it was from Fiona! But the connection was so bad, her words were all broken up and we couldn't understand anything except, "Love you!" at the end. Darn it! I was totally disappointed and sad and wishing I could unscramble bad phone sound and know what she was saying to us. Blegh!

So now I just have to breathe out and acknowledge that I am jazzed about all this. There's nothing I can do but be calm and patient and try not to haul major appliances out the door. What will be will be.

question: did you ever wish you knew everything about everything right now?

mompoet - sigh...

seniors' games

This week, 4,000 athletes will be in Burnaby for the 2012 BC Seniors' Games. As a staff member at a Burnaby recreation centre, I have been helping with preparations. I have seen our athletes practising and preparing for their competitions, and I have given my support to those who are volunteering to help organize and run the games. It's a huge undertaking. Athletes will come from all over BC to compete in everything from archery to one act plays. The youngest will be around 55 years old. The oldest will be in their 90s.

Last night I attended volunteer training and accreditation. Now I have my name badge and T-shirt, and I'm ready to report to work on Thursday evening, when I will assist at a participants' social evening at Burnaby Village Museum.  I know it's going to be a marvelous night for everyone. I am looking forward to seeing the athletes and volunteers who call our recreation centre home, and to meeting people from other parts of the province.

I hope that when I am 70+ I will participate in BC Seniors' Games! In the meantime, all the best to our Burnaby athletes and volunteers, and a warm welcome to everyone who is visiting us. Thank you for making 2012 BC Seniors' Games a success!

question: what will you do when you are 72?

mompoet - I'm not totally sure, but I bet I will be having some kind of fun

playoff eyebrows

Andy and I are home from the airport this morning. We dropped Fiona off for her 7am flight to Toronto, where she will participate in Dorothy Farm, the next part of the Over the Rainbow competition. We will be thinking of her and wishing her well all week long. We don't know how much we'll know about what she is doing, as it is being kept quiet so as not to spoil the surprise for the TV show that will begin on September 16. I told her I will try to post my blog throughout the week, so if she needs a smile from home, it will be here for her.

Since she came home from callbacks in June, Fiona has been growing her eyebrows. The top 20 Dorothy contenders were asked to leave their brows alone until their return to Dorothy Farm. Fiona has beautiful brows, but I know it has been hard to let them grow. I told her earlier this week that I have been holding off on going to have my brows shaped while she has been growing hers. It's been a quiet act of solidarity, not having super neat brows while she has been managing her growing-out ones. I think she genuinely appreciated that.

Andy was in on the conversation. He mentioned that Alex, our son, grew a beard for hockey playoffs. He suggested that we, as a family, should grow playoff eyebrows. We could show our support for Fiona in the Dorothy competition by letting our brows grow bushy and wild. Those of us (ahem) who are susceptible to mono-brow could even let that happen. The more our brows grow, the stronger Fiona's chance of success.

I pictured us in a CBC TV interview, looking like a Cro-Magnon family.  "Me McIntyre! Me support daughter!" That would beat "Go Fiona" t-shirts all to heck, now wouldn't it?

question: what do you do to show your support for someone you love?

mompoet - whatever it takes...

Barb's binary birthday

My sister Barbara was in town for her birthday. At her request, I baked a delicious lemon cake from The Moosewood Cookbook. It's actually called Sour Cream Orange Cake in the cookbook, but Barb has adapted it to a lemon cake, and it's her birthday favourite. I substituted lemon for orange, Limoncella liqueur for Gran Marnier in the syrup that soaks the baked cake, and baked it into two layer pans instead of a bundt, sliced the two layers to make four, filled it with lemon curd between the layers and frosted it with fresh whipped cream. Did I mention it is a birthday favourite? The cake was about a foot tall when I got finished, and everyone's eyes about popped out when we sang happy birthday. Here's Barb blowing our the candles:

Thank you to Fiona for snapping the photos. Thank you to Barb's and my Dad, for teaching us how to count up birthdays in binary, thus saving us many 30+ cake meltdowns. In case you are checking how old Barb is, please read from left to right from the birthday girl's point of view. Although Barb might tell you otherwise.

question: how do you express your age in binary?

mompoet: ON, ON, off, off, ON, ON this coming November (which is not a prime, and also symmetrical - oh well, there's always next year)

catching up - BC Day weekend

This summer is going very quickly! I think I'm out of the habit of posting my blog regularly. The days just keep filling with lots to do and not so much time to reflect and record.

We had an excellent BC Day weekend. My sister Barb and her husband Kim and their youngest son Simon came from Cranbrook for a visit. They stayed with my parents, so we had some get togethers at their house including Barb's birthday supper, which is still in my camera, I think.

On Saturday we had lox and bagels on the porch, a traditional Ryeburn family breakfast (except in winter when we have lox and bagels in the dining room). After that Alex and Lukas took off to see Spiderman in the AVX theatre at Alex's work. Andy went to the beach. My Mom went to White Rock with a bunch of people to visit a yarn store then have a picnic. Fiona went to dance class. My Dad stayed home (well maybe he also went on a walk around Burnaby Lake).

Barb, Kim and I took the Skytrain into Vancouver, then walked from Waterfront Station all around the Vancouver waterfront and Stanley Park, to English Bay. Kim went in for a swim. Barb and I waded in. There were thousands of people at the beach, enjoying the sun and staking out spots for the fireworks display that would happen later.

We walked up Denman and had lunch at Number 1 Pho Restaurant. I loved my avocado milkshake.

As we continued down Robson in search of a birthday latte for Barb, we met some people selling "Gay for a Day" kits, in preparation for the Pride Parade. We bought some.

Then we found lattes at Cafe Artigianno on Robson. I had a birthday cake in the works at home, but I think these lattes tasted even better.

By the time we finished the lattes and caught the Skytrain home, we were tired! Mom and Dad took Barb, Kim, Simon and Alex out for sushi supper, but Andy and I decided just to chill with a quiet supper on our porch at home.

What a splendid day in Vancouver with my lovely family.

question: where would you go? what would you eat? who would you go with? if you had a day in Vancouver?

mompoet - full up with summer's goodness

our family vacation

We had a super nice time. After our big adventure at Skookumchuck Narrows we decided to have a quiet day at the house. We watched eagles, played board games and barbequed steaks. It was great.

Nelson was a bit frightened by the eagles, and also by a couple of bard owls who whooted intermittently from the treetops, but he relaxed and enjoyed himself after a while.

Just before we left, we captured a family photo. I think we'll use it for our Christmas card this year. What do you think?

Oh yeah, we could be in a catalogue or on a calendar or something. Don't you think?



Seriously. It was a great vacation. We're home now, refreshed and relaxed and happy to have enjoyed a few days together.





question: what did you do on your summer vacation?

mompoet - feeling photogenic

big strong water

Alex, Andy, Fiona and I walked to Skookumchuk Narrows today. It's an amazing place where strong ocean tides are squeezed through a narrow passageway, resulting in fierce currents and huge waves.

We watched kayakers riding on the waves and took lots of pictures. The Narrows are at the end of a 4 kilometer forest walk. Lots of people were there for the extra high tide. It is spectacular.

question: where do you go to look at the water?

mompoet - amazed by the force of nature

family campfire night

We are on the Sunshine Coast enjoying a family getaway. We're staying at the beautiful home of Andy's brother and his wife. They have a fire pit in their yard, so we had a marshmallow roast last night, and made s'mores.

After the campfire, we brought all of the s'more supplies in and washed off the marshmallow sticks. There are bears in the neighbourhood, and we don't want to have them nosing around the house at night. We didn't have any visitors that we noticed, but of course I dreamed about a mom and cubs browing around between the house and the deck, trapping us outdoors.

This is a heavenly place, campfire, absent bears, s'more-fueled dreams and all.

question: do you like s'mores? want s'more?

mompoet - happy

worth the wait - nature's bounty in our garden

Here are the first 4 delectable fruit from our Sweet 100s plant, growing in a pot on our deck. We also have Early Girl, also in a pot. The two plants are about 6 feet tall and covered already in blossoms and green fruit. Bees and sunshine, do your work!

Andy and Fiona are out for the day, so Alex and I got to eat these, which is fitting. We are the tomato-lovers of the household. Alex especially loves the ones we grow at home. He talks about them all winter and asks when they will be ready as soon as we start with our plants in the spring.

I made bacon, lettuce and tomato sandwiches. To use these I would have needed a teeny-tiny loaf of bread and a piece of micro-bacon, neither of which I have, so instead I used regular-scale ingredients and gave the 4 tiny toms a place of honour as garnish tomatoes, speared onto our sandwiches with toothpicks. I wish I had taken a picture of the sandwiches, but they were so good we just ate them!

The garden down in the yard is looking amazing too.

I'm making a 19th birthday family feast for Fiona tonight. The rhubarb has been baked into a crisp, along with apple slices and blueberries because there wasn't enough to do all rhubarb. I think it will be delish, and a wonderful summer birthday cake alternative.

This is Andy's and my third summer of vegetable gardening in our back yard and on our deck. He plants, feeds, weeds and waters. I pick and cook. May and June were pretty discouraging but now that we have sunshine, everything is leaping up and and doing its exuberant best to catch up and grow, grow, grow. So I will cook, cook, cook. I do love summer!

question: how does your garden grow?

mompoet - two brown thumbs, but golden in the kitchen

dreambit deja vu

Walking home from work Tuesday, I caught a glimpse of real life that coincided with something that I experienced in a dream.  If you remember this blog post, I have attempted to pedal a unicycle up North Road while carrying 2 suitcases in my hands. On Tuesday, I saw a fairly close approximation in real life.

I saw a man riding his unicycle northbound on North Road, towards Burquitlam Shopping Centre. He was carrying a satchel with a shoulder strap. It was tucked under his arm, so not quite the same degree of difficulty as my 2 suitcases, one in each hand - but still!

I wanted to ask him if he was going to Safeway to buy Lifesavers, but he was pedaling pretty fast.

I have never seen that before (except in my dream).

question: what does it mean when the least likely part of your dream appears in real life?

mompoet - I forgot to mention, the man was not wearing a bike helmet. Come to think of it, neither was I - in the dream, I mean.

red pizza and green pizza

Thursday evenings in the summer, I work until 6:30. I came home and wanted to make something quick and really delicious. I had two bags of Iranian flatbread from Joes' Market, so I made our family's favourite pizzas:

Here's the red pizza ready to eat, and the green pizza still under construction. I had a Duke's Cider on the go, so I didn't mind waiting for the second one to get into the oven.

Red pizza is for Andy and Alex. They like pepperoni. Half of the pizza is just flatbread, tomato sauce, pepperoni and lotza mozza. The other side also includes chopped onions and green pepper. The flatbread makes an easy, thin, crispy crust. I cut it with kitchen scissors to serve it.

Here's the finished green pizza:

Yum, forgot to take a photo until after I served myself up a couple of slices. This is Fiona's and my favourite. It has pesto, chicken, kale, chard, goat cheese, parmesan and a little mozza. The kale and chard come from our garden this time of year.

I made a big veggie plate to go along with the pizza and we had the perfect supper by about 7:30.

question: what do you like to eat when you get home on the late side?

mompoet - good food is worth waiting for, especially if you have a Duke's

babies

A few weeks ago, a pair of robins built a nest on a beam that runs underneath our outdoor deck. Soon, we noticed them flying in and out of the nest, carrying worms and insects. A week or so ago we got our first glimpse of little beaks poking out of the nest. We tried to give the family space and not disturb them. Whenever we went out on the deck or into the back yard, the parents would fly out to the fence and chirp at us, trying to distract us from the nest, I think. The neighbours' cats also discovered the situation. Fortunately, the nest is beyond their reach, but they have been lurking and keeping an eye out for an opportunity.

This morning, Andy noticed something on one of our deck chairs. We took a look through the window and here's who we saw:

Short-tailed little baby bird huddled under one of our chairs for an hour or so, then he/she flew up to the patio table then onto another chair.

Mama and Papa Robin were swooping and chirping like crazy. Baby chirped back. Then brother or sister bird landed on the railing. Before I could get a photo of the siblings, they took off and flew high into the cedar tree at Rhonda and Chris's house next door.

I phoned Chris to make sure the cats are inside. They are, and will stay there until we're sure the baby robins are good fliers. In the meantime, it looks like 3 babies and their parents are conducting flight school in our back yards.

question: did anyone get hatched or born in your neighbourhood recently?

mompoet - happy to witness this story unfolding

everyone needs and ipad

question: do you have one?

mompoet - I do not, but I think I can mince garlic on my ipod touch

bc berries

Last Friday, Andy and I drove out to Port Coquitlam. We bought 2 flats of local berries picked that same morning. I made strawberry jam with them Friday afternoon. Our local berries are delicate, sweet, flavourful and red right to the centre. They are small, more perishable and infinitely more delicious than the berries that are imported 7 or 8 months out of the year from California.

I felt sad when I heard that the local berry growers are suffering because the stores and canneries are shunning their berries in favour of the big bouncy cheaper imports. Here's the story. 

I understand that it makes business sense for the big buyers. It hurts the farmers and consumers. I hate to think that one day soon we won't be able to find yummy, BC farm grown strawberries during their short harvest in June or July. The farmer in PoCo said that last weekend was the end of the season for him. I hope he will be successful enough to continue growing the local berries next year, and in the years to come.

question: did you get your BC strawberries?

mompoet - raspberries and blueberries are coming soon!

permanent

I got my two new crowns on Tuesday afternoon. Right away, everything felt better. The new teeth are solid and firm, and the sensitivity that was dogging me with the temporaries has vanished. I ate a big crunchy salad at suppertime, with crunchy cold celery and crunchy crispy carrots and it was good!

The new teeth are smooth and lovely and feel exactly like real teeth only better. I don't have to go back to the dentist until my next regular checkup.

question: do you have any recent repairs? how did they go?

mompoet - fixed up good

a little bit too temporary

Look what fell out while I was cooking supper. I wasn't even eating, but perhaps I was drooling a bit. That supper was on its way to being really good. Those things beside my glasses are two temporary teeth that came unglued from the spots they were holding for two crown, scheduled to be put into my mouth later this week.

My dentist's office closes at 6pm, so I phoned the emergency number, which turns out to be my dentist's cell phone. He asked me to try to snap the temporary teeth back on to my tooth stumps. He did not say tooth stumps, he just said snap it back on, but I know what he meant. He said to come in tomorrow morning if it won't snap back on, and to call him back if I experienced any extreme sensitivity or discomfort.

So I sucked it up, buttercup.

The two fake teeth toppers would not snap back into place, so I put them in a small tupperware container to keep them safe. I took them out to show Fiona and Andy, who were less than impressed, and also to photograph them. They say there's a poem for every break-up, so there surely must be a blog post for every dental mishap.

I discovered that my yummy supper of eggs and vegetables could be eaten, even with stump teeth. It just took a bit longer because I chewed only on the other side. My tooth stumps are sensitive to cold liquids, but I discovered I can block them with the side of my tongue and sip with a straw through the intact side of my mouth. Heck, I even made frosty cold mojitos for Andy and me after supper.

I really want to look at my tooth stumps, so after I post this, I'm going to find a small mirror that I can hold up to my mouth and reflect over to the bathroom mirror. I promise not to take a picture of my tooth stumps and post it on my blog. There is a limit to what I will share.

My appointment to get the beautiful new permanent crowns is on Wednesday. I hope they are ready and can be put on tomorrow. Otherwise I'll be at the dentist's office twice this week. In the meantime, just call me Peggy the Stump-Tooth Straw-Sucker.

question: did your tooth (real or fake) ever fall out?

mompoet - snapping my gums and tapping my toes YEP YEP YEP!

overheard this morning

Child #2: Is it weird that I am about to eat a salad at 9:47 in the morning?

Mom: Nope, especially because your brother ate a cheeseburger at 9:15.

Child #2: Good, because I'm going to put chicken on it.

question: what do you eat for breakfast?

mompoet - feeling pretty conventional with my ryvita, cheese, strawberries and nectarine

sad missing, happy remembering

On Monday morning, Andy's Mom passed away. She had been in the hospital for a few weeks, getting stronger each day, then suddenly she was gone. We miss her very much. The service will be held this afternoon. Andy and Fiona worked together to make this slideshow.



question: how many moments stitch together to make up a life?

mompoet - reflecting