Posting over here for now.

I needed a change of scenery.

http://arosecottage.blogspot.com/

New porch, shutters and blooming lilies.

1985 Here I Come!

I found the greatest deal on Kiji Classfieds. Someone is offering a rare 1985 Flux Capacitor for the low low price of 120K!!!

Unfortunately I don't think they have a De Lorean to go with it. I'm not sure if I can adapt this to my Kia Rio.

I can't wait to give my 5 year old self some tips for the future..or is it the past?

Flowers

Accepting Life

I'm a dreamer. I can spend hours at night in bed dreaming up my ideal life. This life involves living in a rural area of Southern Ontario on several acres of land. If possible this land would border a good fishing lake. On this land I'd build a completely off grid straw bale home with barn, solar heated pool and a garden/orchard big enough to provide all our produce needs. Add a couple of chickens, geese,goats, maybe a bee hive and life would be complete.

The problem is that short of buying a ticket and winning the lottery this dream is never coming true. It makes me sad to dream this dream but it's hard to stop at night when you can't fall asleep.

Therefore it is my plan to put all my dreaming energy into planning and renovating the house I'm in, into a (very) miniature version of that dream.

So far the house is coming along nicely. The plan is to go with the small size of our ranch style home and make it more like a cottage. Limey has been motoring through the front yard projects. So far he has expanded the flowers beds, built a white picket fence and a porch. He's currently working on shutters for the windows.

We've planted a Blue Point Juniper and some shrubs for the bones of the cottage garden. In the fall some bulbs will go in and next spring we can start adding the perennials. It's going to be so lovely! We've already had quite a few people stop to compliment us on the changes. On the weekend two little old ladies came by to gush which I consider the ultimate compliment for a cottage garden.

I'll post some before and after pics next week when the shutters are up and the porch is stained.

It's not my dream home but it'll come close.

Gold Star Potentilla

Rugosa Rose "Robusta"

I've Been Busy

Homemade Christmas Ideas

Over the past couple of years I've been trying to make more Christmas gifts. It's less expensive, doesn't involve toy recalls and brings out my creative side.

Here's my inspirational list for you. Some of these I've used before and some I'll use this year and some I'll use in the future

candy cane meringues (meringue recipe w/ crushed candy canes added)
candy cane bark (any bark recipe topped with crushed candy canes)
cookies, quick breads, muffins
fudge
boxer shorts
flannel pj's
felt/flannel board (plywood covered with felt or flannel, cut out shapes from different coloured felt to stick onto the board)
wood blocks (squares, rectangles, half circles, triangles etc)
playdough w/rolling pin, cookie cutters etc
bath paints (food colouring mixed with liquid soap)
foam bath shapes (cut out of sheets of play foam)
doll clothes, diapers
rice bags
eye spy bags
no sew fleece blanket
fleece hat, mitts,
no sew fleece scarf
doll house
playsilks (squares of silk, serge edges, dye with Kool Aid)
doorway puppet theatre
puppets
chocolate covered cherries
potted herb
hot drink mixes (google will give you tons of recipes)
bath salts

Tomato Love

About 2 weeks ago we were hit with a frost so Limey concocted a a greenhouse to protect my tomato plants. A week later the plants died off completely and I was left with a lot of green tomatoes. It was a crappy summer so I didn't get the amount that I was hoping for but it was still a lot.

Here's a pic of my green tomatos on a blanket about to go under my bed;


Here's what I pulled out yesterday;




I've eaten several bowls of salsa a lovely salad of tomatoes and a couple of blt's. But the best thing I've made with my tomatoes is a broiled open faced tomato sandwich. Omg it was heaven!

Here's what I did;
*There is no photo of this sandwich because I was in a hurry to eat it.

Tomato Sandwich

2 slices of toasted bread (I double toasted mine)
1 large tomato cut into slices
1 capful olive oil
1 equal capful balsamic vinegar
1 heaping tablespoon of mayo
dried basil
dried oregano
pepper
parmesan cheese

Preheat broiler.

Marinate your tomatos slices in a mix of oil and vinegar. I only marinated for about 5 minutes but you could go longer if you like.

Mix together the mayo, basil, oregano and pepper to taste. Add 1-2 tsp of parmesan cheese. Spread this on one side of your bread slices.

Top bread with tomato slices and sprinkle on some more parmesan cheese.

Broil until heated through and cheese is bubbly. This happens fast so keep an eye on it.

Revel in the tomatoey goodness.

Hot Soup Cold Day

Vegetable Barley Soup

Ingredients

2 quarts beef broth
1 lb. diced cooked stew beef
1 cup uncooked barley
2 large carrots, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 can large diced tomatoes with juice
1 zucchini, chopped
2 c chickpeas, drained
1 onion, chopped
3 bay leaves
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1 teaspoon white sugar
1 teaspoon salt
½ teaspoon fine black pepper
1 teaspoon dried parsley
1 teaspoon curry powder
1 teaspoon paprika
1 teaspoon Worcestershire sauce

Instructions

Put all ingredients into a large pot.

Bring to a boil, then cover and simmer over low heat for 90 minutes.

Remove bay leaves before serving.

Finished vampire dress.

Here's my finished dress. I had to do tons of alterations to it because I sized it way to big. I'm happy with it in reality but I don't like the way it photographs, something is off.

New Skellietree

Skellietrees

I've been meaning to try my hand at paper mache for awhile but I can never think of what to make. I then came across this brilliant site which inspired me to make my own version of their trees.

This is how it went;

First Limey built me a frame out of a cardboard tube, two old tomato cages and a piece of plywood, topped with a plastic skull from the dollar store.



The frame was then stuffed and mached with newspaper. Branches were also added. After this was dry I did a second layer of paper towels for texture (forgot to take a pic).



After that layer was dry Limey sprayed expanding foam on the base and I painted the entire thing with black spray paint. This was followed by a dry brush of gray paint to pick up the texture. Last but not least Limey painted some fake leaves black and attached them with a glue gun. Here are the finished pics;

Costume Update 1

I got antsy and started sewing my costume early. Hopefully the lace will be in today so I can finish it tonight. So far it looks nothing like the pattern picture. This is because the fabric is stiffer then recommended.
This coupled with the fact that I made the largest size makes me look huge in this dress. The positive side to this is that it will hide a pregnant belly nicely.



I'm really impressed with myself so far. I've had issues with my sewing machine but haven't screwed up the sewing yet! I'm undecided about the length. I cut the fabric a lot longer than the pattern but I think I want it shorter than it is in this pic. Maybe just skimming the floor. Limey thinks I should cut the front to the floor and leave the back long.

What do you think?

Halloween Sewing

I'm throwing a vampire/slayer/victim themed Halloween party this year and will be a vampire. It took me forever to find the right pattern because I will be about 4 months pregnant by Halloween and will probably have a baby bump.

This is the pattern I found. It's the red/black one.



I seems fairly easy, no zippers or anything complicated involved. I bought some gorgeous fabric for it and am waiting for the lace I ordered on ebay to be delivered. It took me 3 hours to cut out the patterns and the fabric. Here's some pics of the materials. The dress will be made from this burgundy taffeta with the exception of the top overlay of the bottom sleeve and the belt which I'm making out of this awesome black sheer (almost velvety) fabric that I found. Fabricland had all different patterns but the skull and roses seemed most appropriate.







Wish me luck!

Been busy, this is why...

Update and Garden Roundup

I've been slacking for a bit but it's summer and I've been busy. Here's what's been happening;

My cat is dead. Limey took him to vet #1 who didn't offer any opinion, just a prescription for anitbiotics and a list of pricey tests to figure out what was wrong. Vet #2 said the antibiotics were pointless as it was obvious that Badger was dying. Apparently his lungs were full to the brim with dark brown fluid. Vet #2 said he would die within a month and that there wasn't anything we could do. Limey had him put to "sleep" and came home with an empty cage. The vet thinks it's likely that our other cat Pippin (ex stray), brought in a virus when we took him in 18 months ago and gave it to Badger. We are done with pet ownership after Pippin grows old and dies, it's too depressing.

Our car was broken into last night. Once again nothing was taken, they just smashed Leon's spare pair of glasses which I can't afford to replace. We are starting to think it's our neighbours nephews as our car gets rifled through whenever they are here to visit. It's definitely a kid because they never take anything valuable (stero, subwoofer, golf clubs). I really need to get an alarm.

What else? Oh I've been trying to get pregnant for the past 7 months, this last month I thought for sure I was pregnant. I was late, my temperature chart was pointing towards pregnancy but nope I'm not. Of course now everyone is asking me when I'm having another baby. So annoying.

I'm thinking about my Halloween party again. I've decided on a vampire theme with guests dressing up as vampires, slayers or victims. I'd like to get my invitations made but I can't find any free invitation making software for the mac.

Other than that, lots of playing in the yard. Well when it's not raining. It's rained every other day for the past 3 weeks now. It's nice not to have to water, but I really want to go to the beach! My plants are doing well, I've harvested lettuce, turnips, swiss chard and one lonely strawberry.

Here are some garden pics;

My veggies.



One of dozens of roses.



Friend or foe? Any ideas?



Hope everyone is enjoying the summer!

Garden Roundup

The current state of my main veggie bed.



Columbine from the front bed.



Pansies from the front bed.



Bleeding heart from the shade garden out back.




I think this is creeping phlox in the front bed.




A gorgeous purple tulip snuggled amongst the lilies.

Better than delivery.

My cat is feeling better today. He's eating and drinking on his own and no longer looks like a walking corpse. To celebrate I made pizza on the bbq. Grilled pizza is absolutely divine. Even though I use a pizza stone in my oven, my pizza can never compete with delivery when cooked that way. On the grill it surpasses delivery and it is easy to boot.

To make your own grilled pizza follow these easy steps.

1. Whip up a batch of dough with any old pizza recipe. When it's finished rising, roll pieces of dough into small individual rounds.

(Making several small pizzas is easier to handle than making one large one.)

2. Heat grill to high and prepare toppings.

2. Brush rounds with olive oil. Place them oiled side down on the grill. Oil the tops. Cook rounds (uncovered) for about 10 minutes (until starting to get golden and crispy) and then flip.

3. Add toppings to pizza and cook for another 5-10 minutes until the dough has reached your preferred texture.

My Poor Bean

Is sick. I'm expecting the worst. The vet doesn't know what's wrong with him. They offered to do $500 worth of tests but of course they want the money up front.

So right now he is on antibiotics and we have to give him water through a syringe as he isn't drinking or eating on his own. He looks horrible. The vet also said that other than the effects of starvation and dehydration he looks healthy. His laboured breathing is worrying.

So right now I'm just stressed and my body is feeling it. I'll post again when things are happy.

Attention Canadian Gardeners

Natural Resources Canada is doing a 3 year research project in order to change and enhance the hardiness zone map for Canada. Sign up to put in your information and observations on what grows well in your area.

For more information check out the Going Beyond the Zones site at;

http://www.planthardiness.gc.ca/ph_main.pl

Garden Roundup

Limey built us some stairs last weekend. He also added another board to the deck rails. To finish the deck we just need to buy some lattice to cover up the messy bit underneath.



This was taken from the empty lot next to ours. You can see our nice new fence which will be stained white as soon as the rain lets up.



Here are the square foot beds. The neighbours decided to shorten their privacy fence which is why we have a bunch of old wood littering the ground.



My deck is full of planters now which are filled with peppers, lettuce, herbs, spinach, pansies and a zucchini plant. I've been trying to find a patio set that works with my colour scheme but the colour trend seems to be dark brown right now so I'm having a bit of trouble.

I Love Cheese but...

I draw the line at Casu Marzu. I was watching the Gill Deacon show and they were discussing weird international delicacies. One that was brought up was maggot cheese from Sardinia Italy. Basically it is cheese that is fermented to a point of decomposition. The cheese is full of live maggots. If the maggots are no longer wriggling (dead)then the cheese is considered toxic and no longer edible.

If you are brave enough to try this, you'll have to buy it on the black market as the cheese is considered contaminated therefore not legal to sell in Italy.

Locals think that maggot cheese is an aphrodisiac so I guess that explains why it's still in production. Although I would think that a little Viagara and some porn would be a more pleasant way to heat things up.

I think I'll stick with a nice hunk of local Gouda.