Friday, July 27, 2007



if you right click and open the download link in a new
browser window, you'll still be able to read today's blog entry
while downloading the element at the same time!




Believe it or not, today's element was inspired by some glass tiles I came across in our local DQ. Right, my mind does not rest at any time - LOL, and luckily Miles encourages all my crazy ideas!



Kinda dropped off the map for a bit there! Well, its summer, and I'm promising this will be happening a lot. The past three days have been a blur of activity for me.



I've had two days with my friend ridding the neighborhood of Puncture Vines and other icky weeds. We managed to fill a big green trash bag (compacted) with the nasty vines and some burrs and even a bit of trash. I got brown from the sun and I got stung by a wasp, who was hiding an entire nest inside a discarded, folded piece of weatherbeaten paper. I don't know who was more surprised, him or me!



choke cherries


I've also been putting up some fruit. My friend located a source for beautiful choke cherries, so we made a date and spent a wonderful morning together picking. It awakened so many memories of childhood summers. As kids, we used to pick fruit for my Grandmother - I think she paid us something like 50 cents for each pail. I also remembered her cooking up all sorts of delicious jams and jellies on an outdoor wood stove - and how we enjoyed those same jams and jellies later during the year.


Miles and I were blessed with a bag of juicy, fresh apricots - a gift from his hairdresser. She works from home and I'd noticed a tree in the back, loaded, with fruit thick on the ground, going to waste. Turns out neither she nor her family eats them, so she welcomed us to pick!


I've not been so energetic as to turn it all into jams and jellies just yet, rather I've cooked all the fruits down and then strained them into containers for the freezer. I'll turn them into 'something' when the cold weather sets in. Worry 'bout that all later.

okanagan apricots, sun-drying


I've also been drying some apricots as well. I have an electric food dehydrator, so I simply removed the racks from it and loaded them up. I stuck them out on a table in the hot sun - and now we're mere days away from enjoying. There's nothing like our fresh Okanagan fruit!
How nice to be home this summer, to enjoy it.


Miles and I saw a recipe in a kraft magazine we thought we would like to try - so I made a list for him (he does most of our shopping - I love it!) Well, he came home two items short. Actually he came home with two wrong ingredients because he substituted what he could find for the two he could not find. First of all, the recipe called for a package of unsweetened Lemon Lime Koolaid. He brought home Lemon Lime Jello Jelly Powder. This after consulting with a cashier who spent 1/2 hour with him? The recipe also called for Eagle Brand Sweetened Condensed Milk. He came home with Pacific Evaportated Milk - this after spending quite a bit of time with a guy clerk... sigh. Oh well, the pie will still happen as he made another trip a few days later and got the real things.


In the meantime, as we were hankering for something sweet and cooling, I created a three layered concoction out of ice-cream, fruit juice concentrate and whipped evaporated milk with red jello jelly powder. I froze it in layers, in a glass corning dish, lined with parchment paper. Later, I sliced it and rolled the slices in toasted, crushed pine nuts and topped with fresh sliced nectarines. It was delicious, if I must say myself. So I don't really have a recipe to share with you for this dessert, but you can find the original recipe from Kraft for Key Lime Margarita Pie Miles and I hoped to make by clicking here


And you might also enjoy the FREE little online summer e-cookbook (pdf format) Kraft has for you too! Just click here


And speaking of ice cream, whats your favorite flavor? I think mine has to be plain old vanilla - but a good fresh, french vanilla. I also love anything coconut or butter pecan like. Seems like there are more and more flavors 'out there' every time I look. It makes it so hard - do I stick with my good 'ol vanilla because I love it so much, or go bold and take a chance on some wild new thing. I can just imagine the taste testers sitting around for some of the whacky flavors. And speaking of whacky flavors, I came across a website the other day which lists 100 really crazy (frightening) flavors... you will have to let me know which ones appealed to you. You will be able to choose from some flavors such as squid, fried eggplant, eel, chicken wing, cactus, lettuce and tomato, pit viper, spring water and fried pork rind ice cream... just click here


Ok, so now that I've completely grossed you out (saved you a few lb?) LOL... I should provide something nice to offset that last bit. So I'll point you to a gracious article from NPR about a guy who gives ice cream away - for free.


Allen stops at nearly all the nation's large music festivals, where he has given away thousands of ice creams to the people backstage. He can do this thanks to sponsors such as Levi's and the music group the White Stripes, who pay him to display their logos and play their music.


To hear the full article, just click here

my CIS from the North (in her purdy new skirt!)

credits:


frame - ksds_fancyfreefreebie


all other papers and elements from TCO (Poppy Kit)


I've even found a bit of time, between baking and processing fruit, reading, swimming and weeding to do a layout. Sometimes I feel scared I will have forgotten how - and I get so busy blogging and making elements I think I won't remember how to pull it all together. But I was inspired to make a layout for my friend (my Cistah from the North) who entertains me with her wonderful blog, daily. I pulled the photos and journalling from her blog entries and surprized her with it and she says its a-ok for me to share with you. You can visit her blog (packed full of great recipes and photos and info on a plethora of flora and fauna from her area!) Just click here


With this, I will leave off, leaving you with some history facts and a neat site which will answer all your burning questions about old superstitions! Hope you are all having a great summer! I'll pop in now and then with more goodies and news!

Today in History:

1054 - Siward of Northumbria and Malcolm defeated Macbeth at Dunsinane.

1214 - Philip II of France beat an allied English, Flemish and German army under Otto IV, the Holy Roman Emperor, at the Battle of Bouvines. This broke up the coalition and secured Philip's position.

1540 - Thomas Cromwell, principal adviser to King Henry VIII of England, was executed for treason.

1742 - The Peace of Berlin between Empress Maria Theresa of Austria and Prussia ended the first Silesian War.

1775 - The first Surgeon of the Continental Army, Benjamin Church, began his service.

1784 - Printed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, the first French newspaper to be published in the United States was "Courier De L’Amerique."

1789 - The United States Congress established the Department of Foreign Affairs. Later the agency was re-named the Department of State, or the State Department.

1866 - Reliable telegraph communications service was established between England and the United states when the Great Eastern steamer laid a trans-Atlantic cable.

1909 - The record for the longest airplane flight was set by Orville Wright who was testing the United States Army’s first airplane. Wright kept the craft aloft for 1 hour, 12 minutes and 40 seconds over Fort Myer, Virginia.

1918 - The first concrete barge the "Socony 200", was launched today. The vessel carried oil, not concrete.

1921 - Canadians Sir Frederick Banting and Charles Best isolated insulin for the first time. It proved an effective treatment for diabetes.

1947 - In Geneva, Switzerland, the World Water Ski Organization was founded.

1949 - The British De Havilland Comet, the first jet-propelled airliner, made its maiden flight.

1954 - Britain and Egypt initialed an agreement to end British occupation of the Suez Canal Zone.

1955 - Chuck Berry's first hit record, Maybellene, entered the R & B charts.

1976 - Former Beatle John Lennon won formal permission to remain in the United States as a permanent resident and would be eligible for United States citizenship in five years.

1984 - Film actor James Mason died at the age of 75. Though he never won an Academy Award, the handsome, highly-acclaimed character actor received Britain's highest film honor, the Golden Seal. His film career spanned nearly five decades. Mason's list of film credits include A Star is Born, North by Northwest, Lolita, Fire Over England, The Prisoner of Zenda, Madame Bovary, The Fall of the Roman Empire, and Heaven Can Wait.

1987 - Freeway shooting incidents were all the news in Los Angeles, California. There had been nine incidents involving vehicles and guns since June 18, 1987. There were actually two motorists shot to death and four others injured.






BARB'S HANDY TIP # 295
Got Superstitions?


Ah, we all have had them - often passed down through the family. Funny how these things can become ingrained.


Find out all about yours, on the largest superstion list on the web!


OLD SUPERSTITIONS


12 comments:

  1. AnonymousJuly 27, 2007

    These are pretty; thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  2. I have scrapbook stickers just like the elements you made. Cute! Those ice cream flavours sound nasty. My two faves are Mint Chocolate Chip and Chocolate Peanutbutter. Yum! Both the windmill & tickleberries have those so its an easy pick.
    Hope to see you soon!
    HUGS

    ReplyDelete
  3. Good Afternoon Barb:)
    I just got back from getting groceries.My Dh told me to watch how much I spent and I did..I watched a lot of it go to the cashier.LOL
    Only a little more time for my DH to have off and then he has to go back to the grindstone.He didn't weed eat the yard yet and I bet if he waits long enough..it will rain and that will fit right in with his plans.LOL
    Just wanted to stop in and say Hi and thank you for coming to see me.I LOVE your visits!!:)Thank you so much for the Deco Elements and the Square Jewels...They are fantastic!!:)
    Your fresh fruit sounds wonderful.I can remember my Mom making rubarb pie when we were kids...My MIL use to make grape jelly and jam from her muscadine grapes that she has climbing her fence.She had to try to beat the birds to them though.LOL Oh..and the firemen...their big shed that they stored the work tools in caught on fire and four firetrucks came out to put the fire out and all the firemen helped themselves to the grapes.LOL She hasn't made jam in a few years now though.Her health won't let her.:( Bummers!
    Well...I guess I had better leave room for someone else to comment.LOL

    Hugs,
    Valinda

    ReplyDelete
  4. We are very lucky to have acres of wild raspberries here on our property in Maryland and I have grown up picking them every July and making all sorts of wonderful creations with them. We now live on the same property I grew up on, so my kids know that every July we brave the humidity in Jeans to avoid scratches and pick buckets upon buckets of ripe berries. We also get to see the deer eat them, and to our surprise we just saw an albino fawn out with it's mother and sibling the other day. I hope to catch a picture of it if it visits the open yard or woods line again soon, although since we have 4 dogs I guess I will have to keep them in and be very patient, not my strongest suit :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Thank you for the jewels

    ReplyDelete
  6. Thank you so much for your free work! We all appreciate it! This blog post has been added to the freebies list at digifree.blogspot.com

    ReplyDelete
  7. Fantastic!!
    TY so very much!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. It's great that you are having a great time during your holidays and going out. I guess you might not be able to do all this outdoor activity in winter over there. :) It's also really lovely the stories you tell about the gathering fruit and how you prepare the jams and so forth. Living in a city I don't really have that much opportunity to do something like that, and in any case I also lack the knowledge and the time for it. :(

    The ice-creams thing, LOL. I only really like yoghurt and plain chocolate ice-cream. I have never been a great fan of ice-creams as I don't like really cold things, no ice or very cold stuff. But those two are okey for me in summer. The Japanese ice-creams don't think would be of my taste or most people outside of Japan taste LOL But it's an interesting titbit to know. LOL

    Thanks so much for the Square jewels, they look lovely in the preview. And enjoy the summer and the weekend.:)

    Best wishes. :O)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Hey there Ciseroooo!

    Thanks for the camera link. I want all the features in a small package ... but I guess I'll have to eliminate a few (features or at least wants) as they don't ALL seem to come in one, compact camera. There are SO many cameras out there, how will I ever settle on one???? Sigh.

    Choke cherries ... we picked those as a kid too ... Mom made jelly out of them .. up in Taylor Flats (not a place you'd want to live by the way).

    We get our blueberries from a small family sideline business ... Wilf and Linda Friesen ... but their neighbours also sell good, unsprayed berries and they have a larger operation. Was Miles an MEI kid?

    Ice Cream ... our favorite is Vanilla ... Haagen Dazs. I just bought a package of their Vanilla and Dark Chocolate Ice Cream Bars. Oh yum. Oh the cost. A good thing summer doesn't last all that long. We'd be bankrupt! At the Gelato place, our favorites are pistachio and spumoni.

    Old superstitions were interesting ... how about origins of old sayings?

    Did your daughter arrive safe and sound?

    Best go ... I'm in the middle of watering.

    ReplyDelete
  10. Have enjoyed reading your blog :)

    Simply adore the red bag with white sayings on that your daughter bought for you.

    Tried the link and tried Google but can only find a sports bag :( by this company. Please can ask if you are able to point me in the right direction.

    Thanks . . . Sue

    ReplyDelete
  11. Thank you for the jewels!

    ReplyDelete
  12. hi :)

    do you still have the square jewels? i love them

    link doesn't work ;(

    x

    ReplyDelete

Your comments are a blessing to me!

Total Pageviews

Popular Posts