A recap of the year: The Garden

As a result of the lost cord, I haven't kept up on

the evolution of the garden.

Here is a time capsule.

I will post some updates of the past few months

then

there will be

frequent blogging in the new year!!

The arrival of Mariette

This year we adopted a kitten from VOKRA

(Vancouver Orphan Kitten Rescue Association)

She and her brother Goose were found

in a plastic bag in a parking lot in Surrey

She is a Maine Coone and will grow to be enormous!

For the first few weeks we never saw her

The only evidence of her

was a chewed up bag of kitty crack

aka Temptations

She loves Junior very much,

but

Junior is still getting over her invasion upon the household

We tell him that she will grow much bigger than him - so behave

Junior is disgruntled

This was not such a good year for me

Junior

A dog named Diggs visits too often

But I do like his food

The summer was way too hot

My basketball scholarship fell through

I didn't realize I had to study history

Then they invited a kitten to live with us

I have a permanent headache

Pickling

This was the year to pickle

Lonia was my canning coach last year

This year I put up

Chutney

Roasted Red Peppers

Dill Pickles

Roasted Tomatillos

Satisfaction

Stump B Gone

There is a stump in my flower bed.
Dave and Lonia are here for Christmas, so I took advantage of his

truck and chains to pull it out.

First, Dave wrapped a chain around the stump.

Then he attached the chain to his bumper hitch.

A slow pull - and out came the stump like a rotten tooth.

What shall I plant there this summer?

Waggonburners at The Penthouse

Last night the Greater Vancouver Native Cultural Society

celebrated Waggonburners at The Penthouse.

Rikki Starlight is now Chief - he put on a wonderful rendition of

Cherokee Nation.

Big Al Huston rocked the room

and

Super Hazel de Pontiac wore a splendid black and red gown.

Where was Iris?

The pool table fairly groaned with a festive feast.

The Twin Spirit of Christmas filled the room.

Smoking Celebration:return of the sync cord

I haven't blogged since August - the sync cord for my camera was lost - but now it is found!

In celebration I'm blogging about my smoked salmon.

A few days ago I filleted and deboned a couple of the salmon we got this summer.

I brined them overnight in a ziplock bag with a solution of brown sugar, salt and peppercorns.

Then, I set them up on a rack and let them sit overnight.
Over a period of two days I smoked them in my backyard barbeque.

I lit a few briquettes and threw woodchips on a bed of aluminium foil on the floor of the barbeque.

Then I put the rack of salmon on the top rung.

I sealed it up with an old bedsheet and a tarp.
Let it smoke for a couple of hours.

Ambrosia!!!

Under the Shadow of Cranes - opening

The opening was a smash!!

Friends - old and new - were in attendance

Thanks to all who bought my work

There's nothing better than looking over your show and seeing little red dots!!!

T shirts for Under the Shadow of Cranes

Thank you New Leaf for the inspiration!

I'm making loading crane T shirts to sell during my upcoming exhibition

at

The Leighdon Gallery

190 West 3rd Avenue.

The opening is this Friday

See you there!!

Block Party!!!

A wonderful block party on East 10th Avenue.

Two barbeques full of food and tasty treats from around the world - all on the block.

...and featuring

Karaoke in the middle of the street!

Building a Brick Barbeque

I finally assembled my bricks, bought some cement from Re-store, and found the perfect 3/4 fit to hold my racks. For a while it looked like a bombed out Afghani village - but with a final coating of cement we enjoyed a backyard pizza.

Yummm