Getting my Sexy Back

It's summer dance camp time, and every night this week I'm taking an hour of can can dancing (a great aerobic workout) followed by an hour of sass (think the Pussycat Dolls with more class and a bit of burlesque thrown in). Both classes are all about attitude and using what the Creator gave all us women. For me, it's a bit of an antidote to a lifetime of media messages that my hips and butt aren't small enough, my boobs aren't big enough, my skin isn't smooth enough, my face isn't pretty enough and my stomach isn't flat enough.

You might think of me as just a rather frumpy looking middle-aged mother of three, but last night on the dance floor, I got my sexy back!

One Kitchen, Two Styles

Joe and I have completely different cooking styles and preferences. He likes to make rich hearty 'old country' meals. He has a knack for the kind of soups and stews that you dream about coming home to on a cold winter day. I cook much lighter and lean towards using more vegetables and less fat. Unless we're having company, we rarely 'coordinate' our meals. He'll cook something he feels like and I'll do the same; it makes for some interesting meals that have a potluck feel to them.

For instance, yesterday we had a couple of pieces of salt cod. I took half and made fish cakes topped with homemade sweet pickles (I think I was missing N.S. cooking after receiving a note and those photos from my friend Ellen). Joe took his half and create a Spanish dish with two different sauces - I'd never had anything like it before.

And today, Joe made a stick-to-your-ribs oxtail stew, while my contribution was hummus with veggies and strawberry shortcake.

Some people would think it odd that we tend to go our own separate ways in the kitchen, but for the most part it seems to work out OK. We are both pretty independent people, so I guess our kitchen styles mirror our lives in general.

Cruising YouTube

Thought you might enjoy these clips courtesy of YouTube:

Laughing Baby

Practice Makes Purrr-fect

Women in Art

and

The Vegetable Orchestra.

Happy viewing!

Friends Part 2

I have a friend in N.S. named Ellen, whom I've written about in the past on this blog when I posted her award winning apple recipe. Not only is she a bit of a local celebrity because of her pies and other desserts (she runs the kitchen at a little place in Grand Pre that serves down home cooking: baked beans with brown bread, seafood chowder with scones and of course pies and apple dumplings) but she is also one of the kindest, sweetest people you'd ever want to meet. Here is a photo of her and her babies and another of one of her pies. She makes about 30 pies a day, all from scratch. I can't even imagine the number of scones, loaves of bread, apple dumplings and other delectables she must have to make. Outside of work hours she finds time to make jars and jars of various jams. I am totally in awe of her abilities.

B-Girl

Yup, that's me. B-Girl. I took my first ever breakdancing class last night and Holy Handstand am I ever sore this morning!

We learned some pretty basic moves - six-step and stalling. I very quickly found out that my body was not made to move like this. But it was fun to try.

Maybe I would have done better if I had this guy teaching me!

The Birds and the Bees

A woman of my word, I have not mentioned one thing about my garden for the last week. But seven days have passed and I am now in the clear.

These birds, and close to two dozen more of their kind, have been hanging about our newly acquired feeders recently. And they've been living high off the hog. I not only offer them a choice of menu (two different kinds of seeds and nuts), but I give them fresh filtered water every day and shoo away any squirrels that come around to steal their food. Yet how have these ungrateful feathered ones re-paid me? By chowing down on my swiss chard until there's almost nothing left of it! The nerve!!

The bees, however, are welcome in my garden any time. Their food of choice seems to be my chive blossoms. There are five bees on this one plant - see if you can spot them. Actually there were six but one flew away just as I was snapping the shot.

A Day on Lebarge

Joe and I just got back from spending the day on Lake Lebarge with our friend Bernie. The boys fished while I stretched out in the bow under a down filled jacket (it was nippy!) enjoying the scenery and the sense of calm brought on by the rhythmic swells. Later it started to rain, but luckily our friend's boat has cover, so we didn't get wet. You can see how bundled up we were though...I had on a wool hat, gloves and five layers!!

Bernie's dog Lubba.

Catch of the day...the only one the boys reeled in. Bernie had what he figured was a 20 pounder on his line but it got away before he could net it. Notice the trout's head in this photo looks disproportionately large compared to its body. Bernie told us that happens when the fish isn't finding enough food. Indeed, when he gutted the fish there was nothing in its stomach. I have no idea why that would be...another consequence of climate change perhaps?