just a little sweet

Blueberry yogurt bran muffins with caramel icing (hard sauce) delicious, I'll share the recipes once I have them typed up...but for now I'm curling up with a cup of tea.

Florida with Fay

So we just got back from Florida a week ago. Now you may ask, who goes to Florida n August? well, we do! It just worked out best that way for everyone's schedule and we found a good deal on flights so away we went.

First of all August is hot, we left home during a heat snap of 35+ degrees and ended up in Orlando as tropical storm Fay approached the coast. We landed on Monday night and once we met up with my mom and sister, crammed the 5 suitcases into our rental car we were on our way to Sarasota. Now one of the top ten things you don't want to hear the radio announcer say as you are driving is the name of the county you just entered preceded by the words, evacuation...Fortunately it was for mobile homes in the area but still we listened intently on our 2 hour drive to make sure our condo would still be there when we arrived. As we neared the coast we passed stores with plywood and giant garage doors covering windows, made us a little uneasy but kind of exciting for us Canadians. Before we headed to bed that night Fay was scheduled to make landfall early the next morning on the same coast we were on.

Fay hit 2 hours south of us at 5am and we awoke to high winds, big waves and dark clouds. The beach was still beautiful but not nice enough to stay out for any period of time, so what did we do..well went shopping of course. Had to go behind plywood barricades to make it into Marshalls but we had a good day of shopping. Our next few days were the same as the storm continued to hit other parts of Florida, swooping around us! Thank you Lord.


One evening as we ate supper, I went back into the kitchen to get something and crawling across my path was a bug...from the kitchen the other heard..."ummm what does a cockroach look like?" Mom was convinced it was just some kind of beetle and after using my sister's sandal (much to her horror)to squash it many many times we finally killed it. Mom was still convinced it wasn't a roach until I pointed to our roach's twin on my laptop screen...oh.
Cockroach count = 1


On Friday we packed up and headed back to Orlando to visit Disney World. Orlando was hot, the storm was in Northern Florida by this point. When we first arrived at the house I was about to open the door to go look at the pool when I noticed a bug on the ground, yep cockroach #2. One evening Bronwyn and Nat were laying on the deck as I floated in the pool, Nat looked over at the bottom of the screen and saw a cockroach staring at him then it began moving toward him, I have never seen him or Bronwyn move so fast. Cockroach count = 3. Mom found and killed 2 more "beetles" inside over the next few days.

We packed our days full with Disney and even went home for supper then Nat and I went back to the parks on a couple of occasions to see more sights and ride more rides. What a great trip, we were so sad to leave especially having to say goodbye to my mom and sister for a while.
Cockroach count = 5

August already?

I can't even believe that June and July are gone and we've only been camping once! It was a great camping trip though, we went to a forestry site on the lake. Free camping makes it that much better. After a 5 or so hour drive with the dogs and all our camping gear we arrived and set up camp. We had the entire 10 sites to ourselves as well as the beach below. The lake was beautiful and it was so nice to get away just for a couple of nights and explore our new province.

Waiting for the fire to get going



Relaxing at the site



Crosby "helping" me with dinner



Nugget seeks his freedom on the lake



We leave for Florida in less than 2 weeks and when we get back it will be nearly September, how has this happened? I do love autumn though and I am excited to be settled this winter so that we can enjoy it together. Maybe even go skiing! Whoa it's only August no talking of such things yet.

I hope you are all enjoying your summer and making the most of each day. The rainy week here is over and the sun is shining but I have decided to repaint the living room/hallway. The yellow I chose just doesn't do our blue kitchen any justice so it's going to go from Mellow Yellow to Muddy River and I'm going to try to tackle the job that took my mother-in-law and I 2 days by myself...I'll let you know how it goes.

Me in photos...

Saw this on someone else's blog and thought I'd try just for fun...

Instructions
1. answer the questions below
2. type each answer into flickr
3. take any picture from the first page of results and post your answers......


Age you'll be on your next birthday


Place you would like to visit


Favourite place


Favourite object


Favourite Food


Favourite Beverage


Favourite Animal


Favourite colour


City where you were born


Where you live now


Favourite Band


First Name


Last name


Favourite Store


Favourite item of clothing


Favourite Movie

Meal Plan Monday

I'm back...I haven't really been meal planning as my mom was up for a 2 week visit and bought lots of groceries while she was here, so we've slowly been cleaning out the fridge. I had to break down and go get some groceries on Saturday so I thought I would figure out what we'll be eating for the week.

I meal planned last week for a camping trip we took and though my husband thought I was crazy cooking before we left to take it with us rather than relying solely on the open fire pit, he was very impressed with our meals in the end. I'll post more about that later.



As always I'm sure the weeks meals won't go as planned particularly because we have a big festival in our town this weekend and work will probably call my husband away during supper time but hey a girl can dream can't she?!





Monday:
Taco Salad using my friend Katie's recipe for homemade taco seasoning

Tuesday
Chickpea curry over basmati rice

Wednesday
BBQ pork sandwiches with green beens

Thursday
Grilled Salmon with BBQ'd potatoes and salad

Friday
Thai Coconut Chicken with Sesame Chow Mein from some new Jean Paré cookbooks my mom sent me, thanks mom!

Saturday
Leftover buffet

Sunday
BBQ burgers with salad and homemade fries

For more great meal planning ideas visit Organizing Junkie

I'll be found in You

Shadowfeet by Brooke Fraser


I heard this song tonight and it really struck a chord within me. I'm soo soo guilty of being a worrier, and yet I know in my heart that God will never let me down.

Walking in this new path that God has set before us on the other side of the country has really forced me to think about the constance of the Lord and His support. Totally dependant on His guidance is how He longs for us to be and sometimes I need to be shaken in my circumstances to really see that He is taking care of me. I find time flying by which is especially scary when I'm unsure of what the future will bring but in the grand scheme when this life is all over I'll be standing with Him, how great is that?! I'm so thankful that He's controlling my life even when I'm stressing He'll bring me through, the lyrics of this song are so true.."when the world is falling out from under me, I'll be found in You still standing..."

I love it when God uses simple things to open my eyes.

Walking, stumbling
On these shadow feet
Toward home, a land that I’ve never seen
I am changing
Less and less asleep
Made of different stuff than when I began

And I have sensed it all along
Now fast approaching is the day

CHORUS
When the world has fallen out from under me
I’ll be found in you, still standing
When the sky rolls up and mountains fall on their knees
When time and space are through
I’ll be found in you

There’s distraction
Buzzing in my head
Saying in the shadows it’s easier to stay
But I’ve heard rumours of true reality
Whispers of a well-lit way

CHORUS

Bridge
You make all things new

CHORUS

CHORUS 2
When the world has fallen out from under me
I’ll be found in you, still standing
Every fear and accusation under my feet
When time and space are through
I’ll be found in you
When time and space are through
I’ll be found in you
When time and space are through
I’ll be found in you

flaking on the bran

Have you ever bought something at the grocery store only to bring it home to find it doesn't taste nearly as good as you had hoped? That's what happened to me when I bought this breakfast cereal. I'm not saying it isn't a great cereal because I have heard rave reviews, just not for my tastebuds. I love bran and I crave fibre so I thought 56%?! I am so in! Maybe because I'm used to the texture and flavour of Raisin Bran Flakes I just didn't enjoy my bowl of Fibre 1 flakes and sadly the honey clusters couldn't even persuade me to eat another bowl. Not one to waste food (a pet peeve of mine) I decided last night was the night to find a use for the underused box of cereal in the pantry.
Enter www.allrecipes.com a favourite site of mine mainly because of the reviews, I like having guinea pigs for my recipes and seeing their feedback. I found a recipe for muffins that included bran flakes and modified it slightly. So if you have bran flakes in your cupboard that you would rather not eat drenched in milk here is a recipe to try.

Molasses Bran Flake Muffins

1/2 cup all purpose flour
1/2 cup whole wheat flour
1 1/2 tsp baking soda

1 1/4 cups skim milk
1/2 cup molasses
1 egg, beaten
2 Tbsp oil
2 cups of "your favourite" bran flakes
1/4 cup chocolate chips

1. Mix together flour and soda.
2. In a separate bowl mix together milk, molasses, egg, and oil. Stir in bran flakes then mix in flour mixture. Stir in chocolate chips.
3. Bake @ 375 for 15-20 mins until toothpick inserted in centre comes out clean.

The original recipe included salt which I omitted. Also I did 1/2 and 1/2 with the flour but you could probably do all whole wheat, the original recipe called for all purpose flour so I like to do 1/2 and 1/2 the first time I try it. Also the chocolate chips were my little addition just for fun, the recipe called for 1/2 cup raisins but as much as I love to eat raisins alone I am not a fan of them interrupting my enjoyment of a muffin or a cookie.