More cooking with Katie.

But first, the pumpkin patch. No pumpkin pictures, because it was really a bunch of pumpkins in a greenhouse and some fun kid activities, but we had fun.

Katie was a ghost.

Apparently, it was cold. These poor ducks are sitting on the frozen pond.

And now, cooking class with Katie.
Tonight's lesson, Pizza.

First, you have to spread some sauce on. Make sure you get yours good and coated, but don't worry, Mommy doesn't need much on hers.

Then you lick the brush, because that sauce is "yummyummyummy."

Then you put some cheese on, but only on yours. Then you try to share with Mommy, and help her pick it off again. At least you tried.

Mommy gets tomatoes and olives on hers. You don't want any of those weird looking olive things on yours!

Then it bakes a while, Mommy cuts it up for you, and you proceed to refuse to eat it and demand to go to bed instead.

More adventures.

The fun just never ends. We've had some crazy winds the last few days, so I had some clothes out on the line. Those winds also caused a bit of trepidation for us...

I had just been telling Andrew that I needed to go out and check the fence line when he said, "Oh look, that tree is coming down."
Why yes, yes it is.

It was braced on another tree, but that one was leaning at an alarming angle as well, of course, in the direction of the fence. So I hustled out and put a fence across so that at least if the trees came down, Charlie would stay in the pasture.

Then Andrew decided to just take that one down, and since he couldn't get only the one down safely, they both had to come down.
Notice my spooks-at-his-own-shadow horse grazing 20 feet from the running chainsaw. He did move a bit further away when the tree broke loose and Andrew came running toward him, chainsaw in hand.

Later in the afternoon, those wicked winds brought us a new present.

Our first snow of the fall.
So we stayed in and built forts. This one's good for watching cartoons while Mommy cleans the kitchen.

Who me?

Oh the joys of toddlerhood.
We had a meeting with a financial advisor yesterday, future planning and all that. And he was a nice guy, he's got 2 kids and he was more than happy to have Katie down on the floor playing with things. Wasn't much in there that she could wreck, and she's pretty good. Even when she was crawling under his desk and we told him she might poke the power button on his computer.

A little while later, he looks out the window and gets a funny look on his face. Says, "That's weird, the police are outside. I'll go see what they want." No big deal, right?

Seems a little girl found a bright blue button under the desk. Yep, the panic button. Called the police. And, since the receptionist was out yesterday, and we were in a meeting, Mr. Advisor didn't answer the phone when they called back to check if everything was okay.

We were a bit mortified.

Ouch!

After I got done posting about Remy and Nemo last night, I picked Remy up to put him back in the basement for the night. I started walking across the room and something very sharp poked me in the arm. Now, he was relaxed and purring, and hadn't really moved, so I knew it wasn't intentional. I figured he must have a rose thorn caught in his chest hairs, like Bailey gets so often. So I had Andrew help me hold him down while I untangled him. Not that we really needed it, he just kinda laid there. But imagine my surprise when I find, not a rose thorn, but this thing.

The black part was in him, the white is what poked me. That's right, part of a porcupine quill. So he got a good searching-over to see if that was all, and besides the little lump that went down right after we took the quill out, there was no sign of anything abnormal. We'll have to keep an eye on that lump, but I imagine he'll be just fine.

New faces

First things first, a picture of the yummy asparagus from this recipe. But it's missing the pine nuts because I ran out.

Also, I have to apologize for the smudge that is apparently on the lens of my camera.

Now, it's only been a week and a half since we lost Hugs. I had not intended to get another cat for a while, probably until spring. But, we all know how that works out. Bailey and Mooch had an appointment at the vet last week for their checkups, and as we were leaving, an elderly couple came in looking for some help to find a home for some cats. Seems that they have an acreage, but they are moving into the city at the end of the month and wanted to make sure that their cats found good homes. So, I spoke with them about about the cats and we decided that we'd take 2 of them. They are adjusting slowly. They were full-time outdoor cats, and are a bit shy, but they're coming around. Neither of them knew their names (Cheetah & Cougar), so I've changed them.

This is Remy. He is enormous. When he stands on his hind legs, his head is at my hip, and he weighs only 4lbs less than Katie does. He's adjusting best of the two of them. He is loving the life of a house cat, spending all day curled up on the couch.

And Nemo. I tried out a bunch of other names on him, but nothing suited, Nemo suits the best. He's a big cat too, quite a bit larger than Mooch (not saying much, she's tiny), but so timid. He's spent a good part of the last 2 days, after being pried out of a hole in the basement, wedged into this little cat house thing. I finally got him to come out for a minute tonight, so it's progress at least.

Miss Mooch is still a bit bent out of shape about the whole thing, but she's coming around too. They haven't met Bailey yet, but they'll have to before too long.

Another recipe

Cookies this time.
Got this recipe from a friend, not sure where she got it, but it's super easy (and super unhealthy), and it's gluten-free, so Mom can eat it, and dairy-free, so I can eat it. But it does have an egg, so Lindsay, you're out of luck.

1C peanut butter
1C sugar
1 egg

That's it. I've done it with both smooth and chunky peanut butter, and you can add things like vanilla, chocolate chips, coconut, just don't get too eager or you'll upset the balance. I like them with cinnamon. But I like cinnamon in just about anything, so who am I to judge?

Beat the egg, mix it in with the sugar. If you mix the egg in last, it won't blend well and it won't bake well. Trust me. Then add the peanut butter and blend well. Scoop it onto a cookie sheet (or a baking stone like I do) with a spoon (or a cookie scoop). Then you bake it at 350 (i think. maybe 375) until they look done.

Enjoy.

Oh Good Dog!

Apparently Bailey needed a story.

Or three.

Mooches.

Miss Mooch has been sitting in this window for 2 days watching down the driveway. It's about enough to break your heart.


Last night, I went to my first card stamping group meeting. Had a blast, made some cute stuff, stayed out too late, didn't want to get up this morning.

More cute.

These pictures were still on the camera when I put up the last post. But now that I've located my card reader (right in the computer bag where I left it), I can share them.

Great-Grandma found some bubbles for Katie.

And everyone got a turn.

It's not as easy as you'd think when the 2 year old is helping hold the stick.

Then we came home, and we drove through autumn. Really, the leaves were just starting to turn at the Great's house, and by the time we got home, the leaves were almost all on the ground. And it only took 2.5 days.

But through Crowsnest Pass was the best part.
(This photo has been edited to remove the huge windshield crack.)
Not easy getting good pictures when you're not looking at the camera...
I just love the rich color.


And on to newer stuff!
Remember this hat?Apparently, it still fits! It's a bit snug, but don't dare tell her that.

Yesterday, she helped me make some bread.
And I'm sad to report that we lost our good friend Hugs to an unexpected accident on Sunday afternoon.
He is greatly missed.

Asparagus

A few people have requested this recipe. Our Thanksgiving was this past weekend, and we had 3 family get-togethers, and while none of them were at our house, we did bring a bit of food. My favorite is roasted veggies, but I can't seem to get asparagus roasted properly. It's always undercooked or burnt to a crisp, so I just started sauteing it. You can add whatever goodies you want, or I imagine that fresh green beans would be even better than asparagus.

2 bunches of asparagus, cut in half and woody ends removed
1 red bell pepper, remove seeds & membrane, cut into thin slices about 1.5" long
1/2 cup pine nuts, toasted
1/2 cup bacon, diced
1/4 cup roasted garlic, chopped
1 cup chicken broth
salt & pepper to taste

Now I used some of the grease off the bacon for this this time, and it was fantastic, but a good quality olive oil works great too. Heat your oil in a dutch oven or large sauce pan, making sure the bottom gets coated, add red peppers and saute over medium-high heat until they start to blacken a little, then remove to a bowl. In a small skillet, toast pine nuts over medium heat, shaking to make sure that they get toasted evenly. No oil needed. If needed, add a bit more oil to your dutch oven and toss in the asparagus. Saute for a minute then add chicken broth. Turn the heat down and simmer, covered, until the broth reduces to about half. Remove cover and continue simmering until broth is nearly gone. Add everything else, stir, remove from heat. Eat right away before it gets mushy.

No pictures because we ate it all. Sorry. But it's pretty too.

2nd option for asparagus, saute in olive oil, toast pine nuts. In a separate, small saucepan, combine 1/4C honey and 2tbsp balsamic vinegar, heat until bubbly and pour over asparagus. Top with pine nuts. Ditto eating before it gets mushy.

Oops!

It just occurred to me that I still have a few pictures in my camera. Will try to get those up tonight.

The best of the rest.

Sept 24 - Wednesday.

Katie, ever the little girly-girl (figures, doesn't it?), had to wear her new dress today. We went swimming with Grammy and our friend Chari, then we went out for sushi. Katie loves sushi, especially inari (rice with a sweet tofu wrapper) and california rolls.

Then we did some shopping for the kid who has outgrown all the clothes she got for her birthday.

And we headed over to watch Aubrey's first volleyball game.

Then we went home, and Papa took pictures of the poor kid eating supper. This one cracks me up.
"Hey! I'm eating here!"

Sept 25 - Thursday

Katie got new sunglasses, since her other ones broke. She's such a cool dude. She started strutting as soon as we let her put them on.

Today we went to Safari Sam's. It's a big indoor jungle gym, well maintained and clean. Katie loved it. She went up this net the first time, hanging onto my neck like a little monkey. Then 3 or 4 times "Katie do it!".

"Hi Grammy!"

And we had to sit on Papa's motorcycle so we could neenor-neenor at Daddy. I hear it's for sale if anyone is interested.

Sept 26 - Friday

All the fun caught up with a little girl and she got sick in the night. Only lasted for 2 days (until Mommy found some good homeopathics), but it sure knocked her out, and it delayed our trip by a couple of days, but no worries.

She wanted to hear Daddy's voice, but she didn't have the energy to talk to him.

This one must've been Saturday, after she started feeling a bit better.

Sept 29 - Monday

Sunday Katie felt great, so we drove back to Great-Grandma and Great-Grandpa's house.
Monday, Great-Uncle Gary and Great-Aunty Joy came for supper and to play a bit.

What's he got in that pillowcase?

A goofy little kid, that's what!
She must've spent about half an hour in that pillowcase, swinging and laughing. We think that Uncle Gary reminds her of Papa, because she latched right onto him. I have some good video of this, but I have to figure out how to edit it to a reasonable length on this computer before I can post it.

Sure looks like she's having a good time, doesn't she?

And that brings us back home, and I haven't taken any pictures since then. Too busy putting the house back together and having Thanksgiving dinner all over the countryside. As soon as I find my scanner though, I'll get up some before & after pictures of the house. It's incredible.

Sept 23 - OMSI

When I was a kid, there really wasn't anything that was really geared toward little kids at OMSI. But boy has that changed. There is a whole giant room just for preschoolers, and Katie loved it. We met our friends Korin & Ruby, and some of their friends as well, and we all played and chatted and it was a great morning. Katie did not want to leave.

There is a sand pit, with all sorts of colanders and funnels and buckets and shovels and trucks and animals. And a walkway that gathers the sand as you leave, of course. Can't have that everywhere else.

And a big tub in the middle that you could climb into and play. See those pant cuffs? Even when you think you've got all the sand out of them, you don't. And the pockets are worse. Next time, we wear leggings.

There's a little make-believe store with a cash register and baskets and play food.

There's a cool ball track where you can see what happens when you turn pipes and when you go to the other side. That little orange cone on the side has air coming out of it so that the ball will hover.

This air tube shoots balls out of the top of it and into a big funnel when you close the little flap. Katie figured that out real quick.

And Gak. Katie was all over cutting it with the cookie cutters and the scissors, but she did not like to touch it. Not so with Miss Ruby down at the end there.

But, of course, Katie's favorite will always be the water tables. She went back 3 times.

There are fun little turny things to see how water moves, boats and ducks and things to float down the current...

And they provide gumboots and waterproof smocks in a variety of sizes, so that you don't end up sopping wet.

Once we pried her away from there, we went to lunch with Papa and stopped by a grocery store on the way home. The man at the checkout counter let her pick a sticker, and she picked a butterfly. We got her in the car and she had peeled it off the paper and couldn't figure out where it went.

I don't know, Katie, maybe someone else can tell you.
"Where sticker go?"