Turn off the lights - have a candlelit dinner, play murder in the dark...whatever.
We will be hosting something at our house...stay tuned Vancouver friends.
Check out more here - choose your location for more events near you.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Calling all earthlings...
Saturday, 28th March 2009: 8.30-9.30pm local time, whereever you are is EARTH HOUR!
Thursday, March 19, 2009
That's not normal...
They have a game in these parts, where you see crazy stuff and then you remind yourself "that's not normal".
Where's a camera when you need one?! Lach and I were just walking home from Knee Drill, when we saw a guy burning down the road on a bike - guiding his shopping trolley alongside him.
'That's not normal'!
Tuesday, March 17, 2009
He's here! Hugh James Turner
The balance is back...it's a boy!
Congratulations Russell and Clarissa :-)
That's right folks, we have a new nephew:
Sunday, March 15, 2009
The ins and outs of Maple Syrup
We all had a nice big sleep in, then we gathered the troops (ie, Lach, Jen, Al, Kat and me) and drove out to Stanley's Olde Maple Lane Farm (http://www.stanleysfarm.com/).
After having a look around at the animal shed, where there were cuties like these piggies:
We decided we were hungry so we had the all you can eat buffet: pancakes, french toast, waffles, ham (ahem), maple beans, sausages, egg fritata...yummooo!!!!!
We then had to walk off the food, so we trod through the swampland
...to say hi to the horsies:
(I forgot to mention Al...also a camera nerd. It was a full nikon-off - D40, D80 + D90)
and check out the sugar shack:
Here's a pic of the old guy telling us how they make the maple syrup...and now I'll tell you -
They collect the sap from the maple trees depending on the weather (there are roughly 2 weeks where this can be done...i think. I can't totally remember but it really wasn't a very long season!)
Then they pour it into the tank that you can sort of see in the pic, and the heat makes the maple sap reduce to a thicker liquid that's the maple syrup. That is the short version of the story.
Pretty nice place. Of course, we went to the shop to get some Maple Syrup, the good stuff.
Jen had been worded up by someone that No2 Maple syrup has a more smokey flavour, and just because it's labelled No1 doesn't mean it's the best. So we bought No2 Maple Syrup. They gotta come up with better names than No1 and No2...
After having a look around at the animal shed, where there were cuties like these piggies:
We decided we were hungry so we had the all you can eat buffet: pancakes, french toast, waffles, ham (ahem), maple beans, sausages, egg fritata...yummooo!!!!!
We then had to walk off the food, so we trod through the swampland
...to say hi to the horsies:
(I forgot to mention Al...also a camera nerd. It was a full nikon-off - D40, D80 + D90)
and check out the sugar shack:
Here's a pic of the old guy telling us how they make the maple syrup...and now I'll tell you -
They collect the sap from the maple trees depending on the weather (there are roughly 2 weeks where this can be done...i think. I can't totally remember but it really wasn't a very long season!)
Then they pour it into the tank that you can sort of see in the pic, and the heat makes the maple sap reduce to a thicker liquid that's the maple syrup. That is the short version of the story.
Pretty nice place. Of course, we went to the shop to get some Maple Syrup, the good stuff.
Jen had been worded up by someone that No2 Maple syrup has a more smokey flavour, and just because it's labelled No1 doesn't mean it's the best. So we bought No2 Maple Syrup. They gotta come up with better names than No1 and No2...
Montreal Part Two
Thought I'd give you a little intermission:
What a cutie - they say Montreal is the fashionable province of Canada!
We saw this little one whilst hopping in the car to check out St Joseph's Oratory.
It is located on the hill that IS Mont Real (Mount Royal...sorry, can't do the accents on this blog thing). It's the most visited shrine or something like that, and also has a huge modern chapel.
It's so big, it has ESCALATORS!!
The view from Mont Real (well, one of them!):
That's all we had time for in Montreal. I'd like to go back at some point and stay a few days, walk around and *really* see the city.
Al's trip went ahead and he arrived Saturday night so we went to a diner at midnight for a bite to eat :-) Next up: Sugar shack aka where they make the maple syrup :-D
What a cutie - they say Montreal is the fashionable province of Canada!
We saw this little one whilst hopping in the car to check out St Joseph's Oratory.
It is located on the hill that IS Mont Real (Mount Royal...sorry, can't do the accents on this blog thing). It's the most visited shrine or something like that, and also has a huge modern chapel.
It's so big, it has ESCALATORS!!
The view from Mont Real (well, one of them!):
That's all we had time for in Montreal. I'd like to go back at some point and stay a few days, walk around and *really* see the city.
Al's trip went ahead and he arrived Saturday night so we went to a diner at midnight for a bite to eat :-) Next up: Sugar shack aka where they make the maple syrup :-D
Ou est le bonhomme?
That was for you Benji.
On Saturday we headed out early for the 2.5 hr drive to MONTREAL!!!!
Nervous about the possibility of having to speak French (not having done so since high school) I was excited about seeing this part of Canada...that isn't. Man, I could write a really long post about how Montreal wants to hang around pretending to be part of Canada but really just not wanting to be...but I won't bore you.
Here's where I had trouble culling the pics, so I hope they give you an ok idea of what it's like. We were a little rushed (had to return the hire car) so we decided to just try to get to Old Montreal, and Mount Royal (Mont Real...get it?)
Here's some of Old Montreal:
We stopped for brunch/coffee at a funky cafe that Jen found on her last trip here, and I thought i'd take this opportunity to point out that it was the perfect place for Jen and Lach's camera-nerding...
After walking down rue st paul, the main drag of old montreal i'm told, we went to check out Notre Dame Basillica:
How awesome??!! Non?
On Saturday we headed out early for the 2.5 hr drive to MONTREAL!!!!
Nervous about the possibility of having to speak French (not having done so since high school) I was excited about seeing this part of Canada...that isn't. Man, I could write a really long post about how Montreal wants to hang around pretending to be part of Canada but really just not wanting to be...but I won't bore you.
Here's where I had trouble culling the pics, so I hope they give you an ok idea of what it's like. We were a little rushed (had to return the hire car) so we decided to just try to get to Old Montreal, and Mount Royal (Mont Real...get it?)
Here's some of Old Montreal:
We stopped for brunch/coffee at a funky cafe that Jen found on her last trip here, and I thought i'd take this opportunity to point out that it was the perfect place for Jen and Lach's camera-nerding...
After walking down rue st paul, the main drag of old montreal i'm told, we went to check out Notre Dame Basillica:
How awesome??!! Non?
Lazy Friday in Ottawa...
Sad to say I actually slept in on Friday and had a lazy day.
I wanted to check out the art gallery and a few other Capital spots but the cold put me off.
Instead I waited til Lach got home at lunchtime, we moved to Jen's hotel, then HE decided he was having a lazy afternoon so I went exploring and checked out Byward Market. It's sort of (loosely) like the Vic Market in Melby. Lots of cool spots like the Bakery that sells Obama cookies (rofl) and delis etc.
I grabbed a bunch of tasty treats and then waited til Jen got home. We ended up having a cozy evening in at Jen's. Don't have many pics from Friday so here's some of the food. It's not that great a shot...nothing like The Pioneer Woman's pics...omg check out her website (www.thepioneerwoman.com). The food all looks so beautiful. I have been getting into food blogs lately...
Oh that's right. I forgot to tell you all that Ben and Jen have a D80 now, so the night was also spent camera nerding...mostly Lach and Jen..not me!
Work it!
Strike a pose:
Taken with Lach's D40 and Ben/Jen's 50mm lens...very nice.
I wanted to check out the art gallery and a few other Capital spots but the cold put me off.
Instead I waited til Lach got home at lunchtime, we moved to Jen's hotel, then HE decided he was having a lazy afternoon so I went exploring and checked out Byward Market. It's sort of (loosely) like the Vic Market in Melby. Lots of cool spots like the Bakery that sells Obama cookies (rofl) and delis etc.
I grabbed a bunch of tasty treats and then waited til Jen got home. We ended up having a cozy evening in at Jen's. Don't have many pics from Friday so here's some of the food. It's not that great a shot...nothing like The Pioneer Woman's pics...omg check out her website (www.thepioneerwoman.com). The food all looks so beautiful. I have been getting into food blogs lately...
Oh that's right. I forgot to tell you all that Ben and Jen have a D80 now, so the night was also spent camera nerding...mostly Lach and Jen..not me!
Work it!
Strike a pose:
Taken with Lach's D40 and Ben/Jen's 50mm lens...very nice.
The Nations Capital...
Here it is - the long awaited update to our first visit out of British Columbia! Sorry for the delay...
Now, I am writing this and the following posts without Lachlan, so I'm sure he will probably want you all to check out his flickr site to see ALL the pics. I just chose a few (and by a few I still mean quite a lot!) without him because he didn't have time to choose them for me. That's usually how it works. haha.
So. As most of you know, Lach is working for a company based in Ottawa, which is like the Canberra of Canada. They flew him over for a week to meet him (!) and get him sorted with some office stuff which we brought back. I went over on the Wednesday night to have a little break and to catch up with my friend Jen (who came to visit us at Christmas you may recall).
A couple of days before Lach left I got some really great news from Jen - another friend, Kat, that we used to work with, was going to be in Ottawa too! And *another* pal Al was possibly flying in that weekend! REUNION!!!
Fast forward to me being *in* Ottawa:
On my first day I went wandering in the freezing cold. I thought I'd be the only noob walking around in the cold but no, everyone was still getting on with it! I guess you get used to the weather :-)
I visited Parliament House and did a tour - the library is GORGEOUS! If you're ever in Ottawa it's a must-do/see. Unfortunately no pics from that because I forgot the camera (I know, hitting myself) and didn't want to walk back to get it since it was so cold.
Spent the afternoon shopping and then at night got to catch up with Jen and Kat!!!!!!
Here are some pics of us at the Rideau Canal. In winter it freezes over and you can go ice skating on it. My first night there was the last night they were open so we went to check it out, however the ice looked a little too bumpy to be comfortable. So we just went for a (freezing) walk and tried the obligatory 'Beaver Tail' - a sort of donut/pancake with topping of your choice. Yumyum
Here's the girls, having dinner:
More about the trip coming up next...
Now, I am writing this and the following posts without Lachlan, so I'm sure he will probably want you all to check out his flickr site to see ALL the pics. I just chose a few (and by a few I still mean quite a lot!) without him because he didn't have time to choose them for me. That's usually how it works. haha.
So. As most of you know, Lach is working for a company based in Ottawa, which is like the Canberra of Canada. They flew him over for a week to meet him (!) and get him sorted with some office stuff which we brought back. I went over on the Wednesday night to have a little break and to catch up with my friend Jen (who came to visit us at Christmas you may recall).
A couple of days before Lach left I got some really great news from Jen - another friend, Kat, that we used to work with, was going to be in Ottawa too! And *another* pal Al was possibly flying in that weekend! REUNION!!!
Fast forward to me being *in* Ottawa:
On my first day I went wandering in the freezing cold. I thought I'd be the only noob walking around in the cold but no, everyone was still getting on with it! I guess you get used to the weather :-)
I visited Parliament House and did a tour - the library is GORGEOUS! If you're ever in Ottawa it's a must-do/see. Unfortunately no pics from that because I forgot the camera (I know, hitting myself) and didn't want to walk back to get it since it was so cold.
Spent the afternoon shopping and then at night got to catch up with Jen and Kat!!!!!!
Here are some pics of us at the Rideau Canal. In winter it freezes over and you can go ice skating on it. My first night there was the last night they were open so we went to check it out, however the ice looked a little too bumpy to be comfortable. So we just went for a (freezing) walk and tried the obligatory 'Beaver Tail' - a sort of donut/pancake with topping of your choice. Yumyum
Here's the girls, having dinner:
More about the trip coming up next...
Saturday, March 14, 2009
*happy dance*
We're going to see Coldplay!!!!
We got tickets. Yay.
More on Ottawa and Montreal soon...like, later today. I promise!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
