Family Trees May Contain Nuts

RETRO GLAMOUR SHOTS PARTY

2010-07-30T09:18:00.002-07:00

Mimi over at Living in France gave me a great idea. You know Mimi don't you? She makes me laugh on a regular basis.
She posted an old glamour (I'm Canadian, we spell it that way) shot of herself from years back and as I read the comments about everyone having their own pictures done too I figured it would be fun to have a Glamour Girl party. You remember those photos you had done 20 years ago where they did your hair and makeup? We would have them at our houses and the crew of photographer, hairdresser and make up artist would come and we would have a party. Food, wine, friends and some amazing transformations. An assembly line of women in various stages of super modeldom.

So here is the deal. Start looking for your pictures now so you don't miss out. They are likely hiding away somewhere in a box.

Tuesday, September 14th

I will put up a Mr. Linky post so you can link up your own fabulous Glamour Shot from the old days.

Don't be shy, share these great photos with all of us. Some will be funny and some will be awesome but hey they are all us and we are always a work in progress.

I have had them done twice and wow was I ever a hottie!!! (snort) They were taken about 20 years ago.

We will all link up our posts with our beautiful glamour

photos in them. Please post the badge from my sidebar on your blog as a reminder and invitation to others to join in.

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A CAKE LIKE NO OTHER

2010-07-25T16:02:00.001-07:00

Who doesn't love cake? Well you are going to love this one. As part of our annual coffee group barbecue we were also congratulating the coffee shop owners who are expecting their third baby soon. I had so much fun making this diaper cake....yes a cake made out of diapers. It has been a lot of years since I have bought diapers.

Here is what you need:
100 diapers (or more)
cake tray or some sort of base
2 chopsticks (optional)
string
double sided tape
your choice of decorations for your theme

Start with 40-42 diapers and fan them around a large jar or container on your base. Don't fuss yet as this is just start point. Just get them around the jar.

I switched out the pickles for a peanut butter jar as it was a better size. When you get them all around there take some string and tie them quite tightly. A second pair of hands will come in handy a few times in this project

Now you can start to adjust the diapers and space them out evenly. Round and round you go to get it looking nice. Now remove the container from the middle.

Take about 8 more diapers and roll them together and fit into the center of the first layer.
Take a piece of ribbon and tie it around the layer
covering the string. You can either tie it in a bow or use the double
sided tape to affix the ends together. Now for the next layer use about 28 diapers and fill the middle with 4 more diapers. The top row will take about 14 diapers for the round and fill it with 2 more. I put a chopstick in the center between the first and second layer and the another one between the second and third layer to help keep it all together.

Wrap each layer in your various ribbons. Tuck in some pretty washcloths and some flowers or what ever you are using. Use double sided tape to attach the decorations and to close the ribbons if not tied. Make sure you don't stick anything to the diapers themselves or you will be ruining them.

Insert items evenly from side to side to keep the layers level. See how crooked the layers are here. Straighten out the ribbon layers too. It is now ready to serve.

I am joining in to the following memes this week:
Metamorphosis Monday

Three or More Tuesday

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F.W. WOOLWORTH

2010-07-23T19:17:00.001-07:00

A blast from the past for sure. Don't long for the good old days and those prices too quickly though because the average yearly income in 1957 was $3641.72 and in 2009 it was $41,334.97 so I think it is all relative.

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SEAFOOD CHOWDER FROM THE ROCK COD

2010-07-22T20:02:00.000-07:00

Idon't eat shellfish but my BB Guy loves it. He ordered a bowl of seafood chowder at the Rock Cod Restaurant in Cowichan Bay on Vancouver Island. West coast seafood is fabulous. Presentation A+.

Foodie Friday is hosted by Michael Lee at Designs by Gollum. Always something yummy going on there.

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A LITTLE LAND AND A LITTLE WATER

2010-07-18T17:02:00.003-07:00

While sitting on the deck the other evening waiting for dinner to cook on the barbecue I noticed the sun shining on my bronze fennel. This sucker is about 6 feet tall and perennial.

The one below is more from the trip to Vancouver Island and the Wooden Boat Museum.

I am joining in with Mosaic Monday and Outdoor Wednesday. Thanks to these lovely ladies for always hosting us. Stop by to see them.

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BLUE HOUR PHOTOS

2010-07-17T14:17:00.001-07:00

My camera isn't working right but I did manage get some nice shots from my sister's back yard.

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ISLAND VISIT DAY 2

2010-07-13T20:55:00.001-07:00

Joining in with Susan @ A Southern Daydreamer for Outdoor Wednesday. Stop over there....I think I saw some tombstones.

On the second day of our weekend away on Vancouver Island we went to an area called Cowichan Bay. They have lovely shops and restaurants there and the most interesting wooden boat museum. We walked around and had lunch in one of the many restaurants and then wandered through to see the boats.
We came upon a boat sitting on the "hard" as they call it, meaning it is on land and not the water.

The man who is restoring her said he is just as excited today as he was a year ago when he started working on her.

He talks about her with such animation. The really cool thing is that he has been in touch with the grandson of the original builder. He hopes to have him attend the new launching when they put the ship back in the water.

Apparently the grandson has many original photos to share of his grandfather and the boat when it was first being built.

You can see the difference between the old wood and the new wood. There was a lot to be fixed.

Can you imagine taking on such a huge project? Not me. Think of all the black paint it would take to get it ready for Met Mondays.

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ISLAND VISIT DAY 1

2010-07-11T17:47:00.001-07:00

My weekend was fabulous. A big hey shout out to all of you who wished me a relaxing fun time. It worked.My BB Guy and I left right after work on Thursday to catch the 8:00 ferry to Vancouver Island. Just one glitch. There isn't an 8:00 ferry on Thursday night. So we had to wait until 9:00 p.m. and we got to our hotel room about 11:30. Boy were we tired.
We would have stayed in the truck on the ferry and slept but it was way too hot. I tend to snore so we couldn't nap upstairs in the seats.

We stayed in a Best Western hotel which was within walking distance of my mother in laws townhouse. I have to say that when I looked at the bed and the pillows I was grinning from ear to ear. The mattress was so puffy and soft and the pillows were like clouds with the most wonderful crisp white Egyptian cotton linens. It was just what we needed.
My MIL was expecting us for lunch the next day and we were hoping BB's brother and his wife could make it too. My guy had to go and see some customers so I went out for breakfast and then walked to her house. I got to have a nice visit with her and we got some lunch ready for us all.
After lunch we visited for a bit longer and then headed up Island to where my sister and her husband live. We couldn't stay longer with my husband's brother because there were more customers for him to see on this trip.

The traffic was awful but we made it there in time for dinner (are you sensing a theme here?). It was a birthday celebration for my niece's daughter. Oh the food. They made a big fresh salad, pasta carbonara and ribs.

The birthday girl's sister made her a Malissa-opoly cake. Too cute eh? Monopoly/Malissa-opoly. Gosh it was sweet.

We sat out on the patio and enjoyed the warm evening and let the food settle in for the night. End of day 1.

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THE PAY OFF

2010-07-07T06:19:00.001-07:00

ell I am coming up on my first extra day off. The pay off for working 10 hour days. I have this Friday off. Calooh Callay!!!
I am heading back to Vancouver Island to see family. I will leave right from work on Thursday night. You can see my last ferry ride over here.

I will stay at my sister and brother in laws. I hope I remember my camera because their garden is so fabulous. I posted about it before so take a peek here.

I don't know what we will get up to but last time we went to some cool shops. You can see them here.

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BLOSSOMS AND BLOOMS

2010-07-04T12:22:00.000-07:00

More from my front garden. Click on the mosaic to make the picture bigger.

From the top L-R

peony
next to my front porch
peony
Martha Washington geranium
perennial geranium
wild poppy
Martha Washington geranium
peony
bellflower and lavender
wild foxglove
rose

I am joining in with Mary at Little Red House for Mosaic Monday. Even when not hosting our mosaics her site is full of beautiful things.

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FUNKY JUNK - GARDEN FEATURE FAIL

2010-07-03T09:16:00.000-07:00

I

am joining in with Donna at Funky Junk Interiors for the first time. Her blog is so fabulous. And hey, she is from my area. Yay Canadian bloggers. Stop by and see what is going on over there.

We bought this sun/moon face in Mexico and it hung here for a few years. Every year the fuchsia or begonias would fill in around it and it would look fabulous.

Of course I had to show it in my blog last year. I took pictures and posted them and received lots of comments. The next day I went out to the back deck and here is what I found.

I could have cried. The strap that was holding it on to the wall had snapped. No Humpty Dumpty here. I couldn't put him back together. I now have a piece of white picket fence behind the yearly planting of fuchsias. Nice but not the same.

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FOODIE FRIDAY - DRAGON FRUIT REPEAT

2010-07-02T06:20:00.000-07:00

Foodie Friday is here and as usual I am a bit late. I am reposting from last year because I think this is such a pretty one to share. Join in at Designs by Gollum.

ave you ever seen a more amazing fruit in your life? It is absolutely stunning.
A Dragon Fruit, also known as Pitayas, are native to Mexico, Central and South America and also in Asian countries. It grows on a cactus and is similar in texture to a Kiwi fruit with a slightly different taste. It has many beneficial qualities the least of which is lowering cholesterol and blood pressure. Eaten regularly it may alleviate chronic respiratory tract problems.

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SAGE WORDS

2010-07-01T01:27:00.001-07:00

Keep this in mind the next time you are about to repeat a rumour or spread gossip.

In ancient Greece (469 - 399 BC), Socrates was widely lauded for his wisdom.

One day an acquaintance ran up to him excitedly and said, "Socrates, do you know what I just heard about Diogenes?"

"Wait a moment," Socrates replied, "Before you tell me I'd like you to pass a little test. It's called the Triple Filter Test."
'Triple filter?" asked the acquaintance.

"That's right," Socrates continued, "Before you talk to me about Diogenes let's take a moment to filter what you're going to say. The first filter is Truth. Have you made absolutely sure that what you are about to tell me is true?"

"No," the man said, "Actually I just heard about it."

"All right," said Socrates, "So you don't really know if it's true or not. Now let's try the second filter, the filter of Goodness. Is what you are about to tell me about Diogenes something good?"

"No, on the contrary..."

"So," Socrates continued, "You want to tell me something about Diogenes that may be bad, even though you're not certain it's true?"

The man shrugged, a little embarrassed. Socrates continued, "You may still pass the test though, because there is a third filter, the filter of Usefulness. Is what you want to tell me about Diogenes going to be an advantage for me or useful to me?"

"No, not really."

"Well," concluded Socrates, "If what you want to tell me is neither True nor Good nor even Useful, why tell me or anyone at all?"
The man was bewildered and ashamed. This is an example of why Socrates was a great philosopher and held in such high esteem.

It also explains why Socrates never found out that Diogenes was having sex with his wife.

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CANADA DAY

2010-07-01T00:20:00.001-07:00

When it comes to patriotism we can be a little subdued but you know we are really proud to be Canadian. We are so welcome in the world it says a lot about our reputation, about our citizens.

We are not perfect but we are proud, caring, welcoming and industrious. We are multicultural and we embrace it.

Happy Birthday Canada.

If you would like a Canadian flag for your province just let me know. I have them ready for every province in a small size for your sidebars.

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OUTDOOR WEDNESDAY - IT'S A JUNGLE OUT THERE

2010-06-29T20:03:00.000-07:00

Susan at A Southern Daydreamer is hosting Outdoor Wednesday. Make sure you say hi to her before you go visit all the other participants, after you say hi here first of course.

I am pretty sure I have chimpanzees living in the greenbelt next door to me. Yup chimpanzees for sure. Well either that or crows. But most likely chimpanzees.
Just a quick clip of what it sounded like on my back deck this Sunday. Let me know if Tarzan swings by.Turn your volume up to hear it.

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METAMORPHOSIS MONDAY-RACOONS-6 LORI-0

2010-06-27T20:00:00.003-07:00

Metamorphosis Monday is hosted by Susan at Between Naps on the Porch. Stop in and see all the changes and metamorphosis taking place over there.

Well once again I came out to the deck in the morning to find this. This is my little water feature that is in an old laundry tub. There is only about 3 inches of water in it there. There were 6 little goldfish in there two weeks ago and then I was down to 4 of them. Friday morning there were none. ZERO. NADA, ZIP.
The water spout had been pulled back enough so that the water poured out of the watering can instead of back into the tub. Sigh.
The raccoons ate all my little fishies but luckily the pump is still working even though it ran all night without any water. I give up. No more goldfish.

Time for a metamorphosis.

I pulled out all the stuff that was in there. Some reddish water grass, a pot with a little pond lily in it. Some quartz pieces and some water hyacinths.

I made a shelf with the flat quartz pieces resting on overturned pots and covered it with river rock that I already had.

The wooden duck is a fun piece. There is a man who fashions these out of pieces of driftwood and leaves them on picnic tables in campgrounds throughout B.C. for people to take home. We "found" ours many years ago.
No more fish for me. The plants will grow in a bit more and the lovely sound of trickling water will run through the summer.

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MOSAIC MONDAY - IT IS EASY BEING GREEN AFTER ALL

2010-06-27T20:00:00.000-07:00

Mosaic Monday is hosted by Mary at A Little Red House. Have a look at the most amazing, creative mosaics.Tell Mary "hey" from me.

These are shots of the same moth. He was on my front door. I have some every year in this colour though most are brown or grayish. Some days the door has 20 or more brown/gray moths on it. They like the porch light. I played around with the colour saturation but the moth is actually quite a vibrant lime green.

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SUNDAY FAVORITES - GARDEN MOSAIC

2010-06-27T07:22:00.005-07:00

Today for Sunday Favorites with Chari at Happy To Design is a post from last summer. Please remember that the mosaic link below is from last year but you can have a nice visit at the Little Red House still.

I HAVE HAD SOME TROUBLE COMMENTING BUT AM HOLDING DOWN THE CONTROL BUTTON WHEN I CLICK ON YOUR COMMENT BUTTONS TO OPEN THE LINK IN A SEPARATE WINDOW. PLEASE KNOW I AM STOPPING BY EVERYONE'S BLOGS.

What makes a better mosaic than pictures from your garden. Mary @ Little Red House has invited us over for her meme Mosaic Monday. I just happened to take a few pictures today while I was in the yard. Head over to Mary's site and link up to show us your mosaics. Now looking at Mary's mosaics I know I will have to put more thought into my next one. Hers are spectacular.

CLICK ON THE MOSAIC TO MAKE IT BIGGER

Clockwise from the top left:

Weeping Caraganan with yellow blooms and some nasty thorns.
Rose - unknown variety container size.
Tulips - I am partial to black/purple flowers and leaves as you will come to see.
Bird bath - surrounded by Forget Me Knots. How could I they are everywhere.
Poppy - the weed variety. Also self sows everywhere. Smells like carrots when you pull them out.
Lilac - was in my yard but moved over the fence many years ago so I could have a compost bin in that spot. We share the scent.
Calla Lily - very elegant but not long lived in my yard.
Iris - these purple irises smell just like grape juice or koolaid.
Maxine - puller of tree roots from my garden beds. Also known as Miss February for the 2010 Tulameen calendar. Superstar.
Azalea - pink, no real scent
Azalea - orange, amazing scent but the plant is dying.
Tiarella - tough little plant
My new garden gloves and some seeds that may or may not come to fruition this year.

Thanks for visiting. Please leave a comment and check out the other mosaics.

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I CAN'T WAIT TO SHOW YOU

2010-06-24T20:43:00.003-07:00

UPDATE: THERESA IS BUSY ALL WEEKEND SO I CAN'T GET PICTURES YET.

I don't have pictures right now but I can't wait to tell you about something. Today at work one of my coworkers, Theresa, brought in a special treat for us to see.
I honestly was brought to tears and I am not a softy.
Theresa is from a local First Nations band called Katzie and she shared carvings, woven cedar pieces, beaded pieces that she and her husband had made and even more special the stories to go with them. These were not particularly old pieces but they were very important ones for her family.
I didn't know she would have them at work on display (on a deerskin I might add) or I would have brought my camera but she has agreed to let me do a post about them.
I will try to photograph them this weekend and will share them. Stay tuned.
What a treasure they are.

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WHEN YOU NEED ROCKS SEND IN THE YOUNG ONES

2010-06-22T20:41:00.001-07:00

It is Outdoor Wednesday hosted by Susan at A Southern Daydreamer and I have but one photo to share. My BB Guy and our youngest son were at our cabin last weekend and they went out to collect some flat rock to use to surround the giant fire pit at the cabin.

They went up the hillside to get some flat slate that was leftover from when the area was blasted for rock to fill in some caved in roadways.
Boy was that some back breaking work. They lugged the rock down the hill to the truck and then unloaded them at the cabin. The soreness factor was pretty big around here when they got back. It was a long way up to get the flat pieces. I hope to have pictures of the finished fire pit one day. Maybe for a Met Monday.

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FATHER'S DAY

2010-06-19T18:06:00.000-07:00

For this Father's Day I am going to show you a man who is a great man and a great father. My Big Burly Guy (BB Guy to those who haven't read about him here before) He has been a father for 27 years and a damned good one at that. He is a great example for his sons on what it is to be a good man and a good father.

He is a reliable man. An even tempered man. A very smart man (married me didn't he) He worked hard through the years sometimes missing out so that I could be a stay at home Mom and care for our precious boys.
He is very respectful of people, especially women. He is honest. He is kind. His sense of humour is quick and sharp.
He loves his boys with all his heart and they mean more to him than anything in the whole world.
Happy Father's Day to my B B Guy. I love you.

I am joining in for Mosaic Monday hosted by Mary at Little Red House

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NOTE TO SELF:

2010-06-16T06:49:00.000-07:00

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DON'T LET A LITTLE QUARANTINE GET YOU DOWN.

2010-06-15T21:53:00.000-07:00

This guy is a hoot. No need to pout when quarantined with TB....get busy and have fun. Christian Van Vuuren is his name. He has some other videos too, some have foul language just so you know.

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THREE OR MORE TUESDAYS - LAKE SUPERIOR IS TRULY SUPERIOR

2010-06-14T20:24:00.002-07:00

Tam at The Gypsy's Corner is hosting Three or More Tuesdays. I haven't participated in a while but thought this was an interesting group of 3 or more facts about Lake Superior.
This is the largest of the great lakes. It is bordered by Ontario, Wisconsin, Minnesota and Michigan.

LAKE SUPERIOR FACTS

· Lake Superior contains ten percent of all the fresh water on the planet Earth.

· It covers 82,000 square kilometers or 31,700 square miles.

· The average depth is 147 meters or 483 feet.

· There have been about 350 shipwrecks recorded in Lake Superior.

· Lake Superior is, by surface area, the largest lake in the world.

· A Jesuit priest in 1668 named it Lac Tracy, but that name was never officially adopted.

· It contains as much water as all the other Great Lakes combined, plus three extra Lake Eries .

· There is a small outflow from the lake at St. Marys River (Sault Ste Marie) into Lake Huron. but it takes almost two centuries for the water to be completely replaced.

· There is enough water in Lake Superior to cover all of North and South America with water a foot deep.

· Lake Superior was formed during the last glacial retreat, making it one of the earth's youngest

major features at only about 10,000 years old.

· The deepest point in the lake is 405 meters or 1,333 feet.

· There are 78 different species of fish that call the big lake home.

· The maximum wave ever recorded on Lake Superior was 9.45 meters or 31 feet high.

· If you stretched the shoreline of Lake Superior out to a straight line, it would be long enough to reach from Duluth to the Bahamas.

· Over 300 streams and rivers empty into Lake Superior with the largest source being the Nipigon River.

· The average underwater visibility of Lake Superior is about 8 meters or 27 feet, making it the cleanest and

clearest of the Great Lakes. Underwater visibility in some spots reaches 30 meters.

· In the summer, the sun sets more than 35 minutes later on the western shore of Lake Superior

than at its southeastern edge.

· Some of the world's oldest rocks, formed about 2.7 billion years ago, can be found on the Ontario shore of Lake Superior.

· It very rarely freezes over completely, and then usually just for a few hours. Complete freezing

occurred in 1962, 1979, 2003 and 2009.

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MOSAIC MONDAY - SOME FRONT YARD FLOWERS

2010-06-13T19:59:00.000-07:00

Mary at A Little Red House hosts Mosaic Monday for us. It is one of my favorite memes because the mosaics are such works of art. Creative and so pretty.

These pictures are all from my front yard. It has been raining here for weeks and finally this weekend we had some sunshine. The snails and slugs have been eating all my annuals right down to the stems. I killed 17 snails on my front steps the other morning. That was in an area of about 3 feet by four feet. Can you imagine how much beer I would have to put out there to drown them?