Big Smile :)

Today we woke up to a big dump of snow. It made driving very difficult for many people and my husband had to shovel the drive way for the first time in the past ten years! We know this because he had to take off his wedding ring that he has been wearing for 10 years - it was digging into his finger and making it difficult to shovel. Plus we never had a driveway until we moved recently. 

At least one of us was happy...!

Yay, Snow!

Olympic Memories

There was a news story about London floating the Olympic rings up the river Thames to mark 150 days to go until the start of the summer Olympics. This of course reminded me of the Vancouver Olympics in 2010. Yes, it was a winter Olympics and it was very different from London's summer event, but as a Vancouverite at that time, it was very special.   

My husband and I used to rent a condo in downtown Vancouver. It was in the middle of the all the action, I remember the city was just crazy for those two weeks. We were able to see the torch marathon from our living room, the fireworks at BC place from our kitchen window, walked a few blocks to mingle with thousands of strangers from all over the world to experience the excitement! I must say we had some loud nights, specially the night of the Men's Hockey game for the Gold medal. We were on Robson Street where everyone came to see the game on the huge screen, or any screen they could find. That was a great memory. Overall, we all enjoyed being in the moment and being a part of this big event in history.

I was just thinking.. it was almost two years ago. We moved to Vancouver Island right after the 2010 Winter Olympics. We didn't have Snoop at that time. We had a 600 sqf, one bedroom apartment. Life was so different. My husband said a few days ago he misses some of the good parts of Vancouver, and I agree. But we both know we love our lifestyle now and we don't regret our decision to leave Vancouver. The best part? We found Snoop on the Island :)

English Bay: Mild February in 2010 - we loved it but worried about lack of snow for the Olympics

Robson Square: Crazy Party Every Night with thousands of people!

Sunny Sunday

Cold but beautiful day!

Early morning mountain view from the dog park, just behind our house

Blue sky, White fluffy dog :)

UDON

We had another stormy night and we, all three of us, didn't get much sleep. I heard it was snowing 30 min south of where we are, but it didn't reach our city.It stopped raining in the late afternoon, but Snoop missed another good & satisfying walk today. The weather is supposed to be great tomorrow, Snoop :)

I made an UDON dish for dinner tonight. UDON is a type of Japanese noodle, made from wheat flour. Recently I started to notice Japanese foods in regular grocery stores. When I first came to Canada in 1995, I remember asking my family to send me a box full of Japanese goodies. Now I can buy most of things at the closest grocery store or on the internet. Living overseas is much easier than it used to be.

Update

Snoop is fine!

Chocolate Incident

When I came home in the afternoon, Snoop welcomed me as usual, standing up on his two feet, jumping and smiling. I went to the kitchen and put some groceries in the fridge, turned around and saw something on the carpet by the fireplace. ...? What is it??

"SNOOOOOPPP!!!!!!"

It was a plastic container with the lid chewed open. I remember seeing that container on the dining table earlier, there were several pieces of dark chocolate in it and of course I didn't see any chocolate in it now.

Chocolate is toxic for dogs, and dark is even worse as it contains higher % of theobromine. This is called Theobromine poisoning. The first signs of theobromine poisoning are nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and increased urination. These can progress to cardiac arrhythmias, epileptic seizures, internal bleeding, heart attacks and eventually death! (above info from Wikipedia)

He ate quite bit for a small dog, we thought, about 1 oz or so, and it was a dark chocolate, we were worried about him. My husband called the vet and was able to get some good advice from them. Not sure how long ago Snoop ate the chocolate, but best thing is to make him vomit by giving him some Hydrogen Peroxide. We looked at each other and wondered if we should give him this as it sounded like poison, but we did as the vet recommended. It took him a while but he vomited a bit! It worked!

He seems better now, but we were told to keep eyes on him tonight...

Snoop, you are so in trouble!

 I am feeling sick.. :(   but it was so tasty!

Snoop and friends

Today started out with heavy rain and wind. We were all looking outside thinking it might be another stay-home day. Around 3pm, it cleared and the sun came out! I called my friends & dogs to get together at a school yard near by.

Although at first Snoop found it difficult to get along with other dogs, he has learned how to socialize and made many good dog friends. 12 people including kids and 4 dogs came together this afternoon and had a great time running around and enjoying sun. 

Hope the weather stays nice like this tomorrow :)

Coco - 9 yrs old, Hunter - 1.5 yrs and Snoop. We are missing the puppy Romeo. Where is he?

                                                    

Card Swap

Do you know "Card Swap"? They are a company in Toronto who buy and sell gift cards for a discounted price. I know the name, but I had never used them before.

We won a gift card at my husband's company's Christmas Party. It's worth $50, but I can only use it at this clothing store that sells cheap, not so good quality products! Plus, we can only buy items on line and pay extra shipping cost as there are no retail stores near by.. the closest store in 2 hours away!

Anyway, I was looking on line for something, but I just couldn't decided what I wanted. In fact, there was nothing I wanted!

I checked out the "Card Swap" website and I found out they would offer me $43 cash for the $50 gift card. The cheque came in the mail today and it was a very easy process. Any unwanted gift cards sitting in your house somewhere?

It was a stormy rainy day here. Snoop is getting tire of this winter weather! 

I'm dreaming of nice warm spring...zzz...zzz

BC SPCA Lottery

How was your Valentine's day? I had a pretty good one that my husband made dinner for me and gave me BC SPCA lottery tickets for a special Valentine gift!

We often give donations to the SPCA as birthday gifts and other occasions for each other or other family members. If you are planning to give a gift to someone, check out the SPCA website, "Shop SPCA". There are nice T-shirts, jackets and hoodies. You can buy them as gifts and the money will actually be donated to help animals. This SPCA lottery is another good one as we can donate money and there is a $100,000 cash prizes! Yay!

If interested, check out this link. Tickets are still available and there are so many animals in need.

I am a dog from the SPCA, but I now have a much better life :)

My Valentines♥

My hubby & son♥

Saigyo's Poem

My grandfather and aunt were calligraphy masters. When my aunt passed away a year ago, I brought back one framed piece that was done by my grandfather as well as many my aunt's pieces. I decided to hang the one my grandfathers wrote in my house, but it was impossible to read as it is in a very old Japanese writing style. I have tried to read it several times but the only thing I could understand was the name of poet, Saigyo, a Buddhist monk who wrote many beautiful poems.

Today, I was very curious and decided to take the back off of the frame. There I found in my grandfather's writing, the description of the poem! Ah, thanks Grand-pa!


"negawaku wa, hana no shitanite haru shinamu, sono kisaragi no mochizuki no koro."

translated in English ...

"If I am to die I wish to die under the cherry blossoms, just around the full moon in spring"

I was reading about him and his other poems and found myself interested in this. We learned these classical Japanese writings & poems when we were in high school. I remember I didn't care much about this at that time. But twenty-some years later, I know I appreciate these more... Am I getting older?

Key Lime Coconut Cake

There was a bowl full of limes sitting on the counter for a week. Last weekend on Super Bowl Sunday, we had friends over to watch the game and had food/drinks. I was wondering what to do with the left over limes..? I googled lime dessert and the first thing came up was of course the "key lime pie". I didn't have the ingredients to bake the pie, so I continued the search. I found this cake recipe, so I decided to try it. Here is the recipe from epicurious.com.

I don't like anything too sweet, so for me it was sweet enough and it had a bit of sour taste from lime. My husband said it's a nice refreshing dessert!

"Key Lime Coconut Cake"

Ingredients with my alteration:

• 1 cup sweetened flaked coconut (I used unsweetened coconut)
• 1 stick unsalted butter, softened (1 stick = 1/2C)
• 1 1/4 cups granulated sugar (I used almost 1C of brown sugar)
• 1 tablespoon grated Key lime zest
• 2 large eggs
• 1 3/4 cups self-rising flour (I used regular flor + 2tsp Baking Powder)
• 3/4 cup whole milk (I used plain yogurt)
• 1/4 cup fresh Key lime juice, divided
• 1 cup confectioners sugar (I only used 1/2C)
• 1 tablespoon rum (optional) (Of course, I used 1 good tbsp of Rum :)

1) Preheat oven to 350°F with rack in middle. Generously butter a 9- by 2-inch round cake pan and line bottom with a round of parchment paper. 

2)Toast coconut in a small baking pan in oven, stirring once or twice, until golden, 8 to 12 minutes. Cool. Leave oven on. 

3)Beat together butter, granulated sugar, and zest with an electric mixer until fluffy. Beat in eggs 1 at a time. Stir together flour and 1/2 cup coconut (reserve remainder for topping). Stir together milk and 2 tablespoons lime juice. At low speed, mix flour and milk mixtures into egg mixture alternately in batches, beginning and ending with flour. 

4)Spoon batter into pan and smooth top. Bake until golden and a wooden pick inserted into centre comes out clean, 40 to 45 minutes. Cool to warm, then turn out of pan and discard parchment. 

5)Whisk together confectioners sugar, remaining 2 tablespoons lime juice, and rum (if using) and pour over cake. Sprinkle with remaining coconut. 

Dad, we still have some Rum left for next summer. Don't worry!

Grape Vine Project

There was a house near the ocean next to a city park in our town that had been there for many many years. I heard there was an old couple that used to live there but one of them passed away and the other decided to sell the place. The city bought the house and planned to extend the park. They started to take down the house at the beginning of January and the job is almost done.

My friend told me the story about the grapes she used to get from the old couple. She described them as the best grapes in town! (My husband and I moved to town a few years ago, so we didn't know about this.) They were just growing wild along the fence, and people who have lived in this town long enough to know about these grapes used to come every year to the park to pick them.

When I heard the city was tearing down the house, I thought about the grapes... It is one of my dreams to have grapes in my back yard! If these are the best tasting grapes in town, I definitely want some! So, the last day of the construction, I asked my husband to bring several vine cuttings home. (Yes, lucky he was working near this project.)

I did an internet search and found there are ways to root the cut grape vines. Cut the vine, keep just one or two buds, and plant it in  potting soil. If they work, according to the web site, we will see roots growing in a couple of months, then we can plant them in the yard. Then next year, we will have some grapes to enjoy! Then make our own wine in several years!?

Our grape vine project has started :)

Peace Lily

One of our friends gave us a flower pot the other day as a house warming gift. When I saw it, I thought I know that flower from somewhere... perhaps "Skunk Cabbage"? But they grow in water and I hope our friend wouldn't give us a stinky Sunk Cabbage as a  gift? Must be a different flower...

"Peace Lily" is the name. They are easy to care for, no need to water too much and it will grow in shade. I like it! It also cleans indoor air! Smart plant!

When I was searching Peace Lily, I learned that it is a birthday flower for Dec. 23rd. That was a Japanese web site. I searched the same thing in English, and I found this page about Birthday Flowers.

What is your birthday flower?

Dog Lovers

What a beautiful day!

I took Snoop out for a walk by the water. The mountains and islands to the east were half covered in the fog. There was still frost on the logs, but there were quite a few dogs & owners enjoying the sun.

Our town is small, only about 30,000 people live here, but we found there are so many dogs in town! There are definitely enough animal services including vets, pet stores and grooming shops. Our place is right next to the dog park and we were surprised how many dogs come everyday. Rain or shine, storm or blizzard, dog lovers will take their pooches to the park. We saw many owners who were heavily wet in rain storms walking their dogs. "You shouldn't have to..." we said a few times looking out from our kitchen. Crazy? But we know someone is saying the same thing when we take Snoop out for a walk in a storm... Yes, we are crazy!

This nice weather will only last until tomorrow. Let's enjoy the sun & walk, dog lovers!

Our little guy getting quite fluffy! Looks like has his winter coat on... needs a haircut in the spring?

Kids Apron

Our twin nieces in Toronto will be 7 on Feb.10th. We had been talking about what to send for BD gifts, but we didn't have any ideas what to buy... Toys? Clothes? We just gave them gift cards for books for Christmas, so we can't do that again! It's hard to plan what to do for kids, specially ones who have everything!

So, I decided to do handmade aprons. They are reversible and have the initials "K" and "S" on them. The only thing I am concerned about is I might have made them a bit heavy with good solid fabric. Oh well, it's for kids. They don't mind it I hope. I need to look for a good kids cook book to send along. Hope they fit them fine. Happy Birthday girls!

No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars

I had a craving for chocolate dessert in the afternoon, so I went to the cupboard and found a bag of chocolate chips.... Where did all the good chocolates go from Christmas?

I knew I had to make something but I didn't want to do cookies, so I made this "No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars". So easy to make, and you don't need to use an oven :)

"No Bake Chocolate Oat Bars"

Ingredients:

• 1/2 C butter
• 1/4 C brown sugar
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1.5C oats
• 1/2 C chocolate chips
• 1/4 C peanut butter

Directions: Grease half of 9 x 9 inch square pan. This recipe only makes half of the pan = enough for 2 people! Double the recipe if you want to fill the 9 x 9 inch pan!

1. Melt butter in saucepan and stir in brown sugar and vanilla. Add oats and cook over low heat for a few minutes. Press half of the mixture into the greased pan.
2. Melt chocolate chips and peanut butter in a saucepan until smooth. Pour it over the oats in the pan and spread evenly.
3. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the chocolate layer and press gently. 
4. Cover and put in the fridge for 1-2 hours. Bring to room temperature before cutting.

I can see your sadsack face in the background, Snoop... It's not your treat, sorry!