ICHIBAN Eggplant

I stopped at the grocery store and found something I wanted to grow in my garden. At their gardening section, there were several different plant starters on sale. One plant I wanted to try was Eggplant. Friends told me they will not grow in the cool climate of Vancouver Island. But I had to try because they were Japanese Eggplant "ICHIBAN" = meaning "No.1". Of course, we don't have eggplant called ICHIBAN in Japan. This must have been named here.

There are so many funny Japanese words used in North America for Sushi restaurants names (owned by non-Japanese). I guess they just use any Japanese word they have heard or know without not knowing the meaning?

Here are some strange restaurant names I know from Vancouver and some I have heard of.
Oishi Sushi = Tasty Sushi (That's OK)
Sumo Sushi = Sumo is the Japanese wresting
Kimono Sushi = Kimono is Japanese traditional clothing
Oyaji Sushi = Old Man Sushi (really?)
Sayonara Sushi = Goodbye Sushi (Don't think they lasted too long)
Yakuza Sushi = Japanese Mafia Sushi (...?)

Singing is great!

Japanese wives in my town started a choir group this January. This is the first report from Jan. 28. We have been getting together to practice once a month since then.

Last Sunday, we had our first performance at the Anglican Church in town. There were about 10 other performers and we were the last one to be on the stage. We were hoping to sing Japanese songs translated to English, but with this short time period, we were unable to practice that much. So we explained the meaning of the songs and then sang four Japanese songs total.

We got a standing ovation! Everyone commented on how beautiful the harmony was. We are booked to perform this summer in the one of the festivals and at the Christmas concert. We will be busy!

A shot from the rehearsal

Perfect Wedding Day

Gorgeous Saturday!

On this perfect day, our friends Shannon and Geoff got married on the beach. Beautiful calm ocean, snow capped mountains in the background, tasty food, great music by Shannon's daughter and friend and everyone was happy and enjoyed the event. All the best!

Onion Rings

After a rainy & cold long weekend, today turned out nice and sunny.

I had a craving for onion rings... but didn't want to drive to A&W, so we did a home made version of onion rings for dinner along with a veggie burger! I don't usually deep fry anything as it is a pain in the butt to clean and the smell of the oil also stinks up the house. But the BBQ which our in-laws bought us has a side burner so I can do the deep frying outside.

We enjoyed another dinner on our patio :)

Patio

It's a long weekend and we all hoped to have the warm temperatures continue, but the great weather we had been enjoying the last several days ended today. Cold and rainy day and our fireplace is on. Oh well, we had some unexpected wonderful summer-like weather, so we won't complain. Snoop is confused though as he is not spending time laying on the grass in the back yard today.

 A few days ago, we bought a new outdoor dining table set for our patio. We had been using some faded and duct taped old plastic chairs and tables. We thought it was time to upgrade when we saw one in the flyer for sale.

I made the cushions with some familiar fabric (also used on kids aprons and the dogs car hammock), for an added a bit of comfort. I want to add more plants or something later to the patio area, but this is a start.

Thanks for being a model in this cold weather, Papa and Snoop!

Japanese Maple

Apparently the blessing I gave the Japanese Maple at my in-law's place 10 years ago worked really well. It has grown a lot and now it is big and healthy.

Today I planted our Japanese Maple in the back yard. Did I give it a blessing...? Oh no, I forgot!

One of the Rhododendrons bloomed this morning. It is bright Pink! We didn't plant any of these flowers, so we had no idea what colour they would be. I'm happy to see some colourful flowers as our back yard is quite green looking.

I think this bright blue flower is called Lithodora Grace Ward. We were not sure if they were alive during the winter as the colour was a rotten looking black. But they bloomed very nicely and adding some nice colour in the front yard.

Man on the roof

In this nice summer-like weather, we can't stop working outside. We have a list of things we want to do to this house, and one of the things was to clean the north side of the house.

Our house is 7 years old and we don't think the cream colour vinyl siding has ever been cleaned before. The North side, where it never gets sun was really bad. So, my husband got up on the roof again to clean it up! Great job!

The grape vines are now in the ground1 We hope they grow up on the lattice and cover it up to provide some privacy. And of course to provide us with some vino :)

Summer like day

Happy Mother's Day!

What great weather! It was 23C during the day, just like summer!

We were playing in the back yard, cleaning up, weeding and stuff... but we had to stop it as it was scorching hot! Looked around and tried to find Snoop. Where is he?

Look closer...

Is it really comfortable? You know, you have your own nice cushy bed under the roof...

Ready for summer!

Who is ready for summer? ... Snoop is!
He is geared up with his new life jacket for kayaking, boating and many more fun summer activities! Just needs a pair of doggy sunglasses, it's too bright, can't keep his eyes open! Beautiful Friday today and it is supposed to be a nice weekend too!

Peanut Butter Dog Biscuit

I volunteer at the SPCA and walk dogs regularly. There will be an open house this Saturday and we are having bake, plant and book sale to raise money. I decided to bake dog biscuit this time for our four legged friends. Need to bake a lot more tomorrow. Snoop tested, guaranteed!

Front Yard

Another request from Mrs. A, a picture of the front yard. Almost everything is blooming now, except a few rhododendrons below the window. Not sure what colour they will be?

If you look closely, you will see someone who really wanted to be in the picture through the window....

Garage Drywall

Mrs. A, here is the answer to your other question... the garage insulation and drywall.

We started to put up the drywall last weekend, and we are almost done. All the drywall is in, we just need to tape/seal it together to finish it. It has been a lot of work and the materials were heavy. But it looks much nicer inside the garage, so we are happy we have almost completed the project.  Here is a pic of the progress from the start till now.

 

Mrs. A also sent us a message yesterday about the Super Moon tonight. At 8:35pm pacific it is the best time to view the moon according to the news. It will be the brightest and biggest moon of the year.

...I hoped to put up a picture of the Super Moon, but it was too cloudy here... Did you see the moon in your area?

Lattice

Long time no post! ... I can't believe it is already May! I didn't think I was off this long until my mother-in-law told me to get back to work and start posting the blog again! OK, Mrs. A, I am back for you :)

Where to start... Lattice in the back yard is up. Each square was bigger than we thought, so we can see the dog park parking lot, but it is still nice to have for some privacy.

We are hoping to have a nice wooden bench and comfortable cushions in front of the lattice. I'm sure you know who will love this spot, right Snoop?