Snoopy in the sky!

Our Snoop dog is a super dog, but I don't think he can fly :-(

I just found this news from Japan online about "Snoopy Blimps in the sky of Japan". Apparently Snoopy is a company logo for the Alico Insurance Company and they decided to fly this blimp. I want to see it! (Pictures are from Met Life/Alico Japan)

Snoopy flies over Tokyo

End of summer?

It's still August, but when we woke up this morning our fireplace was on...! The thermostat is set to turn it on when the house goes below 18C... End of summer? It was a bit of a sad morning...

Eggplants in the mail box

We received an unexpected box from Kamloops a few days ago. It was a full of eggplants and peaches!

I have Japanese 'Parents' in Canada living in Kamloops. I met them in 1995, so we have known each other for...17 yrs! They were such a great help when I first came to Canada to study English, and we have been keeping in touch since then.

Their house in Kamloops has a huge back yard with several rows of vegetable gardens. They also have fruit trees, including peaches, apples, plums and apricots. The Mrs. is a great cook and she cans all her fruits and veggies to preserve them. If something happens to the world and you need food, this is the house to go to! I know what their basement storage room looks like. Lots of  home made goodies...

 Anyway, I was very happy to receive a box of Japanese eggplants as my own experiment with them was a failure. The ICHIBAN eggplant I planted late May didn't grow at all and I can't buy any decent eggplants around here!

Japanese eggplants are much smaller, seedless, and their skin is so soft, not like American eggplants.

I made pickles with them and added our own  home grown cucumbers. I also cooked some with chicken in chili sauce over rice. Yum :) I have several more eggplants left... what to eat tomorrow?

Blue Sky

It was a great day out in the field and stretch!

Green and Red

Beautiful contrast!

                                                                 

Dog Friends

My friends and I took our dogs to the trail this afternoon. It was a long walk (about 2 hrs), but I'm sure our Snoop dog loved it! He will sleep very well tonight.

I took this shot of the dogs before the walk.
Coco (Black Cocker Spaniel, Age 9)
Hunter (Grey Yorkie Mix, Age 3)
Goro (Brown Terrier Mix, 6 months)
And our Snoop boy, Age 7

They are good friends!

Bran Muffins

Hi Mom A,

Here is the recipe for the Bran Muffins! Today, we used raisins and dried cranberries.

We went through the fridge this morning after everyone left and realized we are out of basic items including bread. So I made the muffins again. Quick, easy, and they are good for you :)

Ingredients:

• 1 1/2C wheat bran
• 1C plain yogurt
• 1/3 C butter (softened)
• 1 egg
• 2/3 C brown sugar
• 1/2tsp vanilla extract
• 1C all purpose flour
• 1tsp baking soda
• 1tsp baking power
• 1/2 tsp salt (if you use salted butter, you don't need to add salt)
• 1C fruits (raisins, blueberries, strawberries, dried cranberries, etc...)

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Grease muffin cups.
2. Mix together wheat bran and plain yogurt; let stand for 10 minutes.
3. Beat together softened butter, egg, brown sugar and vanilla and add to yogurt/bran mixture. Sift together flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. Stir flour mixture into yogurt mixture, until just blended. Fold in fruits and spoon batter into prepared muffin tins.
4. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted into the centre of a muffin comes out clean.  

Just the three of us again...

Well the big family reunion is over! And it was a huge success!

We had Tom's parents, big sister & husband and their two girls, and Tom's little sister and her husband, all came to our town on the Vancouver Island.

We had such great weather all the time they were here, not a single rain drop was reported. In fact, it was so hot some of the nights, we had trouble eating in the back yard.

With two active girls around, we were all busy trying to keep up with them. They sure enjoyed swimming in the lake, ocean and the pool. We ate well, played a lot and had a wonderful time together.

Snoop was, of course, a big hit for the girls. He was very patient and was a good boy even when the kids were a bit loud and screaming!

When I came back from dropping off my in-laws at the airport, he welcomed me home as usual, but kept looking behind me waiting for someone else to come in. And he gave me a look... "so, where is everyone?"

Snoop, we are back to our normal life style, just the three of us again. Too quiet?

Green Cone

I have been digging a hole, a big hole about 1 meter deep, for a few days... that's not fun... :-(  It's all for our new ECO product we are installing in the backyard.

Here is the Green Cone, the solar powered food digester! We have been thinking about getting a regular composter for a while, but we learned we don't have very much yard waste to put in. We only have evergreen trees, 25+cedars and a tamarac. We don't even have green yard waste, only a bit during the summer from the veggie garden. We have more food waste than anything else, so we decided to go with this Green Cone.

So, it's not a composter. It doesn't create even a handful of the composter in the end. Instead, it will be absorbed as water and carbon dioxide by the soil. Using solar heat in combination with macro-bacterial activity. It breaks the waste down aerobically into nutrient rich water that is absorbed into the soil. (from https://www.greencone.ca)

We will start trying it today and see how it works.We will let you know its progress later (minus photos of inside!). Oh, did I tell you our city had a composter promotion in June and July, and we get $50 rebate in the mail! Yay :)