Anticipation Of A Long Road Trip

For various reasons, our trip back to Canada has been a very long and might I say "unpleasant" one.  When we returned we lost our garden due to drain remediation that was done around our building.

Then there is the constant problems with neighbors who feel that obeying the Provincial and Strata leash law is simply "having a leash on your dog", but not being anywhere around to supervise the dog.  Your front area becomes a "dog park" if you know what I mean.

To petty neighbors who feel it is there mission in life to try to "implant" themselves in your life!  I'll skip the picture on that one.  Too many to post! It is an every day occurrence with several dogs who love to use our front area as their toilet!

Then there was the "swiss cheese" pipe in the wall upstairs that decided to give way and fill our ceiling with water that caused us to be without our only bathroom for several days at a time.

Thank God all of that is over with the exception of the rude neighbors and the "unmanned dogs".


and the loss of a fellow rider....Bob Leong who died peacefully in his sleep a couple of days ago while on the trip of a life time with his wife of many years.

R.I.P "BobSkoot".

On a positive note though, we were allowed a garden allotment which we nurtured and received a good return on.  Here are some pics of our veggie garden from the beginning.

This was taken several weeks later......:-).

I found it to be very theraputic although it is very hard work!

And before you knew it, our garden (and others) started to pay off!  This is Kale.

Cherry tomatoes......

A bath tub full of Swiss Chard....

Beets....

The absolute best corn I have ever tasted!

but this is a better picture of the corn....:-)

Carrots......

and Yucon Gold potatoes....

Cucumbers......

And lots of Basil and Rosemary.....:-). So many veggies that lots of soup was creatively produced in my humble Canadian kitchen. As you can see, the garden did not fail us!

This is some of the last harvest that we gathered.  We have now turned the garden over to another gardener to care for in our absence so that the food that is still coming to fruition does not go to waste.

Other good things that came from our current stay in Canada this year was the purchase of our new bikes. We sold Ms Vickey...... .

And Maj....

And purchased..."Raspberry"

And "Ms Ruby" -

and "Thing Two" (which we also sold due to ridiculous licensing requirements)

 and replaced "Thing Two" with "Lil Rascal"

 As you can see, it has been an interesting year in regard to scooters! Nevertheless, they will be traveling with us on our big "get away from it all" road trip that is coming up in 4 days and a wake up...:-).  We're out of here!!

See you on the road!

R.I.P - BobSkoot

Our hearts were sadden to hear of the passing of our friend, BobSkoot pictured on the left.

 My husband and I enjoyed the times that we were able to get together with him and share a meal, or coffee and pleasant conversation.

  None of this without a camera in your hand!

To Yvonne and the family: May your hearts be comforted and filled with loving memories through the many years together that he shared life with you!  Thank you for sharing your loved one with us!

 Rest In Peace, dear friend.

Pressed Down, Shaken Together And Running Over!

I have been amazed at how many of the gardeners in our complex have grossly neglected their garden areas.  Some of the vegetables that they have so painstakingly planted in late Fall/early Spring are literally rotting on the vines or on the ground itself.  I just shake my head every time I go down there.

I sent a note to the online forum that the gardeners set up early in the year letting them know that their food is going to waste!  What a shame...:-(.  I received a note back from some of them telling me that they didn't have time to deal with it and to please take any thing and everything we wanted!  One lady said, " I have a lot of Swiss Chard, but I don't like it!"....  My question was, well, why did you plant so much??  Her answer- "I like the way it looks! Please pull it out and use it if you like it!"  ...... haha.  So, Chris did just that!

It turns out that we had a whole bath tub full of Swiss Chard!   

 A kitchen sink full of Kale greens.......

An abundance of beets that had to be dug out from under the Swiss Chard in the bath tub.....

These are they......Unfortunately, it was a "rescue" of sorts as the beet tops had to be discarded.  They had turned yellow already.

And a lot of cooking to do since there was yet again little room in the freeze to store anything! Chris took about an hour separating the leaves of the Swiss Chard from the stalks while I stood at the kitchen sink doing the same with the Kale.

I rough chopped the stalks and divided into two bags.  One to use later in a soup or bisque and the other to use with a roast....:-).

But reserved quite a bit of the stalks and sauted' it with onions and garlic while the Kale cooked .  I later added it to the pot and dumped in the Swiss Chard.....
  

and Presto!  Cooked greens that taste just like Collards.....:-).  The pink stuff is ham for those of you who enjoy meat.

Our tomatoes are ripening, but not at a very quick pace.  These are a few that were pulled from the vine.  They taste so much better than the store bought kind.  I never liked tomatoes as a child because I found them to be a tasteless mess in my mouth....But these....well now; these are a different story!

    
Yep, I am a living witness of the truth of this principle: Give, and it shall be given unto you; good measure, pressed down, and shaken together, and running over, shall men give into your bosom. For with the same measure that ye mete withal it shall be measured to you again.  Luke 6:38  in the Bible is where this principle is found. 

Chris and I are big givers and we enjoy giving when we can.  I guess it was time for the principle to work in our favour.....:-).

Bon Appetit!

The Lil' Rascal

There is nothing quite like taking a ride and having a good snack or meal at a very peaceful location.  I love to be surrounded by beauty.

We settled in and decided what we would have for lunch.

I snapped some of these pictures while we waited for our lunch to come to us.

They had done some improvements to the golf course since the last time we were here.  It was nicer and a lot more people seemed to be there this time.

Sweet potato fries with chicken panini and chicken strips with a plumb sauce.

This is after lunch.....hahaha

There had been much discussion about what to do with each of the bikes when we leave.  "Thing Two" in particular came into the discussion and the decision was made to sell him.  Nothing wrong with him.  He was running fine, but Chris decided to move back to a scooter.  So, after scouring the ads for a bike, we contacted a honda dealer about a direct trade.

Funny thing happens when you get around "gear heads".  Four mechanics came out of the shop to have a look at it, and without even test driving it the "ooooo's" and "aaaahhhh" started.  We had not even discussed what we wanted to do and I knew it was a done deal.
 

In no time flat, "Thing Two" had found a new home while Chris was out test driving another prospect.

It was kinda weird since we had just gotten him last month!  But hey, I understand as I had a bike over night once! ha

And here is the replacement.......  A 1985 Honda Elite 150.

And here is the mileage.......Not bad - eh?  Traded one classic for another.  This will be eligible collector plates next year....:-).

Now, I personally think that it's quite the strange looking scooter.  Even ugly in a cute kinda way...ha

The paperwork was done, insurance transferred and loaded him on the trailer.

Here is the proud new owner......:-)

All this excitement worked up an appetite!  I know it seems like we just ate, but that was yesterday...haha.  This is a two day posting.

Our favorite East Indian Restaurant was not very far from where we were, so we stopped there for dinner.

I am in the process of managing a recent emergency root canal and only have a temporary filling.  So, I opted for something "soft" like spinach with potatoes and basmati rice.

After returning home we took it out for a spin.  I rode "Ruby" and we named the new addition to the family "Lil' Rascal.....:-). After a good washing and a good waxing, he will be good as new.....:-).  All of the service records are up to date...:-).

This is going to be interesting.  See you on the road!