Blog Post #100! or Happy New Year! or Blizzard!

It's been more than 3 months since I've paid any attention to my blog. I have more time in the summer for such things. Today we're in the midst of a blizzard and so I'm nesting. Knitting and baking cookies and taking pictures of the blizzard through the living room window. I haven't so much as poked my nose outside today. Working at putting seasonal ornaments away too. Back to school on Monday. I've been on holiday since December 18 but I was sick with the flu for most of this time. Down and out for 8 days straight and still not feeling 100% yet. Enough of that. Now for the photos!

This was taken after our last snow at the end of December. I added it because it's

the same as one of the photos from my last post, except it's the snowy version.

Ginger Sparkles, the updated recipe. The original had shortening but I use oil instead. Who uses shortening anymore? I've never kept it on my shelf. Anyway, I always loved these cookies. They remind me of my Grampie Noonan. It seemed there were always some of these at his house. Tasty with tea!

The blizzard through the front window. It's been snowing and blowing all day. Temperature -11C

The Calm Before Gabriel

Tomorrow we are due to get post tropical storm Gabriel. Just a rain event according to the weather forecasters. Today was hot, hazy & humid. I went to take a photo of the cove but when I got there I couldn't decide which view to take, so I took a few. I caught a couple of cormorants hanging out in the Fitzroy too. I made eggplant parmesan, using the fresh tomato sauce. Sorry, no photos, but it was yummy!

the traditional view

cormorants

hazy view

from the other side

Friday Morning & Sparkly Saturday

Early yesterday morning, September 6, 2013

Today... a sparkly Saturday afternoon

fresh tomato sauce ...

on linguine with a side of Caesar & Julien's bread

raspberries boiling for jam

in the jars

It was an absolutely spectacular September day in Hubbards. Sunny, breezy & warm. Tomatoes needed picking & eating, so what better than a fresh tomato sauce? Raspberries were on deep discount at the store so I made a batch of jam.... my second of the season. The first batch didn't even make it to the pantry!

Staycation & Oddments Frittata

My hubby and I went on a staycation to Brier Island. Even though I've lived most of my life in Nova Scotia, I had never been there before. It's beautiful and I highly recommend it. We stopped for lunch and a hike through the old growth hemlock forest in Kejimkujik National Park. That was magical.
Of course when we got home there was little to eat so I created an oddments frittata. Sorry, no photos of Hubbards Cove today.

Keji forest walk

beach on Brier Island

potatoes, scallions, tomatoes, red pepper, spinach, pesto, eggs & cheese

Breakfast, lunch & dinner, plus sunset.

I promise I won't do this often but today was a winner on all counts. I started the day with my favourite waffles, topped with fresh peaches & berries. Then I hit the beach with a good friend I haven't seen in over a year. That was followed by a late lunch of curried tofu salad on the brown bread I made the other day and dinner was summer soba noodles. Yum! I just had to post all three meals.

The waffle and soba noodle recipes are from Rip Esselstyn's, My Beef With Meat. I can't recommend that book enough. Every recipe I've tried is excellent. Thanks to Loriann for sharing it with me.

vegan waffles with fruit

curried tofu on brown bread with tomatoes and fresh basil

soba noodles with cucumber, mango, avocado & red pepper

sunset

Today's Sunset, Yesterday's Food

Still cove, cloudy sunset

my current favourite salad creation

oatmeal brown bread, my grandmother's recipe

I appreciate where I live all year long but I especially appreciate it during the month of August. The weather has been spectacular with lots of good beach days. Vegetables and berries are fresh and plentiful. Life is good!

Yesterday

Sunday, August 18

my gardening helper with only a few garlics left to dig up

this year's crop of garlic

It was another beautiful day in Hubbards yesterday. My grand daughter and I harvested my garlic for this season. Now it has to dry so that I can replant some for next season. The rest we get to eat! This is only my second crop but I try to make it a little bigger each year.
From the kitchen: Today I'm making brown bread.

Thinking about a change

So I've been thinking about expanding my blog to include posts about food. I really enjoy eating healthy, seasonal meals and I have more time to cook during the summer.
On the other hand, I'm really frustrated with Blogger  because I can't seem to fix the comments section on my blog. Very few people seem to be able to comment and I can't even respond to those comments. I tried changing the comments box from "embedded" to "pop up" and when I tested it I, at least, got an email alert that I had a comment.
Below are some pics from today.

Hubbard's Cove

pasta with pesto from homegrown basil + spinach & roasted beet salad

Ginger hoping for some leftovers. Sorry Ginger!

one of the humming birds that keeps me company on the deck

Early August Morning

Hubbards Cove early morning August 1, 2013

Boats are back.

Boats are back in the water and there's a new flag on the island.

Signs of Spring

I can't believe my last post was in February. Yikes! Where did the last 2 months go? One sign of spring is in the photos above, both taken this week. The floating docks that have wintered near the head of the cove have mostly been moved back to the Hubbards Waterfront Community Association wharf. All the boats are still in their winter wrap though. The other sign of spring is me stopping to take a photo of the cove now and then.

Cheerful Shambhala Day

Before the blizzard

After the blizzard

Cheerful Shambhala Day!

Late January & Early February

Early morning, last week of January.

February 3, 2013. The view from my front door. 

 

Baby It's Cold Outside

January 23, 2013

The temperature was in the minus teens celcius with the windchill in the minus twenties today. Bbrrrrrr!

Snow & Again

January 16, 2013. Early morning after some snow.

January 19, 2013. During some more snow, but not too much.

Open Water

January 12, 2013

Coming & Going

This was taken yesterday coming home from work. I love the combination of setting sun, snow covered ice and open water.
The one below was taken this morning on my way to work. It's not a great photo of the cove but the sky was just so amazing I had to stop and take a quick pic.

A Little Skim of Ice

January 3, 2013
Late afternoon. It`s been cold lately and the cove has some ice around it`s edges. We used to skate on the cove as children.

New Year's Day 2013

I went for a New Year's contemplative walk and took my camera along with me. This is the spot I'd prefer to take my blog pics from but it's not a good place to pull over if in a car. Since I was walking, I could easily stop and shoot. It was a lovely walk in gently falling snow. If you look at the edges of the photo you can see the snowflakes. Happy New Year everyone!

November & December 2012

November 2012

December 29, 2012   Snow is coming.

New Year's Eve.