Cactus and Planters: Before and After!

Recently I have been taking on several small projects around the garden, in hopes that we can improve the overall curb appeal and infrastructure of the gardens. We have many great plants that we have collected and we're hoping we can expand and sell them to subsidize our garden next season. One plant I've been meaning to fix up for a while is our Peele Island prickly pear cactus. She's worthy of this because it's an endangered species...

 Here is the before and after of the cactus, man it was a pain to clean up! It was painful, but worth it, it can now spread a bit more and I can start taking pads and propogating them. I have plans of planting some hardy succulents around her with maybe some small grasses. You can see I've planted some hen-and-chicks to the right.

Here is my DIY planter fix! I found that new planters were very expensive and even more so if they were earthware or clay. I had a large bucket of dark purple (our blackberry harvest mix) which I have been using on our front door and garage doors, I used some extra paint and cleaned up the old pots. I'm hoping to get another season or two our of the paint job. I found some great plants for my planters;
- Echinacea "Strawberry Shortcake"
- Martin's Spurge "Ascot Rainbow"
- Canna lilly "Tropical White"
- Sweet-Po-Vine "Sweet Georgia Deep purple"
- Regal Geranium "Bravo and Elegance Light"
- Snow on the Mountain
- Electric Blue Lobelia
- White Bacopa
- Dianthus Barbarini Red Rose Bicolour
- Calibrachoa (small petunia) "Callie Star Pink"
- Purple Oxalis


I'm also going to plug President’s Choice® Moisture Lock™ Soil. i picked up one bag of this stuff as Zehrs and it went a long, long ways. I need a bit more for my largest planter, but I am very satisfied. It has a minimal foam content and has little peices of terra-cota, it really does hold the soil moist and fluffy for a long time! Pretty economical aswell. Even through are heat-wave and dry spell, it held up very nicely. 

 

Me, clothes shopping?

I don't usually go shopping for new clothes that often, but I made myself a deal to reward my grades and efforts and uni with revamping my wardrobe. On top of that, my teaching internship require conservative dress and I wanted to take that to the next level and start building a group of clothes that was young-hip-professional and fun. I found some great finds at some local shops, Winners and in my local mall in Montreal. I spent about 150$ on; three dresses, four tops, a shirt and some pants.

Also to my luck and surprise I was given a 190$ jacket for an abstract painting I did for a clothing shop on St. Catherine Street. Before I went to California I picked up some flats and sunglasses, and a new recycled backpack. While I was there my aunt bought me two tops and a sweater! That's almost fifteen items in two-three months all at great deals!

I think the older I get, the more interested in fashion  and appearance I become, I'm really starting to like this independent, young hip-lifestyle. Stay tuned for outfit photos! ...and since I've desided to photo document everything in my life, you'll be seeing plenty of my clothing in the most flattering of fashions.

Montreal Student Protest March

March 22nd was the Montreal Student Protest march. It was in support of freezing tuition prices in Quebec.
I was a part of Quebec history! I nice thing to check off my bucket list (before I turn 20). I grabbed some nice shots along the 10 km walk in the sun, rain and chill. I was out in the protest from noon until 6 pm. The environment had a vibe of peace and change, there were many people in costume and song. Drumming and dancing in the streets. Its an experience I will never forget.

Moroccan Stew - Under 4$ A Serving

I love cooking, eating well and designing my own recipes. Students notoriously eat cheap foods and suffer from terrible diets. I think many students believe that eating well comes at a high price and inconvenience. I'm a student and I've done the math, it's cheaper to eat home cooked meals and spend the extra time to prepare them. One foot-long sub from subway costs about 6.00$ with taxes but only lasts one meal, where a well designed home-cooked meal, can cost under 5.00$ a serving and last up to 5 meals. Home cooked meals don't have to be completely from scratch either, there are hundreds of pre-made cooking sauces and spice packs on the market, perfect for all types of cooks. I like to experiment, but many companies give example recipes on packages and on websites. Here is a recipe I invented this week:

The Student-Modified Berber (Moroccan) Stew

PC Memories of Morocco Cooking Sauce (Equal Parts Water)

Unico Red Lentils (about 300grams)

Carnation Soy Cream or Bel Soy Cream

PC Soft-Unripened Goats Cheese

2 Large Organic Bell Peppers

2 Large Organic Carrots

2-3 Large Organic French Shallots

1 Large Organic Zucchini

1 1/2 Cup de-tailed Precooked Shrimp (Tofu or Chicken)

1/4 Cup Flour (for desired thickness)

Instructions: Chop/Dice/Slice Veggies into desired sizes (I like mine chunky) and toss them in your large soup pot or crock-pot. Quarter or dice the shallots. Drain the lentils and pour them on your veggies. Pour the Cooking sauce on the veggies, and fill the sauce bottle with water and shake, pour that on too. Give it a stir and set on high. Add soy cream and flour once the stew is simmering, add slowly and test consistency. 30 mins before serving add shrimp (Tofu or Chicken) and Goat Cheese* to taste.

Total: 18.22$

Per Serving: 3.65$

Serve on Brown Rice or Couscous with a side of Harcha* or Naan. Serves 4-5 people or lunch or light dinner. I made mine in a small/medium crock-pot over 3-4 hours. It keeps really well and freezes amazingly. Reheat in a sauce-pan on low, as not to overcook the shrimp.

* Goat Cheese compliments these flavours perfectly, respectively deriving from the the traditional Berber culture in rural Morocco, who have been making goat cheese for centuries.

* Harcha is a traditional Moroccan Bread, similar to Naan.

The Music Game!

I saw this one Facebook today:

The Game:

1) Find the song that was number 1 at the time you were born.

2) Find it on YouTube

3) Post it without any shame

I have done this and come down to three song conclusions, based on the #1 hit closest to my birthday (Year, Month and Day). One for each, Canada, USA and UK (Euro)

Bryan Adams - Thought I'd Died and Gone to Heaven

Kriss Kross - Jump

Mr. Big - To Be With You

What did you find?

Donkey Sanctuary!

Bronwyn, Morgan (2nd Cousin), my mother and I all headed out to The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada during its holiday open-house hours. It was a great winter family experience, a super close drive to Guelph! They simply ask for a small donation per person and that you respect the rules. You can move through at your own pace and enjoy the peaceful barnyard setting back from any main-roads.

All of the donkeys, mules and hinnies are tame, quiet, calm and restful and are extremely gentle with children and everyone else. Donkeys are furrier than horses, and are super soft, the staff left several brushed lying around so kids could groom them. The staff was a mixed group of women who had no problem talking with guests and teaching visitors about donkeys amidst their chores and duties. I love all animals and any organization who takes care of those in need, these donkeys are well taken care-of and enjoy a lovely facility.

For Christmas they had lights strung up in the barn rafters, and bails of hay to form a sitting area in a reading nook right next to the indoor pens, with Donkey story books for children to read with parents. It was a bit cold, but they provided free hot cider and hot-chocolate and a small fire pit near the entrance, there were spruce and cedar bows decorating the fences and barn, too picturesque! It's the perfect time to go, the mud was frozen and no-one got dirty!

To learn more about The Donkey Sanctuary of Canada, visit their website, by clicking the hyperlink!

Cocoa the Standard Donkey!

Super curious and gentle!

Say: Cheese girls!

The heart is seen through the eyes.

...a bit of grooming

Admiring the do.

Bronwyn's 7th Birthday

I can't believe she is already 7 years old! Where did all that time go! At least I can look back on all that time in photographs and movies that I took. Let's just say she is a very well-documented child. Like all of Bronwyn's birthdays, we have the full advantage of the summer, using the pool, the grass and the sun to our advantage. Not to mention the kids are all out of school and most summer-attractions are open for birthday groups. I set up a dress-up photo shoot for her and her friends, they swam in the pool and played games on the grass. We served ice cream cake of course because Bronwyn hates cake. We actually stuck candles in a pie on her actual birthday... yup that's my weirdo kid sister.

A bunch of Goofy-Groovy Girls!

She loves to pose right now...

The Big Birthday Pie!

Hillside 2011

Mainstage on Saturday Morning

Little Guelph Lake

Its was that time of year again! Definitely a favourite on my summer activities list, is going to a summer music festival! The Hillside line-up this year was great, and there was only a short wisp of rain, unlike the monsoons of yester-years. Although the heat was ridiculous, and the lake had a bacteria warning, so we couldn't even cool off in the water. I had a great volunteer position in the office, so I didn't have to work during the festival. It was so hot, everyone was up by 6 am and all the soap and plastic in the tents melted. Here are some pictures!

Foot-view...

Notorious Smiley Mugs!

Hillside 2011 Program

Bright and Hot Morning in the tent.

Rugby Nationals in Peterborough Ont.

We had an amazing run at Nationals! We started our first game against Queens with a whopping 32-3 win! It rained cold sleet for most of the game and some of the girls developed colds and a a few where feeling sick. The next day we played the reining 4-year champions, the Lethbridge Pronghorns. We had a great game and knocked the champs off the top! We won 19-12 and looked to be the leading team. On Sunday we played the St. Xavier team, it was a rough game and both teams gave it 150%. We found our selves tied in over-time. We lost 10 minutes in, 17-12 with one kick. Next year, watch-out Stingers are swarming!

13-1 season.

Stingers rucking, winning the ball.

Pat, giving a girl the straight arm.

Me, Morganne, Marielle, and Mr. Yanchus.

Concordia: Silver Guelph: Bronze, double win for me!

Bronwyn and I after the game, I hadn't seen her for over a month!

I was so happy I cried a little (shh...)

Swift November...

We had a great end to our Quebec rugby season, finishing undefeated with a GOLD at Finals vs. Laval! Off to CIS Nationals!

I had a great visit at the Montreal Museum of Fine Arts, I'll be back there a lot! Its free for students and very well priced day tickets to temporary shows!

Recently I have been applying for free samples. What a loot! I have enough samples of different things to last all year long here in res. So much I haven't even used yet... and more on the way!

C'est L'Halloween!

Halloween in Montreal was great! We all spent the whole weekend at parties and events around campus and the city. Me and three other girls went all out and made our own costumes. We based them of Katy Perry's California Gurls Music Video! We looked great! There was also a haunted house in the basement of my residence! The space has no windows, twisting corridors and six dark prayer spaces that lend to one creepy haunted science lab!

Getting ready, me as "Katy Perry"

Jacob the R.A. being a Zombie!

My friend Emilie as the other cotton-candy "Katy Perry"

Halloween back home in Guelph was fun also! Bronwyn was a Giraffe and the front door was decorated beautifully!

Thanksgiving 2010

In October I went home for Thanksgiving, it was as short trip, but it was relaxing and fantastic to see everyone again. Dinner was a great relief from the strange cafeteria food. They cook nice things but they put certain veggies in the wrong dishes like baby corn in vegetarian lasagna. Or corn in quiche. Its just strange.

Everyone was in good spirits and we had a great evening enjoying the fall feast classics! We used my home-grown herbs, beets and carrots! Not only were my veggies sweet and yummy, they looked fantastic. I couldn't help but say every 2 minutes "How are our organic fresh beets?! Did you know that the turkey is only seasoned with our herbs?! I mean wow, yum!" I'm so excited for next year's crop!

I would love to show you the beautiful pictures, but for what ever reason I don't have them on my computer. They are awesome I promise. I'll post them as soon as I can. Instead I will show you Scamp's first adventure to the big trail dog park in Guelph. We had great weather and Scamp voluntarily dipped his paws in the pond!

Scamp, Chip and Finnegan

Fall colours at the park!

Apple Picking in Oka, Quebec!

Today was so much fun! I got up early (for the weekend) and headed down to the sports complex to go apple picking with the girls in Oka. Turns out it was just me, Estair, Sarah, Jackie and Graeme and his kids; Gavin and Morgan. Jackie also brought her chocolate lab, Buffy. It was a beautiful ride and there were grey clouds all day. It didn't rain until we finished up at the orchard. The orchard is called "Jude-Pomme" they have 8 varieties of apples and 3 varieties of pears. The only apples available to pick were; Macintosh, Spartan, Lobo, and Crispin. I filled my 25lb bag with a mix of all of them. We weren't allowed to pick pears, but I snuck some grounders into my back-pack. There was also an Oka Cheese stand, where I bought some very reasonable "Fou du Roi" organic Oka 9 month cheese. Graeme's son, Gavin loved the strongest blue cheese and they bought a chunk of that. Later we drove to the ferry docks, past the Oka cheese factory and stopped at a Frits & Croutes resto for a quick lunch. I had the home-cut fries, the Quebecois love thier fries. We then boarded the ferry and drove home. It was a great relaxing day.

Welcome to my Art Education Class!

Working with ink and dyes.

Dynamic finger painting at the University Level.

I Picasso of face pieces using pattern and basic children's paints.

Please take note that this class is from 6:30 to 10:30pm!