Merry Christmas

Wishing everyone a very Merry Christmas and a joyous and prosperous New Year!

From my family to yours.

Christmas Market

All set up for the Sherwood Park Christmas Market.  This is also the debut of Dolph, my new head with neck.  Sadly, my budget did not allow for a torso, but I can fit a light in Dolph! 
Sent from Anna's phone

At the Museum Cafe

Oh, my!  It's been ages since I have had their bison burgers!  With a side of spiced pita chips.  Mmmmmm....
At the Royal Alberta Museum.
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River City Round Up

On now in Churchill Square.
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Again

This same vehicle has been on the sidewalk twice, and now it's parked in the disabled parking space... The one used by DATS to pick up passengers in wheelchairs.  No, it does not have a placard.
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Again?

I think this is the same vehicle that was backed over the sidewalk a few days ago.  Perhaps they are moving in?  Not making a good impression with their neighbors, if they are.
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Wow.

I have to assume there is a reason for this.
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A Moment

Heading out to the van, I had just moments to try and capture the sunrise before the spectacular colours where gone.  The photo does not do it justice.
Sent from Anna's phone

All that glitters is not gold

My older daughter is working on her Halloween costume. Part of it reqires washing the glitter off of some Christmas decor/plastic plants.
This was taken after they had already been washed once.
Sent from Anna's phone

Happy Canadian Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all our Canadian viewers!

While a lot of people have had their big dinners on Sunday, we're waiting until Monday.  We're not going to be doing a turkey or ham this year - the girls asked for bacon wrapped chicken thighs.  I tend to buy bulk at Costco, so I got a 4 pack, leaving us with plenty of extra bacon for other things.

I used 1 1/2 of those for our Sunday supper and made my own version of the Bacon Explosion, using what I had available.  I had some ground beef, which I mixed up with seasonings the way I would normally do for a meatloaf, rather then the sausage they used.  I didn't have the seasoning mix they put on the woven mat of bacon at all.  I also used a mix of shredded marble cheese and dry feta where the Bacon Explosion uses cooked bacon pieces.

 That made for a rather large roll!  After wrapping it in aluminum foil, I baked it for about 2 hours, opening the foil for the last half hour or so to brown the bacon. 

When it was done, my daughter helped me take it out of the foil and transfer it to a dry pan, upside down.  Since the underside had been sitting in rendered fat and was looking pretty pale, we popped it back into the oven under the broiler for more browning.

It was incredibly delicious!  Surprisingly quick and easy to make, too.  I think this is something we'll be adding to our list of recipes for special dinners!

Frost and Fog

A view of our valley this morning.

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Morning reflections

 

Culture Days

Activities available include watercolour painting, clay, encaustic painting and plenty more!  Great time to try something new. 

Sherwood Park Community Centre.

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Art in the Plaza and Culture Days

Today is the last day of Art in the Plaza.  With Culture Days also on, we have been moved to the more visible EAST Plaza, facing Sherwood Park Rd.  Hope to see some of you here!

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Off Whyte Garage Sale

The tents are being set up, the band is warming up, and the food trucks are firing up.  Looking to be a great day!

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Good Morning

What I found off my balcony after dropping my husband off at work.

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Float

Seen while driving to Sherwood Park.  There were two of them, and we ended up driving under both.

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How?

The phone of my daughter's friend.

How is this even still working?  I think it's held together with Duct Tape and magic.

Sent from Anna's phone

Forget Me Not

When my younger daughter's cat, Harley, suddenly died of massive kidney failure, the veterinary hospital that had tried to save Harley sent us a card of condolence and a packet of Forget Me Not seeds.  These are from those seeds.

Golden

This flower was planted by one of our neighbours in the raised beds we built last year.  I love how the petals are sparkling ever so slightly in the bright sunlight.

The AGA

The Art Gallery of Alberta has a free admission day, from 6-9 pm, on the last Thursday of every month.  This view is from the upper level Terrace Cafe, overlooking the entrance, reception and main lounge.

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Growing

One of the purple cabbages I've got growing in our balcony garden.  Our garden is doing really well this year, as is everyone else's.  It's been a good year for growing things!

Pink Hood

After our accessible garden beds were built, several of our members claimed plots and planted everything from tomatoes and potatoes to flowers of all kinds.  This one makes me think of a woman wearing a pink hood.

I need to get our more with the macro lens.  I really enjoy it.

Henna

Set up at the Sherwood Park, Art on the Plaza again.  Today, we have someone doing henna!  Love it. :-D

Rescued

This is a pretty old photo of my daughter, taken by her friend with his cell phone.  They had gone out for a walk during one of the many rain storms we've had this year.  As they passed a bush along the sidewalk, they noticed movement.  Checking it out, they discovered a nearly downed mouse!  My daughter held it in her hands to warm it up.  For the longest time, it just lay there, panting.  Eventually, she felt some movement and took a look.  She found it struggling to get to its feet and looking around.  Then it started to lick her palm!  After a while, it started to move around in her hands, but made no attempt to escape.  When it looked well recovered, she kept her hands open a little more at a time so that it wouldn't be too shocked by the cold when it was released.  It was about 20 minutes or so before she let it go in a drier area.  They figure it's den was somewhere under the bush, and the rain and flooded it.

My daughter makes me proud!

Berry Carnage

Not a very good image, I'm afraid, but I only had my camera phone handy.  My older daughter and I were just heading out the door to walk to the library when the sky opened and hail began to fall!

We have a Mountain Ash tree in front of our unit, and the hail stripped quite a few of the ripening berries.  We did end up walking to the library after the hail stopped (though it was still pouring) and, while the hail was quickly swept away by the downpoar, the sidewalks were littered with leaves and twigs.  Sadly, we also passed a dead pigeon on the the street, killed by the hail.

Here's a video I took with my phone as well. 



Another photo of the hail here, plus some of the flooding we saw while we were out and about.

100

At Colours, watching the races, for the Wandering Woolies' 100th Meet Up.

Ready

Ready at Art on the Plaza again.

There will be a tour with the artist that made these sculptures in the afternoon.

Watch your step

The reason we have to vacuum under the rug so often... and why our beige rug turns black so quickly!

Kinda neat...

It's rather neat to sit in a tea shop and see my daughter's paintings on the wall.

Steeps in Old Glenora, Stoney Plain Rd.

2012 Taste of Edmonton

KyotoMaki
Originally uploaded by amkb

I've finally got my photos up for this year's A Taste of Edmonton. Click for details or go to my flickr set.

Art in the Plaza

Set up at Art in the Plaza in Sherwood Park again.  Hope to see some of you here! :-)

Smoke

For the past several days, a cloud of smoke from forest fires has covered our city. It's especially dense in the valley.

It's Raining, It's Pouring

A quick dash into the rain to get a shot of today's lay out.  It is supposed to rain all day, but the artists are a hardy bunch!  Grab your umbrellas and rain coats and check out the Whyte Ave Art Walk!

Change it up

Second day of the Art Walk.  Trying a different configuration inside.  Still have time to tweak.

Set up

All done setting up at the Art Walk.  It's always a challenge setting up the grid wall. Especially when you discover the spot you have is not at all level!

Whyte Ave. Art Walk

This weekend, beginning on Friday the 13th (and my birthday!) I will be spending most of it as my daughter's go-fer at the 17th Annual Whyte Ave Art Walk.  We're really looking forward to it!  There will be hundreds of amazing artists showing, demonstrating and selling their work.

Here's a map showing where the artists will be set up.  My daughter's booth will be in the green striped area between 103 St (Gateway Blvd) and 102 St.

It's expected to be a hot weekend, though not quite as hot as it has been in the last few days, so be sure to put on the sun screen, wear a hat, stay hydrated, and enjoy the weekend!

Incoming

Walking to the library with my daughter, we can see - and hear! - a fast moving storm.

The Beauty of Fungi

My older daughter and I visited the downtown farmer's market today, and we couldn't resist picking up a package of mixed mushrooms.  They were just so beautiful and perfect!!



Such interesting shapes and textures.



I couldn't resist getting in there with the macro setting.



And Finnegan couldn't resist trying to eat some!  I couldn't believe how determined he was to snag a piece while I was trying to take photos!

We have an awesome recipe for mushroom soup that we can't wait to use these for.

Funny.  As a child, I didn't like mushrooms.  Now I love them!

Birthday Girl

My kids have long since lost interest in birthday parties, so one of our birthday traditions is now taking them to the restaurant of their choice to celebrate.  My younger daughter, my baby, turned 16 this year.  Her choice of restaurant this year was Kyoto. We've gone to the one downtown, which is near Philippe's office, a few times.  The food is wonderful, but we've had issues with the service.  This time we went to the location across the river (see link above).  We went in the afternoon, so there weren't many people there and there was only one server, but the service was still much better then the other location!



For an appetizer, we got the pork dumplings, gyoza, which were quite tasty.



All our meals came with a starter soup with bean sprout salad.  My kids normally skip the starter soups, but not here!  We all really enjoy it.  I also got a pot of green tea.



Philippe always orders his favorite, the gyu don.



My older daughter ordered the chirashi, which she absolutely loves.  This is one of those dishes she finds herself craving!  Personally, I don't have the courage to eat raw fish, but she loves it.

The teapot in the background is what they use for tabletop soy sauce pitchers.



Meanwhile, the birthday girl and I both ordered the Bento Box D - this is our dish that we crave!  Their tempura vegetables and seafood are fantastic and comes with a wonderful dipping sauce, the beef and chicken moist and tender, the salad is fresh and crisp, and the pickled radish (?) adds just the right amount of tang.  Also comes with a bowl of white rice.  Delicious!



And here's the birthday girl herself!!

Happy Birthday, Sweetheart!

My Bag!

The kitten we adopted is now pretty much fully grown.  Hard to believe he's even the same cat!!  Gone are the deep blue eyes, and the tiny speck on his nose has turned into a black patch that covers of his nose.

As you can see, he's quite settled in to our home.  One of his favorite things is bags.  All bags, but especially this large, rather noisy bag.

He likes to nap in it.

At My Shoulder

I sat on the couch, and this happened.