<body><script type="text/javascript"> function setAttributeOnload(object, attribute, val) { if(window.addEventListener) { window.addEventListener('load', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }, false); } else { window.attachEvent('onload', function(){ object[attribute] = val; }); } } </script> <div id="navbar-iframe-container"></div> <script type="text/javascript" src="https://apis.google.com/js/platform.js"></script> <script type="text/javascript"> gapi.load("gapi.iframes:gapi.iframes.style.bubble", function() { if (gapi.iframes && gapi.iframes.getContext) { gapi.iframes.getContext().openChild({ url: 'https://www.blogger.com/navbar.g?targetBlogID\x3d8356741\x26blogName\x3dShowers+%26+Sunflowers\x26publishMode\x3dPUBLISH_MODE_BLOGSPOT\x26navbarType\x3dBLUE\x26layoutType\x3dCLASSIC\x26searchRoot\x3dhttps://judlesblog.blogspot.com/search\x26blogLocale\x3den_US\x26v\x3d2\x26homepageUrl\x3dhttps://judlesblog.blogspot.com/\x26vt\x3d-7308569820558853386', where: document.getElementById("navbar-iframe-container"), id: "navbar-iframe" }); } }); </script>

Friday, February 29, 2008

BITCHIN'!! SPRING'S COMING!

Even though today is the last day of February (which is def winter up here) there have been warming trends in our temperatures the last weeks and evidence of coming spring. :)

What was this:


















Is now this: (grass!!)



And what was this:


Is now this:





AND, for the other part of "bitchin'", why do some men think it's okay to decorate living rooms like this?



Dear hubby bought a bow-flex. Weeks ago. With it came (free) the above exercise bike. Nowhere to put it.

Uh HUH.

The bow-flex still sits in its boxes in a wee tiny corner in the hot tub room.


He figures there will be enough space for it in this teeny spot. The tiled floor you see at my feet is a step up (raised) from the carpeted area below.




Meanwhile, where that bike is going to go is a mystery to me. All I know is it better NOT be decorating my living room for much longer. It WILL be gone in a couple of weeks as I am hosting sister Pammie's birthday party. Heh heh.

Ah husbands. Gotta love 'em, cuz you can't shoot 'em! *wink*

Hope you all had a decent week, take good care of each other and have a super weekend.

PEACE!
Love Jude

Saturday, February 23, 2008

I'VE BEEN TAGGED!

Yes, I've been tagged again and this time it was sister Pammie , the little shit sweetheart, so here goes!

Here are the rules:

1. Link back to the person who tagged you.
2. Post these rules on your blog.
3. Share six unimportant things about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your blog entry.
5. Let the tagged people know by leaving a comment on their blogs.

Six (un)important things about the Hippie Chick...

1) I'm STILL getting hot flashes after they started 12 fargin' years ago!! Okay they're not as often and not so bad now but still. It counts.

2) When I'm really tired I don't want to do anything but stare at my TV before I finally fall into bed. There's something about being entertained while I just sit and don't have to move a muscle. Lazy eh?

3) I always hate the end of winter because it means that the insects (wasps included!!!) and hot weather are coming back. ICK. And Eeeek! I wish we could just have May for 4 months of the year and then October for 8 months. Well, minus 2weeks for Christmas snow. Only a few inches at most though. I don't ask for too much. Nuh uh. :-)

4) The older I get the less vain I am. And the more I'm willing to speak out without worrying as much. I figure I've earned it right? Well okay I still try to be tactful but......

5) I don't even listen to the radio anymore. I just don't enjoy newer music as much (most of it anyway, there is some I really like) and the older rockier stuff I can listen to my fav's on CD anyway, AND listen to my classical music on CD too.

6) Whew last one!! I eat mayonnaise on my french toast. And I also like the taste of mayonnaise/peanut butter sammiches. :-)

Hey, don't knock it till you've tried it!!!


Okay listen up peeps you're TAGGED!!
1) Lowa
2) Vince (even Rocker Dudes get tagged)
3) Tracey
4) Dick
5) Danni
6) Bobbie

Sorry! Hah!

Hope you're all having a good week where you are. It's been nice temperatures here and actually a pleasure to be outdoors. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Wednesday, February 20, 2008

MOON OVER EDMONTON

Relax, I'm not standing here with my pants down. heh heh

I managed to take some shots tonight of the lunar eclipse and thought I'd share some of them in sequence. I was really frustrated because this new camera should have been zooming at 30X and I could only get it at 15X.













Then AFTERWARDS I found the problem with sister Pammie's help, I had a certain setting turned "on" unknowingly, and shut it off.

This is how big ALL my shots could have been, dammit! Although I did this in a hurry just to try it so it's not focused well or anything.




Ah well. Maybe in 2010 I'll get it right huh?

Hope you were able to enjoy the eclipse, it was very beautiful to watch!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Friday, February 15, 2008

DOWNRIGHT BALMY!



I had to make a trip to the Post Office on Thursday to send out 2 orders of my products, it was a pleasant and short walk. While I was feeling fat little snowflakes tickle my face, the sun was still trying to burn it's way through some of the cloud cover. There were birds singing and chirping, keeping me company all the way there and back. Great day!









We've had a lot of snow recently, and everywhere you look there are piles of it shovelled to the side, people look for just about anywhere to put it. Makes for some pretty pictures though.











There wasn't a lot of light for pictures today, as the sun was trying but unsuccessful at burning through. However this made for a nice shot of a backlit "glowing" tree.



















At the front of the house, you'd never know there was a flower garden under all of this, just waiting for spring sunshine to bring it to life again. For now though, it all sleeps beneath a warm blanket.









See??? I told ya it was downright BALMY!






















Hope you all have a fabulous weekend, take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY



Just spreadin' a little whole lotta love!

Will you be my Blogentine?

PEACE!

Love Jude

Thursday, February 07, 2008

Rhubarb and Visiting Birds

Some of my favourite desserts have rhubarb in them. YUMMO! Sister Pammie gave me a recipe a long time ago and it's called Rhubarb "Cake", at least that's what I wrote down. This has been renamed by me, as it's more like pastry so I call it "Lazy Rhubarb Pie".

Today being a perfectly nice day to bake, I got out all my stuff and went for it.

Step One.
Measure and Mix.

I like using all of my Mom's baking stuff, like these cool 60's plastic measuring spoons. Somehow using her things makes my stuff taste better.





Step Two.
Bake Bake Bake (for one WHOLE hour!) Man that's a loooong wait.








Step Three.
Cool on the counter. **taps foot, fidgets, gets impatient, drools a lot**












Step Four.
Do NOT drool in the baked goods!














Step Five.
At last!!! Cut a square.













Step Six.
Get some on your spoon, bring it to your mouth. Eat and savour!

I have to say, this stuff is deelish. Thank you Pammie.



*****************************************************************************



A very weird thing happened today. ALL DAY long and lasting until the sun started to go down, this is what was happening around my house.

Once I realized what was going on out there I grabbed my camera and went out to capture some shots, but decided I needed to share a video with sound. Turn it up so you can hear them, it's so cool!

LISTEN TO THE BOIDIES


This is a zoomed shot of the huge tree across the back alley. While I was shooting these, I didn't realize that there were tons more of these birds out front too!




So through my bedroom window (so as not to make them fly away) I got some zoomed shots of these guys. I've never seen this bird before around here, and I've certainly never heard their "song".

Does anyone know what these are? I think they are migrating and stopped at my house today to frolic and rest in the sunshine. As soon as the sun started to go down, they disappeared.



This guy on the right is just opening it's beak to munch a berry from the Mountain Ash.



They're a pretty bird, and I see they have that comb on the back of their heads. They kinda remind me of the shape of a jay or a cardinal in some ways, but I'm stumped.



In some of these shots you can see they have a yellow spot on the end of their tails, and if I'm not mistaken I think I also spotted some yellow on some of the wing tips. Kinda hard to see it in these shots though.


So, anyone know what these are? I'd love to google them and see where they're from etc.

I'm telling you it was a bird paradise out here today! There were hundreds of them, all around my house, and the "cricket-like" twilling never stopped for even one second. HOURS of it! It was so cool.


**EDIT** due to requests for this, here is the recipe for my "Lazy Rhubarb Pie".

Please note that when I wrote this down many years ago I may have screwed up on the butter, it just sounds like so much! I've halved the amount of butter in the recipe and it works fine, but the original amounts are written here:

2 cups flour
1/2 cup butter
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp. baking powder
1 egg, beaten

Mix with fork, reserve 1 cup for topping. Press the rest into bottom of greased 8X8 pan.

For filling:

1 1/2 cups sugar
1/2 cup flour
1/2 cup butter, melted
2 eggs, beaten
4 cups diced rhubarb

Mix well, pour into pan. Top with 1 cup of reserved topping. Sprinkle brown sugar over top. Bake for one hour at 350F.



Well chicks and dudes, this post is toast. I hope you are all having a decent week, take good care of each other!

PEACE!
Love Jude

Friday, February 01, 2008

FEBRUARY FROSTIES

***Edit*** Clicking on the pictures will enlarge them for you, but for some reason when you do then you can't get back to my blog. Anyone know how to fix this? Thanks!***


Although we woke up to sunshine, later in the afternoon the skies clouded over and a fluffy, silent snow began to fall sometime when I was having sweet dreams during my nap. While the sun was still out this morning though, I thought of how in another handful of weeks we'll be seeing melt and the last of the sparkly stuff on the ground.

One thing I love about winter is the fact that there are NO BUGS. It's been far too cold in the last several days to even consider being out and alive if you're of the insect persuasion anyway. We're still in the deep freeze that I posted about before this, however the North Pole winds stopped within a few days and now we've just settled into crisp, cold temperatures that you still wouldn't want to have skin exposed to for more than a few minutes.



On my way down to the laundry room I stopped at the front door to admire the way the sun was reflecting off of the window I was looking out, and making pretty reflections on the snowbank. Hubby was kept very busy shovelling for a few days (as was the entire city) and the snowploughs have been working furiously to keep city roads clear after the initial dump we got days ago.

Living where we do, even having the horrendous snow storm and gale winds from way up north doesn't keep the population from their daily doings; still we all schlepped our way to work and home again, shopping and errands. It just takes longer as you must traverse slower and more cautiously. Not to mention dressing in many more layers.

When inside buildings the normal sight during these times is seeing people coming through doors from outside with pink cheeks and stamping the snow off their boots; relishing the sudden warmth of indoor heating. Usually accompanied by a shiver in the shoulders and a blowing out of breath. It's hard on the lungs breathing in that kind of cold air, it makes you cough when you first step out in it.




Somehow (it always amazes me how) the animal kingdom manages to stay warm enough and exist in these temperatures. Our bunny friends make their nightly visits foraging for plant life to eat under the snow. Evidence is always so obvious when there is snow on the ground. Right now they pretty much only come out to eat, staying in their burrows and hiding places to stay warm.

Come early spring though, even during the day we'll spot our favourite mamma bunny sunning herself in our yard in the snow. She'll still be white, and possibly looking forward to brown fur and spring once again.





Just before I laid down for my afternoon nap, I had just put another load of clothes in the dryer and liked the way the steam was partly obscuring the view across the back alley. It would have been a very pretty day to venture out with my camera and trudge through snow; however it's just too cold for both the camera and me to be out in it long before we stop working altogether.

So I admire the snowy sparkles from afar through my windows. And I am aware that I am ABLE to be warm to do so, unlike some who are more unfortunate. To them, winter is their biggest enemy. Our city's shelters have been operating at full capacity. I only wish we had more of them, and they're working on it.

Although not all of us are the same, call me Canadian ~ I am already wistfully aware that soon enough the beauty of this season will be foresaken for the beauty of the next. Ah! What a pretty and diverse world we live in!


On another topic, the Shark Cartilage I've been taking for a few months now just might be helping a bit with the arthritis my shoulders! I still have pain and limited movement, but I'm noticing I can do a bit more than I could before. Perhaps I've found the relief I need? I'll keep taking it and hope it continues to improve a little more.

I hope you are all staying warm where you are, and for those of you out East, please stay safe on the ice. Take good care of each other!

PEACE!

Love Jude