I SLEPT. I BAKED. I CONQUERED!

As my vacation winds down there are some fond memories to share, some of which I will do here now, and some later. This year, after just a few years from planting our little pear tree, we hoped that the fruit it bore us would finally be edible. But unfortunately, still not so.

This is probably the largest of the pears this year, and there were many. But even though they are really juicy there still is no sweetness to them at all. Rather like sticking a lemon in your mouth.

We hope that at some point, perhaps as the tree matures with time, there will be edible pears to enjoy! Still, the pretty white flowers this tree produces each spring is reason enough alone to be worth having this little tree in our front yard. Ah well, maybe next year!






I've baked many a cake in my time, but for some reason I never made cupcakes. Weird huh? I've never bought a muffin pan nor little paper cupcake "cups".

Until this vacation, that is. I saw a baking ad in a magazine or somewhere and for weeks before my vacation I kept craving what I saw. I promised myself that while I was at home with time on my hands and rested joints I was going to do this.

These are coconut flavoured cupcakes. Don't they look delicious? Are you drooling yet?? Hahaha I made them from scratch, and they are sooooo moist. They're so easy to make that I made them 3 times. Once for us, another time to take to my dentist's office while there on an appointment (I've been going there for so many years and wanted to give them a nice little gift, which by the way they loved), and the third time I made a little half-batch to share some with my best friend when we spent an afternoon together the other day.





They are a hit. Everyone likes them, and the BEST thing is that they taste just like my craving tasted like in my mind. How satisfying is that!

I used coconut extract to flavour both the cupcakes and the icing, and then dipped the iced cupcakes into coconut for texture and more flavouring. NOW are you drooling?

Before my vacation started I made myself a list of things to get done, like I do every year. This time, I did horribly. I was so tired I spent the entire first week just sleeping and resting. The second week (where did the friggin' second week go???) I had a doctor and a dentist appointment, and slept some more. This last week is full of get-togethers with friends (see you tomorrow Vickytoria!), and a couple of photo shoots which I will tell you about in another post soon.

The biggest project I need to get done is to repaint the walls in a stairwell. These past 3 weeks I've managed to get the walls prepped. No paint can has seen the light of day yet, but I'm not back to work until next week so we'll see.

See? As I type this I have laundry on the go and I'm yawning. I am going to go for a nap. What can I say? Working for a living makes me tired.....well okay, it's the "getting up with the alarm clock no matter HOW little sleep I got because of snoring hubby" thing that does it.

And right now he's at work so I'm going to go sleep in my bed. Alone. Mua haha!

Take good care of each other, and have a good weekend!

PEACE!
Love Jude

HAPPY BLOGVERSARY SHOWERS AND SUNFLOWERS!

It was 6 years ago today that I finished up a week's worth of learning about Blogger and how to go about setting up a blog. And on that day, after finally getting my blog to the point that I liked, I typed out My Very First Post, short as it was, took a deep breath, and hit "Publish". My longest reader, and one of the main reasons I started this, Sista Janna is even in the comments.

Over the past 6 years I've blogged about family, friends, my job, My Hubby, and all things in between. I've talked about aging, Icky Body Parts, and how Menopause has taken away left only a little of my mind and at the same time added unwanted things physically. LOL

In that space of time I've laughed at myself (many times) and I've shared problems and asked for prayers. I've shared pictures and feelings, and some jokes. I've lamented about my visits to see Dr. I.L. Drillya who loves doing things to me with his big drill. In that first year I learned about HTML coding and how to change the look and feel of my blog with some help from online friends along the way.

And I've made many friends.

Six years ago today I had no idea that I'd still be enjoying blogging, though I don't post as often as I once used to. I've become much busier online since then, moderating on a few forums and running a photography contest blog. But blogging is still where it's at dude!!

In the space of these past 6 years I've seen many blogger buddies change to BlehSpace MySpace, then FaceCrap Facebook, and I signed up there just to keep in touch with a few of them. (MySpace got deleted years ago but I'm still on Facebook, although most of the time I forget to go there.) I've seen some of those friends come back to blogging, which is great!

It's been quite the ride ~ fun, interesting, and informative. And I can't see it ending anytime soon!

There are still a couple of my friends on my bloglinks who were there from the start, and several that have been there for about 5 years. Others are newer links, but "new" is maybe a few years. It's almost like a little blog family. Some have come and gone over the years but most of us keep in touch.

There are quite a few regular readers here, although not many who leave comments. To a blogger, comments are the best part. Still, it's nice to know that I'm not typing out posts to cyber space just to put blisters on my fingers. Thank you to my readers, you're much appreciated. One of my most dedicated readers was my older sister Linda who commented on every post I made. But sadly the company she works for has put up blocks and she doesn't have access to comment anymore. Damn company! Quit the job Sis! Muahaha!

Blogging opened a whole new world to me 6 years ago, and for that I am eternally grateful. For the friends mostly, and for the fun.

So how about I be a selfish bitch chick and ask for a Blogversary present? If you are reading this, please leave me a comment. That would be SO GROOVY!!

Thank you to all of you who come here and share in my life a little bit. I'm so glad you do. :-)

PEACE!!!

"PERSONAL FAVOURITES" WINNERS!

This was quite the fight over at Stardom Awaits! for first and second places! Congratulations to the winners, the 3-way tie for first place and the 2-way tie for second place was fabulous!

Thank you to all of the voters for participating, and to the entrants for some really terrific work.

At the end of this month the next photo contest will be "SCENIC". Now that promises to be some pretty pictures I think. :-)

Stay tuned!

PEACE!
Love Jude

COWS, PERFUME, AND NOEL

Holy Cow, can my sister Brenda cook a roast or what?

Last night we were there for my brother-in-law's birthday. Brenda slow cooked a beef roast on low temperature all day in her oven, and when she took it out the meat literally fell apart like she had made pulled beef for sandwiches. It was SO tasty! She spiced it just right, and added a whole can of Coca Cola and some water to the roast pan. I keep hearing about doing that, I must try it.

My hubby was unable to attend due to work and Brenda sent me home with some leftovers for him. It's sitting in my fridge.

And every time I open the fridge I don't WANT to save it for him. *I* want to eat it! LOL This could be the test of all time to how good a wife I am not. hehehe

We had a lovely visit, lots of laughs, and teased Rory endlessly about how OLD he's getting. What are good sisters-in-law for if not to be ruthlessly teasing him?

Brenda also sent sister Pammie and I home with lots of Avon samples. She's signed up to sell Avon on the side apart from her teaching day job. So on top of ordering a few things last night from her, I also came home with several perfume sample packets and some skin care sample packets. I often purchase some little things from Avon every Christmas for my sisters, I guess I won't be doing that now as Brenda will most likely be doing the same thing for us!

Speaking of which, you DO realize Christmas is only a little over 3 months away right? (do I hear "shut up already Jude!!" ??) **GRIN**

Only 2 more days left to vote over at Stardom Awaits! if you haven't already done so for the "Personal Favourite" photo contest!

Okay, I must get warpaint applied and do something with my hair. Today is grocery shopping day for hubby and myself. Now I've added a roast to my list. Oh, and a can of Coke. I think I may want to go duct tape the fridge shut first.....

Take good care of each other and have a peaceful week!

PEACE!
Love Jude

END OF SUMMER

Although eastern Canada is still experiencing warm temperatures, out here in the west we've suddenly been getting just the opposite. Apparently we westerners could be in for an early snowfall and winter.

After having a bit of frost the other morning, I knew that our flower gardens wouldn't be pretty for much longer. So early this morning when the sun was shining I decided I'd best grab my camera and capture some of the last scenic views out there.





Although the frost has already shown little bits of damage here and there, for the most part our "bloomers" aren't fairing too badly yet. While the eastern half of our country will be in the high-ish 70's this coming week, we out here will be having temperatures more like upper 50's to low 60's.

Personally, I don't mind that one bit. *grin* What I DO mind is the chance of early snowfalls hanging over our heads, and it seems likely to happen. This might be the year to break the pattern of the last few years of green grass for Halloween.




My vacation started when I left work Wednesday, but it didn't feel like it at all as I had to work Saturday due to no staff. So as of today (Sunday) I am once again "officially" on vacation.

I had been hoping to get out for at least a couple of photo shoots somewhere during this time, and I'm praying that the weather, and foliage, stays nice enough for it. Autumn being my FAVOURITE season, this is why I take my vacation annually at this time of year.

A good friend of mine, Shilo, and my sister Pammie have a photo shoot planned in a couple of weeks. Hopefully it'll be a sunny day without any white stuff on the ground yet!





We actually had our windows closed during the night last night. I hate that, I really sleep better with fresh air in the bedroom. Tonight unless it's windy I'll have at least one window partially open and get a restful sleep. :-)

As usual at this time of year here, some of the trees have already begun the transformation from green to golden yellow. It's so pretty. Right now the river valley parks will look gorgeous. Maybe that's one place we'll get to with our cameras again, who knows? We still haven't decided yet.





The lavender flowers in the foreground of this picture are still blooming too. I didn't realize this plant would do so once it's cooler. My best friend Michele was looking at them with me the other evening and we plucked a flower or two off and gently rubbed them in our fingers. OMG what a beautiful scent they give! I love all things scented lavender anyway. These little buds would be really nice added to my bath salts and soaps.








If you haven't already done so, the voting is still open over at Stardom Awaits! and will be for another week or so. The theme this month is "Personal Favourites" and there are some terrific shots entered!


Have a great long Labour Day weekend everyone, and take good care of each other.

PEACE!
Love Jude