Victoria highlights

It seems like so long ago that we were in Victoria!  As you may recall, we travelled there so that I could attend a Conference.  It was delightfully set in a very central location at Victoria's Fairmont Empress Hotel:

The grounds of the Hotel were heavenly maintained.  The view of the harbour from the Hotel is exquisite.  The hallways and the public areas of the Hotel were enchanting and stately.  Even the hallways to the hotel rooms were filled with period details.

Even though its standard rooms are adequate with two double beds and teeny tiny toilet facilities for a family of 4, the Empress' central location couldn't be beat.

I had forgot what it is like to sit at a conference crammed with too many registrants, without tables, for 7 hours per day.  The conference itself had highlights and I much appreciated having the long days (Monday & Friday) sandwiched in between short days (Tuesday & Thursday).  Without a question, a highlight of the Conference occurred the Sunday evening with the entry and meeting and greeting of Queen Elizabeth:

I rounded up K and N and returned them to the reception to meet "the Queen".  You could just picture K's little bucket-list where she must have had written "Meet the Queen" and a nice big check-mark beside it that evening!  I have pondered telling them the truth about "the Queen" but it would likely be futile: I broke the news about the Easter Bunny myth to them a couple Easters ago and, within seconds of my explanation, they turned to me and inquired when the Easter Bunny would be coming.  It's more fun to let them think they met the Queen.

woof!

K had her 7th birthday this past week.  Yesterday was her dog-themed party with her friends!  We had black Scottish terrier dog licorice and dog-earred head-bands greeting the girls at the door along with black face-paint for whiskers and doggie-nose (and some of the girls wanted dots like dalmatians).  After the craft (using clay to decorate mirror and box ~ not specifically doggie themed!), I felt sadistic watching the girls play:

• plush puppy toss (no cruelty to animals intended here)
•  pin the paw on the puppy
• rawhide bone scavenger hunt
• waterbowl races (individual carrying of spoons of water to the puppy's bowl and team-work in carrying 1/4 cups of water to the water-bowl)

Following a hot-dog supper, a birthday cake with Mary Engelbreit scottish terrier and cherry toppings were served.  It was a cake from a bakery (because I had run out of cocoa and steam after making 2 cakes for her for daycare and family parties) and the best thing about the cake were the Mary Engelbreit toppings!

Of course, the treat bags for her friends included doggie themed treats including puppy tattoos, candy-necklace collars, and Claire's happened to have lots of dog-themed doodads like little lip-glosses.  Mary Engelbreit scottish terrier chipboard and "friends" ribbon was used to dress up the Dollarama treat bags.

K was quite determined that her party with her friends include no gifts.  Instead, she requested donations for the local Humane Society so we have quite the collection of rawhide bones.  I wonder where we'll be heading sometime soon?

glimpses of Victoria

 Our first stop was a visit to Victoria's Butterfly Gardens.  The adults were a little disappointed with it although the tour and visit was the right length of time for children, especially following two flights.

 

This is a view of Victoria's Provincial Legislature from the viewpoint of the front of Empress.

It seems that no trip to Victoria is complete without a visit to the beautiful Butchart Gardens.  It was worth the admission to visit as we gasped in awe at the beauty of the Sunken Gardens.  It was impressive reclamation of land which used to be a mine until it was abandoned and converted into the gardens.  Much to our surprise, the girls were enthusiastic about walking through the gardens and K visited each one (but N didn't visit the Japanese Garden as her feet were sore).   The girls were delighted by the Carousel but didn't pay much mind to the nearby totem poles which were made traditionally by First Nations in parts of British Columbia.

We visited the nearby Fort Rodd Hill National Historic Site.  The Fort itself wasn't terribly interesting as it was not engaged in any particular battle although it served active duty until after World War II.  The nearby lighthouse was a worthwhile visit as it described what life would have been like for the families who worked and lived in the lighthouse and was quite interactive for children.

We lucked out by encountering a Cadillac reunion at Fort Rodd.  This was my favorite from the early 1950s!

I didn't have much time for sightseeing as I was at a conference.  Near the end of our stay, we visited Fisherman's Wharf as part of a Harbour Tour.  It never occurred to me that people set up residence in boats on the West Coast!  It was very picturesque!

recipe junkie

In attempting to return the kitchen to normal functioning order, I have had to make space in my cupboard for my recipe books which used to hang out on the bookshelves beside the sink.  (The new shelves aren't as user-friendly because they are narrower and shorter than the original shelves).  I always knew that I hoarded recipes, now the reality has been confirmed.

I have a pile of untried recipes in a magazine of untried recipes sitting on the buffet in the dining room.  I opened a (non-subsciption) magazine this morning and there was another magazine that had recipes within it that I quickly zipped through and dog-earred potential recipes for my attention.  There's another magazine  celebrating Epicure products that contains dog-earred recipes that I've kept for about a year, none of which I have attempted.

I am a recipe junkie.

When my dh and I first married, I made an effort to try a new recipe once per week.  On the whole, I was quite dedicated to this task and found some recipes that enchanted the taste-buds but, on the whole, my dh would often shrivel his nose and remark, "Another new recipe" and give it the thumbs-down.  This was particularly so when the slow-cooker was used.  He dreads the slow-cooker and has threatened to forcefully remove it from the house.  I only bring it out periodically to try a new recipe but use it for making chicken soup and oatmeal (and periodically for steamed potatoes).

I am now faced with at least 3 stockpiles of untried recipes.  I have trouble recycling them.  I think it is time to go through them realistically and test-try a few, but toss most of them out.  I also face the same conundrum with recipe books that I have never used.

I should muster the self-discipline of test-trying a new recipe weekly.  I go on this kick periodically but lack the endurance and self-discipline of continuing this effort.  (It doesn't help that K & N are fussy eaters and test-trying recipes is a sure way of ensuring that they pick at their meals!)

lobster and beagles galore

I promised I would subject you to some of my photos so here are a few from the weekend.  One of my colleagues had a lobster bake on Sunday evening as a Newfie colleague returned from a visit to Newfoundland with a box of fresh lobster. (I pause here to reflect why we call it a lobster bake when the lobster are plummeted into boiling water?!)

It was a lovely evening with few bugs to disturb us plus lots of entertaining beagle puppies around!

This class is demonstrating to me that I am not motivated enough to learn all there is about photography to best manipulate a camera. Still, it is fun to tote it around and ponder what I should be capturing to participate in the class each day!  There's a significant difference between attempting to capture and succeeding in capturing an image!

Picture Summer

I had such a great time doing Big Picture Scrapbooking's Baker's Dozen class that I signed up for Picture Summer as well.  It started July 1.  I am now 3 days behind.

I suspected that it was for the camera endowed those who tote loaded cameras, not for my sleek almost 5 year old Canon Powershot!  But I'm not one to read the fine-print regarding online stuff (as the wee font causes my aging 4-eyes to go cross-eyed) so I signed up for the class with the meagre hope that it would at least prompt me to explore the features I currently have on my Powershot.  Plus, K has expressed an interest in photography (and all things "art") so I have suggested that we'd take the class together which she has delightfully accepted.  So, my poor Powershot will not only be subjected to my naive groping of it but also K's; I'm just hoping that it manages to make it through the class without being dropped or damaged by myself or by K.  (The second prompt includes water ~ I will avoid mentioning that one to K!)

I am additionally challenged because I don't have Photoshop (and have never used it ~ as my photos on my blog can attest!) but hope to rely on iPhoto's editing software (which, frankly, is built for my limited skillset).  I am just wondering whether I will be able to withstand the urge to purchase Photoshop or rely on some free online similar site for the next 30 days.

So here's the head's up: I anticipate posting a few of my inspired shots K's photos over the next 30 days.  Consider yourself warned!