-While it is unlikely that we will make it up to the low-twenties, as we did yesterday, we have every indication that today will be at least another passable Spring day - if a little overcast.
-To take advantage of yesterday's great weather Jeannette and I spent much of the morning walking around our neighbourhood and the downtown area. First we made our way to the city-funded arts centre (which just happens to be a few blocks away from us) to visit a showing of local artists works. Unfortunately, we weren't able to find anything we wanted to buy.
We then made our way up to one of our local coffee shops for some road coffees for our walk to the farmer's market.
Mainly as a justification to head out for a walk, rather than with intent to actually buy anything, we made our way over to the Regina Farmer's market. Unfortunately, as is normally the case, it was something of a disappointment (and nothing like the Saskatoon Farmer's Market that we visited last Saturday) and we weren't even remotely tempted to buy anything. As usual, there wasn't even any flour. What's up with a farmer's market in Saskatchewan not selling flour?
Because the farmer's market is on the same street as the optician from whom I recently purchased glasses I then went to have my glasses adjusted. For some reason my glasses have been slipping down my nose (a problem I have had with every pair of glasses I have ever owned). While I think the adjustment helped I'm not sure if the problem has been altogether solved and I fear that I may have to start using my weird little rubber ear piece attachments. Bummer (particularly, because it this problem that motivated me to buy new frames).
-After a little bit of early yard work (mostly some raking and sweeping) Jeannette talked me into having our first barbecue of the season. Not surprisingly, it was quite pleasant.
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Showing posts with label spring. Show all posts
Sunday, April 12, 2015
Sunday, June 15, 2014
A Few Quick Notes 611
-Today has been variously rainy, cloudy, and sunny. Unfortunately, the sunny portions of the day have tended to be the shortest. Apparently funnel clouds have been spotted in souther Saskatchewan - so there's that too.
-Maybe because of the rain we had over the past few days the mosquitos have been out in full force. While at our Ultimate game on Thursday I received several bites and this afternoon while we were in the garden briefly Jeannette received about a half dozen bites, most of which were through her clothes.
-Yesterday I made a quite enjoyable batch of pea soup for dinner.
-We've been on something of a fruit leather making kick recently. We've made three batches in the past few days. I think we're particularly motivated to make this much because each successive batch has been more successful than the previous batch. I'm convinced that part of the recent success stems from my decision to include both a wider variety of fruits and also to include the juice from one or two lemons.
As Jeannette can attest, the only problem with so many successful batches of fruit leather is availability of so much fruit leather. If one's not careful one can in a matter of minutes eat the equivalent of several pounds worth of fruit. I guess there are worse things one could be binging on.
-Maybe because of the rain we had over the past few days the mosquitos have been out in full force. While at our Ultimate game on Thursday I received several bites and this afternoon while we were in the garden briefly Jeannette received about a half dozen bites, most of which were through her clothes.
-Yesterday I made a quite enjoyable batch of pea soup for dinner.
-We've been on something of a fruit leather making kick recently. We've made three batches in the past few days. I think we're particularly motivated to make this much because each successive batch has been more successful than the previous batch. I'm convinced that part of the recent success stems from my decision to include both a wider variety of fruits and also to include the juice from one or two lemons.
As Jeannette can attest, the only problem with so many successful batches of fruit leather is availability of so much fruit leather. If one's not careful one can in a matter of minutes eat the equivalent of several pounds worth of fruit. I guess there are worse things one could be binging on.
Monday, April 28, 2014
A Few Quick Notes 610
-Yesterday evening snow started falling quite heavily. Fortunately, after a few hours it seemed that the snow had stopped falling. When we woke up this morning to about 5 cm of sticky snow we realized that we'd been wrong to think that the snow had ever stopped. Amazingly, after a day of thawing it seems to have started snowing again (though hopefully we won't again wake up to 5 cm of snow).
-Oh man, I'm super tired and it's not even 8:15.
-Much to my surprise, on Saturday I started to install our recently acquired anti-pigeon spikes.
Initially I only installed a two foot section, hoping that I might get some sense if were indeed a functional pigeon deterrent. Fortunately or unfortunately, by the time we returned from an afternoon there were fresh pigeon droppings on the other side of the porch - indicating that the spikes were working.
By the end of the weekend I'd installed all $100 worth of the stuff (aka 10 feet). The only bummer is that we'll have to buy another 10 feet or so for next weekend/later this week.
-On Saturday Pierre we being particularly cuddly. At one point he even took a rather long afternoon nap in my arms.
By that night and several hours of this excessively sedate behaviour we were starting to worry that something was up.
At about 2:00 AM Pierre confirmed that something had been up by puking up part of a rubber glove and some other garbage that he'd recently scarfed down behind our backs. For a small cat he really managed to save up a fair bit of puke for the event.
Unfortunately for Jeannette, I found the smell so upsetting that I had to leave the room to avoid adding to the mess. Fortunately, by the next day Pierre seemed to be back to normal (AKA the kind of cat that would sneak around trash cans to hunt for discarded rubber gloves to eat).
-Oh man, I'm super tired and it's not even 8:15.
-Much to my surprise, on Saturday I started to install our recently acquired anti-pigeon spikes.
By the end of the weekend I'd installed all $100 worth of the stuff (aka 10 feet). The only bummer is that we'll have to buy another 10 feet or so for next weekend/later this week.
-On Saturday Pierre we being particularly cuddly. At one point he even took a rather long afternoon nap in my arms.
By that night and several hours of this excessively sedate behaviour we were starting to worry that something was up.
At about 2:00 AM Pierre confirmed that something had been up by puking up part of a rubber glove and some other garbage that he'd recently scarfed down behind our backs. For a small cat he really managed to save up a fair bit of puke for the event.
Unfortunately for Jeannette, I found the smell so upsetting that I had to leave the room to avoid adding to the mess. Fortunately, by the next day Pierre seemed to be back to normal (AKA the kind of cat that would sneak around trash cans to hunt for discarded rubber gloves to eat).
Saturday, April 26, 2014
Because we don't have crocuses
We may not have crocuses, but we do have chives - and soon they'll be big enough to eat.
Aside from the arrival of a smattering of dead birds in our backyard, is there a clearer sign of spring then new growth?
Sunday, June 16, 2013
A Few Quick Notes 598
-So after several months without rain and clouds grey skies and rain have finally returned to Regina. For the better part of the past few weeks we've had at least grey skies for part of most days and somewhat regular rain. The upside of this weather is that on Thursday night I got to see my first double rainbow, the downside is that it's almost always not quite as warm or sunny as I was expecting it to be at this time of year in Regina.
-Despite the grey skies, cool temperatures, and plentiful rain the plants we planted in our garden a few weeks ago are mostly growing. Sure, most of them would probably be doing a fair bit better with a few more hours of sun a day and soil that at least occasionally is a little drier, but that hasn't meant that most of them haven't continued to grow - if somewhat slowly.
Not surprisingly, the radishes are furthest along. And had this weekend not been as rainy as it was we would have even planted a second and third row so that we can start to have a stead stream of radishes. The peas and beans are also doing well, though, again, more sun would surely help.
The plants that seem to be growing particularly slowly are our pepper and corn plants. The corn plants seem not to have managed to make it beyond about three inches while the pepper plants don't seem to be any taller than they were when we moved them from indoors to the garden.
In any event, the fact that most of these plants are even alive seems kind of remarkable given the incredible number of weeds and the high clay content of the soil. I suspect that not weeds be an annual battle, but so will the soil. Who would have guessed that in a province known for agriculture that the soil is mostly just clay? In Newfoundland it's always a challenge to put a shovel into the ground because of the rocks - here the rock-free clay is just to dense and goopy for one's shovel.
-A friend of mine from library school is coming into Regina for a conference tonight and I've offered to give her a ride from the airport to where she's staying. Not only am I looking forward to catching up after about five years, having someone else in the car finally provided me with the motivation I needed to finally get around to giving the car a quick vacuum and clean for the first time since we've owned it. Not surprisingly, the back was a fair bit cleaner than the front.
-Now that our balcony rail has been in place for a week we've started thinking about our next project. As some discussion we finally settled on re-roofing our garage. Yesterday I picked up most of the supplies, though I still have to snag some flashing. So whenever the skies clear and the rain stops we'll have to start on this project. I'm a little worried that this is going to be a bit of a nasty project - but at least at the end we'll hopefully have a garage that doesn't leak quite as much as our garage does currently.
Oh, and then once we're done with the roof we'll have to move on to re-siding it. Hooray!
Fortunately, I think we've got the game plan for this more or less figured out - though that doesn't mean that there won't be surprises when we finally get around to it in a few weeks.
Saturday, April 27, 2013
Spring comes to Regina
Finally, after months of snow accumulation or non-melting, we've finally had a day with substantial melting.
Because the temperatures crossed 10 celsius for the first time this year we've managed to lose a very good chunk of our remaining snow cover.
Of course, because I had a sense that today would be the day that we would witness this melting I decided to capture the event with some time-lapse.
[Embedded video]
Then I decided to jazz up the previously captured video to make it a little more watchable - I'm not sure if I've really succeeded.
[Embedded video]
Can't wait for the melt to continue tomorrow (so I can time-lapse even more).
Because the temperatures crossed 10 celsius for the first time this year we've managed to lose a very good chunk of our remaining snow cover.
Of course, because I had a sense that today would be the day that we would witness this melting I decided to capture the event with some time-lapse.
[Embedded video]
Then I decided to jazz up the previously captured video to make it a little more watchable - I'm not sure if I've really succeeded.
[Embedded video]
Can't wait for the melt to continue tomorrow (so I can time-lapse even more).
Friday, April 05, 2013
A Few Quick Notes 597
-Well, after several snow free days (and even a fair bit of melting) we're now in the midst of another patch of flurries/full-fledged snowfall. Bummer. I guess I was really hoping that by April I'd be starting to get a sense of what our backyard looks like.
-It seems I've had another extended absence from these parts. Woops. It seems that working, painting, household chores, etc. keep me away from too much recreational internet usage, and I'm not particularly vigilant when it comes to using the few minutes a day I do have for blog updates.
-Because our house is relatively old and un-updated our insurance provider required that we obtain an additional electrical inspection after we took possession. Not surprisingly, we had a few things to update. The electricians did a few hours of work on Wednesday and should be back again today to do the rest of the updating. We're planning on having them also do a few optional projects that should make our life a fair bit easier (like adding a plug in the bathroom and making sure that we have more than one plug in the master bedroom).
-Ok, now to deal with the electricians.
-It seems I've had another extended absence from these parts. Woops. It seems that working, painting, household chores, etc. keep me away from too much recreational internet usage, and I'm not particularly vigilant when it comes to using the few minutes a day I do have for blog updates.
-Because our house is relatively old and un-updated our insurance provider required that we obtain an additional electrical inspection after we took possession. Not surprisingly, we had a few things to update. The electricians did a few hours of work on Wednesday and should be back again today to do the rest of the updating. We're planning on having them also do a few optional projects that should make our life a fair bit easier (like adding a plug in the bathroom and making sure that we have more than one plug in the master bedroom).
-Ok, now to deal with the electricians.
Sunday, June 17, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 581
-At first I was thinking today wouldn't be particularly hot or unpleasant, it seems I may have been a little off. It's just past noon and it already feels like it's in the low 30s. Gross.
-It seems that the Ottawa Fringe Festival is taking place in our neighbourhood. Despite my best efforts I haven't yet been able to convince Jeannette to attend any of the shows with me. Hopefully sometime between now and the end of the festival I'll manage to talk her into seeing at least of of the shows.
-As another week as passed I thought I would post a few more photos of our container garden progress.
Not surprisingly, the largest portion of our container garden is where we've seen the most growth. The largest tomato plant keeps pumping out flowers (and immature tomatoes), as do our four pepper plants. And our runner beans ran right up a line I set up for them. Maybe most amazingly, our mini-pumpkin plants keep adding new leaves and buds (though only male buds so far) to their pot. Almost every morning when we head our for the first inspection/watering of the day we find new and exciting developments.
Or, if you were looking for the angle I've posted for the past few weeks.
And if you needed more evidence in support of my claim about the presence of immature tomatoes.
The bathroom wheat continues to grow, but I think the less-than-harsh environment that is our bathroom didn't condition the wheat for some of the wind that we had earlier this week. To try to overcome the weakness of the plants and fix the damage that was done I installed this new rigging system. Hopefully this will encourage the growth patterns we are looking for.
We've also had some success with some of the plants I haven't spent as much time documenting.
For instance, a few days I noticed that one of our bean plants had a juvenile bean. I would guess that we now have at least a dozen or so beans in various stages of not-quite-ready-to-pickness.
And after a slow start our lettuce has finally started to come into its own. Maybe if we'd used a reasonably sized pot we'd have even more success (but I'm still hopeful that even with this small pot we'll have enough lettuce for a few salads).
And finally, maybe our most exciting garden development is that we finally had our first harvest. When we went out to check on the plants this morning we noticed that two of our strawberries were ripe. While even if you combine them these guys won't be much of a meal, it's nice to know that purchasing those plants wasn't all for nought.
-One of the things I've really like about our subscription to the Ottawa Citizen is that it means we're regularly supplied with new crossword puzzles. Not that either of us is particularly adept at crossword puzzle solving, having the opportunity to spend a few minutes each morning on such a puzzle can be quite pleasurable.
Oh, and maybe the best thing is that on Saturday and Sunday two such puzzles are included. They seem to know that when we have more breakfast time on our hands we will want more puzzles.
-It seems that the Ottawa Fringe Festival is taking place in our neighbourhood. Despite my best efforts I haven't yet been able to convince Jeannette to attend any of the shows with me. Hopefully sometime between now and the end of the festival I'll manage to talk her into seeing at least of of the shows.
-As another week as passed I thought I would post a few more photos of our container garden progress.
Not surprisingly, the largest portion of our container garden is where we've seen the most growth. The largest tomato plant keeps pumping out flowers (and immature tomatoes), as do our four pepper plants. And our runner beans ran right up a line I set up for them. Maybe most amazingly, our mini-pumpkin plants keep adding new leaves and buds (though only male buds so far) to their pot. Almost every morning when we head our for the first inspection/watering of the day we find new and exciting developments.
Or, if you were looking for the angle I've posted for the past few weeks.
And if you needed more evidence in support of my claim about the presence of immature tomatoes.
The bathroom wheat continues to grow, but I think the less-than-harsh environment that is our bathroom didn't condition the wheat for some of the wind that we had earlier this week. To try to overcome the weakness of the plants and fix the damage that was done I installed this new rigging system. Hopefully this will encourage the growth patterns we are looking for.
We've also had some success with some of the plants I haven't spent as much time documenting.
For instance, a few days I noticed that one of our bean plants had a juvenile bean. I would guess that we now have at least a dozen or so beans in various stages of not-quite-ready-to-pickness.
And after a slow start our lettuce has finally started to come into its own. Maybe if we'd used a reasonably sized pot we'd have even more success (but I'm still hopeful that even with this small pot we'll have enough lettuce for a few salads).
And finally, maybe our most exciting garden development is that we finally had our first harvest. When we went out to check on the plants this morning we noticed that two of our strawberries were ripe. While even if you combine them these guys won't be much of a meal, it's nice to know that purchasing those plants wasn't all for nought.
-One of the things I've really like about our subscription to the Ottawa Citizen is that it means we're regularly supplied with new crossword puzzles. Not that either of us is particularly adept at crossword puzzle solving, having the opportunity to spend a few minutes each morning on such a puzzle can be quite pleasurable.
Oh, and maybe the best thing is that on Saturday and Sunday two such puzzles are included. They seem to know that when we have more breakfast time on our hands we will want more puzzles.
Saturday, June 09, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 580
-For the past few days we've had close to perfect weather until the evening when, all of a sudden, we've had the pleasure of experiencing brief, but torrential, downpours. Assuming today's forecast holds we should be in for something similar this evening.
-No matter how many dishes I do every day it seems I am never more than 30 seconds away from a half-sink full of dishes. How is this possible?
-I just made a batch of pumpkin bran muffins for breakfast. Because I didn't have quite enough pumpkin puree on hand they aren't quite as tasty as I had hoped they would be.
-Last night Jeannette's brother Alex spent the night with us. After we had dinner we walked around the downtown area a little to see the sites. As we neared Parliament Hill we could sense that something was up because we could hear something in the distance. As we drew nearer we could see that 'what was up' was that an A/V presentation was being projected on the centre block building.
This weird animated gif may give you a very limited sense of what was going on. Eventually Jeannette figure out that what were watching was the Mosaika: Sound and Light Show. We ended up staying until the show ended a few minutes later.
(Maybe this photo will help paint a slightly better picture of what was going on.)
-So our plants seem to keep on growing.
When I posted a photo of our balcony plants about a week ago they were this big.
Even though it's only a week later many of the plants have put on a few inches or, at least filled out a little.
Talk about exciting.
-Despite the fact that my family seems to think I working from an absurd premise with my wheat plants, these little guys continue to put on a few inches every few days. Apparently they aren't allowing the criticism to stunt their growth.
Check'em out now!
We'll definitely have enough for a 1/4 loaf of bread in a few months.
-No matter how many dishes I do every day it seems I am never more than 30 seconds away from a half-sink full of dishes. How is this possible?
-I just made a batch of pumpkin bran muffins for breakfast. Because I didn't have quite enough pumpkin puree on hand they aren't quite as tasty as I had hoped they would be.
-Last night Jeannette's brother Alex spent the night with us. After we had dinner we walked around the downtown area a little to see the sites. As we neared Parliament Hill we could sense that something was up because we could hear something in the distance. As we drew nearer we could see that 'what was up' was that an A/V presentation was being projected on the centre block building.
This weird animated gif may give you a very limited sense of what was going on. Eventually Jeannette figure out that what were watching was the Mosaika: Sound and Light Show. We ended up staying until the show ended a few minutes later.
(Maybe this photo will help paint a slightly better picture of what was going on.)
When I posted a photo of our balcony plants about a week ago they were this big.
-Despite the fact that my family seems to think I working from an absurd premise with my wheat plants, these little guys continue to put on a few inches every few days. Apparently they aren't allowing the criticism to stunt their growth.
Check'em out now!
We'll definitely have enough for a 1/4 loaf of bread in a few months.
Friday, June 01, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 579
-After a few days of temperatures over 30, we've now returned to much more pleasant temperatures. Even though it's about 14 and overcast at the moment I am not inclined to complain.
-Our local raccoon made a particularly early appearance yesterday afternoon. By my calculations he was out rummaging around through construction debris before 5:00 PM, which seems early for an animal that's supposed to be nocturnal.
-Thanks to some recent sun our balcony garden is finally starting to look as though it might turn out quite well. Over the past few days the bean, tomato, and pepper plants have started to do particularly well. I'm even hopeful that some of our herbs may eventually be large enough to harvest.
-In the bathroom we started some wheat a few days ago. Much to our surprise, these plants have put on inches in just days. Eventually we are hoping that the plants will be large enough that they will provide a natural privacy barrier in front of the bathroom window.
This is a classier solution than mini-blinds, right?
-The recent mailed body parts/gruesome murder story has really been dominating the news in Ottawa for the past few days. I keep imagining this is because of the Ottawa connection to the crime, but now that I've seen a little bit of the non-Ottawa coverage I'm wondering if the coverage is so extensive just because this is such a bizarre and gruesome crime?
-Our local raccoon made a particularly early appearance yesterday afternoon. By my calculations he was out rummaging around through construction debris before 5:00 PM, which seems early for an animal that's supposed to be nocturnal.
-Thanks to some recent sun our balcony garden is finally starting to look as though it might turn out quite well. Over the past few days the bean, tomato, and pepper plants have started to do particularly well. I'm even hopeful that some of our herbs may eventually be large enough to harvest.
-In the bathroom we started some wheat a few days ago. Much to our surprise, these plants have put on inches in just days. Eventually we are hoping that the plants will be large enough that they will provide a natural privacy barrier in front of the bathroom window.
This is a classier solution than mini-blinds, right?
-The recent mailed body parts/gruesome murder story has really been dominating the news in Ottawa for the past few days. I keep imagining this is because of the Ottawa connection to the crime, but now that I've seen a little bit of the non-Ottawa coverage I'm wondering if the coverage is so extensive just because this is such a bizarre and gruesome crime?
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 578
-Who knew that 22 and 65% humidity could feel so good? Anyway, after a few days of oppressive heat 22 seems divine. Even if we make it all the way to the forecast high of 25 I think I will be able to rid it out.
-The other nice thing about it not being 30+ is that my computer doesn't seem to be reacting so negatively to the temperature. Though I guess having an excuse to no use my computer when it's over 30 isn't all bad.
-Peter brought the following video to my attention.
[Embedded video]
Who knew that switching between basketball teams would require the jumbotron/scoreboard unit to be lowered?
-Yesterday night, for the first time as far as I can remember, I tried some faux-meat stuff in the form of fake taco meat. While whatever I ate wasn't exactly like taco meat, it definitely kind of worked like taco meat and was probably sufficient for most of my taco needs. In addition to this stuff being red meat free, it was nice that I didn't need much time to prepare it before it was ready to go.
-The other nice thing about it not being 30+ is that my computer doesn't seem to be reacting so negatively to the temperature. Though I guess having an excuse to no use my computer when it's over 30 isn't all bad.
-Peter brought the following video to my attention.
[Embedded video]
Who knew that switching between basketball teams would require the jumbotron/scoreboard unit to be lowered?
-Yesterday night, for the first time as far as I can remember, I tried some faux-meat stuff in the form of fake taco meat. While whatever I ate wasn't exactly like taco meat, it definitely kind of worked like taco meat and was probably sufficient for most of my taco needs. In addition to this stuff being red meat free, it was nice that I didn't need much time to prepare it before it was ready to go.
Monday, May 21, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 577
-I'm starting to become a little a little worried that Ottawa is going to be pretty hot this summer. Yesterday it was 32 in the afternoon, and we're still only in May. I am starting to worry what June, July, and August are going to look like.
-Though I'm not entirely sure that this makes sense, I think my computer was responding negatively to the high temperatures. Just as the day reached its hottest point my computer stopped responding to left mouse clicks. Now that it's cooler everything seems to be back to normal. It will be a real bummer if I can't left click during the mid-day all summer long.
-This weekend I engaged in some serious re-potting and seed planting. While we don't yet have much to show for my efforts plant-wise, we are starting to make a good dent in the space available for such pots. I am also starting to get the sense that the potting soil we purchased may have had all kinds of tomato seeds in it as we are getting what appear to be small tomato plants in quite a number of the pots. I guess I'll keep an eye on these over the coming days.
-I kind of want to go on a walk just to get some exercise and to leave the apartment for a little while. Of course because I didn't do this in the morning I will now have to wait another five hours or so if I want to do this without being assaulted by full intensity of the mid-day sun.
-Maybe I can adopt some kind of reverse sleep schedule that would see me sleeping from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM so that I could avoid the hottest part of the day? Unfortunately, this probably isn't too likely.
-Though I'm not entirely sure that this makes sense, I think my computer was responding negatively to the high temperatures. Just as the day reached its hottest point my computer stopped responding to left mouse clicks. Now that it's cooler everything seems to be back to normal. It will be a real bummer if I can't left click during the mid-day all summer long.
-This weekend I engaged in some serious re-potting and seed planting. While we don't yet have much to show for my efforts plant-wise, we are starting to make a good dent in the space available for such pots. I am also starting to get the sense that the potting soil we purchased may have had all kinds of tomato seeds in it as we are getting what appear to be small tomato plants in quite a number of the pots. I guess I'll keep an eye on these over the coming days.
-I kind of want to go on a walk just to get some exercise and to leave the apartment for a little while. Of course because I didn't do this in the morning I will now have to wait another five hours or so if I want to do this without being assaulted by full intensity of the mid-day sun.
-Maybe I can adopt some kind of reverse sleep schedule that would see me sleeping from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM so that I could avoid the hottest part of the day? Unfortunately, this probably isn't too likely.
Friday, May 04, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 576
-It seems as though it has been grey and overcast almost the entire time I've been in Ottawa. Fortunately it's only been the past day or two that the humidity has made itself apparent. I guess at least it's not oppressively hot?
-On Wednesday Jeannette and I were walking down Rideau when we both suddenly and independently said "Hi" to a guy standing in the doorway of a falafel shop. It was our friend Greg and it turned out he was in town with a band for a show that evening. While the audience was smaller than hoped for, we both enjoyed the music and had a good time hanging out with Greg before he went on.
-For some reason over the course of the past few months I've heard several people tout the merits of cast iron cookware, frying pans in particular. While I guess I've always been a little hesitant to buy into the effectiveness the non-stick ability of seasoned cast iron, these recent exhortations did cause me to have the idea at the forefront of my mind when I recently came across a cookware sale.
After holding off for a few days, I eventually made a return trip to the store and purchased my first cast iron item. 'Skillet' isn't an entirely appropriate descriptor as the item in question doesn't have sides, but it is flat bottomed and clearly intended for frying.
Since I've had this thing I have been trying to use it and 'season' it. So far I think I am making progress, but it's hard to tell how much progress or much much is possible. I guess I am still a little skeptical that cast iron will ever be as non-stick as some of the synthetics are (though the absence of certain health risks may make it worth the hassle).
Anyway, I'll be sure to let you know if I see any drastic improvements in the non-stick nature of this pan as time goes on.
-A few days ago I Jeannette and I started planting our Summer container garden. The overcast and cool weather hasn't been helping the sprouting process, but we have had a few things come in. I think we've already seen evidence of development of the following seeds: thyme, lettuce, spinach, wheat, poppy, rapini, broccoli, and tomato.
I'm particularly impressed that we already have tomato growth as I really thought these were really going to be a lost cause.
Eventually, assuming they live, these tomato plants will be flipped over and grown in one of those upside-down growing contraptions. I'll finally get to see if these are as great as they claim to be.
-On Wednesday Jeannette and I were walking down Rideau when we both suddenly and independently said "Hi" to a guy standing in the doorway of a falafel shop. It was our friend Greg and it turned out he was in town with a band for a show that evening. While the audience was smaller than hoped for, we both enjoyed the music and had a good time hanging out with Greg before he went on.
-For some reason over the course of the past few months I've heard several people tout the merits of cast iron cookware, frying pans in particular. While I guess I've always been a little hesitant to buy into the effectiveness the non-stick ability of seasoned cast iron, these recent exhortations did cause me to have the idea at the forefront of my mind when I recently came across a cookware sale.
After holding off for a few days, I eventually made a return trip to the store and purchased my first cast iron item. 'Skillet' isn't an entirely appropriate descriptor as the item in question doesn't have sides, but it is flat bottomed and clearly intended for frying.
Since I've had this thing I have been trying to use it and 'season' it. So far I think I am making progress, but it's hard to tell how much progress or much much is possible. I guess I am still a little skeptical that cast iron will ever be as non-stick as some of the synthetics are (though the absence of certain health risks may make it worth the hassle).
Anyway, I'll be sure to let you know if I see any drastic improvements in the non-stick nature of this pan as time goes on.
-A few days ago I Jeannette and I started planting our Summer container garden. The overcast and cool weather hasn't been helping the sprouting process, but we have had a few things come in. I think we've already seen evidence of development of the following seeds: thyme, lettuce, spinach, wheat, poppy, rapini, broccoli, and tomato.
I'm particularly impressed that we already have tomato growth as I really thought these were really going to be a lost cause.
Eventually, assuming they live, these tomato plants will be flipped over and grown in one of those upside-down growing contraptions. I'll finally get to see if these are as great as they claim to be.
Tuesday, April 10, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 575
-We had another mostly nice day in Wolfville today. At times, almost inexplicably, a few raindrops fell marring what would have been an almost perfect day.
-While visiting the grocery store I managed to snag a quick time-lapse vid of the clouds over the dykes.
[Embedded video]
I still find the apparent cloud ceiling that exists in the valley an amazing phenomenon.
-Last night I made myself a nice batch of mashed potatoes as a late night snack and then I completely ran out of interest in my mashed potato snack. Hopefully I will have a little more interest in a left-over/day old mashed potato snack this evening.
-While running errands this afternoon I impulsively decided to stop in at a local barbershop in a neighbouring town to get a haircut. Much to my surprise, the place was absolutely packed. Apparently missing four good haircutting days leads to something of a backlog among members of the barbershop visiting community. I guess I know now that Easter Tuesday isn't the time to try to drop in for a haircut at a barbershop.
-It seems that my post on Florida's population was more popular than I expected. Who knew you were all waiting for my thoughts on the implications of Florida's population boom?
-While visiting the grocery store I managed to snag a quick time-lapse vid of the clouds over the dykes.
[Embedded video]
I still find the apparent cloud ceiling that exists in the valley an amazing phenomenon.
-Last night I made myself a nice batch of mashed potatoes as a late night snack and then I completely ran out of interest in my mashed potato snack. Hopefully I will have a little more interest in a left-over/day old mashed potato snack this evening.
-While running errands this afternoon I impulsively decided to stop in at a local barbershop in a neighbouring town to get a haircut. Much to my surprise, the place was absolutely packed. Apparently missing four good haircutting days leads to something of a backlog among members of the barbershop visiting community. I guess I know now that Easter Tuesday isn't the time to try to drop in for a haircut at a barbershop.
-It seems that my post on Florida's population was more popular than I expected. Who knew you were all waiting for my thoughts on the implications of Florida's population boom?
Friday, March 23, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 574
-While today was beautiful, it was nothing like yesterday's mid-twenties masterpiece when we reached something approaching weather perfection. It was a pleasure to have the chance to live through such a beautiful day.
-I guess I'm now 8 for 24 in this year's RUTRTW contest. Unfortunately at least three of these wins have been for 'donuts,' and I have no idea what to do with the winning rims. If someone wants them maybe I could mail them out all at once or one at a time depending on demand. Anyway, if you think you might be interested in up to three free donut rims leave me a comment and I think about how to proceed.
-At least my record isn't 0 for 68, which how bad the RCMP's was when it came to picking Canadian politicians with connections to the USSR. You can find the CBC's story on the topic here.
-The NDP leadership convention has not started. And while I didn't pay too much attention to the first few months of the race, over the past few days I have been enjoying watching the final manoeuvres. I will also be curious to see who is eventually selected to be the leader and how the preferential voting system ends up working out.
Today while thinking about convention coverage I thought to myself that I would 'watch it on Twitter,' and then realized that that is likely how I will follow the convention. It's kind of amazing that reading a series of short updates is sufficiently engaging and informative that I would consider doing this.
-I guess I'm now 8 for 24 in this year's RUTRTW contest. Unfortunately at least three of these wins have been for 'donuts,' and I have no idea what to do with the winning rims. If someone wants them maybe I could mail them out all at once or one at a time depending on demand. Anyway, if you think you might be interested in up to three free donut rims leave me a comment and I think about how to proceed.
-At least my record isn't 0 for 68, which how bad the RCMP's was when it came to picking Canadian politicians with connections to the USSR. You can find the CBC's story on the topic here.
-The NDP leadership convention has not started. And while I didn't pay too much attention to the first few months of the race, over the past few days I have been enjoying watching the final manoeuvres. I will also be curious to see who is eventually selected to be the leader and how the preferential voting system ends up working out.
Today while thinking about convention coverage I thought to myself that I would 'watch it on Twitter,' and then realized that that is likely how I will follow the convention. It's kind of amazing that reading a series of short updates is sufficiently engaging and informative that I would consider doing this.
Wednesday, March 21, 2012
A Few Quick Notes 573
-Holy cow, apparently it's 25 and sunny here in Wolfville. If I wasn't currently being blasted by sun bright sunlight I might be inclined to think that such temperatures would be impossible at this time of the year.
-I guess I must now be 7 for 23 in this year's RUTRTW contest. I wish I hadn't started reporting my record as I now feel a strange obligation to continue even though I can't imagine anybody cares.
-A few months ago Jeannette and I purchased a 2 pound bag of discount dried soy beans. Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I tried cooking with formerly dried soy beans. While they were fine texture wise, they ended up being sweeter (or something like that) than I expected. Also, I don't think that they were the best choice for a bean curry, but at least I now know that. Maybe they'd be better in soup?
-This morning for breakfast I decided to bake myself some banana bread. Turns out that stuff always takes longer to bake than I remember. In the end this turned out to be a pretty bad plan for breakfast.
-I guess I must now be 7 for 23 in this year's RUTRTW contest. I wish I hadn't started reporting my record as I now feel a strange obligation to continue even though I can't imagine anybody cares.
-A few months ago Jeannette and I purchased a 2 pound bag of discount dried soy beans. Yesterday, for the first time in my life, I tried cooking with formerly dried soy beans. While they were fine texture wise, they ended up being sweeter (or something like that) than I expected. Also, I don't think that they were the best choice for a bean curry, but at least I now know that. Maybe they'd be better in soup?
-This morning for breakfast I decided to bake myself some banana bread. Turns out that stuff always takes longer to bake than I remember. In the end this turned out to be a pretty bad plan for breakfast.
Tuesday, June 21, 2011
A Few Quick Notes 541
-The weather has really been yo-yoing for the past few days. On Sunday I woke up to sun and blue skies only to find that within an hour the skies had turned so grey that it seemed like the sun was about to set. Only minutes later I was in the midst of an intense downpour and thunder and lightening store. After the sky cleared we had another such transition at about 2:00 PM. My recollection is that yesterday was also intermittently bright and dark while today, at least so far, seems to be a beautiful, if cool, day. Of course, rain seems to be in today's forecast so who knows how things will actually turnout as the day moves forward.
-Fortunately yesterday evening turned out to be quite pleasant, even if the skies were a little grey. Jeannette and I decided to go for an evening stroll and, somewhat unintentionally, ended up visiting Acadia University's botanical garden. Though we didn't take as much time to visit the gardens as we could have, it was nonetheless a very enjoyable visit. I am sure we will be heading back throughout the summer.
-I should be paying more attention to some of the legislation that has recently been introduced, or that is about to be introduced, by the Harper government. Some of these bills, if enacted, could really change the way things work in Canada and, sadly, I get the sense that they are being rushed through without too much consideration of their potential impact.
Anyway, not that my opinion counts for much, I think that the Senate reform attempts are likely to be particularly important and could really change some of the central institutions of government. While I am not so much of a fan of the current structure of the Senate to say that we should never consider changing it, I do think that any changes should be discussed openly and widely before they are implemented. Currently it seems that the plan is to implement the changes without really having much of a national discussion about what impact these changes might have or whether or not it is even constitutional for the federal government to unilaterally make such changes to the constitution and the functioning of a powerful (or potentially powerful) institution.
I really should probably motivate myself to write a letter to Mr. Harper and my local MP (Mr. Harris), but for now this will have to do.
-Now that I am about 12 days removed from my surgery I have enough energy and have recovered enough that I can get back to work. I guess this means that I should probably stop blogging for the time being and actually get back to work.
-Fortunately yesterday evening turned out to be quite pleasant, even if the skies were a little grey. Jeannette and I decided to go for an evening stroll and, somewhat unintentionally, ended up visiting Acadia University's botanical garden. Though we didn't take as much time to visit the gardens as we could have, it was nonetheless a very enjoyable visit. I am sure we will be heading back throughout the summer.
-I should be paying more attention to some of the legislation that has recently been introduced, or that is about to be introduced, by the Harper government. Some of these bills, if enacted, could really change the way things work in Canada and, sadly, I get the sense that they are being rushed through without too much consideration of their potential impact.
Anyway, not that my opinion counts for much, I think that the Senate reform attempts are likely to be particularly important and could really change some of the central institutions of government. While I am not so much of a fan of the current structure of the Senate to say that we should never consider changing it, I do think that any changes should be discussed openly and widely before they are implemented. Currently it seems that the plan is to implement the changes without really having much of a national discussion about what impact these changes might have or whether or not it is even constitutional for the federal government to unilaterally make such changes to the constitution and the functioning of a powerful (or potentially powerful) institution.
I really should probably motivate myself to write a letter to Mr. Harper and my local MP (Mr. Harris), but for now this will have to do.
-Now that I am about 12 days removed from my surgery I have enough energy and have recovered enough that I can get back to work. I guess this means that I should probably stop blogging for the time being and actually get back to work.
Wednesday, June 15, 2011
A Few Quick Notes 540
-The rain and grey skies seem to continued into mid-June here in Wolfville. I am hoping that at some point in the not-to-distant future things may take a turn for the better.
-The aforementioned weather seems to be negatively affecting the rate of growth of some of the plants in our container garden. As a point of comparison, the beans that we planted outside are about a 18 to 24 inches inches taller than the plants outside. The basil plants outside are at most about 1 cm tall while the plants inside are close to 5 cms and are starting to display second and third sets of leaves.
-On Monday Jeannette and I made the mistake of watching game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. It seems that tonight we have made the mistake of watching game 7. As some of you may know, as things stand right now it looks as though the Canucks are going to be trounced as badly in this game as they were in game 6.
-I made a batch of hummus tonight and am quite pleased with the results. I think that the freshly squeezed lemon juice that I used may explain the high quality of the output. If only real lemons weren't so expensive hear I might be inclined to use them more frequently.
-My post surgery recovery is still ongoing. I am hoping that within a few days I won't need to continue spending a few extra hours in bed a day. This recovery process is definitely a bummer.
-The aforementioned weather seems to be negatively affecting the rate of growth of some of the plants in our container garden. As a point of comparison, the beans that we planted outside are about a 18 to 24 inches inches taller than the plants outside. The basil plants outside are at most about 1 cm tall while the plants inside are close to 5 cms and are starting to display second and third sets of leaves.
-On Monday Jeannette and I made the mistake of watching game 6 of the Stanley Cup finals. It seems that tonight we have made the mistake of watching game 7. As some of you may know, as things stand right now it looks as though the Canucks are going to be trounced as badly in this game as they were in game 6.
-I made a batch of hummus tonight and am quite pleased with the results. I think that the freshly squeezed lemon juice that I used may explain the high quality of the output. If only real lemons weren't so expensive hear I might be inclined to use them more frequently.
-My post surgery recovery is still ongoing. I am hoping that within a few days I won't need to continue spending a few extra hours in bed a day. This recovery process is definitely a bummer.
Sunday, June 05, 2011
A Few Quick Notes 539
-While today is still a little cooler than I might have expected it to be in early June in the Annapolis Valley, it is fortunately brighter than it was yesterday. Not that the forecast means anything here, actually it seems to be worse than it was in Halifax or St. John's, but they are not even predicting any major improvements in the coming days. Bummer.
-Yesterday Jeannette and I made our way to a meat shop in Windsor with plans of buying some ground llama and some llama and wild boar sausage. While we weren't able to get the second of these two products (we had to settle for venison and wild boar sausage), we were able get some ground llama and also some ground beef. Maybe more importantly, we learned that the store we visited is really a full-service butcher shop (we thought it might just be a speciality meat shop). So not only will they cut your meats how you want them cut, they also sell quite a variety of meats, including lamb, goat, beef, pork, rabbit, bison, emu, llama, and poultry. While we were in line waiting to be served we both had the sense that their customers were coming in from all over the province to take advantage of the wide variety of products and services that this company provides.
-Many of our container garden plants finally seem to be sprouting and starting the early stages of their growth. Unfortunately, some number of the plants seem to have been struck with a spider-mite like pest (though I think it is something different and that they picked it up from the local environment). Anyway, I just hope that they aren't too negatively impacted by these pests, as that would really bum me out.
-I definitely feel as though I am in something of a post-comps work slump. Hopefully by this afternoon or this evening I will find a way to roust myself from this period of sloth and get back to work.
-Because of the developments relating to the NHL team in Winnipeg and the possible AHL team in St. John's I have been thinking about hockey and sports teams much more than I traditionally do. That being said, even though I have been thinking about hockey teams I have spent very little time actually thinking about hockey. That people are so interested in watching the game still baffles me. I just don't get what makes the game so exciting.
-Maybe instead of trying to fill up the internet I should either have some lunch or get down to work.
-Yesterday Jeannette and I made our way to a meat shop in Windsor with plans of buying some ground llama and some llama and wild boar sausage. While we weren't able to get the second of these two products (we had to settle for venison and wild boar sausage), we were able get some ground llama and also some ground beef. Maybe more importantly, we learned that the store we visited is really a full-service butcher shop (we thought it might just be a speciality meat shop). So not only will they cut your meats how you want them cut, they also sell quite a variety of meats, including lamb, goat, beef, pork, rabbit, bison, emu, llama, and poultry. While we were in line waiting to be served we both had the sense that their customers were coming in from all over the province to take advantage of the wide variety of products and services that this company provides.
-Many of our container garden plants finally seem to be sprouting and starting the early stages of their growth. Unfortunately, some number of the plants seem to have been struck with a spider-mite like pest (though I think it is something different and that they picked it up from the local environment). Anyway, I just hope that they aren't too negatively impacted by these pests, as that would really bum me out.
-I definitely feel as though I am in something of a post-comps work slump. Hopefully by this afternoon or this evening I will find a way to roust myself from this period of sloth and get back to work.
-Because of the developments relating to the NHL team in Winnipeg and the possible AHL team in St. John's I have been thinking about hockey and sports teams much more than I traditionally do. That being said, even though I have been thinking about hockey teams I have spent very little time actually thinking about hockey. That people are so interested in watching the game still baffles me. I just don't get what makes the game so exciting.
-Maybe instead of trying to fill up the internet I should either have some lunch or get down to work.
Friday, June 03, 2011
A Few Quick Notes 538
-We seem to be experiencing another overcast and cool, but dry, day in Wolfville. Though I am not a fan of particularly high temperatures, I really wouldn't mind it being a bit warmer than the low teens on most June afternoons.
-Maybe it was because I frequently vacationed in Michigan as a child, but Jack Kevorkian is definitely an individual I associate with my childhood (though not in as morbid a way as you might imagine). Anyway, I was somewhat surprised to hear that he recently died. I wonder if someone will try to fill his shoes?
-As some of you may know, as of this morning many Canada Post employees are striking. Much to my surprise, this development did not mean delays for packages that I was expecting from Newfoundland.
-I have been having a hard time motivating myself to get back to work in this post-comps period. Hopefully I can find a way to turn a corner in the very near future.
-For the few weeks leading up to my comps I was consuming far too much coffee. I suspect that I was frequently consuming upwards of 3 litres of coffee a day. My consumption was so high not because I wanted the caffeine, but mainly because I just like drinking warm beverages and I do my best to avoid tea during the day. Anyway, I am pretty sure that this rate of coffee consumption wasn't doing anything good for my mood, sleep quality, or rate of productivity. Fortunately, in the past few days I have seen a precipitous drop in my rate of coffee consumption. I just hope that I can keep it up and that I don't slip back in to this 3 litres a day trend (of course, I did just buy a few kilos of coffee beans).
-Maybe it was because I frequently vacationed in Michigan as a child, but Jack Kevorkian is definitely an individual I associate with my childhood (though not in as morbid a way as you might imagine). Anyway, I was somewhat surprised to hear that he recently died. I wonder if someone will try to fill his shoes?
-As some of you may know, as of this morning many Canada Post employees are striking. Much to my surprise, this development did not mean delays for packages that I was expecting from Newfoundland.
-I have been having a hard time motivating myself to get back to work in this post-comps period. Hopefully I can find a way to turn a corner in the very near future.
-For the few weeks leading up to my comps I was consuming far too much coffee. I suspect that I was frequently consuming upwards of 3 litres of coffee a day. My consumption was so high not because I wanted the caffeine, but mainly because I just like drinking warm beverages and I do my best to avoid tea during the day. Anyway, I am pretty sure that this rate of coffee consumption wasn't doing anything good for my mood, sleep quality, or rate of productivity. Fortunately, in the past few days I have seen a precipitous drop in my rate of coffee consumption. I just hope that I can keep it up and that I don't slip back in to this 3 litres a day trend (of course, I did just buy a few kilos of coffee beans).
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)