My Olympic Photos

 

The Olympic coffee (decaf of course) courtesy of db, our resident barista. He called it the Whistler Blackcomb coffee.

We didn't get to visit the city on the weekend as I had hoped, but went on an evening after work. We were a little concerned because the men's hockey was that night, which would determine who would go to play for the gold medal. However, we timed it well so that by the time we did our route, the game had just finished and we were one our way home. 

 

The broadcast centre.

 

The cauldron as seen through the fence. 

And through the gap in the plexiglass. 

The Vancouver Art Gallery was not only open for free to the public, but was also screening short art films on an outdoor screen.

Near the outdoor skating rink. The steps to the gallery. 

Granville St.

  

First Nations Pavilion. 

We saw a few spheres outside of pavilions that were projecting images. It seemed like a popular idea to give this sense of place on a global shape. 

The Quebec pavilion, however, was cube shaped. It was a glowing blue cube.

The cube also projected images from La Belle Provence. 

We had to go in the Quebec pavilion (db is from there). The interior also had projected images. There was a band playing some blues on stage, and there was a Quebec beer being sold that intrigued db, but at $10 a glass we decided to pass, and wait until we're actually in Quebec this summer to sample it.

 

View from near the Science Centre (also known as the Russian pavilion during the Olympics). 

The orb is the Saskatchewan pavilion. 

Sunday at Whistler Olympic Park, we went to the men's 50k cross country skiing. Here's the start line. 

 

  

We had a view of them on the trail up above going into a downhill section. 

  

And then just in front of us after climbing an uphill section. 

And again there they are on the outer track. 

db and I both agreed that this guy had too much cow, and not enough cowbell. 

 

The Norwegian fans were about to see a great finish.  It was very exciting to watch Petter Northug do his thing. He sprinted to the finish and took the gold. 

Devon Kershaw, the Canadian skier, had a great race. He was near the front for the entire race, and came so close to a bronze. Very exciting.

I became a real fan of this sport over the 2 weeks. I only hope to take it up myself next year. We'll see.

skiing2.MOV

We had a great spot to view up close and see down into the stadium.

Olympics2010Skiing.MOV

I thought I'd share some of my Olympic video. It's a bit shaky because I was also ringing a cowbell. I just couldn't help it. I wanted to capture a video and cheer.

Where does the time go?

I ask this question again. I'm always thinking about blogging, but like many things I do, I often think about them more than actually doing them.

This morning, for example, I got dressed for a run, and then realized that there was no way I was going to get in a decent run, come home, shower, and get ready for work all in time to leave for work on time. Some days I feel superhuman like I can do anything, but this is not one of those days. I did a little yoga before I ate on the fly while getting ready for work. I can dream though, can't I?

My run on Tuesday was interesting. As I was running up the hill towards home, a deer came running around the bend towards me! I think it had just crossed the street, and may have been startled by the traffic. I stopped running. The deer darted into the woods. I stepped into the grass to look down at the trail that runs along the edge of the woods, and I waited. Sure enough that deer came sauntering along. It didn't see me standing there watching it, not 20 meters away, munch on the greenery. I made a slow movement just so it would know I was there. I expected it to run off down the trail deeper into the woods, but instead it started walking towards me! I slowly backed up. The deer turned back onto the trail, but was in no hurry to get away. That was a pretty exciting run. Oh, and did I mention that I had planned to take the bus up the hill, but missed my bus so I had to walk/run it? If I hadn't missed that bus...

Anywho...

To answer my title question...

Monday is a workday (any day I'm not home count in 2 hours of travel time for each day).
Tuesday I go to Wildlife Rescue (for 4 hours only, but again count in that travel time).
Wednesday is a workday.
Thursday is a workday (at my old job, which is 1 hour longer than the rest of my work days).
Friday is a workday.
Saturday is another workday (shorter hours - only 6 hours on Saturday).
Sunday is a get out of jail free day!

Does your week look anything like this?

Am I complaining? Maybe.

db and I had to start meal planning in a whole new way to be sure of who is cooking what on what days. That way I can do some prep for dinner before I go to work. Did I mention that our new slow cooker went on the fritz? It's under warranty so it's somewhere being fixed (I hope). It was a sad day when I came home and my Minestrone was cold and uncooked in the slow cooker.

Obviously if I need more time I should give up the volunteer work at Wildlife Rescue, but it's the one place I enjoy the most. It's so rewarding to be looking after all those birds, and hopefully help them to recover for release back into the wilds of the lower mainland. This past week, one of the pigeons laid and egg! They put 2 bully pigeons together in one of the cages they stay in before they're acclimatized. No other pigeon could be paired with either one of the bullies. The staff put the bullies together, and next thing we know there's an egg. Aww pigeon love. Apparently, there's a second egg on the way. One of the staff told me she could feel the second egg was on its way.

There is also a Snow Goose recovering from a broken bone in its wing. It's been difficult because he can't go in a larger pen or pool until his wing has healed a little more. He's beautiful though. It's important that he makes a speedy recovery to continue his northern migration.

So, no I won't leave Wildlife Rescue unless I absolutely have to.

I do like job #1 even with its minor annoyances. I want to stick with it as long as it continues to grow, as long as I get to contribute to how the business functions, and as long as I continue to enjoy it.

So let's focus on Sunday. I love Sundays! It's been a little hectic lately with the Owe-lmpics, but I had a great time this past Sunday at Whistler watching the Cross Country Skiing. It was impressive, and we had a great view of the arena while we stood right next to the trail on an upper level. It was fun. We did have to get up at 3:30 am to catch the 5:30 bus to Whistler Olympic Park. Ugh. Let's not relive that morning.

This Sunday will be a stay-at-home kind of day. I need to get caught up on everything. The garden has just gone on ahead without me and is growing up like crazy. I missed my chance to prune any of my clematis so I'm stuck with this years growth as it is. Hopefully I'll still get lots of blooms. I need to tidy up the garden, and check in on the compost to see if I can start spreading it around where needed.

Last night I noticed lilies poking up an inch or two through the soil (please no frost, please no frost...). My daffodils have already bloomed along with 2 azaleas in the front yard! The cherry trees have all bloomed, and it is all too early. Here's the link to the cherry blossom viewing map if you need to get out there and see them. Our winter has clearly been too mild. I think cherry trees usually bloom in late March or early April. I've even seen some buds on Magnolia trees. So it could be an interesting garden season.

I'm looking forward to Sunday and spending the whole day at home. The cats will love it too. 

Look out garden, here I come!

Yet more Olympic grammar

Here's another one I missed. I've never heard the song because I've been avoiding the "I believe" campaign. When the song came up during the ceremonies (I think that's when it occurred), I hit the mute button. 

Does the Olympic Theme Song “I Believe” Have a Grammar Error?  

 

More on Olympic verbs

Here's an article I found on podium being used as a verb. I thought it was kind of interesting.

On Language

 

Podium

 

By BEN ZIMMER

Published: February 7, 2010

A triumphant verb retakes the Olympic stage.

Olympic verbs

I did not go into the city yesterday. db and I assessed the situation, and given that it was Canada/USA hockey day, we decided that it was probably best to stay close to home and avoid the surging crowds. We're probably going to go on Friday evening. I'm sure the crowds will still be crazy, but we'll take our chances.

Yesterday I heard a reporter who was covering the games use the word "podium" as a verb. "She didn't think she was going to podium." Ack! I'm pretty open with popular culture's use of grammar. "I'm lovin' it", for example I will let slide, but let it be a lesson to you that if McD's is as sloppy with their food as they are with their grammar then you probably shouldn't eat there, which is one more reason why that place should be avoided at all costs. I know I make all kinds of grammar errors throughout my day, and am always struggling with improving it, but I can't accept nouns turned into verbs when it is unnecessary.

I was speaking to my mom, who is an ESL teacher, last night and brought this very issue up with her. She also reminded me of how the same thing has been done with the word "medal." "He is a strong contender to medal." Is it so difficult to put those extra words in? "He is a strong contender to win a medal?" That wasn't so difficult.

Does sports broadcasting seem particularly guilty of this to you?
Have you noticed any other nouns becoming verbs when they've never been used as verbs before?

Do I need a holiday? Or maybe I should say, I need to holiday.

just curious

I think I might venture downtown tomorrow and see what the party atmosphere is like.

I thought I'd avoid the whole Olympic thing as much as possible, but I have to say that curiosity is getting the better of me. I don't want to line up for hours for zip lines or ice skating or to approach the viewing platform for the cauldron. I just want to see what it's like in the downtown hub with people milling about, streets closed to traffic, and get a sense of the general vibe. There is supposed to be lots of buskers, and public art to view, so I think it'll be worthwhile.

The biggest draw for me is that the art gallery is free until the end of the month, and I'd like to see the Da Vinci sketches, which are here until May. They are also screening art films on one side of the building.

I think I should go.

Vegan Soul Kitchen

For Christmas I bought db Vegan Soul Kitchen
and then eagerly awaited for him to crack it open to discover a recipe that would inspire him.

Well, it finally happened and db did not disappoint. He pulled several recipes together to create this tasty colourful dish. What we have here is Blackened Tofu with Succotash Salsa (there were many Sylvester impressions of "sufferin' succotash" being said whenever the word came up). db served the Blackened Tofu with Citrus Collards, Brown Coconut Rice, and Grilled Asparagus with Rosemary Sea Salt (that didn't quite make it into the picture).
It was a colourful and delicious plate, and everything went together so well. It felt like a real treat to be served such fine food. 

One of the unique aspects of this book, Vegan Soul Kitchen, is that each recipe has a suggested soundtrack. So with each recipe db worked on, I found the accompanying song and played it while he cooked. I'll have to do a review of this book once I read it and we make a few more recipes from it. So far so good.

Get in line for the line up.

We went to the women's hockey on Saturday to see Canada and Slovakia. When we got our tickets last year, we only knew we'd be going to an early round women's hockey game, we had no idea it'd be Canada. So, we got lucky. However, after seeing a women's hockey game for the first time ever, I would have been happy to see anyone play. It was so great to see women's hockey! I loved it.

What I did not love was getting into GM place, or BC place or whatever it's called now. The game was at 5pm. We got off the skytrain at 3:30 pm, and got to our section just as the women were skating onto the ice. Why did it take us so long? Can you imagine why? Olympic insanity was the reason.

There was no one at the exit of the skytrain to direct people to the entrance. Usually you come out of the skytrain and just cross the street to enter GM place, but with the fencing surrounding the area, there seemed to be no entrance anywhere, and no one to tell us where to enter.

There were people everywhere looking completely lost and confused. I finally asked a cop on the other side of the fence where we could get in. He gave us several options. As we walked to one entrance, we got to an area where the sidewalk was closed. We asked another cop. He said that the first one didn't know what he was talking about because he was probably from out of town, and that we needed to go the other way. db and I headed back. Finally, one solitary blue-jacketed volunteer called out that this entryway was closed and we needed to go down this street to get in line for the entrance.

Hmm...

I started to regret not bringing a book along. 

db and I stood in a line that was merging with another longer line from another street. Once we all merged into one big happy line, we shuffled forward to an opening in the fence. This was the entranceway to the security zone. The entrance was the size of a regular doorway. So we bottlenecked through this little doorway into a holding pen, where we lined up again to get into the line ups for the security zone.

After we mazed our way through that, we were told we could go into the express security line if we had a purse and not a backpack. I just had my camera bag so we zipped into the "express" lane. I use quotations around the word express because from what I saw, our line did not move any faster than the regular lines. In fact one of the regular lines was moving much faster!

Finally, we made it to security. It was like going through security at an airport. They looked in my bag, and I walked through the metal detector. I should mention that no one had yet asked me if I had a ticket or not. I walked right up to the entrance of GM/BC place without anyone ever asking me for proof of a ticket. If you wanted to sneak anything in on your person that could make it through the metal detector you could. Almost a billion dollars spent on security, and I felt like anyone could walk up to the venue and do a lot of damage. Fortunately, no one did.

We finally made it to our seats just before the puck dropped, but many didn't, and had to wait in the section doorways until the next whistle blew.

The upside? I enjoyed the game. I also know that by the time we go to the men's 50k cross country skiing on the last day of the Olympics, that many of the kinks will probably be worked out so that moving people into venues will go a lot more smoothly. I'm definitely taking a book with me next time.

my olympic view

I don't know why I'm feeling so grouchy about the Olympics. I mean I don't live in Vancouver or near any of the sites, but it's close enough so that my bus & skytrain were more crowded than usual this morning, and that made me grumpy. It also made my bus late because the bus driver had to answer so many questions at every other stop from new passengers who have left their SUVs in their garages to take public transit to get to events. 

At first, I thought these people were tourists who had to find accommodations way out where I live because everything was booked up closer to vancity, but then I realized these are my neighbours. They looked amused by the whole novelty of taking a bus. It would seem that it's a very exciting experience. There was so much noise on the bus from giddy passengers, and people on their cell phones ("I'm going to see the torch! What? I can't hear you?" BTW, if you can't hear the person on the other end of the phone, it doesn't help if you talk louder.)

See, I'm very irascible today. 

My morning radio show has turned into the Olympic broadcasting corporation. I now get Olympic weather, Olympic traffic reports, Olympic entertainment news, and news stories related to all things Olympic.  I can't listen to my morning radio show any more. There's no balance. So I shut it off. 

***

I was glad to hear that the protesters forced the torch to re-route. The protesters voices needed to be heard through the din of "Go Canada Go." Their voices are important! So far I've only heard news reports that talk about how disappointed the children were who lined up to see the torch. How about we get into the problems of massive homeless, mental health issues, and drug addiction of the downtown eastside? These issues also relate to the Olympics, so let's talk about them. With all of the money spent...you know where I'm going. Housing, healthcare, and social programs all need help in this province (as they do everywhere). 

***

Where do I stand? It might seem clear based on what I've written so far. Honestly though? I'm torn. I'm neither pro nor anti Olympics. What I really don't like is the corporate control of the Olympics. There's something about the willingness of people to let VANOC control what we can say or do that really makes me angry, and I find the whole "you're either with us or against us" attitude offensive (I've gotten this from both sides). People seem to want me to be one or the other. Do I have to be? I don't want to be. 

I do appreciate athletic achievement. I enjoy watching many sports. I don't care if Canada wins medals or not, I just like a good competition to be fairly played. I am going to a women's hockey game, and men's cross country skiing, but as a fan of sport, not as a fan of any particular country. I just can't wave the flag like that. I'm not looking forward to the circus of it all, but the events themselves I hope will be good. 

***

I think maybe it's time that the Olympics took some responsibility for what it does around the world (dumping debt on cities). Why can't the Olympics work with the host city (and its corporate sponsors) to resolve local problems instead of trying to sweep them from view? Why not make it a partnership of some kind? Why should the host city be forced into taking on all of the burden, and bending to the will of the Olympics? What if the IOC had to approach cities instead, and ask for their permission to hold their event there? Then they would have to make the deal sweet for the host city. 

It's just a thought.

***

You Are an Omelette

You are a light-hearted, roll with the punches type of person. You're open to the world around you. You like to draw from many influences. You like to mix things up a lot, and variety inspires you. You don't let much weigh you down. You have a sunny outlook that starts first thing in the morning and continues throughout your day. Even if everything around you breaks down, you pick yourself right back up again. You are good at making do.

What Kind of Diner Food Are You?

Blogthings: We Have a Quiz for Almost Everything

I found this via Wandering Coyote. Considering my last post, this seemed appropriate. It's a vegan omelette in the photo above of course. 

a whole lotta food

I was scanning through my ridiculous amount of food photos and couldn't leave out my cookies!

These are called Lazy Samoas from my favorite cookie book Vegan Cookies Invade Your Cookie Jar. What could make these cookies better?

Why chocolate, of course!

These were not only fun to make, but are also very tasty. They are chock full of toasted coconut (2 cups to be exact), dipped in chocolate, and then have a little more chocolate drizzled across the top. Since I used unsweetened coconut and dark vegan baking chocolate, they are not overly sweet.

Another success from our kitchen was inspired by our slow cooker. We got an awesome slow cooker with our rewards points. It's one with a timer that automatically switches into warm mode when it's done cooking Now that I'm working until 7 in the evening, and not getting home until 8, I can make something in the morning and let it slow cook all day.

This recipe is called "Almost Irish Stew" from my Fresh from the Vegetarian Slow Cooker cookbook, which actually is all vegan recipes.
I don't usually make stews, but this was flavourful and easy to put together. It's definitely a keeper.

Now onto brunch...

Sunday I made omelettes. Yes it's true, vegan omelettes are possible. I had a lot of silken tofu to use up, and I was planning on making a fritatta until I saw the omelette recipe in my Vegan Brunch book. It looked so easy, I had to try it.

I filled them with sauteed mushrooms and collard green. When I folded them together, I added a little Daiya cheese. They were delicious! They actually surpassed my expectations of tastiness.

I don't know what made me do it, but I cut of a corner and put it between two pieces of toast with some ketchup, making a little omelette sandwich. Then I remember the fried egg sandwiches my mom made me when I was a kid. I loved them. I had a nostalgic moment with this omelette sandwich as it tasted just like those sandwiches mom use to make me for a snack.

This is what comfort food is for me. It's nostalgia.

this past week

I've been juicing every day! It's crazy. Even right now I'm craving some juice, but I'm just feeling a bit lazy about cleaning the machine.

I've realized that I need an extra 15 minutes in the morning so I can juice and then clean the juicer.
I make enough so when I come home I can have juice in the evening. I use to come home and have a beer.


For a week I was hooked on a beet, apple, pear, and ginger combo. It had that deep red colour from the beets, and the pear gave it a nice texture. It was the best.

This week it's been anything goes. I do find apple, carrot, and ginger is a good base to start with. Today I made pineapple, celery, carrot, pear, and ginger. I stopped taking pictures though because I don't want to bore you with endless pictures of juice.

As for the rest of my week...

The time flies by so quickly.  It's just one juice after another and then the week is gone.

Wildlife Rescue has been going well. I'm getting use to the routine of it. I've started working on my next level of volunteering so I can take on more responsibility. The staff are so nice and helpful. I can see myself volunteering there for a while. It does get quite busy in the spring so I'm glad I started in the winter when it's quieter so I can ease into the job.

There was red tailed hawk in this past week. I've never seen one so close-up before (probably a good thing). They are quite impressive. He stared at me as if he had no fear, and maybe even as if he could kill me.  The rest of the birds are mostly pigeons with the occasional robin or thrush.
***

Wednesday we went to see the Blues as they were in town to face the Canuckleheads (as we call them). db and I sat up in the nosebleeds and watched the game. I enjoyed it even though the Blues gave the Canucks two goals as if gifts. After that game I decided I wasn't going to watch hockey for the rest of the season, but they were in Edmonton next and I just had to watch because I suspected they'd win, and guess what?

The last 3 days have been work, work, work. I haven't had any time to bake or do anything fun like that. Maybe tomorrow I'll try a new recipe from my brunch book. I should make something nice for my day off, something to go with my juice.

Vacation

I'm back after a little vacation, and then a week of just getting back into my work routine.

My mom was visiting for a week, and I took a few days off. I barely opened the computer at all, so I haven't been making my rounds.

We had a nice visit. Here's what we did.

The Brackendale  eagles are famous. You may have heard about the annual eagle count that is done in early January.

This year the count was on the low side (956). On average there is around 1600 a year. Imagine at the peak what it must be like!

We started in Squamish at the official "Eagle Viewing" site, and then we drove further along one of the roads to see if we could see others.

That's where we spotted this one atop a tree.

Then these two (a juvenile and an adult) were perched next to a creek.

We drove along Paradise Valley road where all of the trees are loaded with moss. It's not that uncommon to see trees covered in moss on the we(s)t coast, but this whole area is unique because it had tree after tree after tree covered. It turns out that it's a protected area funded by the Nature Conservancy of Canada.

 

On the way back to the highway, we spotted another eagle. It's near the top of one of the trees on the left.

I zoomed in as far as I could with my camera and tried to steady it on the car to snap some photos. I did get a few nice ones. I tried taking a video, but whenever I selected the film option, the eagle would stop moving all together. I swear he knew what I was up to.

They are beautiful birds, and I feel very fortunate to have seen so many in such a small area.

Near our place we see them occasionally, but they are soaring so far above that we never really get to admire their beauty. At our last place we would see more because of the sloping green belt that was fairly open, so I think the eagles like to hunt there. We're more enclosed by the forest where we are now. I do love watching them soar high above in the sky though.

Thursday we went to Seattle. We started off at Pike Place Market. I think mom really enjoyed it.
Here's the flower area. In the summer it was full of fresh flowers. It was nice to see it was still vibrant full of beautiful dried flower arrangements. I think if I lived in Seattle I would buy my flowers here, and always have an arrangement in my home.

I didn't really take many pictures in Seattle. The weather was pretty damp, and we were more about getting to and from places. Plus, I had taken so many pictures of the market and downtown last time we were there. I guess I should put them on my flickr page. I'll do that after this post.

I did, of course, take pictures of our food. We were seeking out a vegan restaurant on Broadway Ave, and couldn't find it. We finally went into the grocery store and asked if someone knew of it only to learn that it was now the grocery store!

So we went back to Pizza Pi, which was fine with me. Mom had never been, and db and I were ready to try something else on the menu.

db had a calzone, and I had this lovely pizza with a sundried tomato cream sauce topped with olives, spinach, and artichokes. Of course they use teese on all of their pizzas.

Mom had one of their sandwiches. It was very good food.

Mom asked why they didn't use the daiya cheese, and they said it didn't work well with their ovens. I'm kind of glad in a way because teese really is a good product, and daiya has taken the vegan cheese world by storm. I'd like to see teese continue to thrive as well.

We did bring back a dozen donuts from Mighty O donuts (I really like their website as well so check it out). I mean...vegan donuts! Need I say more? They also serve a very nice coffee. If you're going to the coffee capital, you should at least have coffee. There is of course an obscene number of Starbucks (it's Starbuck's hometown after all), but there are also numerous independent coffee shops serving their own roasts or a local roast.

I really like Seattle. Next time we go, I'll take more pictures. I guess you can just go to Google Maps and wander the streets on the street view, but I like the personal photo better (not my photo by the way).

Of course it wouldn't be a fun vacation without the girls. Prima and Gigi loved having mom here.

Prima sometimes gets a little overwhelmed when there are too many people to keep track of. It's mostly just db and I so she hops from one lap to the other. She likes to be the center of attention all of the time. With mom here, she wasn't the center of attention, but did still get a lot of pets from all of us. She's very needy. 

Gigi particularly liked having the sofa bed open in the living room. Some days we never made up the sofa because we knew we'd be out all day, and the girls liked having the bed out to lounge on.


Even after mom left, I kept the duvet out for them to sleep on.

The cats had a nice vacation as well, and they really deserved it after the craziness of the holidays with trees in their room, people for dinner. They really needed the break! Ha.

Juicing fun

Mango, apple & banana. I tried the puree disc option that came with my juicer. We had one overripe mango, and one perfectly ripened mango; it was a perfect opportunity to try the puree disc.

The mango pureed pretty well. The smaller portions stayed pulpy so there were some chunky bits in the juice, but that was expected and we didn't really mind. The banana went through very smoothly. Blender? No thanks.

I switched to the juicer disc and added some apples to make our juice. Very tasty.

So, the puree disc was a nice surprise. It made a very creamy smoothie.

My next creation was an empty-the-fruit-bowl juice.

Our fresh produce box gets delivered once a week, and was on its way, so I decided to juice the rest of the fruit we had left. It was all pears left over in the bowl, and just one apple. I zipped some fresh ginger through (we love the zesty ginger flavour in our juices), and then added a carrot, a beet, and the fruit.
The beet gave the juice the beautiful colour. The picture actually doesn't bring out the full red colour that it really was. The beet was a little tougher to juice. I am reluctant to put any force on the food plunger since everything pretty much runs through by itself, and they recommend that you don't use any force, but the beet needed a little push. I think that's okay. Bottom line, the juice was refreshing, and felt like the pick-me-up I needed.

(P.S. db thinks I might be working for Breville because I take photos of the juice next to the juicer. I assure you I'm not working for them, I just like the backdrop.) 

lemon cashew crepes

This is the brunch book. You saw my photos of the Tofu Benny? Let me refresh your memory from my Christmas Day post.

There's been a recipe in the book that I've wanted to try, but was a little intimidated at the idea of making crepes. It seems silly because I've made injera, tortillas, and canneloni crepes. So could crepes be that much different? Yes.

I did have some success, but I think I would have had better success if I had the proper tools i.e. a thinner spatula, and maybe even a crepe pan. Yes, my regular frying pan worked okay, but it's a bit too large, so I couldn't get a uniform size to the crepes.

That's okay though because they were delicious.

The filling is a lemon cashew cream, and they were topped with a blueberry sauce. I put the traditional dusting of powdered sugar to top them off. I have to say it was all worth the effort.

Michelle Obama featured in fur-free ad.

Woo-hoo! I was so glad to see this, and very happy to see that it made the news.   It's great to see powerful and influential women say no to fur. You can also read more on PETA's site.

Run Holiday Vegan Run update

I'm running, I'm running. I haven't written about my running much lately, and that was mainly because I wasn't running much lately.

I did take a solid 2 weeks off from running, and just did a little yoga to still feel like I was making some sort of attempt to keep in shape. Since Christmas day I've been back at it, building up my endurance again (how quickly it goes). Christmas morning was cool and beautifully sunny outside. There weren't many runners out that morning, and the one I did see wished me a Merry Christmas.

It was a little icy in parts. I had to watch my footing when crossing the creek bridges since they ice up a little. It was a glorious run. I hope to make it a Christmas tradition from now on.

We had such dry weather that I really was trying to take advantage of our luck. A couple of days after Christmas I ran, and it was another clear and frosty morning. I decided to run to the bottom of the hill towards the inlet because I suspected that the ground would be drier there. However, once down by the inlet, I discovered the sidewalks were more slippery that they had been at home. I tried to run on the crunchy grass until I went into the park where I could run the trail. The trail was hard from the ground freezing, but the traction was so much better. I ran until I thought I'd had enough, and then even managed to run up the hill home. That's the first time I've done that, and it felt fine! It took me almost 10 minutes to run up it, but I did it.

New Year's Day I wanted to have another run like I did on Christmas Day, but it was pouring. I stayed in, hoping to run later in the day, but the rain never eased up.

The Sunday after New Year's (oh that's this past Sunday!) I had better luck. Even though it looked pretty dark around our place, I could see the sky breaking up down at the inlet. I loaded some new music onto my ipod (Transglobal Underground), and headed out. It was one of those tough days when my legs feel heavier than they are, and all I want to do is stop.

I ran to the inlet with plans of running the trail again, but once there I had an achy calf and achilles so I thought I should ease off and stick to the paved trail with the strollers & cyclists. Without planning to, I ran further than expected. I knew I wanted to do a long run and went for it, forgetting that I should just increase by 10%. Oops. I was too far into my run to stop, so I kept going.

I'm a little sore today. Tomorrow I'll try to take it a bit easier and do a short run before going to the wildlife rescue.

CBC News - Canada - Setting the stage for a spring election

What do you think? Is this Harper's plan?

CBC News - Canada - Setting the stage for a spring election

Juice Vegan Juice

Here it is. This was the best gift ever. I've been juicing since I took it out of the box.

db got an excellent deal on the juicer, and jumped at the chance to bring this into our home.

It has a puree disc and a juicing disc, so I can do softer fruits as well (like bananas, mango, berries etc) and make smoothies right from the juicer.

This afternoon I felt like a little pick up so I made us some juice from pineapple, apple, cucumber and ginger. Delicious.

I love this machine. Is it possible to love a machine? Well, I love what this machine can make for us. 

A simple New Year's resolution is to make more juice!

I can't wait to make my first all veggie juice!

Happy New Year!

Wishing everyone a Happy New Year!

CBC News - Politics - PM seeks Parliament shutdown until March

Excuse me, but what is going on here?! This government is out of control...no wait...it is taking too much control. I can't believe this is going ahead. Surely, no one is really going to let them shut down Parliament until such a late date.

I know I'm going to write my MP about this.

CBC News - Politics - PM seeks Parliament shutdown until March

Christmas Day

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas, and are all very stuffed with their favorite foods. Um...I forgot to take pictures of our dinner last night, but I can assure you it looked as delicious as it tasted. We had wild mushroom & butternut squash ravioli with a simple spicy tomato sauce. db brought out a Super Tuscan wine he's been saving for a number of years. It was smooth and warming. We also had a spinach salad with pear and balsamic. It was a nice simple dinner.

I do have a photo of our Christmas morning breakfast though.

I know, I know. You're saying, "what is it?" It's from my Vegan Brunch cookbook, and it's called Tofu Benny! I marinated the tofu, pan-fried it. The bottom is home fries with green pepper and onion. I opted for the home fries base over the English muffin, because I love potatoes and could probably eat them every day. I also didn't have any English muffins. There is also some tomato in the middle with a little liquid smoke, and on top is the hollandaise sauce, which was a little strange because it really tasted like hollandaise sauce! The texture of it reminded me of that non-vegan eggy sauce, but the flavour really was so much better.

db was impressed as well, and I always know I've come up with something good when he's impressed. He's such a good cook. 

It was a nice way to start our morning, and a great breakfast after my run.

 

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas everyone. I hope you're all having a restful day.

It's fairly quiet here in whoville. The cats have finally settled down (I think).

It's clear and cool here. We didn't get any snow for Christmas (I was hoping, but no luck), but it made for an easy run this morning. I couldn't think of a better way to start such a beautiful sunny day than go for a run. The other runners I saw out there wished me a Merry Christmas as they passed. It was nice.

For db and I (and most of us) it's all about the food. So without further delay here's the food.

The Christmas Eve menu started with Hot and Sour Soup, and it lived up to its name. db did a beautiful job on the soup. The wine was a Gewurztraminer by Cono Sur winery, which I couldn't really taste by the time I finished my soup because the spiciness was so strong. So I waited until my mouth cooled down to finish my wine.

Our main dish was a recipe from The Artful Vegan, our favorite special occasion vegan cookbook. We made the Cajun-Crusted Tempeh with Lemon-Caper Dill Cream and Braised Collard Greens served with Pecan Dirty Rice.

The lemon-caper dill cream was a cashew based cream, and I think I could almost eat this daily it was so good!

The Cajun-crusted tempeh was dipped in a vegan aioli sauce that db had made earlier in the day, and then dredged through the cajun spice mix I put together.

The Pecan dirty rice was actually "almond" dirty rice because I realized at the last minute that I didn't have any pecans. Fortunately, almonds subbed quite nicely.

The wine we paired with this dish was Smoking Loon Viognier from California. It was a very nice wine with the spiciness of the cajun tempeh.

At midnight we wished each other a Merry Christmas, kissed the cats (even though Gigi doesn't always appreciate kisses), and exchanged our gifts. It was a wonderful and delicious Christmas Eve.

It looks like Christmas Day's menu will be another feast. I'll post more on that later.

Merry Christmas everyone!

Marie Dubas - La Charlotte prie Notre-Dame (1934)

This is something my inlaws listen to every Christmas. Even though we can't be with them at this time, db and I found this on you tube and listened to it on Christmas Eve. It's a tradition in his family, and I'd like to share it.

The Christmas Tree Adventure

This year we returned to the organic Christmas tree farm we've been going to for the last 3 years.

It's about an hours drive from our place, but we think it's worth it. We support a small business, and we get to choose and cut our own tree.

It was snowing that day (Dec 13th), and by the time we reached the farm the snow was really starting to accumulate. It was so beautiful to be out in the country in the snow.

After a good search, we decided on this little tree. It was a bit narrower so it'd fit nicely into our space. Our plan was to put it on the ledge between our two living room windows, so we'd have to crop the top a bit. db took out his tape measure and checked the height. It would be a good fit.

We paid for the tree and put it into our tree bag, and it just fit into the car with the seats down. We were ready to go, but then db realized that he couldn't find the car key. So the search began.

Everyone there (the family working that day and a couple of friends) began to search. The snow was piling up quickly. Someone brought a bucket of hot water our and poured water around the car, and then around the spot where we had cut the tree. We took everything out of the car, and searched every inch of it. The tree came out of the bag, but nothing. No car key.

I took a rake and tried to retrace our steps through the farm, but realized the impossibility of finding anything in the snow.

It was definitely a "needle in a haystack" kind of situation.

Plan B. Get a key cut. One of the men told us that there is a place in Mission (or Abbotsford - I can't remember which) that will cut keys for you.

db goes inside and starts calling, but we need to initiate this through the dealership, and it's Sunday and dealerships are closed.

db tries to reach a co-worker who doesn't live too far away. She always has her cell phone with her and on. He could get the work keys from her  (it's a company car), and then drive to work to get the spare set in Vancouver (about an hour and a half from where we are). He can't reach her. 

db calls the company's roadside assistance while I wait outside standing around the fire with the family and friends getting acquainted. I also take another look out in the field, because it can't hurt.

Roadside assistance is no help. There's nothing else to do, but get the spare set of keys. Someone wisely suggests that we rent a car to go get the other keys. Furthermore, one of the family members is heading back into Vancouver and could drop us at the rental place.

We book a car at the Abbotsford airport since it's the closest open location. The roads are looking quite bad because of the snow. The woman who drives us to the airport is super nice. It turns out she owns a place on the Sunshine Coast she rents out to friends, but gives us her card because she would be willing to rent to us as well. She drops us at the airport. db and I are the only people at the airport who don't work there.

We get the rental car. We drive home to get db's work keys (an hour?). We drive to his work (another 45?). Then we drive from Vancouver back to Mission (over an hour). We pick up the car with the tree in it. db follows me out. I'm in the rental. It's now around 7:30pm. It's snowy, dark, and it's Sunday so there's very little traffic. The highway does seem to have been salted so it's a bit clearer, but it's by no means completely clear. It's slow going.

We're driving from Mission to the Abbotsford airport to drop off the car, and I see an airplane sign, and turn off the collector route, thinking it's a short cut. It turns out to be an airstrip and not the airport. We really have never been to Abbotsford so we don't really know where we are. We turn around. On our way back to the highway, there's a tow truck in the middle of the road in the process of pulling a mini-van out of a seriously deep ditch. We have to wait about 15-20 minutes in what seems the middle of nowhere while this accident is cleared.

Finally we get back to the highway and find the airport (it's around 8:45 or so by now), drop the car, and head home (another hour).

Our $30 tree cost about $110 in the end. At least we were fine after driving what seemed every road from here to Mission and Vancouver and back in poor conditions.

The plan had been to grocery shop, pick up the tree, come home and bake Christmas cookies. The cookies got made, but later that week so I was a little late sending them out to family.

The cats were very happy to see us after being alone all day and night. We were happy to see them too, an of course we were exhausted from the very stressful day.

Tonight we decorate our tree. I hope it looks even more beautiful than I could hope because it is a very unique tree for us this year.

Oh yes, I forgot about db's company having to get a new key made because it has a chip in it, so a completely new one had to be made for the car.

Also this past Thursday, someone from the tree farm called us to say they found the key (it had rained all week) about 10' from the where we cut the tree. We drove out on Sunday to pick up the now useless key, but the remote to unlock the car still works. db also decided to wear his jacket with the zippered pockets just to be safe.

CBC News - Canada - Tories pondered weaker emission targets for oil and gas

It's very distressing to think that our government could be taking actions like this.

CBC News - Canada - Tories pondered weaker emission targets for oil and gas

I'm so disappointed in this government for so many reasons. I feel like we're never being permitted to know what's really going on unless something gets leaked or a whistle blower comes forward.

Can't we be a leading nation? Can't we be a nation that aims for something greater? Am I too much of an idealist for believing our country could make the necessary cuts to greenhouse gases?

Food this week.

Brrr, it's cold! Snow is on the way for us. This will be the first weekend of snow, which means unploughed streets, cars getting stuck on hills, buses re-routing or not showing up at all, and all of that fun stuff. Hopefully, my commute to and from work will not be too disrupted.

So that's the outside. Inside, we've been keeping toasty warm of course, and have been eating warming foods.

db made a stuffed focaccia; something he hasn't done in a long time (as in ever since I and then he gave up cheese and became vegan). Now that we have daiya in our life, he realized that it was possible to make a stuffed focaccia. He also put chanterelles (did I mention he found more a couple of weeks ago in our trusty spot in the woods?) and pine nuts in the bread. Oh yum.

I had cooked a Sugar Pumpkin with intentions on making a pie, but...of course...my busy schedule kept delaying the inevitable.

My co-worker, jh, had mentioned how someone had brought a pumpkin soup to the potluck, and how much she enjoyed it. Just her talking about the soup made me want to make my own.

I even had Sour Supreme on hand to put a little in the center to help cool the soup's heat. It turned out quite well, and was perfect on a chilled night in whoville.

Now if I can just get to the baking!

Cold weather running

I'm faced with a chilly run tomorrow. It's clear and cold here; the temperature hovers around zero through the day and then dips down at night. The upside is the sunshine and dry conditions, which are great for running.

I went out Sunday and had a nice short run. Once I was warmed up I was fine. Even with the wind in my face, I was doing okay. I just kept going at a nice easy pace and got my run in.

Tomorrow morning I want to take advantage of the clear weather again and go a little further. It will feel great and I'll be so happy to have gone a longer distance, but I hate that first step outside, leaving behind the warmth of my home to step out into a chilled air. That's the toughest part of the run for me right now. Even if I feel sluggish, I know how to deal with that; I can talk myself through the most difficult of times. But to step out into the cold in just my running gear...brrr!

It's going to be a cold one tomorrow.

In whoville this week...

I've been busy, but I like being busy. I'm adjusting to my new 6 days a week schedule. Sunday is truly a day of rest for me now, except that I have to spend it getting all the other chores done Fortunately we have an organic produce box delivered once a week. Otherwise I don't know when I'd grocery shop. db actually does most of the grocery shopping while I'm at work on Saturdays.

Bottom line though, I'm loving my life right now and that's a good place to be for me.

My 4 hours a week at Wildlife Rescue has so far been very exciting. The jobs could be called "mundane" (laundry, dishes, cleaning out the pigeon aviary), but I find it all part of the cycle of care for the animals (well, it's really all birds right now).

There seem to be new birds when I arrive each week. Part of me finds this exciting, but it also bothers me because I know they're at the rescue because they're injured in some way. There are always pigeons. City life takes its toll on pigeons, and they have all sorts of injuries. Once they're through the tough part of recovery, they move outside to the aviary. There's even a cool room they spend a couple of nights in before going to the aviary so they get acclimatized to the outdoors before being moved to the aviary.

I seem to be the one who doesn't hesitate to take on the pigeon aviary first. It's a lot of pigeon poop to clean, but I don't mind. I like setting up new food and clean dry towels for them on some of their perches. I've never really taken much notice of pigeons since they always seem to be just part of the cityscape, but seeing them in this new context gives me a new point of view. They really are unique, and each one seems to have its own personality. I'm basing this on how they react to me being in the cage. I could be way off on this one, but each one does seem unique.

This week I did another round of cleaning the indoor cages for the pigeons, and then I couldn't avoid it anymore, I had to take on a more challenging bird: a Varied Thrush.

With a bird that moves so quickly, and is already stressed, I was convinced it would escape and I would spend the rest of my shift trying to catch it, but fortunately, I found it easier than expected and remarkable that I could handle such a flighty bird (I'm sure it won't be so easy all of the time, but at least it helps me feel more confident going in next time). Next stop gulls. I have yet to deal with any really larger birds.

I'm always nervous that I'm going to injure the bird or do more harm than good, but I'm realizing that I'm more capable of handling them than I thought. I guess that's part of the learning curve at the Rescue.

***

Some other good news this week is that I got a raise! I mean I received an real raise in recognition of the work I've been doing for this independent little store. It was completely unexpected and very exciting for me. It's been a long time since I've been rewarded for the work I've done.

My other job (I have 2 part-time jobs) gives everyone a small percent raise once a year and it is not negotiable, and it is pennies. We're expected to do so much, and are paid so little.

This new job has been such a breath of fresh air for me. I really feel like I'm contributing to a small business' success. That is rewarding in itself.

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