vacation 2010

I'd been waiting all year for my vacation, and even more so in the last few months. I flew to Montreal to meet up with db, (who had already been there for a week with his family), my sis, and my mother. We drove the next day to NB where my brother lives. He was ready to go with coolers filled with food & drink and two trucks to drive the 15-20 kilometers into the woods where he has a camp that we visit every two years. It's fairly remote, accessible only by logging roads, and there really is very few people out there. My brother's land also has some lakefront. It's pretty much an ideal spot.

The only downside is Irving. Irving owns New Brunswick (I'm not kidding -- the newspaper, t.v. stations etc), and the crown land around my brother's land is being clearcut. This year we could hear some machinery in the far far distance when we were in our tent at night. One of the roads into his camp was ruined as the company put in another road to access a new area. While these roads do provide access to my brother's camp, and once they are no longer needed they do grow up and fill in with greenery restoring the damaged landscape, there is the price of large areas of forest being flattened. The company will come in to plant more spruce ("toilet paper trees" as my brother calls them), but the mixture of hardwood and softwood of the natural forest is forever changed.

I didn't really expect to get into the clearcut side of the vacation, but I don't think I can really ignore what is right in front of me and as a person who cares about the environment. I'm thinking about doing further research into this topic because when I look at a map of NB there seems to be few protected areas of any size, but I won't say for sure until I find out  more.

Anywho...onto the vacation photos from our first day there. There may not be a lot of photos, but that's because I generally don't include pictures with people in them since I try to keep some anonymity to this blog (I know most of you already know me, but I'm sticking with my original decision here).

We saw two spruce grouse on our drive out to get some firewood. One was smaller than the other. They weren't too quick to move so I was able to get quite close for a photo. 

 Cedar waxwings seem to be everywhere. I kept seeing them, but they are hard to photograph because they never seem to sit still for long. I feel lucky to have gotten these two photos. I thought they were waxwings, but did a definite ID when I got home.

 Beaver lodge. These are abundant, but not always active. 

The old clearcut areas provide firewood for the campfire.

Sunset towards the end of our evening drives to look for Moose. db has a great interest in Moose so we're always going out to look for them. It is Moose country afterall so the chances are good.

Garden photos

I haven't had much time for my garden this year, but like all gardens it grows anyway.

This may be my favorite clematis (Niobe). It looks like velvet, and it really stands out amongst the cotoneaster.

The Rose Campion came back in full force, and I was surprised by the height it grew, which is why the tango lily is hidden amongst it. I may move it in the fall and bring all of the lilies forward.

I was also surprised (pleasantly) by the trumpet lily that I don't remember buying or being given so I'm not sure where it came from, but I love it.

It may be slightly neglected this year, but the garden is full of surprises for me.

Run Vegan Run

Finally I was able to run more than 10 k today! I had a few dates, some fresh blueberries (I love summer!) and I was out the door. It didn't all go smoothly though.  Less than 1 k into my run my bra strap came undone. Hmmm...what to do? The only way I could fix it would be to take off my bra. That's complicated when you're out for a run. I looked for a place to step into the woods, but then I saw a woman coming along the path that I had passed a few minutes earlier. She was on a power walk. I stopped her and asked if she could fix my bra. An odd thing to ask a stranger, but there you go. She fixed the strap, I thanked her and wished her to have great day, and then was on my way.

Two minutes later my left hamstring twinged, kind of like a little pop. I stretched and tried to massage the pain away, but was having little luck. Walking was hurting it. Hmmm....what to do?  I tried shuffling along to see how far I could go, but it only took a few steps before I had to stop from the pain. I did some more stretching and massaging. I felt like crying! After all of this recovery time for my achilles and now this! I shuffled along some more, walked, shuffled, and then slowly began to do a slow jog using my yoga breathing to "breathe into the pain." I also focused on relaxing my legs and hips as much as possible because it's so easy to tense up when you're feeling pain. Once I crested the hill I knew I'd be able to keep going a little further, and decided to keep going as long as my body could stand it. Well...10 k later I felt pretty good.

I think it was the uphill that irritated the hamstring. I've been doing so much running on flat terrain to help my achilles recover that my legs just aren't use to having to climb.

During the last kilometer I felt really great endurance-wise, but my hamstring started to tighten up again. I couldn't wait to get home and stretch.

Now I can rest it for the remainder of the day, and tomorrow we'll see how it goes.

(I also tried out my new Camelbak water bottle, and I love it! It took a little getting use to, but now I really appreciate being able to drink from any angle, which is nice while running because I don't have to tilt the bottle to get liquid. It's the small things...)

Friday's question

Why is it that when I'm doing the things I love, the time just flies by?

You guessed correctly if you guessed that it's Friday afternoon and I'm at work.

my community

I managed to find a copy of David Byrne's The Bicycle Diaries at my local library, and I'm glad I found it (I picked it up thanks to Barbara's review at The Bookworm Collective. You can read her review there find out what the book is about).

Ten pages into it, and it already has me thinking about my daily commute and how my method of transportation affects how I view my community. I don't know if this is the scope of the book, but it got me thinking.

I don't own a car, and I don't really want to own one either (db does have the company car on the weekends, so we do use all methods of transporation).  Mostly I take transit (bus & skytrain), I use my bike to run errands on my day off, or if I just feel like taking a bike ride, and I walk -- alot. What have I learned about my community and how it functions based on my daily walks? No surprise, but we are a car culture.

We live in a suburb of Vancouver. It's a thriving little city with lots going on. What I see as the hub of our town is a little pocket of shops, mostly independent businesses, that sit between, and is connected by two main commuter roads. It's a pedestrian friendly area, but also has lots of room for parking. You could get everything you need in this little area, and I suppose that was part of the attraction for the adjacent condo owners; everything is within walking distance.

Across the main road from this little hub, is the theatre where they hold screenings and events, the library, and the recreation centre. The inlet trail borders this area, and has paved and unpaved trails that run along the water. If you walk, bike, or run in one direction, it takes you to a nice picnic and beach area. If you do the same in the other direction it takes you to a larger park where concerts are held, a boat lauch is available, and there's even a small public pool, and a dog park. If you know your way around you can also connect to many of the trails that run up the mountainside.

Kitty-corner to the "hub" area is a new development that has been filled with more condos, and little shops in a pedestrian friendly area. It is attempting to mimic the original, older main hub; however, it doesn't have the independent businesses, but rather is a series of chain stores (Starbucks, Cobs Bread, Booster Juice) and has a feeling of something a little bit fake in its attempt to be quaint. I see this entire neighbourhood as being set up for after hours and weekend outdoor play.

If you don't live in either of these hubs you need a car. Walking is for the weekend only, or if you take the dog out. Some streets don't even have sidewalks. I live a fifteen minute walk up the hill from the hub, so while it is possible to walk to this area and get everything I need, it is a bit inconvenient as well because the hill is quite a hike. It's fairly steep so walking home with a load of groceries is not really what I want do. We save grocery shopping for the weekend, and we have our organic produce delivery that comes once a week. However, I do walk this hill almost daily to get home from work since the buses that do run up the hill are few and far between.

The road that runs up the hill is four lanes. It is a 50 km zone, but as you can probably guess no one does 50 km, it's usually closer to 70 or more if they're going downhill (db & I actually call this stretch of road "speed city raceway").  There are no houses along it, just trees, and pathways that lead to suburban pockets of homes. Whenever I cross paths with someone walking up or down, we always exchange a hello or a good morning. Once you hit the hub though, the greetings stop.

Off this main artery are lots of little side streets, most of which are tree-lined dead ends. The houses are close, but the yards are still large enough for good sized gardens, and backyards often face a greenbelt. Where I live is one of these streets. The homes are large (we rent of course) with wide driveways and double car garages. Even with the two car garages, many people park on the street because they have more than one or two cars (or there are renters who have cars, but no access to a garage. There's actually a little dispute going on about who can park where on the street. One of the neighbours gives out his own tickets if you park in front of his house (i'm not kidding). 

So my community is a commuting one. The cars file down in the morning and file home at night (have you seen Edward Scissorhands? It's like that). It is truly suburban in that respect. The community is set up to move these cars to and from work as efficiently as possible. Bikes? There are few bike lanes, so you're really you're on your own for commuting. Afterall, biking is a weekend activity reserved for the trails.

trip to Bowen Island & Mt Gardner

We got lucky. We had good weather, and decided that we would drive to the ferry and go to Bowen Island to do our planned hike up Mt Gardner.  You can walk on the ferry since the hike is walking distance from the ferry, and there are a couple of smaller trails to take to get you to the beginning of the Mt. Gardner hike.

Lots of slugs along the way. Each one seemed bigger than the one before. We started to think that maybe they got larger the higher we hiked!

The first view on the way up that looks back down to where we arrived.

Foxgloves were abundant. Why do I have such a hard time growing them?

This was an unusual and cool looking part of the trail. This was along the "handloggers trail." There are several options to approach Mt. Gardner. We took several linking trails to wind our way up rather than taking a more direct (and perhaps less interesting) route.

Looks like some Angel wings...I think. Edible, but we didn't collect any as there were too few to really bother.

Second view: I think this is looking at Keets island.

New growth amongst the old growth.

We went to the North Summit where the views are. There are also radio towers and 2 helicopter landing pads. I think this is why the N. Summit has the views that the S. Summit doesn't.

View from the top. This looks down towards the Sunshine Coast. The clouds were covering the distant mountains, and at times some low cloud passed closely by. It was beautiful. We sat on the wooden slatted chopper landing pad and had lunch.

Playing with the sepia setting on the camera on the way down the mountain. 

After our long 6 hour plus hike, we reached our destination...


The Tuscany

The food was amazing as usual. It was a perfect way to end our day.

 Warm citrus olives with a bruschetta salad & grilled portabellos.

Ah, the pizza with grilled veg. They have a wood burning oven to cook their pizza. There's nothing like a pizza cooked in a wood burning oven.

Back to the mainland. What a beautiful day!

Happy Canada Day!

It's not only Canada Day, but it's also the store's first year anniversary so I'm at work today for the celebration. It's quiet now though since it's the end of the day so I thought I'd get a quick post done. What did everyone else do for Canada Day?


I've missed my blog. I've missed posting photos of meals we've made, which doesn't mean that I haven't stopped taking photos, I just haven't posted any. 


As usual my life seems incredibly busy. I know we all have busy lives, but with the world cup (not related to the cup in the photo) going on, my life seems even busier now (I just can't miss a game).

Anywho...to the cup in the above photo. db got me this blender cup for my birthday. I was so excited by it, it was a bit ridiculous really. Who gets excited over a blender cup? Apparently, I do. Exciting life, I know. 

The base of my blender screws onto the cup and I can blend up my Vega smoothie then put the cup's lid on and I'm ready to go. It's pretty fabulous. I did a test run this morning, and was thrilled with not having to clean the blender (or I should say, leave it in the sink filled with water until one of us gets home from work to clean it).

***
Now onto other things...


It's been nice to have a couple of soccer free days so I can get other things done like laundry, and a little gardening (very little -- I planted a few new plants in the front yard when I came home from my run on Tuesday. I just couldn't leave them in their nursery pots any longer). The weather has been a bit crappy. db and I haven't used the patio at all this month so I haven't felt the need to add to my pots out there. It still looks okay, but not the way I'd like it to look. 

***

Since I had to work on Wednesday (my birthday), we've decided to celebrate on Friday with a trip to Bowen just as we did last year. However, this year we plan to hike Mt Gardner (please, co-operate weather) and then go to dinner at the Tuscan restaurant where we went last year as well. My family won't be here, but I'll be thinking of them and planning our upcoming vacation to N.B. I can't wait! 
 

Thrive Diet

I've just finished reading Thrive Fitness, and have started reading the Thrive Diet, and this was my first recipe from the book: coconut curry chickpeas and greens. It was so simple to put together, and very tasty.

I'll do reviews on the books once I've finished the Thrive Diet.

More bird feeders?

I put up a hummingbird feeder near the patio. I was a little unsure of the location, so I moved it to a nearby rhodo bush.

Sure enough, I was sitting on the patio one evening and a hummer flew up to where the feeder use to hang, and then immediately spotted it in the rhodo and whizzed over there.

So I don't think the hummers mind coming so close to the patio afterall. However, since returning it to its original spot, I've yet to see a hummer.

Too bad the clematis isn't pink or more of a reddish colour for them.

***

This was taken one rainy morning.

We put up the bamboo for the clematis to trail along (it's not really obeying, but I've got to try).

The chickadees have been coming quite close to the windows when I'm there. I think they want me to put  a feeder out.

I don't want the chickadees to think I'm favoring the hummingbirds do I?

Last night was my last shift at LV tools. Since starting my job at kv (the little vegan haven), I cut my hours at LV down to 2 days, and then finally 1 day a week. I knew the day would come when I would have to leave, but it arrived sooner than expected when kv offered me full time. Working for a small business has been much more rewarding than the big company. I feel like I'm part of the success that we're having at kv, and that's very rewarding to feel like you have a direct impact on how the business functions. 


It's a big change for me because I can feel my life going in a direction I hadn't expected. I knew I wanted to leave LV, but I was never really certain how that would happen, or when. When I landed the job at kv (actually, thanks to a former LV employee who heard about the job and thought it would be a great fit for me), I saw possibilities, but the owners didn't want to commit to anything permanent because they were a new business and were not sure if a vegan shop would fly. Well it's surviving, and now I have a permanent place there.

Even though I knew I wanted to leave LV, I still felt sad leaving. Once I cut my hours to one shift a week, it was fun to see everybody and get caught up on the latest news. My one day a week was more of a social event sometimes than work, but the downside was that I felt a little scattered working in 2 places, and then going to the Wildlife Rescue on Tuesdays. Some mornings I'd wake up and ask myself, "where am I going today?" The older I get, the more I find I need a steady routine.

Yesterday I was overwhelmed when the staff surprised me with a beautiful bouquet of flowers in a vase that one of the women engraved for me. One friend baked a vegan chocolate cake, with a chocolate icing that was to die for. Sliced bananas were layered in between the 3 layers with the chocolate icing, and they also decorated the top. (I'll have to post a picture if someone ever sends me one). This was a very decadent treat since I don't really eat cake very often. I think the sugar rush was a bit intense, but it was worth it. To top it off they gave me a gift card that I had spent by the end of the evening.

They did everything right to make me well up with tears. Thanks everyone at LV for the fun that we did have over the last 3.5 years. I always had a lot of laughs there that's for sure, and that's what I'll miss the most.

Remember these morels? We made a pasta dish with them that was a success, and then decided to do something a little more unique with the rest of our morels.


The Artful Vegan a cookbook from the San Francisco restaurant, Millenium, is a book we usually use for special occasions since there is often many steps, and other ingredients to prepare.

However, we came across a recipe using morels that seemed manageable for a Saturday night.

 The morels are inside the phyllo with a mashed garlic potato layer. The morels were cooked with caramelized onions.  The sauce is a pinot noir & beet reduction (that took far longer to reduce than we had hoped, but I think we were not simmering it properly to begin with). The phyllo rolls were served on a beet & carrot salad with a little truffle oil, and a horseradish cream on the side.

What a treat. I love that cookbook.
Thanks again for the morels, pw!

Track motivation

Usually the track at the gym is quiet. There might be 1 person walking it, but most of the time it's just me running those short laps around and around. However, yesterday the track was packed with seniors. I felt like I was intruding, but it is for everyone to use so I went ahead with my short run.

There was 1 guy moseying in a shiny green tracksuit, talking on his cell phone. I'm glad I was wearing my ipod! However, what stood out the most for me was the various postures; some were slouched over more, and others were very straight. I know as we age, we can become more slouched and seeing this group really made me aware of how I maintain my posture now could affect how it is later in life.

I know that I certainly straightened up as I ran.

Run Vegan?

The run:

25 minutes (that's the time limit for all of the cardio equipment) on the treadmill, and then I headed upstairs to the track for another 10 minutes of running (that's all the time I had for running).

The mantra:

"If I don't have the time to stretch, I don't have the time to run."


Achilles update:

A little achy Achilles for the first 5 minutes on the treadmill, but then it faded. It was tired by the end of the day (after 4 hours at Wildlife Rescue tending to at least half of the 92 ducklings we now have there).


Physio update:

I went to physio for the last time, and she emphasized again that I cannot run any hills for a while. She did a little massage, ultrasound, and concluded with 10 mins of the muscle stim machine.


How to avoid the boredom of a treadmill? (Remember when I loved the treadmill before I started running outside?)

With this type of running, I will definitely need my ipod shuffle to keep me going. I've started listening to CBC's Ideas podcasts when I run. It's almost an hour long, and it gives me a chance to listen to something a little more interesting. It doesn't always have to be music to keep me going.

My running season:

It's on hold. There's so much I want to run (Scotiabank end of June, Portland in October, Rubber Ducky 1/2 marathon, also in October), but I have to wait and see how my Achilles responds to the treatment. I'm sticking to my marathon training schedule though, with some modifications.

Treatment: 

• Ice, ice, baby (as my physio always says).
• Perhaps a massage in a couple of weeks to really give those calves something to cry about.
• Calf raises with a goal of 20 per calf (It burns at 15!). 
• No hill running (i.e. treadmill, track, flat Poco trail only). Maybe I'll explore some of the various tracks around my neighbourhood and rate them.
• Easy hikes only. No long hilly hikes. Those seem to really aggravate it.

Sorry db, I guess that means that we won't be foraging for morels in Pemberton this weekend. :-(

Mmmm Morels

Oh the morels! No, we didn't harvest these. A friend of my step-dad's went mushroom hunting near Pemberton (one of the burn sites from last year) and brought back quite a haul. She was selling bags of morels so we asked for one. pw gave us one, and wow they are beautiful. 

Tonight I made a mushroom sauce with them, and served it over pasta. It turned out very well. I added some button mushrooms we had on hand to fill out the sauce a little more. 

It's a pretty simple sauce: onions, garlic, fresh herbs, mushrooms, white wine, & veg broth. I would have served it with Fettucine, but I didn't have any, so we decided on Penne.

We have plans for something a little more elaborate with the rest of the mushrooms. 

I wouldn't mind going to Pemberton myself. Apparently, she's quite willing to let people know where she went. I think we'd be fine searching any area around there. I wonder how combed through the Lilloet and Pemberton area is by now.

Vegan can't run

I ran again last Thursday for the first time in a month. My Achilles hurt the day after. This sucks. If I do any amount of walking outside of my regular route to and from work/bus stops, I have some Achilles pain. I'm starting to wonder if maybe I should have gone for the Traumeel injections.

I went to 3 sessions of physio, and I'm going for a 4th tomorrow, although my physiotherapist said it wasn't necessary. She gave me the go ahead to start running, but no hills (ha!). I made an appointment with the intention of cancelling it, but after my run last week, and after doing some yard work yesterday, I need to go for another session.

The calf raises should help. The ice should help. On my way home tonight, I'm going to pick up some topical Traumeel. What else can I do?

When I go back to the gym it's going to be more treadmill and bike sessions. The biking is great, and I am enjoying that, but I miss my running.

The last time I was off this long, I still managed to run a half marathon in August so there's hope yet.

***
In more positive running news, a friend of my mom's (bf) will be running the Western States Endurance Run at the end of June. It's an ultra trail event that is 100 miles. This woman is amazing. She's continues to inspire me, and I am in awe of her abilities both physically and mentally to complete such events. This is a big one, and I can't wait to hear how she does.

I would love to do more trail running, but it's not something I want to do alone. I'm looking for a trail partner, but haven't found one yet. I'll look more once I'm doing a regular running schedule again. 

Cake or Death?

db and I went to see Eddie Izzard Saturday night. It's been 10 years since we've seen him perform, and it was astounding to see how famous Izzard has become since then. From the small theatre in Toronto 10 years ago to the Queen Elizabeth theatre in Vancouver. The place was packed with all ages. It was incredible. Great show. I actually bought some Izzard swag: a cake or death touque.