Timmins was the hottest place in Ontario yesterday at a whopping 37 degrees with the humidity. My poor husband and father in law slaved away all day out there in the heat on the house. I'm so grateful that we have handy families who can help us with our renos. Happy Friday people!

Here Kitty Kitty

This is Joseph. He wandered into our house Tuesday. He is adorable and so affectionate. Jamie is brining him to the pound today, I hope he gets adopted soon. Someone get him! 

Fall Wardrobe: Reality Edition (laced with fantasy)

 

I would love to buy fashionable clothes for fall but because I spend most of my time in a back room with a Pebbles bun squashed on top of my head I'm going to keep it comfortable and warm. This includes:
                a) long sweaters for my insanely long torso
                b) moccasins to keep my feet comfy
                c) wunder under leggings because they are the greatest things in the world
                d) tanks and t-shirst that are long so they don't show back/belly and high so they don't show            
                     cleave
 I may buy a few cool things but for now I'm pretty sure it's going to consist of lulus and sweaters (which is what it consisted of before so there isn't much of a difference).

*Odds are the majority of these gorgeous/comfortable/long-lasting pieces will not be bought save maybe the leg gins but looks wise thats what I'm shootin for.

Boys Boys Boys

This boy caught...

this boy who was saved by ...

this boy who was then bitten by the middle boy.

Bits and Pieces

This weekend was great (except for the fact that the husband was away all weekend delivery the last of the muskoka chairs to camp [and the tire flew off the burb while he was driving it, scary!]).  I met Carolyn's french (France french not Quebec), tried bear meat, worked with Mel, hung out with a besty and her bf, learned  how to make pickles, cleaned the office and snapped on the vegetable based thing. Ben and Jerry's is too tempting sometimes. It was red lipstick weekend and I loved it!

Happy Friday!

Fall Wardrobe: Fantasy Edition

A few pieces I would love Love LOVE for fall...

Sue's Dill Pickle Soup

I love Love LOVE dill pickles. They are so crunchy and sour and relish. So when I tasted them in soup form I nearly fell over. Thank you Sue for showing me tis recipe it is phenomenal. Enjoy people!

2 tbsp butter

2 cups chopped peeled potatoes

1 cup chopped onion

1 cup chopped carrot

1/4 tsp pepper

Saute ingredients together till starting to soften and add:

2 tbsp flour (I add flour and corn starch 1/2 each)

Add in 4 cups chicken stock (I used Campbell's - 1 box)

1/4 cup dill pickle juice

Stir until thickened and cook for about 15 minutes on low boil. Let cool and process in blender till smooth. 

Add in:

1 cup cream (I used 1/2 (18%) cream 1/2 milk)

2/3 cup grated dill pickles (about 5 med pickles)

1/4 cup chopped fresh dill

Heat through and serve. Do not boil again.

*Note: This soup tastes amazing with home made dills (do not use Kosher Dills). You can also use store bought dills but you might need to add more pickle juice and grated pickles to make the soup dill pickly enough.

5K

This chunky chicken just ran her first race! What up?! Sunday morning I ran my first 5k and it was great. I managed to run the entire thing (minus the hill I walked up [and by walk I mean scaled because that bad boy was steep]) in just under 36 minutes. Its not the most amazing time in the world but I did it so I'm pretty happy right now. Next year a half marathon maybe?

Somebody's Got a Bad Case of the Mondays....

This girl made a successful sock bun this weekend and a not so successful pasta dish (word to the wise: when a sauce recipe calls for three cloves of raw garlic move on to something else). Enjoy the day people.

Friday!

It's the weekend. I'm going to purge my closet, clean, see the girls, and Chris is taking his hunting course so he is over the moon.Enjoy your weekend and Happy Friday!

Namaste

I got this gem from Pinterest and it's phenom, definitely a great good morning pick me up for your bod

It's Thursday which means it's almost Friday which means the weekend is almost here! This week has been a long one but a great part of it has been Yoga. I started taking a yoga class this month and I'm loving it. Now to set things straight, I am neither flexible nor do I have a sense of balance. At the best of times I look like a baby giraffe learning how to walk and stairs are my arch nemesis but something happens when I walk into that yoga class. Every week I get a little more flexible and seem to be a little more balanced. These are by no means huge changes to the naked eye but in my mind they are leaps and bounds. Plus I totally love the 10 minutes of lying there at the end of every class. It is so nice to just lay there in silent darkness and be. When life is so busy all the time those ten minutes are pure bliss.

Owls

My favourite one by far, thank you Value Village

I love Love LOVE owls. They are super cute, smart, and they can be hilarious, I mean those eyes and they're crazy neck turning ability, you can't beat it. Lucky for me Value Village tends to have one or two of these bad boys kicking around in their knick knack section from time to time. When that happens I swoop in like an owl on  a field mouse. They make great decorative pieces and lucky for me owls are cool right now. It hump day everyone, enjoy it.

I got a matching toad to go with this little guy 

A gift from the husband and the cat came with the house unfortunately it's partner was smashed by a little brother

This Little House

Our little house is getting a makeover! Yay! We have new insulation, siding, doors and windows for this bad boy sitting in the garage waiting. I'm so excited for the change. The house is now going to be dark grey with a fire engine red door and white trim (it will look something like the houses / door below from my pinterest account) . Its a dream. Now if only we could find the time to actually do all the work (all that stuff has been sitting in our garage since the end of July, YIKES!). But hopefully by the end of August this house will look totally different from the outside which means we can move on to work on the inside. Which means open concept and a shower. Haza!

It's Monday.

It's Monday, haza. Chris is at work, coffee is in my belly, yesterday's makeup is going to be reused for today, and Brian's birthday cupcakes are iced and sprinkled. I DON'T WANT TO GO TO WORK I WANT TO GO BACK TO BED AND SLEEP FOR ANOTHER TWO HOURS! Sorry about that, I feel like I lost an hour of sleep with my crazy awful Harry Potter nightmare. Anywho, here is the recipe for the most wonderful chocolate cake:

3 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

2 1/2 cups sugar

1 tbsp + 1 tsp baking soda

1/2 tsp salt

1 cup unsweetened cocoa powder (you could add another 1/2 cup if you want it extra chocolatey)

1 1/3 cups canola oil

1 1/2 cups buttermilk or soy milk

3 large eggs or egg replacements

1 1/2 cups freshly brewed, extra-strong hot coffee*

1 tsp pure vanilla extract

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Spray two 9-inch cake pans with nonstick spray, and line the bottoms with parchment paper.

2. Place flour, sugar, baking soda, salt and cocoa powder in a large mixing bowl. Using an electric mixer, mix on low to combine. Keeping the mixer on low , add oil, buttermilk, then eggs one at a time. Add hot coffee in a thin stream, pouring down the side of the bowl. Add vanilla and mix until batter is smooth. Divide into pans and back until a toothpick comes out with moist crumbs, about 30-35 minutes. Let cool in pans for at least 20 minutes.

3. Make Icing

3 1/2 cups confectioners' sugar

1 cup Valrhona cocoa powder

• 12 tablespoons (1 1/2 sticks) unsalted butter, room temperature
• 1/2 cup milk, room temperature
• 1 teaspoons pure vanilla extract

In a small bowl, sift together the confectioners' sugar and cocoa powder. Add butter, milk, and vanilla; stir until smooth and free of lumps.

4. Ice that bad boy and enjoy.

Happy Friday! Today I made the most wonderful chocolate cake in the world (which by the way can be made vegan). It looks okish my, my icing skills are not that great, but it tastes good and thats what counts. The recipe will be coming to yall on Monday. Enjoy the weekend!