Memories from my life....
Lyden and Erin are officially engaged! Now the fun of planning a wedding begins! My role will definitely be different this time around, as mother of the groom. Of course I have offered to help Erin wherever she could use my help, and look forward to sharing their joy when the day arrives. (This photo was taken on the grounds of Blenheim Palace in June this year, by my son-in-law Tyler)
"They will not disappoint. The slight amount of baking powder gives them a softness not usually found in roll-out cookies, which are typically sandier and snappish. These are tender, like a pressed brownie and they particularly excel at a quarter-inch height, slightly thicker than a standard cookie cutter cookie. The cocoa is not an afterthought (like recipes that suggest you swap a couple tablespoons of flour for cocoa to make an chocolate cookie) but has a significant presence that blooms in the oven, leaving you with something that people won’t believe doesn’t have a single bit of melted chocolate in it."
Who could resist? I bookmarked the recipe intent on trying it out when I did my Christmas baking, and I was not disappointed. Rolled and cut, ready for baking:
Baked & iced:
I also made some gingerbread bears and stars - Andy helped me by adding the silver balls to the icing to create eyes, giving them "character" by making some cross-eyed, downcast, etc. and insisted I turn a smile upside down for a frown on one cookie bear ... can you spot him?
View of the canal from our hotel in Venice:
Piazza in Florence, near the Uffizi Museum:
The Forum, Rome:
The Colosseum, Rome:
Poor ol' Norman ... trying hard to stay warm this weekend during the winter storm that hit Calgary with a vengeance on Friday.
With blowing snow and temperatures dipping to the -20's, I was in no rush to go anywhere on Saturday and felt there was no better time to bake some cookies. Found a recipe on the web for these ANZAC biscuits shown below, which produced thin, crisp oatmeal and coconut delights. I also made a batch of gingerbread "men" but in truth, few "men" were to be found amongst the fish, ice cream cones, musical notes, unicorn and elephant shapes (a result of Lyden's involvement).
Andy and I put the garland & lights on the bannister, and also put up the tree, but stopped short after affixing the lights. The tree will now remain "naked" until the weekend of Dec 19th when Rachel and Tyler make the trek home from Vancouver, thus ensuring the Price family tradition of having the kids decorate the tree, remains intact.
Andy surprised me by setting out my snowmen collection last night (while I was attending the CREW Christmas party) all by himself, and I think he did a terrific job!
The collection started about 20 years ago when Lyden was just a little over 2 1/2 and Rachel was 5. We were living on a shoe string budget back then, and with not a lot of disposable income, I found a recipe to make salt ceramic (a very economical craft) and decided we could entertain the kids one Saturday afterrnoon by making some Christmas ornaments, including a few snowmen.
From left to right ~ back row: Rachel's original creations (note the big green "R" on the 2nd tall snowman), Andy's "white tail buck" (sans 1 antler which fell off a number of years ago), front row, snowman sporting a toque created by yours truly, and the 3 remaining snowmen created by toddler Lyden. Each year these snowmen are proudly displayed and lovingly packed up on New Year's Day and safely stored away until the following Christmas.
Nothing says "home" like the smell of fresh baked bread. Many years ago we owned a bread machine which we used all the time, and I mean all the time, so much so, after several years of hard labour, it finally gave up the ghost. However, we did not run out immediately to replace the machine, and over time, we just adapted to life without one. When I had the opportunity to win a bread machine during my office's annual United Way campaign, I thought why not? and threw a couple of tickets into the draw, and to my great surprise, won a Cuisinart Convection Bread Maker, like the one shown below. I'm one lucky girl! 
I have been working on a mini album of our 6 months in England, and with over 1,000 photos, it's no small feat to try to wittle down the best photos that represent each month of our stay. When I say "best" photos, in no way do I mean that from a photographer's point of view, but rather, from a scrapbooker's point of view - photos that bring back some of the fondest moments, that transport Andy and I back to shared memories of our adventures, sharing life together, in our "home away from home".
The album starts in March, with our move into Little Pinners, in Moreton-in-the-Marsh.
and captures some of the local cultural events 
and of course, everyday life!
I have completed March through to the start of June, which means there are many more pages waiting to be created!
Yes, indeed. It started raining in the early hours on Friday morning. 
This was the view from the parking lot atop of Mountain Equipment Co-Op, our first stop of the day.
Rachel making a purchase at a consignment store on West Broadway.
Two of most favorite people in the world! As you can see, the rain stopped for awhile but it soon came back with a vengeance.
Got a chuckle from the sign in this bakery... didn't purchase anything here, a decision I now regret!!
Andy and I spent a couple of hours walking the sea wall in Stanley Park yesterday. The park was named for Lord Stanley, the Governor General of Canada in 1888 when the park was officially opened, establishing the then fledgling city's first official "greenspace". It is estimated that 8 million people visit this evergreen oasis of 400 hectares (1,000 acres) each year.
Spent a couple of hours yesterday exploring Granville Island.
As you can see from the photo above, it was a cloudy, overcast day, but we were not complaining, Vancouver was 15 degrees warmer than Calgary and no snow!
How clever! Silver tea pot, sugar bowls and creamer recycled and given new life as this funky chandelier.
Yesterday, Rachel took us the the UBC Campus and toured us around Regent College. We left Rachel in the library to do some research and went to the Vancouver Museum of Anthropology (on the UBC campus), where these photos were taken.
My mother has a green thumb. I think she may have inherited it from her father, who also loved gardening. Last week my mom dropped off a bag of beets. I spent a couple of hours this weekend pickling them. I can't wait to sample these ruby red beauties!
I accepted an invitation from Altus to participate in a "women's only" golfing tournament this past Wednesday, a day that was sunny and hot, 33 degrees - some would say "perfect" golfing weather, but for a fair skinned gal like me who knows only too well the nasty effects of heat stroke, it was a bit too hot. Slathered in sunscreen, donning a golf visor and armed with a supply of chilled bottled water (which quickly went lukewarm), we hit the links. I tried staying in the shade as much as I could (if not the shade of the trees, the meager shade offered by the golf carts). My foursome had a great game; in fact, tied with another team for the lowest game score (entirely to the credit of my teammates, Pearl, Lynn and Tracy). I had an awesome time reconnecting with people I had not seen for well over 6 months while we were in England, getting a bit of exercise and enjoying the beautiful scenery just minutes from the City limits (and only 1/2 hour from where I live). I am blessed indeed.
With the last days of summer coming quickly to an end, Andy and I headed to the mountains. Such a beautiful day for a hike!
Rachel and I met my mom (who just returned from a month's holiday in Ontario on Friday) and my sister-in-law Silvana for coffee and a quick catch-up visit before Rachel and Tyler head back to Vancouver on Sunday.
We arrived home at 7:50 pm on August 23 from the UK and jetlag notwithstanding, I returned to the full time grind, going back to the office and full time work on August 25. Thankfully my body clock is adjusting and I no longer feel like staying up when I wake at 4:00 am.
On Monday Andy and I ran various errands, including grocery shopping, spending $200 which we both converted to English pounds in our heads and later commenting to each other that given the amount of groceries we bought, we got a lot of food by comparison to what 108 pounds would have bought in England! The other adjustment? getting used to driving on the "correct" side of the road!!
Saturday night:
Saturday "day":
Street performers in the Temple Bar area:
To say the Temple Bar area of Dublin is a "happenin place" is an understatement!
Local man playing the spoons:
Bank of Ireland: 
A view of Dublin Castle: 
We left Kilkenny just after noon, and drove to Dublin where we spent 2 nights. Unfortunately the stiff neck I had arriving in Ireland on Wednesday progressively got worse with each day, with increasing pain, bringing back memories of when I experienced whiplash 15 years ago. The simple task of sitting in the car became a chore as every little bump, jostle or turn on our way to Dublin, exacerbated the pain in my neck. Andy and I decided to make it an early night Friday evening, and ordered in pizza for dinner. I looked up physiotherapy clinics and found a clinic in the Temple Bar area open on Saturday. I was so pleased to get an appointment at The Physiotherapy Clinic the following day and my whiplash suspicions were confirmed. The physiotherapist explained to me that it was probably a combination of 3 small things, which on their own, would cause no issue, but in combination, all occurring over a short period of time, compounded the stiff neck, escalating it to whiplash. Alva, my physiotherapist gave me a thorough assessment, incorporating massage and trigger release therapy which helped a bit to ease the pain. While not an ideal situation, I was relieved to know what I was dealing with, and knew I would be able to take some muscle relaxants when I got home to Moreton. Incredibly, you cannot buy muscle relaxants over the counter in England and Ireland like you can back home in Canada.
