Little Oasis On The Prairie ~ Part I

With most of our inside renovations being completed we have been focusing more on the outside of the house.  For the Victoria Day long weekend we decided to tackle some of the outside tasks.  Al rented a bobcat to level out our driveway and yard.  So nice not to have the ruts in our driveway that have been their for years.  I dug out my few perennials that were in the front of the house, mainly peonies and a columbine.  What a root mass one of the peony plants had...we had to end up digging it out and moving it with the bobcat.  Because our old pond was being filled in as we haven't had it running for a few years now, I set out researching container ponds for our patio.  Got some ideas and started making a list of what I would need.

Al and I have enjoyed going into town on Sunday's for breakfast.  So after breakfast we decided to check out the greenhouses and a few garage sales.  I was not only scoping out what I needed for a container pond but also plants for my patio planters.  Wow some of these containers I was looking at are sure expensive for the size of them....my container pond was getting smaller and smaller with each place we checked out things.......well we hit John's Garden Centre last on our trek.  Their supply of pond pants was fairly low as they were expecting a shipment in the next week.  Well I hit the jackpot with the lady in that area...she was very knowledgeable. After discussions with her Al suggested that he build me a pond for on the deck that would be larger than the container that I was looking at for $89 and in the end would cost $0 as he had enough stuff left over from when we built the deck as well as some liner from the old pond...so we set out to designing what we wanted. Al set out calculating the weight of the pond filled with water at different dimensions together we came up with a design that we liked and on Sunday he set out to build me a pond.

Step 1 Building & Installation of the Pond

 The triangular piece of plywood at the back is where we will mount the pump and filter.  We are planning on building a water fall to hide the pump and filter.

The Finished Product - Step One

It took a little bit of time to get both the pump and spitter working the way we wanted.  The pump hadn't been used for a few years, Al was a bit worried that he may have to buy a new one...but we lucked out once we realized that it was the clamp that held the hose on the pump that sucks the water up out of the pond was cracked....a quick fix and it was up and running.  For the Angel Spitter it was was a case of setting the pump in the correct place as the deep it was the less the spitter pumped out. 

A close up of our little guest.......

.....love how he looks soooo real!

Al sitting back, happy with his creation and relieved that everything is working.

Yesterday I spent the later part of the afternoon checking out the greenhouses that carry pond plants.  I came with a few ideas of what I want in the pond for plants and on Thursday or Friday I will pick up some plants and add them to my pond. A pond just isn't a pond unless there are fish.....so a couple of gold fish will be added to our "Little Oasis On The Prairie"

We are planning a quick trip to Flin Flon in a couple of weeks and I plan to pick a few shale rocks and maybe some limestone rocks to put on the top edge of the pond and I have found what I want to put on the sides of the pond...will look like layers of flat rocks but without the weight of the rocks...looks really natural too.  That siding will come in time as it is not an inexpensive project...good thing I don't need a lot or it might break the bank. hehehe

Stay tuned for more photos as we add to our the Oasis.


Corinne~

Happy Mother's Day

I couldn't have asked for a better "Mother's Day" this year.  Friday night and Saturday was spent at our daughter's house doing reno's -- painting walls in the kitchen and living room....tearing out old living room floor, putting in sub floor getting it all ready for the lamenent.

Friday afternoon my dear hubby bought us a new toy.....a Polaris Sportsman Touring 500 HO Quad.....oh what a nice machine it is.  It has a 2-up seat with lots of room so that the passenger doesn't feel restricted in any way.  So Sunday afternoon we geared up off riding we went.  First we headed to One Stop Convenience to fill up...good thing we ended up burning 1/2 a tank of fuel.  We had a wonderful ride on the trails around our place.  We seen 8 white tail deer in total, a heard of Buffalo cows and calves - no not wild buffalo but farm raised, a red tail hawk and a number of geese when we went to check out the road that is washed out.   Seen a lot of the devastation from the 2008 Tornado that went through our area....we seen areas that you wouldn't see unless you were snowmobiling or quading.  We got a little muddy and found that a winch is a good thing to have.....had to use it twice....

Ended the evening with supper with my kids and hubby....Chinese one of my favorites.  My son bought me a beautiful orchid too....it is full of blooms so beautiful.  Will try to get a picture in  day or so to post for you all to see.

It was a wonderful day.....

Corinne~

Pancake Soufflé Muffins with Strawberry-Maple Syrup

Nonstick cooking spray
10-1/2 oz. (2-1/3 cups) all-purpose flour
4-1/2 oz. (1 cup plus 2 Tbs.) cake flour
2 tsp. baking soda
2 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. kosher salt
6 large eggs, separated and at room temperature
3/4 tsp. cream of tartar
3 oz. (6 Tbs.) unsalted butter, melted and cooled slightly
6 T bs. granulated sugar
1 tsp. pure vanilla extract
3-1/3 cups buttermilk, at room temperature
Confectioners’ sugar, for sprinkling

Strawberry syrup
1 cup pure maple syrup
1 cup quartered, hulled ripe strawberries

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Position a rack in the center of the oven and heat the oven to 400°F. Liberally spray two 12-cup muffin pans with the cooking spray.

In a medium bowl, mix the all-purpose flour, cake flour, baking soda, baking powder, and salt; set aside.

In a large, clean mixing bowl, beat the egg whites and cream of tartar with an electric hand mixer on medium-high speed to firm (but not dry) peaks, 2 to 3 minutes. Set aside.

In another large bowl, beat the egg yolks with the mixer on medium-high speed until thick, ribbony, and lemon-yellow, about 6 minutes. Add the melted butter, sugar, and vanilla; mix on medium-low speed until combined, about 30 seconds. Add one-third of the dry ingredients and mix on low speed. Add one-third of the buttermilk and mix to combine. Alternate adding the remaining dry ingredients and buttermilk, ending with the buttermilk and mixing until just combined.

With a large rubber spatula, gently fold the whites into the batter, leaving some streaks.
Scoop about 1/2 cup of the batter into each muffin cup — you can fill the cups to the rims.

Bake, rotating the pans after 10 minutes, until browned on top and puffed, and a toothpick inserted in the centers comes out dry, 20 to 25 minutes total.

Make the syrup While the muffins are baking, bring the maple syrup to a boil in a small pot over medium-high heat. Put the strawberries in a medium serving bowl. Pour the syrup over the berries and set aside in a warm spot.

 

With an offset spatula, pop the muffins out of the cups and arrange on a platter. Sprinkle with confectioners’ sugar and serve with the syrup.

You can make the batter up to 2 hours ahead through the step of folding in the beaten egg whites. Refrigerate it, covered, in its bowl. Do not portion it into muffin tins until you're ready to bake.

You can freeze any leftover muffins in a Ziploc freezer bag for up to 2 weeks.

Serves 12  

Yields 24 muffins

Corinne~

Life Is Good!

Easter has come and gone for another year.  Where does the time go, in a few days we'll be moving into the 5th month of the year....feels like we should be only entering into the 3rd month.  Holds true don't blink you might miss it.

Our family had a wonderful Easter weekend.  We started with a visit to my daughters on Thursday after work for a couple of drinks with her, her new boyfriend our other daughter and her friends as they all got ready for "Spring Fling".

Spring is a time for new beginnings....my son M started his job at Canadian Tire last week.  Was getting very frustrating for him...applying for job after job and nothing.  Now that he has found a job the interview requests are coming from every where.  My eldest daughter B is moving on with her life...out with the old and in with the new.  She has found herself a very nice boyfriend, one that treats her like she deserves to be treated...like a Princess.  So nice to see her so happy in her life.  First time I have seen her this happy in a very long time.  My youngest daughter M is back home...hubby is moving her stuff home from Saskatoon this weekend.  M had a job interview last week and is in the running for the job...from what she was told by an acquaintance that works there M is the top candidate so heres hoping she gets the job.  It is part time but at least it is work and if it works out hopefully she can find another part time job to pick up the slack.  Yes life is good....that song has been playing in my head since last week.

Good Friday the hubby and I just spent around home not doing too much of anything.  Saturday B came out to our place for the night with her two fur babies - Charlie & Abby.  My house went to the dogs for the weekend.  Easter Sunday we had a wonderful family supper, B's boyfriend arrived early afternoon after a visit with his dad and family.

Life is good!

Corinne~

Reindeer Tilda ~ Magnolia-licious Christmas All Year Long

Wow can't believe that is the 25th of the month once again.  It is once again time for the Magnolia-licious Christmas All Year Long Blog Hop.  Magnolia-licious Christmas All Year Long is a part of the MAGNOLIA-licious Yahoo group, for more information on the group or if you are interested in joining click HERE.  

If you arrived here from Cordine's blog, then you are on the right track.  If you just stumbled onto my blog you will want to click HERE to go the start of the blog hop so you don't miss out on any of the fabulous projects we have to share with you.

For this card I once again used a brown lunch bag for the base of my card.  For my card I used two different Tilda images from the Merry Christmas Collection 2010, I used Reindeer Tilda and Snowy Hug, I don't see Reindeer Tilda in stock but Snowy Hug is currently in stock over at Magnolia-licious.  I also used Log and Winter Pine Trees (not sure of the name).

Diana over at Magnolia-licious has a great selection of stamps and everything Magnolia. Oh and the service is wonderful too.  If you don't see what you are looking for just drop Diana an email, she will help you the best she can.  Diana also carries the Mini Magnolia Line of stamps...they are so adorable too.

Now onto to my card....

Tilda is masked to be sitting on the log.  I popped her up on foam dimensional tape so that she sitting in front of the pine trees.

 I kept the greeting on the inside simple.  I used MS Doily Punch to get the blue lace over silver glitter paper.  I trimed the edges Snowy & Tilda`s hat with liquid applique along with the trim on Tilda`s coat then coated thim in Crystal Stickles.  I used Polar Flower Soft for the snow on the ground.

Close up of both Tilda`s.  Reindeer Tilda`s antlers are flocked with a light brown flocking.

I had colored both these imges up a while back and lost the scrap piece of paper that had my copic colors listed on it...going from memory here are the colors I remember:

Skin:  E000, E00, E02 & R20

Blues: B91, B93, B95 & B97

Log:  E25, E29, E35 & E50

Pinks:  R81, R83 & R85

Now it is time to hop on over to Danielle`s blog to see what she is has to show you today.  I am sure it will be fabulous.

Corinne~

R.I.P Lucy

Saturday morning we lost one of our fur babies, Lucy!  Lucy came to live with us three years ago after she was rescued.  To read Lucy's Story click HERE you will have to scroll down the page a bit.  

Lucy passed at home with Al and I in the early hours of the morning.  Our house feels empty with out her.  Her last few days weren't the best for her as her body was shutting down.    She had a lot of the symptoms Pancreatic Cancer which is a hard condition to diagnose until the late stages of the disease.  Without being seen by the Vet and having some tests a true diagnosis can't be made. 

Lucy was an amazing dog....right up until the end she never let us know she was in pain.  She didn't want to leave us as we watched her fight death on Friday night. She would move from Al and I all evening letting us both know that she loved us.

It was very hard to watch a dog that was vibrant until just a few days ago....slip away so fast.  I am grateful that she isn't suffering anymore and very grateful for the short time we had her in our lives.  She will be dearly missed by our entire family.  

Rest In Peace Lucy

My Sweet Pea!

Corinne~

Signs of Spring

You know spring is here when you see the Canada Geese return from their vacation in the balmy south.  Sunday afternoon as I was heading into town to pick up my daughter just a little ways from our drive way were two Canada Geese standing on the edge of the road.....then further down the road by the slough were three more Canada Geese.  I am sure they are wondering where the open water is and what is with all this white stuff.  It was a wonderful site and very uplifting.  Our snow is disappearing fairly fast...faster than I thought it would.  Yes I do feel like spring is here.  I love that I am waking up to the rising sun and going home before its fully set.

Each night our temperature drops enough that the puddles are frozen over.....the last two days as I am walking out to the car I notice opportunities for some neat photos but alas I haven't had the time to run back in and grab my camera.  Yesterday morning it was the formation of the ice on the puddles....such neat shapes and colors and this morning it was a frost ring on the frozen mud...looked as though something round had been lifted out of the mud leaving this amazing ice crystal formation behind.  So maybe if I get to bed earlier tonight I can get up earlier and have some time to go out with the camera before I have to leave for work.  

Another sign of spring that brings music to my ears is the notes from the birds singing away in the mornings.  Haven't spotted any blue birds yet...but have some Junco's in my yard.  After a long winter spring seems to arriving with new signs daily.

Corinne~

Easter Traditions

So I have searching the web for some ideas for a different Easter Supper menu than turkey and the fixings..... tossing a few ideas around.  If my youngest liked seafood...think I would do a seafood feast but that will have to be for another time. 

I think this year I am going to try my hand at making the Ukrainian Easter Bread. Ukrainian Easter bread or paska (which means Easter) is a slightly sweet egg bread that can be decorated with religious symbols.  Traditionally it's taken to church on Easter morning in a special basket with other foods to be blessed.  We don't belong to the Ukrainian Orthodox or Ukrainian Catholic Church, so we will be skipping that part of the tradition. 

I like to try and keep my husband's heritage alive the best I can.  I also do this with my families ethnic background - both Norwegian and English.  It is good for the kids to know about their heritage, it is something they can be proud of.

A quite peculiar national trait in Norway is solving crimes during Easter. Publishers churn out series of books known as "Easter-Thrillers" or Påskekrimmen. Even the milk cartons change to have murder stories on their sides! So maybe a muder mystry game is an idea of something to do over the Easter weekend or a good crime story movie.

Nothing saying we can't start our own traditions as well....something that our family likes to do together and maybe something we may only do at Easter time too. 

Corinne~

Out Like A Lamb

Well the old saying stands true.....if March comes in like a Lion it will go out like a Lamb.  On March 1st there seemed to be some debate on if March came in like a Lion or a Lamb...the temperatures were milder than they had been but we were getting snow storms....for me it was like a Lion.  True to the old saying March went out like a lamb.  We had temperatures of +8 Celsius and higher in some areas....I do think we might have been the hot spot in the province.   My son told me that mid-afternoon the temperature at our place hit +11.  I knew it had to have been warm all day at home as I barely made it up my little drive way...even the main drive way was a challenge with all the slush....but I must say my Santa Fe pulled through no problem.  Wouldn't have wanted to try that drive way with a small car.....wouldn't have made it half way down. 

I think it is safe to say that Spring has arrived!  Lets hope this isn't Mother Nature's idea of an April Fool's Joke..... the forecast for the weekend is nice...so hoping that I can get out for a walk with my camera in hand and catch some signs of spring.  I am still working on the details for my photography challenge.  I am thinking of setting up a 52 week photo challenge and a few smaller challenges for the different seasons.

Enjoy your weekend!  Hoping everyone has beautiful weather and is able to get outside and enjoy it.


Corinne~

Peas n' Carrots

Waking up --- wide awake!  I haven't had this happen to me in a while but it did this morning, around 5am after a dream that felt very real. Don't know if it the fact that in my dream my husband and I divorced, I remarried and I think the guy wanted me to have more children...ya like that was going to happen...told him that in my dream too. Maybe it was the thought of having another child that woke up me the way I did. Wait till I tell my hubby about this dream....good thing he has a good sense of humor, I know he will get a good chuckle at my expense. In the words of Forrest Gump; We're like Peas n' Carrots, we go together. The new husband in my dream looked like Dr. Drew not sure why! I have only seen him on TV a few times, and I never thought of him as good looking, not that he isn't but never gave it a thought. Strange how our minds work. So I wonder what does this dream really mean....or was it nothing more than just a dream.



Corinne~