Project 365

With so much "buzz" about this project this year due to the new kit being offered by Creating Keepsakes, I thought I'd put up a few pictures of how I did it for 2008.  Basically I had a photo album from Wal-Mart that had "PHOTOS" printed on it and I used rub ons to make the rest of the title.  I bought extra refill pages.  I didn't do it on a weekly basis as the new kit has, but I could have done as there were enough pages.  I just started January 1 and kept going.  I managed to only have about 5 or 6 days with no pictures.  To label them I bought a photo marker and just wrote on the pictures or used a label if the whole photo was too dark.  So here are a few random pages and a couple pictures of the cover.  For those of you who don't want to get the kit, this is another possibility.

Fruited Brazil Nut Loaves

I had a couple requests for this recipe, so here it is.  It comes originally from the magazine Canadian Living.

1 1/2 cup dried figs

1 1/2 cup dried apricots

1 cup candied pineapple chunks

1/2 cup red and/or green glace cherries

1/2 coarsely chopped preserved ginger

3 cups whole shelled Brazil nuts

1 cup all-purpose flour

1 cup packed brown sugar

1 tsp baking powder

4 eggs

1 tsp vanilla

(Note: I have successfully doubled this recipe to make 4 loaves.  The above amounts make 2.)

Line 2 8x4 inch loaf pans with foil, grease well, and set aside.  Pour boiling water over the figs and apricots and let stand for 5 minutes.  Drain and chop into large pieces.  Halve cherries.

In a large bowl combine figs, apricots, pineapple, cherries, ginger and Brazil nuts.  Stir together flour, sugar and baking powder in another bowl; add to fruit mixture and toss to mix.

In a separate bowl, beat eggs well; stir in vanilla.  Add to fruit mixture and mix well.  Spoon into prepared pans.  Bake at 350F for 1 hour or until firm and brown and cake tester inserted into center comes out clean.  Let cool in pans for 10 minutes then remove to racks and cool completely.  Wrap well in foil or plastic wrap and refrigerate for up to 2 weeks.  Serve in little slices.

Pam

Lobster

At least once every summer we have some lobster. I'm not a big fan of it. I like the taste but I don't really like the mess of eating it. Anyway, as daughter Alix is getting ready to move to Toronto for university, we decided to treat her to some lobster before she goes. So last night, Marcel picked up some cold cooked lobster from the fish market (that's how people eat it here generally, cold) and pre-cut it for us. It was very tasty!

Preserving summer

I used to make a lot of jams and relishes at one point but I hadn't done any for a few years. My garden was starting to yield some zucchini so I decided to make some relish and a few other things too. Here is what I made yesterday. From the top: Red pepper orange and lemon marmalade, zuccini relish, and apple- sage jelly.

This just makes me laugh!

The mighty and scary Oliver! AKA "Fluffy Boy".

Dog album

I made an album yesterday to send to support Boxer Rescue in Florida (supported by one of the Hilltop Memories Yahoo group member). Pictures are on the Layout blog.
Pam

Choir silliness

Our church choir put on an evening of entertainment along with a turkey dinner made by the church women's group. We sang some "serious" group numbers (Broadway songs) and then "branched out" into our renditions of some of well known groups from the past. A few friends from other choirs joined us for the event.Here's a few pictures of that event. Everyone had fun! From the top:

The choir and friends singing a group number. Or version of The Platters, singing Sentimental Journey. One of the Platters, Vic, who is 92 and a retired United Church Minister, one of the sharpest and most knowledgeable men I know, who wore a big grin throughout the evening. The "Mamas and the Papas" That's me second from the right. Me and another "Papa" singing California Dreaming. "Under the Boardwalk" I can't remember who they were supposed to be. "The Angels" with My Boyfriend's Back. That's me in the blond wig. There were others numbers but you get the drift!

Graduation Time

For Karen! Added a close up of Alix and her prom date. Didn't have one of her on her own.

I haven't posted in quite a while. Here are a few pictures of recent events. From the top:

Our daughter Nicole graduating from The University of New Brunswick in Saint John (Bachelor in Applied Management in Hospitality and Tourism): greeted by the Chancellor, getting her degree, the graduate with her sister Alix, dad Marcel, mom (me), and grandmother Annette.

Our niece, Josee, graduated from a private high school (Kent School) in Connecticut: her dorm building, Josee )in white) with Marcel, Nicole and me, Josee with her parents, brother Andre and Annette.

Our daughter, Alix, before her prom last night: Alix with friends Lindsay and Alex (MHS Drama is going to miss this hard-working trio!), Alix with 3 girls she went to Elementary and Middle School with - Caroline, Danielle and Danika, group shot of the grads at the park, Alix with date John, Hannah, Alex, Lindsay and Mitchell. Alex and Alix will be going to Ryerson University in the fall (in Toronto) and Hannah (from Riverview High School, who they know from the District 2 musicals) is going to George Brown University nearby, so they will all be close next year. Lindsay will be at Queens in Kingston, Ontario, about 2 hours away from Toronto.

The actual graduation is on Monday, June 23.

Highschool Improv Games

This event has been held in our area for nine years now. The degree of energy, imagination and creativity that the students show is just wonderful. My daughter has helped out with the team from her school for a couple of years and this year she was on the team and performed. We are so proud of them as they came a close second in a very strong group of teams. If you are not sure what Improv is, think of the TV show, "Whose Line is it Anyway?" as an example. They have to come up with skits on the spot based on suggestions from the audience. We took some pictures but it is really hard to get good ones as the lighting was poor and the kids move a lot. Anyway, here's one of the team and their coaches, as well as a few from the competition.

Here's my house

Or should that be "where's my house"? Yesterday I went out to shovel the front steps and decided to take a picture of the house from the corner. Lots of snow, right? We have had over 300 cm so far this winter. We did have a period in January when some of it melted too, so if we hadn't had that there would be even more of it!

Snow in the city at Night

Just a few of the pictures my husband took on New Year's Eve of our house and neighbourhood.

Wasn't tagged but...

I read this year-end set of questions on a friend's blog and decided to try them:

What did you do in 2007 that you'd never done before? I went on a cruise in the Mediterranian with my family. I saw a card I made published in a magazine.

Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I don't recall any resolutions so it's a good guess I didn't keep any!

Did anyone close to you give birth? No

Did anyone close to you die? My father-in-law.

What countries did you visit? Bahamas, United States, Spain, Italy, France, Greece, Turkey

What would you like to have in 2008 that you lacked in 2007? I can't think of anything.

What was your biggest achievement of the year? Celebrating 25 years of marriage.

What was your biggest failure? Not MY failure really, but the biggest failure I experienced was that a joint venture of my church with another fell apart after over a year of work.

Did you suffer illness or injury? Nothing major. I have a problem with the retina in my right eye that I had investigated this year.

What was the best thing you bought? Not sure

Whose behavior merited celebration? My husband's - he is so innovative and committed to his work as a radiologist and helping diagnose women with breast cancer.

Whose behavior made you appalled and depressed? A group of people from the other church who undermined a lot of other people's good work and slandered their good names.

Where did most of your money go? Scrapbooking, travel, (well...and groceries, heating oil...)

What did you get really, really, really excited about? Traveling with friends and with family (especially the Med cruise) and by myself.

Compared to this time last year, are you: much happier, richer, nicer. About the same. Probably poorer (see above re travel and scrapbooking). Somewhat sadder due to the church thing.

What do you wish you'd done more of? Sleep

What was your favorite TV program? CSI, Criminal Minds

Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? I don't hate anyone. I am dissapointed in a few people.

What was the best book you read this year? I don't know. I've read a lot of books.

What did you want and get? Lots of things!

What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 54 last March. I can't remember what I did. Next year I will be on a cruise with friends on my birthday!

What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying? If the church ammalgamation had worked out.

How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007? Casual and comfortable.

What political issue stirred you the most? Climate change debates.

Who did you miss? My mother (still miss her since 1991)

Who was the best new person (people) you met? My middle daughter's boyfriend is very nice. I also met a lot of people from the church we were trying to merge with who were very nice.

Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2007. Some people just don't understand the concept of progress.

I would like to tag anyone who would like to participate. Leave a comment that you have done so.

I'm so excited!

If you look back a few posts you will see one about Canada's Scrapbooking Crops for Kids and see I was honoured with 3rd place in a card contest. Well...today I got an order from Scrapbooks by Design, a store in Toronto and got a copy of Scrapbook and Cards today, which is a free magazine supported through advertising. What did I find but a page all about the card contest with a few of the cards and mine was there! It is the "thanks" card, very simple but they seemed to like it. Closest I'll ever get to being published in a scrapbook magazine (seeing as I don't submit layouts!).

Altered Apple Juice Boxes

We have been buying this apple juice which comes in pouches, 10 to a box. The boxes are just too good to throw out! They are a double walled box, with a thickness of a little over 1/4 inch. They just perfectly fit a CD box cross-wise. So far I have made a box to hold Christmas cards and 3 boxes for photo CDs, which also fit perfectly on the shelf. As you can see, I labeled the card one on the side and the CD ones on the end.

Let it snow! Let it snow! Let it snow!

After a couple of years of fairly little in the way of snow we are back to what passes as normal in this area. Here are a few pictures of the house from the front and then the side after we have had two big snowfalls.