Miscellaneous August Activities

Hi friends,

Summer is pretty great, isn't it? Isn't it! My lovely John and I have been up to loads of things, some of which are:

• Picnics by the beach with wine, bread, and cheese (our three sinful indulgences). 

• Hours long walks with lagers and sunlit patios at the ends of them. (We're breaking in our new hiking boots for Europe.) 
• The Richmond Night Market. We ate okonomiyaki, churros, and blueberry icecream with Oreo crumbs and chocolate sauce.
• The Beaty Museum of Biodiversity at UBC. The main exhibit is the much sought after skeleton of a blue whale.
• Bard on the Beach. We saw "Taming of the Shrew" this year and loved it. I also managed to sneak in a viewing of "Macbeth" with some girlfriends and it gave me goosebumps. 

 "Life's but a walking shadow, a poor player
That struts and frets his hour upon the stage,
And then is heard no more. It is a tale
Told by an idiot, full of sound and fury,
Signifying nothing."

Vancouver has treated us well but we're excited to leave her to explore the great cities of the Old World. We fly into Amsterdam September 3. Can you believe it? John is preparing me for Oktoberfest with daily beers. I need to build my tolerance up!

 

  

Running for Bagels

I got up early and ran on Sunday. I ran 21 kilometers. I signed up for the Scotiabank Half Marathon several months ago to motivate myself to run. And run I did...for a while. I fell off the wagon a few times. By the last week before the race, I was getting up at 5:30 in the morning and running every day. It paid off! I ran 21 kilometers and didn't die! Happy Birthday to me! It was such a rewarding experience. There were hundreds of spectators all along the route cheering us until their voices broke. I made friends along the way who kept me motivated (especially for those very difficult last few kilometers). And John was at the finish line smiling and waving and saying how proud he was of me. Then I ate a lot of bagels and bananas and threw up.

Gingerbread Houses - Round Two

Some of my lovely lady friends came over last week for round two of gingerbread house construction.


Gingerbread house village.


Jesi's house.


Kate's house.


Hilary's house.


Becca's house.

House Construction

Our annual family tradition of building gingerbread (a.k.a. graham cracker) houses ensued last night. We listened to Christmas music, constructed (somewhat) sturdy foundations, and covered candy in icing sugar and jammed it onto our little buildings. I chose a different approach this year and focused on details rather than on adding as much candy as possible. Mine is the log cabin.

Gingerbread isn't as yummy as it used to be

Have gingerbread men ever been yummy? I thought they were. I know ginger creams and ginger snaps and soft ginger cookies are. But what about gingerbread men?






They sure are fun to make though. And to decorate.

Haircuts (afro and otherwise)

John is the proud owner of a hair clipper set. His afro badly need a trim so he set up shop in the front entryway of our little apartment and buzzed it off.



Seeing him do this reminded me of my childhood experiences of having my own hair cut. Mum always cut our hair. Until we started wanting more complicated cuts (e.g. layers), we sat in a chair in the kitchen with a brown cape draped around us and had mamma snip away.

Esti was the one who cut my hair short when I was about 12. She also does bangs and trims for me these days. I'm not sure where she learned. She's probably just a natural.

Strike Lake Camp

Probably the best Labour Day weekend I've spent so far has been this last one. John and I had the privilege of spending it with Milly and Quoc in beautiful Manning Park. When I say beautiful, you may have some sort of image in your head of a cozy little campsite that you drive into next to other little campsites that are driven into by other people yearning to get away from city life by sleeping in a trailer for a night. But this simply was not that kind of camping.

The campsite we enjoyed for two nights (called Strike Lake Camp) is about 7 km from a parking lot and nestled inbetween tall tall trees. The trail to it follows three sparkling lakes through the forest and the sound of rushing water is the last thing you hear as you fall asleep and the first thing you wake up to in the morning. There are ready made fire pits, a pile of wood to fuel the fires and logs surrounding them for stools.



The food cache is where the bears hang out, waiting for an unsuspecting camper to leave the door to the food open.



Quoc made use of the fresh water for his water purifier device. It served us very well.




We ate oatmeal for breakfast, supplemented by hotdogs and marshmallows. We ate hotdogs for dinner and marshmallows for dessert. Basically, whenever we were hungry we ate hotdogs and marshmallows.







We washed in the river. It was very cold and refreshing.





We hiked back to the lodge to get more food and to eat our traditional camping trip icecream.



It has been confirmed: camping with Milly and Quoc is a good time. Despite blisters, bad night sleeps, fear of bears (that was all me I think), weiner and marshmallow diets (I only mention this one as a con because by Monday afternoon the others longed for a salad - I could have gone on eating marshmallows for another week), setting up camp at the wrong location and having to take it down and march a little further on, ash and soot coating everything - camping is worth it.



The gorgeous landscape, eating everything over an open fire, being able to see millions of stars at night, spending time with friends in a unique setting, discovering again and again how blessed we are to live in British Columbia, seeing a black bear 15 meters away - it's all pretty rad. I give Manning Park two thumbs up.

Lighthouse Park

John and I cycled the 50 kilometer round trip to Lighthouse Park over the weekend, not thinking that our efforts would be so amply rewarded. We walked through beautiful forest with towering trees to get to the rocky beach. We brought a little brunch of pomegranate salad, peanut butter and jam sandwiches and hard boiled eggs and enjoyed it looking out over the water. We could see Vancouver, North Vancouver, the Lion's Gate Bridge and Richmond from where we sat. Seagulls cawed around us. It was nice. Please go there next time you have a chance. You won't regret it.

Stanley in the Morning

I rose at 4:40 this morning. Why? you ask. To strap on my runners and make my way to Stanley Park early enough that I could have the park to myself. The seawall is absolutely packed during the day - cyclists, rollerbladers, runners and walkers all do their best to avoid collisions in the narrow path. But I didn't want that sort of experience for my first 10k. I wanted solitude. I wanted privacy. Only me and the sound of my (admittedly ragged) footfalls.

The experience was better than I imagined. It turns out the park is just as busy in the early morning as it is in the afternoon. I shared my run with squirrels, crows, seagulls, geese, and groups of racoons plodding along the trail as if it was made for them. And the sights! The sky looked like it had been finger painted by a child. Streaks of pink and yellow and eventually blue illuminated the east. The water was calm and speckled with ducks sending ripples out.

Everywhere I looked it was beautiful. I felt so alive and grateful. Grateful for my body that is able to take me places I want to go; grateful for the breathtaking natural and constructed beauty of Vancouver; grateful that I have found this passion for running that allows me to experience these moments.

And my first 10k run! I was dripping sweat by the end and staggered a bit up the hills but otherwise I felt strong. I can't wait to build my speed and endurance up. I can't wait to keep using my body in this rad way.

Peppered Nectarine Salad

So, I bought loads of nectarines at the store a few days ago (because they're so delicious!) and was researching ways of using them in a recipe. Cobblers, pies and tarts were all prohibited (for this striving to be healthy household) and I eventually found a salad that piqued my interest.

Behold, Peppered Nectarine Salad.

2 ripe nectarines, diced
2 bell peppers (red are indisputably the best)
1 c. halved grape tomatoes
1 c. shredded carrot
1 small red onion
a few handfuls of greens (we love liberal helpings of arugula)

For the dressing:
1 lime
lots of freshly cracked pepper
2 tbsp walnut oil
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
2 tsp red pepper flakes
1 tsp dried basil

Directions: Combine the fruit and veggies, whisk the dressing together, toss and serve.

I served the nectarine in slices but I recommend dicing them so that their sweet juicy deliciousness doesn't overpower the other flavours in your bite. I forgot to add onion but I think it would blend very well with the other ingredients. Also, the recipe doesn't call for carrots or greens but I thought a few more vegetables would help balance the nectarines. All in all, a tasty fresh salad with a hint of exciting spice.

FYI, goes very well with lightly seasoned baked salmon.