"hotter to me are / delights of the Lord than this dead life / loaned on the land." The Seafarer

So the first few days of my new plan: working well enough that I find it hard to get back here. Ironic? Yes. 


I think at this point of two weeks collaboratively I have spent twelve hours picking beans. That is the need at the farm right now and I'm just fillin' it. But the "Green Bean blind" starts to set in at around the hour mark so it's good that the shifts are short. Pumpkin picking is coming up if only to feed the gluttonous  and compulsive need I have to put pumpkin in everything come September 1. I hope to volunteer as long as they'll take me which sounds like late-October. Volunteering there has been awesome because it has actually shown me that I do in fact like farming as much as my obsessive self would think :) Imma get a hobby farm. With goats!


In the kitchen, this week has been an excellent exercise in managing disappointment. A good exercise because baking is kinda like that for me. I remember sharing my disappointment with the JoC because of two recipes in particular. It got better but this week in baking has been less than stellar. That zucchini I was telling you about, I decided that I would turn to the recipes that I received from people when there in a 'state' about the amount of zucchini they either had in their garden or had the misfortune of being gifted by a friend with a proliferation of zucchini invaded their yard. Don't get me wrong, I love me some zukes. I only wish I had a garden full of it, especially given the outcome of the recipes I did try, which is to say they didn't work. I made zucchini bread which I have made before, but this outing felt a bit labor intensive. I don't know if I just didn't love enough water out of that zucchini because I had to bake the sweet bread (think Banana Bread) for two hours! You bake pot roasts for two hours. You bake…pottery for two hours. Once I was reasonably satisfied with the level of 'doneness' I let it cool, wrapped it, and chucked it (and I mean chucked) into our freezer. After that, I thought I'd had enough of sweet things not turning out. Even after a dense sweet bread I still had a zucchini that was a foot long. Exaggeration is so not my thing. So with the next chunk of zucchini I grated it for zucchini fritters. I saw the recipe on Smitten Kitchen and I have a great deal of respect for her and her recipes. And now having made them I have less respect for my ability to follow a recipe. The pan was obviously too hot and didn't cool down as fast as I thought. The batter tasted just great but they came out of said pan burnt on the outside and still raw in the middle. (I'm beginning to see a pattern here) This excursion reminded me of some of my first opportunities cooking for Moozh when I essentially cooked to crud all the meat articles for him. I think part of my issue here is I learned to cook on a gas stove where the heat is much more responsive than electric elements that have to cool down and SOMETIMES THEY JUST DON'T DO IT FAST ENOUGH. We're fine. 


But then, but then! We were having friends over for dinner and I was on dessert (as I had been with the pie -gulp). I turned to the JoC. Why you ask? I really don't know. But it worked for me, for once. We had some cherries in the crisper that needed to be used and I had seen many recipes for clafoutis which is a French dessert made with cherries and almond liquor. Also known as a flognarde, which just is fun to say. It's essentially a crepe batter poured over fruit into a deep cake dish and then baked. I don't know why I do this to myself, try something new when we have company over. Not smart, but this time it didn't sting me. It was delicious. I have no pictures because 1) there were people watching me and geeking out didn't seem kosher but 2) I really didn't expect it to turn out so I didn't even get amped for it. Goo'job JoC. I will consult you again. I have picked a grapefruit curd from a jamming book I have out and it needs to turn out or else I will lose all faith in myself. But I think I have shown remarkable resilience…so far. We're gonna keep going. 


Once I have given it to her, I will likely post pictures of the scrapbook I've made for my bestie. It's been fun in a way that could become very distracting. 


Then the weekend rolled around and Sunday was a fun day. We wandered around Gastown and then chilled on the beach. But we had the camera. There was this little girl that was adorable in her little polka dot bathing suit but something in me can't post a picture of someone else's child without their permission. Here's some of what we got. 

This dude is Courtney. He's a ballet teacher. He plied for us. 

We HAD to take a picture of the steamclock. Everyone else does.

Happy Tuesday! If you have blackberry bushes near you, stalk them because their berries are getting delicious. Unless, they're near a bus stop because then they taste like exhaust more than berries. 


P.S ~ Got Ellie Goulding's album, Lights, and her voice literally stays in my mind even when I'm sleeping. I wake up tapping my feet. Moozh is not as amused as I am. 


P.P.S ~ Does anyone else find OS Lion is autocorrecting their slang and upon re-reading something you sound like a stoner? No, just me? 

"Enjoy your place in my story. The beauty of it means you matter, and you can create in my story, even as I have created you." Donald Miller

Dear Y'all,

My apologies for the infrequency of my posting lately. After our amazing vacay in the Land of Plenty and the Rapture I think I had a hard time getting back into the swing of things. But I've also been in the midst of something a little different. On our holiday, I read Donald Miller's "A Million Miles in a Thousand Years", which centres around 'living a good story'. It applies some of the theories about writing a good story and applies that to life. It was beautiful and for a writer made a ton of sense. So I looked at my story.
I have entered a period which I have deemed the "Age of Intentionality". One thing that truly frightens me when I look around at my generation is the tendency of people my age to be voyeurs in life, to not truly engage who and what is happening in their lives. When you ask people what they are about, they don't know what to say and when you ask them who they want to become and how they are going to get there, they are similarly at a loss of words. They do not invent and create community, or even engage it. They stand around in groups and assume that in doing that they are a part of people's lives.  I will not do that. But I have definitely slumped in that direction.
I have seen a tendency in my life to settle into what is easy, and what is accessible. I have let the creative pieces of my mind collect dust while I try and escape into that which is gratifying and does not require concentration, like food blogs. I let the creative outlets that I love, like baking, sewing, crafting, photography or reading, all fall into dormancy. Do you realize that this past year this blog was the only regular writing I did? I was in a friggin' writing program!!
As a wife, I want to inspire and empower my husband in his creative pursuits. He's a beautifully creative man! I want to create a space and a model for that for my children one day. And wanting that starts now. One of Moozh's courses that he took in the summer was on Vocation Work and Ministry. It really focussed on being obedient to the things that you want
Basically this is all to explain a recent absence in my posting. I definitely want to keep a record of what I am accomplishing in posting about them. If anything, that may motivate me to actually do new things because if I don't post anything, you'll think I've given up. Peer pressure has it's bonuses.

So here are my goals:

~ I will be writing a TON more. Not just for my program, but for me too. In the past week I have given myself full days worth of time where I create a space and an opportunity to write and I totally forgot how much I love it! Donald Miller writes about how there are some authors who like to be special and successful  and talk about their books to people but they actually don't enjoy the act of writing. I'm the opposite. I love to write. I don't want to talk about it, how it's going, etc. Some of this writing I hope to post here, but not all of it.
~ Craft Night! Craft nights are so fun. A cafe I worked at in Cowtown started it all. The girls who worked there would get together and crochet or knit. Then Bubby's in Victoria we did the same thing. A different person would host every couple weeks and would pick a different craft to teach to everybody. I know so many wonderful, inspiring, creative women in Bankybear that would make a craft so freakin' fun. And one of them is pregnant which puts a whole different purpose behind crafting, am I right?
~ 100 Books to Read Before you Die: Being in a literature class and a history class this summer reminded me how much I love to read, both fiction and non-fiction. To be a good writer, you have to be a good reader. It also makes you a good speller. (Speller? Spellist? I think 'speller' is kind of like 'funnest'. It doesn't sound right but it technically is.) I have tentatively decided on this list. It's not exhaustive by any means and there are a lot of classics that I want to read that aren't on there. I may have to create my own list. Any suggestions?
~ I posted a while ago about wanting to work my way through the ReBar Cookbook and the Joy of Cooking. Nothing really happened with that hey? Well I have begun. Yesterday I made bread from the JOC, which malfunctioned slightly, so I don't have a picture and last Friday I made pie crust from the JOC, which also didn't' turn out. Hmm. I will make something that will turn out :) I have a zucchini on my counter that is almost a foot and a half long so something will become of that. Maybe I'll take a break from the JOC for a few recipes. It's a gooder but my track record thus far is disappointing.
Plus: Moozh is going to culinary school so as he works through that there will definitely be pictures of his process and his yummy creations!
~ Photography: Bankybear is a physically breathtaking city and there is so much to see. I don't want to leave after three years here and not have anything to show for it. And there is nothing I love more than looking through old pictures. Friends of ours Marcus and Megs moved back to Winnipeg this spring but they really inspired us in photography. Megs does photography and Marcus is a web designer but they have the coolest creative partnership and gave us some really great ideas for getting started.
~ 12 Project: I already do this with my bestie Lacey but I've wanted to do it with Moozh for a long time and just never got around to it. (You seeing a theme?) So at least, once a month I want to have a picture of Moozh and I, ya know, for posterity. When we're grumpy and old, we can look back on our blithely happy faces and tight bodies and reminisce. So can our kids ;)

And in the midst of all of this I will be in school at the same time. So balance is key. But I didn't have any balance this past year and goals are fun. Here's to the Age of Intentionality. Kind of sounds like I should be wearing a hoop skirt.

Blue Bird Creative

"Nature reigns here in all her wanton luxuriance, adorned by a thousand wild graces." Frances Brooke

Hey y'all, it's been a while! Many, many moons ago there's was a date known as July 11th. This was the day that I was supposed to return to the 'real world' from my vacay away, finish up some "minor" schoolwork and then have the rest of the summer to putz around Bankybear. But then July 11th arrived with a strange expression on its face. And then that 'rest'? That didn't happen. And then I got my ass kicked.

Moozh and I departed to the Land of Plenty in the middle of a distance course that I was working. Canadian Literature, I thought, 'Pssh, no biggie. I've read Atwood and Munro and a little bit of Cohen. I wrote a friggin' feminist rant on Ondaatje's 'Cinnamon Peeler'. I'll be fine." And then my teacher and all the course work laughed and said, "Ha! Oh NO YOU AIN'T!" So July 11th rolled around, a day I may here forth reference as The Rapture, after which I had taken a leisurely day of wine cocktails, sleeping masks and examining my tan lines to recuperate from my 'jet lag'. I planned to return to my course work with a fresh mind and some pithy anecdotes to use to introduce myself to new classmates and to endear myself to friends. My last course of the summer, Modern Jewish History, began on The Rapture, and that would be a uniform and convenient date to move ahead with everything. And then the jazzy tan faded on my rose coloured glasses as I sheepishly realized that I was in for more work that I was expecting. A HISTORY CLASS -what the frick was I thinking!!?? And then on top of that, I realized that missing over a third of the distance course I was working on, even though my teacher didn't get to see my vapid expression everyday, was a serious incident.

And of course in the midst of this is always interpersonal stuff. Moozh and I made a serious course correction. Moozh is doing culinary school! His Sommelier and Cicerone course starts in the fall and then his culinary arts course starts in January. He has a pretty pretty set of special wine glasses for his wine course that I am not allowed to touch because I break EVERYTHING. And 'My wife broke my wine set' doesn't really hold up. Sounds kind of like "My dog ate my homework." Our life is so empowered now. The idea of 'vision' or 'direction' was totally foreign to me. I'm not the kind of person that plans out my whole life. But the past month has shown me that vision is not about that. It is about having something that your life is pointing towards. Regent, as holistic and beautiful and considering how many gifts it blessed us with, was not that vision. This decision, this redirection of Matt's, helped us to envision OUR life, not just my life with writing and Matt's with theology. In the midst of deciding on a new direction for Matt, we were able to decide on a new direction for us.

So when I witnessed the date today I felt a bit out of the loop. It has been over a month since the Rapture. Both of my classes are now finished. My Modern Jewish History class I did actually pretty well in it which is only indication that there is a God. The jury is still out on my literature class but I felt the final exam went better than the entire course. My history course only fuelled my morbid fascination with Jewish people. I stood outside the Hillel house on the Yoob campus after the first few classes trying to convince myself to go inside. I decided not to. I have a fat stack of books on the Vichy Regime of France during the Second World War on my desk and I totally will read them. I will then need to watch SNL or maybe Seinfeld. I watched Defiance the other day and it kind of made me feel better. "See the Jews do fight back! Sometimes." Even though Daniel Craig has his model pout going almost the whole movie. Liev Schreiber and Jamie Bell are so sweet in it. Can I say that Jewish names in historical movies are the bomb? Tuvia? Zus? Fiddler on the Roof has Tzietel and Bielke. Cutesters.

And Vic was wonderful. We got to see my aunt and uncle who just relocated there. Their house is amazeballs! And they live in one of the coolest neighbourhoods in the city. But we got to see everything we wanted to see and eat everything we wanted to eat. We saw our old place, Fifth St, Bubby's. And then some of my favourite friends from Vic that I had fallen out of touch with we ran into by accident on the street. Totally sweet.

Well, happy August to everybody. I know it's seriously belated but I just realized I got here.

P.S ~ I start volunteering at the UBC farm this week! I had my orientation yesterday and I am so pumped. I'm starting late in the season but I just want to get my fingers in some ground. They grow so many beautiful things there, including hops! They have their own smokehouse and their own bees. This is on my bucket list!

P.P.S ~ Radiohead could seriously be on the soundtrack to my life. I know that I have previously said that I want the soundtrack to The Assassination of Jesse James to be the soundtrack to my life and that stands true. But Radiohead is allowed to be on there. This was the song my sister and her new moozh danced their first dance to at their wedding. My number one favourite part of weddings is seeing the groom's face when he sees his bride for the first time. But I have decided a serious runner-up is the song they choose for their first dance. I know not everyone puts a ton of thought into it, but I love that moment. I teared up during their first dance as my sister's sang "You're all I need" into her new husbands ear quietly as they danced together. Oy, beautiful. Matzel Tov and all that. Sheesh, getting all teared up writing on my blog.

"Night smoke rose from the boil of the sunset…" E.Birney

Whoa. Whooooooaaa.

I basically have the best husband ever. I will love him now and until forever, if not because I truly love him and he is in general extremely loveable, for this moment alone. On Sunday, we were trying to clean my computer out. It was becoming really slow and thus we decided to transfer some stuff to the hard drive and do a system clean. The only problem was that the moments directly following that were extremely traumatic. We decided to empty the trash (don't ever empty the trash!) and then found that the folders we had tried to back up (aka all of my course work for my summer classes, some of which were due within days, and ALL of my creative writing) was gone. G-g-g-g…empty. So basically I cried. And then drank some wine. Cried some more. Kind of felt like I was going to puke. Talked myself off a ledge. Had Moozh talk me off a ledge. And then I moved to distraction tactics.
In the days following, my husband, my majestic, indefinable, incomparable Moozh, searched my laptop and our hard drive for any trace of my missing files. After a day of searching, I was ready to give up but Moozh soldiered on. (I feel like I'm writing an epic.) And then, as I was trying to write my term paper from scratch at the Yoob, Moozh calls me with a little giggle in his voice and tells me he found it. He sends me a file that is the identical to my term paper. In fact, it is my term paper! I raced home, cried a little more and then kissed him all over his face. And now I am finishing my final paper with no drama to be found. He's a gooder. And so good to me.

It's firework season in Bankybear. Last Saturday was the first entry of the fireworks competition. It was China and it was really impressive. The windows of the apartment buildings in the West End look as if their lacquered with sequins. They mega sparkle.

Apartment Therapy had this wicked post that had 20 Unforgettable American Movie Interiors. One of my favourites, It's Complicated, is on the list. Meryl Streep's kitchen, nay her WHOLE HOUSE in that film is unbelievably beautiful. Slobber. I also loved, funny enough, Meryl Streep's house in The Hours too. Totally different place but still so cool.

I have decided that I want to make pickled blueberries. And this recipe by Tigress in a Pickle seems pretty good. I love pickled peaches and blueberries have a similar glorious sweetness so why wouldn't that taste good? The recipe suggests it as a chutney on top of meat or on top of ice cream. Seems like the kind of thing that I would eat off of a spoon. Or the palm of my hand. Obsessive.

Sunday we go to Vic! Moozh and I are making a trek over to the Island for our anniversary trip. Our anniversary was actually last week but it was so hectic last week that we didn't get to truly celebrate. We haven't been back to the Island since we moved to Bankybear so this trip will be so great. We have our old haunts all picked out.

Coffee and a scone from Union Pacific

Union Pacific Coffee

Fifth Street Bar and Grill. We seriously love the people here. They took such good care of us when we were in Vic. Great people. Great food. Great atmosphere. 

Victoria Grid Project

Rebar! I will chew my food properly this time because I will be prepared for the goodness. Last time I just go too excited and had indigestion for a full 24 hours. 

Eat Drink Victoria

Irish Times! Great scotch. Great Guiness. Great Music. Moozh and I did our first vodka tasting. It was kind of impromptu (meaning it was impromptu) but they've got some great vodka available. At least it sure felt that way after six shots. 

Irish Times Pub

And Bubby's! That pie is kick ass to the core. But we will also get there in time for their Shaker Lemon Pie which is uh-maaaaazing! Make the trip, just for that.

As of noon on Saturday I am home free. Be thinking of me and be wishing profoundly analytical things regarding Canadian literature my way.