Friday's Lunch

Friday lunches tend to be a bit scrappy around here; you know, a collection of whatever is on hand in the fridge. Hub's brought home this little snack pack [$4] yesterday and it's just thing to hold all those wee bits and bobs I manage to hunt and gather.

Clockwise from top ...
Red pepper strips
Cheddar cheese
Olives, pitted
Peach slice
Banana portion [this usually makes its way back home so I should probably stop putting it in. too bad because bananas are so easy!]
Apples slices
Quesadilla, leftovers
Blueberries
Green grape
Mini Ladybug and Flower cookies that I keep in the freezer and bust out once a week.

In addition to the snacks above, I sent him off to camp today with a ham sandwich. And I popped it into this recent purchase from etsy, a reusable sandwich bag! I got it from brit gal designs and I really love it.

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Preparing for the Lantern Festival

A few clean dry jars with lids
Some wire for the handles
White glue mixture with equal parts glue and water
Brushes
Tissue paper, we made them into strips but anything goes of course
Sticks for hanging the handals on
And a drill for drilling holes into the lid. Plenty of holes means more air gets to the fire. We also used the holes for attaching the wire handles. Finally, we drilled a hole in each stick to poke through some twist tie type wire which ultimately goes around the lantern handle.

Photo Friday #16

TOFINO, BC | TRAVELS WITH KID

Oooops. Spilled the beans.



For other travel pics, check out my favourite family travel site Delicious Baby. Or go there to share your travel photos on Fridays too.

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Community Garden Stroll

A LITTLE RESPITE FROM THE CITY IN THE SUMMER

So this past weekend, we wanted to take Spud and some visiting family VIPs to one of the many community gardens in our city. And a dear, dear friend pointed us in this direction: Cottonwood Community Allotment Garden













A little stroll. Some admiring. Questioning. Guessing. Dodging sprinklers. Taking it in and appreciating all the work that goes into it.

Links to other community gardens in the area here.

Coombs Bakery

GOATS ON ROOF | TRAVELS WITH KID



Goats living on the roof is just one reason why this place is not just a bakery.







An impressive selection of wooden toys is another.







On this trip we had some lunch, picked up some water colour paper, a rubber band powered airplane for Spud, some smoked salmon candy, and a jar of imported butter chicken sauce. Just to give an idea of how diverse this place is. This haunt is a Spud favourite. And mine too. You wouldn't be alone if you went out of your way in your travels on Vancouver Island to take a boo at this place. In the summer, it teems with lookiloos from far and wide.

We finished this visit with a little ice cream from the shop behind the bakery and then trundled next door to see what other crazy things were going on ...

Like impressive imported statues ...



And beat up old cars.



I never know what I'm going to see when I go there. And that's part of its charm.

Hello Norway!

And my first official sale being shipped off tomorrow. To Norway with love.



Now I'm just waiting for some more of my fabric to arrive so I can ship off my next 3 orders. So fun!

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TOFINO | TRAVELS WITH KID

Killing some time in the ferry line up waiting for our boat to take us home after our little adventures in Tofino, BC.



Taking pics at every angle once we are on the boat.



And watching a killer sunset



A nice way to end a holiday.

For other travel pics, check out my favourite family travel site Delicious Baby. Or go there to share your travel photos on Fridays too.

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Dutch Oven Chicken

COOKING ON THE BEACH



We prepped our 10" Dutch oven ahead of time back at the cottage and transported it carefully to the beach. We also brought briquettes, a chimney for lighting the briquettes, some paper from the recycle bin, and a lighter.

In the Pot
1 whole chicken, cut up into pieces, with below rub applied over all the skin
1 onion, chopped
1 bulb garlic, cloves separated and peeled [or more if you really love it]
3 carrots and/or parsnips, cut into 2" pieces
6-8 small new potatoes, cut in half
1 can beer

For the Rub
1 t. each powdered thyme, rosemary, sage, oregano
2 t. onion powder
S + P
Cooking Oil [enough to turn the powder into a paste]

Place 10 lit briquettes under the oven and 12 on top. By having more on top you help ensure the skin of the chicken gets browned and crispy. Cook for 90 or so minutes. Replenish coals as they burn out. Check progress after 60 minutes. We took ours out at 90 minutes and the chicken was browned and moist. We served it with some soft butter buns to soak up the juice. And had watermelon for dessert.

[Note: in the picture below you can see hubs warming up some canned brown beans on top of the oven. Spud was grateful for this little treat while we waited for our dinner to cook.]



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Tofino Day 2: Hiking and Beaching

In the Morning.
Taking a short drive [40 km] to the smaller nearby town, Ucluelet, for a little hike was more than worth it.



The Wild Pacific Trail, nice and easy, is a 3K loop with endless numbers of lookouts like this ...



and this ...



and this ...



and lots of greenery ...



And places to stop and take it in ...



and a few of these ... bald eagles ... in flight and calling ...



In the Afternoon
We spent the afternoon on Chesterman Beach.











On the menu? We brought our Dutch oven and made roasted chicken on the beach ... so yummy!

And when we were done, the wind came up for a spell and some of us went kite boarding, well, one of us [ummm, not me].


[image source: ejb]

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Tofino Day 1: Dunes, Zipping + Oysters

First, a guided dune hike in the Pacific Rim National Park in the morning. It was a beautiful peaceful walk. And we learned stuff too!

We learned about the 'bad grass' that was introduced to the area and is now trapping the dunes from moving and eventually turns it all forest. The tour was well suited to the kids in the group as well; it wasn't long before Spud was quietly chanting "no more bad grass. no more bad grass" to himself, on his own accord.



This was some of the good stuff. These plants thrive in moving sands and don't try to tie it down.



In 'downtown' Tofino, we found a playground with a zip line fun enough for grown ups too. We came back here everyday. Doesn't hurt that the big grocery store is but a block away which meant one parent could shop while the other parent zipped.



It's not easy finding good food at good value in Tofino. Well that's what we found anyway. But Big Daddy's served up a pretty yummy oyster and chips, among other traditional fast food fare.

Photo Friday #14: Tofino, BC

TOFINO, BC | TRAVELS WITH KID



Raiding the recycle bin for castle building supplies before heading to the beach.







For other travel pics, check out my favourite family travel site Delicious Baby. Or go there to share your travel photos on Fridays too.

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