Tulip update

I know (Rachel I'm looking at you while I write this... or the imaginary you that is sitting across the table from me): BAD BLOGGER. BAD PHOTO A DAY ER.

I have photos. I will edit and post photos and back date them so they go in their proper places in the blog order. But just not right now. Now I am battling a small hangover (not a bad one but one that reminds me that I had a few glasses of wine last night with a couple of girlfriends... great night great company makes it all worth while!).

And I have some work stuff to get through and a research paper to read over and fire off to the editors. That last one is a knock me on my butt moment. It's been 4 years in the making!!! But now I will owe someone a bound copy of my thesis. Shit. Something else that has to come off the bottom of the list where it has been hanging out for a few years.


So pictures will come. And I have to go post to the other blog at some point too. With the cookie recipe from yesterday (picture to come) and follow up on the bread front.

And as this is a training blog, or at least that's what it started out as, I feel I should at least tell you that my riding has been coming along nicely. I've been spending a happy amount of time getting dirty up at UBC and feel I am ready to tackle something a little more technical and challenging on the crossbike (which still needs a name). As for the other two sports of the triad, running is sucking so we won't talk about that but swimming has been pretty good these last few weeks. And will only get better once we move outside with both clubs and I can get 3 swims a week. So two of three ain't bad. And I'm working on working in more gym time which will bring me to a 75% success rate (well really 87.5% is we acknowledge that I am at least running if not all that spectacularly well).

Can my barista learn how to do this? Can you?

Cookie Monster

As promised, the cookies. One of the two types I made last weekend for time trial day. Which a certain Mr. Eakin missed AGAIN. Therefore: NO COOKIES FOR YOU!

Incoming!

Glorious Bâtards

Oh I crack myself up.

Psst. A bâtard is a shape of bread.

10th and Main

Saw this on the bike route on the way to the office yesterday (so it's actually the picture of the day for Thursday).  I couldn't actually tell how the photo would turn out because of all the sun. But it looked pretty cool after mucking about with it in a new photo app that Niki had mentioned.

The message works for today too! It's Friday and sunny and I'm going to see Alice in Wonderland tonight. And having popcorn for dinner.

Looking good! Right?

 OK so that view isn't so pretty!

It was tasty though. Not all that sour. I think Mr. P needs more time to get more sour. And it was a little on the dense side. The dough had a hard time rising but I hope that will improve as Mr. P matures. 

This week's side project: Mr. Picklepuss the sourdough starter.

Tomorrow we will attempt the first loaf of bread. Which Dan will be happy to hear about since that means I'll stop stealing his.

Sledge hockey

We went to watch Canada play Sweden in sledge hockey this afternoon. It was fantastic. Those guys can MOVE. The crowd was great. Cheering for every shot from Canada and even every save that Sweden made. Canada won convincingly and the crowd was cheering like mad for both teams at the finish. And the number of kids that were there was great! The Games are really doing a great job inspiring kids of all ages and abilities to try stuff out and get involved.

More springing springtime

For Monday and Tuesday: A pair of magnolias

Now that that's out of the way on to Thursday and beyond. It's raining and I was out walking and just started taking photos with my phone. The only thing I did to any of these photos is crop out the random bits. I'm hoping this taste of Springtime in Vancouver will make up for my poor posting these last two weeks. I here by vow to post at least one photo everyday from here on out. Swear. On cheese. No not Megan's Cheese. The edible kind. Not that you're not a tasty treat Cheese. 

I was out and about (go ahead: laugh it up! oot and aboot! ha ha) in my wellies.

And the pussy willows are starting to transform... or molt... or whatever it is that pussy willows do when they go from soft fuzzy things to regular plants.

And the trees the street up from us suddenly bloomed in the last two days.

I really liked how the water was dripping from the moss on this tree (the last shot of these three is an action shot I somehow managed to catch). And the moss itself was such a great shade of green.

And finally two leaves with droplets. I think the last picture is my favourite. Well that and the one of my boots and the second moss one.

First meeting of CAs of Vancouver

Hello. My name is Amy and I'm a Cheese-aholic.

(hello amy)

It was all going so well. I avoided cheesy dishes and limited my cheese consumption to tasty morsels from cheese plates at special occations. But then I lost control. I made my own cheese.

I know! I took that step. And made cheese. A soft cheese that I can eat without ill effects. Lactose free, soy free cheese*. I can make a cheese cake with it. I can make lasagna (with out the mozzarella) and stuffed shells. It opened a new world to me. One of Italian tastiness and cheese heaven.

I don't know what to do. I have heard rumours that you can make cream cheese from yogurt (which I can eat without effects so does that mean that I can have cream cheese too if I make it?)

I fear I am losing control. All that is needed now is lactose free non soy based cream.

(*for the record I can't do lactose and I can't do soy milk and cheese product with out some unfortunate effects)
Also I am counting the first and/or third picture as picture of the day for Wednesday which means I still have to go back and post for Sunday, Monday and Tuesday but it's a move in the right direction.

Seven photos for seven days

Yeah. I'm a slacker. Here are the past week's photos. A compilation of Spring has Sprung

March 1: around the corner from us

March 2: Across the alley

March 3: The purple flowers I see from my kitchen

March 4: Cherry blossoms or are those beechwoods?

March 5: Date night - on a patio in Kits with wine and good food

March 6: More pretty pink things. I love Vancouver in the spring.

March 7: OK not a sign of spring - just some spring coloured tiles that I liked

What an Ending!

So I'm two days late to the party here, but holy cow! What an incredible way to finish off the most incredible two weeks ever. It certainly couldn't have been scripted any better.

First off, let me just say that all the naysayers in the British media and a few other outlets don't have a clue what they're talking about. I'm so pleased to have been here for what turned into a celebration of sports, Canada and the world. There were a lot of folks in the city who decided to leave town for the games because of the expected craziness. While the thought certainly crossed my mind, I'm so pleased that I didn't because this truly was a once in a lifetime experience.

Now, for Sunday and one of the best hockey games I've ever seen. We enjoyed it at home with Dan and Eileen. You could feel the tension across the entire city as it headed to overtime, but Amy had the amazing sense to open our front door and when Sidney scored, the noise erupted! Horns blaring, people yelling, even the train ringing its bell as it set off from the Olympic Village to Granville Island. We yelled and screamed in the living room for a while and watched the team get their gold medals, and then decided to head downtown to be a part of the celebration. Here are a few shots we took along the way:

People streaming across Cambie Bridge into downtown:


A kids hockey game breaking out in Yaletown:


And finally, a video of the party going on in Yaletown:


After a while, we came back home and enjoyed a good bottle of wine (or three) through the closing ceremonies and revelled in being Canadian and proud of our athletes.