Framed

Proof is in the pudding

A secret and trusted recipe. I watched Karen pour far too much Brandy into this, hey, who is complaining about that?

Convergence

Everything has come together, 3.45pm, the Christmas dinner is complete, the gravy is ready and the feast has been assembled. Time to eat like it's Christmas Day.

On schedule.

It's 1.20pm and the vast array of vegetables have been installed in the oven for about twenty minutes now, we leave them alone for an hour and then turn them. Potatoes, Carrots, Turnip, Parsnips and onion all in a shallow roaster pan. The brussels sprouts will be steamed later. Now it is time for a traditional "Brandy and Babycham" equivalent for the missus and a straight shot of twelve year old Canadian Rye Whisky on the rocks for the mister (in my dad's glass) .

It's all going to plan.

Beer O'Clock

Almost 11.30am and the yule log is burning, Karen's choice of tipple is a German pilsner called Radeberger and I have a darker brew, Holsten Festbock, again from Germany. The turkey has had two of it's designated ten twenty minute periods and we're settled for a quiet hour by the fire. It's cold and raining outside but it's toasty in here.

Cheers!

Christmas day in the workhouse

The day is being consumed as we type, the turkey has just gone into the oven at 10.45am and we're drinking sherry and coffee at the same time. Twenty minutes ago the Canadian bacon ritual was completed after we had opened the prezzies. Christmas day is all about pacing and medium indulgence, too much of anything can spoil the rest of it. In about ninety minutes, the vegetables will go in, in fifteen minutes we hope to have a roaring fire in the grate and soon a Christmas beer will be started. Merry Christmas Mister Scrooge!!

A well deserved lunch

We both had the Gumboot Hash for lunch, free range eggs, hash brown potatoes, cheddar cheese, tomatoes, avocado and home made toasted bread with fresh strawberry jam.

Cliff Gilker New Bridge

New Construction

They have built a bridge to join the red and yellow trails in Cliff Gilker park, nice, solid construction.

Cliff Gilker, Sunday

Karen was stretching her injured leg in Cliff Gilker park today, a little cold but a healthy walk with a promise of a Robert's Creek Gumboot lunch.

Late Fall, Gibsons Harbour

A third in the series, I was testing out the new camera.

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Late Fall, North Shore from Vista Ridge

The North Shore Mountains from Vista Ridge, Gibsons.

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Late Fall, Howe Sound

Here is a panoramic view of Armors Beach with Howe Sound and the North Shore Mountains.

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Christmas Skyping

A December Skype session with the family in New Zealand, topics (besides drinking) ranged from healthy and unhealthy eating, nursing and doctor topics, sickness, health, cheese toasties, cat habits, West Coast touring and microbrewing. A good four hours of yakking across the world.

Public Transit

The Seabus arriving to take us over to Vancouver from the North Shore, they run every fifteen minutes.

Seaspan Eagle

Over on the North Shore, at the Seabus terminal, this is the Seaspan Eagle. A ship assist and harbour tug, this was built in 2011 and has a bollard pull capability of 157000 lbs. Nice Toy.

Fajitas

Taking pictures of food, we'll be walking along canals and blogging next....

Cheers

After more shopping we ended up at Cactus Club at Park Royal, more beer and fajitas.

Cheers!

Steamworks

Saturday was our 24th wedding anniversary, we took a trip into Vancouver, shopping and drinking. The first drinking hole was at Steamworks, a brewpub. Karen had a pint of signature pale ale, I had a pint of Heroica oatmeal stout.

Then we had another....and another...

Wheel Nemesis

I'll dedicate November to the fight I had with the pictured nemesis. I was entrapped by our maintenance person to replace the strapping, which I did on the other set, when it came to this one the steel bolts had fused with the aluminum. I decided to replace the aluminum part with a threaded rod, seemed like a good plan, however, after two weeks the threaded rods started to bend.

I went medieval on the original aluminum, breaking studs, heating them, soaking in oil and penetrant, skinning thumbs and generally banging myself up, finally returning the wheel set to a useable state. A valuable lesson regarding the perils of volunteering.

Quackers

The paddle was cancelled this morning, not because of the weather, but of general malaise. I've been sick for a few weeks now and it seems to have peaked this week, Karen is on the slippery slope as of this morning.

So, instead of an early paddle we strolled down to the marina, tested out my new camera, a Canon G11 and watched the little ducks. Then we made our way over to the Black Bean Coffee house and consumed much goodness and felt better with our lot.

I love the smell of Tarmac in the morning...

It looks like there is an end in sight. Today, after three weeks of disruption, they are finally "black topping" our road. We are the lucky side that will be able to escape later.

Just William

Blocked

This shows how deep below our driveways they are digging.

Digging the Dirt

And the digging continues, they are already at our neighbour's house and her car is stranded, we're not sure if they have finished and maybe it will be our turn on Monday to be blocked in.

Thursday at the Blackfish

Jessica decided that we should have a free beer and our birthday photo taken at the pub on Thursday.

Free beer, who could say no?

Cheers!

The Watchman

William is making sure that they do a good job, or maybe he's just catching the afternoon sun on the kitchen table, whichever, he's doing a good job of it.

Roadworks

The next few weeks will see our road looking like a war zone as the fixers move in to resurface. Apparently their simple job has been complicated as they have found an old log road, perhaps over one hundred years old, so they have to excavate the soft material and replace with clean fill.

Lots of fun.

Hounds

Birthday Girl

Happy to be out and met by a couple of local hounds on our walk down to the pub today, Happy Birthday to Karen.

October Lady Bug

A rare sight, this little guy was on our door frame this morning, the last day of October, perhaps he was in fancy dress for trick or treat?

Bull

It looks like Bull (the new waterfront steakhouse) will be ready for the spring, another place to drink beer and have the occasional piece of cow cannot be bad for the town.

Cole's Marine Ways progress

More clearing going on down at Cole's Marine Ways, hopefully they are going to extend the waterfront walkway and build something aesthetic.

Macro art shot

Karen waited patiently (this is before our beer) for me while I toyed with rain drops on the trees.

Birdie Hide and Seek

This little unidentified guy was playing peek-a-boo with us from a hedge.

Reed Road, Sunday Pub walk

It's October and Gramma's have a great deal on Russell's Angry Scotch Ale, so we walk the long way down Reed Road to Marine drive, lots of low cloud on Howe Sound today, this was a nice view from the hill.

Central Heating

Yes, we have resisted, but it's that time of the year again, no longer will frosty beers from the fridge do the trick, we have to resort to fire, real and imaginary. I decided to take some pictures with a fast shutter speed to see what we could capture, we think this one looks like a hooded villain.

Heat Magnets

It may be cooling in the house, but the boys still find a patch of sunlight on the edge of the couch.

Still not Winter

Yes, it is thankfully still not Winter, leaves are falling, temperature is dropping but we still have signs of life in the garden. The pineapple sage is blooming!

Progress at Crucil

The first block of four townhouses at the end of Crucil are evolving into the monsters that they always promised to be:

Double Crested Cormorant

Pole Sitting

I snapped a few shots of this guy down at Armours Beach, he landed and proceeded to dry his wings, balanced on the edge of the pole. We walked out onto the dock there and he put up with us for a while.

Where's the Beef?

All went well with the pot roasts today, both very tender, brisket good and peppery. Sunday dinner was beef, potatoes and brussel sprouts, natural gravy was the best yet.

Turkey, Smurkey.....

Thanksgiving

Everyone else is cooking a turkey but we have opted for beef and more beef. This is one of the roasts that I am pan searing prior to going in the oven this morning, it is brisket and it has been covered with a three peppercorn mix. The other roast is a sirloin Baron of Beef, about twice as big as this, that's already in the oven.

Side Bed

This is not quite a before shot of the new side bed next to the driveway, we've planted three items while the weather is still kind, does not look like much yet but as with all things garden, growing changes everything.

A four man Clipper OC4

We thought we'd add a photo of one of Gibsons Paddle Club's Clipper OC4 Outriggers to show what we usually paddle around in on Friday.

This one up at McKenzie's Marina in Sechelt is thirty-one feet long and weighs around one hundred and seventy-five pounds. Seats four.

Tuesday, Sechelt Inlet

This morning we went out in an OC6 down Sechelt Inlet, winds were strong and as usual, behind us on the way out which meant that on the way back it was uphill as expected.

The six man outrigger was one of the clubs older canoes, very heavy in relation to our Clipper OC6 canoes and we did not have a dock to launch from, just the ramp from McKenzie's Marina.

Kung Fu

Ah yes, Grasshopper...

Crucil Project

The first set of four town houses are up to their third floor, roof to follow.

The plan in Gibsons is that new builds are allowed to be up to thirty-five foot tall and they're taking advantage of every inch to block the sun...

Bork, Bork...

I cannot resist taking pictures of these chaps. This on Sunday on our way down to the pub.