Come Together

Yesterday my Facebook status read...

There are some places you can go and totally be yourself ~ no expectations and no judgement. Last night was one of those nights so thank you Tracey for hosting our little girls reunion and thanks to Susan, Krista, KellieAnn, Tammy, Kim & Laurie for showing up ~ sharing stories and making us all laugh ~ what a wonderful group of friends. — feeling blessed.

I have talked about this group of friends before

they are the ones that you love to see ~ not just to play

"remember when"

but to invest in their lives ~ find out what is new

how are the folks, the kids, the pets

sharing stories

I always say thank goodness for FB for helping us keep in touch

and plan gatherings like this one and the lunch date I had last month

Kim, Sue, Kellieann, Krista, Tracey, Lori & Tammy out front

I got all sappy at one point of the evening and said

you know ~ I wasn't worried about having to have my nails done

or my hair coloured

I could come here in sweats and know that I would be welcomed

with open arms

we have seen each other at our best and our worst

in happy times and sad ones

we have wiped away tears and baby spit up

we talked about everything under the sun

who have you seen?  do you know where so and so is now?

music ~ what are you listening to?

tv shows ~ don't you just love Deacon on Nashville?

and of course we did a LOT of reminiscing as well

I have a hat box full of trinkets from my 17 years of working here

and leave it to Kellieann to dig into it and surprise us all out in the gazebo

with a little impromptu fashion show

this is Laurie ~ closest thing I had to a big sister for a whole lotta years

she was my manager ~ my mentor ~ my friend

she was the one that would give me an 11 am wakeup call on Sunday mornings

when I was a carefree single living on my own

good times ~ good times

I miss that we do not see each other that often anymore

but with 2 kids ~ involved in sports ~ well there you have it

she does have a new puppy so we talked about a dog park date soon!

we missed a few that were able to make it last time but not this one

and a few that were planning to come but couldn't

the only way to remedy that is to have another one sooner than later

looking at these pictures make me smile

I truly am blessed.

xo

Friday Potpourri

Autumn has arrived

and it's been a chilly ~ rainy ~ soup making kind of week

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last weekend was a busy one

chow making ~ baking ~ mailing ~ shopping

picking up loved ones from the train station

and Sunday tea kinda weekend

after a non stop Saturday I had the family here for tea, coffee and sweets on Sunday

my Aunt is here visiting from Ontario and it was the best opportunity to 

gather everyone in one place ~ it was a great day.

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out a couple of nights this week

but laying low ~ I am a tv junkie and it is premiere week

so I cozied up with my furry daughter

under a blanket and just relaxed

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I am looking so forward to tomorrow night

as I am getting together with these girls again

it's been 5 years and that has been too long

can't wait!

Hope you have a wonderful weekend!

Relish the Thought....

I like to try different things ~ step outside my comfort zone once in awhile

and although my mother in law in the one that

makes the jam and pickles in the family

I decided to give it a go this year

I made mustard relish one year

and peach freezer jam

I must have been going through a Martha phase or something

then I made hot dog relish

and it was a success ~ thankfully the recipe lasts us about 2 years

so that is a every other year kind of job 

canning is a LOT of work

especially when you work full time

outside the home and have 2 days a week

to get it all done as coming home at 6:30 and pickling

is not high on my list of things I like to do after work

so this year I thought I would make my boy's favourite relish

Chow Chow

I am not a fan but I got the recipe from my girlfriend

and decided to give it a go

it's pretty simple actually with basic ingredients

green tomatoes, onions, sugar and vinegar

easy peasy

I am pleased to say that it turned our perfectly

and tastes good too ~ so I have been told

for anyone wanting the recipe

here you go:

Chow Chow

5 1/2 lbs green tomatoes - stem ends and cores removed, sliced

1 1/2 lbs onions, cut up

1/3 cup coarse (pickling) salt

3 1/3 cups granulated sugar

4 1/2 tbsp mixed pickling spice - tied in a double layer of cheesecloth

2 tsp tumeric

2 cups white vinegar

Layer tomato, onion and salt in a large saucepan.  Cover and let stand on counter overnight.

Drain

Add 4 remaining ingredients.  Vinegar should just be a bit visible as too much will make excessive juice.  Heat until sugar is dissolved.  Bring to a boil.  Simmer uncovered stirring occasionally for 2 hours.  More tumeric can be added for colour and more sugar can be added for taste.  In order to obtain and accurate taste cool a spoonful and then sample.  

Discard cheesecloth bag.  Pour into hot prepared pint jars within 1/2 inch of top.  Place lids on jars and screw metal bands on securely.  For added assurance against spoilage, you may choose to process in a boiling water bath for 5 minutes.  Makes 4 pints ~ 8 cups. 

Trevor was not home when I made it so I ran next door for the "taste test"

I did not add any extra sugar or tumeric and the finished product is shown here.

Enjoy with any type of meat or scalloped potatoes.

Let me know if you try it ~ it's a Maritime favourite!!

Summer Wrapup

With tomorrow being the first day of fall

I thought it fitting to do an end of the summer wrap up today

instead of my usual Friday post

this summer was love ~ no matter how you slice it

looking back we did not do a whole lot 

but what we did do ~ was done with the sun shining on our faces

and love in our hearts

June brought middle school graduation

a junior prom and gorgeous pink peonies

along with trips to the cottage ~ rhubarb from the farm

and wildflowers

July was walks down old familiar roads

the views that fill my heart

sun shining through the trees

and a visit to the past

We kicked August off at the cottage with the best neighbours ever

we walked the beach, roasted marshmallows

went exploring and I had so much fun showing them the places that I love

Vacation was incredible ~ we made some new memories

with family at the camp ~ love these reunions

and spent some quality time with the girls

and our friends too

Labour Day weekend was back to the cottage

finishing off vacation right before getting back into the swing of things

called routine and September.

I loved going back through the pictures from over the past 3 months

and I hope you enjoy the ones I chose and put together to share.

Have a wonderful weekend.

xo

At The Fair

Sunday after breakfast

we had a couple of options of what to do with our day

it was open farm day which we took advantage of last year

and had fun going to some local farms

to see how things work and to see the animals

it was also the 100th anniversary of

the Albert County Exhibition

I have never ever been

which is kind of weird since it has been basically in our own backyard

the past 99 years!

it was a gorgeous day

rides ~ games ~ animals

yup ~ we are in the country and I love it!

I loved the goats ~ they were so darn cute

we were in and out of every barn and when I turned the corner and saw this

I stopped in my tracks ~ no relation ~ but think that it is kinda cool all the same

so many ribbons in the horse barn

of course we walked and walked 

stopped and watched what was going on in the ring

then went into Exhibition Hall

this was county fair all the way

all the winners were on display from potatoes to pies

to flowers and quilts

each sporting their ribbons

Trev of course loved the old tractors and equipment

now I could not go to the fair and not have a candy apple

that is illegal isn't it?

it was a perfect afternoon.

What did you do over the weekend?