Long Day

A quiet living room shot, i set up the tripod for Jack, but he decided to play downstairs instead of taking self portraits.

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Today has felt like the longest day ever! We had a rough start to the morning. Cory left before either of the boys got up and Jackson was pretty upset as he hadn't seen Cory since before hockey yesterday!

We were hanging out making cookies this morning. Then we had our Messy Monsters Art Club. We made igloos out of packing peanuts, but mostly the packing peanuts were turned to mush by the water (cornstarch packing peanuts stick together with just a bit of water!).

We had to cut the play time a bit short as I was meeting my sister and uncle for lunch at Fol Epi, an amazing bakery in Dockside Green. I have a feeling that this guy who used to be in a punk band called, Black Kronstat owns it. It was hard to get Jack in the car to go for lunch, but we made it, albeit a bit late!

We had amazing pizza and a good italian soda, then watched a tug boat being transported from the dry docks, back into the water. We also walked to the giant waterfall (manmade of course) on the side of a building, but it was too windy to play in the park.

We hung out outside, and all i wanted to do was mow the lawn. i won;t use our lawn mower, it's horrible! Smelly, old, heavy gass powered beast! I am lobbying for a reel mower and found one with great reviews for $150. Cory's not into buying a new lawn mower when we have one that "works fine". Hmmph.

I watered the blueberries and Jackson watered the trees and flowers. I am planning out the garden and need to get some more soil for our bean teepee. I also have to find some way of making a small raised bed. One great suggestion is to use slab wood, it's free, still has the bark on it, and is at all mills. Big question .... where is the nearest mill? One day I'll research that and make the beds.

We had movie night tonight and some great aduki bean tacos. I was going to make the beans from the dried ones i bought, but didn't have time, so canned had to do. Here's my bean recipe for Mexican beans:

one can aduki or black beans, rinsed well

half can vegetable or chicken stock

onion, diced

garlic clove, minced

1 tbsp butter

1 tsp cumin

1 tsp chili powder

one bay leaf

I pour i dash of olive oil in a pan so butter doesn't burn, then melt butter .... i probably use more than a tbsp of butter, just eyeball it. Then saute the onions and garlic until soft and add the rest of the ingredients. I bring the mix to a boil then reduce and cook until the liquid is thickened. Sometimes I have to add a bit more stock, depends how much time i have and how quickly the sauce thickens. Once bean mix is as thick as you'd like it, remove the bay leaf and serve in burritos, tacos, tostados or any other way.

Cory clenaed the kitchen like a madman after dinner and D went to bed 1/2 an hour ago. J is off to bed now and I have a few things to get done. I am trying to spend this week researching and planning for the weeks ahead for Project Cute Nest. I think I have decided on most things for our bedroom, but am limited with budget at the moment. For now I am settling on some little DIY projects and just new paint!