vendredi, août 31, 2012

Gone fishin

I know I haven't posted much (bad blogger! Tsk tsk!) but here we are in the beautiful PNW. Fantastic sunrises, orca sightings, island hopping, BBQ and corn on the cob. And that's only in the last 48 hours!
I think these 5 weeks are going to fly by... I hope they don't, I need to savor...

jeudi, août 09, 2012

Rade de Cherbourg

Yesterday Mystery Guest's mom had a great idea, going out on a little pleasure cruise to see the Rade de Cherbourg - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cherbourg_Harbour

It was a beautiful sunny day and the guide gave us a good amount of history. We all agreed it was a beautiful way to spend the afternoon out on the water & play tourist in our own neck of the woods :-)

jeudi, juillet 26, 2012

Saint Malo

We decided to take a very mini break and take an overnight trip to St Malo (only 2.5 hours from our house). We left just before 10am and took a picnic lunch with us. We decided along the way to take the coastal route and have our picnic lunch near Cancale - don't regret that choice at all!! Stunning views of the sea!
Then we cruised along to St Malo and I rediscovered the city through Vincent's eyes as the last time he was here he was 6 years old.
It was a hot hot day, at least 30C which is a little unusual along the coast. We wandered around the walled city and up and around the ramparts.. Looking at the crystal clear water below. It really is a stunning city.
At the end if the day we went to Le Cap Horn for our dinner reservation. As we got there a few minutes early after a stroll on the promenade we got a drink in the piano bar - yup piano bar! The dude was there in a suit playing along for our listening enjoyment.
Then we moved along to the meal - yum! Asparagus purée as an amuse-bouche, I started with 12 oysters on the halfshell, they were the biggest, butteriest oysters I have ever eaten! 12 should be a main course! Then I had wild seabass with a miso sauce... Finishing with an AMAZING dessert : Kouign Amann with a scoop of lait ribot (buttermilk) ice cream. So creamy & wonderful.
We finished the evening with a walk on the beach.
It's great to have a change of scenery - if only for a day!

jeudi, juillet 19, 2012

Summer?

Let's see... Since those two beautiful weeks of summer we had back in ugh... May. We've had not one glorious hot summer day. Nada. Zilch. Nil.
Instead of working on my tan at the beach in the afternoons I sip tea in my hoodie on the couch. Not that I mind that but I'd prefer to do it in say... November? It's JULY!!!

Rant over.

Anyway this year there have been some ups and downs in my little veggie patch. My FIL had given me dome beautiful tomato starters that he grew from seed, with the rain and those beautiful may days they grew bananas. But alas with just so much rain they still suffered the same fate as last years tomatoes - blight. I ripped them up this week :-(
He gave me leek starters this week, I think they'll do better, more adapted for cooler weather. My blueberries created the most beautiful and delicate little white bell shaped blossoms this spring (that the bees adored!) and now they are starting to ripen!! My snow peas & green beans are enjoying the cool weather and have lots of flowers. I planted a row of beets from seed which sprouted quite nicely until I went out one morning and saw that the slugs had mowed them down only leaving two which now are doing great. My zucchini have resisted the cool temps and are doing their very best to flower and have little baby zucchini starting. I'm going to plant some carrots, beets & kale that I ordered. Hopefully they'll do ok :-)

That's it for the garden round up - ill leave you with a picture of my breakfast this morning! Berries from the garden if you please!!!

dimanche, juillet 15, 2012

14 juillet

The rain stopped long enough to go up to the Val de Saire with some friends. I had offered to bring a dessert and ended up making a cheesecake because the hostess has always wanted to try one. Having real access to Philadelphia cream cheese makes a HUGE difference and now I prefer a speculoos crust over a graham cracker one.
We were lucky with a clear night when we spotted fireworks across the bay.

Now if only the sun would come back and the temps would creep up above the 16C we've been having - I want summer already!!!

samedi, juin 16, 2012

Mes souliers sont rouges

Last night we went out to a local music festival with some friends - Ecoute s'il pleut. And pleut it did! We showed up and I felt right at home; being a Seattleite and all...

We came to see Mes Souliers Sont Rouges, a folk group inspired by Norman, Breton, Quebecoise & Cajun music. Music to shake your bootie to! Plus they are a local group, my friend is a huge fan of them, literally growing up with them - they started their career in a local bar when she was in junior high school.





The best part of the evening is when the group came on stage the rain stopped, the clouds started to clear and by the time the concert came to a close at 1:30am the night sky was covered with a sprinkling of stars...

Fantastic evening.

Going to work this morning? Yeah... a little rough...