Is it March yet?

Having a bit of a February slump. Always happens this time of year. So glad it is a short month!


Remember this painting? I've just made it available as a print.

Joy

I've uploaded some new prints to my photography shop Broomhill Pictures
Took forever and I have so many more I would like to do. LOVE this one:)

Big game on tonight but I am not much of a football fan. Probably will watch bits and pieces. I like to see the halftime show.

Went to a "cottage pie"cook off last night and guess who won? It was fun to try all the different versions. All good in my opinion. Cottage pie is what we call shepherd's pie. Ground beef with a mashed potato crust. In Britain, "shepherd's" pie is made with lamb and the version with beef is called cottage pie. I used a Gordon Ramsay recipe. Gosh we had fun, I don't think I have laughed so much in AGES!

saturday recipe

A bowl of health:) Yep, this is what we are supposed to be eating and lots of it:) Greens! Greens! Good for your heart, the more you eat, the more you.........part ways with bad eating habits:) I know what you were thinking:) This is kale. I got it in my veggie box this week and a friend of mine recommended the recipe. Thanks Cathy! I loved it.

Bedazzled Kale
2 Tablespoons olive oil
1 large onion, diced
2 large cloves garlic, minced
1 tablespoon Dijon mustard
2 teaspoons white sugar
1 Tablespoon cider vinegar
1/1/2 cups of low sodium chicken broth ( or a bullion cube and water)
4 cups of stemmed , torn and rinsed kale
1/4 cup dried cranberries (I used craisins, cherry flavour)
salt and pepper to taste
1/2 cup chopped almonds ( I had some smoked salty ones)

Directions: Heat the oil in a large pot over medium heat. Toss in onion and garlic, and cook until the onion is translucent, about five minutes.Stir in the mustard,sugar, vinegar and chicken stock and bring to a boil over high heat. Stir in the kale, cover and cook 5 minutes until wilted.

Stir in the cranberries and almonds and continue boiling with the lid off until the liquid has reduced by about half and the cranberries have softened, about fifteen minutes. Taste, and season with salt and pepper. ( You are actually supposed to sprinkle with the almonds before serving but I popped them in with the cranberries and they were yummy)

Finished product and it is really tasty.

february sushi

Just wanted to share this with you. Last night's sunset, from Citadel Hill looking west of course. It was a FREEZING night but this looks so warm and soft. I was headed to meet friends for sushi and was early so I passed the time with my camera. I parked outside the Black Market. A great wee place to poke about. Got some fun pics in there but I will show you later.

This is Fujiyama, a small Japanese restaurant tucked into the bottom of an old building. You might miss it if walking pass quickly.

It used to be called the Cave and served great cheesecake. Now it is a Sushi place:)

I had veggie tempura and sweet potato rolls . Very good:)

big comfy chair

I've always liked this painting but cannot sell it as a print because I deleted the "big" tiff file and only have it as a small jpg:( Don't you hate it when that happens:) Arghhh....The colours are warm and summery. Just the antidote we need for these really cold February days. I do have to say that I've noticed the light starting to change! Hooray. Getting brighter for longer.

Saw Avatar on the weekend and loved it. The colours, the gorgeous world Cameron created. It was really just the story of Pocahontas retold in the future. I still want to see many of the Oscar films. Lots of good stuff out there.

Making soup today but have not decided what to put together. My organic bin arrived last night and there is kale, sweet potatoes, carrots, broccoli, lemon, avocado, fruit..... I never know what is coming. Hmm, not sure what to make.

broken wings.....

To Haiti with Love is a weeklong fundraising event curated and managed by visual artist René Joshi Sims of fruityfantastica and author Kate Inglis of sweet | salty. It is an online auction of art, photography, papercrafts, clothing, and creative goods. All proceeds will go direct to the St. Joseph's Family of homes for children in Haiti. Broken Wings....

The auction opens at 8 AM EST on Monday, February 1, 2010.

The auction closes at midnight EST on Monday, February 8, 2010.

René first heard of Wings of Hope via the Canada for Haiti telethon on January 22, 2010. The fragile and extraordinary children on screen reminded her of her son and the many children she knows in the special needs community. She emailed Kate, Kate emailed everyone else, and voilà. " Here we all are, with so much to offer," she says.

I've donated a few items too:)

Pink

Valentine Cottage ( 5 day auction) original available on eBay
Prints available on Etsy

Brrrrrr

This chandelier has been hanging in my dining room for years. I keep meaning to replace it with something a bit more modern but it has grown on me and I love the way the morning light sparkles through it. Ages ago I replaced the central crystal with this wee heart and it gives me a little lift each time I see it. Just outside that window is my bird feeder. Monty sits in the window enjoying the sunshine and watches the birds and resident squirrel most afternoons:) These last few days I've been really vigilant about keeping it full, these cold days are hard for our feathered friends.

February......the short month.....here on the frozen, salty coast of Nova Scotia, this short month is welcomed:) It brings us that much closer to Spring! Right now it is FREEZING outside but at least the sun is shining! I was hoping to get out for a walk but I think I will nix that and do something inside.

After my epic exercise session on Saturday I was surprisingly not sore at all. Just really tired and it lasted through yesterday too. My team raised $11,718 amazing...... Thanks...

On to the day....have a good one :)

Febuary 1st!

Salt n Pepper available on eBay

BustaMove recap!

Who wears short shorts?
Some of you will be really interested and others not so much, but here is Saturday's story......The day dawned cold and bitter but we were ready to get moving and nothing was going to deter us. It was very exciting to wake up to "the day".

What an event! The organization for it was flawless. We each were assigned a participant number and that tied together all the little details. Baggage check, waiver, registration, spot on the floor, etc... Everything flowed smoothly and all details covered. The Metro Centre looked fab! Each of those pink squares is a towel and represents a person!

Our team, the HalifaxChicks, met bright and early ready to kick some a*=%. Actually I think it was our own a*+% s we kicked! lol. Don't we look raring to go!

Ben Boudreau, a member of the RetroActives team. Looking very retro:) He is responsible for the creation of the HalifaxChicks team. In October he organized an info session for us on BustaMove and the rest is history....

Jon Mullane started things off as people were arriving and getting themselves oriented.

Some of the costumes were great! These bulbs actually switched on and off:)

6 hours of exercise folks! I discovered I was able to take my camera on the floor and managed to snap a couple of "action" pics. I was too busy during the aerobic stuff but this was the pilates. session in hour four. The towels came in handy:)

There was wonderful food all through the day that changed as the hours wore on. Sweet loaves, yogurt, muffins, fruit, sandwich wraps, apple chips, veggies and dip. Drinks, including coffee. A massage room with over a dozen masseuses.

This is the yoga. I sat up from lying down and had to take a picture. I imagine it must have been a remarkable sight for the instructor.
In the middle of the day, we broke two world records! There was a judge from the Guiness Word Record book and so everything had to be done according to a certain protocol to make sure they would be "legal"records. We all hugged for 10 seconds. One record broken, and then we formed a "conga line" and after learning several massage routines, had to perform them on the person in front of us for four minutes, thus breaking another record!

and then in hour 6.......the moment we'd all been waiting for:) The Weight Saint himself arrived running through the participants on the floor to arrive on the stage! Richard Simmons!

He soon had the stage filled with children who had been performers and as the hour wore on, more and more people were hauled up to join him.

and it got sillier and sillier but what a laugh we all had. He distracted us from the exhaustion and weariness:) At the end of it all there was a lovely heartfelt message from him about the importance of being true to ourselves.

At the end of it all, the tally was revealed.......$1,143169.oo!! The Halifaxchicks team raised almost $12,000 of that. Yay us. We did it!

Congratulations to the organizers, participants , fitness instructors and volunteers!
Thanks to all of you who donated!!!