experiments in alcohol!

Not so long ago, a friend posted on facebook a fun little article on making liquor at home. Daniel and I decided that it needed  to be tested and so we did! we opted to try for an orange Creamsicle tasting liquor since citrus seemed to be super important in this process we thought it would be our best chance at success in our first endeavour.

 this along with sugar, vanilla and some lemons and oranges are the ingredients.

 all ready to be stored in the pantry for about 10 days (we actually opened them after 2 weeks since we forgot!)

 here we just shook them once a day and let them sit.

beginning the first pass at straining.

it wasn't a fast process separating those milk solids from the alcohol! the oranges sure were charged though!!

 here you can see the milk on the surface of the jar in the back, after another pass through the filter it was all gone.

it was a fairly long process straining the liquid a few times but, worth it as we got a grew result. it was a fun and easy divertissement for us and highly recommended for any who want to try it! 

Baie trinité

7:57 am- shhh! be vewy vewy qwiet!! saw the ass end of a porcupine. black shape moving away and into the woods with a funky tail. Lola thought it was great fun to try and hunt him/her down until we caught up with her!





8:30- have to pee and will now quietly hold it until later when I find a ladies room.

9:04- the fog lifts and blue skies emerge!!! 3 places measured so far... Daniel has his first sandwich.

9:37- Lola and I spot some moose tracks and decide to follow them. with her orange hunting vest on I'm not very worried about her getting mistaken for a moose!





10:28- this place reeks of Christmas!! in my head I sing a few verses of "Santa clause is coming to town"

11:00 more food

12:03 lola's found a grasshopper to torment.




12:06- seriously, can someone crack open a window here? this green tree smell is a little much. someone needs to lay off the glade spray or whatever...





these are what we are measuring.






the measurer...





the helper?

12:23- I still have to pee.
this place is very quiet- kinda a shame for the animals crashing around in the forest- oh wait, that's us!!! ( we're not very popular with the hunters today...)
I'm seeing tons of fungus and wondering what my friend Amanda would think to make with them if they're edible.

At the end of the day, we started and stopped too many times to count, Lola inspected leaf by leaf quite a few kilometres of forest and showed us that she really can listen, when she wants to with no hotdog bribery needed and I got to spend some time in nature without all the pesky bug that make it impossible for me to enjoy otherwise and it was great.
we slept well and early last night after all the christmas tree freshness of the day and even though Lola managed to fall out of her doggie bed on the chair in our bedroom, she wasn't bothered all that much as she just jumped up on ours - a luxury she's never allowed at home - and she went right back to sleep.

up next: the history and present state of a near-by fort that we visited on Sunday on the way home.



Posted using BlogPress from my i

Simon 2000-April 13, 2010

Almost 10 years ago my roommate came home with a 'friend for Spencer'. His name we decided would be Simon. His job was to be a friend and give some life and excitement to all of us, especially his new brother. He did that well, eating his way through the years and expressing his feelings in a very clear way. He endured the addition of sisters Jo-Jo and Bella very well and even accepted being their punching bag and scapegoat for all wrongs imagined or real.

Simon lived a good life. full of soft and warm places to sleep and especially enjoyed the fall season with all its falling leaves that needed to be caught and inspected. One fall, in an apartment on Bathurst st. in Toronto, i brought in a bag full of leaves from the park. He loved that box full of smells and fun! I was cleaning it up for the next month too!
Simon wasn't concerned about being on a leash when it came to birds outside. One day we went back and forth between 2 trees as 2 birds went back and forth. I laughed so hard to be with him through such an exciting time!

Simon could and would sleep anywhere and look comfortable being there. I never understood how he didn't fall from this spot! It's like, big as he was, he somehow had balance. That said, he was never a jumper after his kittenhood. He used to climb up to my shoulder and hang out there when he was really little but eventually, he decided it was to far up i suppose (despite my short stature!) and after a time, food was kept up high to help him not get any bigger so this was kinda a good thing.

Simon, you were very much loved and I hope you enjoyed your time with me and your family. We moved around a fair bit during your first few years, but I like to think that the solarium and space here in Forestville, was good re-payment for any places we lived that you didn't like very much. Spencer misses you as he keeps looking out the door to see if you're there and I know that I can't make him understand that you're not coming back. 

Thank you for being in my life and letting me love you.

You were a good friend.

Lunenburg nova scotia

This is a primary school. I love this style of archtecture. I'm told that inside the stairs are small -graded for little people and their feet- and even have a whole curved form due to years of kids tramping and sliding feet over them.






Blue rocks. My dads favourite place. Note all the lobster traps-the season is over for them here.






Boondocks in dartmouth.





The "farley mowat". Google it. Greenpeace. It's a pretty cool thing to see this boat. Apparently it's here for repairs after encountering a Japanese sealing or whaling boat. Check it out! Got in and close despite stern warnings of 'authorized persons only' fences and gates...

Happy bunny weekend!


Ok addendum:
R/v farley mowat (seashepard.com)

R/V Farley Mowat

In August 1996, Sea Shepherd Conservation Society purchased a new long-range, ice-class, heavy-duty, conservation enforcement ship in Edinburgh, Scotland.

Originally christened Sea Shepherd III, she was re-named Ocean Warrior in 1999 to reflect the missions and campaigns that face her in the new millennium.

She is definitely up to withstanding the ice floes of the Labrador coast, the harsh unpredictable waters of Antarctica and challenging any pirate whaler on the high seas.

The ship was built in 1956 as a Norwegian Fisheries research and enforcement ship. At 54 meters (180 ft) in length and 657 tons (displacement), her one-inch thick riveted, welded steel hull was built to withstand the violent pounding of the storm-haunted North Sea.

The ship's massive German-built diesel engine drives a variable pitch propeller that is protected inside a Kort nozzle. This means 1400 horsepower, coupled with the swift maneuverability of bridge control of he pitch.

In 2002, after months of bureaucratic paper shuffling and payments of extortionist demands by the Cayman Islands Bureau of Shipping, the Ocean Warrior was re-registered in Canada. She was renamed the Farley Mowat after Sea Shepherd's International Chair, Farley Mowat, Canadian author and animal welfare advocate.

The Sea Shepherd flagship, the R/V Farley Mowat officially began her career in the waters off Costa Rica appropriately immersed in controversy over policing actions against illegal fishing activities.

She is a protector, and a symbol of hope for a better, more humane, and more ecologically conscious future. The Farley Mowat is, has been, and will continue to be the world's greatest defender of marine wildlife.


Sirenian / Yoshka

Apple’s Canada iPad launch set for late April - thestar.com

still drooling and waiting for the best product for me! late april?!?!?!?!

Apple's Canada iPad launch set for late April - thestar.com

the groundhog saw his shadow...whatfun!

and willy, pete and whoever the gaspesie groundhog is all saw their shadows so it looks like a unanimous prolongation of winter. not that that has much effect for us up here in middle of nowhere land! one of my SK students asked me "and then it will be été Miss?" nope, spring first i replied, and that is when i was asked, ummm.... around easter time "OK, and that is soon Miss? " ummmm (again) well, about 8 more weeks during which we can play and ski and slide in the snow and make forts... ect. ect. anything to keep a positive spin on this 'winter'. almost seems like a non-season. for the most part it's been mild (warmer than toronto on many occasions!) and very temperate. just to remind us though, that it IS winter, we've had the occasional dump of snow and last week's fun of freezing rain that closed schools for 2 days and made the daily commute treacherous. i say daily commute because, on both occasions, i was already off and speeding to work long before the decisions were made and calls started, oh, and also one day they simply forgot to call me. nice. oops!

it's not so bad though for all the folks who HATE winter but i'm not one of them, i love the snow and freshness of these months but going from +4 to -24 in 24 hours is getting a little annoying. tough to stay healthy and not all sick from the yo-yo temps. i'm guessing heating systems in most regulated buildings must be getting their workouts this year. i know dressing for the indoor climate of my classroom is a guessing game most days. huh.

here in kindergarten, we're having fun learning about winter, groundhogs, v-day and of course the upcoming olympics. i'm racking my brain for some classroom olympics we can have over the course of days that will merit 'medals' and a graphing/tracking system for us to implement. 'sharing for the gold' anyone? how 'bout a silver for helping others? obviously, it's still a mental work in progress. i've got til the weekend to figure it out i think then i'll need to make/create my props to get the ideas going in their heads for the training period (yes, training. all participants in vancouver have been training, so why not us?!!?)

here's a few pics of who my days are spent with, a happy group shot, and then everyone 'taking 2' while i get my thoughts in order lol. or when they need a few moments to settle.

E-books turn page on paper - thestar.com

E-books turn page on paper - thestar.com

rumours abound about the new Apple offering, as mentioned in this article, it may be called 'islate' .

i am still considering the merits of a Kindle (amazon) but also as stated, the availability of titles perturbs me.

recent airline troubles also give me pause about purchasing such a machine because on of the biggest reasons for buying it is to travel with in lieu of a dozen or so paper books and then reading whilst in said transit. so, hmmmmm.

will look for news about apple's newest machine as it becomes available.

oh, and in other gripes, my beloved apple has a big character flaw! we here in canada are always getting the short end of the stick, this is a long time reality and well, one must live with it. but this goes beyond just denying us cool services or options on itunes. now it seems that apple is playing with our money. itunes gift cards. a great way for teens and trying to be responsible adults to buy music, videos and ebooks off of their itunes website. iphone and ipod touch apps too would be a natural assumption and alas, never has it been made evident that our itunes cards are different than those sold in the US so, why would anyone think so? turns out, itunes cards in canada only can be used to purchase music, ebooks and video content (films, tv series, ...) and NOT APPS as was their original purpose. i don't buy much music online as i'm happy with what i already have and can procure from elsewhere! so i feel misled and like i've been victim to some sort of false advertising! arggg. Apple i'm disappointed.