Jack Frost is here...

I am working in a construction camp south of Ft. MacMurray and the last four days have been the coldest on record. Temperatures have dipped to minus 50 degrees C.with the wind chill. The project was shut down early Sunday morning and everyone went home to wait out this arctic snap.

Aloha for Christmas

The holidays this year will be spent with Roger and friends on the Big Island of Hawaii. My sandals and road biking shoes are ready for action. I have pretty toes, a new bikini, presents and a huge hankering for a holiday. Seven more days and counting.....

Happy Halloween

Spartans are symbols of fall

Fall at the Abbey

Hiking during the day unveils the last of fall flowers.

Roger spending time outside with family.

Searching for hidden treasures.

Trails only visable in the summer months

Kailin and Mikayla

It took months for Tua to master the ear wave...

Good bye from the Abbey.

Harry Potter Brooms

http://www.northwovenbroom.com/

Sweep, fly or admire. These hand crafted brooms were a hot item this summer for tourist wandering around Crawford Bay B.C. Janet Schwieger produces beautiful and practical corn brooms out of an old barn along the east shore of Kootenay Lake. In 2003 and then again in 2007 Raincoast Books approached the Schwieger's to produce 300 full size brooms to help in marketing Harry Potter's "Order of the Phoenix" and "Deathly Hallow". This small artisan shop was buzzing as people were buying an array of shapes and styles. The corn base is a variety of the species Sorghum Valgare and is an annual grass resembling Indian corn. And the unique handles are oak, manzanita, yew, fruitwood, juniper and sage. I walked out of the shop with three and think these would make wonderful Christmas gifts. But do order early as the store is only open till mid October.

The Magic of the Cordillera Huayhuash

May 24th brought us into Peru and the start of our month long holiday. After landing in Lima we jumped aboard Cruz del Sur for an eight hour bus ride to Huaraz. A few day hikes to get use to the altitude and we were off for our 16 day circum-navigation of the "Cordillera Huayhuash". Passing by peaks such as Yerapaha and Siula Grande were nothing short of 'Gob-smacking'!! This stunning high-level circuit offers one of the world's finest treks. Val and the Bendon family took such good care of us...the food was amazing (even a night of fresh trout from one of the lakes), tea waiting outside the tent door in the morning and Toledo's helping hand on hard days over big passes made my holiday unforgettable . Being able to spend time with our close friends Dumper, Boo and Pablo enjoying the birds, flowers and photography lessons balanced out this fantastic holiday. In all we tromped over 180 km of Peru's finest in 16 days and below are some of our photographs.



The people that made is so special.. thanks to Val Pitkethly and the Bedon family!

Enjoying an early arrival at camp

Passing time and awaiting the next day

Hats for the women of the area

Kids watching a bull being chased out of our campsite

Hide and Seek 'de luna'

Salchae!!

Getting use to the altitude

A hint of blue in a sea of green...

Amazing views!!

High altitude pollo..if I just had $20 you would be back in Golden with me Corny.

A special moment by the stream

Taking a break from school studies

Yes...the "stretch" donkey does exist

Magestic Valleys

The gentle soul....

Rounding up a team for 'futbol'

Switch backs only take you higher....

Things are fairly standard.....women love ice cream!

Knit and Purl
These stitches are the fundamentals of knitting and are the basis of every garment. The knit stitch is a series of flat, vertical loops that produces a knitted fabric face and the purl stitch is its reverse. One side is smooth, the other bumpy. Knit is what you show the world; purl is the soft, nubbly underside you keep close to the skin.

Rise up in San Fran

I spent the last week in school....bread school that is!
Barb Renner and I traveled down to San Fransisco to take in a week long course put on by the San Fransisco Baking Institute. The course was called "Breads of the World" and what a tour it was. On average we produced roughly 200 pounds of dough each day, and created over thirty different kinds of breads. Pan de Coco, Canadas de Azucar, Beer bread, Corona Dulce, Heidebort, Puglises, Panella de Uva, Pain au Saussisson, Naan, Lavash, Khachapuri, Conchas and Pan Dulce Colombiano were just a few...I have never thrown around so much flour in my life and did it in so many countries. What I was able to learn was amazing and I thank Didier Rosada for your patience, knownledge and spirit each day. Although I did not get to visit the city as much as I would have liked, I came home with confidence and a new appreciation for three simple ingredients...flour, yeast and water.

Streets of San Fransisco

Can you say...pass the butter please!

Proofing baskets

Scoring is key in presentation

European breads

It goes on and on.....

The bread basket will never be the same..

"Latest inspirations"

My eyes have been on this book all winter, and after visiting the Okanagan Valley over the last few days I just decided it was one for my shelf. Now I own a copy, and can't wait to get started.

I can't say enough about Shelly Adam's books. They have given me huge joy and the pages were still wet from print as I pushed this copy into it's spot on my cookbook shelf.

Abbey closes it's doors for 2009

The last two weeks at the Abbey were relaxing and fun. We had Nino Aimo in the house again and he brought a great group from the US of A. 19 of us in total rocked the Abbey and the main word of the day was "Blister". There were more guests in the house that did have blisters than those who didn't. It was unbelievable!! Tough group though as they pushed the misery sticks up the Grizzly trot day after day and somehow drinking beer and eating nachos on the deck seem to make everything feel better. Half way through the week we celebrated Nino's 50th birthday. Turning 50th with close friends is what makes life special. In true Spanish cuisine we presented him with a "Tres Leche" cake. Happy Birthday Nino!

The last week was split into a 3 guest touring week and Rick, Scott and Ray put the finishing touches on a serious work week. New linen closet, boot rack, two new doors upstairs and the side of the house even got a face lift. Many thanks to the guys for all the hard work! It was a relaxing week and Travis, Graham and Len enjoyed a rare week with lots of elbow room at the breakfast and dinner table.

After two weeks Don came and took us home and in turn brought Robson and the Gmoser family for his last week. During our time off Roger and I cut, bucked and chopped 100 boxes of firewood for the old stove, and was flown in on the last exchange. So peeking in the window now you would see the duvets stored, gas turned off, cushions flipped up and door pulled tight. Take a rest dear Abbey you gave us a fantastic season....see you when the flakes fly in 2010.

Dani sporting local air traffic

Home made port and chocolate mousse....yum

Tullamore Dew....and we did!

If I am working in the Abbey over Easter...you will always find colored eggs.

Thanks for a great season Roger!

"Breads of the World"

I am off to San Fransisco to take a week long workshop with Barb Renner from Assiniboine Lodge. We are going to the San Fransisco Baking Institue and hope to bring home many new ideas for the upcoming season. The course runs from May 11th to the 15th. Check back for photos.

Okanagan Blossom's

We spent the last four days in the Okanagan valley. Roger had meetings in Pentiction and while he was busy during the day I went off and explored some of the local gardens. Just minutes from town there is "Linden Gardens" and the flowers were spectacular to say the least. I have never seen so many tulips in bloom. The colors were amazing and it took up a whole morning drinking my tea and walking through this oasis.