Training Log Archive: Yukon King

went to new local farmers market - small but happenin', got nice cherries, raspberries & 3 apricots. R-berries got a bit warm & squishy so I picked them apart into still-OK & coulis-worthy, did that, stuck 'em both in fridge. This is in aid of simulating a thing from a summer breakfast on a plaza in Avignon - they did not have yaourt, but they apparently DID have quelque chose d'autre...which was this Perfect Food in a parfait glass, basically a runny strawberry preserve mingled with some sort of dairy product, which I have imagined he called fromage frais. So, recently (5 years later, & for another reason), I bought some. It is NOT cream cheese, does NOT go w bagels (gah). So, I thought back to Avignon, got out a lil yogurt, a lil milk, some sugar & vanilla (which makes all things better), & doctored up this FF I'd bought - with the raspberry combo on it, we ate it til we could not eat more, yum!
Also today I tried to simulate spicey green beans w D's new dark soy sauce, onion, & copious toban jian - getting a bit closer there, but I fear I need some mysterious asian preserved meaty/fishy thing - there is a savoriness I have not yet duplicated - maybe I'll try some nam pla & garlic next time.
walked over to the park today, saw two dogs, blackberries along the back of Cortina are gonna be awesome....

very weary this morning, so listened to birdsong CD & did a few minutes of yoga/RoM to remind muscles & joints what to do. Have been trying to stop putting steroids in my eyes, this would have been about 6th day but eyes are nasty red jelly balls, not comfortable is an understatement, so I caved & started drops again. oh well. I do have lotsa info for eye-doctor now, thats fer sure...
dimsum at old place in Kits, got stuck in back room & had to resort after asking 4 times for food (!? and um, what about carts? no carts) to grabbing other peoples' food from the waitresses. Very unsettling. I am going to bitch out James next time we go. "No back room for me, James!"
BBQ went marvelously, steaks were yummy & we finished off half a watermelon between us. Saw a mama otter & two teenager otters in the river. Watched the sunset.

wild guesstimate of meanderings at Elgin during BBQ.

for day 6 of the vacation, we shall have lunch w parentals down south by ferry terminal & D will give BA an overview of The Beast. Then we'll go for a barbie someplace of D's choice - he is gonna crank the Go-Anywhere up to Nuclear, & demonstrate for me what an Albertan steak is like - involves overnight marinade in dark soy so far. Watermelon, grilled mushrooms & zucchini slabs, plus a grainy bread to toast w garlic butter is what I will contribute.
we'll do a gam infusion before we go, hope it goes good!
Cardamon-scented cafe au lait while D N G do a Modified Monster Walk in the morning sunshine, yum....

so lunch went too long (ie the aftermath of tea & 7-layers of chocolate cake took sooo-o-o long to eat even between 4 of us cuz D & BA were happily chattering about the computer)(plus there was a slightly protracted episode of back-country drivin' to avoid a mess on #7 as helicopters dragged cable across the highway, my What a Mess) so we ditched the barbie for today (48 hours of marinating never hurt right) & went for (light) dinner of korean noodle soup (good), kappa & avocado maki (OK), & shrimp sunomono (astonishing-perfect) at the food court (!?) at Metrotown, then Wall-E at Metropolis w/ a strawberry bubble tea for me yum! that movie is cute & funny, but uh, doesnt really pull its punches on where our consumption is gonna be taking us. Disney wants us to wake up N smell the coffee pronto!!
All this of course was after G N me took an idyllic stroll 1.5 hours around the neighborhood, thru the woods, down to the parkway, dug part of a hole, sat in the shade, met Joey da Chin, Jessy, and Shelly on her way out w Fred. D took a much-needed nap after all the computer-splainin'.

today we are going to IKEA to buy 4 kitchen chairs for $20 each to replace the folding wicker chairs (IKEA, $20 each) that we bought seven years ago and are now falling literally apart. I am pretty excited! Plus we are gonna have a silly IKEA lunch on their patio!

so, train stn & DT to St Pauls to p/u 3 mo. of gamunex & corresponding sub-Q delivery harnesses, see if 3 mo. will cure me of needle phobia for once & for all or what, so ironic I dont like needles.
Then swedish meatballs at IKEA, bought a cheap basket (99 cents), some frames to dummy up some photos, & TWO chairs. Cuz really we only need two... Then G & I did a rather urban walk around the block, less cranky today thank goodness as she got to choose "up to Poo Hill", & "left at the gate". No dogs. oh except Calli, who is named for beauty not destruction (that would be Kali).
Then we saddled up in our island outfits (made me think Caribbean, not Hawaiian for some reason) & went to a new all-you-can-eat sukiyaki place (seems almost identical to shabu shabu?) which was wondrous food, but very riddled with gangstahs, to the point where I am a bit timid to go back. Too many tattoos & swear-words. maybe a lunch w Alfie?
The Beast (Alfie's ex-PC) has now been successfully reconfigured to the point where we feel comfortable that we can give it to parentals for their photos & word-processing. Microsoft, eeek!

made a chocolate cake & cleaned my trusty lil Weber Go-Anywhere in the morning, did a quick utility walk w G (she was appalled at the shortness of the walk), then packed dog etc into jeep & went an hour north along the Sea-to-Sky to Porteau Cove, which was supernaturally beautiful w sunshine, breeze, blue sky, & a sea that was a cross between turquoise & celadon. BBQ, long-dogwalk/reading in dappled shade, sunset, family walk out to the pier...another great day on the coast.

third vacation day - staycations work just fine despite Frommer's saying Dont Do It...maybe its because I invented the idea months before the term got cute...
went out for big breakfast, thank goodness we did cuz D sure worked hard that morning - we forgot exactly how the canoe goes together, plus the stretchy bits de-stretched over the winter, so it was much harder. But he got it done and then we had a lovely picnic lunch in the shade at Elgin Farm, then hopped in canoe & did three hours of up & down the Nicomekl river, just perfect weather. Dinner on Crescent Beach, surprisingly good fish at a "Bar & Grill" right on the beach, how fabulous is that? Then of course ice cream cones, and home. G was so enamoured (in a bad way) of the rabbits at the Farm that she forgot to pee, despite three walks. So she held it until her evening stroll back home. That was her very longest pee ever. met Shelly, Lola & Chevy, played w Mog a bit on the way home, passed out like a Very Tired Little Yellow Dog, to prepare for another fun day tomorrow.

C • Are you talking about stayi... 6

feet may be a bit better today, certainly hurt the last two days.
am considering trying some photos of sun thru the green glass collection from Anne's mom, also the monster flowerpots in the italian garden - basically the theme this year seems to be "lets cram all the colors ever invented by the plant world into a big pot & let them have a riot". I didnt quite know what to think at first, but now I like it very much.
Pains au chocolat & sunday paper on tap for day 2 of vacation, along w dinner of cold oregano-garlic roasted salmon on a bed of lemon-oregano couscous w toasted almonds & blanched chilled green beans, & a miso-dressed salad w....cucumber & baby tomatoes, maybe the few strawberries left cut up & scented w vanilla for dessert.

this was definitely too much, my feet made me screech by the end of the day, I could totally feel the eroded big toe joint in my R foot. gah!!!
but anyhow, it was a pretty day, second vacation day - we had the pain au chocolat, then a nice snacky lunch, went up the hill to Rona to make G's day bed taller by 7 inches so she can look out the window (she LOVES it!) - PVC pipe is so multi-functional! & cheap...
I wandered Value Village looking for city shorts (Nope), Alfie's computer case (long story), & fabric swatches for photography (Nope) - oh yeah, tried photos of plant pots, yuck, not what I want, more of a brocadey flat dense thing, I need actual bouquets.
The G & I walked down the woodland path w/ Shelly & Su-Jane it was fun, plus we met Bilbo the pitbull & Shelly Loved Him !! wow! Dinner on the patio was lovely, even D kinda liked it...