It's October 31st!

Beer making, sleeping and other fine things.

I woke up a little earlier this morning, with plans for a spin class at the gym.  But as my brain started up I heard the rain pounding on the windows and knew it wasn't going to happen.  I wanted to burrow down a little deeper into the night's warm blankets, but I didn't.  I woke my sleepy eyelids over my cup of coffee and walked out into the wet and cold to drop Shane off at the train station.  I hurried back inside and curled my fingers around another steaming cup of coffee and sat down to think.  I made lists, recipe lists, to-do lists and shopping lists and ate a toasted bran muffin alongside a banana.  (Pure delish!)  Once that was done my thoughts turned to Saturday and the trip Shane and I took.

Five Things

I totally smoked my shin on a slippery rock after my run Sunday.  It's throbbing and swollen, I'm such a klutz.

By the Hour

So I tried to take a picture every hour for a day.  That worked for three hours and then I forgot.  

Anyway, here is what you get.

6 am. Coffee, oatmeal and computer.

Supper is Served

Here is where I talk about the dinner we had last night.  Because you care, I know.

It all amounted to delicious food. 

I'll totally eat those sides again.

And I'll have to, since there are leftovers.

Keeping up?

I've recently (temporarily) cut most of the sugar and refined flour out of my diet.  Here's how I did that to my favourite bran muffin recipe, which is just as good as the original if I do say so.  Take my favourite recipe, and remove the oil and sugar, substitute half a cup of honey.  Exchange the white flour for whole wheat and the whole wheat flour for spelt.  Done!  Wasn't that easy?  You can be a bad ass like me and add the zest of the whole orange and a few shakes of cardamom.  Flavour up!  You can not be like me and turn your oven down when it blasts the snot out of everything with heat.  Burned muffins suck.

Richness

I was out for a walk in the chill of yesterday's morning, where the leaves were dancing on their way to the ground and the clouds were in a bluster.  I was thinking about what we talked about the day before, how rich we really are.  I thought: my boots make me rich, the way I don't feel the ground through my feet. My cold fingers make me rich when they remind me of the warmth I can go home to. I'm rich with the time to walk my dog and not work constantly, just to survive.  I'm rich because I don't have to pick pop cans out of recycling bins on garbage days, but I can smile at the old man as I walk by.  I'm rich because the wind can remind me of all the less fortunate faces the air has touched, my face is a luxurious one.  I'm rich with happiness when I can see Mt. Baker's snowy boots sticking out from under the clouds.  I'm blessed with the things I do have and am so much better off than most of the world, I remember.  I won't forget.

October Date Night

We had such an awesome time on our October date night!  Stuart McLean was funny, witty, interesting and his music guest Harry Manx was incredible!  Our November date called for a comedy show, but I obviously hadn't picked one out last Christmas, so when we heard in July the Vinyl Cafe was coming to town we scooped up tickets right away.  October and November's dates got switched, but it mattered very little.  We had pho before the show started at a place here in Mission.  It was delicious and cheap, perfect.  All and all an awesome night, I can't wait until I can see Stuart McLean and the Vinyl Cafe again!

Thanksgiving Weekend in pictures

I really love pictures.  I guess you probably know that.  

Here was part of my weekend.

I take a lot of pictures on my runs.  

Yes, I also drop my phone a lot.

Cinnamon Buns and Sunrises

I've been taking a picture of myself at the exact moment the sun comes up every day.  

This is where I was on Thursday, post run.

Right now:

I'm listening to the wind whipping through the trees, casting shadows on the walls.  The fact that I have shadows in this basement amazes me.
I'm dreaming of our upcoming weekend, three days off together.  I feel so lucky, it's going to be amazing.  To come; cinnamon buns, corn mazes, wood fires, mushroom picking, thanksgiving dinner, a movie night and a lot of cuddling.
I'm snacking on dark chocolate and coffee.  A post hike couch-session.
I'm remembering how it felt to live in our own little house this time last year, how much I miss it.  I'm remembering Natasha in the summer and how much I miss her.  But I'm also remembering how amazing it felt to be alive this morning, standing on the side of a mountain as the sun came up and the cold whipped around.
I'm debating wether I'll buy more dahlias from the stand on the side of the road in Yarrow tomorrow on my way home from picking up my csa.
I'm glad for this comfy couch and warm blanket and for sunny autumn days and the cute little gourds that sit on my (coffee) table.

September Date

We had our September date a few weeks ago, when we got kicked out of the house so the tile man could work in the kitchen.  The September date was to echo our first date, coffee in the park. (5.5 years ago already!)  Luckily for us we now live right next to a big park that has a terrific cafe in it.  We grabbed two coffees and sat on the deck, chit chatting idly.  Cute, inexpensive and familiar.  Good date.