Long weekend

It is the Civic holiday long weekend in our province where many have the day off today.

Last week I had lunch with my 80 year old aunt and her 87 year old husband. They are in excellent shape and still go for long walks. She was in town visiting her son and grandchildren, it coincided with the death of her long time friend who passed away that week due to a long illness. She extended her trip so she could attend the funeral this past Saturday. Her sister, my aunt passed away earlier this year. My aunt considers herself lucky to be in good health but it must be depressing as contemporaries start to pass away.

Laurie's Secret Scones

I decided to make Laurie's secret scones and they were so moist and delicious, I will definitely make them again. Thanks Laurie!  They are good plain or with butter and jam if you don't have any clotted cream or lemon curd on hand.

• 1 1/4 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/4 cup sugar
• 1/4 teaspoon salt
• 1/4 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 4 tablespoons unsalted butter, cold
• 1/3 cup + 2 tablespoons heavy cream, plus extra for brushing
• 1 large egg yolk

Rub the butter into the sifted dry ingredients (I used a pastry cutter), then add the yolk and cream. Laurie advises kneading by hand for best results.  I needed to add an extra 1/4 cup of flour as I found the dough very sticky.  Roll 1/2" thick, cut into 8 wedges.

 Bake at 375 F until golden (10 to 15 mins).

Exotic car show 2018

Son K and I went off to the exotic car show on Main Street last weekend. It rained buckets in the afternoon but we waited until the rain stopped for a bit and enjoyed the hour that we spent there. They had a live DJ playing music and it wasn't too crowded at that point. There was a man wiping down one of the Porsche convertibles, he said they put the tops on during the rain. Of course, why didn't I think of that?  The temperature was pleasant, I remember one year when it was sweltering hot.

Paint Party Friday - In White Pen

This piece in brown cardstock (4 1/2" x 6 1/2") is done in permanent marker.  I used my new white PITT artist pen to colour the background in, the whites of the eyes were painted using my new Sharpie water based white marker.  It seems a bit whiter than the waterproof PITT pen.

I found this quote on 'eyes' to share with you today, I love quotes.

"Where words are restrained, the eyes often talk a great deal." - Samuel Richardson.

Happy PPF!

Phones Locked Up during concerts

neighbourhood apples

I recently learned that phones are being locked up at some concerts. In this instance they use a facility provided by a company called Yondr. The phones are locked into a small case when you enter the venue. When you leave you tap an unlocking base. One person made a point that in case of emergency, you might need to use your phone. Do you think this is a good idea?

Mochi Ice Dessert

Welcome to August!

Daughter L told me they are selling these Mochi ice desserts in our supermarket, so we got some to try. "Mochi ice cream is a small, round confection consisting of a soft, pounded sticky rice dumpling (mochi) formed around an ice cream filling". They are delicious and come in many flavours, but are high in calories. So I just had one.

A nice lunch

Here we are at the end of another month, wow. We took an old friend to lunch last week. It was at an all you can eat Chinese buffet restaurant in the area. I couldn't resist taking the photo above, the ornament was decorating the washroom. They have some beautiful pieces at various places in the restaurant. Maybe the next time I can take this carved wooden flowers piece which I thought was lovely.

My friend had treated us to a lovely lunch at Christmastime. Her husband is suffering from heart failure. As we bid them goodbye and left, we had no idea that he had fallen outside of the restaurant and had to be taken to hospital. She was her usual cheerful self, despite having made arrangements to put her husband into a home as soon as an opening becomes available. It is just too hard for her to continue looking after him.

Anyway, I was happy to be able to take her to lunch last week.