trabin.ca

I have yet another new way to serve these tasty morsels.

Clean the brussel sprouts as per normal, cut them in half.

Toss them in olive oil and balsamic vinegar , salt and pepper, and then roast them in the oven cut side down at 375 for 15 minutes. flip over and roast for another 10 minutes.

This also works in a frying pan.

SO TASTY!

The leaves are out in full force, robins everywhere. Town has all it’s flowers up. Betty even has flowers blooming at her place. It is really hard to imagine that 5 weeks ago the snow pack was 92 inches up top behind the house and now there is no snow at 6km mark.

Mike and Zeta and I are doing well. We are keeping busy as always. Mike just finished up a major project for work. So he took a long weekend this time home. I so enjoy our long weekends even when they are full with projects. We were fortunate enough to be able to spend a fabulous weekend with Jim and Marnie putting the railing on the deck! Yes folks, as Mike says the deck is no longer fun! There is no more danger factor to it.

We had our usual trials with our projects. I was actually pretty proud of myself, I was left in charge of getting everything organized to accomplish this project while Mike was home and really it shouldn’t be too hard. With the exception that the materials that we tend to use are rarely easily accessible. So I found a guy to mill us some 5 ft long 10x 10 fir posts. Again not too difficult if you decide to do the project more than 10 days in advance. I also organized getting the railing to finish the job. YIPPEE!!! Now of course the dude that was milling the logs was 12 hours late to get us the first 6 posts and then 24 hours later got us the following 6 posts. It was a good thing we had some “glitches” to work out in the mean time. Needless to say we got all of them up by Sunday afternoon to find out that the railing guys sent railings and ballasters and spacers, but no hardware to HANG the railing! AWESOME!!!

We worked it out, we managed to get everything sealed and pre drilled and measured before the lovely Reanna from Calgary hand delivered the railing hangers.

THE START

Jim and Mike is full discussion

James hard at work!

We are really happy with the end result!

We had a chance to go help Jim and Marnie a bit during that weekend too. This is the project we were working on over there.

It is there new cook house!

We had a chance to do some Commandering. It was really great. Well except for the idiots that shot holes in the leftover helicopter fuel barrels up the logging road. Here are some pics of that but the good news today is that the company that left them has been reported to the environment ministry! SO now the clean up will begin.

Yes that is helicopter fuel being spilt on the ground.

Mike and I did all sorts of other things while he was home too. We pu tup closet door sliders, had some fabulous dinners, enjoyed some wine.

I finished the first quilt of my series. The pattern is called starry nights. It is a antique pattern which would be normally quilted in two tones. This is a modernized version of it.

It was a challenge but oh so fabulous

Paul was very gracious to take pics for me.

So much fun!

Betty and Paul were here this weekend. We had a great dinner with them on Friday night. It was nice to see them.

Mike went back to San Francisco yesterday so Z and I are on our own. We have lots of plans, I need to seal the wood on the shed, need to go pick up ply wood for the new closet doors, I am going to cut material for the next quilt tonight. All in all we will be very busy over the next while.

This is a big hug from all of us to all of you.

HUGS.

C and Z

Mike has now went back to CA. He is on a long haul this time around, which sort of sucks for both of us. However we do both get lost done when we are away for a while.

The weekend before Mike headed back to San Francisco we did get an opportunity to take the commander out and run the gamut with it. We wanted to make sure all was well with our new track installed. We have had such a rough time with it up until now we have not really gotten to take it out that far yet. We get too tired of putting the track back on constantly. Anywho, we did take it out and after having a chat with Wayne regarding snowpack, we took a measuring device with us and a chainsaw to clear the way. We had an absolutely amazing ride on the Commander which was really nice. We had to take down a few trees which is really fun. We also saw some cougar tracks up about 5km. Followed those for a while.

We stopped around 10km from home where the track got too narrow, the snow was very deep and well, we were stuck! Around that point, just after we got ourselves unstuck, We made it just a little further and Mike suggested we find a place to turn around. My thoughts at that point were, Hmmmm, if Mike thinks we should turn around, we probably should have turned around a WHILE AGO!

Here are some pictures of our trip.

Yes that is a GIANT Cougar print and yes this was just the other day!

Mike using his Chainsaw powers

THe view from our side of the mountain

Me enjoy some relax time while Mike uses the Chainsaw...

So Stunning!

There was 92″ of snowpack up here! We got stuck shortly after.

Just a bit of snow

Last week was super quick, I am working at both jobs at the moment. On Thursday of last week I headed to Calgary to do some spa nights with some of my favorite people! Enjoyed a fabulous spa at Jamie’s with some great women I have not seen in such a long time. It was a blast. On Friday I had the privilege of going to Marty’s citizenship ceremony. This was an experience I had not had before. It was way more exciting than I thought it would be. It was quite amazing to see the families that have fought so hard to be here in Canada. It actually brought a bit of a tear to the eye that some of these people were from war stricken countries, some had probably seen things we can not even imagine. It definitely made you reflect on what it means to be Canadian and how great of a place Canada is.

Abigail and Ryan at Marty's citizenship ceremony!

Marty accepting his certificate

I got to spend some fabulous time with my family too. Betty was pretty sick, but she is getting much better!

I got my fabulous boots I bought fixed for my giant Alien legs! I am so excited that I will be able to wear them. I will post a picture when I wear them the first time!

Betty and Paul and I went to Five Guys burger after our trip to Ikea. If you do not know what Five Guys is, it is the burger joint that Obama hangs out in down in the US.

Yum

OH it was so good!

Ok seriously, this was the stack of fries when we were DONE eating our 3 small fries!

I had the chance to hang out with Inge, she is just so much freaking fun! SHe invited a bunch of ladies over that I had not met before. We just had an amazing time spaing and hanging out. Paul was nice enough to drop me off and pick me up so I did not have to drive. Inge’s Appletini’s were yummy!

Sunday we met Derek and Dawna for breakfast at the Saskatoon Berry farm. It was delish. Then Z and I drove back.

Weather for the drive was good in general. Z was awesome as always.

Here is what we came home to!

water everywhere!

Zeta is loving it! Me not so much!

and more water

and more water

The good news is it did not rain today! But rain is forecast for the rest of the week.

This week has lots of work on for me. Betty and Paul get here Wednesday for Easter, so I am super happy about that.  Mike is busy at work! Project is running him ragged but he is getting it done as he always does.

I am going to sign off now so I can start quilting again. As always we love you all!

C and Z!

The weather has been a bit crazy here in Creston. Lots of wind for late winter and early spring! Trees down on our road, signs down around town. It has turned very mild here and I do have some little green plants popping up from underneath the snow when the warmth melts it enough to show through. With the nice mild temperatures we already have our seasonal river running through the yard.

SO glad most of the water ends up on the neighbors property!

I always know sspring is not far away when our friends come back to visit!

THey can munch as long as they stay out of my 2 flower beds!

Mike is home right now, we have both been out with a cold for about a week. Which is a super bummer! We are supposed to have FUN when he is home always.

The commander was in the shop getting it’s track looked at. We were very happy to find out that there was a defective part and it was not us just simply being mechanically inept! Even thought we both felt mostly terrible on the weekend we did have a leisurely ride up the mountain just to see if we would have any problems.

I have been trying my hand at making donairs at home. Since there are SO many options in Creston for food.  :)  I think I may have hit the right target for homemade donairs now. I will have to try them on Mike again when he can taste. I did take them into Thomas and Tina for testing and they thought they were great. Betty was the one to come upon the donair with sweet sauce recipes. So we made them at her place with whole meat to start with, and they were fabulous. After eating them though Paul mentioned that he thinks traditional donair meat is ground meat, not whole meat, so we went on a youtube frenzy to find the answers. We determined that indeed donair meat is not whole meat, but ground, however you can not “really” make it at home because we do not have the fancy spit roaster that they use. So I found a way to make it in the oven. They were great.

In other news I am working away diligently on the quilting project. Here is the almost latest. I have 11 of 16 rows done so far and I think it is pretty cool!

It is mesmerizing!

I have lost more to go but it is a lot of fun!

We are is spring planning mode right now here. What to do over the wonderful warm months? Well we may end up with lighting and a hoodfan! That would be exciting. We have some plans for outside, like finish the roofing on the shed and put up eaves troughs. We plan on spending a ton of time in the commander this summer too!

That is today’s update. I will be back soon!

Catherine, Mike and Z

It is spring like conditions here in Creston, I hear we are supposed to hit 12 degrees tomorrow! We will be seeing green in no time.

I was very thankful that Michael was home during our last mass snow dump we had! I love his winter bobcatting!

We have had a lot of fun with the Commander and the tracks this winter. We have had a few good rides, but had a few hiccups too. The Commander is currently at the shop getting a new track as they think something was actually wrong with one of the ones we had! Which A – sucks, but B – makes me feel better as I think we are less mechanically inept, and C – ROCKS because we are going to have a killer riding day before all the snow is gone, all we need is a chainsaw and a cooler full of great food and beer!

I have been quilting up a storm.

Here is the start to the first quilt cutting!

Here it is a little ways in!

I have the material picked for quilt 2 as well.

I have been fighting Planter Faciitis in my foot since before Christmas. It is just now starting to feel better MORE than it feels worse. SO I am happy to say that I have started to work out again and I am on a new eating plan MOST of the time.

I am trying a new way of eating. I am trying to eat according to how my body metabolizes food. It is quite a interesting theory. So far the results are good, I feel good. I am also exercising again, albeit not a running regimen at the moment like I would like it to be, it is better than nothing.

I have had many new and exciting meals.

Betty and Paul were here last weekend. I went over there Friday and stayed. We had some fabulous food as always. Betty is such a great cook. We had some great wine. We even had some interesting whisky.

Here are the pictures of the Ryecicles that we drank!

Betty adding our Rye!

They were pretty good!

So in general, I am just waiting out winter! But things are melting like crazy, so I will see green soon I am sure. Zeta is really happy as there is now water in all the ditches yet again! SHe is such a spring dog.

MIchael is back at the end of next week and WE LOVE THAT!

Here is a pic of me off my ipad today! Just for fun!

OH the other fun thing for me is I went out for dinner with George and Louise tonight. They are an older couple in Creston. I had done some computer work for them, so they paid me back with dinner. It was fabulosu.

Alright, I am tired, off to bed.

Cath

There will be a a lot of blogging to catch up with all of the things that I have done in San Francisco and area to date. I figure since I

A: have a lot of time on my hands when I am in San Francisco

B: love challenging myself to find new things to do

C: would like to have a log of things I have done in San Francisco

D: would love to have a reference for people I know heading to San Francisco

I will say that although I am not new to blogging, I am new to writing a Blog for others to visualize what I am seeing through words, not always pictures. Oh do not fret I will always try to add pictures whenever necessary.

San Francisco, California, City by the Bay, home of the immense and awe inspiring Golden Gate Bridge, the fearful Alcatraz and the well know Rice A Roni Cable cars! San Francisco is a extraordinary tourist destination, however there is so much about San Francisco that most people do not know. San Francisco is a giant city but it is contained in 7 square miles. San Francisco is eclectic, historic and picturesque. I find that on all of my adventures I marvel in the diversity of San Francisco. You can be standing on a corner in Union Square with thousands of other people bustling or you can be sitting on a park bench by AT&T park overlooking McCovey Cove in the off season listening to the sounds of the Bay. Both are equally amazing.

For all the rest of the blog followers, I will still be doing my normal blogs as well, but this will give us some more content for the down “winter” months!

Mike is on his way home now, should be pulling into the driveway any minute, so I am going to go.

The new San Francisco blogger!

Catherine

Which frankly never happens in San Francisco.

I may have even got a sunburn today.

Mike and I had a great walk in the sunshine today. It was absolutely excellent.

We went out in search of a new monitor, since ours got “lost” in the move. Or we forgot it in the rental car!

WE went out for dinner to a  French restaurant with Bill and Elizabeth last night. The company was amazing as always, the food was nice and only a block from the apartment. I even wore a dress with my cute new shoes I caved and bought yesterday.

Super cute

This was the view from where I had lunch yesterday. I ate right outside the gates of Chinatown. My only criteria was that I found a table on a patio in the sun.

I sat in Union square for a while watching all of the crazies skate on the ice rink in +20 degree weather.

It was kind of cool though

Here is a view of the Bay Bridge when I went to walk and meet Mike the other night.

It looks nice all lit up

On Wednesday I had the privilege of going to Napa for the day. Our friend works out in Napa proper, so I grabbed a ride with her in the morning, and borrowed her car for the day. It was so great. I hit Beringer.

someone was nice enough to take a picture of me

The Beringer House

Grapevines in "winter" here!

This is the beautiful fountain at the Franciscan winery

amazing countryside

These are the barrels at Caymus... One of MIke's favorite wines!

I do know that going to Napa alone, driving is a very bad idea! You “want” to have a bit of everything.

This pinot is amazing!

mmmm

Then it was off to Joseph Phelps just before lunch. I must say that the view is spectacular, but it was the only place I didn’t but because they were too snooty! I didn’t have an “appointment” so no tasting there.

The barrels are amazing

THe housing in Napa is incredible

Street art

Some great stores

On the way back into San Fran we stopped at Domaine Carneros. So nice to know people in the industry.

Earlier in the week I was wandering around and I got to see a different drawbridge. It was cool.

This is a picture JUST FOR DEREK! It is the soupman!

THis is a picture for Will. One of the piers...

Our friend Will from the coffee shop asked me to check on a old cafe that he used to frequent here. It is still here and they still are serving the Irish coffees like they used to. The people show up in masses to drink them.

They are fairly strong...

Here is a cool fence we saw on our walks...

Alright, that is enough blogging for now, I am going to enjoy my last evening her with my boy!

Big hugs to all

Cat

I flew down to SFO on Thursday. Mike had to move apartments yet again. And no the answer to your questions, is no he is not moving back home permanently. We managed to rent a place last January that was not rent controlled.  So alas when the lease came up they wanted to raise your rent astronomically. So we are moving yet again. Now the good news is that the new apartment is awesome, minus a few small things like the daily varying temperature. Really warm during the day and silly cold at night.

The new apartment has an amazing view. It is in Potrero hill. It is a really nice very trendy area. Lots of great restaurants and some really great friendly people. Here are some pics.

This is the view from the Kitchen.

The building

We have already had a chance  to eat in some great new restaurants. Thursday night we went to Aperto. Great little Italian restaurant in the area. We both had risotto. I had their Lentil and chickpea soup. Mike had their braised Broccolini. It was all excellent.

http://www.apertosf.com/

Friday after the big move – which really was not so big. It took about 4 hours total. That includes all boxes unpacked. We headed out the The Parkside dive bar. Had awesome dive bar food and we met a bunch of people that work with Mike. It was a really nice treat for me to put some names to some faces. We had a great time.

http://www.theeparkside.com/

We didn’t really eat dinner, we did have fabulous snackie food, so since after  drinking beer we were hungry we headed to the local pizza place, Goat Hill Pizza. It was awesome. They were closing so we just grabbed some Za to go and headed back here.

Saturday morning we got up and rented a zip car to do some final moving errands. We did a grocery run, a Bed bath and beyond run for a shower curtain and what not. Gawd I love Whole foods for grocery, I could just walk around in there for hours.

We came back and unpacked everything after finishing cleaning the old apartment. Then we returned our Zip Car. We headed downtown for lunch at Bangkok Thai Noodle house. This place is sooooo great and so affordable. I like to eat here at LEAST once while I am in SFO.

Number 6 and 7 ROCK!

http://www.bangkoknoodles.com/BKK_Noodles/Home.html

We of course hit the apple store for a new Iphone case for me and then hit up the mall for a massage and then hightailed it back here for our cable appointment at 4. Yes my technowizard could not sort out the cable issues, so we requested some assistance. We did find out that the problem is not Mike, but the fact the lines had been physically disconnected.

After all the cable was set up we headed out to meet Bill and Elizabeth at Leopold’s for a beer. This is a little European Gasthaus, with “Alpine” cooking. This little restaurant was absolutely packed. You have to squish in just to get a beer. When you walk through the door the smell of the food is to die for. Now the plan for the evening was to go for Sushi, but that was quickly quashed. We stayed and it was SO MUCH FUN>

http://www.leopoldssf.com/about-us.html

We drank several beer out of boots! The rule of the boot is the boot can not touch a counter or table. A boot is 2 LITRES of beer!

mmmm beer

Double fisting! You go girl!

THis was appies!

WienerSchnitzel

It was all so good.

So this fine sunny morning in San Francisco, we had big plans on going to this place called Plow. A very busy restaurant up our block. It was lined up down the street though, so we choose to just go and walk in the sunshine until we found a different place to eat!

We ended up at Serpentine. It was also great. I had dungeness crab benedict and Mike had Chicken Fried Steak and eggs. Mike’s was awesome and Mike was good minus the fact the eggs were still clear on one of my bennies. So I skipped that one. But as you can ready there had been no lack of food, do I will live. We walked back through the dogpatch and up this crazy hill!

The rest of the day has been hanging out watching movies with wine and cheese! Such a great way to end the weekend!

I will blog more later this week.

May even venture out for Carnival food!

I have recently realized that I blog backwards. I am just simply admitting it, but I am not likely to change it. It just seems like I should start where I left off, not vice versa.

So over Christmas which was quiet for us in Creston, we spent a lot of time playing with the commander with the tracks. It was an absolulte blast.

Us having a blast

Paul and Mike went up Mt Thompson on a boy run. IT was a bit chilly, but they had fun by the looks of things.

The abominable Paulman!

I told him to wear waterproof clothing! He now knows why!

We spent Christmas with Betty and Paul who were in Creston. We had a great day of games and food. Here is a picture of the mini desserts that I made for Christmas dinner.

Zeta was unfortunately sick over Christmas so our sleep was limited, but we forgave her since she is SO DAMN CUTE!

This is also the first picture I took with my new Iphone! Pretty nice!

Mike had to work while he was at home over Christmas but we did manage to get in some fun riding time. We also managed to fit in a LOT of hockey watching. Team Canada did fairly well until their ugly demise at the end. I guess we will just have to accept Bronze. If only the boys would have plyaed all 60 minutes of the game it would have been much better.

Here are some pictures of Mike and I on one of our Mountain trips.

Our tracks!

SO wintery

Not according to plan!

Not only was blowing a track not according to plan, breaking the shovel on the first dig into the snow was also not planned. Made things a bit trickier, but fun nonetheless.

I enjoyed a snow cold Rolling rock while Mike fixed the problem!  

The views are amazing up there

We had a lot of Garage time over Christmas. It was great just to spend time together. Here was Z’s hangout spot.

Over the Holidays Betty introduced us to a crazy new painting method. It is called Ebru. It is a old painting style where you paint on a liquid surface, the liquid is thickened with carageenan. You then paint on the surface and then set the paper on the surface and all the paint gets lifted off of the surface by the paper.

It is very cool.

It is so great…

I can not wait to do more. Just have to convince Betty to give me her secret supplies.

Ok Mike really wants to read part of this blog, so I will post this half. The CA portion is to follow!

Cath

Here was the start to the weekend fun

Installing power steering!

This bad boy is going to rock!

First tour!

It is so much fun, he has a chance to test it out today!

Mike in action

It can climb anything!

YAHOO!

SO needless to say we had a good weekend. We had our quota of garage time and had some great food and a nice relax this evening. I will keep you posted on the next few days progress. We are now hoping for SNOW! So our tracked crusader can keep us afloat!

Big hugs, Kietzmans out…