Happy Halloween......BOoo

                                                                       Happy Halloween!

 Odelia carved this Cat....

 Dave and I did the scaryYYYYYY one.....

    Although Odelia is getting older and we may not do all the things we used to we are still having some fun this Halloween. We got her costume together last weekend, she is going as Willy Wonka, a girl version. Then this weekend we made Candy corn Sugar cookies for her school party on October 31st. Odelia and I watched Charlie Brown Halloween cartoon The Great Pumpkin.... We watched some funny Halloween episodes of Modern Family and the Office.

       Last night,We carved pumkins last night with Dave. We made a scary one and she did a cat. The cool part was that we grew the pumpkins. We put on some classic Halloween music like Ghost busters, Thriller, the Adams family, etc.Then we roasted the seeds with our favorite recipe.

The recipe we got is from this blog and turned out really well so try it out. Yummy and cute cookies.

http://gingerbreadbagels.com/2011/10/23/candy-corn-soft-sugar-cookies/

Frida Kahlo a favourite female artist

Ever since living in Mexico, I have fallen in love with Frida Kahlo.She is such an interesting looking person and so complex.I went to where she live in Mexico and bought many of her paintings, well prints.

 She is an amazing strong woman. She over came many obstacles from her pain and surgeries after her accident, to her inability to have a child. She is an inspiration. As well, her artistic style is unique and I like that. She has many colours and symbols that relate to the politics of Mexico.

 I would recommed seeing that movie about her life with Salma Hayek. It gives a great over view of her life.The acting is great too.

To learn more about her life you can read her biography on the website http://www.fridakahlo.com/

Next month our book club is going to read ( my choice) the 2009 novel The Lacuna by Barbara Kingsolver which features Kahlo, her life with Rivera, and her affair with Trotsky.

I want to show this button art someone did of Frida Kahlo. I hope the video works to show the process of making this art.



http://vimeo.com/lilblueboo/process-frida-kahlo-button-art-time-lapse

Making Homemade Granola Bars

                                                    Here is a photo of the finished product...

                                       

                                            It is basically a one bowl mix of yummy ingredients.....

                                                      Press into the pan and bake.

                                            They need to cool completely in order to be taken out.

                                          Yummy healthy granola bars...without all that packaging.....

Garden blooming

There is someting very rewarding about growing your own food. I never was much into gardening when I was younger but now I find it fascinating and fun. Yes, at times it is tendious and never ending but in the end if there are even small successes then I feel some reward. I also enjoy taking photos of my fruits...hee hee. I guess documenting what has occurred helps because soon I know things will change.

 

 Here is the pumkin growing. It may even be orange by Halloween. Last time we grew one it didn't get orange but this one looks promising.

 I like the process of how the plant grows. Here is the flower growing and then the Zuchini just appears. Voila!

 This year we have had alot of Zuchini. So much that I am going to freeze some and oh course make some bread. Yummy!

 The raspberries have really been sucessful too. I am hoping I can keep moving and propagating them so we have a great patch every year.

 I planted a varity of tomatoes. Right now the cherry tomotoes seem to be the ones ready only.

 This is the first time I have gotten a green pepper to grow ....grow grow....

 These are the two big Zuchinis and three tomotes I picked yesterday.

Tracy Chapman - Give me one reason

Having  fun listening  to some great music from the past. Boy there are some great female artists: Annie Lennox, Kate Bush, Sarah Harmmer, Adele, Sarah Mc, Stevie Nicks, Cindy Lauper, Tina Turner, Joan Armatrading,...on and on ...so much talent and creativity.....Thank you ladies!

Making Candles in jars

                                                                     Me and Odelia being creative.....
Odelia and I made some candles this month. It was a fun a relatively easy craft project. After doing it I think it will be one of the things we do for Xmas gifts this year. Basically you need a jar or glass container, old candles or wax, and then of course the wick. I happen to have all these things as my mom and I years ago made candles with molds.

                                                                 Melting the candles

 We put in marbles but the really didn't show up. Next time we won't do this unless we have clear wax.

 It is important to keep the wick straight as you add the wax. As well you need to let each layer dry before you add the next layer of wax.

                                                            A view of the first layer.

                                                            Here is the second layer.

                                                 Odelia did three layers which turned out beautiful.

Jam we are Jammin with Straweberries and Rasberries, ya we are Jammin

It is a summer tradition you might say to make jam. A summer without jam would feel wrong. So with the weather being uncooperative we decided to make jam for Dave's Birthday. He loves Strawberry jam so we thought. Yes! I usually make blackberry and peach but this year is will be fun to make some different jams.We also made Rasberry jam another week. This time we tried using Stevia instead of sugar. The result was a very powerful jam that has a tartness and sweetness. I like it but you only need to put a thin layer ont he toast. I think this won't be a winner overall. But is was a good experiment.I am wondering too how long the raspberry will keep.

           Cleaning the Jam jars is very important.

I thought they looked so adorable sitting ready for canning.

And making our tummies so happy.

                        The Strawberries cut up ready to transform into our favorite sweet treat.

                                                 Brown sugar to add when the fruit is ready.

                                                                Mashing up the fruit.

The fruit is ready to cook and then be put into the jars.

The jam is put in the jars. Oh it looks so pretty....

Odelia a hard working jam maker.

Raspberry jam! Look at that colour!

I guess our next jammin experience with be with peaches and then Blackberries in september.It is lloking like a good crop just in our yard.Can't wait!

I guess a pie will be in order too. We have only made strawberry rhubarb tarts.

Creative Dancing and Singing

This past June, Odelia has been part of two productions in which she shared her creative talents.

                                                                 Odelia, Emily and Jaimie

                                                                  Odelia and Emily

 The first one was with Dance Works Academy year end show. Odelia took Tap dancing with her friend Emily. They had aot of fun and practised alot. Even though they had some changes such as the teacher being away and then getting a new teacher and some students absent. The performance was great. Odelia even got an award for her enthusiam and effort.

                                            Odelia and Ruthie

                                                                          The GirlZ!

The second show was with her friends at the School Talent show. She performed with Selena, Zeba and Ruthie singing and dancing to a song. Then Ruthie and Odelia did a duet.

I am such a proud mom. My girl did a great job. And boy is she talented!