cloud chasing

people chase storms..

I apparently chase pretty clouds..

so here is clouds of today

and yes I know this first photo isn't of clouds..

 but  there is a rainbow if you look closely.. and i took it today.. 

and its in the sky.. as are clouds.. so..

it counts.

famous for my glamor

so I go to dad's house after I'm done work to walk the dogs
(yes... I know many blog entries seem to start this way.. but this story is NOT a repeat)
I usually leave a amount of clothing at Dad's house.. most of it dedicated for when I wish to walk the dogs. In situations such as this.. along with the weather etc
but it seems as though.. I somehow have brought back to my basement location.. ALL of my shorts!
so it seems that I have to resort to wearing a whole outfit for Southeast Asia


that means..
A shirt that is too small (for its from Cambodia and everyone there is very tiny so a large would fit a 12 year old girl or younger)
pants hiked up to my belly button..
shoes from grade 10 that are completely warn out
hair everywhere..
and freshly popped pimples (I couldn't help it! they were too juicy and tempting!)
and a bag with gem stones on it

I walk the dogs luckily running into no one I know

just when I'm covered in sweat

have dog bags everywhere

Im tangled up in 3 leashes 

this man starts taking my picture

HE WON'T STOP TAKING MY PICTURE

the dogs are exciting and pulling me towards him.

the small ratty dog gets himself stuck around a pole

the big giant dog is wanting to chase a kite

and the medium mexican dog is hunting for mice.

and I'm trying to walk away quickly so he gets less photographs..

gee... I wonder if I will end up in the newspaper or something..

It runs in the family

I'm not the only one with exciting days.. Dad does too! We are at the folk music festival this weekend and dad told me a tale how earlier in the day he was relaxing to music.. And he woke up from a nap to realize the crowd of three or four hundred people were completely gone!! And the band! Packed up! I had a good laugh about that. I also laughed that dad got pooped on by a bird crossing a bridge in the morning! See? Fathers daughter thanks for passing on the exciting Life genes dad!

same same but diffferent

over at dad's house when he isn't home..
and as per usual his starving daughter (me)
goes on a food hunt in the pantry and fridge for new goodies to snack on


ah HA! a burrito! perfect and fast and comforting! 
I cook the burrito..
I take the salsa out of the fridge
pour it on the burrito..


WHAT?! thats very runny salsa!! 
there is salsa juice EVERYWHERE!! 
and NO salsa!

oh pooh! 

I just soaked my burrito in Clamato juice!!

in my defence.. 

they do like the same

->

yes! that is EXACT REAL evidence of the two red liquidy things from Dad's actual fridge!!


Karma?
no.
really I'm being helpful by doing this for dad so he doesn't get tired of looking at the same things in the cupboard all the time.

helpful and handy roomie

So Aryk and I went to the south to go and get my car fixed

it was loud.. and people could hear me driving from a neighbourhood away..

(the awesomeness note.. now that they did something to the muffler or whatever it is they did.. Gordie is going to live for YEAAAAAARS!!! he's a '94 and still has alot in him! wahoo! they were also impressed that Gordie still has all his old parts.. I'm very proud of him!)

anyways.. on our way back home (we were in two separate vehicles)

I lost site of Aryk's truck!  (it was rush hour)

and drove the rest of my way home (almost missing the exit)

looking ahead trying to see how far ahead he really is!

I get home and look at my phone (for driving and being on the phone is illegal)

and Aryk sent me a text saying he went to pick up gas,

we were GOING to grocery shop together but since he is already there.. and I'm at home.. it was decided that he will do the lone bug grocery shopping trip.

I was like "HMM.. HOW can I be helpful?"  so I did the dishes.. started making lunch.. swept the floor..

then I got the clever idea of washing Aryk's new clothes (for he often puts new clothes on the bed or couch after shopping and thats often how people get bed bugs!)

so I saw that his new jeans needed to get washed separately so the colours wouldn't dye other clothing

PERFECT!! thats handy and helpful!

Aryk comes home all thrilled about all the thrilling things he got on sale from the grocery store

and I'm all thrilled that I was helpful while he was gone and we both got so much accomplished

I mention the jeans in the washer

...

oops

..

Aryk's work pants were in there..

and he has work in a half hour..

he jumps up and races to the washing machine "NOOOooOOoooo!!"

the machine seems to be on a childlock.. it can't seem to get opened..

long story short.. Aryk had to wear wet soapy pants to work..

"see Kristen? my life really wouldn't be the same without you.. for I'd be wearing dry pants to work"

:(

blind mice

as I write this.. let it be known...

that I am yes, crying

and yes.. I am sniffling up a mad storm

as in yes..

this blog is a event that just happened moments ago

the nausea is still with me

the emotion.. will be with me for weeks maybe MONTHS!!!

Aryk was playing around with the compost bin, stirring it around etc
I was filling up a pail of dirt.. and feeding the tomato plants..


and just when I was on my way back to go grab more dirt
Aryk goes "ELUAHHHHH!!!" frightened.. grossed out.. alarmed.. 
like a little girl seeing a spider, or.. when you are swimming and think the seaweed rubbing against your leg is a very scary slimy unknown water creature
Aryk scampers over to me (for safety) (because I'm really tough and such)
"SOMETHING WAS ON MY LEG!!" 
he goes back to look at it
a small pink baby mouse looking thing of some sort
its leg..
twitching..
Aryk informed me it had to be killed

not the dead one

I run away traumatized.. I'm still outside.. I can hardly handle it.. maybe i need to go inside.. for I feel like I might need a toilet..


Aryk says it had to die.. for it had a huge slash on the other side of its body due to his shovelling skills.. it was the humane thing to do
sigh
pout
ahhh!! 
oh :(
I am now feeling quiet and antisocial.. and of course upset.. so I bring out the laptop to blog about the upsetting experience
Aryk informs me there is another one.. and its alive
he brings it over in a shovel..
its cute.. and its breathing

Aryk has come to the conclusion due to its eyelids and nose that it is not a mouse..                but a mole.

OOOO!!!
I phone the animal rehabilitation centre.. and inform them that it MIGHT POSSIBLY be a mole. obviously the guy on the phone is thrilled and very excited
off on a road trip to the animal rehabilitation centre!
turns out..
its a mouse

but still..

it was like 2 days old! what were we supposed to do?  

if it isn't saved.. they have owls and eagles there.. so.. at least.. it will be part of the circle of life..

little ones

our tomato plants are pregnant! yay!

 our parenting skills of nurturing and such has been working!

Feeding frog Fredrick frenzy

if you look close at the bottom the little guy is
hiding just beside the yellow leaves

I think poor sweet Gail is suffering from having been Aryk and I's only child to then there being a cute and very adorable second child..
FOR SHE WILL NOT LET FREDRICK EAT!!
now when you go over towards the fish tank..
she swims almost shark like back and fourth along the top
and poor Fredrick hides for his life either behind the leaf or inside his little tree hut.
VERY UPSETTING!
for Fred is usually a very active frog always swimming and dancing up a storm.. its unlike him to hide away like this!

Gail's also getting a little bit of a belly.. overeating. 

Due to lots of staring in the tank waiting for a good "Feed the frog"
opportunity.. I came to realize that Fred has long toe nails!
did you know that frogs have toe nails? and why do they have them?

Blood worms. A healthy frog diet.

 

according to the internet.. Fredrick should NOT have toe nails! for he is a water frog.. which obviously explains the webs.. but it seems only frogs that climb trees have nails.. obviously for climbing.. it all makes sense.. minus the fact that Fred has both webs AND nails! confusion

I couldn't emotionally take the spine bones out of my fish

Aryk caught more fish last night.. and so today he is all excited for us to eat it.

guess I shouldn't have either 1. put in my blog how a provider is marriage material.. or 2. allowed him to read my blog

.. not like  its a bad thing that he is excited about eating another fish.. and getting excitement for this new 'woohoo' hobby in his life.  But him strutting around all high on himself when he talks about going off to be the "provider" is getting  to be to many eye rolls for my pooh eyes to handle! from now on.. I shall be more cautious on what   kinds of flattering things I write on   blog.

so he's making me sit outside while he guts the fish.. he's on the other side of the fence.. and this is the only side with sunshine baring.. luckily I found this amazing thing on iTunes library where you can play 'radio' music and there is a bluegrass radio station! WHAT?!! HOW COME NO ONE EVER TOLD ME THIS?! anyways... i'm choosing to admire the flowers behind me... as well as the baby bumble bee.. dream that I can learn the banjo.. and ignore the fact that Aryk's fingers are now covered in blood.. 

this murderous activity is sure a lot better with bluegrass and flowers.. AND Dad came over for dinner! (Aryk did the invite "awwhh!") and I helped with supper by making pudding! anndd... the wine was delicious as well all the other things along with the fish! yay to the fellas in my life! now if only Eddie could have joined us..

(this post was written a few days ago but not posted.. I am sad to report that Aryk has gone fishing 3 more times since this blog.. and has NOT provided ANY feedings for the family.. I might have to rethink things..)

Shhhh

I don't recall this.. but I found it and also found it funny!

also now I realize that Aryk and I have been together for a while.. which is a strange thing to realize.

handy resourceful housewife

So we had milk in the fridge that was about to go bad in two days.. and Aryk was curious as to what we should make to get rid of this milk.
Even though I had already spent the day baking up a storm (no seriously! a storm! cookies, muffins, rhubarb, we had enough baked goods suit for ... people who like to eat a lot of baked goods..)
but we STILL had leftover milk.
for baking doesn't use very much milk.. and the cookies were made with sour cream because we had a huge thing of sour cream that no way we would finish in time.
so I of course resource myself with the always handy 'google search' and started looking up things to do with tons of milk!
making your own yogurt was common.. but it seems silly to me that part of the recipe to make your homemade yogurt was to use yogurt itself! So if I wanted to make it.. I'd have to go to the store to buy yogurt in the first place...
but the other common thing people would suggest was rice pudding.
rice..
and pudding..
together
seriously though.. who came up with this? and why on earth did they think this would be a clever combination?
BUT I might as well make it anyways.. for maybe its a treat that Aryk greatly enjoys? and I personally don't know if I like rice pudding.. WE SHALL SEE! if not.. then.. oh well! at least now we won't have as much milk... and.. I will know our opinions on rice pudding for the future!
 besides.. Aryk comes home at night from work hungry.. and maybe this would be something that he would come home all delighted to see, and I'd be the handy resourceful housewife that he is reminded daily how much he loves to smithereens.
(when he came home i was all "I'M MAKING RICE PUDDING!! do you like rice pudding?" and he said "yes! I'm excited!")


rice pudding reminds me a lot of risotto.. rice.. boil, milk.. boil.. more milk boil... remove pot from stove top add milk.. return to stove.. boil.. wait for the rice to look fat and plump.. no liquids.. wait.. stir, wait.. stir... stirring.. waiting...
we don't have cinnamon..
borrowing cinnamon from a neighbour..
its ready.. it looks cute..
but the thought of it being rice.. and pudding..
after a period of time.. I put my taste buds at risk
oddly... delicious! odd texture though.. the puffy rice.. but it was good!
then Aryk confesses to me that he has "never liked rice pudding"
but this was "really good" and he scarfed it down and said he wanted more
now I'm onto him..
is he lying?
again?


so some of it was saved for a exciting future..
so when that day came it was exciting times in our basement waiting for this delightful homemade treat to be heated and once again savoured..


Aryk makes a face..
and spits out the rice pudding he just took a giant mouthful of
this upsets me
now I'm super confused..
did he lie both times and really rice pudding is like his archnemisis
"try it"
"why.. whats wrong with it?"
"try it."

I try it..

now I feel like vomiting

no seriously.. I seriously am going to vomit

"you put salt in this"

"WHAT?!!"


oh dear.. I meant to make cinnamon sugar.. but it seems as though I have made cinnamon salt...


and for breakfast? would you like milk and salt in your coffee? sigh no.. thats not a error in my blog.. I didn't mean to write sugar but instead I wrote salt..
turns out I didn't just put salt in with the cinnamon
but I also was being 'handy' and put the two jars of 'sugar' into one jar

now we have no salt or sugar..

sigh.. handy housewife?

maybe not..

should I have introduced myself?

As I sit here peacefully at the picnic bench in my backyard.. blogging away enjoying our baby birds chirping away
this guy.
a neighbour..
appears on his roof..
I'm feeling invaded in my blogging space! 
I debating saying hello

"awwwhh SH*&! stupid !*@# SHAAAARONNN!!"

"WHAAAAATT?!"

"where are ya?"

"I'M ON THE COMPUTER!!"

"WELL GET OUT HERE"

"I'M BUSY"

"WELL GET OUT HERE I NEED YOU TO GO GET SOMETHING! OH &#@^! then ^*&#@ I'll just get it myself &@#8"

I escape when he stands up and turns around

maybe I'll listen to the birds and enjoy the sun another day...

(sorry for the  awful photo quality.. I didn't have my phone with me and had to  be very sneaky and subtle as I turned around the laptop to get a webcam shot of the guy)

Went camping

little friends photo sharing

soooo.. I started following this 'Little Friends photo'  on Facebook a few months ago
and seriously every time they post a picture I smile/laugh up a mad storm or ooohh/awwwhh etc etc

so... I MUST SHARE THE JOYS WITH YOU!!

I promise you won't be disappointed

unless you are a fool

and of course you wouldn't like it..

for you are a fool.

http://www.littlefriendsphoto.com/index2.php#!/3/underwater_dogs/1

seriously though.. good luck trying to be grumpy after looking at this website.. 

this guys got SERIOUS talent. 

a hundred yahoos

100 years now of people stampeding!

can't even imagine what on earth it was like a hundred years ago.. the thought excites me and interests me to imagine it 1920's style.. obviously being me I would hope that the music would include some really rad jug band music.

A LITTLE bit bummed that besides the grandstand show... and a mug looking old fashion.. there wasn't much history being taught.. at least semi early camera stages of history no? or maybe a place where you could look at all the old posters instead of the hall when you are walking into the stadium? no? 

I did enjoy the big 'light up the night' fireworks quite a bunch though!

annnnnnnd seeing chuck wagons! seeing Allison! seeing Janine! eating donuts! poutine! Paul Brant! anywhom.. just thought I'd share my photos (as seen in blog below) before time goes by and it slips away from me.. kinda like the kelowna trip adventures! (i'm still going to try and do some.. just my life needs to stop being so eventful daily so I can keep up!!)

calgstampictures

moose means : eater of twigs!

So there I am.. just 1 minute of driving away from my mothers house..
sitting at a stop sign waiting for a safe time for me to exit the street I am on.. and onto the next when..

I SEE THIS GIANT HEAD POP UP OVER THE HILL

good grief! its a moose!

ITS HUGE! (I've been very fortunate to see moose before... but each time it excites me and each time I am absolutely amazed with how huge moose really are.. but this moose was HUGE! probably three times the size of any moose I've seen! in fact I wouldn't be surprised if it wasn't a moose at all.. but a dinosaur)
my mouth is dropped open
and I foolishly start pointing (I'm in the car by myself)
and saying with a thrilled loud voice 

"A MOOSE! A MOOSE!" 

obviously the cars across the street from me could not hear me
unfortunately enough for them.. they carried on their driving business and didn't even notice the adorable monster hanging out behind them
I decide to take a small detour of driving to the left instead of the right

THE MOOSE RUNS FULL SPEED ACROSS THE STREET AND I PRACTICALLY ALMOST RAN INTO IT

I'm thrilled!

"A MOOSE A MOOSE A MOOSE!!"

I park my car on the grass and hop out of the car
iphone camera in hand
PREPARED for mad photographing

and I march off up the hill into the woods
the grass is up to my waist along with the prickliest of prickly thorns
stupid  silly Kristen..
car doors unlocked by the road..
and chasing after a giant moose which is likely the biggest weigh a moose can be.. at 1500 pounds..
in a spot where I can hardly walk

what can i say..

 I really like moose .. es...

-Did you know that moose are only expected to live up to 6 years? unless they are REALLY tough and wise (as I expect this one is) and can live up to 20 years? did you also know that back in the days people used moose IN WAR? they would jump on a moose's back and take it into battle like they do with horses? AND! did you also know that Moose don't have any upper teeth?!! ISN'T THAT CRAZY!! MOOSE ARE SO INTERESTING!!

anyways.. I never got to sit in the woods and stare at admiration at this intriguing creature.. I left with only 100 mosquito bites.. 9 to count on my face
and bad breathing problems for about a hour after words... mostly due to fear that the moose would end up behind me without my knowledge etc etc all that other bad stuff

anyways.. I love Canada...

and I really love moose.. es

the pictures are from earlier this year when on the our way to Kelowna.. we followed the moose with fascination for a bit.. but they were too far away to capture on camera.
 I also google searched so that I could put up a actual picture of a moose... BUT most of the pictures were hunters being Ditchy and showing off their dead moose.. disgusting. and I can't handle it
so if you do now know what a moose looks like.. the internet is a amazing thing!