Photo Dump: week 18

Every Wednesday I will post some photos of the week we had.  This week the rains arrived in a big way.  Yesterday I walked through a puddle so deep it had full grown salmon swimming in it.  I'm not kidding.  Of coarse I didn't have my phone, so no photographic evidence!

Photo Challenge: Saturated

This week's photo challenge was a bit tough.  When I think of saturated, I think of two things: how I feel after a long day of work and how my clothes look after a mountain bike day on a day like today (rainfall warning in effect in our town with up to 50mm of rain on the way!)  Well, I try to avoid having my photo taken when I am mentally saturated, but I do have some photos of me being physically saturated.  I used to downhill mountain bike race, back when I was a braver soul.  One race I tried to do every year was the Garbonzo Downhill at Crankworx in Whistler.  It's from the top of Whistler Mountain to the bottom and generally took me in the neighbourhood of 25 minutes or so.  That doesn't sound like long, but for a downhill race it is!  It seemed that every year I did it, it was a soupy mess after days and days of torrential rain.  Here's some pictures from 2007.  I got to be in the hotseat for a little while, but ultimately I think I came in 4 or 5th that year.

Before: dry, clean, warm.

Hitting the GLC drop at speed!  My current self would not do this!

Finish line!

In the hotseat (as I was the first racer, I could only lose the hotseat by getting passed!)

After: completely saturated!

I have to include a few shots of my favourite subject, Mr Finley!  Here are some photos of him playing on an absolutely gorgeous quilt that his Great-Aunt T made.  It is bold, bright and saturated with colour!

Photo Dump: Week 17

Every Wednesday I post some photos from my Iphone so you can see how we spent our week.  This week we had one special event: my medical school 10 year reunion!  So Finley got to stay in a hotel with mommy & he got to meet some of my old classmates & friends!

Photo Challenge: From Lines to Patterns

This week's photo challenge invites us to look at how the world around us, both natural and human-made, is full of patterns and textures.  Sometimes something as simple as the lines on the road can be captured in a way that is compelling and interesting to look at.   The link above will take you to the WordPress Daily Blog where you can see a really nice example of urban patterns.

I searched through my photos and have come up with a few natural lines & patterns, followed by some urban examples.

The dew on this spider web made a gorgeous pattern

I loved the look of these clouds against the blue sky - they looked so fluffy I could almost feel them

I don't normally find pigeons to be all that inspiring, but these birds on a wire really caught my eye!  Lisbon, Portugal

This is the beautiful pattern on the ceiling of the Opera House in Prague.  My friend Dagne and I were backpacking in the Czech Republic, and as we wandered past the Opera House one evening, someone offered us tickets to the orchestra.  We took them with enthusiasm!  Once inside, we were treated to a show by the National Orchestra that was fantastic.  We were definitely underdressed in jeans, but we enjoyed the show.  

This amazing stained glass ceiling is at the Empress Hotel in Victoria.  We were lucky enough to spend a few nights there during our wedding last summer.  It is a lovely hotel with a lot of character and history.  

The Cookbook Challenge is back!!!

Yes, it's true!  I'm on a blogging roll and I'm on a cooking roll!  I'm coming out of the new-baby fog.  At least for this week.

At our house we have been relying very heavily on freezer food: some stuff that I'd prepared in my nesting phase, but mostly delicious meals prepared by my mom.   I'm not even remotely exaggerating when I say that weeks would go by without us actually cooking a meal.  Between my mom's excellent food & Sushi Sen (I had to make up for lost toro time), we were taken care of.

But I like cooking, so I've been glad to get into the kitchen again.  Mind you, nothing fancy or elaborate is coming out of the kitchen these days.

However, as the summer days are starting to cool off into autumn, I thought I'd try something new on the BBQ.  I've always felt that my steaks and burgers could use a little improvement, so I pulled out the bible of BBQ: Weber's Way to Grill and made "inside out" burgers.   They were delicious!

Cookbook Challenge # 14: Brie stuffed burgers (minus the fancy fried shallot topping that was also part of the recipe)

Add a little Brie to your burger.... 

Ooey gooey good!

This book is a must have, unless you already rule the BBQ

Photo dump week 16

Every Wednesday, I dump a bunch of photos from my iPhone so you can see how we spent the week.  Enjoy! (sorry they are so small this week... they get all grainy when I increase the size)

This shot is courtesy of my Aunt T who visited us this weekend:

Photo Challenge: Inside

When I read the theme for this week's photo challenge, I immediately thought of Finley when he was inside me.  (It would be fair to say I've got a one-track mind these days!)  It's neat to reflect back on the pregnancy, and the kicks, rolls & hiccups and realize that it was Finley in there that whole time.  I am so glad to finally meet him and get to know his personality, but I do miss the sensation of having a baby inside and feeling that closeness with him.

Here are a few photos of Finley when he was inside me.  These are pictures from the 12 week ultrasound.  We were amazed at how active he was; he was like a little jumping bean!  When he settled down to rest, you could see the pulsations of my aorta rocking him to sleep... No wonder babies like to be rocked.

I was in denial, but now when I look back at picture of me with Finley inside, there's no question: I WAS HUGE!!!  I don't think you could fit much more baby inside me.