Looking for Nuts, Finding Flowers, and I Should Have Gone To Subway ...

Believe it or not, I peeled my butt from the chair that sits in front of the computer and went for a walk. I decided  I had better get moving again before I forget how, and since poor old Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah is still languishing with a flat tire, shank's mare was the way to go. And bus. 

On the way to the bus stop, I passed this property. I would love to have this tree in my back yard, but I just don't know how I would move it.

I did leave with a plan, though. Bus to Newton Exchange at 72nd, then walk to 64th, in search of the elusive  Hazelnut Trees from last summer. I (thought) I knew where they were. Anyway, I had a chance to check out some shops on the way - such as this Thrift Store ..

... where I found this - a 1000 piece jigsaw puzzle about my favourite soap. At least I'm hoping it's a 1000 piece puzzle - and not a mere 998 piece one.

So, after loading up a bag with the puzzle, a couple of books, and a purse to replace the one my damn cat peed on, I walked around the corner and found this ...

.... which was chock full of these ...

I have never seen as much fabric in my life. Seriously. This was just one of many aisles, and each side was end to end bolts and rolls of as many kinds of fabric as you could possibly dream of, if that is your want. Or wont. Whatever. Wow.

The next place I noticed was proof of how good advertising works. Because I didn't think chicken at first - I thought maxi pads.

 Also in this area is the Fraser Region Aboriginal Friendship Centre
They have family drop-ins on Wednesday evenings, crafts and stuff and food - so I think I've found a place for Chris, Lizzie, Nikkie and me to go on Wednesday evenings!

 So then I headed down King George Boulevard to search for the elusive Hazelnut. No luck on the way down. Even the blackberry bushes that were so heavy with berries last summer were disappointing, so the containers I brought with me just in case remained empty. On the way back, though, I mistakenly found what I thought were hazelnuts ....

 ... but as we all know (especially my big brother David) these are acorns. They are what the mighty oak grows from. So I guess I still haven't found a Hazelnut tree. Oh nuts.

My stomach was telling me it was lunch time, so I unwisely passed a Subway and found Ronnie's Restaurant. I'd seen their sign before - cabbage roll, perogies .... and borscht. I have never had borscht, but I do like beet, so I thought I'd give it a try.

 

I ordered a coffee at first, and was quite disappointed (and a tad worried) when the gal brought me a mug of coffee that the cream couldn't lighten. I know from reheating my own hours old coffee why that happened - this stuff was also hours old. When I craned my neck to see the coffee maker on the counter and saw just a quarter of an inch of coffee left in the carafe, I had found my proof. Strike 1.

And then came the borscht. I really didn't think I would get a bowl of clumsily grated beet swimming in beet juice. I believe they poured a can of beet into a pot, flicked it with an immersion blender, and poured it into a bowl. A quick search on my I phone Yahoo! proved me correct - every Borscht recipe I found included stuff like seasonings (salt, pepper, garlic) and veggies (potatoes, carrots) and lots of other yummy things. I managed to choke down a few spoons of this watery concoction, but it just didn't deserve the politeness it would have taken to eat it all. Yuck. Strike 2.

The apple pie was made on site - so I was told - but the filling came from a can. You can tell just by seeing how flat it was, and if you tasted it, by how soggy the bottom crust was. Strike 3.

So, of all the places I've come across and eaten at since we moved to Surrey, this is the first one I would never even consider revisiting. I should have known when I walked in at noon and become their only customer.

There were a couple of shops on the opposite side of the street I wanted to check out, so I walked up to the next light and crossed over - only to find the sidewalk closed. I had two choices, to uncross the street, walk up to the next light and walk back, or to walk up the cross street and see if I could find a back way to the stores - one was Price Pro and the other Value Village.

I did find a street paralleling King George, and found magic. The back area of these two stores, instead of being littered with pallets and dumpsters, was a wonderful garden - with pumpkins ...

... apple trees ....

.... flowers of all colours and sizes ...

... more apple trees ...

... and just so you can get an idea of how much space this took up ... a very sketchy video ...

On my way again, an empty lot provided me with this art installation ... which I thought was very striking. Even though many would believe it's just a dead tree. I thought it was beautiful. But then, remember, I'm a bit nutty. (Who knows, maybe this was a hazelnut tree. Wouldn't that be ironic?)

And by the railroad track - hmm. That reminded me of an art installation in Nanaimo ... I wonder if that artist had walked along King George Boulevard at one time? Because this may have planted the seed ...

Don't you think?

By this time I was ready to head for home - and a bus driver seemed happy enough to take me close to it.

Just a Lyric Looking for a Tune, A Trip To Kelowna, and a Recipe for Sesame Chicken (yum yum)

We need a new road trip song. Let me see if I can whip one up ... let's see ....

oh my goodness are you sure that you've got room?
seems that spot is awful small for you to back in
this floor is messy, where'd you keep your broom?
i'm really hungry but your pantry's lackin'

so we'll stop at the truck stop in Chilliwack
get chocolate and cheesies in a great big pack
coke and cakes and coffee, and yogurt if i'm lucky
but never again their cheesecake cups cos they are pretty yucky ....

and it's drive along the highway, passing everything in sight
watching the stars pop up as day turns into night
trying to prop my lids up as night turns into dawn
and longing for a bathroom where there's none

and we listen to ray johnson
allan jackson
and george jones
willie nelson
randy travis
(but not the rolling stones)
 waylon jennings 
marty robbins
and mr johnny cash
(but never kris kristofferson, 
cos neil thinks he's just trash - 
and that's unfortunate

There. I think that will do it. Feel free to put it to music, just remember who gets part of the royalties.

 Our trip was to Kelowna. It was pretty uneventful, and I guess that was a good thing. I wouldn't think the driver of the car we saw squashed like a walnut had an uneventful trip though. Don't people realize that SPEED ACTUALLY KILLS?

As we were driving through Surrey, we passed a sign advertising FLAMINGOS AND BUZZARDS FOR RENT. Just in case anyone's interested. Meanwhile, I sort of wish they would have Burma Shave-like signs along the road.

Another sign I always take note of is HIGHWAY OF HEROES, and tonight I finally remembered to google it to see the significance. Well deserved, I would say.

We traveled under a huge yellow moon, which was actually a Seasonal Blue Moon, but the skies were turning blue again when we reached Kelowna. The container got emptied at the Superstore, then it was a 4 hour wait before Neil could pick up his return load - so we slept.

This picture is at the last brake check stop on the Coquihalla Highway - a much nicer drive this time of the year, but not so much during the winter. They have lots of Sudden Weather Change signs, and Avalanche Warning signs, and there is even a Snow Shed ... which is where you want to be if there is sudden weather change that results in an avalanche, I guess.

As you can see, in some ways, Neil is his father's son .... just walking away. In the left you can see what you may think is a huge snowy mountain, but you would be wrong.

 

This is a bare rock mountain, and it is very striking when seen in person.

Today was pretty boring compared to yesterday, but that's okay. I need some boring days. I did make dinner though - a recipe for Sesame Chicken that was floating around on Facebook. Steve liked it so much he went and bought Happy Meals for the kids so he could eat their share. Not that they would have eaten their share anyway. However .... since it got such good reviews, I'll share it with you.

Sesame Chicken for slow cooker

1 1/2 pound boneless/skinless chicken breasts
1/2 cup honey
1/4 cup soy sauce
2 tablespoons dried onion
2 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoon oil
1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
2 teaspoons cornstarch dissolved in 3 Tablespoons water
Sesame seeds

Put chicken into crock pot. Combine honey, soy sauce, onion, ketchup, oil, and garlic. Pour over chicken. Cook on low for 3-4 hours or on high 1 1/2 – 2 1/2 hours, or just until chicken is cooked through. Remove chicken from crock pot, leave sauce. Dissolve 2 teaspoons of cornstarch in 3 tablespoons of water and pour into crock pot. Stir to combine with sauce. Replace lid and cook sauce on high for ten more minutes or until slightly thickened. Cut chicken into bite size pieces and return to crock pot - can leave chicken in and simmer on low or serve. Sprinkle with sesame seeds and serve over rice.

A Week in Review - the ReWind Version

 August 19 - Work. Which means a 2-hour loss of time between 9:15, when I left the house, to 11:15, when I got off the bus at Steveston. It's much easier to doze on the bus when you get up at 5 in the morning and leave at 6:30 - but I would rather have that extra 2 hours snooze in my own bed - especially when His Royal Highness is at work and I only have a big kitty who purrs and snores only slighty to snuggle against my back.

Because I miss the rush hour schedule, the bus doesn't travel Westminster Highway, where my eagle (or eagles) nest, but I don't see them in the evening when we do that route either. Last summer they disappeared for a while - the bus driver back then thought they had gone to wetter pastures - salmon fishing. I kinda believe that is true, even if that was the same bus driver who told me only the males have white heads. 

Anyway, I visited one of Steveston's thrift stores on my break, looking for a paperback copy of Stephen King's IT, as the hardcover one I'm reading has to weigh about 20 pounds and therefore doesn't make a good bus book. I took a glance at their travel section ... and once again had to shake my head in wonder.

Anyway, my bus ride home was full of stander-uppers who were probably as annoyed as I was - the young guy with the sunglasses (I wonder was he in disguise?) decided he needed three seats, one for himself and the two wheelchair-fold-up ones for his giant load of groceries. And when the older guy left the bus, the jerk just pulled his cart closer and moved over so no one else could sit in the other seat. This is one of my pet peeves ..... If you have to move half a grocery store, you don't do it during rush hour.

August 18 - Steveston was booming on Sunday, it being hot and sunny and a Market Day. As I was walking from the bus stop, I saw two huge yellow school buses unloading about a thousand seniors, so I knew we were in for a busy day.

These kind of days end up being a lot of helping find the perfect pattern and the perfect yarn, only to end in no sales at all. Oh well. We did see several bags of yarn toddle out the door though. 

I helped one really nice lady who wanted yarn to knit her son a sweater - he was a big boy and needed a lot of yarn - however, since he was a guitar player, he wanted the sleeves shorter. Before she left, I said, 'So, your son plays guitar?' (because I have one of those sons too) and she said, he joined the band after his dad left. Of course, I asked what band was that? And guess what .... it's The Irish Rovers. Her husband was Joe Millar, and her son Ian is the guitarist who's getting the new sweater from Steveston Crafts' wool. How cool is that ... or groovy .... or sick .... whatever.

So, come on, now. let's all sing along ....6 minutes of  their 25th Anniversary special  is here just for you! And I'll be bold enough to dedicate it to all those I partied with over the years, cos you all know -- weren't those the parties!

And it probably was the gin - at least the Lemon Gin.

Anyway, I did break away long enough to wander through the market foraging for food. Their were a few food trucks parked and cooking, but I thought I'd stop at Blue Smoke BBQ and try their Clucker - a pulled chicken sandwich, which featured the same Thunder Sauce as all the menu items.

 Well, I was a bit nervous about the heat involved in something called Thunder Sauce, but I need not have worried. The most memorable thing about the bun was something, I guess the Thunder Sauce, was so watery, it made the bottom of the bun seem it was dunked in soup before I finished eating it. It was just okay ... nothing special, definitely not extraordinarily tasty and packing no heat.  And for street food - it was a very messy eat. Take a bite from one side - and all the innards pop out the other. I was really glad I was sitting in front of a counter with about 100 napkins while I ate my lunch, I'll tell ya.

 After work, I came home and found this almost hiding in a forest of weeds in the back yard. Our garden didn't evolve as planned this year, as our built-in landscaper spent all spring and summer nursing a f***ed up finger instead of a nursery. But these nasturtiums flew in from somewhere ....

 Steve's poor little finger isn't doing very well. The injury has caused him to lose most of the grip strength in his right hand, and his pinkie just spends most of its time being in the way. I didn't know the pinkie is the source of your grip - if you don't believe me, then just try a tug-of-war without using yours. Bet you won't win.

August 13 - This was a work day, too, but this time when I got off the sky train, there was a carful of people waiting for me. Howard had decided to take us all out to dinner. I chose Swiss Chalet, so we ended up going to McDonalds. Which was just as well, because when we drove down King George Boulevard yesterday, I noticed Swiss Chalet was all closed up, boarded up, unsigned and I guess closed for good.

McDonalds is on a Smurf kick, and after Steve took pictures of Lizzie and Chris, he told Poppy it was his turn. But since the cut-out cardboard was so low on the floor, Poppy decided to be smart and held it up in front of his face. Steve took his pic, then said to the lady behind Howard, 'It's your turn!'

She said, 'No, I'm too shy.' And I replied, 'No, you just haven't had enough beer yet.'
 

August 12 - Another of these Mondays. I stopped at the Richmond Centre on my way to work to pick up a magazine for my bestie ... and decided to have a coffee and muffin before heading on to work. However they had a new donut - Apple Cobbler. The coffee was fine ... I wouldn't have another Apple Cobbler donut though.

August 11 - ...and just when you thought you'd seen it all .... this is who was riding the sky train on the way home after work. I was a bit nervous about sitting back on, but he turned out to be harmless enough. Seems there was a big event downtown Vancouver and you could dress up as a gaming character or something and have lots of fun.

This was also Lizzie's 6th birthday, so she was a princess for the day. Her parents took her to Walmart, and she wore her princess tiara - and all the other little girls were all smiling and waving to her. However ....

... this just goes to show - you can dress 'em up ... but you  can't take 'em anyywhere.

So there you have it, my boring week+ in review. I'm just waiting for something exciting to happen .....

From Bacon and Eggs to Coronation Street - A Busy and Wonderful Day in The Life of Me!

June 14 - wow, that seems so long ago, but it was such a good day ... and night ... 

Steve and I started off the day with a brunch at Gordy's, a not so small hole-in-the-wall on Scott Road. Some people (like me) would call it a dive, but I was so glad I spotted it on one of my rides with Breehy last summer.

 We each ordered the $3 breakfast, and that was plenty for two not-so-hungry people. It's a cafe style diner - you order and pay at the counter, then grab your huge mugs of coffee and sit while someone who knows how to cook really really well prepares it.

This is a place of friendly folks, comfortable atmosphere, and lots of working guys grabbing their lunch.

We drank great coffee while we waited for our bacon and eggs ...

... and toast and the best hash browns I've ever had in my entire life. Kudoos to Gordy's - this was the first of three visits there in one week. One of the guys who worked there (he said he was the head janitor, but he took our order and gave me jam for my toast) asked me if I'd be their ambassador, like Angelina Jolie. How could I refuse. After all, we could easily be mistaken for each other, don't you think?

If I had the right wig, of course. It all comes down to the hair.

After brunch, we headed home, as I had PLANS. However, none of my plans included this ...

 ... but when a Cat brings in either a large mouse or a small rat, one hops wherever one can. 

Pauline and I were meeting at Steveston Crafts to pick up our checks, then buy some utterly delicious pizza from Steveston Pizza - the menu may look a bit boring, but when you read it you'll see that they sell no boring pizzas. We ordered the Green Earth and drove over the beach at Gary Point Park to eat it.

  

There was enough of a  breeze from the river to blow our napkins away, and the sun was shining. How great was that?

The pizza was so good it was a wonder we stopped eating it long enough to take a picture - 

 Pauline looking pensive ....

And were we finished yet? No way. Next stop was the Blenz coffee place at Garden City Plaza, for some strong coffee - after all, we had some serious staying-up-late to do.

And then to the River Rock Theatre - we had tickets to see Julie Hesmondhalgh and David Neilson, who play Hayley and Roy Cropper on our favourite show, Coronation Street. However, since we were way too early, we decided to check out the River Rock Casino - we had to walk through the whole length of that to get to the theatre anyway. Talk about temptation. And bells and whistles.

 That venture brought us up to $44, which we cashed out and shared. No wonder Pauline was so happy! I was too - but my picture was pretty awful, and I'm in charge of what goes in this post!

 Then it was time to mosey over to the theatre, for a couple of hours of great entertainment.

... with a side-trip to Coronation Street itself ...

The 1000 seat theatre was pretty well packed - you'd be surprised at the number of fans, from young to old and everywhere in between. I was, anyway. Surprised, I mean. These empty seats filled up quickly, let me tell ya!

 The set was  very simple - a sofa, chair, coffee table, and Hayley's famous red anorak (coat) hanging on a coat rack.

We were very surprised when Julie walked out on stage wearing her blond hair - and not Hayley's dark wig. What a difference! Talk about character acting, she and David are so talented!

They both slip into their roles as easily as they would slip on a pair of glasses. Different stance, different look on their faces ... and different tone to their voices. Amazing.

The first half of the show was filled with 'gossip' about the street and the characters - all of them described by Julie as 'luvely', by the way. Did you know that ..

• Peter Barlow is really short - they are all short, actually, but Peter's legs deserved honourable mention in the short department
• Roy and Hayley's wardrobes are the least expensive off the lot ....
• They both have one favourite scene - when Roy went to Amsterdam to get Hayley after her operation was complete
• There is a huge continuity team, who makes sure the clothes they are wearing in one scene match the ones in the next, because the scenes aren't always filmed in sequence. One thing they can't fix is the suntanning though - Hayley knocks on Tina's door when Tina is pale, and when she goes inside, Tina has a tan from a holiday. Did you notice that? I didn't.
• The bag that Roy has carried around since he started actually belonged to his real-life dad 
• Hayley's wig is the best selling wig in the wig shop where she gets her wig. Wow.
• Julie (Jules, actually) read for the part of Hayley, didn't think she got it. Since she had no cell phone, she was back in her apartment when they called and hired her for the part. Good thing, I say. Initially, her role was supposed to be very brief, but it lasted more than 14 years. I will be so sorry to see her go ... but she has at least two offers - back to acting on the stage. Meanwhile, click here for an interview with Julie regarding her last storyline. Sob sob. Sniff.

And now .. apologies. I did have two crappy but cool videos, but they refuse to play on this post. So I will just delete the black screen and Sorry this video is unavailable messages ..... if you want to see them, you will have to drop in and look on my cell phone. Sorry.

HOWEVER -  you can enjoy this You Tube video of Julie and David when they did their show in Calgary a few weeks previously - it's quite choppy (mine was much better, believe me.) Ahem. Or maybe it's just my poor overworked, worn-out computer .....

And then .... a long ride home! It took Pauline almost half an hour to get out of the parking lot, believe it or not, and then I just missed a 410 bus so had to wait at the Richmond Centre for almost another half hour for another to come along. I thought the bus and the sky train would be pretty empty at 11 o'clock at night - but neither was - still lots of people on the go. I did take a cab home from Surrey Central sky train station though - I'm not brave enough to walk up from the bus stop on King George Boulevard at 12:30 all by myself!

And so ends another adventure .....