The Long Road

What’s old is new again. Sort of. The new jerseys are a throwback to the original, with the most recent logo mixed in. Not too bad.

Very happy to announce that even though my “contractor” kinda sucked; he was always on holidays, entertaining people, off at weddings etc. (I’d think twice before hiring him again!), the deck is finished!

I’ll remind you of…

Before:

After:

And I used a kick-ass stain on it so that hopefully for a LONG time, this will be the result when it rains...

Special thanks must go out to Richard,Jamie, Todd, Grant, Christian and Michelle for their direct help at various times. And to my dad who lent out a bunch a tools that made my life much easier. Thanks guys!

For a retrospective on the whole deal, click here

Now, of course, when I say the deck is “finished”, I mean that I still have to build a pergola on it!

Well, as I’m going back to work on Monday, I’m trying to catch up on some summertime fun stuff that I haven’t posted yet. One highlight we had this summer was the 2nd, and now I dare say annual visit of Blake and Sandy, Hailey and Brendan. Last year we camped together and decided it would be a great tradition to continue! So this year it was on Nicola lake, and there were hot dogs!

You know there is some summertime magic happening when Michelle hangs with the kids!

Brendan was a trooper. I’m pretty sure that this was his first campfire roasting event and he figured out PDQ that you could get into some good eats! Check out the detail - you can see the tears from the smoke getting into his eyes; he was in the zone and wasn’t gonna quit!

2nd Annual Blake and Sandy’s Visit - Part 2 - Marshmallows!

This Post is brought to you by…

Several years ago, Jeannie and Stuart, friends from Vanderhoof introduced us to perhaps the best campfire innovation since “little white bunny rabbits” (to fight campfire smoke - doesn’t work) - Bailey’s in a Marshmallow Shooter Cup! Sounds good doesn’t it? It is. Basically you create a shooter out of a marshmallow, pour some Bailey’s in and slam it back. Sounds easy doesn’t it? It’s not. But it is worth it. Each participant in this ritual, after getting a few intro pointers, develops their own style and techniques. Behold…

Blake:

1. Pull core from partially cooked MM
2. Blow to enlarge cup size. (actually this excellent technique is mine and stolen by Blake)

3. Carefully pour
4. Drink it FAST (before the bottom gives way)

5. Check for damage (leakage!)
6. Look smug.

Michelle:

1. Remove skin from partially cooked MM
2. Blow (again stolen from me!)

3. Pour
4. Admire and show everyone what you can do

5. Knock it back!
6. Giggle

Sandy:

1. Get your slaves to pour for you

2. Drink FAST when your slaves do a lousy job!
3. Giggle!

Kev:

1. Lovingly, painstakingly cook the MM to perfection
2. Check for and confirm the perfection

3. Remove excellent MM skin cup
4. Look super cool

5. Enjoy!

Well my last week before I go back to work came to a close with a visit from Grant. He was in town as a presenter at the annual Tech It Up conference put on by TRU. I was more interested in the food and drink part of his visit…

Grilled Cuke, Tomato and Olive Topped Polenta with Seared Prawns.

Kath was in town too and so joined us!

The second night, Grant joined me. Our “kitchen synergy” produced some great stuff - “Goobs”, which I’ve been working on this summer (and getting close to being happy with), and Grant’s specialty, an old favorite from the China days - Broccoli and Fries. Grant promised perfection and did not disappoint! The fun was in the coordination - getting all the dishes ready to go to plate hot all at the same time. It went well.

Of course some of the fun was in the Blackberry Mojitos that Mich and Kath made!

We’ve had a great crop of tasties all summer. Now the cukes and tomatoes are ready. This is just a fraction of what’s come out and is to come out. Yum. Can you say spaghetti sauce?

I think I’m not very happy about this.

Read it for your self.

It’s what summer’s all about.

**UPDATED August 6** Happily it looks like no one was hurt in this accident.
Today in my hometown of Prince George, a CN train derailed and struck another, oncoming train. They proceded to burn. I didn’t see mention of injury or loss of CN staff, but it doesn’t look good to me. You can read early details here.

CN has seen some bad times recently, with several derailments and has even been charged under environmental law for some of them. I don’t know much about the train business, but I’m thinking something is wrong with this picture.

Michelle and I were recently in the small, quiet town of Minaki, Ontario. This is video of the CN train rolling though town. And yes, I was about 5 feet from the train at the site of the old railway station. It is more than a bit disturbing how close they let you get to the track, but more so, how fast they haul through the town. Could speed be a factor in these derailments? Hmmmm…

There is nothing quite like sleeping in your own bed. And so, it’s great to be back home. We’re back from a wonderful visit with Mich’s family in Ontario and Manitoba. Might be around for a few more days before starting a whole new bunch of (shorter) trips. Seems like summer is slipping away already…