Of Moisture and Mosquitoes

Although the title would suggest a less alluring adventure, I promise, I was able to capture some goodies (almost as sweet as the licorice goodies) on my evening excursion. Lately when I see moss growing I can't help but snap a photo of it. I think I have a small fetish with moss and how it covers the ground and other specimens in the forest. I'd actually enjoy having moss between the tiles of a walkway in the backyard vs fill of pebbles or cement. I can see it now, nice natural blue slate pieces with bright green moss encompassing...

So these are two dead trees, not completely dead, where the moss is vibrantly living on each of them. Now if you know anything about moss, you'll know that it prefers moist soil and shade. I was hiking on part of the the Oak Ridges trail, called the Woodland Passage at the King City Seneca College location. I went further than the 500 meters of the trail though as I wanted to get more of a hike in with my new boots. This place was super soggy, I put a dose of the ol' bug spray on before I left, but I was swarmed by mosquitoes at times, especially by the ponds. To give you an idea of how wet this place is, there are 7 miniature bridges I encountered, that is quite a bit for the short distance I was walking (3kms). One is on the right, also note the boots, which are so comfortable, no blisters, I ran through the soggy sections and puddles, feet stayed perfectly dry!
Below is, (yet again) another picture of a stone wall, however this is a reinforcement wall and is man made, still beautiful and covered in part with moss as well.  I though it was pretty.


I went off course and into a field as I was interested to see what was growing, it looked like some sort of bean though I wasn't overly sure. Seems early for them to have grown so fast with the frost warnings. Anyhow after climbing a moderate hill I came up to this field and for the first time since I've moved to Ontario, (November 2011) I caught a young buck (deer) all by his lonesome along the edges, I capture him cantering away, he was beautiful. He kept looking back to see if I was still there too.  Adorable, made my night for sure.

 

 Oh, and another quick look-see, just in case I was chasing him through the field :)

 The rest are pictures I wanted to share from the hike that I thought were cool, moss, fungus and then the lovely overhang of foliage above the old garage at the Eaton house. Twas a beautiful night.

Lastly for the night, this is how I view adventures, one never knows what one will find, nor does one know how it will affect oneself, but most adventures are uplifting and make for amazing stories in the future.

Awakenings

My cat (Storm) has taken the liberty at awakening me each morning around 4:30 AM. This has been happening for weeks now. Today I was prepared, I had such a great night sleep Friday and then last night in Barrie that it didn't phase me and I jumped out of bed. I can't imagine what it would be like with 2 or 3 even 4 children (props to Mom for being such a Mom).

Though I didn't make it on any major trails on the nice day we had yesterday. I did get to hang out with my Dad, brother and two of his awesome friends Robin and Jesse. They are always great to see, such an animated, enlightening and hilarious pair.

Speaking of pairs... da da da...these are the newest addition. My Dad gave me $100 towards a new pair of hiking boots for getting my CGA. I was so happy, I originally went to MEC with a different pair in sight, I had performed some research so I knew I wanted Gortex for the water resistance, lightweight and ankle support. I found a lot of the boots to be to wide for my feet as I have a more narrow foot so the original pair felt too loose past my heel, which I knew would lead to multiple blisters in the future due to the friction. So these fit like a glove, they are La Sportiva's, and I love them. I unquestionably cannot wait to jump on to a trail with them and would have yesterday if I didn't get caught up with my vehicle and then catching up with the kids mentioned above.

I did have the chance, prior to having a great phone call catch-up with a friend on the west coast, to get out for a walk and admire the local greenthumbs in the neighbourhood as well as their varieties of trees & bushes. These are two of my favourites, their sweet scents are out of this world.

    This one to the left is a lilac variety, I love the blossoms on it, there is nothing like walking by a lilac bush in bloom, you can't help but want to cut some of the plumage for a fragrant table display. I have seen quite a few varieties of these bushes over the years. Though I love the purple, there is also a sweetheart pink out there somewhere, and the flowers are very similar to the ones here. I love the pink :)

This lovely tree to the right is called an Acacia tree, these flowers, are in such beautiful globular clusters, almost like the wisteria vines. They are also very fragrant, probably one of my favourite scents in the world, it's not often I run across this scent. They say the Acacia trees originated in Africa with an argument for Australia, I'm not to worried about the tree's origin, however I am thankful. Apparently a variety of Acacia's run along the Nile river. The seeds are commonly eaten and the scent often used in perfumes. I haven't, to this day, seen many of these trees, especially in the forest. Which leads me to believe the city of Vaughan did it's homework when decided which trees to plant and perfect locations within the parks (as you can see there is a pond behind it).

Before I jump into the shower and get this work day going(I know disgusting...work) haha, I must share yet another sunset and cloud mix with ya'll, who doesn't love a nice sunset? This was from my little walk last night as well.

Enjoy your day & week.

Gray days with mixtures of golden rays

If you are anything like me you'll probably remember some major events in your early childhood and have forgotten the others. I believe some of these moments pave the path to moments you continue on either throughout life or rejoin later in life. For example, when I was in grade primary (5 years old) there was a piece of our playground at school that went into the woods, it was fenced off about 5 meters in, but it was my most favourite area to get lost in on our recess and lunch breaks, it was a place where I was most curious. Today, though my knowledge has dwindled some of that curiosity, I still have those moments. Perhaps it's an inner child experience, whatever it is I really love it.

Today I had intentions of heading north, pickin' up new hike boots on the way at MEC, and going for it. Then on my way I saw this...

 And I realized it may not work out today as I didn't have all the rain gear. There is tomorrow, as Dorothy said, always a day away.  

I mentioned on Wednesday how crappy I had been feeling over  the past week and a bit, its a lot to do with overloaded work, highly caffeinated afternoons, reduced sleep and workouts. What do I do when these times come? Well, if you should ask. I tend to get in the kitchen and bake. Last night I made a paleo blueberry baked bread pudding and today for a makeshift BBQ I baked a cheesecake and made bruschetta. I forgot to take a pic of the bread pudding but below are the other two.

 

We also had some asparagus, couscous salad, baked potato, jerk chicken and grilled portobellos. (Its ok if that made your drool, it packed a flavor-loaded punch). My older brother has been pestering me to make a cheesecake for weeks, et voila!

Tomorrow I plan on venturing out after picking up the boots I've been eyeing for a while. I'll make it back home hopefully to do some painting I've been meaning to do.

I can't wait until July when work slows, this year has zipped by. 

I was just playing guitar with my Dad, he taught me house of the rising sun, which is great for arpeggiation and getting that damn F major down. Somedays I want to take three consecutive sick days (max per year) just to hammer out one or two full songs. Those are the days I realize why people who play so well have developed their skill over many days of unemployment or nights where they've not succumbed to the pressure to work overtime.

I realize, it takes time, a lot of time... 

Funny how some things come naturally and you aren't overly passionate about them, others must be developed and, some, well some are just impossible.

In addition to that banter

The food was scrumptious at Ruby Watch Co. Ambiance endearing. Company and staff extraordinary, as Amanda put it, I was a bit star struck when Chef Lynn Crawford was waiting our table :)

Here is a little shot of my view, nice accent wall :)

And the back of the place has a servery-style kitchenette with the main in the back. see below.

  

I loved it. I also loved the cake that came with the menu tonight, Amanda had the gluten-free version of desert which was a stuffed-baked apple.

So much food came to our table that we were unable to finish it! I got through half my piece of cake before I threw in the towel.

I 100% recommend this place, especially on a crappy wednesday when you want your spirit lifted :)

Hump Day Banter

I was just thinking to myself (while derailed at work) about what was going on a year ago. There was a trend in 2012 of making sure I got all my assignment work done and out of the way, as well as exams, so that I could partake in all of the wonderful events we had planned out for Jacq's wedding shower/bachelorette and wedding. While I'm happy to be finished school I am sad the festivities have ended...(totally one of those days with the current grey sky and the load of work).

I remember the first time I had seen her in a while was at my grandfathers funeral this time last year, it was a short trip for all of us, but we had a great BBQ after the funeral with family and it made me think of how lucky I was to be able to participate in her wedding  :)

Of course the memories will last a lifetime. However I pulled a picture of it from Helen's bunch from the first get together we all had, the shower, and in it I believe is the most genuine smile and evidence of the good time that was had.

I'm not sure how much trouble I will get in for posting this, but I really love this smile/laugh.

Though no one will ever be a match for a cousin like her, I do wish we had more cousins/sisters so we could get together more often and celebrate the times. Perhaps we will see one of our brothers marry in the coming few years.

I may be a bit selfish in saying that I also want to help decorate and/or plan events for someone. I feel as though I am in my element when I can do these things, much like preparing food and baking for people.

Dinner tonight at Ruby Watchco -should be a time :)
Here is another pic that captures some of the decor and lovely ladies who came out.

 

 

Sunday Funday - Quick Post - Words of Praise

I simply cannot let this night pass without making a small token of my appreciation towards a special person who has been in my life since 1997 (for all of you non-numbers people that is 16 years), who has always been there and always complimented, as well as challenged, the analytic and emotional processing abilities of my brain. 

I had the pleasure of having a late afternoon work-in-cafe date with her.It's funny, she mentioned how very different the types of work we were doing came to play, I reflected for a moment and noted in my mind how far the both of us have come and how great it was that we could share these moments together as if we were still in university together. Left is the yummy latte I had.

I am so lucky to have such a genuine, talented, colourful, beautiful, honest, tasteful, and flourishing friend in my life. This summer will conclude one of the most challenging periods in her life and I hope one of the most memorable. Such a journey will ensue for her afterwards, and I can't wait to be able to hear about her experiences as she travels.

This is a truest, as true as they come, best friend, Amanda. I snagged this photo from her grad ceremony gala because they all looked so beautiful in their gowns (she is on the left, her amazing roomie and friend Kirti is on the right).

We hadn't caught up in a few weeks so we worked for about 2 hours and Rsquared where I had a yummy latte, and then went for a bite on Queen St. W at Arepa. I had the beef tenderloin, avocado, fresco cheese, tomato arepa (see right) it was delish.
    While we ate we had a really great heart to heart of current affairs (as girls do) and it was almost like I was speaking with my intuition at times. I was reminded that as black and white ("B&W") as things are to me at times in the logical sense there are many things in life that aren't always black and white - like emotions, perhaps, when you pull apart each component leading to an emotion you could justify some B&W, not sure. Regardless I found this quote and it reminded me of what we had a discussion on. How good being on the correct path feels and never looking back at failed attempts. 

If I could tell her anything that I haven't said before it is that I truly love her, like a sister I never had, like a backbone I need in times of weakness or hurt. I only hope, she can, at times, view me equally and let me reciprocate all of the magnificent feelings on the path of life we're on.
Cheers my dear, you deserve it ;)

Saturday enjoyment - First day of June 2013

I can't decide if the weather we're having is typical for June or not. It was around 26 degrees and quite muggy when I went out yesterday. The stickiness almost deterred me from going into the woods, however I welcomed the chance of rain.

I wanted to stay close to my place for this hike as I had to prepare dishes for the family BBQ and head to Willow Beach around 2 pm, so I went to the Kortright center for Conservation. http://kortright.org/

Below is a picture of the visitors centre, as well as a picture of the glass house where they will host wedding venues (PS - they also do them in the woods...which is my ultimate dream :)), click the link and checkout some of the pictures you won't be disappointed.

I arrived around 10ish, this is the first conservation where you have to pay a fee for access to the park as well as a parking fee, total was $10.50, the most I have ever paid is $5-6.00. Anyhow, after seeing the level of maintenance of the trails, the solar power/energy walk and other attributes of this place I wasn't surprised there was a bigger fee.
I hiked all three of the trails, the Forestry Path, Power Trip trail and the Sugar Maple Bush with all of the lookouts. I had to go into the visitor's centre to get a map of the trails, the entrance booth the fee is collected didn't have any. Anyhow, the trails were amazing. I met a group geocaching inside as well as a couple who also didn't receive a map and asked for a picture of mine.
The highlight of this walk/hike was really just accessing nicely groomed trails and seeing some of the wildlife inhabiting the park. I've attached some pictures I took below:

     

 

 I believe a bear did his damage here :)

 

 

After I did the think I prepared a jeweled rice (brown basmati rice, slivered almonds, raw pistachios, dried cranberries,  orange zest, shredded carrots, diced onion, tumeric, cumin, etc.) for the bbq my Auntie D hosted for me getting through my CGA (so nice of her xoxo), very tasty dish, I got the recipe from a Bon Appetit magazine, it called for saffron, however I neglected to use it as I don't think it was required.

And then I made my very own, (first time ever) duck. It turned out amazing. I used Peach marmalade and soy sauce as a base, stuffed quartered orange pieces in the cavity. Trust me, no one was let down when the duck hit their plate :)

I was home by 1am (not bad) it was a great time, I received a lovely satchel for a tablet from Aunt D, it's beautiful, only to someday receive or buy a tablet, not currently at the top of my list, however I now have the perfect accessory for it.  The best times spent are times with family where you can eat, drink and relax. The same applies to the greatest of friends. 

Well enough for one day don't you say? Time to hit up the gym, lord knows there was a big enough feast had by us last night to feed an army :)