Vancouver Farmers Market

After a lovely concert last night followed by a less than lovely late night dinner (why must the music be so loud that you cannot speak to the person across the table??)...... we woke early-ish this morning to make the most of a kid-free morning.

Allan popped out to get his hair cut while I got my eyes opposite the holes and then we headed off to Vancouver for breakfast before the Farmers Market.

We ended up at this very funky Dutch Wooden Shoe Cafe ( wouldn't it have been easier to call it the "Clog Cafe"?  ....... oh ok...... now that I type that I see why they didn't use it.... my bad).   It has a very eclectic menu  - don't be looking for bacon and eggs and the decor is....... interesting.... lets just say "Restaurant Make-over" would gut it......but it would lose some of its charm.



And then on to the .......

This was my first visit - Allan has been a couple of times in the pouring rain through the winter months.  It was so lovely and so interesting!  Especially with "Animal, Vegetable, Miracle" so fresh in my mind and our focus on eating locally......... We wandered happily looking at all the wonderful food......

 

We decided, based on the veg available, that we would make Leek and Potato on Tuesday !! We picked through the organic leeks fresh from the ground and got an armful of goodlooking ones, which at $26, they had better be!!  It caused us to have a conversation about the cost of organic/local eating...... it does cost more so it either takes cash or sacrificing something else to do it.  It's an interesting discussion and hopefully as the Eat Local / Organic movement grows the demand will bring the prices down.

Our best find today was locally sourced wheat locally milled into flour...... this is the Holy Grail of local eating as it is so hard to find.....even Barbara Kingslover didn't manage this!!!  We had a lovely chat to the Miller (now how many of you can say you did that lately?) and bought 2 pounds of freshly milled flour which is already on its way to being a couple of baguettes for dinner!

Allan indulged me with a quick stop in Queen Elizabeth Park and I snapped these Spring pics of beautiful Vancouver.....

All this before lunch..... how lucky am I?

More than a concert

These 2 people are a big part of my day today..... and I have never met either of them. 

The sweet little girl is Maria Sue Chapman and that is her Dad, Steven Curtis Chapman.  They were meant to be together as you see them in this photo.  God put them together.  And they LOVED each other so much.  It reads like a fairytale.


But then this happened:

Maria Sue Chapman, adopted and youngest daughter to Mary Beth and Steven Curtis Chapman, was killed Wednesday night in a tragic accident in the family driveway on Wednesday evening. She was LifeFlighted to Vanderbilt Children's Hospital but for only reasons God can explain she went home to Him... not to Franklin as we all so desperately wanted

As if that wasn't devastating enough, it was a freak accident in which an impulsive 5 year old ran to see her brother, who was driving and didn't see her....... pain and tragedy beyond belief..... how to carry on?  and WHY? 


I followed the journey of this family from the darkest and bleakest of places, through their bewilderment to a place now of acceptance of the path their God has called them to for His purpose.  The Mom is this story is Mary Beth Chapman.  She shared the depth of her sorrow and pain and questioning in a very honest and real way and she grieved for all she had lost and hung on to all she still had.  I got her Book Choosing To See for Christmas and found it hard to read but good.....and very real.


Tonight Steven Curtis Chapman is in concert, he is a very accomplished musician as described here:

With nearly 10 million records sold, 56 Dove Awards, 5 Grammy’s, 1 American Music Award, 16 studio projects, and 45 career number 1 radio singles, Steven Curtis Chapman has made an overwhelming impact on Christian music. Beauty Will Rise, the new recording from Steven, is a collection of 12 new and profound songs from Steven Curtis Chapman. Created in the past 18 months in the walk through the darkness of the loss of his daughter Maria, and while God continues to meet him there on the journey. Part lament, part praise, part grief, part hope, part wrestling, part pondering; these tracks resonate as Steven’s personal Psalms. It is a desperately hopeful, raw, personal, and honest recording that is likely the most important of his already incredible 20 plus year ministry.

 

I got tickets for the concert for my birthday so I am excited to hear Steven tonight and both his sons will be with him too...... 

but first I have my work day, taking some OT to drive the McMath Girls Rugby team to West Vancouver for a match (an hour away) and then home and then back to Vancouver for the concert!!  Blessedly my parents are taking care of the kids for the evening and overnight so Allan and I can go out for a bite to eat after the concert.... like grown-ups :)

Cherry Blossoms

On my way to work this morning

I have been entranced by the Cherry Blossoms this year.  Maybe because they took so darn long to arrive!!  Or maybe because I want to photograph them.  Or maybe because they remind me of Japan and Japan has been on my heart and mind lately.

I found this today and it said what I was feeling so well:

Nothing says spring quite like the froth of cherry blossoms silhouetted against a late-winter sky. The delicate blooms usually blow to the ground within weeks, but their appearance, and the lacy blanket of confetti they leave behind, evokes new beginnings as few other trees can.

Beloved for their beauty, ornamental cherries were sent as gifts of friendship by Japan to cities in North America starting as early as 1912, when 3,000 were given to Washington, D.C. In the early 1940s, 700 saplings were given to Vancouver, and were later planted in the city’s  Queen Elizabeth Park. During the 1950s, Vancouver parks officials, who thought the cherry was the perfect specimen to replace forest trees that were crowding city boulevards, purchased more and began grafting their own. Today, almost 20,000 cherry trees grace Vancouver’s streets , and there are many more beautifying public and private gardens across Canada.

Cherry blossoms are symbols of simplicity, transience and ephemeral beauty. In medieval Japan, they symbolized the samurai. These men, who were prepared to sacrifice themselves for their masters, led lives like that of the cherry blossom—beautiful but brief.

Close to my office - I love the sculptural branches too

It was windy this afternoon and already - those blossoms so newly arrived, were blowing around..... such a brief but glorious thing a Cherry Blossom is and what a sign...... that seasons change...... which is one of the great joys of living here..... seeing each season slowly become the next.......

Thinking of Japan and hoping that beauty will come from ashes and blossoms will bloom there again soon.

No 3 Rd

Stanley Park (not my photo)

UBC Botanical Garden (not my photo)

Wordless Wednesday - Spring has Sprung

Sprint to Summer

It is that time of year......

The last school break before Summer is over and there are less than 12 weeks left of the academic year.  The next thing you know the Summer vacation will be here, summer camps are already booked and I should have had my vacation plans for August locked down..... but I don't...... and that is just as well as it turns out!

The next 12 weeks hold some pretty BIG things for our lives..... some we anticipated and some we did not!

1.  Lindsay has 2 dance competitions coming up followed by 3 performances at the Gateway Theatre...... plus auditions for next year!

2. Allan is off to the VEX Robotics World Championships in Orlando Florida with 3 teams.  A huge undertaking that has been very stressful but will be SO important in the lives of these young men.  After an intense competition they will take 2 days off to explore Disney World - for several of them their first Disney experience.  This venture is still sorely under-funded so if you know anyone out there able to write a cheque of any size... let me know ;)   

3. I have 2 conferences to put on, one in April and one in May - crazy making but they are both almost full which is wonderful! Plus the Annual Art Auction at work and the possibility of the new centre being ready in the Summer!!!  I need to hire me that Assistant!

4. David is playing Spring Soccer this year to keep his fitness and skills up so we are back to a soccer schedule after a month off.

5. There is Easter weekend which might just offer some skiing after the epic snowfall we have had on the mountains this year (and last year the Olympics had to truck it in!!).


6. Lindsay turns 14. Oh.my.goodness!

7. And Allan is going back to school..... this is a wonderful thing and a long time coming.  Although Allan has taught in BC for 17 years they will not recognize his South African credentials.  We have battled this decision for years but now the time has come to suck it up and get it done.  He is off to Trinity Western University to do a BA in Leadership in 18 months starting April 18th!  One night a week on Campus in Langley plus homework is going to keep him busy.  We are grateful for this adult degree completion program and that we are able to finance it.

8.  And the rest of our lives go on as usual.... I am going to try and keep Soup Group going without Allan (YIKES!!) and keep the family on track so he can concentrate on his studies. 

So this Summer we will likely be close to home (Allan get almost no break from studying) but the kids are going to one or two camps and we will do some long-weekends closer to home.  I think the veggie gardening (or Grow-op as our friend Martyn calls it :) will be our focus - we'll be locavores in more ways than one.

So, ready, on your marks, GO - we're in the sprint to the Summer!  See you there!

Byres Family Day

Sometimes you just have to call timeout on the world as it whizzes by.  Today we declared it "Byres Family Day" and did just that.  We had a day to celebrate..... us! Its the last day of Spring Break - the next few months are insanely crazy even for us and my mothers heart and instinct told me to take the day to nurture this gift of family we have been blessed with!

So we started with preparing food...... ha ha ..... coz that is how this family is. Last night as dinner was ready Allan doesn't say "I am dishing up" he says "I am plating dinner"..... and no one bats an eye.  So he was up and marinating lamb before 9am today.

We are marinating lamb because one of the things we are doing as a family today is trying to recreate the wonderful Lebanese meal we had at Habibi's restaurant in Portland.  Much research has been done and all the ingredients were assembled.  Allan is making shwarma lamb, Lindsay is making hummus from scratch and David is making pita bread from scratch.  I did the shopping and put the rice cooker on ;)  Clearly you can see I am indispensable to the whole operation.

Anyway - that's for later..... after the food was prepped and in the fridge we headed over to Dunbar in Vancouver to our old haunt the Cozy Inn Cafe.  We started going there before the beasts were born and we took Lindsay there in her infant car seat many times.  We sometimes make the trek for old times sake and the great and cheap breakfast.  But it was closed.

So we headed over to Broadway to the Sunshine Diner - all 60's themed with enough Elvis stuff to make Lindsay happy (she is a BIG Elvis fan) and enough breakfast offerings to make us all very full.

After breakfast we headed to probably our favourite spot in the City - Granville Island.

If you live here you've been there, if you have visited us we have taken you there.....it never disappoints.
We loaded up with:

hot out of the oven Siegels bagels
chocolate walnut rugelah
fresh skinny asparagus (its in season)
Cauliflower (for cauliflower cheddar soup on Tuesday)
Lettuce
Peppers
Organic Chicken Stock
Paprika
Key Limes (which inspired a dessert of key lime pie made by Lindsay)

We also got two banana holders and a baguette shaper from the kitchen store. Whole other story!

We headed back over the bridge to pick a few items (like a gewurtz to go with the lebanese food) and headed home.

The kitchen was a hive of activity for a couple of hours as the meal came together.

And then we all took a break - I made a couple cards and watch some TV, Allan watched some Battlestar Galactica, David read and Lindsay did some social networking.

Then back to food prep - nothing like a house smelling of baking bread and lamb on the grill. MMMMMM

An amazing meal of epic proportions - a family effort that satisfied in more ways than one.  Making food together as a family is as fun and as connecting as eating it together, maybe more so.  I am so grateful my kids are so into food growing and food prep and food eating!

And then..... and here is a sad confession..... we had to right a terrible parental wrong.  While watching Ace of Cakes the other night the bakery was making a cake for the reunion of the cast of "Back to the Future"........and my children did not know anything about the movie!!! I know - what terrible parental
neglect of their cultural education!  They showed a few clips and the kids were interested and seeing as "Eat, Pray Love" (which I would rather see - ONLY because I have see "BTTF" more than once) is PG 14 - we downloaded (legally) the movie and are now watching it together while eating DELICIOUS Key Lime Pie. Thanks Lindsay Lou!

A perfectly perfect day.  I DO know how lucky I am.

The Urban Homestead!

For the last 2 years we have made a good effort at growing our own Summer vegetables in our backyard.  Our first year was a great success - we almost drowned in lettuce. The second year we rushed a bit and didn't seem to have enough time for it but we still got a good crop. 

And then I bought Allan this book for Christmas....... He was convicted and inspired and I thought I would leave it at that and see what become of it all........... And then I picked up the book and was similarly struck.  It is not only a very informative book but also beautifully written and I have SO enjoyed reading it. 

We do not have the land or climate they do but we are determined to maximize our growing space this year and to extend our season into the Fall/Winter as best we can.  We found that several of our friends were also going to plant veggie gardens of various sizes so we got together and had a garden planning "meeting" over a potluck dinner.  Our good friend Laura sourced some wonderful soil for us all and delivered it!!  We love you Laura! 

David found a packet of seeds he got last year at an Environmental Leadership Camp he went to and we discovered the seed company was only a few minutes away that had organic and heirloom seeds.  Allan and the kids went there on Friday and hit the motherload of seeds which threatened to completely overwhelm them until the Master Gardener in the store, a very cool dude with encyclopedic knowledge of what to grow and how, gave them tons of great advice.

We also found this book in Powells Books in Portland over Spring Break and have discovered how to grow potatoes in vertical tubes of tires - who knew!! Not us!!  But now we have the first layer of potatoes planted and are very excited to see how they work.  Thanks to Mike Sakaki at the ESSO at No 1 and Blundell for the tires!

The kids made a plan of the bed in a 1'x1' grid and figured out what could go where and when, then they measured out the actual bed and planted what needed to go  in today.   Other seeds were started in "incubator cells" and will be kept indoors until the air is warm enough to transplant them to the bed.  We got some pavers and created a space for the tomato plants to sit on and Allan and Lindsay planned a herb box they want to build together.

The potatoes are started

Urban Farrners in the pouring rain

Seed incubators prepared

This kid loves to get her hands dirty

Math in the garden - measuring grids

David carefully "draws" his lines

Tiny little carrot seeds

So veggie garden 2011 is off to a flying start.  What am I doing to help you may ask??  I am the recorder and journal keeper.  I am keeping a written journal (a la Barbara Kingsolver) so that we can remember what went in when and what the yields were etc. so next year we will be able to build on the successes.

We are determined to be "Locavores" as much as we can but especially in the summer months.  I am inspired to dehydrate (anyone got a food dehydrator they want to sell) and can and make into sauces and freeze as much local summer produce as I can to get us through the Fall and Winter without buying a vegetable that has travelled across the world to get to my table. 

I am delighted that tonight we are eating a filet of salmon that we bought last summer off the local boats in Steveston and froze......YUM.