Caramel Toffee Crunch

 

 

A crisp autumn day, a bit of sun, and fallen leaves, make this the perfect recipe for a good time.

These are the photos from yesterday afternoon’s walk in Crescent Park.

And since I am learning how to do this “movie making” thing, each time I learn something new.   I was unhappy with the video quality, but I have just learned that on the bottom right hand side is a button that if you click on 480? will give you a much clearer video.  What a difference that made.  LOL.

Enjoy this calorie free treat.

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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Giving up the ghost

 

 

It all started with a tiny tickle in the back of it’s throat.  That funny indescribable feeling that something wasn’t quite right, but you couldn’t put your finger on it.

It would stall, as if it seemed to have to think a moment about the next movement, but it was good at hiding it’s imperfections.  Quick to cover up it’s mistakes, until finally one day it became very apparent that my desktop computer was showing it’s age.

It froze, just simply stopped doing anything, that annoying blink of the cursor no longer visible. After a restart, it seemed to recover, to pull it’s self together and function like it used to in it’s younger glory days.

Like a old dog, it will wheeze, and groan when asked to do new tricks.  Photoshop is particularly hard for it now. It takes a long time to recover from a trip to that program.

I know it’s warning me, “my time is up, I’ve had a good run, I need to retire now.” 

But like a old dog, who needs a final trip to the vet, I can’t bear to part with it.

This is our first computer, our first foray into the wonderful world of being in touch, and a step onto a hiway of information of such proportions we could never have previously dreamed about.

It’s life span is almost over, I have over 20,000 photos on it, [all backed up of course].  And memories, fond memories of bringing it home for the first time.  How proud we were to finally get a computer, how in awe of what it could do, how overwhelmed with what we had to learn.

I can’t bear to part with it, no matter what the techs tell us, “you’ve had a good 5 years, that’s a long time for a computer.” 

It’s part of the family, it’s our first one, we love it.

The laptop will do in a pinch, but I don’t enjoy working on it, I need a bigger screen, I need a real keyboard.  Compared to the PC the laptop feels like a toy.

And the PC is part of our family, and yes, I guess it’s like a beloved pet.  And I probably will cry when it finally gives up the ghost.

 

I think that it deserves at least a few tears, don’t you?

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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Everything old…

 

We have been noticing a lot of news stories on Freeganism lately. 

It’s a anti-consumerism lifestyle that is steadily gaining popularity as more people hear about it.  There are documentaries, tours, and new groups starting up all the time.

As gardeners, we realize that this really isn’t a new movement, it’s just normal practice for gardeners.  We call it sharing our plants. 

And everything old is new again.

Coming over to visit in the summer and you will leave with armfuls of fresh picked produce, enough to keep you fed in salads for a week. 

The Freegans choose to pick wild flowers from park paths for their salads.

Sure they are free, but we are pretty sure that a city dog did not walk by and water our veggies.

Visit a gardener in the spring or fall, and most times you won’t leave empty handed.  “Oh I have some volunteers of this plant, here take some.”

Or you will hear, “I’m splitting this perennial up, let me give you some.”

My early childhood memories involve standing next to a towering pitchfork, as a neighbor pried a dahlia tuber up from the ground.  Or a shovel of dirt exposing the perennial roots of a flowering plant that would become the keystone of our garden.

When we played at the neighboring kids houses, their mother’s would always send home a bag of peas, or some lettuce.  It was just what gardeners did. Freegans will be going through the restaurants trash to find day old wilted lettuce.

So while Freeganism may be all the rage now, we gardeners just nod our heads and realize that everything old is new again.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Cascading colors

 

 

Certainly this is a beautiful time of year.

Leaves fluttering from the trees with a dry rasping sound.  Softly falling into piles, only to be scattered by the wind and rain.

Vibrant hues, crisp air, and a feeling that Halloween is just around the corner.

I’m loving it.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

He loves Roosters

 

 

What’s the rooster got to do with this post?

I was working on some textures and felt like sharing this photo. 

So actually the Rooster does have something to do with this post.

Gar loves roosters, and chickens, and if you love something you project that in the way that you speak about them. And when you show a lot of enthusiasm for something, people tend to remember that.

And here is where we run into trouble.

People like to give you things similar to what you have expressed a “like” about. Which is really wonderful, except when you go from being the guy who likes chickens, to the guy who has ALL of those chickens, as in “wow, does he have a chicken collection or what?" 

When do you cross the line? 

Or as the joke goes, why did the chicken cross the road?

To find a place to live, it was too crowded in the condo.

So our little place was overrun with chickens, and roosters.  We loved them, but at the rate they were reproducing, it was starting to look like a hen house.

Gradually we managed to gracefully wean off our wonderful friends and family members who only thought of us as “chicken collectors” and now think of us as real people again.

Whew, and thank goodness.

So when a friend mentioned chicken collecting during a visit together in a gift shop, we made certain to peck that thought in the bud.

No cluck about it.

Are you the unwitting, or unwilling recipient of a out of control collection?   If so what do you collect?  Or..do you give certain items to friends, because they collect?

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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Dart’s Hill Gardens

 

Ask me what I did on Saturday? 

A fellow photographer and I toured a beautiful, once private, now donated to the City of Surrey, BC garden. Full of rare, and unusual mature specimen trees, and shrubs, many of which were in full fall colored clothing. Open to the public 4 times a year, this was too good of a opportunity to pass up.

We are also planning on submitting some of our photos to the photography contest they are holding. Wish us luck.

Here’s the link to Dart’s Garden’s website.

And if you are in the area, it is definitely a garden to put on your list.

  

Um, well, I don’t know what I did, but somehow I accidentally deleted the video.  You can click on this link to see it on my FB page.  Big whoops, LOL.

Click here for the Dart’s Hill Video

Jen

 

This is my first attempt at making a movie of my shots, yes, it’s slightly over 3 minutes long, but it was so much fun.  There is a button on the right hand side, that makes the photos bigger, although slightly blurry. 

Make sure you keep a eye out for those huge Gunnera leaves, over 6 feet wide, and the Paulownia tree seeds.  

Does any one remember what the tree with the bright pink, and orange berries is called? 

I used to know, long...time ago, in another life.

I hope you enjoy watching this as much as I did making it.

 

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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It’s a beautiful day…

 

 

My mind is humming that song from U2, it’s a beautiful daaaaaayyyyy.  And it is.

 

There are a few sunflowers left outside in pots on my patio.  I am sooo going to miss their yellow heads when the frost comes.

Oh and I was going to mention this ages ago, Muddy Boot Dreams has a FB page if you wanted to drop by, and maybe...LOL hit that like button.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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Dropping a love bomb

 

We all know about Bloggy love, those wonderful comments left by readers who at one time were complete strangers and have become friends.  Supportive, and kind, they lift our spirits when we are down, or discouraged.

There is an amazing amount of goodwill out there in the blogosphere. We have all been either on the receiving, or the giving end of a kind comment, and we know what a difference it can make to our day.

I found this article in the Vancouver Sun newspaper about a group of people who have started a online movement called dropalovebomb. 

Once a week the growing number of over 1500 people are notified of a new “mission,” on a predetermined day the team members leave supportive comments on the chosen persons blog.  Some have lost family members, some are fighting disease, others have children with severe illness.

In our own small way we too can give back, support, or help make change.  So smile at a stranger, hold the door open for someone, or leave a supportive comment on a blog, you never know what it will lead to. Maybe together we can make the world a better place.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

 

Having a wonderful time, wish you were here…

 

First, thanks to everyone for the birthday wishes for my Mom. 

We rarely get to see them, much less spend a birthday together, so this is a real treat.  With the long weekend coming to a close, they will soon return to the land of ice and snow. Armstrong, I am sure will be bracing for it’s first snowfall near the end of this month.

And of course, this having been a long weekend, it was supposed to rain, each and everyday.  What else would the weather do on a long weekend?  But...we had such a wonderful surprise yesterday, and this morning.

It was sunny, and it is sunny.  For how long, I don’t know, I don’t care, because I am living in the moment, and it’s sunny.  Wonderful sunny, and warm.

   Another family enjoying the beach yesterday, the tide was quite high, but the sun was gorgeous.

My Dad can’t walk very well anymore, so many of the little side trips we could take were out of the question, but we did manage to go to Crescent Beach.  It was wonderfully sunny, and we all ate ice cream, and spoiled our dinner, LOL, but we enjoyed it that much more.

I had my camera with me, and got a few shots of the two of them.  All, in all, I consider this a really great day.  Sometimes it’s the small things that stick in your memory, and bring you great joy. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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I can’t believe I ate the whole thing…

Do you remember those commercials?  The person, ahem, admittedly overeating, and saying “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing.  What was the product?  I can only remember the tag line of this retro commercial from years ago.  There should be a web site of all of these old commercials, after all the Baby Boomers are aging, and forgetting.

This will be the weekend many Canadians celebrate, and pushing themselves back from the heavily laden table, groan, “I can’t believe I ate the whole thing...:

The turkey, the stuffing, the mashed potatoes, the gravy, oh the gravy.  The sweet potatoes, the veggies, and to top it all off the pie.

My suggestion might be to substitute those minutes of gluttony, for a few reflective moments of giving thanks.

I am giving thanks today, [we are eating it a day early] for my family, for health, for the roof over our head, for our jobs.  And for the fact that we live in a great country.  And I fully realize that there are people out there who don’t have what we have.

Please feel free to add what you are thankful for in your comments.  I will be getting to them in between putting the turkey in the oven, mashing the potatoes, and eating the pie.

And for that I am thankful.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams 

I just wanted to wish my Mom a Happy Birthday today, love you.  And to say that you are one of the few people who will get to celebrate your birthday on such a auspicious date.  10.10.10.  Wow.

My tried and true have failed.

I think everyone has a tried and true remedy for the common cold.  Just like lots of people have a hangover cure.  I am not sure how well the hangover cures work, and I’m not eager to find out.  To me the best solution would be not to get yourself in that situation.

But getting a cold is something that despite our best efforts does happen, sometimes not for years, other times with too much frequency. I do admit that since I started my indoor retail job, I’ve fallen to many a bad one.  And for someone who never used to get sick, this is frustrating.

Why? And how, I guess are not the important questions, the good one is what to do now that it is starting.  Well, I threw my entire arsenal of herbal stuff at this one, but it still took over.  Kind of like really bad chickweed.  It just started to grow when you turned your back, and then the next thing you knew, it was up to my knees.

My garden, to use a euphemism might be in dire need of a good weeding.  Of course if you tend to the soil first, the plants will flourish, and the weeds won’t.  I’m tempted to say “oh manure,” and just head back to bed.  But there has to be a reason why I am so susceptible to these illnesses.  Gar on the other hand, he’s weed free, I mean cold free, for ever and ever. I’m getting caught up in the garden fence here, and confusing my plants, and my head. 

Might that have something to do with the pounding, and hammering in my head?  Or the stuffed zucchini's they planted in my nose. Who knows.

I just know that it’s soon to be the start of a long weekend, I have guests coming to visit, and I am doing everything that I can to encourage this cold to leave. 

Out darn weed, out.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

October forever

 

October is such a sweet transition month, and I have been reading about many Bloggers saying that it is their favorite.

I’d like to go one further, and say, “October, I would like to live in you forever.”

Could you imagine, soft warm days, some of them hot, some cooler, and deep dark nights. Pumpkins, harvest, sunflowers, and sunshine? And for us Canadians, a Thanksgiving holiday..

Pure bliss.

October I love you forever. Well, maybe almost as much as I do April.  It’s close.

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

Memories are the flowers…

Memories are the flowers, in the garden of the mind. 

I have rewritten this post so many times the screen should have eraser marks all over it.  I wanted to let everyone know that my newest Alzheimer’s card has just gotten back from the printers.  And how much I love it, and how hopeful I am that it will help raise funds that will be donated to the BC Alzheimer’s Society.  And that somehow with those funds, we can help them find a cure for this disease, no matter where we live.

But each time I started to write this post, it got dark.  Gloomy, sad, it wasn’t upbeat, it wasn’t happy, and hopeful, and I didn’t like that. 

This card is about honoring those who have had, or are fighting Alzheimer’s disease, it says so right on the back of the card. 

It’s also about honoring my Mother in Law Rose, who passed away from the disease this spring.  All profits go to the Alzheimer’s Society.

And in my small way, it’s what I can do, with the ability that I have, to create, and design using my photos.  It’s not much, but it gives me the chance to keep a memory alive.

And I can certainly hope they find a cure soon for this horrible disease.

 

Thank you to Lori, of Family Trees may Contain nuts, for displaying a link on her sidebar to the website for the Alzheimer’s card.

If you are interested in purchasing the Alzheimer’s card please click on the link below, or email me Jen, muddybootdreams[at]gmail.com.

Muddy Boot Dreams Art Cards

 

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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Who be Boo?

Clockwise from left to right, next door kitty, and then all three remaining Bootsie.

 

There is this knock-knock joke punch line that has stuck in my head forever.  I don’t know if I read it in a book, or saw the scene in a movie.  But there are two characters, one of whom is trying to pull a fast one on the other.  He says, “knock, knock!” 

The other one says “who’s there?”

“Boo.”

Now the common answer would be “Boo who?” And then the first guy would answer, “Oh don’t be such a cry baby.”

But the second guy outsmarted the first by asking “who be Boo?”

Clockwise again, top is Boo, bottom is next door kitty.

 

And believe me that’s in my head running laps lately like you wouldn’t believe.

Look at these two, who is Boo, and whom is next door kitty?  Gar sometimes can’t tell, and I can’t always tell.  Except Boo has a bit of a tummy, [gotta do some more ab work booty baby].

Boo, Next door kitty twice, last one is Boo, and next door kitty.

 

If you don’t see them front on, or only see part of them through the bushes it’s hard to tell them apart. What are the odds that next door kitty would move in here?

So I am asking, who be Boo?

And just after I wrote this, Gar told me he was pretty positive that when he called the Boo in tonight, he was standing on the deck, right beside a raccoon.  The Boo came in, and the raccoon shuffled off into the bushes.  Sigh...what am I to do with that kitty?

Jen @ Muddy Boot Dreams

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