Plugging away on the yard work

This weekend was a good start to the outdoor work around the house. We did a bit of transplanting and got the gardens ready to plant the annuals. I worked away at sanding our deck , almost ready to stain and set up the new gazebo. My son gave the gnomes a bath and set them out in the yard. He teased saying we should set up cameras to see what they are up to at night when we’re sleeping hehe 🙂
People usually have a love / hate relationship with garden gnomes , but hey they can be fun, we thought it would be cool to take them out on a few of our little day trips in the summer and take some fun photos 🙂
We have a pile of family and friends coming to visit this summer from all over North America so I am trying my best to get all the projects around the house finished up on time. Of course a little time out here and there for hockey playoffs and twitter is a must but I am sure everything will get done.
Handyman app by Wowzer Software has been a great tool for planning and shopping for little Reno jobs around the house. I hope they come out with an iPad version one day. The budget is great although I did go a wee bit over ; oops 🙂
A very productive weekend for the most part and it ended with a huge smile as the Vancouver Canucks won game one of their series tonight ! Looks like the Sedins are in this round full bore 🙂
Go Canucks !
Have a wonderful week ahead – best wishes and thanks for stopping by – William

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Home sweet home …

Well , it’s nice to be back 🙂 It was an amazing trip filled with fun and adventure but in the end it’s always nice to get back and unwind. The unpacking complete, laundry , catching up on mail, dreading the bills to come … Hehe
I’ve uploaded all the pictures and video, ready for editing , well.. Almost… I did hit one little snag. It’s this cute little camcorder I picked up from Sony (DCR-SX43) , it seemed just perfect at the time, it uses an SD card to record and according to the box it works with iMovie … Unfortunately I am still trying to figure this one out. I’ve tried iMovie on my iPad, iPhone, Mac and to no avail. So off to the Sony website I went in search of clues… Sorry this software does not support OSX ! You have to be kidding ! Ok, I’ll try a few other sites such as the discussion forums at Apple.com, well, I found more people searching for the same answers…
If anyone knows how I can somehow convert the files so I can download my eight GB of video it would be hugely appreciated and I will be sure to pass on the advice to the other people faced with this problem.
My son & I were somewhat overloaded with gadgets on this trip ; 2 cameras, an iPad , iPhone , iPod , Nintendo DSi & the Camcorder , it was fun watching the people at customs marvel at the xray screen when our carry on went through. The funniest part was that the one thing that baffled each one of them was the novel my son had with him, I guess it looks like a big solid blob in the xray 🙂 the only pain with all these little gadgets is all the power cords and accessories that have to come along for the ride …
While we were away, a friend had a little baby girl (Congrats Ruby , welcome to this wonderful adventure called life ! 🙂 ) I couldn’t resist picking up a little Minnie Mouse outfit at Disney for her, I hope they like it.
My son’s first day back at school consisted of a Science field trip, kind of a cool way to get back into the swing of things. He’s doing so well at school, I am a very proud & lucky parent. Being a single parent has had it’s fair share of ups and downs but I wouldn’t give it up for anything .
On the trip back David was all ready talking about what we should do next year, and yes , you guessed it : Disney World in Florida ! Personally my preference would be exploring Castles in the UK, or a West Coast outdoor adventure involving kayaks, whales , mountains and massive old growth trees , but I think that should probably wait until he’s a bit older. David is 11 and right now it’s all about roller coasters , Harry Potter & Pirates 🙂
The great part about going to Florida , is that we have a place to stay and friends to visit along the way. We have an Aunt & Uncle who spend the winters in St. Petersburg and the summers up here in Canada. It’s a nice central location for exploring the state.
Now that we are back and I’ve completed my basement renovation, it’s time to hit the garden and get to work on the other outside work that needs to be done. This weekend we are going to refinish our deck and put together a gazebo. It will be nice to get the yard cleaned up and the garage emptied out, hey , I will be actually able to park my car in there again hehe…
I hope everyone’s spring is going well , I should get going on some sleep , work comes early …
Nite all , thanks so much for stopping by
– Namaste – William

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Fresh is where it’s at …

When it comes to cooking meals the one thing most Chefs agree on is to use fresh ingredients. All too many people these days have relied on convenience when it comes to cooking. Fast and easy , just hit the closest fast food joint or pop something in the nuker for two minutes and there’s your meal. It’s no wonder there are so many eating disorders and such.

Thankfully in the last few years there has been a resurgence of healthy eating and cooking. Led by Chefs from around the world people have started to actually enjoy planning and preparing meals again. Trying out different ingredients and styles and having a lot of fun.

One of my favorite Chefs these days is Jamie Oliver. He has some fantastic books , tv programs, a great and informative website as well as a cool new app for the iPhone ! The App is called 20 minute meals and is the perfect start for people venturing into the realm of exploring food. The recipes are quick and easy and provide a wonderful variety. There are all sorts of videos including a number on the basics in the kitchen. One of his best books for tackling the issue of this age is : Jamie’s Ministry of Food. The problem facing the UK is the same as North America and this book provides helpful ideas on eating healthier.

Links :

Jamie’s Ministry of Food

Jamie Oliver’s Website

Jamie on Twitter

20 Minute Meals App for the iPhone

American Road Trip

Sample Recipe :  fragrant thai chicken & noodle broth

ingredients

• 600ml chicken stock

• 2 chicken breasts, thickly sliced

• 2 large shallots, thinly sliced

• 1 x large piece galangal, finely julienned

• 2 green chillies, sliced

• 200g rice vermicelli

• 4 small heads pak choi

• Handful mange tout

• Coriander leaves, thai basil and sliced chillies, to garnish

Preparation :

1, Add the stock to a saucepan, bring to the boil, then add the chicken, shallots, galangal and green chillies and lower to a simmer for 8 mins, until chicken is cooked.
2, Add the rice vermicelli, pak choi and mange tout. Cook for 2–3 mins till the noodles are done. Ladle into bowls and sprinkle with the herbs and extra sliced fresh chillies to serve.

fragrant thai chicken & noodle broth

Enjoy and have a happy week !

Namaste ~ william

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Figuring things out on WordPress…

I made it to my home computer and thought i should check out what the wordpress site looks like on a screen slightly bigger than my iphone. I added a theme , a few widgets and a poll just for fun. It’s amazing all the creative things you can do with blogs these days. I will have to spend a bit more time exploring WordPress 🙂

Hope you had a peaceful Remembrance Day, we had a quiet one, very restful , although my son is bounding with energy. He spent quite a while on Colleen’s cross trainer today followed by a romp in the neighborhood park.

I didn’t notice anything overly interesting in the news today. I usually use the igoogle app on my phone to quickly scan headlines and then go to other sites when I see something interesting. igoogle is quick and easy and allows you to separate feeds into categories such as local and world news , tech, sports , etc.

I must admit, I am addicted to iphone apps and have over 100 on my phone. A little bit of everything , some useful, others entertaining and a few i am trying out to decide which is best . There are several different Twitter apps for example such as tweetie , tweetdeck, etc ; each with it’s pros and cons. A few polls may be in order …

Anyway , getting late and back to work in the AM, night all , be sure to stop by again and say hi 🙂

Namaste ~ william

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Giving WordPress on iphone a try

Hello and welcome to my little piece of the web ! I’ve tried blogging a few times now but always found it hard keeping it up with a busy lifestyle of a single dad.
Wordpress seems to have alot of great features and the iPhone app is handy and easy to use so here goes the latest try !
I have a website in the works to play around with a bit of creative writing as well as show off visual works by some very talented and inspiring friends.
I will be sure to post a link once it’s been updated 🙂
You can find me on Twitter listed as willanddavid , (i am Will and David is my incredibly cool son.) Twitter is my favorite social site without all the bothers that come with facebook.
Give it a try if you haven’t yet :))))
So ; what will I blog about ? Oh , a little bit of anything… Life , the universe, but no mention of the number 42. Sorry , I don’t have any answers, I am just a little left of centre and tend to roll with the punches but as my favorite author once wrote ” there is always hope ….”
( Neil Gaiman )
Take care all, Namaste, and please drop by again – William
P.S. This blog is dedicated to my beautiful fiancée and loving son who both provide such an amazing adventure to my life :))))

 

 

 

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