recipe of the week: hot chocolate

it's cold outside and the weatherman is predicting snow for the 5th of march. what do you do? make hot chocolate. you really don't need me to type out a recipe....but i'm gonna anyways.

enough milk to fill a mug
4 squares of good quality chocolate (i used lindt, with a hint of mint for extra zing)
mini marshmallows or some honey to sweeten

slowly heat the milk on the stove.
break in the chocolate and whisk until melted and heated through.
add the honey if using and continue to whisk.
serve in a mug with marshmallows floating on top.



bundle up in your fluffiest dressing gown and enjoy the hot chocolatey goodness!








spoon the hot chocolate into your mouth if it's too hot.

the other reason i came home

robin and jonathan got married! i am so wonderfully happy (and only partially jealous) for them. i've never been to a more beautiful wedding. unfortunately (for me) they have moved to vancouver so i'm going to be a bit lost this year without them.


robin was absolutely glowing. it was a completely spectacular day!

and the best part? i got to dance around all night with damien, he flew all the way over from australia for the wedding! it was just like old times back at g-a-y in london. he is pictured here with sarah, another candian teacher who found their way to england.

ode to a perfect weekend

i really should ammend the last post because it wasn't just a perfect day...it was really a great weekend.

making perogis *completely from scratch* on a friday night with friends is fabulous.

erin couldn't have said it better...

ode to a perfect day

yesterday was a perfect day.

it started with some great friends, erin and lydia, and a pancake breakfast at open space gallery. but not your average run of the mill pancake breakfast. a pancake breakfast featuring FANTASTICO! aka, the great giffoni, a very entertaining magician who pulled a rabbit out of the hat, literally. he also pulled some radishes and lemons out of cups and stabbed the correct playing card while blind folded. WOW! he was all around great. maybe lydia will post some of the photos.

we then ventured out to market square where we watched (from the rafters) 50 tubas gathered to play christmas carols.









i really enjoyed it! you might expect 50 tubas to sound a little 00hm-paaa-ish, but the music was beautiful. their hats said tuba christmas.we then meandered back to erin's to make angel food cake. any day that involves baking a cake is fabulous in my books. even if that cake is very persnickety and erin is hovering over you, making you nervous.









the cake has to cool upside down in it's pan on a bottle. craziness! and then of course you have to smother the delicate, fluffy goodness in chocolate icing. YUM!

i then wandered from erin's towards my bus stop thinking of what a wonderful day i had had. my bus was supposed to be at my stop within minutes, everything was dandy. and then...DUN DUN DUN...10 police cars with sirens come wizzing down yates street. i'm thinking someone has been murdered. the police start stopping at intervals down the street and i'm thinking someone has been murder right around the corner from where i'm standing. but then, off in the distance, i see terribly bright lights. so many terribly bright lights. and then the first of many colourfully decorated, huge trucks started parading by me. 20 minutes of lit up trucks, it was so great! i'm sorry for the blurry picture, my camera phone was all i had.yesterday was a perfect day.

face the fear

i never told you about my adventure on the capilano suspension bridge with alex.


as some of you may know, i am dreadfully afraid of heights. alex, is not. he really wanted to go over the bridge and because i like him enough...i was willing to face my fear.

i was ok with the idea of the bridge. i kept reminding myself that it was no longer the original bridge constructed of hemp rope and cedar planks and that is now made of reinforced steel, safely anchored in 13 tons of concrete on either side of the canyon. i was ok with the bridge until i stepped onto the 5 stairs leading to it and the stairs started wobbling side to side. i promptly jogged back up the stairs and onto solid ground.





alex was not fussed and continued across the bridge, occasionally looking back and trying to wave me over. no bloody way. he even stopped in the middle to look over the edge and take pictures!





alex eventually came back over to be in the hopes of coaxing me across and i'm not sure how he did it, but it happened. i crossed the shaking, wobbling, rocking, narrow, bridge over the HUGE canyon. i would love to insert a lovely photograph of the view, but i can't. my eyes were clamped shut and i was breaking alex's fingers with a death grip as he led me across.

i slightly enjoyed the ewok villiage on the other side. those bridges were not nearly as high or wobbly. there were some nice trails and ponds around and about as well so it wasn't a complete scare fest. the only problem is that i had to cross the bridge a second time. you'd maybe think that since i did it once, i'd be alright...fear conquered! no, no, that wasn't the case. it was maybe a little worse the second time.

bonfire update

alex and i made a guy fawkes effigy from toothpicks, napkins and matches.

he burned well and bright on the BBQ.

Remember remember the 5th of November,

The Gunpowder, Treason and Plot,

I know of no reason why the gunpowder treason

should ever be forgot.

Guy Fawkes, Guy Fawkes, 'twas his intent

to blow up the King and the Parliament.

Three score barrels of powder below,

Poor old England to overthrow:

By God's providence he was catch'd

With a dark lantern and burning match.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, make the bells ring.

Holloa boys, holloa boys, God save the King!

Hip hip hoorah!

A penny loaf to feed the Pope.

A farthing o' cheese to choke him.

A pint of beer to rinse it down.

A faggot of sticks to burn him.

Burn him in a tub of tar.

Burn him like a blazing star.

Burn his body from his head.

Then we'll say ol' Pope is dead.

Hip hip huzzah!

Hip hip huzzah!

burn him

Remember remember the fifth of November,
Gunpowder Treason and Plot,
I see no reason why gunpowder treason
should ever be forgot.

happy bonfire night! i promised the boy a bonfire and effigy burning. hmmmm. i'm thinking a tooth pick guy fawkes around a large number of candles on the balcony is in order.

doctor, doctor! i have a shooting pain in my head!

  

i love dressing up for halloween. it really might be one of my favourite holidays, after my birthday and christmas of course.






but nothing beats dressing someone else up as well, even if they were being a whiney baby and complaining i was getting makeup in their eyes when clearly that was not the case....not that i'm naming any names....


 

i like to call this bonnie and clyde ride again.

happy halloween!

as some of you may know...halloween got going for alex and i on saturday with erin and michael. some tentative plans became a reality.

but then sunday, alex and i continued the festivities with more pumpkin carving and the viewing of 'it's the great pumpkin, charlie brown!'

well, i said i'd follow ray's tips and share the results...and although his pumpkin is superior...i am greatly satisfied with my attempt.


what do you think?

check out 23 for all the carving festivities.

death by 'all you can eat' sushi

this is the face of someone who's eyes were bigger than their tummy.





alex and i went to yokohama for their tuesday night all you can eat special. it was very good and i would most certainly recommend it. but we suffered the down fall of any all you can eat ideal, we ordered too much and had to force the last few things into our over flowing esophagi as you don't want to pay for things you don't eat.




having to swallow the last three sushi roll pieces hurt.

extreme juggling

mr jeremy stepping it up a notch, juggling 3 balls while hooping. go team!

please bear with me...

i just need to gush for a moment.

this is alex.








he's from england, higham in kent to be exact. i like him quite a bit.

i just found out this morning that he's officially coming to visit me in victoria. HURRAH! he'll be here on oct. 4th for a month.

anyhoo. the point of this was to tell you all how great alex is and how wonderfully he treats me. i got a little package in the mail a few days ago and discovered the cutest thing inside.he sewed me a heart, with his own hands, and filled it with lavender that he collected from around his village. there was also a verse from a lavender inspired poem accompanying it.

it might just be the sweetest and most romantic thing a boy has ever done for me.

*swoon*

thank you for your patience.

fags are a hoot

how sexy is mike?! i've said it before and i'll say it again, every girl needs a gay boyfriend.

i went round mike's last night for a bit of fancy dress picture taking fun. it was such a randomly entertaining night!
mike's flatmate darren came home part way through, donned a suit and joined the festivities!you can check out the full photographic carnage over on 23. you can play the game 'spot the picture without the wine glass'.

may i introduce....

jamie oliver twist

i will be the first to admit that i am a cat person, i don't have much interest in dogs. but look at him! he's just so edible.

he belongs to robin and jonathan. i call him pukka although i don't think jonathan approves. officially it's ollie for short.

there are some more pictures over on 23, can you handle the cuteness?

i'm a pagan at heart really

monday was may day bank holiday and i was so lucky to be invited up to glastonbury by ben (robin's ex boyfriend) for the beltain festival.

it was a grand weekend! glastonbury is one of my favourite places. it reminds me a lot of victoria but it's much more hippy/pagan/yoga-fied. every other shop specializes in crystals or healing stones or tarot cards or wands or swords or incense. people freely walk the streets in celtic robes and the town is awash with earth tone clad, dread-locked, caped hippies or witches.

on sunday ben and i ventured to a barn dance at belham farm. it's a small farm that the city council wants to split up and sell off. well, this angered some local hippies and they decided to do something to stop the sale. a group of them began squatting and turned it into a fully functioning farm. they had yummy cider on tap and i bought a fantastic mixed lentil-rice soup mix.

then we went to a steam engine fair, as you do. we eventually capped off the day with a pint of bitter called tally-ho in an old pub (with original tudor beams and fireplace) with live blues playing in the background. nice!

monday was beltain day. we were up at 4am to leave by half 4 and walked over hill and dale for a 5am start at chalice well. oh dear god. walking muddy-hilly tracks in the pre-dawn darkness getting scared by badgers running in your path is only slightly fun. oh yes, it was also pouring with rain. the entire weekend had been beautiful and sunny until that morning. ben was so kind as to lend me the best coat in the world. i was the only one who stayed warm and dry, but it came at a cost. the coat weighed about 20 pounds.

beltain celebrates the day between vernal equinox and summer solstice. it's basically the start of summer. a fair crowd gathered in the chalice gardens and we followed queen may and the green man by the holy thorn where we picked up flower offerings. we went through a small arch where we also picked up and lit a tealight and then we were cleansed by a sage smudge and sacred light. we left our offerings at the chalice well and waited for everyone to gather around.

we then participated in a group meditation. the theme of the contemplation were the things we wanted to grow within our lives. what seed did we want to nurture in the coming summer season? what wish did we have for ourselves, our friends, and the world? we were also encouraged to ask the rain to stop at the end of our mediation. poetry was then shared by various people.

the group processed through another archway to an open field where the beltain fire was lit. what happened when everyone entered the field? the rain stopped.

the bard of glastonbury then led his choir in traditional beltain-spring-summer folk songs while people jumped over the smaller beltain fire. once you jumped you went through the branch archway created by queen may and the green man thus cleansing yourself.

you can see ben jumping the fire in the last picture. yes, he has an antler (made from branches) and ivy head-dress on.

around 7am or so we left the festivities and walked up the tor to get a view of the newly sunny morning. we were home by 9am and in bed by 10. fantastic!

ben's house backs onto a farm and i pet one of the cows.

i want to live in glastonbury.

everyone should read into it's history, it's wonderful, i thoroughly enjoy every aspect of it - christian and pagan. glastonbury is avalon. i stood by king arthur's *supposed* grave at glastonbury abbey. chalice well is *supposedly* where joseph of arimathea dipped the chalice that caught jesus' blood. when jesus was a child he came to glastonbury *supposedly*. joseph also *supposedly* brought the holy thorn over from the east. although, there are 3 holy thorn sites and i can't say which is the original. i say supposedly....it's all myth and legend, but there is some sort of power in that area, a feeling in the air. it's enchanting. it's exciting that someone i know owns a house there.

i'll be posting many picutres on 23 and flickr....hopefully tonight, check 'em out if you have a minute.

one of my new favourite people

i met the lovely emer in dublin. she makes beautiful clothes!

check her out!