Just a Good Day
It's Easter, a day of miracles, bunnies, and chocolate. That's a pretty good holiday, if you ask me.
I've been away from my family a lot during these holidays, and while it's something I'm used to, I can't help but miss them on days like this.
Today, hubby and doggie and I went off on a little adventure to Bragg Creek, about 45 minutes south west of Calgary. I didn't feel particularly Easter-y, but why waste a beautiful day moping indoors?
We decided to try the new northern part of the ring road around the city (Stoney Trail) and, much to our delight, it shaved off a good 30 minutes off the drive. Great news for future visits to the mountains!
I've always loved Bragg Creek. It's a little hamlet of shops, trees, and of course, the creek. It's a home for the well-to-do, but it's also a very friendly place with lots of friendly people who like to spend time outdoors. And you can't beat the trails.
We spent part of the day hiking around the creek, me trying to stay upright and doggie trying to stay dirty. I got a good dose of fresh air and exercise. We enjoyed an outdoor picnic (even though it was pretty brisk outside), and then headed down for a gander through the shops. To both hubby's and my delight, there is a new second-hand bookstore there, and I walked away with three books by my favourite vet-author, James Herriot (who I learned about when I read his articles in The Times in the UK before he passed away). Anyone who knows the Yorkshire accent and who loves animals would get a kick out of his books, and they had a big stack of them! I can't wait to go back!
I wish I'd taken a photo of it, but there were lots of motorcycles out in the parking lot of the little shopping centre there. These are the weekend road-warriors... and I bet you could find a good accountant in there!
Best image of the day (in my mind, also not on my camera, because I felt a bit rude asking), were two ladies in their sixties, who strode into the cafe hubby and I were sitting in, with their biker leathers on and their helmets under the arms. Well - if that ain't a role model, then I don't know anyone who is!
On the way home, I pulled out a magazine, a ball of yarn, and a crochet hook and tried to work out how to do short row shaping in crochet. I'm planning on making this, from Family Circle's Easy Crochet:
I've only just got my head around bust darts in knitting, but I think I've figured out how to do it in pattern in crochet: it may involve lots of attachments of new balls of yarn, but I'm going to have a look at Doris Chan's Everyday Crochet first, as she gives a good tutorial there as to how to do it.
Best part of the day? We got home, and decided we'd try to make our own pizza, which I whipped up in about an hour. Anyone who knows me knows that I have lamented for years the fact that my hubby hates melted cheese. This limits our dinners drastically (although, we have obviously not starved, which is proven by the state of my figure).
I pulled out an old pizza dough recipe and got it rising while I made some pizza sauce with crushed tomato, garlic, oregano and basil. I chopped up some farmer's sausage, mushrooms, asparagus and red peppers, and then (gasp) grated up some mozzarella cheese and sprinkled it over. Twenty minutes - and voila, pizza!
And hubby loved it.
I'm telling you, Easter is a day of miracles. And bunnies. And chocolate. Best day ever.
I've been away from my family a lot during these holidays, and while it's something I'm used to, I can't help but miss them on days like this.
Today, hubby and doggie and I went off on a little adventure to Bragg Creek, about 45 minutes south west of Calgary. I didn't feel particularly Easter-y, but why waste a beautiful day moping indoors?
We decided to try the new northern part of the ring road around the city (Stoney Trail) and, much to our delight, it shaved off a good 30 minutes off the drive. Great news for future visits to the mountains!
I've always loved Bragg Creek. It's a little hamlet of shops, trees, and of course, the creek. It's a home for the well-to-do, but it's also a very friendly place with lots of friendly people who like to spend time outdoors. And you can't beat the trails.
We spent part of the day hiking around the creek, me trying to stay upright and doggie trying to stay dirty. I got a good dose of fresh air and exercise. We enjoyed an outdoor picnic (even though it was pretty brisk outside), and then headed down for a gander through the shops. To both hubby's and my delight, there is a new second-hand bookstore there, and I walked away with three books by my favourite vet-author, James Herriot (who I learned about when I read his articles in The Times in the UK before he passed away). Anyone who knows the Yorkshire accent and who loves animals would get a kick out of his books, and they had a big stack of them! I can't wait to go back!
I wish I'd taken a photo of it, but there were lots of motorcycles out in the parking lot of the little shopping centre there. These are the weekend road-warriors... and I bet you could find a good accountant in there!
Best image of the day (in my mind, also not on my camera, because I felt a bit rude asking), were two ladies in their sixties, who strode into the cafe hubby and I were sitting in, with their biker leathers on and their helmets under the arms. Well - if that ain't a role model, then I don't know anyone who is!
On the way home, I pulled out a magazine, a ball of yarn, and a crochet hook and tried to work out how to do short row shaping in crochet. I'm planning on making this, from Family Circle's Easy Crochet:
I've only just got my head around bust darts in knitting, but I think I've figured out how to do it in pattern in crochet: it may involve lots of attachments of new balls of yarn, but I'm going to have a look at Doris Chan's Everyday Crochet first, as she gives a good tutorial there as to how to do it.Best part of the day? We got home, and decided we'd try to make our own pizza, which I whipped up in about an hour. Anyone who knows me knows that I have lamented for years the fact that my hubby hates melted cheese. This limits our dinners drastically (although, we have obviously not starved, which is proven by the state of my figure).
I pulled out an old pizza dough recipe and got it rising while I made some pizza sauce with crushed tomato, garlic, oregano and basil. I chopped up some farmer's sausage, mushrooms, asparagus and red peppers, and then (gasp) grated up some mozzarella cheese and sprinkled it over. Twenty minutes - and voila, pizza!
And hubby loved it.I'm telling you, Easter is a day of miracles. And bunnies. And chocolate. Best day ever.
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