It’s my birthday today and I thought I’d mark it with a self portrait. I haven’t taken one in quite some time and last year I didn’t do a birthday portrait because I wasn’t feeling great. A year later and things are much better because I’ve made a lot of the changes and taken my life in a direction I’ve always wanted to go.

This photo didn’t turn out at all how I was visualizing it in my head, but I’m happy with it. I love my goofy facial expression and the magic of floating mid-air in my bedroom.

Ten Good Things about moving:
1. Upgrading from a two room bachelor to a two bedroom apartment. Hurray for more space!
2. Finally having a small studio space at home for art making and housing art supplies.
3. Living in East Van which is a quieter, more interesting neighbourhood than South Granville filled with neat stuffs.
3. Sleeping in a bedroom at last. (The old place had built in Murphy beds and no bedroom).
4. Getting rid of things I no longer need and wonder why I’ve held onto.
5. Unpacking books and art I haven’t seen in almost a year.
6. Having about a zillion times the wall space than before to hang lots and lots of art.
7. Figuring out where to put everything and how to arrange the furniture in the new space. (I see Ikea in our future).
8. Paying a bit more rent than before for a much larger space. We really lucked out.
9. Ending up at La Casa Gelato every other day in the last five (so far) because we live SO close. (Always with different friends though).
10. Unpacking twenty-five Frogboxes and having them all go away at the end of last week.

Our first stop was lunch at the Flying Black Dog, a small food caravan serving freshly made delicious food which we sat in the sunshine to devour. Christian suggested a hike up Mount Galiano as our next activity, since the weather was good and we had time to kill before checking into the B&B. So off we went through mossy cedar forest along overgrown trails that wound up and up to the very top with a magnificent view of the surrounding Gulf Islands. We saw many birds up there, small ones in the trees and large ravens and an eagle riding the wind above. Not far from the bottom of the trail is the original cemetery with gravestones dating back to the mid-eighteen hundreds. The cemetery has a lovely view out over the water and not far off was a small island covered in a colony of seals basking in the late afternoon sun.

The Bed and Breakfast we stayed in, Sands of Morning Beach, was a lovely spot to wake up to. The front of the house looks out onto Morning Beach and the morning light shining on the water was just stunning. The owners of the B & B have multiple feeders set up in the trees to feed a multitude of birds so the view is also filled with non-stop bird watching. I saw at least five or six hummingbirds zooming around at high speed, plus goldfinches, crows, sparrows, juncos, chickadees, and many more I’m not sure what to identify as. On the inside of the house there is a pet Senegal Parrot named Mango, and two energetic small dogs named Howie and Pogo.

Saturday we spent our day driving around the island exploring whatever we came across. Galiano Island Books is one stop in town I highly recommend. They have an excellent selection of books, and one very demanding cat that commands customers for attention with a loud yowl. My favorite part of the day was having a picnic in sunny Spotlight Cove, with me exploring the tide pools looking for tiny crab while Boris sat on a log reading a book.

I also enjoyed our stop at Stone World, a fantastic Bodega Ridge landscape of standing stones and ritually decorated rocks created by stone carver Steve Ocsko. His wife Barbara gave us a tour of the indoor studio explaining the evolution of Steve’s carving work, which led to a fascinating and inspiring conversation about geology, art, and using the internet. Along with the stone sculptures the studio had many lovely found natural objects, such as a wasp’s nest, a hummingbird nest, the largest barnacle shell I’ve ever seen, and much more. It was a fascinating visit and Boris and I really hit it off with Barbara. Stone World seems to have an odd reputation with locals, or at least that’s the impression I have from talking to people. Lots of people know of it but have strange ideas because of the standing stones, and so they haven’t visited themselves. Our friends were surprised when we told them about our visit and what we found there (nothing weird, that is).

Our hosts for the weekend, Christian and Martine, invited us for dinner with friends at their place on Saturday evening. It was a cozy time spent laughing, talking, eating and playing games. Martine runs a catering business on Galiano and as you can imagine, she makes delicious food. Part of the meal was a dish of lentils cooked with bacon, which is something I’d be happy to revisit again since I love both lentils and bacon. Boris was hijacked by Lili, Martine’s six year old daughter, shortly after our arrival and she had him bouncing around on the trampoline which was fun to watch.

Our final day on Galiano was a rainy one, but we went out exploring anyway. A walk around Morning Beach with Howie the dog revealed interesting formations in the sandstone and a large water-carved cave to take shelter in when the rain came down hard. There were tiny gardens of succulent plants on the top of large boulders which were very colourful and beautiful. Our last stop before departing the island was a drive on Bodega Beach Road which led to a hike down a slug covered trail and then to a view overlooking the Strait of Georgia with rainy Vancouver across the way.

It was a lovely weekend away, and much needed for Boris and I. We managed to cover a lot of ground on our short trip, but I’d be happy to go again and see more.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Nature seems to exult in abounding radicality, extremism, anarchy,” wrote Annie Dillard in *Pilgrim at Tinker Creek.* “If we were to judge nature by its common sense or likelihood, we wouldn’t believe the world existed. In nature, improbabilities are the one stock in trade. The whole creation is one lunatic fringe . . . No claims of any and all revelations could be so far-fetched as a single giraffe.” (Dillard’s entire passage is here: http://bit.ly/TinkerCreek.) Reading this passage is a good way for you to prepare for the immediate future, Leo. Why? Because you’ll soon be invited to commune with outlandish glory. You’ll be exposed to stories that burst from the heart of creation. You’ll be prodded to respond to marvelous blips with marvelous blips of your own. But here’s the catch: It may all remain invisible to you if you’re blinded by the false belief that you live a boring, ordinary life. (From Free Will Astrology)

I love this horoscope mostly for the last line, because I have been feeling boring lately. It’s a silly thought because life is what you make it and that includes how you think about your own life. If I think it’s boring then of course it will be, and my life is pretty good despite the bumps.

I decided to do a list of good things and see how many items I could come up with. Here goes in no particular order, good things from 2009:

1. Discovering the art of altering old books and taking a huge step forward with my collage work.

2. Concluding the 52 weeks self portrait series that I started in 2008.

3. Moving out of my cold and dark apartment in Kits and moving in with Boris.
4. Bringing a regular yoga practice back into my life thanks to the forty day yoga challenge.
5. Going on walks with Anne on Bowen, and getting to see new trails I hadn’t walked before.

6. Canoeing and a picnic in Widgeon Creek.

7. Going to Jericho park and throwing the frisbee around with Boris.
8. Working on a portrait series inspired by my self portraits.

9. Swimming in the Pacific Ocean for the first time ever.
10. Writing regularly in my paper-based journal.
11. Learning how to make mozzarella cheese.
12. Attending Artfest in Port Townsend.

11. Eating Dungeness Crab caught by James.
12. Riding Anne’s scooter around the North Shore with Boris on my birthday.

13. Visiting the Bug Museum in Victoria.
14. Snowshoeing on Cypress with the Mann Family.

15. Cycling around the city to see the cherry blossoms.

16. Rescuing a baby crow from the streets of Gastown and putting it into Kirsti’s care.

17. A surprise visit from my friend Tonia.
18. Heirloom tomatoes from the farmers market.

19. A July weekend on Saltspring Island with friends.

20. Hanging out with Kathy in Vancouver, and sharing Bowen Island with her at last.
21. Turning some of my collages into postcards.

22. Acquiring two cute little goldfish.

23. The return of Ruby Dog’s Arthouse in a new location.
24. Spending quality time with Kai during her brief visit to Vancouver.
25. Eating many delicious meals made with delicious deliciousness.

(I started this thinking I wouldn’t be able to come up with much, and I’ve surprised myself by realizing I can think of more.)

…the Lensbaby composer. It was a very generous Christmas present from my mom. I took it out for a test run when I went walking in the forest on Bowen both Christmas and Boxing day. I’m fascinated with the design of the lens, not just for it’s tilt/shift abilities, but because of the interchangeable f-stop rings that are slipped in and out of the lens using a magnet.

As you can see, I’ve mostly used the lens for nature shots so far. I want to do a series of test shots trying out each f-stop ring on the same subject for comparison, and I also want to try this lens with portraits. Part of me feels the lens is a bit too gimmicky, but the creative part of me will probably prove that wrong.

The wise words of Ira Glass on why creative excellence takes time. I found listening to this very gratifying, especially the part about self-directed projects and deadlines to work towards, because it’s what I’ve been doing for the past two years with fruitful results. I’m producing the best work of my life (so far) and I’m working hard at it. I am occasionally tough on myself because I feel like it’s taken me a forever to get to where I currently am as an artist. But there would’ve been no other way to get here because all good things take time and hard work. (And hard work takes time too.)

From the Free Will Astrology Newsletter:

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “I burn for no reason, like a lantern in daylight,” writes poet Joseph Lease. I think that’s a succinct formulation of one of your central issues, Leo. Burning for no reason, like a lantern in the daylight, can be the cause of either failure or success for you, depending on subtle differences of emphasis. This is how it can be failure: When you’re mindlessly and wastefully burning through your prodigious reserves of fuel without any concern for the benefits it may provide you and others. This is how it can be success: When you are exuberant and self- disciplined in shining your light and radiating your warmth just because it feels so good and so right and so healthy, and without any thought about whether it’s “useful” to anyone.

How’s that for a kick-ass weekly horoscope…?

1. Taking the train to Seattle and enjoying the beautiful view from the window. I saw about a million different bird species flying, gliding, or bobbing in the water as we went past.
2. A relaxing Friday afternoon spent in the Turkish Baths at the Banya 5 Spa in Seattle.
3. A long long afternoon nap in our hotel room with a beautiful view of the city and a giant king-sized bed. (Thanks for the amazing dealio Priceline.)
4. Visiting the Elliot Bay Book Company and managing to keep the book buying under control.
5. Trader Joe’s candied ginger and lemon verbena soap.
6. Amazing inspiring art at Patricia Rozvar Gallery and Gallery I|M|A in Seattle.
7. The lovely and funny wedding of Dave and Lauren.
8. Dancing the night away with Boris, and in high heels no less.
9. Ending the wedding evening with a huge Near-Death Ray gun battle between Boris, Mark and me. (We had to test out the wedding favors somehow!)
10. Hanging out with Mark and Andrea in Seattle for some quality eating and shopping.

Five Wonderful Things:
1. Picking up my red umbrella from The Umbrella Shop on Broadway where I’d taken it for repair, and finding out they fixed it for FREE. (Buy an umbrella there because they are awesome!)
2. Getting starting on altered book number five.
3. Creating a button design to submit for the upcoming One Hot Inch Action show.
4. The amazing power of alone time to re-energize and pull my attitude about life out of the toilet.
5. The little Chickadees and House Finches that come to visit my fourth floor birdfeeder.

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Change your password. Take a different way home. Ask a question you’ve never asked. Dream up a new nickname for yourself. Choose a new lucky number. Change the way you tell the story about an important event in your past. Make it a little more difficult for people to have you pegged. Eat a type of food you’ve never tried. Do the research necessary to discover why one of your opinions may be wrong. Add a new step to your grooming ritual. Feel appreciation for a person whose charms you’ve become numb to. Surprise yourself at least once a day.

Probably good things to keep in mind for everyone. Change is good, and sometimes it can be as simple as changing your attitude or trying to change your perspective. It’s not always big changes that are needed.

Live as if you liked yourself, and it may happen:
reach out, keep reaching out, keep bringing in.
This is how we are going to live for a long time: not always,
for every gardener knows that after the digging, after the planting,
after the long season of tending and growth, the harvest comes.

~ Marge Piercy

About three quarters of the way through the book there is a chapter where Barbara describes making her own cheese. And not only does she make her own mozzarella but she does it in just thirty minutes! Boris and I were really excited about this (Cheese in half an hour!! WE CAN MAKE OUR OWN CHEESE!!!!!) and I started to track down the ingredients. This ended up being the most complicated part because though the cheese is made with only three ingredients – milk, citric acid and rennet – I had no idea where to look for two of those three. In the end it was Anne who found everything for us and we owe her a cheese of her own in thanks.

For future cheese makers based in Vancouver here’s where to get ‘em: citric acid can be found at most pharmacies and rennet is sold at Bosa Foods. After that it was easy-peasy and we ended up with delicious cheese, fresh and hot. The mozzarella was tasty and went beautifully with the heirloom tomatoes we’ve been picking up at the Farmers Market throughout the summer.

The 30-minute mozzarella recipe is available as a PDF download from the Animal Vegetable Miracle companion site. Boris and I have made the mozzarella twice now, the first time with friends and the second as a tag team effort. Two key things we discovered: resist the impulse to keep stirring the milk because it’ll separate into curds and whey faster when still, and add a bit more citric acid when the milk reaches the highest temperature mentioned in the recipe.

We’re still both AMAZED that cheese making can be this easy and this fast. And thanks to the recipes included within the box of rennet tablets there are more cheese experiments we’re hoping to try in the near future.

1. Time to myself at last!
2. Down time at last!
3. Quality time with my cute boy at last!
4. Asking for an adventure on Sunday and getting an excellent breakfast at the Twisted Fork (found by chance) followed by fun times at the PNE.
5. The return of my freshly repaired Contax film camera in just four days.
6. Shooting the first roll of 220 film in my holga. Fingers crossed everything turns out great.
7. Awesome summer weather.
8. Getting started on two large scale long-term projects that have nothing to do with art per se and everything to do with getting digitally organized and backed up.
9. Dropping into Xoxolat on Burrard for the first time ever and leaving with some of the most delicious chocolate I’ve recently tasted.
10. Feeling relaxed and recharged. FTW.

My mom has always been one of those people who clips things out of the newspaper to either keep (like recipes) or share with my sister and me. It’s a habit we find both endearing and irritating because sometimes there are a LOT of clippings awaiting our inspection, and we aren’t necessarily interested in the same things she is. Despite the fact that I now live on the other side of the country my mom still saves and sends large collections of newspaper clippings whenever a package or letter is headed my way.

When I showed the latest bunch to Boris he said they are her, “Google Reader shared items.” I thought this was a pretty accurate (and funny) way to describe them and it also gave me the idea to further share the articles she’d sent me. For your reading pleasure, here are links to a few of the clippings from my mom:

Hershey the Mystery Duck
Warm Fuzzy Tale of a Good Swimaritan
How to Make Room on your cellphone

(It was too tedious to locate online all of the articles she sent, and the Toronto Star archives is apparently very limited.)

My horoscope from Free Will Astrology is pretty kick ass this week:

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): If you really knew how much you were loved, you would never cry again. A sublime relaxation would flood your nervous system, freeing you to see the beautiful secrets that your chronic fear has hidden from you. If you knew how much the world longs for your genius to bloom in its full glory, the peace that filled you would ensure you could not fail. You’d face every trial with eager equanimity. You would always know exactly what to do because your intuition would tell you in a myriad of subtle ways. And get this: A glimpse of this glory will soon be available to you.

My weekend also falls under a similar category of awesomeness as the above words, and so I give you Five Good Things from the weekend:
1. Swimming in the ocean every day. It was just enough to get me over some of the discomfort I feel when in the ocean. (What lurks below me in the water?!?)
2. So much delicious food to eat, from Dungeness crab, to fresh cherries and apricots, to fresh from the oven cakes. Yum.
3. Daily naps to catch up on all the sleep I lost to the previous weeks heat.
4. Watching Vancouver recede as we sped away at dusk on the Granville Island water taxi to Bowen Island, and the moon and the city lights danced upon the waves.
5. Getting away from the city and spending time with good friends.

I love the horoscope from Free Will Astrology this week:

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): “Dear Rob Brezsny: I really didn’t like a recent horoscope you wrote for me. I’m a Leo, and although your oracle was sort of true, I didn’t want it to be true, and furthermore I didn’t want to lend my belief energy to help make it true. So I went hunting among the other signs, hoping to find a different horoscope that appealed more to the healthiest aspect of my fantasy life. I settled on the ‘scope for Cancer, as it piqued my interest with just the right hopeful twist, and provided a highly motivating kick in the butt. Thanks! – Picky Choosy.” Dear Picky Choosy: I approve of your efforts. These days I would love all of my Leo readers to be as imperious as you’ve been in gathering only the influences you want, and shedding the rest.

On that note, I’d say the horoscope for Cancer also applies:

CANCER (June 21-July 22): The joke goes like this: “Why is a math book so sad? Because it has so many problems.” But of course that’s a distortion of the truth. In fact, the math book loves its problems. Its problems are its reason for being. Besides that, all of its problems are interesting challenges, not frustrating curses. Best of all, every problem has a definite answer, and all the answers are provided in the back of the book. Now here’s the most excellent news of all, Cancerian: I think you’ll be like a math book in the coming weeks.

It’s Wednesday, the day of the week that rests exactly at the point between the previous weekend and the one to come. I’ve been having a series of awesome weekends and I wanted to write up a “Good Things” list before the next one happened. Here goes:

1. Hanging out with Boris enjoying some excellent quality time and adventures. I couldn’t ask for a more fun person to spend time with.
2. Taking myself on a movie date to see the documentary Earth. The cinematography is stunning and spectacular, and showcases scenery and animals all over the world. I left the theatre feeling uplifted and inspired.
3. Making plans with a friend to get back on track with a long neglected photo project.
4. Taking a day trip to Stevenston where we spent a few hours wandering around enjoying the fantastic weather.
5. A bit of unexpected retail therapy at the Orb & Arson warehouse sale, which was located where we changed buses between Vancouver and Steveston. I picked up some great bargains.
6. Lunch on the Wharf in Steveston at Pajos. Yum. Good.
7. Sitting in the grass relaxing and watching people fly kites.
8. Taking an afternoon nap on Saturday.
9. Making dessert from sad fruits wizened with age and neglect, and turning them into a delicious apple, pear and rhubarb crisp.
10. Talking to my mom and sister at the same time through the magical powers of three-way calling.

Five Good Things:
1. Cherry blossoms, especially the pink ones. They are very cheeky with their attention grabbing colour shouting, “Look at me!” And smile.
2. Dinner at Hapa Izakaya on Friday evening with a cute mann. So much good food.
3. Spending all of Saturday outside in the sunshine and fresh air while taking part in Bike the Blossoms.
4. Getting started on my taxes. Getting them done will be EVEN better.
5. Having a really good weekend.

I love the quality of the light, the beautiful colours, and the painterly look of these shots.

In the last few days I’ve been asked twice, “What’s new?”, and both times I’ve floundered for an answer. I realize this has always been a question that makes me fumble because I’m rather literal when it comes to words. I feel like I actually have to have something exciting and new to tell when this question is asked and at that same instant my mind goes completely blank. I tend to have a similar reaction to the question, “What have you been up to?” I think what throws me is how general these questions are and I’m never sure what specific information is required. It’s funny how my brain works.

Here are five good things that are “new”:
1. One of my shots has been accepted into a group show of toy camera photography at RayKo Photo Center in San Francisco. The show starts at the end of February.
2. My photograph taken inside an abandoned house last summer will be published in the next issue of Light Leaks Magazine.
3. I bought a new laptop recently and the speed in which files open in photoshop is nothing short of AMAZING!
4. I organized my first group photo walk in a very long time and it went well enough to inspire me to want to do it more frequently. I’ve missed it.
5. Along with many of my favorite flickr contacts I received an invitation from Getty Images to *sign up and submit my work.

(* A future post will be devoted to some thoughts on this.)

1. Getting to know Boris in many ways I never expected and building a good relationship with him. I’ve known him for a couple of years, but not very well. He only came into sharp focus for me at Travis’ birthday at the end of 2007. I’m glad my crush has turned into something more.

2. Setting a weekly goal to create a collage in my moleskin sketchbook and learning much about composition, techniques, materials, etc, in the process.

3. Leaving behind a job where I felt like I was wasting my time and spinning my wheels.

4. Taking baby steps forward in showing my work, with one more solo show under my belt and participation in five different group shows.

5. Going on an awesome roadtrip with Boris back in March. We drove from Vancouver to Seattle via Whidbey Island and Bainbridge Island, and had many lovely adventures along the way. It was my favorite trip of the whole year and definitely a highlight.

6. Starting a weekly self portrait series called “52 weeks” which has led me to producing photographic work I am very pleased with. This week is number thirty-seven in the series and it will continue until April 2009.

7. Many weekend trips to Bowen Island over the course of the year, and having a comfortable, cozy place to stay with the Mann Family.

8. A brief visit to Toronto back in May to see my family and meet with a old friends. I was glad to also have the opportunity to catch a few Contact Festival shows and see the awesomeness that is the newly renovated ROM.

9. This may sound strange if you’re not a cat person, or have never met Travis and Susie’s cat Maggie, but she has definitely been a highlight of my year. She’s a kitten-sized pack of trouble full of the stinkiest farts known to man, but she’s damn cute, full of personality, and fun to have around at work. I adore Maggie.

10. Realizing (yet again) that no matter how old I get there will always be more lessons to learn about myself and more growing to do. I hoping to put this knowledge to good use this year and move forward instead of just running in place like I feel I have been.

What are your good things from 2008?

Once upon a time there was a small family of Germans, who lived on a small island called Bowen in the beautiful land of British Columbia. The family was made up of an entertaining German father who made funny jokes, a lovely German mother who looked after everyone, and a Big Cute Fuzzy Strapping Geeky German son (who was also the King of Drupal, but that’s another story…) This small family of Germans really loved to eat meat, as Germans have a tendency to do. They also loved to eat bread as well as cheese, but this particular story REALLY focuses on the meat.

As the Yuletide Season approached, the son who was always full of big ideas, came up with a meat-focused way to celebrate the Christmas season. He decided to call it the Twelve Meats of Christmas, and it would involve preparing and eating a variety of meats twelve different ways. The First Meat of Christmas was Chorizo with kale and chard in a pasta dish. (He was starting light you see.) The Second Meat of Christmas was delicious crispy bacon cooked for breakfast. The Third Meat of Christmas was roasted lamb with parsnips, garlic and lemons. The Fourth Meat of Christmas was Duck Soup with cabbage. The Fifth Meat of Christmas was Creton a spicy pork pate. The Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth meats of Christmas were prepared by his friend Zak and came in the form of Pork Tenderloin Wrapped in Prosciutto, Chicken Forcemeat and Puff Pastry. The Ninth Meat of Christmas was pulled pork cooked for six hours and marinated in delicious North Carolina style BBQ sauce. The Tenth Meat of Christmas was Montreal smoked meat cold cuts for breakfast. The eleventh meat of Christmas was braised beef cooked into a broth in Czechoslovakian cabbage soup.

It was as the eleventh meaty meal was achieved the son suddenly realized he needed something different, something out of the ordinary to be the crowning glory, as it were, of the twelve meats. But as the wintery weather was at its worst outside and the purveyors of further meats were inaccessible from the small island, he wasn’t sure how he could achieve this. Then low and behold, as his lovely German mother was clearing the paths around their home of snow, she stumbled across a poor young deer that had perished from the cold. The son was thrilled, ecstatic, excited beyond words, because now all his meaty dreams could come true! What a prize to find a fresh and tender young deer, and to have it die peacefully in the night.

In a flash, a band of merry revelers came together to help butcher the deer and prepare a magnificent banquet feast. People came from far and wide to taste the wonderful venison and to share in the miraculous meat. There were rare venison steaks, sauteed venison heart flavoured with garlic, beer and mustard, haunch of venison braised in cabbage soup, roasted venison with dried fruit sauce, and jerky marinated in raspberry wine vinegar with soya sauce. It was a happy meal and every reveler left with bellies full from the feasting.

The German son was content having achieved his dream of the twelve meats of Christmas, and in the process to have made so many others happy and well fed.

The End.

(This story is based upon true events from my Christmas on Bowen, and is dedicated to the Mann Family.)

There was something magical about yesterday’s snowy weather. I felt like a kid again as I walked up my street to catch a bus to work. I was warm, cozy, and happy all bundled up in my many layers and I wasn’t bothered at all about having to slog through the wet snow. It reminded me of winters in Ontario, of those days when the snow is thick on the ground but the texture is dry and fluffy, the sky is clear and the temperature is surprisingly warm. I walked outside a lot yesterday, part of the way to work and all the way home later in the evening. There were a lot of other people doing the same but maybe not for the pleasure of it like I was.

Good Things from Yesterday:
- Getting fresh air and exercise
- Helping put together an excellent Christmas luncheon for Hop Studios
- Goofing around outside helping to clean off Travis and Susie’s car
- Feeling over-sugared from eating Susie’s excellent homemade caramel (it’s so good, yet so bad for you.)

It is Sunday afternoon and I’ve decided to take a break from the frenzy of Christmas baking I’ve been up to for the last few hours. I haven’t done baking for Christmas in a few years and I am trying all new recipes. I started with a batch of candied orange peels, then onto chocolate almond bark, with a finale of chocolate truffles. I am waiting for each batch of yummies to cool and set, but otherwise I am done. Overall these were really easy things to make though the citrus peels were the most labour intensive, requiring multiple reboils in hot water to soften and remove the pith. I may do a second batch of these and do a better job with pith removal because they make the taste more sour than sweet.

Good Things from the Weekend:
1. Getting set up with a new cell phone (and plan) that is about one thousand times more advanced than the one I’ve had for almost five years.
2. Baking chocolate chip banana bread
3. Making and sharing Saturday brunch with friends
4. Having a recovered Boris back to the land of the living
5. Getting out for a walk on a rainy but lovely Friday night