Time Lapse

This Christmas we did the usual, which involves driving up to champion for "doughgods" bun dough fried in lard, served with butter, sugar and sour cream.  They are very addictive and very tasty.

This is followed with a drive back to Coalhurst for an evening of family fun and eating.  This year I had the schools camera.  I recently purchased a remote trigger for the camera with interval settings.  I thought I would try it out to see if I could do some time lapse photography.  It seemed to work, but I think my time intervals were a bit too long, at 10 seconds, the motion was a bit too jerky.  I think I'll try it again with a shorter interval next time.

Anyways, here it is.

 

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Crafty...

My wife... she's so crafty.  You should see what she can do with Whipping cream and a chainsaw!

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Whitefish Trip

We headed south to do some shopping for Christmas and the house two weekends ago.  It was a fun trip as the in-laws were willing and happy to watch the boys for us.  While we love them dearly, you can't shop worth a darn with them.  With the boys in good hands we were in power shop mode.

We did make a quick drive up the mountain to see how much snow there was as Whitefish Mountain was open, but from the pictures, you can see it needs a few more weeks at least.

If you look at the run behind the tree by the stairs, you can see what the runs look like with no snow machines going.  The run to the right has artificial snow making up the majority of the coverage.

We also drove past the point of origin for those fires a few weeks ago.  It was crazy to see how far it spread from where it started.

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Our Movember

While I decided to grow a full beard and didn't participate in the moustache movement, that doesn't mean we didn't participate in our own way here.

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House Progress

We're 3 months into our build and things are looking great.  The house has a shingled roof and last week the builder wrapped the house.  It's nice to see that it's looking weather tight and this makes me very happy.  I'm excited to see what the new year brings as far as construction.

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House Update

Well the house is coming along, with the roof getting finished and shingles now getting nailed down.  Window are in and most of the framing is done.

It's nice to see some of the plumbing going in and things getting done in a way where upgrading will be easier.  I'd mention more, but you can check out more pictures and better descriptions on this site.

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Tourtiere

Well, if you follow along on Liminal Me's Blog, your sure to know that she is a wonderful cook.  I sometimes attempt to cook to, often with good food, less plating/presentation.  However, this time I may have succeeded in both!

While perusing the Walrus magazine, I came across a picture that looked divine, a peasant dish from Quebec called a Tourtiere. It looked good!  Now while Liminal Me often prepares lovely vegetarian dishes, I do not.  I make meat... lot's and lot's of meat.  As it turns out, this was no exception, being a meat pie.

I found a few recipes, but of course, I never really follow a recipe, rather use it as a general guideline.

For starters, I had a green pepper in the fridge and a few other veggies that I figured needed cooking.

1 small onion, 3/4 of a green pepper, 1 potato, 8 small carrots from one of those ready eat bags and I was off to the races.  I simmered this on the stove in some butter, well, a lot of butter and then threw in some of the spices.

The neat thing about this dish was the spices.  I rarely cook with savory, cloves and cinnamon.  They were a neat combination and provided some good flavor.  I'd like to say I know how much I put in... but I don't.  All I can say is that it needed more.

I took out the veggies and then cooked up a couple pounds of beef.  I could have used pork, but beef is what we had.  Also, it seems that game meat was popular back in the day.  Personally, this looked like it would work.  I threw the veggies back in and added more spices to taste.  Again, I could have used some more spice.

I tossed the mixture into a tenderflake pie crust and threw a second one one top.  Cut a few slits in the top and tossed it in the oven at 350 for about 35 minutes.  I think I put some more butter on and broiled it for a few minutes just to brown the top.

As you can see, it turned out to be a nice hearty meal!  I think everyone enjoyed it and with a few modifications (like adding some maple syrup to the top and mixture) I think this might be a new favorite of mine.

Bon Appetit!

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December = Christmas

Christmas is fast approaching and as per usual, we like to go tree hunting.  This year was no different except our niece came out with us.  It was nice to have her come and join us and I think she had a good time too.

As you can see from the pictures, not a lot of snow so far this winter.  It was pretty bare out near Westcastle , not sure when they plan to open, but I think they need more snow.  We managed to get some sledding in, apparently a 60/40 ratio between snow and dirt is all you need for some good sledding!   I think only one bum was harmed in the days activity.

 We headed home and had Dora's folks over for supper the next day.  As an after dinner treat we decorated the tree.  I mostly avoided the area as Dora had two helpers and our living room is a bit tight.

In the end the crew did a great job!  Nice work family, sorry, blurry picture

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Grass Fires

As I'm sure you've heard, Southern Alberta was ablaze this weekend with several grass fires all around Lethbridge.  The largest was burning to the South of Raymond.  While no one was in real danger, there were some worried folks around as information was slow to filter its way to people.   At times, roads were shut down and people were evacuated.

While not at risk, I did take a drive out to our property to make sure the wind hadn't damaged it and that it was save from the fires.  While the fires were several miles to the South-East, I did have a good view from my deck and took a few pictures.

It looked pretty intense and didn't get a real take on it until I came across this video on youtube.

It's amazing how fast the wind can move fire and it's kinda scary how fast Mother Nature can throw down the hurt.

This is a good one from the Herald.

I decided to drive up to the Ridge the next day to have a look myself at the damage and took these shots.

Nice to know people were safe and damage was kept to a minimal.

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Tofino Surfing Video

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Boys in Tofino

With the blessings of Dora I hopped on a plane and headed West to hang with my buds.  We have planned a few days of surfing; on kayaks and surf boards.  With little actual practice this year I was a bit worried about how things would work out on the water.  Oh well, no point worrying till the wave hit you!

I arrived the day before so we headed to meet big T in Nanaimo.  With a phone call from big T about missing his ferry due to city buses, we had time to kill.  We did a quick drive through the countryside and found a pub that looked liked it belonged in the English countryside, the Crow & Gate Pub.

After some good food and beverage we were on route to pick up T.  It was a lengthy drive through the dark and quite the windy road.  With the help of 3 smart-phones we found our cabin and checked in for the night.

We started the day in a leisurely fashion as the waves were better around noon.  A good breakfast and a quick packing had us ready to go surf at Cox Bay.

 It was a dreary day, with rain coming and clouds everywhere.  Everyone has full wetsuits or drytops for this kind of weather.  After a short walk we were on the beach.

The surfing was difficult but fun and we worked it for a couple of hours before we ran out of steam.  As well, it seamed that the wave period was decreasing, making it difficult to get back up to catch more waves.  I didn't take much for pictures on the waves but I did take some video.  I'll post some of that when I get a chance.

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