Since returning from St. John's, this place has felt more like home. Ironically, that is making me homesick for Manitoba. I haven't really missed it all that much till now. I thought what I missed was sushi and movies but actually I don't really miss those things [not that much]. Those things I can live without [or get in St. John's]. I realize now I miss the less tangible things. Like walking down quiet streets, covered by a canopy of tall elms, swatting away those pesky worms that fall to the sidewalk in front of you. I miss looking across prairie fields and not being able to see the end. Feeling the bite of -30 and the weight of +30. I used to really feel being so landlocked, but now that I'm surrounded by water, I kind of feel the same way. I think geography plays a big part in people's lives, as does the weather that comes with it. Manitoba is so sunny! Newfoundland is so cloudy! I don't take the sun for granted anymore - I really notice when it comes out, especially after a long, depressing cloudy spell. And it's decided to be cloudy again. Maybe this is the foggy capelin weather we've been hearing happens here in June?

The rain is needed, though. Our little garden is starting to grow! Even the fancy lettuce that I thought for sure was a goner is starting to pop up. These pictures were taken a while ago now - the damson blossoms have already fallen off and blown away.















Who needs a trimmer when you have a grazing dog? I've been trying to get her to go all around the perimeter of the yard but so far she sticks to certain areas. This is bad news for me because I told Darcey I could handle manually trimming the grass aka weeds along the house and deck and fence and trees and rocks so that we wouldn't have to buy a trimmer. So we got these nice long-handled grass shears instead. Except they're not actually nice. What I think it is, is that they just aren't a very good quality pair of shears. They are already broken and I haven't even made it all the way around the yard once. The part I did do, I had to do over a span of four days because my arms were getting so sore and because it was taking forever. Plan B. Enlist the dog. Plan C. Call those nice people who used to do the yard for the lady who lived here before us and beg them to come back.



















Fresh chives are so good in so many things.



















Please note: the parsnips and rhubarb are from our lovely neighbours. Other than chives and dandelion leaves, we have nothing edible growing in our yard quite yet. I used up all the rhubarb already, using two of my mom's recipes: a rhubarb custard with meringue and a rhubarb crisp- type of thing. I should have taken a picture of the meringue because I thought it turned out pretty great, considering I had never made meringue-y anything before. It didn't taste quite like my mom's but it was edible. Too edible, it seems because it's already all gone.

I think I will roast the parsnips with some honey and make a bisque out of them. That should hold off the foggy capelins.







































So. That pink just had to go. It was no good, no good at all. Carley was happy that we were finally taking matters into our own hands and getting rid of it.































Last week the kitchen looked like this. All in disarray, with tape and paint everywhere.



















Now it looks like this! We painted the living room and the kitchen both the same colour. It's a greenish grey, with a smudgeon of brown. Darcey calls it pistachio but it only sometimes looks that green. I'm fairly satisfied with it. Next on the agenda for the kitchen is to replace the hideous hardware on the cabinets and also trade that lovely chandelier for something a little sleeker. Darc actually hung the chadelier up really high when we were moving in last September so the movers wouldn't hit their heads on it, and we just left it up there because it's less noticeable that way. I almost forgot it was there, until it so glaringly showed up in all these pictures...



















This favourite spot of mine was all covered in plastic and paint last week...































...now looks more like this. It's hard to see in all the cloudiness, but the new colour is very soothing. Darcey thinks maybe we should have done a brighter cheerier colour in the kitchen. I'm not sure about that. But I am sure we won't be painting over it anytime soon.































But best of all, the living room, which used to be pink - BABY PINK -



















- isn't pink anymore! It's the same colour as the kitchen. These pictures are really far too dark to understand what it's like. Maybe in a month when it's sunny again I can post some brighter ones.



















I have some baking and cooking to do today because in two days my friends are coming from way out west to visit us! I'm quite excited. We haven't had anyone to stay in this house yet, so they will be the guinea pigs.

I think I am going to make some blueberry bread. I made some a few weeks ago and it didn't last very long, even with all of our low-carb rules. I'm not good with rules, so it's no surprise, really.

Wheat Bran Quick Bread with Blueberries
Adapted from the recipe on the package of Bob's Red Mill Wheat Bran
Tasty for breakfast or with coffee anytime. Or even without coffee!

1/2 c unbleached white flour, + 2 T
1 c whole wheat flour
1 c wheat bran
3/4 c brown sugar
1 t baking powder
1/2 t baking soda
1/2 t sea salt
1 1/3 c blueberries
1 egg
1/2 c milk
1 c orange juice, or juice from ~ 4 oranges
1/3 c oil

Preheat oven to 350F. In a large bowl, mix together the egg, milk, orange juice, and oil. In a separate bowl, combine flours [leaving 2 T white flour for later], bran, sugar, baking powder, baking soda, and salt. Add dry mixture into wet and mix until just combined. In another bowl, gently coat blueberries with 2 T white flour. Carefully stir blueberries into bread mixture. Pour into a greased 9x5x3" loaf pan. Bake for 55-60 minutes, or until the bread is firm in the centre. Cool in pan 10 minutes, remove to rack and cool before slicing. Yields 1 tasty loaf.




















And then when you've had your blueberry bread snack, have a little snooze on the couch with your favourite furry friend.