Happiness is sitting on the deck at the end of a long day with a drink in one hand and petting a kitty cat with the other. I love my deck. It isn't very big but the three of us fit on it with room to spare. I bought a fantastic new lawn chair that I can sink into and lean back in. Very relaxing. I have my four pots of potted plants around me and am able to not only watch the traffic go by but watch tv at the same time. Ah, life is good.

15 days until I leave on my holiday. YEAH!!! Super excited not only for the time off but for everything that comes with it. A long visit with one friend who will be along for the ride, a short visit with a friend up North, great scenery and no doubt some awesome photo opportunities. And camping for 2 weeks. Whooo hooo.

I used to just pull things out of the cupboards when I needed them as I followed a recipe. This occasionally led to realizing partway through the baking experience that I didn't have a key ingredient and baking came to a stand still as I went off to the store to pick up the missing ingredient.

A couple of years ago I figured out that if I checked the recipe the night before I could eliminate some of the same day shopping. Add to that my smart plan to put all needed ingredients on the cupboard before I started mixing them. The plan evolved and I would move the ingredients from one side of the bowl to the other as I used them or if I was only baking one thing I would put them away as I used them. This almost always guarantees I never forget an ingredient.

Key words were almost always.

Today I was making Lemonade Layer Cake and managed to forget to put the buttermilk in. Whoops. It turned out pretty good actually. It is a very dense almost pound cake like consistency. The folks at work will certainly still eat it. Put enough icing on anything and it usually gets eaten.

I'm determined to try it again tomorrow and do it right this time--hopefully.

Images for early May taken on a road somewhere outside of FMM.

Taken in the house as I aired out and checked out the tent. It is kitty approved. They hung out and slept in it for most of the day.

I've been ignoring you. I don't seem to have a lot of energy at the moment and sitting on the couch watching tv after work for a couple of hours until I fall asleep is about all I can handle. Work is busy and my boss is away for a few weeks due to illness so I'm sorta running the show again...if I'm not running it I'm certainly out front pulling it.

Either way I've been neglecting you and I fell bad about that. This is a short message...I'm tired and my brain is lacking concentration skills. It should all sort itself out in the next couple of weeks. The days are getting longer I have vacation plans looming and summer is almost here. Plus the green of the grass and trees popped this past week which will no doubt bring my mood around.

Stay tuned.

The weekend is slowly drawing to a close. It's been a great weekend here in FMMA. The weather was great all weekend hitting temperatures of 15C (59F). Which for the time of year and my location is pretty darn good. The two furry purries spent most of today out on the deck enjoying the sunshine and watching the action down below.

I went for a walk down by the river this afternoon and took a few pictures. I saw some Canada Geese, a couple of mallards and a number of gulls. The walk through the woods was nice but there was no green to be seen. The pussy willows are out and were a pleasant surprise to see while I walked along. The walk was for a few reasons...fresh air, photos, etc and I wanted to collect some dead wood. No, not for a craft project but for the upcoming camping/bbq season. When camping in provincial or national parks you are not to collect dead wood from around your camp site. When camping anywhere else--good luck finding dead wood anywhere close to your site. Most people collect anything close by to help start their camp fires. I figured a bag or two of dry sticks would go a long way. And yes, I might just be a bit anxious for my first camping trip of the season.

I received a brochure in the mail a couple of weeks ago for River Break Up 2012. Apparently the river occasionally over flows the banks and floods the lower parts of town. There is an emergency plan and routes to take. The photography club is also watching for river break up. That is supposed to be our photo challenge for this month. I haven't seen break up yet. I did see a lot of open water today but still lots of very frozen spots. I don't think there will be a dramatic break up. The river ice keeps getting thinner but that's it. What it is doing though is making lots of great ice noises. The ice is turning into large groups of icicles and as they fall apart they make tinkling noises. While I made my way through brush along side the river I was accompanied by the sound of the ice falling apart, gulls flying over head and the crunch of my boots on the dead grasses. It was nice. 

The decision has been made for the June camping trip....the Yukon. I haven't been and it is the only province/territory I haven't been to in Canada so that would make it a complete set. I haven't made any official plans and I'm going to need to get a couple of extra days off--which I have but hadn't previously asked for. Then I can start making my plans. Exciting times.

Here's some photos from today....

Canada Geese. Too far away for a good shot.

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Ice close to the shore. This is what was making the tinkling sound I was enjoying.

Fresh fire and evidence of a tarp that once sheltered the area. I suspect they will be back. A couple of people entered the area shortly after I left.

My building is the one in the middle. I live on the other side.

My batch of twigs for the upcoming camping season. I'm hoping to gather more before the trip as this will not last more than a couple weekends.

Pussy willows.

Another spot that someone must have stayed at last year. Likely abandoned during the cold winter months and likely for good.

I have an idiot out on the deck trying to catch snowflakes with her paws. The other idiot is inside watching the one outside. Nit wits. Tundra seems to be learning. She seems to know her name and comes when called--after a few minutes. I think that is just the catitude coming out. The word 'up' is also in her brain and she understands when I pat the couch or bed and say 'Tundra up' It is pretty neat to see that she has finally caught on to a few commands. The two of them also seem to understand the call to come in off the deck but for the most part choose to ignore me if the weather is nice. Can't say I blame them for that. They continue to be ever so helpful when I am trying to do crafts by helping hold down the paper on the desk or by tossing things onto the floor for me. There may be more than a touch of sarcasm in that comment. Updates...updates...updates.... The next Habitat trip is officially booked. Southern Vietnam in early March 2013. Super excited. We already have a number of people signed up for the trip and we haven't even finalized the budget. Friday the 13th I made the final payment on my truck!! It's paid off 4 months early which is nice. Oliver is officially MINE. And after six years there are still less than 80,000km on it. I'm off to Edmonton next Friday for one night. I have a Dr appointment in the morning and then hope to hit the highway, spend the night and then drive back on Saturday evening. I'm only going if the weather is good. It isn't 100% necessary but I would like some supplies and a night away is always good for the soul. If the girls are good I may even bring them back a treat. :) Not much else new at the moment. The outside idiot is now inside walking around and over the top of the laptop. Yep, great little helpers.

Sunday morning must be my favorite time of the week. I feel no pressure to do anything and even my roommates seem content to laze around in the sunshine. My long weekend started extra early with having Thursday afternoon off which I am not sorry to say I spent napping. Friday I was able to relax and do some scrapbooking which was exactly how I had planned to spend my weekend.

A surprise invite to a friends for Easter dinner on Saturday was great. We went to the local greenhouse for an Easter Egg hunt. It was great fun. It also started my brain humming on flowers and herbs that will soon adorn my deck. I think I may buy a couple more planters to add to the deck so I can have both flowers and food.

Based on a discussion from the friends who served up a lovely turkey with all the trimmings I may have found my destination for my June camping trip. I had been thinking of a trip to Alaska but the timing seemed tight with the limited number of days I have off. With some rethinking though I may have found my plan...but I'm not sharing yet.

The roommates are awake now and fighting in the corner. It's so funny to watch. If Tundra just sat on Hudson the fight would be over but she doesn't seem to realize she has the weight advantage.

I'm off to do some more scrapbooking--have a great Sunday.

is so glad that Hudson is learning to like cuddling under the covers with me on the couch....but is wishing she had learnt the habit when it was colder out. I'm sitting here sweating but i don't want to move and have her think it isn't a good idea.