Tinkerblue

Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween Everyone.  

We didn't wear costumes. We had about a dozen trick or treaters. There is a ton of candy left. Hubby can take it to the hangar, or at least hide it from me. Watched the fireworks provided by the local business association and the Katzie Nation.

 Instead of a costume this was my contribution to the Halloween spirit:

 

Halloween pedicure

 

Halloween necklace - a ghost, Jack o' Lantern and witch to wear with my skull earrings.

 

 

and a t-shirt from Old Navy that cost under $3.00.

Eye of the Wind at Grouse Mountain

The only wind turbine in the world where the public can venture inside to the top is
The Eye of the Wind at Grouse Mountain in Vancouver.  And we went there yesterday.  It was well worth it.

 

The tower is 65 metres tall, 20 storeys tall, and weighs over 133,000 kgs. It was built in three sections and hauled up the mountain very slowly.

 

The viewPOD has a maximum capacity of 36 people, a viewing area of 360 degrees and a section of glass floor.

 

The elevator travel at 5.76km/hr, carrying 7 people at a time it takes 35 seconds to reach the top of the tower.

 

The blades are 12,200 lbs each, and 122 feet long.  They are massive. They can reach 300/km per hour at the blade tips.

 

The wind turbine can produce enough energy to supply the needs of 400 homes over a year.

 

We could feel the tower swaying while we were in the lift, but that was nothing compared to being in the viewPOD.  Not only does it sway in the wind, but the whole thing moves. Seriously moves.  It rotates so that the blades are always facing into the wind.

 

Lucky for us, it was a relatively clear day.  And we could see quite a bit of the surrounding areas. It would have sucked if a) it was not windy enough for the turbine to be working. It needs winds of 10kms/hour for the blades to turn or b) it was so cloudy and foggy that we couldn't see anything or even worse c) both of the above.

 

 

General admission to Grouse Mountain is $39.95, the Eye of the Wind is an additional $25.00.  At $64.95 per adult it's not a cheap trip.  Hubby, Andrea and I scored our admission and tour with a 50%+ discount on Groupon. Gotta love Groupon, we probably wouldn't have gone otherwise.

 

Ghost Ridge - We Screamed So Much We Laughed.

 (My Halloween earrings from Precious Alibi.  I like the heart shaped eyes and the daisy)

Tonight Hubby and I and our friends Kim, Joanna and Miss M went to Ghost Ridge.  It was the first time any of us had been.

 

There are two versions of the show.  A family version, for the first hour, leaves the lights on and there is no fear of a spooky character hiding in a corner waiting to leap out and scare the bejeezus out of you.  We gave Miss M the choice of family hour or the full on scary version.  She chose the full on version. 

 

 our front door

Hubby tried desperately to get her to change her mind, but no such luck for him. We paid our $7.00 and were measured for our coffins....just in case.  Kim, Joanna, Miss M and I would all fit a standard size, but hubby would need a custom made one.

 

The theme is "The After Death..." The blurb says visitors are taken through several interpretations of the worst kind of hell.  The journey starts in the funeral  home, and takes you through seven deadly sins, a chilling water feature and a deadly forest."

 

OMG, we all screamed and laughed and jumped and giggled and screamed some more.  Oh and we tried to hide. No-one wanted to go first or last.  Everyone wanted to be in the middle of our little group.  Hubby tired to hide behind me, I'm a good foot shorter than he is, so he wasn't very successful. The worst part? The corn field, and whatever it was that jumped at us in there. Hubby almost peed his pants!

 

No photos. It was dark. And we were too busy looking out for things or people who might jump out at us or drop from the ceiling.

Worth every penny of the $7.00 it cost us.  

Ghost Ridge is at the Albion Fairgrounds in Maple Ridge.  It's on again tomorrow and Saturday. 5pm to 6pm for the family hour and 6pm to 9pm for those wanting to have the crap scared out of them. And Saturday there are fireworks at 7:00pm.  If you live nearby it's well worth the trip.   Parking is free.  

 

A Forest of Reindeer

This getting up at 5am gives me a lot of time in the morning. Well, except for yesterday when I came home from boot camp and went straight back to bed. For the rest of the day.  I'm not kidding. I got out of bed around 4pm. I was so tired and snuffly.  

 

Today... I've done a whole lot of housework, laundry, and some Christmas crafts. Yep, Christmas crafts.  I've had these kits for some time and forgot about them. When we were cleaning up for the garage sale I unearthed them.  Moved them to the "to do" list.

 

 

The kits come with all the felt and brads. I had to supply the needle and thread. Which, as you can see, was not an issue. Oh and the stuffing. We had a bag of that in the garage as well.  

 

 

Reindeers and Happy Trees.  Adorable.  We'll keep one of each and the others will be Christmas presents. Maybe. I distinctly remember my family saying something to the effect of "stop sending us Christmas crap, what are we supposed to do with it?" 

 

 

And look at this poor tree...he's short an eye and a cheek.  They were missing from the kit.  So he's laying on the coffee table waiting. Waiting for me to find a small pink and a small black brad. I looked in the garage, but despite all the crap there were no brads. Looks like some weird alien cartoon character.

 

 

The kits are from Paper and String in the UK.   If you don't want to make your own, you can also buy the ready made felt ornaments. I have an elf from a few years back, that is too cute. I might have to make/buy a penguin next. 

 

 

Couch to 5K. Weeks 4 & 5 & 6 Done. Onto Week 7.

It' s been a while since I posted a running update.  No, I haven't given up. Still running.  Week 4 was the last of the run/walk combos.  Weeks 5 and 6 were the beginning of running only, with no walking.  Runs 1 and 2 of each week, were run and walk combos and then the 3rd run was run 20 mins (week 5) and run 25 mins (week 6).  I was so not looking forward to the 20 minutes of solid running in week 5, but it was actually okay.  I didn't look at the clock as often as I normally do, and there was no aches and pains.  It was a good run.  The 25 minutes solid run in week 6 was a nightmare.  It was raining. Not  a light sprinkle but bucketing down rain.  Parts of the run I was ankle deep in puddles. It was cold.  My iPod battery died. I just wanted it to be over.

 

 

This week - week 7 is all about the running. No walking.  It's run 25 minutes for all three runs.  Next week is run 28 minutes and the last week is run 30 minutes. This is where I start to get bored. At least the run/walk combos break up the monotony.  I'm ready to change the playlist I run to, but guess what?  Our desk top died.  It needs a new power supply.  So I'm stuck listening to the same music until we can fix the 'puter and I can synch my iPod.

 

 

I don't like out and back runs. I get bored.  I prefer to run a circuit, but if I run the same route more than a couple of times then I get bored with it. I think this week, I might get hubby to drop me somewhere and then I'll run home.  That way I can mix it up a bit.

Tomorrow is day 3 of week 2 of boot camp. I'm really enjoying it, apart from the getting up at 5am thingy.  That I am not enjoying so much.  So far I've learned my legs are quite strong, my calves are built like oak trees and my shoulders are weak.  WEAK. I am working on them. 

Halloween is Coming to Town

We don't normally do a lot for Halloween.  Our costumes are non existent, we haven't carved pumpkins in years, Hubby normally eats the goodies before the Halloween night, we don't watch scary movies and our decorations have been minimal.

 

Halloween was not big at home, I think my brownie unit might have had a Halloween party one year, but that was it.  We did go to a few house parties back in the day, but nothing really since we moved out of the house 10 years ago!  On Halloween night, we normally open the door for trick or treaters for about an hour or so (sometimes less, depends how much of the candy Hubby left).

 

For some reason unbeknown to me, I'm more in the Halloween spirit this year.  On Sunday we'll hit up Costco for candy, so hubby doesn't have a chance to eat all before the kidlets arrive on Sunday evening.

 

There was a box of Halloween decorations hiding out in the garage, I added a few more and now the dining room is looking a bit more Halloweenish. I'm liking it.

 

 

Our tiny front yard could do with a little loving. Maybe some tombstombs, some lights, wee little ghosts hanging from the tree.  I'll work on that for next year. 

 

There's  lots happening in and around  Vancouver for Halloween.  Obviously we're not going to be able to do everything, but I wouldn't mind  going to one or two.

Vancouver Haunted Trolley Tour

PNE Fright Night

Stanley Park Ghost Train

Spooky Seas at Vancouver Aquarium

Jack O Lantern's Spooky Stroll at VanDusen Botanical Gardens

Ghost Ridge - we are going on Thursday evening with Joanna and Deka

Laity Pumpkin Patch

 

Dinner for the Next Week is gonna be Tuna Casserole

I didn't even eat Tuna until a few years ago.  I am allergic to seafood.  For the longest time various allergists told me to avoid all seafood.  I don't have a deadly allergy - I don't go into anaphylactic shock, I don't need an epi-pen.  I will however have an asthma attack  and need ventolin and sometimes a trip to the hospital. I will also get a bout of nausea, cramps, vomiting and diarrhea. Too much info?

A few years back a new allergist said that I was probably only ever allergic to shellfish and crustaceans but to be safe I was told to avoid all seafood.  Anyways he told me that tuna was not causing a reaction in my skin tests or blood tests.  So I tried tuna.  And waited on tenterhooks for the wheezing, tingly lips, tightness in the chest, cramping etc to start.  BUT it didn't.  Woohoo.  

So we eat quite a bit of tuna. Tuna salad, tuna in our pasta or rice when we're camping and now tuna casserole.  It was the first time I'd made this recipe.  I'm not sure where the original recipe came from, I made a few changes to keep it low fat and to use what I had in the pantry.

 

Ingredients:

• 2 1/2 cups elbow pasta - I used whole wheat rotini 
• 10 oz condensed cream of mushroom soup - I used low fat cream of mushroom soup
• 1 cup of milk - I used skim milk
• 10 oz white tuna in water, drained
• 10 oz frozen veggies
• 10 oz frozen pearl onions - skipped these altogether. Not something I keep in the freezer
• 1/2 cup of shredded cheddar -  I used fat free shredded Tex-Mex Cheese Mix
• 3 Tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 cup of smashed croutons - I used 1/4 cup of Panko breadcrumbs

Instructions:

1. Preheat oven to 350F
2. Cook pasta according to package directions
3. Whisk mushroom soup and milk in large bowl
4. Stir in cooked pasta, tuna, vegetables, onions, cheddar and parmesan
5. Transfer mixture to baking dish
6. Top evenly with crushed croutons (or Panko)
7. Spray croutons with non stick spray
8. Bake until casserole is bubbling and top is golden, about 30 to 35 minutes

It tasted pretty good. We'll be eating this again. Actually we'll be eating it all week.  The recipe serves 8 and as there's only the two of us, there is some amount of leftovers.

It would be really good with crushed goldfish crackers for the topping, but that kind of does away with the low fat idea.

Black or Brown? Help Me Choose.

See these boots?

 

They are Frye's Harness 12R boot. I've been stalking them for the last two, may be even three winters. But they are a little more than I want to spend.  $217.95 from Nordstroms and Endless. $150.00-$200 at Amazon. 

 

Then I found these...

 

Can you tell the difference? Both are leather,with a rubber sole. Both have a boot shaft height of 11" and a circumference of 15" (which should fit my tree trunk style calves). The Frye boots are made in the USA. The bottom two pairs are probably made in China, it doesn't actually say.  And guess what?  The bottom two pairs are only $49.99 each.  From Target of all places.  They have great reviews.  So my dilemma? Black or brown? What do you think?

 

Pumpkin Pie for Hubby

Poor Hubby.  At Thanksgiving he only got to eat 2 pieces of pumpkin pie.  And he's been asking for more ever since.  He's also been asking for peanut butter pie, but he can keep asking for that.

 

 Before baking

Normally I use a different recipe, but we are trying to eat healthier so I made a low fat version.  It didn't set as well.  I think it was the non fat evaporated milk.  It's a lot thinner/runnier than regular milk.  Oh and we didn't wait the one hour before serving.  But it must have been okay. He ate it without complaint.  

 

 After baking

 

• 1 large egg
• 1/3 cup sugar
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 tsp ground ginger
• 1/4 tsp ground nutmeg
• 15oz can canned pumpkin
• 3/4 cup fat free evaporated milk
• 9" unbaked pie crust

Preheat oven to 425°F (220°C). In a large bowl, lightly beat egg. Stir in sugar, salt, cinnamon, vanilla, ginger and nutmeg. Add pumpkin and evaporated milk. Stir until well combined. Pour into pie shell.  Bake for 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350°F (175°C) and bake until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean, about 25 minutes. Cool for 1 hour before serving.

 

The Changing Face of Whistler Celebration Plaza

I spent several hours a day at the medals plaza in February.  It looked something like this.

 

 Photo Krista Leesment

 

As of Tuesday it now looks like this: