The Adventure Continues

As I drove home with the top down on the car this morning, racing the dark clouds above me, I thought to myself, "who says I have to be far from home to have a blogworthy adventure?" Not I.

Back up 3 hours and you would have seen me dragging myself out of bed at the regular weekday time (yup I know it's Saturday), checking the map twice...one wouldn't want to get lost.

I was off to the police bike auction.

When I was about half way there, I realized I had driven the Smart car instead of the van. What a rookie mistake (shakes head). Oh well, I was only going to check out the sale, see how things went, gauge the bids and the interest. When I arrived at the auction site there were about 150 bikes and about half as many people milling around, cautiously looking at the items and making notes on their iPods. Were people reserving their interest to try and deter other people from being interested in the same bike they had their eye on? Or was I over-analyzing... But about half an hour into the viewing time, the bikes were unlocked, and we all tried out the ones that had caught our eye. Sure, there was swearing..."piece of &*! bike, the kickstand's broken", or bright eyes as a toddler took a model with training wheels for a spin, or the squeals of glee as a couple who were strangers to each other tried out the bicycle-built-for-two (it was wobbly at first, but fun when we got going)!

Then at 10o'clock sharp they called all the bikes back in and the bidding began. Sweet little bike Number 92 was the one I fell in love with, but with only $50 in my wallet, I knew I wouldn't get caught up in the moment. Well, wouldn't you know there was one other person in the crowd who loved Number 92 (at least a little), but I won out with $5 leftover for lunch. Sweet deal.

I stayed for the rest of the auction, Steve's uncle happened to be there, so it was fun hanging out with someone else and talking about what everyone was buying. The biggest ticket item was a Trek bike that went for a whopping $600! Others went for $5 with people buying them for parts, or as one guy said, "it's cheaper than a lock, so if someone steals it, I don't care". I guess that's one way of looking at it! The tandem sold for about $200 (I will admit I was having a bit of bike envy).

When the sale was over, uncle Rod helped me coerce Number 92 through the convertible roof of the Smart car. Thankfully he was there, otherwise I might have had to bike home and come back for the car later.

I would have taken a photo, but as I pulled into the driveway, the rain started and I had to hustle to get the bike out and close the top before the seats got too wet.

Now it's beautiful out there, so if you'll excuse me I have a bike ride to go on. :)

Saskatoons

I love free food, so when it is growing on the trees in the river valley, it's time to grab a basket and get picking. We found lots of saskatoons growing, and with only a small amount of effort, gathered about two cups. More than enough berries to make these tasty treats:

Yes, I did make more than this, but they were eaten so quickly I couldn't get a photo in time :) The recipe was adapted from a recipe on Sprouted Kitchen . I did use frozen puff pastry dough, one day I'll attempt it from scratch...not today.

In anticipation of making something with berries, I made creme fraiche! I know it sounds ridiculously fancy, and snobby and I was intimidated until I saw how easy it is to make. 1cup whipping cream + 2 T buttermilk + 8to24 hours at room temperature. That's all there is to it. It tastes very good. (There should be no doubt that anything with whipping cream would not taste good.) I'm not completely sure how to use it now though. Eating it directly from the spoon is probably not the best option.

The Organic Box Part 2

As promised, The Organic Box contents photo:

This week the bounty included strawberries, grapes, bananas, apricots, blueberries, cucumbers, zucchini, kale, rainbow chard, baby carrots, shelling peas, a bag of lettuce, a bag of spinach, and new potatoes! Let the good eats begin.

Oh, by the way, the watermelon and feta salad was good for a first try at it. I didn't have enough mint to balance the other flavours.

The Organic Box

Hooray for The Organic Box! It's a produce delivery company that provides locally sourced organic vegetables and fruit to your door. Did I mention that it comes right to our door? I highly recommend this quality service and product! They send weekly updates on the condition of the produce, they let us know how the company is doing, and give us ample opportunity for feedback. Not to mention that the quality is way better that what I can choose at the grocery store (and I consider myself a fairly good produce picker).

Now that summer is in full swing, they have an additional fruit add-on box. The contents of this add-on are pictured below. Also included was a bag of frozen raspberries from last year's crop that I whisked straightaway into the freezer.
I will try to remember to take a photo of the original veggie box this week. Everything has been so delicious, and I'm looking forward to trying a watermelon and feta salad that I have been seeing all over lately.

Finale in the Summer of Weddings

This is why you should leave photography to the pros.

By the time the flash went off, I had cut off this beautiful matron of honour's head, wiggled the camera a bit and captured the bored looking lady across the aisle from me (I cropped her out to save embarrassment).

Food is much easier to photograph.