Squamish 'Diner en Blanc' 2.0

We held our second 'Diner en Blanc' last night.  (You can read about the first one here:

http://cwm4.blogspot.ca/2012/06/diner-en-blanc-squamish-style.html)  I was so grateful that the rain held off and we could spend the evening outside.

While in the planning stages, my co-conspirator Colleen and I decided that our secret picnic location needed two things:  

1)  A bit of privacy

2)  A bathroom

We kicked around a few ideas for this year's secret picnic location, but we couldn't think of a spot that met those two important criteria.  One day I was sitting in my garden and it hit me.  The field behind our house!  It was private and people could use our bathroom.  Eureka!

We sent out the invitations and anxiously awaited for June 22nd's arrival.  Here's what happened.....

 Not only did we keep the picnic location a secret, but we kept the guest list a secret too.  I asked everyone to rendezvous at our place at 6:00pm.  Little did our guests know they were only going to walk 18 steps down the path behind our house to the field.

 We made it!

 Everyone quickly sprang into action to set up their tables, chairs, candles and flowers.

 Whose idea was it to let Joe sabre a bottle of champagne?

Dinner under the 'stars'.

A secret garden.

                  

Don't even think about it, Kevin!

 Joe receives some help whipping the cream for his dessert.

'Diner en Blanc' tradition dictates that diners wave their napkins in the air after dinner to thank the police for not closing the picnic down due to drinking in public.

'Diner en Blanc' tradition also states that lighting sparklers denotes the end of dinner and the beginning of the dance.  LOOK AT THOSE PATHETIC SPARKLERS!  We would have been better off to light the five dollar bill I used to buy those things.  (I love how the wind is blowing the balloons sideways.)   

 At 10:00pm, we packed everything up and headed inside the house to show off our mad dance skills.

At midnight we gathered around the fire for a group photo and to say our good-byes.

Thanks to everyone for making our second 'Diner en Blanc' a roaring success.  I'm already looking forward to next year! 

I HEART SUNDAYS!

First of all, let me confess.  I should have been writing report cards yesterday.  But when the sun made a brief appearance in the afternoon, all thoughts of report card writing went straight out the window.  This is what I did instead...

 I started to clean out one of the upstairs bedroom closets.  (Like I said, I should have been writing report cards.)  And there, laying in a box, was Will's baby book from 1992.  I opened it up and saw that I had only completed 6 months of his first year.  Let me remind you:  Will is now TWENTY-ONE YEARS OLD!  I quickly finished the scrapbook.

The division of labour around here is as follows:  Joe does all of the cooking and grocery shopping.  I respect his expertise and do not interfere.  I take care of the inside of the house and do all of the yard work.  Joe interferes.  For example, he recently decided to fertilize the lawn.  This means that I now have to mow it every 48 hours.  Seriously.  And the grass grows so long and so quickly that my dinky cordless electric mower has a hard time plowing its way through the hayfields.  Hacking this lawn down took the better part of yesterday afternoon.

Nor does Joe consult me when he wades into my territory.  While the grass is growing very long in some sections of the lawn due to his enthusiastic fertilizing, it has been scorched in many others.  With undulating green, yellow and brown sections, the lawn looks like its wearing army camouflage.  I pray it recovers quickly from Joe's care and interest.

Scorched earth aside, there are some bright spots in my garden.  This 'Bowl of Beauty' peony for example.

And my 'Weeping Robinia' tree is spectacular this year.

As many of you know, Joe and I are doing our very first home exchange this summer.  We are swapping houses with a lovely couple from Somerset, England.  We leave for the UK in a month.  We are frantically doing all the little jobs around the house that should have been done months/years ago.  Like cleaning our window screens.  The screens are now so dust-free you can't even see them!

Joe spent some time on Sunday touching up all the dings in the stucco incurred during our house renovation.

After all that gruelling work we needed a break, so we drove down to Howe Sound to walk along the shoreline.  I never grow tired of staring at the Stawamus Chief.

We stopped in at our local nursery 'On The Farm' for some ice cream.

And who did we meet? Our friend Melissa who works on The Farm.

When we got home from the nursery, there was a message on our answering machine with an invitation  from friends to come for dinner.  And to bring our bathing suits as they had just opened their pool.  Dinner?  Swimming?  Didn't have to ask me twice!

This is how kids look jumping off the diving board.

This is how I think I look diving off the board.

This is how I really look diving off the board.

To end this post, I will leave you with some adorable animal shots I took at dinner last night.

One of my all-time favourite guys.

He loves me.

Inter-species friendship.

The evening ended with a long belly rub for Hazel.

Like the title of this post says: "I Heart Sundays."  (But next Sunday, I MUST get my report cards done.)

The Past Week in Ten Photos

Last weekend we were invited up to beautiful Anderson Lake by one of my colleagues.  Spent the afternoon lazing on their boat.

When we arrived at the lake I discovered that one of my former kindergarten students was dating my colleague's daughter!  It was great to see Larry all grown up.

Now that my kids are grown and have moved away, I don't have to share my bathroom with anyone.  Except for Joe's sourdough bread starter.  Apparently it likes the warmth from our heated  floor tiles.

Sadly, I am no longer a gardener.  I have spent the past several years removing flower beds from my yard and replacing them with lawn.  But every once in a while a throwback from my glory days makes an appearance and causes my heart to break with its beauty.

Meet Joe's incredible 98 year old grandmother.  She continues to live in her own home even after losing her 102 year old husband last year.  She is one hell of a woman and I love her to the depths of my soul.

Nuthin' says "Welcome To The Neighbourhood" like this friendly sign on a fence post in Brackendale.

Joe and I walked the seawall along False Creek in Vancouver last weekend.  I loved these reclining seats, especially the one holding the woman reading a book with her little shaved dog on her lap.  The photo bomber in the background just adds another layer of mystery, don't you think?

Joe's herb garden is finally receiving a much needed upgrade thanks to our friend Dan.

Okay, this is going too far.  Now I have to share my bathroom with 

Joe's creme fraiche?!?!?!

My favourite boy got extremely sick (cause unknown) while at my house last week and was close to death.  Thankfully he made a quick and complete recovery.  That was the best news of my week!

Forest Bathing

Forest bathing.  I spent the weekend doing it.

I knew it was going to be a good weekend when the mornings looked like this.

My boyfriend picked me up in his car.

                                                                Surrounded by moss.

 Look up, look way up.

 Is my boyfriend Palmer not the cutest?

 Flowering currant.  One of the first foods for hummingbirds.

The forest floor is beautiful.

 Mount Garibaldi.

Alpha Peak of the Tantalus Range.

Forest bathing.  I can't get enough of it.

Sunday Sampler

Joe is closing in on his fourth hour of watching the Curling World Championships.  Canada and Sweden are duking it out for first place.  I absolutely glaze over when this is on TV, so I thought I'd post a few photos of my weekend instead.

Here goes....

Goodness Jar Update:  I am 4 months into this project and I haven't missed a day yet.  There is a lot of good in this world, folks.  I'm often surprised with how many things I write down on any given day.

 On Friday, Joe and I celebrated our 27th wedding anniversary.  He was working from home so I said, "Hey, I'll come home for lunch.  Whaddaya wanna make me?"  I came home to wieners and french fries.

We ordered in sushi from Kozo for our anniversary dinner.  Not a wiener in sight.

  

The Japanese have a wonderful expression for spending time in the woods:  Shinrin-yoku, or forest bathing.  Do you not love that expression?  From now on instead of using the word 'hiking', I am now going to say I am off to bathe in the forest.  I did a lot of forest bathing this weekend.

This is who I am missing this weekend.  The sweetest ball of fluff that ever walked the earth.  Spirit died two summers ago but I think about him ALL THE TIME!  I could weep just looking at this picture of him.

One of the highlights of my weekend was going to see my friend Janice (far right) perform in a local production of 'Calendar Girls'.  She is brave and a risk-taker.  Janice is an inspiration.  We should all be so brave and willing to take such risks. 

How was your weekend?  I hope it was relaxing and full of fun.

Fire's Burning

I have just come inside my house after enjoying our fourth fire in as many days.  Man, I love sitting around the firepit in my backyard on these warm, balmy evenings!  Robins chirping good night, stars overhead, bats swooping, frogs singing their love songs in the bog behind our house, logs crackling in the firepit.  A spring symphony.

I have had a love affair with outdoor fires all my life.  Laying them, lighting them, poking them, sitting around them.

They don't call me "One Match Nanc" for nuthin'.