Summer Snailing

Kate and I went for a walk last night--to take out the garbage, but also to get outside for a few minutes and enjoy the evening sun after a cloudy day. We noticed some snails on the parkade wall--quite a few, actually. I don't know what brought them all out, but they were all sunning themselves. It was so picturesque that we made the long troop back around the building and up three flights of stairs to get the camera.

Mommy and Malachi are galavanting on an adventure out east this week so Kate and I are batching it. Today for supper we had boiled sweet potato and edamame beans. Last night we had escargot. Just kidding!

Earlier this month our family went to a wedding of some friends in Red Deer; in a few weeks we will go to another wedding in Ontario. We are making vacations out of these trips and spending time with family and friends. Summer is here but it will be short so we will try to make the most of it!

Planters with dirt

I bought some dirt the other day and carried it home on the back of the double stroller. Kate and I planted some sweet peas in one of the planter boxes. Kate likes to blow bubbles on the balcony. The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Rye and Goat Cheese Pizza

About a month ago I made pizza for Michelle and Kate (maybe it was for Mother's Day?). They got a standard ham and pineapple on a regular hand-tossed crust; about 80% white flour, mozzarella on top. I also made a low-glycemic-non-wheat-non-cow-product-non-tomato version for myself! The crust was made from rye flour. For the sauce I just squished an avocado and spread it on top. My toppings were some leftover steak from the Keg, spinach, pineapple, and goat cheese. It turned out okay although it was not as tasty as I had hoped.

You can click on the picture to get a close-up view of all those tasty ingredients! As I have since re-introduced tomatoes into my diet, if I were to make this again I could use tomato sauce.

Planter Boxes

On Friday after work I took apart a pallet that wasn't being used and salvaged some 1x4's. I de-nailed 18 pieces that were 3 feet long each and strapped them to the back of my bike. I wobbled carefully all the way home; they didn't fall off until I got to the door to our underground parking and couldn't fit through it. :) Hey, if they can do it in Nigeria with appliances, I should be able to get a bit of firewood home.

Except it's not firewood; I made one planter box yesterday, and after I buy some more screws I'll make a second one for our balcony. They are a bit rustic looking but kind of nice and the wife approves of them so that's good! I put some sand in the bottom of them and then we'll put dirt on top of that. We are hoping to grow sweet peas that will climb up the balcony railing. Also some herbs such as cilantro; I'm not sure what else. Strawberries would be nice but it might be too late for those. We already have a little banana tree that my parents gave us, as well as some parsley, chives, a daffodil plant that isn't doing much, and a few apple trees that grew from seeds I planted last year. Oh yes, and some winter onions that survived outside in a mossy pot.

What else inhabits our balcony? A propane tabletop barbecue, a diaper pail, and a rolled-up window shade for the summer. We get full afternoon sun in the summer and it can get quite toasty out here. Currently there are also two lawnchairs, with someone sitting in one of them, typing on his laptop. Oh yeah--that'd be me.

Naturopath, Continued

I had another follow-up with my Naturopathic Physician yesterday. Pretty much all good news again, lots of healing happening according to his electro-gizmo. A couple of surprises though--cortisol was high (indicating some stress)--I haven't felt too stressed lately (hmm, except for Monday at work maybe--how long does cortisol hang around after a stressful event?). Also glucogon was high, indicating I've been eating too much protein! This is surprising because all along I've been having trouble digesting protein--so I've been eating lots to compensate for that, I guess. Although honestly I don't think I was eating excessive amounts. So, I will cut back a little there and add more veggies if I can, and I always enjoy carbs too because they give me lots of energy.

Dr. E. also checked my food sensitivities. As he had predicted three months ago, I have improved to the point where I'm no longer sensitive to many foods. Once again I can eat spelt, chicken, oranges, tomatoes, peppers, and curry. A few of the foods that I must continue to stay away from include wheat, pork, alcohol, peanuts, and cow's milk products (although butter is now okay). These may or may not improve in the course of my intestinal healing and I will find out about that in another 3 months.

I have indeed felt better than ever these last couple of months, with the odd 'tired' day thrown in, seemingly randomly. Keeping busy with work definitely helps; perhaps there is an element of adrenaline there, with having something important to do. Sitting at home with a grumpy 2 year old can be tiring sometimes. :)

Pranking the Neighbours

Down the hall we have some neighbours that like to decorate their door according to the season. At Halloween they had some yellow tape on their door amongst other decorations. So I added an orange sign that read BEWARE OF CAT (they have two of them). To my chagrin they left that sign up for several months.

Then for Easter they put up a very colourful wreath on their door, covered with flowers and plastic eggs. It begged for some further decoration so I made a little beanie cap for one of the chicks!


What else have I been up to? Work and family, mostly. Malachi has been sleeping well although he still goes to bed quite late (about 11pm). I have continued to do a little bit of 'Handy Andy,' but not too much. I have felt pretty good physically and mentally lately. My MD ran my bi-yearly blood tests recently and a lot of stuff had improved. So that is great news!

Monkey

At the zoo last fall