The Life of a Lab

 

This isn't Lindor but I think it looks just like her and she would certainly LOVE an ice cream cone in this tropical weather system that we are experiencing. Have been working on a few things but haven't had time to work on my posts. Stay tuned!

Carrot Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting.

I found a new website that has some great recipes called My Kitchen Escapades. Since I have harvested exactly TWO zucchinis from my front flower bed. (who says you can't give them away they are so plentiful?), it was fun actually baking with something I grew in the City. These bars turned out great, so moist and you can never go wrong with cream cheese frosting.

Carrot and Zucchini Bars with Lemon Cream Cheese Frosting

2 eggs
3/4 cup brown sugar
1/2 cup cooking oil
1/4 cup honey
 1 tsp vanilla
1 1/2 cup shredded carrot
1 cup shredded zucchini
1/2 cup pecans (optional)
1 1/2 cups flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp ground ginger
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/4 tsp salt

Frosting
1 Tbsp butter
1 block of cream cheese (250g)
1 cup icing sugar
zest of one lemon

Whisk together eggs, sugar, oil, honey and vanilla. Mix in carrots and zucchini and pecans if using.
Add dry ingredients and mix until incorporated. Lightly spray a 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350F for 22 - 25 minutes or until top springs back.
Cool completely and frost.

From The Heart: August Stamp of the Month

I always seem to leave it to the last minute to finish my monthly stamp challenge at Designed to Delight; From the Heart Stamps. Last month's freebie was this adorable tabby cat and I was happy to put together a card and colour him up. At least, I think tabbies are male. I should know that from my genetics classes. If you play along each month, you get the next month's image for FREE and each one seems to be cuter then the last. Hope you like what I did with it...

Pay It Forward

I am fortunate to have a lot of connections in the community and also many charitable friends who have very giving hearts. They help me so much with my fundraising endeavours and I appreciate them greatly. In the last couple weeks, I received a bunch of stuff that I'm going to see gets a good home. I always like to see things we have outgrown or no longer have a use for go to a good home.

Here's the bags... aren't you curious to see what's inside them?

Yarn, that is going to my Dutch Aunt Amy who knits for charity. A lot!

Fabric that is going to a Ladies Auxilary Quilting group.  

 

Paper crafting supplies that are going to the Altzheimer unit at a Senior's home.

 

I hope you are encouraged to find some use for items that you have on hand. It's very rewarding!

Tobermory

Well, I might be a little old for sleeping in a tent but the family tradition continues. Every year, my siblings and family go camping at Cyprus Lake. My younger brother has been going for the last 28 years, only missing for his honeymoon and our Disney vacation. It's great to spend some time relaxing, reading, swimming, hiking and playing games with the boys. I'm not big on chess but I seem to be improving somewhat each year. At least, my ranking has gone up by 1.

We drive into the town of Tobermory for whitefish dinner and to check out the cute shops and feed the ducks.

 

It's worth the huge pack-up and clean up every year. I hope we continue this tradition for many more years. I just might have to upgrade to a RV though!  

I Heart Sketches

This week's sketch at Delightful Inspirations-From the Heart Stamps was a good one.

 

I used a Whipper Stamper stamp that I borrowed from my friend Keri and I love the colours and how it turned out. Not sure what the little birdie should be saying but I'm sure I'll come up with something.

What's Bloomin'

We have had lots of rain this summer, quite a contrast from last year when the lawns were brown almost from the get-go. I have a few plants that have done really well that I wanted to showcase this week.
First, a gorgeous Hibiscus that I picked up from Costco. I had the worst time getting it to bloom. I guess it was drying out in the container and the buds were falling off but now that it's a little cooler it is showing off.

My Endless Summer Hydrangea. These do really well in my shaded yard and produce colour for a good portion of the summer. This one is a nice deep pink, very vibrant!

My friend Kathy and myself are having a contest to see who can get a successful rhubarb plant established. We both have shaded, root-filled properties with depleted topsoil. I dug out a few cedars in my front flower bed. What a job!

I threw in some topsoil and compost and I think I have found just the spot for my rhubarb. We'll see how it goes next spring.