Genius' Ensuite - Before

Today the weather has turned to rain. Although Saturday is generally

slotted for work out of doors, today is a forced exception.
At the breakfast table, Hubby declares that today is the day ...
Thus the painting of our son's ensuite bathroom

Despite the sorrowful out-dated-ness of the
sponged painting technique
... and not to down play the total wrongness
of the bronze accents ...
Genius has been a pretty fortunate young man over the years

When we renovated our place almost 15 years ago
changing it from a basement entry home to a two story home,
Genius became the proud owner of
the master bedroom and two piece ensuite.
Pretty awesome for an eight year old.

Back then dark green and sponged was in.
Now it's not ... Time for a change.

Moon Rocks

Life is generally pretty steady and predictable around our place. Nothing out of the ordinary, nothing bizarre.

But then out of the blue ... maybe literally out of the wild blue yonder you hear about ... maybe even straight out of outer space itself ... come these moon rocks.

Brought to us by aliens ... possibly ... You never know ... but wonder ...
Could it be???

Then you take another look, maybe a little further away. It almost looks as if the aliens are neat ... and tidy ... about their placement of their moon rock specimens.

And then with another inquiring look, you sigh a sort of relief. No aliens, no moon rocks. Only the calcified remains of rock extracted from the depths of Genius' dismantled salt water fish tank. Not as interesting a find as moon rock, but I am certain that I am the only one on the street that can claim ownership of such a find.

What's in your neighbourhood?

Johnnie-Girl Loses Her "N"

For those blog readers south of the border ... you Americans ... losing your "N" may put a quizzical look upon your face.

Does she mean she's "losing her nut"? ... "Losing her noodle? Number? Nationality? Nubbin???

What is a nubbin anyway? ... A nubbin ... according to my pocket version of the Webster's Dictionary is "a small ear of corn". No, she hasn't lost that. Actually I can't even remember the last time we had corn on the cob. Maybe during the summer ...

Back to the subject at hand ...

In Canada new drivers are put through a series of tests (both written and practical) before they receive the privilege of driving a car on our Canadian roads. First is the "L" ... Some people call them Losers, but in fact "L" stands for Learner. A magnetic "L" is to be displayed on the back of the car when a Learner is driving. This warns the driver behind such a car to be patient and considerate of the newbie.

Next test ... or rather the passing of such a test ... results in the reward of an "N". I don't think that it stands for Nerd, but maybe something like New Driver. You have this for a year or so while you practice.

Then after the required time, you go for your final road test. A grueling 40 -45 minute road test. You don't know what they will throw at you ... Parallel parking? Reverse stall parking? Three point turn? Driving in a school zone?

Frightening to think about for a person who has driven for over 30 years and still drives around the block six times rather than parallel park.
But today, I am here to announce that our Johnnie-Girl has passed with flying colours. She is now an official member of the Canadian driving force. Her rear bumper ... that is her CAR'S rear bumper ... is now legally void of all lettering. Way to go.

~ * ~

For such a victory, I offered her a prize of some worth ... maybe a pleasant lunch with mom, a pretty new outfit, or even a simple ice cream cone from McDonald's.

She could not be tempted

"Must get back to do homework" she announces.
My studious, scholarly, smarty-pants daughter opts for homework time.

What's a mom to do?
Congratulations Johnnie-Girl

Shaping Dough

Now, by no means do I consider myself an experienced bread maker ... but I occasionally try. I have two bread machines that aid me in the kneading, and then I attempt to shape loaves and buns from the finished dough. Although not pretty, my family eats it up.

~ * ~

Today I have had a chance to check out youtube.
I learn so much from others!
If you have a moment, check out this clip below.

Houses Complete

Well, my apologies. It has been a very long time since I have put up a post. So many other distractions ... and the worst of it all is the fact that I don't have any pictures to prove it!

But I am finally back and have some shots of our completed Gingerbread Houses as promised a long time back.

Here is a farm yard constructed by Johnnie-Girl. A traditional hip roof made without cardboard trusses is a feat in itself. The pig pen fence is made from posts of graham crackers and side boards of chow mein noodles. Notice the bright pink pigs and their white little piggies. Their water pond is made from a sprinkle of blue drink crystals.

Dreamer's idea was based on Castle plans. Such fine work went into the structure. A turret was hoped for, but in the end fell over during construction!

Genius stunned us all as he put together a replica of the Tetley Treehouse. It took some time of watching it unfold before our eyes before Dreamer guessed what it was. The picture does not do it justice however. It really does look like a tree house made of chocolate with snow drifts on the roof.

Hubby built what he calls a Bed and Breakfast. He used many different crackers, and a vast array of building supplies. It is solidly constructed and worth the three or so hours he put into it.

And finally I present to you my creation. It started with an inverted bowl. I used two different kinds of crackers and lots of glue and icing to make an igloo of sorts. Then I needed a marshmallow Eskimo with crazy chow mein noodle arms. He looks in a panic because he has discovered that a polar bear has been dipping into his Koi pond and eating his prize fish. Thus the 'blood bath and carnage' in the fore front. Hey anything is possible with a little imagination, glue, and STUFF.

~ * ~
Thus concludes our 2009 Christmas Gingerbread House Night. See you again next year.

Building Houses

Can you believe it? The Christmas season that we have long looked forward to, has come and now has gone ALREADY. Other than the few extra pounds acquired from the assortment of goodies, Christmas of 2009 is just a memory. But good memories are one of man's greatest gifts. And in this household they are often home made ... One of our favourite long time family traditions is the making of Gingerbread Houses.

We first start with an assortment of candies and many other add-ons like kernel popcorn, crackers, drink powder, marshmallows etc etc.

Some members of our family look to architectural plans for inspiration ... even castle plans! Lofty dreams by the Dreamer daughter :o) Most just create as they go along.



Our passion for House Building has long since surpassed simple gingerbread and icing. In fact, we don't even use Gingerbread any more. Far too impractical for the likes of our creative minds. We bring in graham crackers for their sturdiness, a glue gun for quick building, and assorted knives for shaving the perfect shapes.



For my creation, I needed the structural support of an inverted bowl. Covering it with plastic protects it from possible glue poisoning and makes for easy clean up. All is fair and useful in our building construction night.



And finally we used icing for its simple beauty, ease in adding colour and needed 'stucco' to our structures. Royal icing is the best (I will post a recipe tomorrow), but we also used cheap ready made icing.


Tomorrow I will share the finished 'houses'. Great fun was had by all.