When the two of us went to visit my sister & her husband for 5 weeks back early in 2009, she insisted we come to choir practice. They love their choir so they wanted to share that with us. Okay, so we tag along knowing of course that Lawrie has a nice voice, but mine isn’t worth opening my mouth for, but humour my sister we will. Gospel choirs we have all seen and heard in any number of movies and it looks like they are having a good time, so maybe we will too.

Well, the choir director – nice looking, hat wearing, black American – sits down at the piano and immediately you know he has a command of the instrument that makes it as easy as breathing. And he sings, teaches and directs four parts, plays the piano and tells stories effortlessly. And yes, it is fun! Lots of fun when you add clapping and swaying into the mix and find yourself slightly challenged. A bit like chewing gum, patting your head and making circular motions on your front all at once!

Lawrie isn’t a tenor … I am though. He sings bass and really does have a nice voice. I’m just a voice, nothing special or soloist material at all. But I know how to participate and that is what singin’ in the choir is all about. Getting out there and meeting people who like the idea of “changing the world, one song at a time”

So to continue my story, we went to choir practice in Vancouver several times and also participated in a weekend workshop in Victoria. Meet more nice people, sing more songs … did a concert at the end of the workshop and had a very good time. Then we went home and back to sort of normal life. But another opportunity presents itself for a weekend workshop in November, this time in Seattle. Well, we haven’t ever been to Seattle, so why not? More nice people, and great visiting with those we have met previously. All good, all the time. Well actually that isn’t the way it is said … the first thing Eric, the choir director, teaches is this – whenever he says ‘God is good’ you (the choir) reply with ‘All the time’ Then he says ‘All the time’ and you reply ‘God is good’. This may seem a little hokey, but it is fun and you find yourself looking for opportunity to start the sequence. But is this a ‘church’ or ‘Christian’ gospel choir? No, if anything it is very non-denominational. Anybody can participate no matter what your belief system. The songs (which you learn quickly and easily without words or music scores) are all styled out of the ‘Gospel’ tradition with the words coming from many different sources.

Okay, so there is the background … we loved participating in the workshops we attended, so we thought why not bring the workshop to Saskatoon? Why not provide interested people here with the same opportunity? I must stress you don’t need to belong to or have participated in a choir ever before. It is all about blending many voices together to make a joyful song. Eric’s choirs are called ‘One Human Family Gospel Choirs” and that name reflects the purpose. “Changing the world, one song at a time”

God is good … All the time!

If you want to come, click here, or on the link at the very top of the page. Eric’s website is here!

Vegebeanarian Chili

¼ cup (or more as need) stock for sauteing
2 onions, diced
6 carrots, diced
6 stalks celery, diced
1 each yellow, orange and red peppers, diced
2 zucchinis, diced
1 to 2 jalapeno peppers, minced finely
1 tbsp garlic, minced
¼ cup chili powder
2 tsp ground cumin
2 tsp basil
2 tsp oregano
2 bay leaves
2 – 28 fl oz cans diced tomatoes
1 – 19 oz can chickpeas, drained/rinsed
2 cans black beans, drained/rinsed
1 – 19 oz can red kidney beans
2 cups corn (frozen or fresh)
1 tsp chipotle in adobo paste (in a can)
water or stock
1 bunch cilantro, chopped
2-3 limes

In a large pot, sauté onions, through garlic in stock until soft. Add chili powder through bay leaves. Saute 2-3 minutes more, (adding small amounts of stock if seasoning sticks to pot) then add chickpeas through chipotle paste. Add water or stock to cover and let simmer for an hour, stirring often. Add 1 bunch cilantro, juice and zest of limes and salt and pepper to taste.

Frosting
1 1/4 c. icing sugar
2 tbsp. butter
2-3 tbsp. dark rum (for those of us without rum around I’m sure the following substitutions are acceptable: 1/2 to 1 tsp. non-alcoholic vanilla or rum extract OR 2 tbsp. pineapple juice or syrup flavored with almond extract)
extra freshly grated nutmeg to baker’s taste

Method
In small bowl sift flour and nutmeg, set aside. In large bowl, cream together butter & sugar until fluffy. Beat in egg & vanilla extract. Gradually stir in flour. Form pieces of dough into long 1/2″ thick ropes. Cut ropes into 3″ pieces. Place on ungreased baking sheets. Bake 12 to 15 minutes at 350 degrees F. until just brown on bottom.

Icing is made by creaming butter and icing sugar, then stirring in flavouring until creamy smooth. Spread on top of cooled logs, drag with fork tines and sprinkle with nutmeg. Optional decoration is red and green cherries.

Lynn’s version of Sabina’s Aush
1 tablespoon oil
2 diced onions
3 cups water
1 cup dry brown lentils
5 cloves garlic mashed
1 to 2 tsp. tumeric
1 tsp. ginger paste
1 tsp. curry paste
10 cups water approximately
2 boullion cubes (vegan preferred)
1 19 oz can chickpeas (drained and rinsed)
1 19 oz can red kidney beans (drained and rinsed)
1 cup cooked white beetroot roughly chopped
4 cups chopped fresh or frozen spinach
1 cup broken spaghetti (cooked)
2 tsp. dried mint
1/4 c. chopped cilantro
1 c. chopped parsley

Directions: In a soup pot or large Dutch oven, saute onion in oil briefly, then add next four ingredients and continue stirring for about 3 minutes. Add 3 cups water and brown lentils, stir then cover pot and cook for about 20 minutes or until lentils are almost done. Add remaining ingredients, bring to a boil and then simmer for a further 10 to 20 minutes or until lentils are soft and flavours have developed. This did make for a very full pot!

Oh, and I haven’t done very much food photography so this is just a starting point for me!

1 pkg extra-firm tofu

3 tbsp Bragg Liquid Aminos

3 tbsp Toasted sesame oil

3 tbsp Sesame seeds

1 tsp Cumin, ground

1/2 tsp freshly ground pepper

Preheat oven to 350F. Slice tofu into sticks and toss with remaining ingredients. Allow to marinate 30 minutes or overnight. Place tofu on a baking tray and bake 15-20 minutes or until golden brown. Remove from oven and enjoy hot or cool. Yields 24 sticks.

We have decided to not fly for holidays anymore and to make do with less because after all, more isn’t the path to happiness anyway! I do believe the simplest life is the most environmentally friendly and least expensive too. Just as buying organically grown food that isn’t processed is better for our bodies, it is also more sustainable and better for the environment too! Okay, that is enough of a minor rant and expression of opinion to suffice awhile.

This next year we are hoping to grow most of our own food, and perhaps have some to share. Family time is going to take a priority. And we will see where that all takes us. Small steps we know, but still better than pretending nothing is wrong in this world.

After our move south, we are also quite happy to be in one piece and alive! We got caught in a snow storm on Pink Mountain and that two hour drive was extremely scary. Lawrie did an amazing job of driving and luck was with us to be sure! Then driving into Calgary we got caught in another snow storm and barely avoided a collision next to another accident scene, whew that was very close too. After two days in Calgary we left for Medicine Hat and what we thought was the safest route to Saskatoon. Unfortunately there proved to be blizzard conditions that way and not a lot of fun, though no near accidents this time. It did take us 12 hours to get to Saskatoon, about double the normal time! A trip to remember …

After a month at our new home in rural Saskatchewan, we are settled in and have our garden mostly planted. It was lots of work, but we are comfortable and don’t need for anything though Lawrie thinks he would like a television station or two in the winter. Right now we are able to watch DVDs and that is it. Somehow we didn’t manage to connect the VCR up correctly and so that doesn’t work just yet. There aren’t any radio stations getting picked up on the stereo system either, but we are sure that is a misconnection rather than an absence of stations.

The Os are very happy with their new home. They do have a great time chasing each other around the yard. Grass is very good for this activity. They still love to hear us suggest it is walk time though, so we aren’t off the hook for that activity.

I’m having a hard time blogging these days but I would like to work at photography and this is a good way to archive some of it. Maybe I won’t worry about having anything significant to say? If that was ever important it wasn’t stated, so no real change there I guess! If you are looking for photos and they are a mess, it is because we upgraded WordPress and now Coppermine (the photo plugin) coding is all wrong. My website guru (son Chris) is looking for time to fix all this, so patience is the order of the day.

After we put them on the plane home, Lawrie and I retreated out to Fox Lake for a few days of quiet. Chris and Sarah joined us for an overnight (more games) and then Kate and Greg came out for an afternoon. Lovely time.

Now we are busy with getting the house ready to sell. I’m busy at work as usual, but we have the added task of hiring someone new for my position. Lawrie is busy with curling, not only being drawmaster, but also with the senior men’s curling team that is hoping to make it to the National’s. It is rather funny that the location for the Senior’s this year is Prince Albert, Saskatchewan. We are moving about 40 minutes away from Prince Albert in about four months, but the event is end of March. Oh well!

I came across a very interesting art project, a fleeting work, but fun for those who participate. All you need is a beach, camera and a bit of creativity! Click here to see it!

However, friends of ours have a home about an hour away that isn’t being used often and so we have gone for a retreat several times, the last time on the Thanksgiving long weekend. Even though the highway is quite close, the sound of traffic doesn’t penetrate and it is so quiet and serene. Life then centers around staying warm, making meals, and observing any wildlife that happens along. Okay, so the weather gets a fair bit of attention as well as playing games, reading, peering through the binoculars, spinning, knitting, and letting the Os in and out. They have a few favourite squirrels to chase and of course any trip to the outhouse is an opportunity to go for a run about. What a nice way to spend a few days. In fact we both think it would be a nice way to live. Yes, there are a few things that would get in the way, but dreaming is a good thing too. So here are some photos from our Thanksgiving weekend. Thanks J & J!

Lawrie had a security shift from 2 pm to 10 pm and I went to help get our volunteer lounge at Mount MacIntyre ready for Monday and the first day of Women’s Curling. I don’t have my first real shift until Tuesday morning. Being around other cheerful volunteers is very infectious and therefore lots of fun. I do believe we will enjoy the experience.

Our company is enjoying themselves, and that is all good too. Tomorrow I’ll get some photos inserted. In the meantime there are lots of Canada Winter Games photos in Flickr … so go there!

The majority of the athletes for the first week of events arrived yesterday. As I was out during my lunch break I noticed quite a few groups in uniform outer wear. The teams were obviously taking time to familiarize themselves with the city.

We are part of the Northstay program and have three guests this week and four guests next week. We had a fairly major faux pas yesterday and failed to meet our very first two guests from Cornerbrook … oops, mixed the time up with a different couple’s arrival, didn’t do my normal double check on flight times and there you have it, totally embarrassed. Let’s hope that is the only mistake for these two weeks!

The opening ceremonies are tonight, but we have our third guest to pick up from the airport and tickets were sold out before we thought to check. Guess we will have to watch from the warmth of our living room, shucks eh?

Speaking of the weather, of course it has gone cold. From a week ago Thursday through to Monday or Tuesday it snowed, and snowed, and snowed some more. Of course this had made the city look rather clean and bright, but since Wednesday, the temperature has steadily dropped. -27.5 this morning. I hope everyone has brought their best woolies.

Lawrie is putting in his first security shift at the Canada Winter Games Centre this morning. Up at 5:30 and out the door by 6:15. Most of us have Heritage Day off work, so I drove him up to the centre, a very short distance away. I’m doing my volunteering at Mount McIntyre where the curling and cross country skiing events are taking place. I’m in the volunteer lounge and on the environment team as well.

So why have I decided to blog these two weeks?  Well, how often will we be living in a place that has a major amateur sporting event? This will probably be it, and why not get involved with a wealth of wonderful Canadians? Day one and we already are the richer for visiting with our first two guests! I don’t promised this will be exciting news (try the TV for entertainment), but hopefully I’ll find some interesting photography opportunities and as always, this blog is all about an easy on-line photo album and journal of stuff we find interesting. You are encouraged to comment at any time!