I want you to go and read the story of a child that disappeared in a way that not all of us might not even consider. The blessing is that the child was found (angels were on guard that day I am sure), and is doing fine.

I live near the ocean, and spent a lot of summers on the beaches with my girls and their friends. I never knew that the kind of danger mentioned in the story I want you to read even existed. But I know now and want my friends to be aware, for some of you have small children, some of you have grandchildren. ALL of us need to know about this, so please go and read the story of one Mother’s worst nightmare that luckily had a happy ending.

Today she is celebrating the anniversary of that event as a way to remind everyone of the danger and has posted SAND HOLE SAFETY TIPS.

BE AWARE. STAY SAFE.

Our kitties aren’t what you’d call wanderers by any stretch. They hang out where we hang out. So last Saturday we were all enjoying a little sunshine in the back yard. Kaiti and I went inside for a bit and the next thing we knew, Kaiti’s cat had decided to go for a grand adventure, up the neighbour’s tree! Unfortunately, the neighbours little dog spotted her and that left Rusty (aka Poopie) in a rather precarious position…

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window and see more photos...Here she is, a little unsure about how to proceed. Kaiti was out running errands, and I couldn’t get Rusty to come down. In the end I phoned Kaiti and they drove back to the house to help coax her down. I couldn’t resist taking a few photos. She didn’t seem stressed, she just didn’t want to move out of this tree! The dog was long gone, but she still kept staring at the neighbour’s deck like she expected it to come bounding down the stairs at any second.

Meanwhile, my cat Meeps kept a low profile tucked under a bench beside the Bleeding Hearts, where she could feel safely out of the way while still keeping an eye on things.

It ended well, with Rusty making her way down safely and both cats decided it was best to get back inside and tucked in for a nice long cat nap! I had plans to take some photos of new yarn and some work in progress pics, but in all the excitement I just plain forgot. Sunday was a lost day, and today we had a ton of rain, wind and dark clouds, so the photoshoot was cancelled again.

Tomorrow I’m working (election day in BC), but hopefully Wednesday I’ll have recovered enough to talk a little about some of the knitting I’ve been up to. I know it’s been way too long since I’ve posted much.

clicking on the pics will
take you to flickr
I rarely (if ever) remember to take photos when I’m cooking. I just don’t think far enough ahead to “what if I want to blog about this later?” However, in an attempt to get my blogging mojo back I figured I need to plan ahead a little more often.
With that thought in mind, I present tonight’s dinner, “Pasta à la Whatever the Cupboard had to Offer!”

Basic Ingredients this time around included ELVOO (extra light virgin olive oil), Tomato Basil Salad Dressing (about 2T left in the bottom of the bottle), 1 can of artichoke hearts packed in water, small can of black Lindsay Olives (green olives would also work), mushrooms, sliced. White wine (whatever you have laying around), and cooked pasta.

Here comes the fun part!

1. Put on large pot of water to boil for pasta. DO NOT ADD OIL TO YOUR WATER. Add a tablespoon of salt instead.
2. Add a splash of ELVOO to a frying pan, add mushrooms and a generous splash of white wine. Put a lid on the pan and let things simmer gently for about 5 minutes or the amount of time it takes to finish off a half glass of wine.
3. Chop up 2 or 3 tomatoes in large chunks. Drain canned artichoke hearts, and chop into quarters. Drain the olives. Give the mushrooms a stir.
4. Pasta water should be boiling by now, so toss in your choice of noodles and cook until al dente (pasta should be firm to the bite, but not hard). For this dish it is important to slightly undercook the pasta. I chose fettucini noodles.
5. Pour the salad dressing over the mushrooms, add the chopped artichokes and tomatoes and olives. Stir to blend, sprinkle with fresh chopped basil (or freeze dried, if that’s all you have). Cover and turn off the heat.
6. Drain pasta when cooked, place in a nice bowl. Pour the mushroom and vegetable mixture over the pasta. Sprinkle with fresh grated parmesan. Have some more wine while the pasta soaks up some of the juices (this is why you don’t add oil to the pasta cooking water. If you add oil your pasta won’t absorb the liquid and pick up all that wonderful flavour).

Serve with french bread and (of course) MORE wine!

Enjoy!