They are under the bushes in our front garden beside the driveway!!! I totally missed them until my husband pointed out to me. I was really thrilled. I had been dreaming about taking photos of this type of mushrooms for a long time – Finally, finally the opportunity came… I snapped many pictures and this is one of them:
This is not a fitting picture for today’s theme but i post it anyway.
Psalms 126: 5 – 6
5 May those who sow in tears reap with shouts of joy!
6 He that goes forth weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
Chris went to Catholic Men’s Conference today and I got a chance to drive Tim and Alan to their soccer match this morning. It was a fun drive and boys seemed to be in a very cheery mode. First we listened to some Tim’s music, then mine and then Alan’s piano jazz.
We arrived 15 minutes early so we sit in the car talking and enjoying the music. When the warm-up started, I took a walk and went to the coffee shop to get this beautiful coffee mocha:
James 3: 16 – 18
16 For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice.
17 But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, without uncertainty or insincerity.
18 And the harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.
James 4: 1 – 3
1 What causes wars, and what causes fightings among you? Is it not your passions that are at war in your members?
2 You desire and do not have; so you kill. And you covet and cannot obtain; so you fight and wage war. You do not have, because you do not ask.
3 You ask and do not receive, because you ask wrongly, to spend it on your passions.
I took this phone using my iPhone camera last Friday morning. It was a glorious morning and I took the canada line to work that morning. I took this photo while the train passing the bridge.
The launch for the first week of September failed miserably and we can still feel the ripple effects until today.
It started with the labour-day lunch. Tim kindly offered to make us nachos for lunch and we were thrilled!! These days, he regularly makes nachos for himself but rarely offers his nachos to anyone. I didn’t know why he decided to be nice to us that day 
Tim makes good nachos. He learned how to make nachos when he was about 10 and by now, he could close his eyes to make them.
I was washing dishes at the time and happened to see him stirring/breaking a two-pound block of ground beef. I casually commented: “hey Tim, half of that should be enough for us.” He replied: ” just cook all of it for now. I will use the half and save the rest for later”. It totally makes sense and very good planning, I thought.
Photo credits go to Chris.
I discovered Moscato by accident. One hot day on the way back home, I heard a wine pairing expert on the CBC radio raving about Moscato, a fruity, frizzling type of wine. The name of the wine sounded so exotic and it immediately caught my attention. She proclaimed that Moscato is the missing link between wine and soft drink.
Moscato originated from Italy and is now available from many parts of the world. Its fruity taste and fizzing nature make it fun to drink in a hot summer day. As she continued, I already pictured myself zipping a glass of Moscato at my back patio… that evening I picked up a bottle of Australian Yellow Tail moscato on my way home – it didn’t disappoint me.
That weekend, we decided to pick up two Italian Moscatos from the BC Liquor store on 41st and Cambie. We had been saving them for hot summer day but the weather has not been cooperating for a couple of weeks now. It looks like the summer is almost over and the weather is getting cooler each day. Finally last night I gave up and opened one bottle. It was soooo delicious
I had a new personal best for Grouse Grind today: 53 minutes 45 seconds. After seeing Rachel, Padraig and Chris’ performance at yesterday’s climb, I was dreading. My time was getting worse: 57:50 and it’s almost 1 minute slower than the previous climb.
This morning I did some serious thinking and determined to improve my time at my next climb. After some online reading, I discovered that I had made a few rookie mistakes at yesterday’s climb, for example, I wore a pair of very heavy hiking boots. According to the advice given by the most experienced climbers, carrying any unnecessary weight is not recommended , sometimes even a water bottle should be avoided when climbing the Grind. If you can well hydrate yourself before and after the climb, you should be fine without a water bottle with you while climbing.
I came up with some strategies for today’s climbing. If I can’t beat them with my fitness, I should try to beat them with my strategy .
Here are my strategies:
- hydrate myself during the day
I built the hydration chair (see previous post). While I was working, I drank the water over my shoulder throughout the day, very practical and efficient!
- wear light shoes
I dumped my heavy boots and put on very light trail shoes
- carry less weight
I left the camelback in the car and even left my cell phone behind
- look ahead of my path
I looked up 5-10 steps away and chose direct/short path every step even this means a steeper climb.
By following these strategies, I cut 3 minutes off my time. Not bad at all!
