extension

chef mark
Originally uploaded by Julep67

Summer is hanging around in our part of the world and that has allowed us to continue barbecuing. We have a natural gas barbecue with a permanent hook up on our deck so it's really only when the barbecue is frozen totally solid that we can't use it but it's far more pleasant to use it when you can enjoy the deck and the sounds of the bugs being zapped in the zapper at the same time.

Happily, I just read that there is a remastered, cinema re-release of The Godfather happening in the UK. I hope that it makes it to screens in Canada. That would be something to look forward to. It'll be nice to see a classic film which has been restored and revived instead of the same old bad remakes of films that we've had shoved down our throats in recent years. I remember going to see a special 25 anniversary screening of a restored "Last Tango in Paris" in the late 90's. I was too young to see it (I was 5) when it was originally released so it was a massive treat to see it on the big screen instead of on video at home.

Some films are just better on the big screen, I think that The Godfather is one of them.

caught!

If you thought that maybe a dog couldn't feel guilty about something, I think you're wrong.

It got really quiet in the kitchen a few minutes ago. Mark had gone down to the basement and Sam quietly disappeared. I had a hunch that he might be in the kitchen so I went in there.

He was in the kitchen, trying to figure out how to get up on the counter (not an easy feat) and get at the leftover barbecue that was cooling in a container.

When I spotted him, I said nothing. He turned and looked at me and started to do his "hey I'm dancing on my hind legs" dance and then sat down, smiling and wagging his tail.

I guess it just smelled too good to resist.

chill-eee

mum's garden
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

happy cinco de mayo people!!

My brother informs me that it's to commemorate a jar of helman's falling overboard but I really know what the holiday is about. I also know that it's been userped by folks who sell tequila and sombreros and I suppose that later this evening, we'll fall victim to that whole thing. Not the sombreros so much but I do plan to make margaritas later.

yum.

we're also barbecuing. a neighbour couple are coming over for dinner. should be fun although, the wind is sort of cool right now so I'm doubtful that we'll be spending much time outside.

Today's been busy so far. Up early doing some chores around the house, a quick dash to the grocery store (we were at Costco last night but you can't ever really get everything you need at Costco) and then some dinner prep. It's a good thing that the fun times and nice visits always make you forget about all the hustle and bustle that impending company always brings.

pressure

new barbecue
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

Poor Mark, this weird weather system is doing bad things to his head. He's been on the edge of a migraine all afternoon. I think he's taking some drugs and hopefully that will make the pain go away. It's surprising too, after the nice weather we've had the past few days, that it's suddenly cold again. I say cold, it's not freezing or anything, just a few degrees lower than yesterday. I'm a wimp, what can I say!?

We've really been enjoying our new barbecue. It works soooooo much better than the old one. Cooking with the natural gas outside makes a massive difference over cooking with propane. I knew that our old barbecue was in bad shape but you don't realize how crappy something is until you replace it.

Speaking of replacing, we have this shed out in the back which I was planning on painting this year (I said I'd do it all last summer too but never did!). It has some paint on it only because the folks who lived here before us let their kids shoot it with paint ball guns. Mark was talking to our neighbour today and he's going to side it for us. The shed itself is structurally in good shape, it just needs the outside "prettied up" because it's ugly. Once it's all sided too, we shouldn't have another squirrel infestation like we did last winter. They are cute and all but boy can they make a mess!!

new barbecue

new barbecue
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

we got one!

we ended up, as I predicted, getting the one we found in the flyer. It's a very nice barbecue and Mark and Tom put it together in the rain today.

because of the rain, we couldn't use it tonight but it is all together and hopefully tomorrow it'll be nice out and we'll get to use it.

it's head and shoulders above our old one and it hooks up to the gas line on our deck. oh, and it's shiny.

very shiny!

awkward

our backyard
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

It is amazing, although not entirely surprising, how much work you can get done when you don't have any meetings booked. Both yesterday, and today, I did not have any meetings so I was actually able to be at my desk, getting stuff done. It's a nice feeling, starting the weekend knowing that I've crossed so many things off of my "to-do" list.

Getting stuff done aside, today was a little odd. One of my co-workers has been a contract / mat-leave replacement and today was her last day. Because of one thing and another, I was the only person in the office with her all day. I felt kind of bad for her because the one woman she's particularly close with was out at a training session all day. This person, the one who is leaving, is very creative and I'm sure she'll have no problem finding something else but, it was really sad all the same. Not to mention, it was awkward too because, again, it was just me there all day.

We're definitely shopping for a barbecue tomorrow. We've been through the flyers and found the one we think we want. Of course, we want to check out 2 or 3 other stores but I have a feeling that we'll end up with the one we've picked from the flyers. Mark' s really looking forward to cooking on a grill that is actually working properly. I'm looking forward to not seeing flakes of barbecue all over the deck from where it's literally falling apart!

odd pods

odd pods
Originally uploaded by Julep67.

we had our first barbecue of the season tonight. It was really nice to fire it up again but we realized that it's not going to survive another season.

Mark has done an excellent job of nursing it along for the past year or so but it's really had the biscuit. We bought it in the spring of 2001 and it's almost completely pooched. It was not an expensive one but it was practical. He's had to replace the burner on it at least once and the brick things a couple of times. Since we had natural gas brought to the house (shortly after we moved in back in 2005) we have talked about either getting a new barbecue which can work with natural gas, or purchasing a conversion kit for our old one. Given how decrepit this old one is, we're probably going to get a new one this weekend.

We use it a lot so it'll be nice to have it on the natural gas line and not have to bother with propane. I just hope that the weather is nice this weekend so we can assemble it and get using it. It would suck, big time, to buy a new one and be rained out!