Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 321

Today's Daily 5:

1. The stillness of early morning
2. sitting in the sun to read
3. the reminder of the intricacy, beauty and simplicity of life in spotting a gently pulsing blood vessel in my feet, propped up in a sunbeam
4. Being struck by this quote:  "Care can seldom, if ever, be purchased, because it requires a commitment of honor."  (Dan Allender, "Sabbath" pg. 114-115)
5. noticing moments of life
6. wind chimes ringing
7. cool breezes when working outside on a hot day
8. the incessant wonder of children
9. watching a skilled tradesman
10. familial pride
11. sunscreen
12. home-made hamburgers with blue cheese
13. watching a little girl literally lick her plate after ice cream
14. the feeling of a shower after a day of hot and dirty work
15. relaxing in bed, tired and satisfied

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 320

Today's Daily 5:

1. blueberry muffin
2. a full day out in the sun without getting sunburnt (this is a rarity in my world, and involved copious amounts of sunscreen)
3. really great meals provided by some friends
4. laughing with friends while helping with a landscaping project
5. coloring a princess with a little girl

Alberta Weather

I chuckled when I came across this image the other day, and had to share, since it's definitely a rather accurate depiction of weather here in Alberta (except we might get even less summer than that!  I was just talking to my dad about a favorite hiking spot the other day, and we decided it wouldn't even be worth trying to get there until mid-July, because snow melt is at least two weeks behind this year, and the altitude there is so high that it won't likely even be accessible before then.)

Source: bippityboppityboo.tumblr.com via Lisa on Pinterest

Daily 5 - Year 2, Day 319

Today's Daily 5:

1. sleeping in, compensating for what has become a routine of late nights and crazy dreams
2. spending the afternoon hanging out with my mom
3. making mango chicken wraps for dinner, with herbs from my garden
4. waking up smiling, thinking about the refreshing time and laughter from house church last night
5. catching up some television viewing online

Chocolate and Berries

A couple weeks ago, while my parents were away, and I was housesitting and had the run of a full-sized, well-equipped kitchen, I decided to do a bit of culinary experimentation.  One of the things I made was chocolate dipped and filled strawberries, and another was chocolate filled raspberries.  They were pretty much fantastic.

I created an improvised double-boiler of sorts, and melted a combination of semi-sweet bakers chocolate and milk chocolate chips, then, after dipping the the cored strawberries, put the remainder of the chocolate into a ziploc bag, cut a corner off the bag, and used it as a piping bag of sorts.  I filled the space created by the removal of the strawberry cores, and the inside of the raspberries with the chocolate mixture, and then put them in the refrigerator for the chocolate to cool and set.  I served them with whipped cream, and they were fabulous!  Totally a treat that I would repeat, though finicky and just a bit time consuming.