A Tribute to Marlene Bertrand

On August 1, 2017, Marlene, my sister-in-law, unexpectedly passing away.

Marlene will be sorely missed by her family, Arthur, husband of 55 years, Celine Berry, daughter, and her family; Darin, son and his family; her many brothers, sisters, nieces, nephews, friends and of course her musical family on Vancouver Island.

A beautiful send off for Marlene was held Friday August 11 in Victoria, BC, at a funeral Mass at St. Patrick's and reception at Celine and Brain Berry's home.

Her family contributed to the ceremony.

 At the tribute reception many of her musical friends play a selection of her favourite tunes.

 The Apple Tree Jam was recorded and posted by Studio eh Design. 

Trip to BC Coast

This summer there has been many wild fires in British Columbia. The smoke is being carried throughout the province. 

 This past week we took a car trip to Vancouver and Victoria. We were thankful for the Nikken Travel Filtration System we use in the car.

The weather was very warm and dehydration is was prevented with the Nikken Water Bottle and Waterfall Water Filtration System.

For added comfort the Nikken Kenkoseat 11 was used

Kenko Magflex, for back comfort; The CM Complex Cream, Magduo and KenkoTouch was used no the other discomforts we experienced.

Kenko nSteps Insoles

For sleeping the Kenko PowerSleep Mask and Kenko Naturest Custom Pillow was used.

Thanks to the nutritional we were able to sustained our well-being.

Thank you Nikken for aiding in our comfortable trip.  

Waterfall System

Today we changed the filter in our Nikken Water System. 

after six months of use of the old one. 

Here is what the filter looks like after filtering the tap water (which is 'safe' to drink).

We noticed that the colour had changed and it was much heavier than the new filter. 

Garlic Scapes

I have never seen or heard of garlic scapes before I arrived in Osoyoos.

Last year I purchased a jar of pickled garlic scapes from Garlic Freak , at the  Osoyoos Farmer's Market.

  This morning I when I was at the Osoyoos Farmer's Market I purchased some.

I went on line to find out more.  https://www.thespruce.com/what-are-garlic-scapes-1402603

Garlic scapes are the flower bud of the garlic plant. The bud is removed in late June to encourage the bulbs to thicken up. Scapes make a fabulous addition to a flower bouquet, and they are delicious to eat! Scapes taste just like garlic. They can be used in exactly the same way as garlic in any recipe.  

By harvesting when young and tender, they can chop them into salads or use them as a topping, as scallions. More mature scapes can be sauteed lightly and used over pasta, with eggs, mixed with cooking greens, pickled or pretty much in any dish that would be complemented by garlic. 

Garlic Scape Pesto. 

         10 to 12 large garlic scapes, with the bulb removed, cut into 1/2 inch pieces

         1 cup (lightly packed) clean and dry basil leaves (optional) 

         1/2 cup pine nuts or walnuts

         1/4 - 1/2 teaspoon Kosher salt

         1/2 to 1 cup (or more depending on how thick you want your pesto) of good quality olive oil

           1/2 to 1 cup of grated Parmesan Cheese

Method: 

Add garlic scapes, basil and salt to the large bowl of a food processor. Start processing, adding oil slowly. Stop processing and scrape down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Once a smooth paste has been achieved, add Parmesan and process until completely mixed in. Stop processing and add all of the nuts. Pulse processor until nuts are roughly chopped and fully mixed in. This gives the pesto a great texture.

Celebrating Canada's 150

We were in full spirits for the July 1st Parade in Osoyoos 

Lynne, Nikki and Adeline

We headed to the Rotary Pancake Breakfast 

 After eating  shopping was in order but we needed a rest.

Crowds began to stake their viewing spots along main street. 

First to arrive was a fire truck to wet down the people.

As the parade started everyone waved flags and cheered 

The pooper-scooper arrived to clean up after the horses. 

Brightly decorated floats pasted by.

I was the last one to return to NK'Mip RV Resort as I stayed to video the action. 

I enjoyed the 34C sunshine for four hours!

Piano in the Park

On June 25th Randal and I went to Gyro Park in Osoyoos to what I called 'People-watch' 

There were many young people from Quebec who came here for the fruit picking. 

Some were entertaining the crowd. 

The lead performance of the day was a family 

Excerpts from DAN WALTON Regional Reporter of The Osoyoos Times

      Piano in the Park returned on Sunday to hold its encore performance in Gyro Park. After hibernating in storage during the colder months, the piano just came out last week to get tuned up and ready for another season of song. 

“Anybody can just walk up and come and play it,” said Diane Ball, the local musician who led Sunday’s show. “Piano in the Park is a really nice way to spread some positive energy. As soon as you start playing people just come. People are just smiling and dancing and it’s a beautiful thing.”

       Joining Ball for her performance were her mother, three sisters, sister-in-law and cousins, who travelled from all over the province. The Piano in the Park program was the brainchild of Janis St. Louis, a founder of Market on Main and the Osoyoos Music in the Park concert series.

        The piano will remain available to play on in Gyro Park throughout the summer months and into the fall.

Randal caught me watching the entertainment!!

A Chance Meeting in Osoyoos

This morning I assisted Randal on a Black & White Photographic Shoot with a film camera. We went to the Osoyoos school where he took a few and then to the walkway along the lake. 

When he finished we were putting things in the car and I was getting prepared to walk back to NK'Mip RV Resort. A car from Saskatchewan parked next to us. Then I heard my name being called!! I thought it was Randal but when looked behind me a lady jumped out of the car and said “It's Donna, Donna and Michael Fischer”. 

Michael, Lorraine, Donna 

What a surprise!! 

What are the chances that we meet friends from Lumdsen SK on a Saturday morning in Osoyoos? 

Michael, Donna, Lorraine, Randal

 We invited them back to the trailer to continued our visit. 

We caught up on what each of us were doing and the people we once knew back in Lumsden