PETRA LYRICS TO LIVE BY

Don't let your heart be hardened. Don't let your love grow cold.

MILKY WAY ICE CREAM, REGINA

I can't remember the first time I went to get ice cream at the Milky Way window, but I think it was very uncommon and a special treat in my teen years. As I moved away in early adulthood, it remained a treat. Each time I visited in the summer, someone would insist that we go a have an ice cream there, and each time we would remark that the outdoor space where we eat hadn't changed a bit, and was not particularly  welcoming. Before McDonald's, Ikea, or Costco had a good soft ice cream, this place was where you could upgrade to a dipped cone on a sugar cone, or ask for "sprinkle dinkle" to decorate with rainbow coloured sprinkles.

Open for 61 seasons, I don't know anyone who can remember its origin or pinpoint its special. Still, it holds its own in a reliably creamy vanilla soft ice cream, and a new feature is a soft ice cream flavour of the day! Still, when faced with a decision this past week, I chose an old standby that I was thrilled still existed. Tiger tail is a strange, perfect combination of orange and liquorice. In a waffle cone, one scoop was a delightful nostalgic treat, eaten on a bench with one of my favourite families.

So if you are in Regina, and the Milky Way is open, you should drop by for an ice cream. You won't be disappointed.

PROVERBS

My daughter bought me a desk calendar for Christmas. Each day has a proverb. Some are funny. Some are archaic. Most are true. The odd thing about truism, is that they can often reflect two sides of the spectrum. All things come to those who wait versus the early bird gets the worm.

My grandma had a lot of proverbs about life too. Maybe it was the generation after being British. Maybe it was her long life and ability to dispense wisdom.

My brother reminded me of one of her proverbs: Don't expect an old head on young shoulders. 

Other classics: My forgetter is better than my rememberer.

Here are some of my favourites from this year to date:

The sooner begun, the sooner done.
If you don't make mistakes, you don't make anything.
Believe nothing of what you hear, and only half of what you see.
A trouble shared is a trouble halved.
It's too late to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted.
Variety is the spice of life.
Walnuts and pears you plant for your heirs.
The buyer has need of a hundred eyes, the seller of but one.
Home is where the heart is.
Enough is as good as a feast.
What can't be cured must be endured.
The sun loses nothing by shining into a puddle.
A mouse may help a lion.

Some other gems that fall further from the mark but are worth mentioning:
Don't throw out your dirty water until you get in fresh.
It is not work that kills, but worry.
Punctuality is the politeness of princes.
A deaf husband and a blind wife are always a good couple.
In the country of the blind the one-eyed man is king.
Self-preservation is the first law of nature.
Least said, soonest mended.
Fair and softly goes far in a day.

1200M, NEW SWIMMING PR

375 YEARS FOR MONTREAL, 150 FOR MONTREAL, 50 FOR STEWART HALL

I was a few minutes early for my daughter's camp show, so I popped up to the art gallery to see what was happening, and saw this painting celebrating Pointe-Claire. It is built in a wooden stand with multiple panes of painted glass. It's really colourful, and another great work by a favourite artist.

JANICE AND SAM DONATO

LEFTOVER SPAGHETTI

It's hard to make great pasta the second time, but with some crumbled blue cheese and leftover pico de Gallo, this was a tasty take two!

FISH TACOS AND PICO DE GALLO

Blackened fish corn tacos with roast corn, pineapple and bean salad

My friend's amazing spread!

Pico de Gallo

There were a couple of recipe hits at this taco night. The appetizer of ceviche was amazing and I will try, but I don't have the recipe. The classic lime margarita was a big hit, and the kids were happy to have a virgin version with salt on the rim of their lemonade.

CLASSIC LIME MARGARITA

2 oz tequila

1 oz triple sec (or cointreau)

1 oz lime

rim glass first with coarse salt

shake the ingredients in plenty of ice until chilled well

PICO DE GALLO

2 medium diced tomatoes

half a finely diced yellow onion

1 sliced green onion (scallion)

1/3 finely chopped green jalapeño

chopped cilantro to eye

1/2 tsp garlic salt

1/4 tsp salt and pepper

ACCIDENTALLY ON TIME FOR LUNCH

I had a couple of hours to visit a friend while my daughter was at camp. I had biked with her from a hair appointment in the village to camp and home, before fighting through construction traffic (ironically during construction holiday) to her home. Needless to say I didn't have time to eat lunch but it was 1:30 pm and I didn't expect to eat until supper. I started chatting with my friend and her husband while she put the finishing touches on the USB key that would hold her latest vacation trip that we had planned to share. Her husband was already eating, and she asked if had eaten, so I answered truthfully that I had not. She stole back the salad from the table, and came back with this heavenly lunch of zucchini roses and a salad with chipotle ranch dressing. It was wonderful!

She described the method to make the roses and I want to try it soon. Roll out a rectangle of puff pastry and cut into 2 inch strips. Using a mandolin, slice coins of zucchini and layer along half of the pastry, with some falling outside the pastry. Cover with grated cheese. Fold the pastry in half, to enclose the bottom of the zucchini, and roll up, placing in muffin tins. Bake until fragrant, admittedly maybe before blackening! Still they were delicious, and my friend's next idea is to do it in a cheesecake pan, like a cake of roses, that could pull off. I imagine you could do this sweet, with sugar and cinnamon and apple.

What a generous thoughtful lunch, and a great show! 

Zucchini pastry roses and chipotle ranch salad

AT STEWART HALL ON A SUMMER DAY IN A ROCKING CHAIR LISTENING TO MY DAUGHTER SING WITH THIS VIEW

FILLING LUNCH

Sweet potato roast chicken wrap with hot red pepper sauce, and a side salad I like to serve warm.

INCREDIBLE SURVIVORS AND A NOVEL PERSPECTIVE

WATER DOWN THE DRAIN AND TREES TWIST AS THE WORLD TURNS

There is a tree by my house that I love. When I walk to the store, or down to the river, I pass by it. If my daughter and I miss her first bus, we hustle by it. It is a tall mature tree with a twisting trunk with branches reaching to the sky. It reminds, although I don't feel it, that our earth is spinning. It reminds of the mythical Ent creatures in Tolkien's fantasies.