Simon likes beets

They came to ride.

And ride we did. A 34 km tour of Ottawa, just like last time! This time through the farm, over the locks of the canal, to the Hog’s Back and Mooney’s Bay, then up the river pathway all the way to the top where the rivers meet. From there we rode through the heavily fortified (watch those bayonettes!) gates and up the driveway to Rideau Hall, just for a quick look at the façade before heading back. Through the Market—with a stop for gelato!—and along the canal, around Dow’s Lake, through the farm to home.

In the garden. It's crunchy.

Bit of a contrast from the garden of just a few weeks ago. We need rain. Lots of it. Though the accidental overexposure and depth of field doesn't make it look nearly as bad as it actually is. Perhaps it's because you're missing the audible 'crunch' component when walking on the grass hay. The bee bomb and lilies seem to be doing alright though. The bumbles and monarchs like the purple firework flower, and the honeybees the yellow daisies.

Parallel Botany: Kohlrabi

Straight from outer space, and into my belly, this alien vegetable is a new one for me. But this is yet another joy of being part of a CSA share: being exposed to new and wonderful vegetables. Just when you thought you knew them all, kohlrabi drops like a meteor into your veggie-loving heart.

Tastes a bit like a cross between a broccoli stem, turnip, and radish. In other words: unique. To prepare, pull off the leaves (juice 'em!), and peel the remaining 'bulb' (the outside is quite woody). From here you have a lot of options. Basically, anything you would do with a potato, you can do with kohlrabi.

I chopped it and made a tinfoil packet for the BBQ. It looked a little plain and colourless on it's own, so I added some striped beets and scape, tossed it with olive oil, and salt + pepper. Delish!

Day-quilting

I'm making progress now, faster than I can blog about. These photos show four full rows, but I'm actually up to six! Day-quilting helps the progress along: the "Crafty-Lunches" my coworker and I inaugurated last week helped. Otherwise I've been avoiding the blistering heat and sun on weekends by sitting inside on the window seat happily piecing. Cat at my feet, whipstitching, breeze through the window. Bliss. The quilt is really starting to take shape now. Amazing.

In other quilt-related news: my über-talented quilter-author cousin—whom I blame entirely for this new obsession of mine—has launched her new website! Check it out here. And see the quilt that started it all for me.

When we were in Massachusetts, I took advantage of the cat-free space to lay out about 17 of 30 rows of hexagons.
A little more than half of the quilt is planned out now, which makes it easy
to grab a row's worth and sneak in some stitch-time.

CUC bound!

Earlier this month, Mark's Ultimate Frisbee team, Glide, competed at Regionals in North Bay for a spot to go to the Canadian Ultimate Championships in Victoria, BC. It was super-exciting to watch from the sidelines; every game was a nail-biter. I was so pumped just watching! Put me in, Coach! I'm ready! Put me in!

Going into the tournament we knew that the top five teams from Ontario were guaranteed a spot at Nats, and Glide just missed that fifth spot, finishing sixth of thirteen. But! A sixth spot just opened up, and that spot goes to Glide, so book your flights! Because they're effing going! Woot!

So if you happen to be in Victoria August 16 to 19, I highly recommend going to watch. Last year Nats were in Ottawa, and it's very impressive watching these phenomenal athletes perform at such a high level. You will be on the edge of your seat, I promise.

Here's a few snaps from Regionals, but if you're interested, you can view the full album here.

There was a hike

Near Meech Lake. Needed some tree time. Also wanted to test out the new pack for the big trip. Since I am a nerd, I loaded it up with laundry. Twenty pounds of it. 6 km and 1.5 hours later and I'm still good to go. So we swam. Watched the sun set. I could put this day on repeat and never tire.