Summery Sundays...

... makes me want to have pancakes!  And what's better than blueberry pancakes? RASPBERRY!!

Actually, my original intention was to make blueberry pancakes because they are my absolute favourite, but when I was at the store, I saw these perfect organic raspberries.  Now, how often do you see organic raspberries that actually look perfect?! Like, never!  So of course, I got to thinking.. how come no one ever makes raspberry pancakes?  And here it is.. I made one blueberry pancake, one raspberry pancake... and one blueberry-raspberry pancake!!  Of course, the raspberry ones don't look as nice since they don't hold together as well under heat. BUT, they are absolutely divine!  I'm normally not a raspberry person, but the tartness it gives the pancakes (along with dosing it with pure maple syrup of course) is A-MA-ZING!!

Warmer Weather = Outdoor Activities aka Yardwork

One of the pressing matters we had at hand last month was the rapid rate our lawn was growing.  We didn't have a lawn mower yet at the time, and even if we were to get one, we'd still need a place to house it.  (For those who haven't realized, our house doesn't have a garage.)  So our priority became shopping for a mower that was on sale, as well as the shed.  For those who've shopped at lawn mower sales before in spring, you'd know exactly what we ran into. Back orders.  What I don't understand to this day, is how there could be so much demand for lawn mowers every year.  Same goes for air conditioners and fans in the spring, and snow blowers and shovels every winter.  They're always sold out!  I would think that our electronic/gas powered devices work for many years. (At least I know my dad still owns his gas mower from the late 80s, fans too, by the way!) So are people just replacing them because they're old?!  Anyhow, we didn't end up getting the mower for another 3 weeks from when we bought it, but then that buys Kel time to put up the shed.

He, along with Erica's help, dug the majority of the six inches in our backyard for the base of the shed.  Ken helped Kel get the crushed rocks and offload them to form the base and alas, Kel's finally got his shed up this week!  Below, you can see his 8x8 shed nestled in among our trees.  (Did I mention how much I love our trees? :)  It's got windows and a skylight in the roof, too!  And there's Kel's tools and his new mower in their now home. 

I should probably mention that we didn't wait another month to mow our front lawn and backyard.  We borrowed Ken's mower in the meantime and took care of it first. :)

Wall Art

I finally got my wall decal installed!  I've had this idea to put up vinyl wall decals on my living/dining room wall for quite some time now and have been looking around for what designs are available out there.  I came across this blossom branch with birds that I completely fell in love with and had to get, but of course this was way back before much of the house was done, so I had to wait for the walls to be painted, the hardwood put in, and the whole nine yards.  During this waiting period, I found out that a friend of ours was actually looking to launch his own vinyl wall decal company and he informed me that when I was ready and have a design in mind I should check and see how their operations are going.  Sooooo.. that's what I did!  I showed him what I was looking for, and he said they have something similar and can always readjust their branches into the shape I like, etc etc.  What's awesome is that because they're local, they can come over to our house with colour palettes to try out on our walls to make sure the combination matched.  As well, they can come over to install the decal for us!  How awesome is that?  Totally takes the guess work out of shopping online and wondering if the colour showing up on my screen is actually the colour I'm getting!  Another great thing about these wall decals is that they're cheap and removable!  So you can change them as frequent as you'd like without damaging your walls and the messy work associated with changing wall paper!  Below you can see the design I've got on my wall now.  I'm contemplating doing another one for my bedroom walls...  For anyone who's interested, check out http://www.wallperfection.ca/

Tables.. tables..

After blast blogging on our trip last month, I've come to realize that this is only the fourth post for May..  That's not right!  So here I am, on the last day of the month trying to make up for it.

We've been looking around for furniture for the house for quite some time now.  We're still lacking a proper dining table (the two of us have been eating off our kitchen island and bar stool for some time now :P), dining chairs, sofa, bed, and of course those missing rails for the staircase!  Our original plan was to start shopping for all of it once we got back, but the priority of that task was lowered... why?  Because we've been getting summer weather in May already!  Now don't get me wrong, we haven't been slacking off and going to the beach every weekend, but day after day of 25-30 degree Celsius means our lawn's been growing in at full speed!  Now, where was I going with this.. yes, furniture shopping.  I'll post about our outdoor activities in another post.  (I promise!)

I've been eyeing this coffee table (in white) for a while now and getting quotes in store, online, and researching all the possible delivery methods.  We both loved the curves on this table because it'd be easier to maneuver around being without corners and all.  I inquired several websites on their policies and delivery and finally found one that was reasonable and with a promo code!  I placed the order online, and we went on to shop for a dining table.

We saw something at a store before that we really liked, but was looking for alternatives.  Kel wanted something not rectangular since it seemed like most dining tables these days were rectangles.  So, the original table we saw was circular... picture this table, but with a dark charcoal outside wood ring, and a dark tint glass in the middle.  What we loved about this table was that the middle glass part was a built in lazy susan, and the four metal legs on the side.  However, we came to realize that the metal legs would make the seating quite awkward and limited.  It took me another week to come upon something else we could agree on.  It was an oval wooden table with a off centre base.  We measured and placed markings on our floor to judge where everything would be when they arrived and soon came to realize that our coffee table may in fact be a bit too big.. and we'd much prefer the dining table and sofa.  And with that, I had to cancel the order on our coffee table. :(  Kel and Erica ended up driving down to Buffalo to pick up our dining table as shipping by that company would be far more expensive.  Below is the sneak peak of the table we got.  Now we're on to shopping for dining chairs... I'll share the actual look when we've got the area set up!

Cool lighting from abroad

While in Asia, we noticed quite a few unique lighting options, so I took a couple down to share with our fellow bloggers.

These two below, we spotted at a cafe out at Admiralty.  They both have a different uniqueness to them and I would've loved to bring them home, but we're lacking the tall ceilings and the general space to house them!

At a store, we spotted this cute cartoony lime green lamp, where the frame is the skeleton drawing of a floor lamp with a dangling light bulb!  We thought he looked cool, but would be hard to pull off that look.  I'd take a closer picture, but apparently at most of these places, photos are forbidden so I had to sneak them in where I can.

And here, we have a pic of a number of pendant lights.  Kel liked a particular one, but this is the best I could do without getting spotted with a camera.  Can you guess which one he likes? :)

Below is the lighting installation they have at a mall.  We really like the effect they have going with the beveled ceiling for each one.  I wonder how often they change their ceiling fixtures?

And below, we have a giant desk lamp!  We REALLY liked him!  It adds quite an interesting touch to a room.  I couldn't get a picture of him that would do him justice, so I googled him when I got home and found this picture.  Apparently, Roald Dahl had a smaller version of him and would write all his novels (James and the Giant Peach, Matilda, etc) under this giant desk lamp!  The original one is now at the Roald Dahl museum.  The twin, which was used in the movie "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", was auctioned off.  And now they produce this bigger version for the public.  We'd bring one home, but its major $$$$!

And I'll end this post with these cute little porcupines!  I know, I know.. they're not lights at all, but we found them super cute!  The little one is a door stopper, and.. I can't rmb what the bigger one was, but I couldn't stop petting them!

Our Curtains!

One of our objectives for our Asia trip this time was to check out the different types of fabrics available and see if we could get our curtains made in China and so... here they are!

Here's the set for our dining room window on the left.  On the right is the closer look at the pattern on the fabric.

Below on the left, are the curtains for our living room window.  On the right is the closeup of the pattern.  It's actually the same fabric as our dining room window, but we decided to use the flip side of the fabric so it's a different contrast and look.

And finally, below we have the curtains for our bedroom!

While we were there, we couldn't decide on what to do with our patio doors to the deck, so that's still up for debate.  As well, the office still has it's temporary curtains as we couldn't agree on those either, but we'll keep you posted once we figure that out.

Picture updates of Hong Kong! Part 5 of 5!

We came upon these statues in the middle of Central (close to the market), so I had to take some pictures with them!

And here's the classic alleyway in Hong Kong, where vendors would set up tables and plastic stools on a side street.

We went to the Mochi Cafe in Tsim Sha Tsui for some awesome handmade udon!  We ordered some appetizers to start, and found that their tempura yam was quite unique.  They wrapped the yam first in ham before dipping it in tempura batter.

Below left, is the yummy cold udon with side of pork; right, is the classic beef in soupy udon!  What's really good here besides the handmade udon, is the fact that they serve their soupy noodles in stone bowls, which means that it'll remain hot and steamy til the last bite!

And here, you can see Kel slurping down his spicy pork udon!

I spent a few days staying over at my godparents', and my godmom and I went shopping around Tsuen Wan on one of those days.  I never knew there was a park this nice in the middle of it!  Apparently, it was funded by the Hong Kong Jockey Club.

A mall I enjoy walking around is CityWalk in Tsuen Wan because the layout reminds of malls in Japan (like LaLaPort in Tokyo), where there's a green space in the middle!

On our last night in Hong Kong, we had dinner at Peking Garden in Tsim Sha Tsui.  One of the unique dishes they had was Beggar's Chicken, where they marinate the chicken, wrap it in layers of lotus leaves, tie it up, wrap it in tin foil, and then encase it in mud and baked!

Below left, you can see Kel's uncle and cousin getting ready to break open the mud baked chicken; right, the many layers after it's been opened.