This project was pretty easy; all we needed was blackboard paint sold at home depot, I also primed first and some trim you like we used chair rail for are trim. So the process was to fix the wall with spakle, Cut the trim to size and nail to the wall we used a level and square to keep it straight and square. Next you want to fill and sane the nail holes and give the future blackboard a sand to smooth the wall help the primer grip. Prime the space let it dry per can instruction then apply your blackboard paint, we needed two coats to get a good finish. You can’t use it for several day so are little man was chomping at the bit to draw on it.

This was a project that me and my son did as a father son team so it was fun, a little hard to let him at the wall with a paint roller but I managed to let him do it with a couple of tips. All in all it was a great little project didn’t take a lot of time or expense and will be a nice benefit to are family.

We have politely about 20 times told them that we are not interested in their service and that we don’t wish to be solicited by them.  They have continued to over the past 2 yrs since to call monthly to try to get us to return and we have either not answered the phone call or told that person that we are not interested. In the past 2 months they have been calling daily and blocking the number. Well last night was the straw that broke the camels back, they called not once but twice.  The last poor lady that got the screaming and yelling from me I’m a little sorry but come on people 8:45 at night getting my son ready for bed and you already called me an hour ago.

So needless to say I’m going to fight back a little and cause some shit because lets face it what business school did these idiots go to that makes them think that I would ever return to them. They are wasting their money and time and hopefully if my little blog post about them keeps one person from going to them then I take one for the team.

You can read more about Justin Hines at his website.

“A New Year resolution is a commitment that an individual makes to a personal goal, project, or the reforming of a habit. This lifestyle change is generally interpreted as advantageous. A New Years Resolution is generally a goal someone sets out to accomplish in the coming year. Some examples include resolutions to donate to the poor more often, to become more assertive, or to become more environmentally responsible.”

Also interesting that they state that only 12% of them are actually successful. So maybe instead of resolutions for me, it will be things to do in 2011. 

1. Blog more regularly.
2. Spend more time with my family.
3. Cook more.
4. Get more organized.
5. Pick and complete one major woodworking project.
6. Come up with a long-term garden plan and start working toward it.
7. Build new play structure for our boy.
8. Do two adventure races this year.
9. Plan a family trip for next winter.
10. Do some small fun family outings.

A song that is better than the original to me. 

They have been stuck in my head since then, after my work out this morning while waiting for 7am to get my boy out of bed for school I listened to them again. Just can’t say enough about their talent and how they present the music. Check them out on you tube or download their songs from Itunes.

This is not a low-fat dish it has butter in it and a lot of almonds but maybe that doesn’t count since it is a good fat.  I’m sure the ”Butter” will not change that. 

This recipe like a lot we make came from online, we tend to favour a site called AllRecipes.com. The recipe I used to make this low-fat tart was “French Apple Tart (Tarte de Pommes a la Normande)” yes I m getting all fancy with my french cooking. Easy recipe to make don’t let the name or the fact it’s a tart make you think other wise. I followed the recipe except in couple of places:

• Didn’t have ground almonds so I chopped them in the food processor till they looked like bread crumbs. Never having used ground almonds not sure if that is the consistency but it is what I had.
• I skipped the booze, we don’t drink brandy and I think whiskey wouldn’t do it justice so I used half almond extract and water.
• I got a tip from the Naked Chef once that instead of rolling out tart shell to cut it thinly and place around your pan then press it down into the sides, trim the top edge and push the center together. I like this since me and a rolling-pin don’t get along.

 Thanks for reading

Port Burwell is located on Lake Erie, next to the town of Port Burwell.  The major attraction is the beach, a very long, nice, sandy beach that would revile any in Ontario and even some in the Caribbean.  The water was warm and a nice sandy bottom. The down side is that you have to drive to the beach from the campsite or hike on the couple of hiking trails that lead to the beach area. This beach also has a dog beach which is nice to know for our next trip with our dog  Chase who will be coming along next time.     

Site 148

We had Site 148 in Leander campground.  It was a nice site relatively private, but no grass on the ground, which was fine when we were there but would be a mess during a rain. This site was an easy walk to the facilities and shower. Water wasn’t that far away either. The park was uncrowded and quite for such a nice place. The washrooms are cleaned regularly, the shower was not bad, they are older and need of some TLC, but again very clean if you get there when they are cleaned in the morning they are great. 

Our son loved the very big and nice play structures at the playground and was able to find some other kids to play with on this trip. We like to bring our bikes, the roads are quiet and the vehicles that do drive around do so at a safe speed. Also found that the park was patrolled often to give you the comfort being looked after but not being overly patrolled. All in all great place and look forward to a return trip next year.

What did we learned on this trip:     

• A shower at are trailer would be nice. It was a little hard to get our boy clean and also dressed in the shower provided, an adult no problem but with him was a little challenging. We have purchased a shower tent to try out and see how that goes.
• Our electric cooler works great, saves running for ice all the time, or worrying the stuff will go bad if we don’t have ice.
• Learned to have some back up method of filling the trailer water tank instead of jugs and just use the jugs to top up over the trip
• Bring some more beach type toys for the day on the beach

The summer was fast and once again I didn’t do everything I wanted to,  but I did find something unexpectedly this summer that we never planned for and we tend to be planners.

The surprise had to do with us purchasing a tent trailer or pop up, the story of how this came about is  from me being interested in outdoor equipment. I read a Blog and Gear reviewer called the Gear junky he reviewed a product called the Sylvan Go this an extremely cool little trailer that really gave me the idea of a way to camp without the tent leaking that we have experienced the last two times we tent camped. So after some research we discovered that cool does cost and made me wonder about value for the dollar on this product. Since we already have a standard utility trailer there is no value for us in that, combined with no local sales made this a no go. But one Saturday morning over coffee my darling wife seen an ad for a trailer store for new units for about the same as the Go. So off we went to research and look,  at the end of the process we did purchase a trailer, but it was a used not new. The reason for used,  we got more for our money and also saved the freight, pre fees and the depreciation.  So here is the new to us trailer, it is a Coleman Santa Fe  2006.  The pictures are of our second camping trip of the summer at Port Burwell. Due to my work and a shortage of holiday time the trailer seems to be a good option for us, after are trip we both felt relaxed just like a vacation away to a resort.

Are Camp site and setup

The master bedroom and kitchen side

Second Bed and table

Little boy relaxing and watching an Ipod movie

 Sure the trailer was a little unorganized but this is a combination of time of day of picture and us still figuring out our storage and what works and doesn’t for camping.

Beautiful evening Light captured by my sweet wife.

In gardening there are several things I enjoy, one of them is sharing my garden bounty with others. I love talking about and sharing what grows in it. This year’s garden is not bad, but there are still not a lot of things ready for eating and sharing but it is slowly coming.

Happy Sharing

Love watching Seed sprot and Grow

Happiness is biking with your beagle.

The joy of sliding.

Bleeding HeartTulip After the Rain

White Flower

Love watching Seed sprot and Grow

 Thank you for the beautiful pictures my sweet Bride.