Wednesday, December 31, 2014

Manufactured Home Act

This is a portion of the BC Homeowners rules . If our homes are not registered ( they were sold to us by the Gardens) then they should be doing the paperwork here.
However please hang on to your original letter!  The office can copy it to give a lease agreement.  

Wednesday, December 17, 2014

EVEN MORE!

The recipe for lemon squares was shared with me by Dorothy Newton. ( # 342 phase 1)   It reads thus:

                                     LEMON SQUARES

1 cup of all purpose flour  (250 ml)
1/2  cup soft butter (125 ml)
1/3 cup ground almonds (75 ml)
2 Tbsp ( 30 ml) granulated sugar

Mix flour, butter, ground almonds and sugar together until mixture forms a ball and is combined.  Press into a 8 inch (21) square pan and bake at 350F ( 180 C) for 15-20 minutes. Cool.


8 oz. (250 gr) pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup ( 125 ml) icing sugar
1/2 tsp. (2ml) vanilla extract
1 cup whipping cream, whipped (250 ml)

 Beat the cream cheese, icing sugar and vanilla together until smooth. Fold in HALF the whipped cream. Spread over the cooled crust.

7.5 oz ( 212 gr) pkg Sherriff Lemon Pie filling mix
2 egg yolks
1/3 cup cold water
2 Cups boiling water
1/4 cup (50 ml) sliced almonds, toasted.

Prepare the pie filling according to the pkg. instructions, OMITTING the butter. Cool to lukewarm, stirring occasionally.
Spread over Cheese layer.  Refrigerate until cold.

Spread the remaining whipped chream over the lemon layer. Refrigerate. Garnish with toasted almonds just before serving.

Enjoy!








 These are photos of the bridge construction provided by Paulie...our great builder here at Chemainus Garden.


It is a pleasure to walk the Butterfly Pond now! Just hoping that all the dirt doesn't end up covering the gravel before grass is able to come up!







Thanks, Paulie!!



Monday, December 15, 2014

Christmas Dinner


John Kelly, Len Wansborough pose with Charles Van Gorkom
What a wonderful time we had on Sunday evening!  Hosted by Len and his great staff, we all enjoyed an evening of pretty settings ( did you note the CLOTH napkins and CHINA settings?) and Christmas cheer.  Not one to skimp, it was well presented by Linda Kelly and her able staff.  Saying it was beautiful does not do it justice, but there you are!!  


 I particularly enjoyed meeting new neighbors that came!
The help in the kitchen was so cheerful, especially  when  it became obvious that many more came than were  expected, they just put on a cheerful face and proceeded graciously.  Which is the real test of a host or hostess!
   


  A word here on the phrasing of  our invitiation: 
We were asked to pre-register for this dinner so the hostess could order the right amount of food for x number of people.

             Unfortunately there were 20 more people that showed up 
(not unwelcome, mind you) and there was actually not enough for everyone to have vegetables or salad. So, please, next time you get an invitation read ALL of it.  Some assumed that it would be like the little get together residents had last Christmas where we brought our own things and set them out.  This, however, was a hosted function and though it turned out fine, was rather an embarrassment to our hosts.
Please keep in mind this is only my opinion, no one on staff complained at all.
Gerry checks the meat

Cim MacDonald serves up dessert








By 6:00 it was packed and visiting began.  I got to meet people from the "2nd phase"... newcomers! 
Pauline and Judy
   I met Judy and Kirby for the first time, though Pauline and I
 have met quite a number of times usually walking our canines!
Mary!!
Dennis and Maureen
Beautiful layout



Good lookin' couple...eh, Paulie?

The biggest surprise to me came in form of a beautiful book on Chemainus Gardens by Cim MacDonald!  AND a calendar.  All wrapped up with pretty ribbons, no less and the author willing to autograph it, too!  I read mine through cover to cover and learned a lot about the history of the Gardens that I didn't know.

After all the cleanup of the food there was still lots for the staff to do.  Getting the food put away properly was part of it, but the beautiful plates and glasses had to be washed too. 
 As you can imagine, it didn't get done last night so this morning some pretty tired staff had to finish off.
 Maybe next year a group of volunteer positions could be posted for setup, cleanup and washup or something.  I wouldn't have minded helping after all the layout!

Several people have asked for the recipe for the lemon squares that had almonds on top. If it was anyone that is getting the Blog, could you write out the recipe for me to post? Thanks!

 So now I'd like to wish everyone a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, too!!




JULY AND AUGUST the dog days of summer...

 By July the garden at Chemainus Garden was in full swing.  New beds were constructed that weren't claimed. Many pros...