Halloween Party

Apparently while I was sleeping, my Mom & Dad had some transformation thing happen to them and some friends. It looks like they had fun!

I'll Be Taking Over the World Soon

Mom's Carved the First Pumpkin for Halloween!

My Mom carved the first pumpkin of a series today for Halloween. Didn't scare me in the least. Pumpkins are cool!

First Skate

Yesterday, I went skating for the first time with Reece and Mom. It was fun! I didn't wear skates, but I still loved being out on the ice. I laugh when someone pushes me really fast!

Balloon!

My new word this week is "Balloon". I can say it pretty good now, and this is my new friend Dora, who I drag around the house with me everywhere. Mom says she'll have to take her to get more air soon. (I know my Dad has a joke for that somewhere)

Survivorman

One of my Mom's favorite things to watch on Discovery Channel is Survivorman. If you haven't seen it, it's a must watch!
In the year 2000 Les Stroud took a few small cameras out into the wilderness of Northern Ontario, Canada and spent a week surviving alone without food, water, equipment or camera crew. He single-handedly created, produced, wrote, filmed, hosted, edited and wrote the theme music for these first two original, one-hour pilots for what would eventually become the series Survivorman. He remains the only producer in the history of television to produce an internationally broadcast series entirely written, videotaped and hosted alone.


Check out Les Stroud's Site in "Jade's Faves" for info on new episodes and his Blog with detailed accounts of his experiences.

CARAMEL COVERED APPLES

MAKES 5 CARAMEL APPLES

40 - Caramel cubes (I prefer the Borden Brand)
5 - Apples (I like Macintosh apples)
1 - Tablespoon of water
5 - Wooden sticks
1 - Wax paper

PREPARATION

Wash and dry the apples thoroughly. Remove stems and Insert the wooden sticks into the stem hole until about half the stick is in the apple. In a small saucepan, over low heat, melt the caramels with the water, stirring constantly until smooth. Now dip the apples into the hot caramel sauce, coating the apple completely. Place on greased, wax paper.

STORAGE & SERVING

Store your caramel covered apples in the refrigerator.

Before serving, remove them from the refrigerator and allow them to stand for about fifteen minutes. We like to serve our caramel covered apples on a large black platter and use extra caramels as a garnish.

Storms on the Island Early This Year

Several parts of Vancouver Island were hit with power outages Tuesday morning as the first major storm of the fall season bore down on the British Columbia coast.

Environment Canada was warning residents that winds of 50 to 110 km/h were expected for exposed areas of the coast, from Victoria to the Queen Charlotte Islands and the north coast.

Remember Last Year!
My Mom is going to make sure we aren't caught off-guard this year when the power goes out. Some precautions are; making sure your chimney is clear of build up before you need to light a fire. Stocking up on water if you are on a well, as the pump won't work if the power is out. Fill the propane tank on your barbecue, as it may be the only way to cook or get hot water. Keep flashlights charged, your phone hard-wired, and candles ready. It's getting darker sooner these days. And purchase a couple of new board games or novels to pass the time. Television and computers are sometimes a missed source of entertainment.

Happy Birthday Amber!

We Love you very much!

Thawing your Thanksgiving Turkey

Turkey Basics: Safe Defrosting
"The Big Thaw"

Turkeys must be kept at a safe temperature during thawing. While frozen, a turkey is safe indefinitely. However, if the turkey is allowed to thaw at a temperature above 40 ºF, any harmful bacteria that may have been present before freezing can begin to grow again unless proper thawing methods are used.

A package of frozen meat or poultry thawing on the counter longer than 2 hours is not safe. Even though the center of the package may still be frozen, the outer layer of the food is in the "danger zone," between 40 and 140 ºF -- a temperature range where harmful bacteria multiply rapidly.

Thawing frozen Turkey

Immediately after grocery store checkout, take the frozen turkey home and store it in the freezer until ready to use. Frozen turkeys should not be thawed on the back porch, in the car trunk, in the basement or on the kitchen counter.

Refrigerator Thawing

When thawing a turkey in the refrigerator, there are several variables to take into account:

* Plan ahead: allow approximately 24 hours for every 5 pounds in a refrigerator set at 40 °F.

Refrigerator Thawing Times

(Whole turkey)

* 8 to 12 pounds..........1 to 2 days
* 12 to 16 pounds..........2 to 3 days
* 16 to 20 pounds..........3 to 4 days
* 20 to 24 pounds..........4 to 5 days

Paint Me a Picture

My Mom added a cool paint program on the left side of this page. Just run your mouse arrow over the space and you're painting! Click the left mouse button to change colors, and right click to print your painting!
It's Fun!

Sailing Around the World...BACKWARDS!?

Departure Date and Official Start Glenn officially started his circumnavigation Sunday, September 23, 2007 at 21 hours 10 minutes 50 seconds GMT (2:10 p.m. local time).

In September, 2007 Glenn Wakefield will attempt a solo, non-stop circumnavigation west about from Victoria, British Columbia, making him the first sailor to attempt the voyage from North America. Glenn will sail Kim Chow, his Phil Rhodes designed Offshore 40' sloop built by Cheoy Lee in Hong Kong in 1969. For more than 4 years, Glenn has been making extensive modifications to Kim Chow, preparing her for the rigors of sailing offshore for approximately 10 months.


The Route

Glenn will follow a classic route from his home port of Victoria, British Columbia into the Straits of Juan de Fuca, a distance of 60 nautical miles. Once in the Straits, he'll head west for 200 miles and then south to avoid coastal shipping traffic. He plans to cross the I.T.Z. at approximately 135 degrees and then head further west and south to the southern tip of New Zealand leaving Stewart Island to starboard. He'll cross the Tasman Sea to Tasmania and then head across the Australian Bight in the area of 40 degrees south past Cape Leeuwin. From there he'll sail to the Falkland Islands between 40 and 45 degrees south. He'll make his way through Drake Passage and round Cape Horn at a distance of about 100 nautical miles. Once around Cape Horn, Glenn will head out about 1000 miles into the Pacific and then up the coast of Chile recrossing the equator at about 135 degrees. From there he'll sail north to Hawaii and then east to the west coast of British Columbia returning to the Straits of Juan de Fuca and his home port of Victoria in July of 2008. He estimates the trip will take about 10 months.

News For Kids

We've added a new link to the sidebar on Jade's Palace today called "Our Little Earth" that has interesting news about our world,.. just for kids! If you have a kid like me you really should subscribe to the newsletter. It's $15 a year, so save up! And if your big like my Mom & Daddy, you should check it out anyway!

This is an example of one of the stories.
It's about this really neat place called "Angkor TaProhm". Ever heard of it?


Angkor TaProhm is a large temple in Cambodia. It is part of a huge temple complex that was built in the ancient city of Angkor. This week, archaeologists discovered that Angkor was actually a much larger city than was previously thought. They used information from satellites that helped reveal ruins under the ground. More than 70 new temples were discovered, along with roads and canals. It is estimated that the ancient city was spread over almost 1000 square kilometers (400 square miles), making it comparable to the area of London! Also, there could have been close to a million people living in Angkor, which would make it larger than any of the European cities at the time or the great cities of the Mayan civilization.

The Angkor settlement started around 500 AD. The people were called the Khmer. They practiced the Hindu religion. Around 1200 AD, a new king introduced Buddhism. For an unknown reason, the settlement was abandoned around 1500 AD. The new discoveries shed some light on this mystery. The settlement became so large that it caused a lot of erosion and water management problems, which might have led to its ruin.

Over the next four hundred years, the thick jungle around Angkor completely covered the city and its existence was forgotten until French missionaries found it in 1860. The picture shows one of the temples as it was found by the French.

Angkor was featured in the movie "Lara Croft: Tomb Raider". Angelina Jolie, who plays Lara Croft in the movie, fell in love with the country and adopted a Cambodian child.

Sick day

I've been sick with some kind of flu for the past couple of days. I stayed on the couch most of today with Mom. I had a high fever last night, but I am feeling cooler today.

Visiting Family

Camera shy? What's That!

I just can't help myself;..every time I see that little orange light on the camera go on, I have to stop everything and smile my prettiest smile!
All of these pictures were taken over about two minutes.

Our Summer

Our summer was a lot of fun. Now that it seems the weather isn't so warm, my Mom thought she'd put up some pictures of all our family's summer fun!

Me and daddy reading a bedtime story















Our summer was a lot of fun. Now that it seems the weather isn't so warm, my Mom thought she'd put up some pictures of all our family's summer fun!

The Color RED

Yesterday before I had delicious pasta for dinner, (I did get some in my mouth), Mom painted the fireplace RED! It looks really bright. I think it makes the room look more fun!