Officially Over

According to the statistics, southern Manitoba is all wet.  Manitoba has had a wetter-than-normal April and May, according to statistics released this morning by the provincial Agriculture Department. Winnipeg has had 46% more rain than normal since April 1st. Certainly, our yard is wet! Our sump pump is getting a workout.  It's pumping out about 10 gallons or so every 10 minutes.  Our "basement water feature" is quite alive and noisy.  I'm convinced we have an underground creek running beneath our basement floor.

All that pumped water goes out through an underground pipe that releases the water half-way down our front lawn. From there to the front, street-side, flower bed, the grass is super green and the flower bed is saturated.  There's so much water going out that it drains over the curb, onto the street, travels down the street, and runs into the city's storm water sewer.

The plus side of all this rain has been that the city has an emerald green colour to it.  Maybe, I won't have to go to Ireland to see that colour after all.  It certainly saves on our yard watering bill.

Fude for Thought

Margaret and I went on a date night last night. She chose a restaurant we'd heard about but never tried, called Fude, in Osborne Village.

Fude serves Manitoba-inspired cuisine. Their menu features such culinary favorites as "fall off the bone" Manitoba Bison Ribs, smothered in a smokey chipotle sauce, spice-dusted Manitoba pork tenderloin, served with their own rhubarb chutney, locally caught pickerel, drizzled with a zesty lime-cream sauce and their signature dish, chili chocolate chicken. This dish is slathered in Callebaut dark chocolate sauce, offset with cayenne cream.  Have you started to salivate yet?

The Fude was really good.

Let Them Eat Cake

It was fun, yesterday, to get together with family at the Keg to celebrate my birthday.  I had a good time, watching the antics of my grand-kids at the table. Each with their own personality, having fun, mostly. My heart melted a bit when I got unexpected smiles from the littlest ones, Becca and Jillian.

Unfortunately, there was no black forest cake on the dessert menu so I 'settled' for a mini warm brownie with ice cream and chocolate and caramel sauces.

The treat was as good as it looks. Thanks to all (but especially Margaret) for making my day so special.