Spring & Something New

Spring is here! 

Being from Canada, and a very seasonal person, it amazes me how ready I am for Spring now, but two weeks ago I was totally in Winter mode. I Love the seasons, and the changes that come with them. Like that smell of melting; raw earth really gives met that first real notion of this fresh new season. Summer, Fall and Winter really do have their very own first scents, and that Spring smell is indeed here! The next reminder has to be ALL the birdsong! How amazing, to walk through the forest and to hear that orchestra of sound! If you stand there, quietly, you too would be amazed at how many various melodies you will hear. Of course the next sign of this fresh and new season has to bee the crocuses! Aren't they the first Spring flowers??? How Lovely a reminder that warmer weather is arriving.

Crocuses_popping_up_from_their_wintery_sleep

Lucky for US, we have a few birds to give us fresh eggs. The chickens have only just started laying, but our female duck has been laying for weeks. It's pretty amazing, eating delicious and fresh eggs, knowing they are not riddled with hormones and/or injections of any kind! Hard-boiled duck eggs are even better than chicken eggs! Also when you colour duck eggs (we used markers) over Easter, the ink absorbs into the shell and gives an almost opaque look and feel. Who knew?? Long considered the "dirty egg" I highly disagree! Go ducks go!

A_musical_easter_egg

  In Canada, you might find folks walking around in shorts. Some will even Spring-ski in T-shirts.  Winter in Canada can be fierce, and the length of it can zap us all,  so any sign of warmth and we Canucks are all in! This Hour Has 22 Minutes describes the start of Canada's Spring season, PERFECTLY....

Funny_Quote

I am not sure that I would call Spring my favourite season, as the only real swimming you can do is in chlorinated pools, so if swimming doesn't exist than perhaps Summer is my fave? Not really sure...being a seasonal person, I really don't wish for Summer when Winter is here nor Fall when Spring is here, though, I Love them all. We'll leave it a tie then (but don't quote me on that! Ha!)

Something completely unrelated to SPRING... I was given a link to some music I recorded YEARS ago (just guitar and vocals) from a friend of mine whom I worked with so many moons ago... I opened it up and found a new song, well, an old song that was once new, but I had completely forgotten about it, so when I listened to it yesterday, for the first time in seven years (or more!) I  thought I should bring in back into my repetoire... What do you think?

  Okay, well I wish you all the best and most Lovely Spring that 2016 can offer you. Mmmm... Wild Garlic Leaves will be here soon enough! Pesto Season is upon us! Haha.

Hugs,

Lindsay xo

Songbirds

In 2007 I released my very first full length, full band, all recorded in one place; record. You can hear "Sound." here. I had been toying around with the songs for said record, and they were the first I had ever written and after I had created that first album, I decided to quit my jobs and focus, full time on being a professional musician. Before my very first Record Release (of said record at The Black Sheep Inn) I had heard some music from the very talented Kyrie Kristmanson and had asked her if she wouldn't mind wowing the local area of Wakefield, Quebec with her music, as the special guest to my very first musical "Shin Dig." She complied and did a most excellent job, with those unique and haunting vocals. Fast forward a few years later and I had noticed she was a part of the "American Songbirds Festival" in Europe and found myself rather intrigued. I did some sleuthing! All good things take their time, and this year I was invited to perform at the tail end of this traveling musical festival, to Austria and Germany. Kyrie had to perform those last few dates in Paris and asked me to sub in for her. Awesome! Thank you ever so much, Songbird!

Lindsay_singing_in_Germany

It was a new experience for me. Traveling in a tour van, with three other Songbirds and one Tour Manager. What a cool thing, to have everything looked after; the driving, the food, the accommodation, the venue, the rider the EVERYTHING! I am very used to doing it all myself (the booking, the planning, the navigation -on top of the composing- etc etc) and I have to say, it was a great pleasure to be introduced to this level of professionalism. 

My_hand_holding_a_wine_glass_in_shadow

Another wonderful thing about this traveling music festival, is the variety of talent on stage. This is not just four women sounding alike. Every one had their special sound and flare! How wonderful for me to meet some new musical compadrés, from various parts of the world. Introducing Ashia Bison Rouge, living in Berlin, who plays a Cello and makes powerful sounds with looping and harmonies, entirely captivating. Enter troubadour Rachelle Garniez, from New York City, wild and wonderful and a multi-instrumentalist on accordion, guitar and piano. Her vocals are one to take tips from, rumbling down in the low and switching to fairy-tale high in a split second, a kind of Tom Waits meets Melanie. On the Grande Piano comes songwriter and singer extra-ordinaire, Daisy Chapman from England. She too uses a looper and sings from the heavens. It was SUCH an incredible opportunity for me to be a part of this wild and wonderful crew of talented super-stars.. err... women. 

Shining_together_in_an_800_year_old_room

The end of the tour was sad for me, as I was only getting warmed up for more musical adventures, alas, it was a great introduction to so many things, and I left my new friends, inspired. Our last day was spent touring around Berlin. It was my first time in this history filled, feeling infused city. The Wall was somewhere I needed to be, somehow, the idea of touching it came over me. What energy, indeed! 

Seeing_the_Berlin_wall_for_the_first_time

What an incredible experience, all in all. It's times like these when I am happy that music was given to me and that I decided to explore such a gift! Ten years in and I certainly wouldn't change a thing.

Thanks for reading,

Love

Lindsay xo

Foodie With Me

Working in the service industry for SO long, meant that I rarely cooked. I would eat out most of the time and only really had ingredients in the pantry/fridge for making wraps or Breakfast. I was really good at rolling a wrap together and even better at throwing together a good ole fashion Canadian Brekky. I was, after all, mostly single. Being in a relationship changes all of that! Somehow I always knew that cooking for two would be WAY better than cooking for one. I am really amazed though because now I Love to cook! I must thank all of the former chefs that I have worked with over the years, all of those dead evenings where I watched you and asked a million questions, well some of it stuck!! So, Thanks :)  Today, I thought to share with you a few of the STAPLES in my kitchen and perhaps I can inspire you to create some greatness in YOUR kitchen!

Delicious_cheese_fondue

I guess cheese has to be the number one staple in our fridge. We have often said that we would pick cheese over meat, if we had to give up one or the other. At any given time there are three types of cheese in the fridge; Buffalo Mozzarella, Feta & Gruyere. Feta goes great in a salad and wonderful in an omelette. Fresh mozzarella is great with basil, tomato and a little olive oil/balsamic drizzle. Gruyere (or if you are partial to cheddar) goes great with anything; potatoes, bread, pasta and more. Cheese is essential. If you are cutting out bread and sugar etc, here is an excellent recipe for a bread-less pizza .... Steam a head of cauliflower, and when it is fully cooked, crumble it all up with a hand mixer or whatever you have. I find a hand mixer works wonders with EVERYTHING from making a smoothie to pulverizing hard bread into bread crumbs. When the cauliflower is cool, add a cup of shredded cheese, parmesan works well! Add a bunch of parsley, one egg and some pepper. Flatten it out into a nice circle pizza shape, bake in the oven for 20min then add your toppings and bake for another 15min around 375. The thing to remember is to squeeze out or pat out as much of the excess water from the cooked cauliflower as possible (before mixing in the other ingredients.) The crust will be too flimsy/moist if you don't.

Cauliflower_pizza_crust

The next essential thing I have in my kitchen is fresh LEMON!! Lemon is so good for so many things; curry, salad dressing, lemon water, fried fish and my favourite thing to make from scratch: Mayo! Here is my easy peasy recipe for mayo...p.s it is REALLY good and the texture is, I promise, the same as store bought. The great thing though, is that there are no "e's" in it i.e nothing fake!! Only yum and I have no guilt eating it. I tried making it with many types of oil (Olive, Avocado & Canola) and the best by far is Sunflower oil. So, get a mixing container (a hand mixer comes with a container) Mix together one egg, 1/2 teaspoon of salt and just over a tablespoon of freshly squeezed lemon juice, then in a slow line, pour in one cup of the sunflower oil. It takes less than ten minutes to make and will keep in your fridge for at least two weeks. Again, when you pour in the oil, do it SLOWLY.

Home_made_mayo_on_a_spoon

Besides the regular stuff like eggs, flour, milk, butter etc... It is great to have a few spices/herbs/seasoning stuffs on hand. Cumin powder is a delicious add when you are making scrambled eggs,  hot sauce (sambal oelek or sriracha) is great with hash browns or added into any sauces at all, depending if you like it a bit hot. Odds and ends in your fridge can be crafted into deliciousness at all times. I find fresh herbs are great in salads, like a heap of basil or cilantro chopped in there... another amazing add for a salad (even as a snack!) are roasted sunflower seeds with a few splashes of soya sauce. SUPER easy to make but you have to stay on them, don't leave the kitchen or they might get too brown. Sautée the raw sunflower seeds in a frying pan on medium-high heat, high heat will burn them (no oil or butter needed, jus ton their own.) Throw them around in the pan til they get golden brown on both sides, when they do (about 15min) splash in a bit of soya sauce... QUICK, take your wooden spoon and push it along the bottom of the pan to get all the soya sauce up and mixed around... It will burn on the pan if you don't stir it all in (about three or four more minutes.) Friends with peanut allergies... apparently this snack is also a really great salty "nut" alternative. Let them cool and munch away!! 

Golden_Roasted_Sunflower_Seeds

Yes, cooking is fun!! And WAY cheaper than eating out all the time.

I hope I have inspired some new ideas for you today....

Enjoy and revel in the yumminess!! 

xoxo

Broken Beach

Two winter's ago I was in Domincan Republic, celebrating three things. One: my girlfriend's wedding; Two: my honeymoon; and Three: my birthday. It was my first time down to that part of the world and as most who know me, I was born on the Ocean Shores of Bermuda and I truly am a water baby, so I was very much looking forward to this "adventure" among friends, beaches, booze and beauty!

Lindsay_on_a_beach_in_a_beach_hat

It didn't turn out the way I had hoped, dreamed or ever imagined. The day after the wedding, which was fabulous and fun, was spent out on the water, a real adventure featuring snorkels, reefs, colourful fish, clear waters and booze, lots of booze, mainly rum! It was my birthday and we were a group of sixteen friends, all out there floating on and under the sea, swimming with the fishes. Soon after snorkeling, we sailed on over to a very calm bay (our resort was on a very wavy wavy shore!) and we jumped into the water once more, joined by three of four other ship-vessels looking for fun, featuring more rum and loud dance music... Ocean Disco would commence!

My_first_ocean_disco

The guy who was driving the boat just kept on bringing trays of Rum and coke out to us, and no one had a care in the world. It was turning out to be a fabulous way to spend a birthday, really, one of the best! Until we got back to the shores of our resort, until I did the stupidest thing ever... I jumped off the boat thinking the water was much deeper than it actually was and ended up breaking my leg in two spots in what the Dr.'s called a "Maisonneuve Fracture." Surprisingly it didn't hurt that bad, thanks to all that rum, I suppose.

My_leg_x-ray

Yeah, it was a funky way to end a trip. That is for sure. We ended up thinking it was a sprain, and just kept it iced all the time, and I took a few anti-inflammation pills. It wasn't until we flew home to Canada a few days later when we went to get things checked out for reals. Needless to say, I was on crutches for months and it was my first break. Luckily it was one of Canada's worst winters for cold and snow (Ha. Ha.) and we were living in a trailer on a horse ranch, with no running water and a wood stove for heat. It really brought things into perspective. 

Our_cozy_trailer

Those spiky things you can put on the end of your crutches probably saved my life. Actually, living in a small space, where you can practically reach out and grab anything was also very helpful. It was definitely like going back in time...Heating up water for dishes, cooking breakfast on the top of the wood stove... It was a bit like heaven when I think back.. aside from the darn break!! Getting down to the "warm room/wash room" in the barn, below the trailer was always an adventure. Ahhh those were the days.

A_trailers_view

I am reminded of all this leg stuff because, for over a week,  I have been laid up with a bum knee, couch bound! Which of course reminded me of our "Dominican Dream Adventure Nightmare Trip" and what a slew of memories! Like try getting out of the ocean with crutches. A girl has got to swim! Ha, and living on a horse ranch in a trailer, was a little different to life in a home with running water and all the amenities this time with a cane instead of crutches.... I suppose the lesson here is to never take anything for granted. Having the fortune to be able to walk freely is so forgotten until you can't walk! Luckily the pain is easing off and I went out for a walk in the woods for the first time in too long. Also, I wanted to share with you a healing herb I heard about for inflammaton, it's called "COMFREY" in English. Apparently the leaves and roots can be made into salve and it is super good for swelling. It seems to be working on my knees! In the meantime, I will be walking lightly.

Til we meet again, 

Lindsay xo