Check out my Chocolate Blog

I've created a new blog for my chocolate items.

You can check it out here... at Candy Box Creations

Welcome to the Tropics... (click pics to enlarge)

Rainbow near our house




Brittney and Jake before heading off to swimming lessons



Larry and Jake



A view of Pouch Cove and the Atlantic Ocean







well...ok...it's not *exactly* the tropics, but for Canada at this time of year, it's as close as we're going to get.


All week it's been up around 15 - 17 degrees Celsius (which is about 59 - 63 F). Today it was 12 C (52 F). All this 'warm' weather (lol) comes at a price though, we've had rain....and lots of it. Yesterday, it rained most of the day but it did manage to stop and clear out long enough for some blue sky and a beautiful rainbow, before it clouded over and started raining....again.

Mind you, I'm not complaining...it's a lot easier to drive in rain than snow....but some sunshine would be nice to go along with our warm weather. I know...I'm not asking for much ;0)

Happy Birthday, Dad! (click pics to enlarge)

Today is my Dad's birthday!

He's 82 today (I'm half his age and he has twice as much energy as me .... go figure)

Happy Birthday, Dad!

Game Show, Anyone??

Jake has decided he wants to be a game show host when he grows up.

He loves game shows and I think his favourite tv channel is GSN. He knows about all the game shows, both past and present. He researches things like how many different hosts a particular game show had, how old each of those hosts are and if they are still living, how long the game show ran....all kinds of interesting things. And....he learns so much from these shows ....like many, many interesting facts and math skills. Honestly, he learned to read large figure numbers (like thousands and hundreds of thousands and millions etc.) from watching these shows. As we walked the other night, I was asking him what two quarters of a million was and four quarters of a million and seven quarters of a million. He didn't miss a beat....the answers rolled off his tongue sooner than I even had the question out.

(Just as an aside....Jake does not like George Bush. His reason? Well...one time when he was about 5 or 6, he was watching "Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?". The contestant was just about to answer the million dollar question .....when the tv station cut away to air a press conference given by George Bush. Jake was NOT impressed. He came stamping up the stairs..."How dare he interrupt my show!!!" "Just who is this George Bush guy anyway??? and why is what he has to say so important???" No amount of my explaining to him would do and to this day he is still upset at George Bush for interrupting his show. The nerve, eh? It did lead to a productive conversation and a great learning time though about the U.S., and how they have Presidents instead of Prime Ministers like we have...so it wasn't a total loss)

He also has his own game shows that he already runs. More than once he's organized our family into teams. He decorates the game show set, he makes up the game(s) and rules and decides on the prizes. The above picture of Jake is of him in his official role as game show host. That thing clipped on his shirt (most people would call it a pen)...that's his clip on microphone.

He has a game that he plays with me. It happens at 8:30 p.m. each weekday night. I've won money....and lots of it...millions in fact, as well as trucks (Tonka), cars (matchbox), laptops (Vtech children's type), pictures of my kids...oooh the prize list is quite impressive. Too bad, I've yet to actually collect any of this money I've won. One time, the only prize was a half-used air freshener. When I asked him how come that was the only prize tonight, he said, "Well, we couldn't find any others." *grin*

So...be on the lookout. If he has his way, he'll be hosting a game show somewhere, somehow, sometime.

What I've been up to this week.....(click on pics to enlarge)

Here are some pics of some of the chocolate items I've been making this week.


Trinket Box...made in Dark French Chocolate
Box is made completely of chocolate




After packaging, with chocolates


Same item, different colour of flower




Dove Box .... made of White Chocolate
Box is made completely of chocolate




Sewing Kit....complete with spools of thread, pkg of needles and scissors
Made completely of chocolate





Pool Anyone?
Pool Table, complete with pool cues and balls



Ready for packaging



Gift Box
made completely of chocolate



Wreath Box
made completely of chocolate



Fan Box
made completely of chocolate





Angels
made with white chocolate and filled with hazelnut cream



Bell Box
made completely of chocolate



Tool Box complete with chocolate tools



Miscellaneous Suckers



After packaging



Golf Balls
made with white chocolate and filled with hazelnut cream




Almond Barks...This is marble almond bark ...made with milk and white chocolate

All gone....oh no

Wow...I've used all 55 lbs of the chocolate....it's all gone!

I can't believe how quickly I've gone through it! (and No....I did not eat it ;0)) Now don't get me wrong, I'm not complaining not at all....but I am pleasantly surprised.

Also, in addition to that,......We're expanding.....of sorts lol.....we have two sales to be at on Saturday morning. Brittney and I will go to the WOW Christmas Breakfast (which is a Christmas Special/Women's breakfast put on by one of the local churches). We set up a table in it last year and were asked to participate again this year, which we gladly accepted. It was a wonderful breakfast, a good time for Brittney and I to get out together as well as a chance to sell some chocolate.

While we are there, Larry, Tyler and Jake will go to our regular Saturday morning booth at the St. John's Farmers' Market. Yes, you read that right, Tyler will be joining us this weekend. As Brittney and I will be done at our venue well in advance of the boys, Larry will need to leave for awhile in order to pick us up. Tyler has agreed to help Jake man the booth while Larry is bringing us back to the Farmers' Market. Selling is not really Tyler's cup of tea (sometimes it's hard to believe him and Jake are brothers who have grown up in the same home), but we asked if he would help and he agreed. We've been teasing him saying instead of coming right back, we're going out for coffee or lunch or whatever and leaving him to sell for the last two hours (*grin*).

While I have some of the logistics of our so-called expansion worked out, there are still some things to iron out. I'm gonna need two of everything .... double the amount of chocolates, an extra table cloth, extra display chocolates, an extra order book, and extra cases to carry the chocolates.

As I mentioned off the top of my post....I've used all 55 lbs of chocolate (or at least I will have by tomorrow). I have some more on order....which they're supposed to deliver to me on Wednesday....and they had better....or else I'm gonna be in trouble. Usually, the chocolate comes next day.....but not this time, just when I need it right away ....it's a six day wait.

Keeping my fingers crossed that it shows up on Wednesday.

Snow from Nova Scotia in 2004

Our Friend Rick, in Nova Scotia sent me these 'snow' pics for Becky. They were taken in 2004 after a snow storm. He said this made for lots of great snowmobiling.

For Becky (pics from last winter)

Becky from the USA has been ummm....admiring our snow (and we are going to send her some when and if we get any this year ;0) )

Sooo...these pictures are taken around our house last February after a snow storm. In some of them, you can see the Atlantic Ocean in the background.

Congrats to Newfoundland & Labrador!!

For the first time in history, the province of Newfoundland & Labrador has become a Have Province....Click here!

Congratulations, Newfoundland & Labrador!!

Flower Child? (click to enlarge pics)

We went to the St. John's Farmers' Market yesterday, Brittney and Jake both came. In one of the booths, a fellow (or I should say, a buddy) paints faces and makes balloon animals. As we were in our booth selling chocolate (or should I say in our booth watching Jake sell the chocolate), the face-painter fellow came over and asked if he could paint Brittney's face...on the house. She said sure....and this was the end result.

Not bad, eh?

On another note, we bought some fresh corn on the cob at the Farmers' Market. Mmmm....can hardly wait to have it later today. I'm *still* having a hard time getting me head around how late fruits and vegetables grow here. My peas are still producing pods (although they are slowing down) and fresh corn on the cob....in November???

I guess I should stop wondering and go husk that corn.

A fun Award

Linda, from over at Remotetree Changer has honoured me with this award. Thanks so much, Linda! Linda lives in Australia and has a wonderful blog, so if you have the time, why not stop by for a visit.

This award acknowledges the values that every blogger shows in his/her effort to transmit cultural, ethical, literary and personal values every day


The rules to follow are :

1) Accept the award, post it on your blog together with the name of the person that has granted the award and his or her blog link.

2) Pass the award to other 15 blogs that are worthy of this acknowledgment. Remember to contact each of them to let them know they have been chosen for this award.

These are the people I have chosen to award.

1) Penelope at Roots and Wings

2) Kayla at Life in Small Town, Wyoming

3) The Land of Cheerios, Sticky Fingers and Muddy Shoes

4) Molytail

5) Becky over at A Peek Inside Our World

6) Carman over at The Travelling Thiessens

7) Shannon over at Each Day in Faith

8) Army Wife gnr at Harrison's Deployment Blog. (I believe this blog is private, so there is no link)

9) Jacqueline at Jacqueline's Jabberings

Trick or Treat (click to enlarge)

Brittney and Jake went out for Halloween. Brittney was a little girl getting ready for bed and Jake a reindeer (his nose even flashed on and off), which later had to be modified to an injured reindeer. Contrary to the wise, wise, wise advice he received (bet ya can't guess who gave him the wise advice lol), he chose to play with his costume before Halloween. Of course one of the antlers got broken....hence the change to 'injured' reindeer.

Oh well....they had lots of fun. Larry took them out and they got a good haul of candy. That should keep Larry and I....or....I mean Brittney and Jake going for quite some time. (Hey what can I say....I learned from the best --- My Mom and Dad --- on how to take candy from the kids' halloween bags ;0) )