Wow, that was one heck of a Big Brother Canada finale!

I was thrilled when Emmett won Part 1 of the HoH comp, but, then, when Gary won the final two parts, I started to get worried. Gary knew a number of people in the jury house weren't happy with Jillian's game play. So, while I was disappointed, I wasn't shocked when Gary chose to take Jillian to final two.

What did shock me was:

1) The finale wasn't live. Yes, it was in front of a live studio audience, but, it was recorded a few hours before TV viewers saw it. And, spoilers were leaked. I knew the results over an hour before the show aired. I wasn't as upset as some were, to find out eviction episodes were recorded a few hours before they aired. But, I am disappointed the finale wasn't live. Maybe something to think about ...

The hubby and I recently visited the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax. We loved looking at all of the exhibits (Brett is always metal-detecting, so, he really enjoyed checking out the coin displays on the 2nd floor). But, my fav part was Merlin.

Merlin is an almost eleven year old Rainbow Macaw who lives at the museum. He's quite chatty, too. When I said "Hello, Merlin", he said "hello" right back. Kinda caught me off guard at first. I've seen birds like Merlin chatting on TV, but, never in person. I enjoyed chatting with the colourful fella so much, I must have spent 15 or 20 minutes hanging out with Merlin.

Here's a quick vid I took of Merlin.
 I don't know about Polly, but, Merlin sure wants a cracker!!



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People on Facebook were sharing this meatloaf recipe this week, so, I decided to try it - and I am SO glad I did. SUPER tasty! The only thing I did that was a little different than the instructions below, was to make a paste out of an additional 1/2 cup of brown sugar and 1/2 cup of ketchup, and spread it over the top of the meatloaf, about 20 minutes before it had to come out of the oven.

Brown Sugar Meatloaf

1/2 cup brown sugar, packed
1/2 cup ketchup
1 1/2 lbs lean ground beef
3/4 cup milk
2 eggs
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper
1 small onion, chopped
1/4 teaspoon ground ginger
3/4 cup saltine cracker crumbs, finely crushed or use bread crumbs finely processed.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Lightly grease a 5 x 9 inch loaf pan. Press the brown sugar ...

A beautiful, sunny day. The kind that makes you walk with more of a spring in your step and a smile on your face. Then, a loud blast, followed quickly by another, shakes you to the core, to the ground. You can't see the sun because of the plume of white smoke, and that fresh air is now an acrid smoke that burns your lungs. People are running for their lives. Even through the ringing in your ears, you can hear screams and cries. Now, the panic sets in. Where is your Mom and Dad? Where is your child? Your wife or husband? Your friends? Where is the safest place to go? IS there a safe place to go? Can you help? What's happened? Is it over?

There were twin bombings near the finish line at the Boston Marathon, and I imagine those are some of the thoughts that went through ...

The hubby and I LOVE taking road trips. While I was off on vacation, we took a little road trip to Grand Pre, in the Annapolis Valley. And, we had a very specific reason for doing so.

I wanted to see some doors.

Not just any ol' doors -- but, these ones:



They're on the edge of a farmer's field, on the way to Evangeline Beach, just past the museum in Grand Pre.

Pretty cool, eh?

My hubby had to, of course, peek a little, to see exactly how it was done:



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