O'Malley's Musings

How did your Lynn Valley garden grow?

From the garden of Lynn O’Malley: 

Nature is all swings and roundabouts, isn’t it?

Just when one is ready to despair over the constant mildewing of the zucchini leaves, a bumper crop of sweet peas gives one cause to celebrate. Non-productive clematis vines are overshadowed by an abundance of black-eyed Susans.

At least that’s how it was in my upper Lynn Valley garden this year, which seems always to be unpredictable in its yearly showing – largely a result, no doubt, of the inconsistent care and attention it gets from its owner. But whether it is nature or nurture that makes one year’s bounty so different from the next, the kaleidescope tableau that results is never the same twice.

My garden highlight this year has been my sweet pea teepee, which is still covered with blooms. In years past, I’ve strung up sweet peas against a backyard wall under the eaves and then constantly forgetten to water them. This year, I plunked them front and centre in my raised veggie bed by the street, along with the Swiss chard and green onions, where they were assured of some life-sustaining attention from the automatic sprinkler.

The biggest benefit I’ve reaped from the resulting healthy crop hasn’t been aesthetic, though the flowers’ incredible scent is a lovely addition to the vegetable garden. No, the very best part about the prolific sweet peas is the number of excuses they have given me to visit friends and neighbours, bouquet in hand.

When your sweet peas need to be picked, they need to be picked. So what better time is there to drop in on someone you’ve been meaning to visit for ages? It’s been a pleasure to use the sweet peas as my calling card in a number of homes and workplaces this summer. Pretty and amazingly fragrant, they are always well received (I should aspire to be so popular!)

Fortunately the memory of my happy sweet pea moments will serve to blot out any other agricultural disappointments from Summer 2012; the above-mentioned zucchini issue (everyone complains about their overabundant zucchini harvest, while I sadly ruminate upon my three small green accomplishments), the Shasta Daisies overcome with aphids and something else that caused their heads to wither; the pot of flowers that was supposed to be a riot of pink and blue, but the pink bloomed and died back in early July, while the blue is just now opening from bud.

All is forgiven, all is forgotten! Summer 2012 was the Sweet Pea Summer.

Do you want to keep the floral fun going this fall? Posy Florist in Lynn Valley Village is offering a series of workshops, from basic floral design (mandatory for newbies) to ones that will teach you to create your own Thanksgiving centrepiece or Christmas wreath. Have a look at the Posy site for more information – first class is on Wednesday, Sept. 26th!) 

September 21, 2012 in Blog, Current News, Eco-Awareness & The Great Outdoors, O'Malley's Musings

Best ice cream cake recipe ever

From the kitchen of Lynn O’Malley – Summer is a time of great intentions; we want to hike the wilderness, build a backyard deck or tree fort, host a marvellous B.C. Day party, teach our children the Latin names of all the local flowers and catch up our photo album. Then a heat wave hits, and it’s all we can do to throw some Wonder bread and a jar of peanut butter at our children before retreating to the basement again with a wet cloth on our head.

But sometimes you have to step up and provide vittles for a crowd. For times like that, here’s a great, crowd-pleasing recipe that makes it seems like you’ve been working much harder than you have. Make it several hours in advance, or even the day before, so it’s well frozen when you unveil it. (And FYI, it’s a great birthday cake for the wheat-intolerant!) Do you have any favourite hot-weather recipes, an easy, stove-free main, perhaps, or perfect patio drink? Please send them to [email protected], and I’ll share them here!

The Best Ice Cream Cake

2 c. Rice Krispies
1 c. coconut
1 c. chopped pecans
1 stick melted butter
1/2 gal. vanilla ice cream
1 sm. bottle caramel syrup
3/4 c. brown sugar

Mix together Rice Krispies, coconut, pecans and butter. Bake on cookie sheet at 325 degrees for 20 minutes. Remove from oven and mix 3/4 cup brown sugar to mixture. Spread about half the mixture in the bottom of 13×9 pan.

Spread with 1/2 of caramel (I don’t usually add nearly this much caramel …. and at this point I usually drizzle some chocolate syrup on top, too!) Cut and place ice cream until it covers bottom of pan. Pour more caramel to taste and the remainder of the mixture on the top of ice cream. Freeze and eat.

August 4, 2012 in Blog, Current News, O'Malley's Musings

Want a new book (or CD, or DVD)? Just ask!

FROM LYNN O’MALLEY: I’d seen the invitation so often, I’d long ago stopped seeing it. You know the one – the “Suggest a Purchase” button on the North Van Library website.

Usually, I’m happy to have any excuse to purchase my own books, as my groaning shelves will attest. But over the past year, in an attempt to actually live within my means – now there’s a concept – I have been relying even more on our library collection. (Also, I actually had to do a modified duck-and-roll manoeuvre in bed the other night, when the three-foot stack of unread books on my nightstand came crashing down in my direction…. another sign, perhaps, that my buying abilities long ago exceeded my actual reading capacity.)

So when I saw an intriguing title reviewed in the Vancouver Sun a couple of months back, rather than reaching for my wallet I went to the library to see if I could put it on hold. And when the computer told me that particular book wasn’t in their holdings, my gaze fell upon that ever-present “Suggest a Purchase” tab.

Why not, thought I, and entered the requisite info. I didn’t think too much more about it, until one day only a few weeks later, when I received an email saying the book was not only purchased, it was waiting for me at the hold desk. What service! Never were our municipal tax dollars better spent.

Now I was curious – how many titles does the library custom-order for people? Will they buy just ANYTHING for you? Do they put limits on the number of books each of us is able to request in a lifetime?

David Johnstone, audiovisual coordinator in the Lynn Valley Library, was kind enough to answer many of my questions. “Last year we received over 2,800 suggestions from patrons,” he told me in an email. “Of these, we purchased over 80% of the titles suggested that were actually available to order.”

Suggestions included books (for adults, children and teens, in regular and large print); dvds, music cds, and audiobooks.

In general, David said, the titles that are ordered are (1) recently published (although they do purchase classic items as well), (2) available in Canada, (3) of general interest and (4) have received positive professional reviews.  Patrons can suggest purchases from home via the library website, or at any Information Desk in the branches.

“And – as you know – patrons who suggest an item that is purchased will be the first to borrow it when it arrives,” he noted.

But curling up with “my” new book wasn’t the end of the story. I wasn’t able to finish it by the end of the loan period, so I logged into the library website to renew it. Imagine my thrill when I found I couldn’t – some other North Vancouverite had placed a hold on it!

I was glad to find out I hadn’t wasted library budget dollars by asking them to buy a book that I thought might have a limited audience. Whoever my book-buddy is out there, I hope you enjoyed the read – I know I liked the first few chapters! I’ve checked it out again, and this time I’ll finish it!

Do you love your library? Then make sure you come out to the Friends of the Library Book Sale, happening on Lynn Valley Day weekend at the end of May. All details are on our Events Calendar.

 

 

May 3, 2012 in Blog, Current News, O'Malley's Musings

LynnValleyLife: your resource for 100th Lynn Valley Day!

LIFE WITH LYNN O’MALLEY: Have I ever missed a Lynn Valley Day? Well, perhaps for a year or two in my turbulent twenties. Otherwise, I’ve been there every year – dancing the may pole, playing in the band, marching in the parade, or staffing an info booth (not usually all at once).

So, like the rest of you Lynn Valleyites who drop everything on the last Saturday in May in order to celebrate your community, I’m thrilled that 2012 marks the 100th – yes, 100th! – anniversary of Lynn Valley Day. And I’m even more excited to let you know that its organizers – the hard-working Lynn Valley Lions and Lynn Valley Community Association – have asked our team here at LynnValleyLife to host the online website for this historic centennial event, taking place Saturday, May 26th.

We’ve already been having a great time getting to know more of you through our busy Facebook page and the thoughtful feedback we’ve been getting to our LynnValleyLife website. Now we’re really going to ramp up our local coverage to make sure each and every one of you knows all there is to know about Lynn Valley Days 2012!

Pretty soon, you’ll notice some changes to our ‘landing page’  – that’s the introductory page you see when you type in our web address, www.LynnValleyLife.com.  While you’ll still be able to use the landing page as a launch pad to our Life, Business and Real Estate sections, you’ll also be able to click on a special “Lynn Valley Days 100” icon that will take you to a dedicated section of our site.

There you will find everything from parade application forms to event schedules to news updates and information on volunteering, the car show, and the proud history of Lynn Valley Days.

You’ll also be able to buy your tickets to the Friday night gala dinner (May 25th), which will be even bigger and better than last year’s sold-out extravaganza.

In all my years, I’ve found there’s only one thing better than going to Lynn Valley Day – helping out with Lynn Valley Day! As with anything, the more you put into something, the more you get back. Whether it’s helping with set-up, taking a shift on the concession or stacking up chairs in the afternoon, there’s room for lots of helping hands, especially with this year’s added festivities. Please consider stepping up now so the Volunteer Coordinator doesn’t have to worry about filling her quota! Contact Shirin from the Lynn Valley Community Association at [email protected].

Should you have any questions about the Lynn Valley Days centennial, please email us here at LynnValleyLife and we’ll post the information for everyone to share, or put you on to the right contact person.

We look forward to providing you with lots of great Lynn Valley Days coverage and contests. Stay tuned! We’ll keep you posted.

February 6, 2012 in Blog, Community Events, Getting Involved, Lynn Valley Day, O'Malley's Musings

Theatre lives on in local memories

Musings from Lynn O’Malley: It’s always seemed to me that a little movie house would do well in Lynn Valley; something that would bring in the kind of interesting flicks you usually have to travel over to the 5th Avenue or Park Theatre to see. (OK, I can’t guarantee it would do well, and I don’t know where it would go, but I can promise that I would be a loyal patron.)

Then it occurred to me that we’ve already had a little movie house here in the valley, one that was very popular indeed. If you’re lucky enough to be of the right age, and a long-enough resident of the neighbourhood, you’ll already know about the Cedar V. The rest of us young ’uns have no memory of it, or we have faint memories, or perhaps just memories we think we have, but that really belong to older brothers and sisters and have been listened to often enough that they feel like our own.

The Quonset Hut-style building was located at 1260 Lynn Valley Rd., near the site of the current PetroCan station. Built in 1953, its Saturday matinees became the highlight of the week for hundreds of local schoolkids. Here’s what former Valleyite Barbara Black had to say about the Cedar V from her current home in Victoria:

“I was just thinking about the old Cedar V Theatre, where I saw my first terrifying movie: Bambi. I think I was six. I remember they sold popcorn in little kiddie-sized paper bags and the butter soaked through the sides before you could finish it. Saturdays were the double-bill matinee. If it was your birthday you were called up on stage and given a prize. I also saw “The Three Lives of Thomasina” there, another heart-wrenching movie complete with witch and a cat funeral.”

And in this online essay, Vancouver writer Michael Hayward reminisces about the almost magical power the theatre cast upon him, his cousin and the other kids who were drawn to it “like moths to a fire.”

Unfortunately, the fire went out on October 31, 1971, when the theatre was demolished to make way for new development.

Would a small movie house today have the same allure for our kids, accustomed as they are to the more modern on-screen entertainment constantly at their fingertips? Hard to say. But there are some things that Playstations, HDTVs and iPads just can’t offer: Theatre popcorn. Getting together with dozens of friends. Having someone pull you up on stage because it’s your birthday.

Cedar V, you are missed.

January 21, 2012 in Blog, Looking Back, O'Malley's Musings

Thank you, Lynn Valley, for 500 new friends

Glad tidings from Lynn O’Malley: When Jim Lanctot first assembled some like-minded souls to talk about creating this community website, our goals were both grand and humble. Yes, we hoped to reach a lot of people and be of great help to local organizations, businesses and individuals wanting to spread the word about their activities. But at the same time, we were determined to give LynnValleyLife a small-town feel; to be an online gathering place for the same kind of conversations you’d have at Waves or Delany’s. Just a few months later, we have tipped the 500 point in our number of Facebook friends, and thanks to your support we think we are managing to make great progress toward both goals.

A recent column in the Globe and Mail reports research showing that a top concern among Vancouverites is a sense of isolation from neighbours, and that part of the blame may lie with our growing reliance on online social networking. But we hope and believe that LynnValleyLife works the other way around. Thanks to our online presence, we see more and more real-life relationships being formed. We are delighted that through our Facebook page we see people partnering up to work on good causes, or share info about bird sightings, or coming out – in person! – to support local events.

We hoped the page would become the locale for online water cooler conversations, and you folks have come though in spades. Thanks to every one of you who pushed that ‘like’ button to join the fun!

It seemed appropriate that we reward our 500th Facebook friend with something neighbourly, and couldn’t think of anything that would be more suitable than two tickets to the Lynn Valley Community Association Gala Dinner that will take place the night before the 100th Lynn Valley Day this May. And we also think it’s wonderfully appropriate that the surprised recipient was Carrie Boulier, whose husband Murray Bulger teaches the Digital Media Academy at Argyle, a program that is yet another unique feature of this great neighbourhood we call home.

We are looking forward to meeting even more of our Lynn Valley neighbours, in person and online. We rely on your interesting news tidbits and comments to keep our Facebook page lively, our website Events Calendar full, and our bloggers busy, so let’s continue to keep each other in the loop! One thousand friends is the next big milestone – we plan to enjoy the journey as we work toward that goal, and hope you do, too.

At LynnValleyLife we are looking forward to doing all we can to make this 100th Lynn Valley Day all it can be.  The Lynn Valley Community Association and Lynn Valley Lions who put on this great event need help.  If you would like to explore becoming a volunteer for the event please email us and we will put you in touch with the right people.

January 13, 2012 in Blog, O'Malley's Musings

Our List of One-Mile Resolutions

Coming to You From Lynn O’Malley: Even those people who staunchly refuse to make New Year’s Resolutions must, like the rest of us, look forward to the new year and see all the potential it offers. Whether it is waistlines that need contracting or minds that need expanding, all seems – and indeed is – possible.
Some years ago a Vancouver couple made the 100-Mile Diet a household word; this year, LynnValleyLife is adapting that concept and publishing a list of One-Mile Resolutions. Whether you want to improve body, mind or spirit, we’re confident that self-fulfilment is – literally – just around the corner.

1. Beginning in January, the Lynn Valley Community Room adjacent to the library will come alive with a variety of new rec centre programs. Check out this listing of classes that offer up a variety of fitness options, from Nordic pole walking to belly dancing to self-defense.

2. If this is the year to spruce up your yard, get a hand from the GardenSmart programs of the North Shore Recycling Program. Whether it is a veggie gardening workshop at the Lynn Canyon Ecology Centre or the provision of an expert gardener for your neighbourhood garden party, GardenSmart is the go-to resource for green thumbs.

3. Stretch your think-box by attending a Philosopher’s Café at Lynn Valley Library. The topic for January is relativism: Are there objective moral truths?

4. Then stretch your legs with a walking club – join up with the Mollie Nye House seniors on Wednesdays, or the Sun Run Walking Group on Tuesday mornings, HQ’d in the L.V. Community Room.

5. You can stretch everything else with a yoga class – YYoga is a popular choice in Lynn Valley Village, and new drop-in, by-donation classes (including one for girls) are offered by the new youth and families minister at Lynn Valley United Church.

6. Resolve to make your neighbourhood an even better place to live by volunteering your time. Create your own neighbourhood improvement project, or join one of our local groups such as the community association or the Lynn Valley Lions.

7. Like the song goes, Climb Every Mountain – but start with our own. When conditions allow, follow in the footsteps of pioneers who walked up the Old Grouse Mountain Highway, a three or four-hour hike up the 13-km gravel road that leads from the top of Mountain Highway to the Grouse Mountain chalet.

8. How long has it been since you dropped in on your neighbour? If it’s been a while, surprise them with a banana-bread visit or some impromptu help washing the car.

9. Adopt one new healthful diet habit – ask the fine folk at Country Health in the mall or Nourish Market in the village for tips.

10. If you’ve accomplished any or all of these One-Mile Resolutions, you deserve a reward. Treat yourself to the view from Fromme Mountain (pictured at top), which is one of the best in Lynn Valley. Only one catch: you’ll have to doff your drawers. This particular vista is only seen from the grassy grounds of the Van Tan Club, the nudist colony up Old Grouse Mountain Highway that has been in operation for almost 75 years. Consider your Van Tan membership another adventure for the new year!

December 30, 2011 in Blog, Getting Involved, O'Malley's Musings

A Christmas wish list for our community

CHRISTMAS TIDINGS FROM VALLEY FOLK:

If you’re like many of us heading towards, or comfortably settled into, middle age, Christmas has ceased being a time at which we wonder anxiously what Santa will bring us. When it comes to more ‘stuff,’ most of us need nothing.

Instead one’s thoughts turn toward others; hampers of gifts and food are prepared for those who truly do need them, cash is donated to the Salvation Army or other charitable cause, and invitations are sent to ensure no one spends the holiday on their own.

Lynn Valley is full of people who obviously care about their community, as evidenced by the hours spent volunteering for fundraising or planning projects, on children’s sports teams, the community association or the Lions. If those people could ask Santa for something for their neighbourhood, we wondered, what would it be?

So we asked some local citizens just what they’d put on their Lynn Valley wish list for 2012 and beyond.

Our first, most fervent response came within minutes, from Sue McMordie, office manager of the Black Bear Neighbourhood Pub, and was clearly heartfelt:

“More park benches all over the Valley for seniors and sisters to sit and have a rest, lunch, chat or coffee on a nice Lynn Valley day. And a mailbox in the LV Library Square, please!!!!!!!!!!!!”

Then we heard from Barb McLean from the Arts Office, which is located in the heart of Lynn Valley Village and promotes arts and culture on behalf of the City and District of North Vancouver:

“The Arts Office envisions a new year filled with creative energy, ideas and community input as they embark on the development of a new Cultural Plan that will seek to invigorate North Shore arts and cultural activities for years to come.”

Another person thinking about community planning is John Gilmour, past-president of the Lynn Valley Community Association:

“I’d like to see a mixed-use lifestyle community developed right in the heart of Lynn Valley on the 11-acre Lynn Valley Centre mall site.  It would include residential, commercial and lots of community space for all to enjoy.”

No list would be complete without input from Bob McCormack, a man born and raised in Lynn Valley and whose family has done volunteer work here since 1920. Bob is actively involved in everything from the LV Lions to the Community Association to the Seniors’ Association, and much more besides. He writes:

“My wishes are to build a community that will provide the opportunity for persons to live out their lives in a dignified manner; that will be a place for all ages, and a place that allows a person to live out his or her life within the community regardless of wealth or health.
“I hope we can provide a forum for debate on what does make and will further allow Lynn Valley to become that community where everyone has the amenities to live their lives to the fullest.
“I hope we can provide a simple way of life that we can all agree on, and that we make sure our politicians are aware and are duty-bound to provide the leadership that will give those who choose to live in Lynn Valley the feeling of security in the future.
“I wish that we can all live out our dreams in a perfect world and to dare to dream to make it happen.”

Bob is one of those people who rolls up his sleeves and makes things happen, and we hope he gets lots of help to make all his wishes come true. Jay Knutson, another Lynn Valley native, is another person who enriches the neighbourhood with his labours. Jay is a founder and director of the North Shore Celtic Ensemble and is often picking up his guitar for a good cause, most recently the Lynn Valley Christmas Crawl that saw $600 raised for North Shore Harvest. Here’s what Jay has on his wish list:

‘With this new year of 2012 in front of us and the whirlwind of global activity that was 2011 in a tsunaminous wake, it may be a good time to take stock of what we’ve got here.
“The world has come together in the aftermath of some of the biggest natural disasters of our lifetime. The outpouring of relief (both financial and humanitarian) has been unparalleled. This all bodes well for our “human condition.”  Is it possible that multinational, self-serving initiatives are being displaced by public displays of sympathy, generosity and compassion? One can only hope.
“The combining of this spirit, the re-unification of soul, and the exchange of life’s energy results in the rebirth and emergence of a whole new spirit, an altruistic spirit of revolution.
“This revolution starts in our hearts and in our minds. It is one of accountability, responsibility and environmental sustainability.
“A revolution with no hidden agendas and no ulterior motives; a free, equitable and just transformation of society, based on Love, Truth, Compassion and Peace.
“It starts here in our own community.”

We couldn’t agree more – it starts in our own community, and each of us plays a part. So whatever yearnings you have for our neighbourhood, we at LynnValleyLife wish for you the imagination to dream big, the clarity needed to translate dreams into actions, and the strength to persevere until all those dreams come true.

December 25, 2011 in Blog, Guest Voices, O'Malley's Musings

Of leafy strolls and candy bowls…

I’ve always loved maples, and have long been somewhat envious of those New Englanders surrounded by their infamous fall colours. But it struck me today that autumn in Lynn Valley must surely be giving New Hampshire a run for its money.

I’ve always looked forward to watching the maples turn red beside Lynn Valley United, but this year it seems we are awash in colour; there are maples near Safeway and on Mountain Highway, and dotted throughout the whole neighbourhood.

We are lucky to have had mostly a dry, sunny fall, just the right recipe for good autumn colour. I’ve been getting out to have a good scuffle through the leaves while the weather holds (and I’ve been poaching leaves for my compost bin, too – not having many deciduous trees in my own yard, I pinched a big bag of leaves from a driveway on Frederick Road last week just before the garbage truck got there. Thanks for that!)

Walking in the woods at this time of year also gives one the opportunity to reflect upon that other seasonal issue – what kind of Halloween candy to stock for trick-or-treaters. Should you try to watch out for the kids’ insulin levels, and derail the sugar train by handing out Halloween pencils instead? Or do you try to win a popularity contest by giving out full-sized chocolate bars and tins of pop? Do you buy the goodies early to get the best deal, or will that ensure you’ll have devoured them all yourself by the 31st? Do you inflict something horrible on the kids (something toffee-oriented, perhaps) just to make sure that you won’t personally scarf all the leftovers?

So many difficult questions. I think I’ll go for a walk.

October 24, 2011 in Blog, O'Malley's Musings

“Yes sir, yes sir, two bags full….”

But it wasn’t wool I was bringing home from the market, it was two bags of books from the library book sale, which runs until Sunday afternoon.

Oh, those orphaned tomes are hard to resist, aren’t they? Even though I knew my shelves were already bursting, I couldn’t help myself. I mean, really…. just look: A copy of the Giller Prize-winning The Sentimentalists, possibly even a first edition from Gaspereau Press (maybe worth twice its sticker price some day!) The Glorious Garlic Cookbook (did you know garlic is a member of the lily family?) Divine Inspiration (we could all use some of that!) Human Physiology, Eighth Edition (it’s a ten-year-old textbook, but our anatomy hasn’t changed much in the past decade, has it? I mean, collectively? Admittedly my personal anatomy isn’t quite what it was ten years ago.)

The list goes on. Sixteen bucks buys a lot of words. It’s hard to know which one of the books to tackle first, but I must say my attention was captured by this line I spotted in The Essential Earthman by Henry Mitchell: “Flowers are of course a sexual display unmatched in the living world and anybody who does not respond a little probably has no blood in him.”

Racy stuff, this. Perfect for a cosy night on the couch with the fire going. It looks like it will be a wet weekend, so why not equip yourself accordingly and support this Friends of the Library fundraiser at the same time?

October 21, 2011 in Blog, O'Malley's Musings