After 5 years of marriage, still together, happier and stronger than ever, Brent and I decided to celebrate by spending 10 days in a car. We started the trip by driving from Seattle to Vancouver to take the ferry to Victoria to spend 4 hours at our favorite restaurant. I know 4 hours sounds like a long time to spend at a restaurant, and I assure you that there wasn't a play or a show included. It wasn't dinner theater. We were just eating. After dinner, while in a sugar induced coma, I drifted to sleep in the dreamiest bed you can imagine, made of clouds and cotton candy. It was pretty amazing that we got to stay at a place with this much comfort and style, but you never start your trip with the best accommodations. You're always going to be comparing the next stay with that one.

The next morning we had to stop at our favorite breakfast spot with the best cheesy waffles with an orange cream sauce around, so good that I tried to recreate them last year. (I lied when I said that we spent 10 days driving, what I meant to say was that we spent 10 days eating ourselves silly, obviously). The next day we drove up the island to our favorite winery. I drank too much wine and passed out in the car. Brent drove, oh, did I forget to mention that Brent drove the whole time, bless him. We bought 4 bottles of wine and a bottle of champagne from the very same winery that supplied us with our wedding drinks, not because we're drunks, but because when you're spending ten days in a car driving you're going to need a little wine at the end of the day.

We drank the champagne in a giant soaker tub overlooking the ocean, at the spa where I convinced Brent to get his first massage. I made sure we were in the same room just so I could witness this rare event. I think it might have been a bad idea though, because at one point I heard a shuffle and then and oof, and I knew that she had probably gotten to his feet (I told him to warn her about the feet) and I was pretty confident that he probably just kicked her in the face. I almost burst out in laughter but was way too relaxed to move any facial muscles. Clearly, this wasn't her first time the massage therapist received a kick to the face though because she handled the situation with style and grace.

Brent and I and our 4 bottles of wine spent the rest of the trip hopping from one island to the next, and in our usual manner, unprepared, no sense of time and no ferry schedule causing us to almost get stuck on Salt Spring Island missing our two nights at the spa.

We took 7 ferry rides, ate our weight in ice cream, I read a really good book, watched a really good movie, slept in, relaxed, ate, ate more. We met up with friends in interior BC and went white water rafting in the freezing cold mountain water with an Irish guide who convinced us into doing ridiculous things with the raft like getting 'stuck' on a rock and riding the wave, balancing on the side of the boat while spinning really fast trying not to fall off. As if the going down the rapids wasn't enough.

We arrived home Sunday night and since then I have been acting like a mad woman trying to get this house into shape for our housewarming party this Saturday. Yesterday I was hauling around bags of compost like I was some reincarnation of the hulk until I tweaked a muscle in my back picking up a sweater. The blue velvet couch that we were supposed to have received last week had to be returned due to a rip in the cushion, so now I am going to have to stock up on more booze so hopefully, people won't notice that we don't have any furniture.

I don't even know where I found the time or energy this week to come up with this scone recipe, make 3 batches, and then do the dishes, but I think I was channeling my inner superwoman. On a positive note, we now have scones for days! This recipe requires very little time, most of the ingredients you probably have stocked in your cupboard, and raspberries are everywhere this time of year, so that's a bonus. These scones are packed with so much raspberry deliciousness with every bite it is kinda unreal. They are soft and tender, not like those big old crusty ones that you often get at the bakery that requires a chaser of liquid after every bite. They're perfect warm, with a bit of butter, or cream if you're fancy.

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RASPBERRY SCONES

makes 6

2 cups all-purpose flour

1/4 cup granulated sugar

1 tbsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt

5 tbsp unsalted butter, cold

1/2 cup heavy cream

1 cup fresh raspberries

1 egg white

coarse sugar

Preheat the oven to 425ºF.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, sugar, baking powder, and salt.

Grate the butter with a cheese grater. Stir into the flour.

Stir in the cream. At this point, the dough should be only slightly moist, while remaining still pretty dry and crumbly.

Add the raspberry and combine. The juice from the raspberries with add moisture to the dough, reducing the crumbliness.

Dump the dough onto the counter and knead into a ball. Shape into a round 7-inch circle, 2 inches high. Cut the dough horizontally, and then diagonally on each side to create 6 wedges. Brush the scones with an egg white wash, and then sprinkle enough coarse sugar on top to cover.

Places the scones onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. Bake for 12 - 14 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and let cool. Serve warm. Can be stored in the fridge for a couple of days. Reheat in the microwave or oven before eating.