Bring it on

Already?  

 

Well, actually it was heavy hail yesterday afternoon, but everything turned white for a short time and it felt decidedly wintry.  How apt that this was the day we had our first set of winter tyres fitted.  Last year we slipped and slid around in our little metal box on the unprecedented amount of snowfall, and there is no way I wanted to go there again.  We live half way up a mountain now as well so there's no question of our not having snow tyres this year.  Phew, last year we were so ill-prepared; Beth had no snow clothes, we never got a sledge because they sold out, we borrowed our landlord's snow shovel.  But we are (almost!) ready this year.  There's snow on dem dere mountains and our thoughts are turning to the season ahead.  I am musing on...

• the ski/snowboard season. I had two encounters with the experience of hurtling down a mountain last year (it has to be said I generally avoid 'high octane 'activities!) - my first lesson was great, the 2nd experience (with Dadda Boo) was terrifying and I had a nasty fall from which my hand has still not quite recovered.  Boo can start next year so I really want to try again this year, but I think lessons will be the best bet for me.  


• the Olympics here in Feb... will we get tickets (on sale on Sat)?? Will Vancouver be gridlocked for two weeks?  Will Dadda Boo have to cross the bridge to work at 4am and return at 2pm?  


• Other fun winter activities.  Would like to try snowshoeing this year, and take Beth on ice skates for the first time (ok we can do that any time of the year here, but winter seems appropriate)


• We ARE going to get a sledge this year and Beth can be pulled along snowy paths, which she is bound to love


• Walks on crisp winter mornings, taking photographs


• The whole Christmas thing with a little girl who is so much more aware of everything than she was last year, and getting into the whole christmas story side of things, and of course the santa thing


• Christmas with the family in England, our first larger family gathering since BB (Before Beth)


• Dreaming and planning for the garden next year


• Cosy fires in our new home, with our new sofa which we are expecting to arrive any day


• Kitting out the new studio (pics coming soon) and getting started on my next project


• Crafting, knitting, cooking.  Do I dare attempt a gingerbread house from scratch this year, or will I opt for an 'easy kit'?


• Making things with love for Beth, family and friends


• Sleeping bears.  Do raccoons hibernate?


• Looking forward to the new year and attending a 'Childrens Book Workshop' course at the university to help me present my book to publishers.  I am quite insanely excited and thinking of ideas for my next book already.

And here's some lovely baby cashmere yarn on my needles for some teensy tiny things (for others I hasten to add!).  I can't believe my baby will be 3 in a few short months!

What are you looking forward to this winter?

Home Comforts

The rain beats down relentlessly on the skylight above me in the kitchen and I'm grateful to not have to leave the house today.  We have continued to enjoy the fruits of our apple picking fun.  There has been a whole lot of this:

and this...

We are onto our final tray of apples now...

There has been a whole lot of apple compote and multiple apple crumbles.  But I wanted to try something different so I made an Apple Charlotte, with a recipe from BBC cooking available here.  It couldn't be simpler really, an apple sauce in a toasted bread shell.  The apple sauce has juice and zest from a whole lemon which makes it lovely and zingy.

 

We have also been enjoying our homebaked wholemeal bread on a regular basis.

 

Boo, meanwhile, has made an exciting transition, to her own 'big girl bed'.  I was going to hang back a while on this one, but she became a little too eager to fling herself out of her cot, so we made the change and she is thoroughly pleased with it.

 

Apart from climbing on and off her bed and rolling around on it, her other favourite pastime right now seems to be putting on various items of clothes in an 'unusual manner'.

Rainy days ain't so bad are they?



 

Mycological mayhem

It's pretty evident from a couple of my recent posts here and here that I'm a fungi fan, so I was pretty excited to come across these blighters on our side path...

However, I was a bit shocked when I discovered the extent of the growth on the lawn, seemingly loving the organic fare on offer from some old tree roots...

 

 

 

Now, I am more than happy to marvel at fungal outcrops out there in the forest, but when its within the grasp of the small one, it must be razed to the ground.  So they were raked and pulled and removed... for now at least. 

The small one is not to be trusted, as became clear with two incidents today.  On both occasions I had thought she was playing happily in her room, as she loves to do, but what was I to find..

1. Boo has let herself into the studio (seems she can open doors easily now) and has found the little ink pads she loves, and has stamped herself on the trousers, and underneath on the knees and shins, oh and the floor too. Thankfully she didn't make it to the freshly papered walls before I caught her in the act.

2.  Boo has found her Daddy's wallet and has removed all the credit cards and hidden them underneath the mattress of her bed.

Not to be trusted.

Last 3600 seconds of wasp

Last 3600 seconds of wasp is a mesmerising art film by Zatorski and Zatorski, in which the dying minutes of a wasp's life are portrayed with a Philip Glass soundtrack.  We saw it at a Big Chill festival a few years back and it was probably the best thing at the festival that year for me.

 

This week I have been observing a few of these little creatures slowly shaking off their mortal coils as the seasonal changes continue.  They seem to favour our solarium for their resting place.  

 

Call me odd if you want (I know it) but I have a little collection of dead critters to which these will be added.  A few years back a lot of my paintings featured insects, and sometimes a dead wasp made its way into the composition.  When I had Beth and I stopped painting, looking back on my work I realised that much of my work was about death and decay; dead insects, decaying buildings, rotten fruit.  It all seemed a bit morbid, especially after this beautiful little life spirit entered my life, and it was all about beginnings and new life.  I am resolved to lighten up.  But I still find dying wasps fascinating, sorry.

Boo is aware of my making of an exception for wasps in our 'we do not kill things' mantra.  I don't remember ever being stung by one, but I see red when they are in close proximity, especially when they come near my daughter.  So I have to admit to a slight thrill that their kind is expiring, especially if I get to watch.  

Slowly, slowly catchy monkey

Sometimes it feels like a I can't get a thing done being a full time mama.  Of course, I am 'doing things' all the time: reading, guiding, comforting, inventing, encouraging, cleaning up;  the whole gamut of things under that fuzzy heading 'parenting'.  But the drive to 'get things done' has had to be tempered since I'm always 'doing something else' these days.  So 'things' are simmering away, to be chipped away at a little at a time, when the opportunity arises and no one is likely to scream as a result.

And so, the studio is slowly slowly being clothed in wallpaper,  thanks to helping hands from my Dad and brother to get me started.  A couple of pieces one day, a couple the next, and soon the proverbial monkey will be eating the banana.

Boo, the little poppet, amuses herself with a spot of sticking n scribbling whilst mama wonders if anyone will notice that it's not perfectly perpendicular.

 

Slowly, too, a little striped poncho is growing on my needles.

Things are happening.  Things are getting done.  Slowly.

Autumnal activities

It's all looking pretty seasonal at our front door....

We put together a wreath from our nature collection (ok the base was bought for a few bucks at Walmart, but most of it was found...

Those pumpkins are being carved in preparation for Saturday...

and here's the Daddy and the baby one already done.

We're all ready for you ghouls, ghosts, witches (err more likely fairies, princesses, supermen probably!)

  

A kitten for a Boo

With my brother in town, we headed out on a bit of a tourist trip yesterday, to have a wander around around Granville island and its colourful markets.

A staple of any visit to Granville island for us is the Kids Market, and the shop that specialises in puppets, especially the animal ones made by Folkmans.

Boo got her hand up an eagle

 

... a chipmunk...

 

... a mouse....

... a skunk...

...and a rabbit in a hat!

 

But the biggest hit of the day was the 'dress the kitten' mini sticker kit we picked up for a couple of bucks and kept the little lady busy for the rest of the day, and is still hanging in there although its adhesive qualities are now a little lacking.  I used to love paper cut out dolls with their little clothes, particularly those you coloured/painted yourself.  I remember having a very special box of them which I used to get out for great quiet play by myself, until the little tabs broke off and they had to be carefully repaired.  I seem to remember my collection including some that we found in my nan's house, from my mum's childhood, which were very special.  I don't think I'll rush out and buy any beautiful paper cut outs just yet though, judging by the short life of anything paperbased in the hands of the Boo!

 

And the rain stopped, the sun came out and Vancouver looked a whole lot more beautiful.

 

With rain forecast for at least the next six days, that is something to savour!