christmas love

merry christmas, one and all...

no photos, as i still cannot seem to get my technosavvy up to speed.

there seems to always be a battery dead, a memory card full or missing entirely,  an entire lens dangling by a spring (thank you, edgar),

 a hard drive (try two!!?!) failing entirely, then computer files unavailable or not "linked".

this overlapping  series of enormously frustrating ankle-shackles has been my lot on and off since august, but i vow to conquer it in the new year!

rarrrr!

wish me luck, as i am tempted to return to the land of the luddite.

onward to 2010!

xx

hawo out there

just a post to say hi....the boy's chattering has begun to take off in a very fetching way...with lovely loud greetings of "ha-wo", and other words spilling from his grinning cheeks.
oh, yes, "oohah" is pumpkin, "oohah-ah" is monkey.

kissin' cousins

queen-E

reigning over the polly-pockets in a sunbeam.

fairy tea

thank you, kate, for inviting us on this charming adventure! last week, our beloved neighbour informed us of the upcoming "fairy tea party" to be held at an amazing little teaching garden across town. since that day, no mention had been made of the upcoming event, and indeed, i think it had actually slipped my mind. this morning however, esther woke me with a question about one of her wings being broken, and could we fix them before the tea party?

at that point i was sure the gathering was yesterday, and that i had some e'splaining to do...but no, she was right...today was the day.

well, we fashioned a whole new pair of wings, and some for edgar, just in case he got the urge to join in the fun, too. i had considering dressing him in only wings and a diaper, all cherub-like, but he hadn't napped yet, and wished not to rue the day.

so, we met kate, jamie and georgia at the lush community garden. the place was already glimmering with fairies...

we felt a little shy at first, but then dug right in to the activities!

the kids made wands and crowns, there was face-painting (an activity which these ones declined)
the children were given little unicorns and fairy statues to cache amongst the plantings, and there were sprinkled fairy cupcakes and flower-shaped cookies to nibble.

the gardens we buzzing with 25 or 30 fairies, all exploring the bean teepee and tuffets.
(seriously, there were tuffets.)

edgar was one of three boys there...one was dressed as elvis, one as a superhero. fairies? sure!
there was racing around to be had, and i got a compliment on esther's fairy crown ( composed of packing tape and sparkly string, two random elements which had been lying around on our dining table for a few days...)

and after one last check on the tiny unicorns, we were off...

i am so thankful to the parents who hosted this magical event; a community-minded activity, presented gratis to any interested fairy princess. what a beautiful indulgence to take part in such a day, and certainly an equal indulgence to create it.

bunbury-ing (sorry, oscar)

two completed projects! a wee stuffed bunny for georgia, (to befriend the wee stuffed bunny i made for my girl,) and a pin-cushion-berry (just in case i do any more hand sewing...) the bunny is an adaptation of a lovely little pattern i found at www.craftbits.com .

the berry is a felt and french-knot item, contrived on our holiday, and is stuffed with fluff and enough sand from the path to watabeag lake to ground it quite nicely.

this being the 6th anniversary of the day i walked that very path to wed my sweetheart, it seems a good time to showcase it as well.

and his middle name is barry....hmmm...

i 'qued.

homemade pizza yum! but how does a family reconcile a desire-for-pizza-night with 40-degrees-in-the-shade-night? by using the barbeque! david and i have been keen to try out pizza grilling techniques, and what better day than when the kitchen itself is an oven.

both kiddies were eager to pitch in, but the smallest one really enjoyed it.

the final product was enjoyed al fresco, and was indeed outstanding.

now for the how-to.

prepare the dough.

(i usually entrust the ingredients listed below to my breadmaker, but tonight, i simply walked to the local italian deli with two dollars in my pocket. )

1 c water

2 c all purpose flour

1 c whole wheat flour

1 T olive oil

1 t kosher salt

1 1/2 t dry yeast

dough setting.

then look in the pantry and fridge for the tasty things you need to use up.

tonight, red pepper, red onion, yellow zucchini pepperonis, a few artichoke hearts and cherry tomatoes.

grate some cheese up too!

preheat the grill to 500 degrees, or just damn hot.

divide the dough into a few lumps, roll out each to 1/2 cm thick or so.

pop them on the grill, close the lid, then turn the heat down to medium.

remove them after about 2 minutes, turn them over so you can admire the lovely grill marks, then coat the q'ed side with garlic & olive oil, pesto, or marinara sauce.

layer on the cheese and toppings,

slide the pizza back onto the grill to finish up the uncooked side.

this could take 2 or 3 minutes, with the grill still set at around 300 degrees.

seems to depend on the depth of the toppings.

clearly one must be mindful not to overcook the crust at the same time...

just delicious.

where is my (n)icon?

once again, a measly little cable has gone missing, trapping my photos in my camera...

so i will try to explain something i found both charming and odd, of which i took no picture.

see?

we pit stopped in north bay on our way back from watabeag lake, just in time to see the last few innings of aysha's softball game.

we found the field, parked, unfurled from the car, and were just gaining our land-legs when david and i shot one another a glance of astonishment...

we had both spotted the seemingly dangerous yet exceedingly practical set-up

of spare balls, tourney rosters, and yes, large trophies,

cubbied like candles and virgins within the shrine of a large, forbidding, open electrical supply/control box.

the thing faintly hummed, and a knot of earnest ball players and kin consulted the hand-printed neon bristol-board info posters, as though unaware of any impending electrocution...

aw, heck...i'm sure it was perfectly safe.

seasoned

i reeled in mid-summer on the clothes line today...

as i opened the back door, i was startled by a peripheral bursting forth of wings and beaks and squawks; a family of robins, fledging their young.

the ones that got away hung close-by, watching the little leave-ling teetertotter atop my linens. it was scrubby and spotty, so i was unsure of its' ability to fly...

it fumbled on the line, so slowlyslowly i drew the line in toward the railing, creaking the young bird toward a less forbidding landing.

i pulled it so close that i could practically count the last few downy feathers on its' breast when whirrrrrrr it was off, with adolescent daring, fleeting over the very flagstones i had worried would finish the wee thing off.

splash

let them eat cake

i just found the most lovely little internet radio station...

nothing at all to do with the video, just a cozy background to my evening.

(spent kissing sleeping children, eschewing t.v., washing floors, handsewing a bunny doll, and noting this day...)

http://www.live365.com/stations/tothedeath

the cocteau twins, really?!!

bunny photos to follow, i'm sure.

do we have birds?

apologies, but you need to re-orient your head for this video.

the girl as a very down-to-earth blueblood.

a voice from a far room..."do we have birds?"

"hmmm?"

"do we have birds in our garden?"

"i suppose so"

"what do they eat?"

"seeds, bugs, worms..."

"do we have those things?"

"yes...oh, i get it...do we need a scarecrow?"

"we really do. and a scarecat"

we started with the scarecrow queen;

her cat intimidating minions will certainly require a separate project.

pooch

the first day of summer

another lost archive:

finally, the actual anniversary of esther's birth.
(after over a week of intermittent cakes, gatherings and presents, she woke this morning wondering how we would mark her birthday this day...)

we walked through the italian week festivities with kate and georgia. 

 esther won a kitty for herself playing balloon darts (what an arm!) then insisted on returning to win one for her brother.  win she did, his is the blue one.

rides, games, and carnies, the scent of cotton candy, hot asphalt and russian olive trees, and our small girl grows bigger and i cannot be more proud.  

neither can he.

four

we celebrated esther's fourth birthday with
facepainting, pizza, games and cake under a great oak tree in the arbouretum.
a day that had alternately promised to be either baking hot and sunny, or pouring rain, was neither/nor.
(although we did all eye the watercolour-grey clouds in consideration of a quick escape.)
thank you, friends, for venturing out into the unpredictable.

(incidentally, we recently learned that thomas was placed in the morning class, and and oliver in the afternoon class for junior kindergarten. likely for the best.)

and i stand amazed at how four little candles throw such light.
happy birthday, my girl.

recipe for a robot

a rainy day afternoon, a cardboard box and some time.

the buttons are labeled:
on
off
silly
killy
hokapoka
crazy
and happy.
the white plastic box add-on is labeled:
treasure box jewelery.

did you say an aunt?

marg fulfilled received a birthday wish early today! when asked months ago what sort of cake she would prefer, esther replied, "an ant cake". this is what one looks like.

we were all delighted by the macabre deliciousness of the thing.
it had enjoyed a brief stay in the deerhurst lodge freezer en-route to ottawa, which soggied its' licorice legs somewhat, but man, talk about chocolate covered ants!

thorax for me, please.

cuter suitor

our little neighbour came by with flowers for esther today...he picked them while catching bugs and butterflies behind the city centre with his papa...
daisies and bladderwort!
the girl received them graciously, and i immediately ran for the camera,
thinking, you know,
that they may want a shot of this moment 20 years from now at their wedding...

very shoesy

edgar as a garden gnome.

brewer park

b

our new pal

here is our new buddy, sixteen inches tall and jammed with jellies.
we could not leave the chinese market without adopting him.
neither of the children is interested in consuming the confections inside,
but boy, do they find him fetching.
the label includes the information
"contains no konjac"
which begs the question....
????

ginger cake

a no dairy ginger cake recipe that is simply outstanding.

photo yet, since it was eaten up like that!

~~~~

sift together dry ingredients:

3 C flour

1 T cinnamon

2 t baking soda

1 1/2 t ground cloves

1 t ground ginger

3/4 t salt

1 1/2 C granulated sugar

~~~

whisk together wet ingredients:

1 C fancy molasses

1 C veg oil

2 eggs

1/2 C H2O

2 T minced fresh gingerroot

1/2 C chopped candied ginger

~~~~~

fold the dry into the wet in three additions,

pour into a greased and floured bundt pan.

bake at 350 degrees for about an hour.

then...

cool in pan on a rack for 1/2 hour,

invert onto a plate to allow to competely cool,

dust with icing sugar.

take a picture, then eat.

from the complete canadian living cookbook.

shady

the destruction of matter

i had always taken the adage
"for something to become clean, another must become dirty"
as a truism.
figured it was a existential shortcut to explain the physics of matter itself.


i had never taken it as personally as i needed to this morning as i showered.
as i became clean
the bathroom was entirely trashed by my lovely pair of progeny.
even the toilet brush was brandished inappropriately as i feebly attempted to rinse.

so now i realize that variations of that phrase could just be the equation
i have been seeking to explain the past few years of "assistance".

'for someone to become fed, the pantry must be turned upside down'

'for laundry to become folded, it must be mauled and sullied in the process'

'for one garden plant tended, at least three must be compromised'

'for groceries to be purchased, a number of cart contents must be shredded, tossed about or partially digested'

i shall continue to study these theories.

the most important entertainment of the day

breakfast. sunday. muffins and milk foam. yummmmy.

irate pirate

esther, thomas and edgar, each demonstrating an 'arrrr' pirate face.

can you guess which one is the parrot?

buttons and beaus

two entirely inappropriate toys for children.

buttons for the 17 month old,

and digital technology for the three year old.

esther takes her first photo!

wacky cake

first step, grease and flour pan...

sift in dry ingredients

add wet ingredients,

lick hands thoroughly clean.

wacky cake

35 min @ 350 degrees.

no eggs no milk no entertainment? no problem.

all you need is a three year old.

grease and flour an 8"x 8" cake pan, into which sift

1 1/2 C flour

1 C sugar

3 T cocoa

1 t soda

1/2 t salt

dig 3 wells in the dry mixture,

one for

6 T oil

one for

1 t vanilla

and one for

1 T vinegar.

pour

1 C cold water

over the whole thing, and stir up thoroughly,

make sure you enjoy all the weird bubbling and lumps.

bake, cool, frost or not.

i suggest frosting.

with sprinkles.

lots.

gypsy girl