moved

I've moved my blog to be part of my web site for the time being. I am going to ask someone clever if there is a way to publish here and there at the same time, because I know some people prefer blogger.

But in the meantime, I am here: www hundreds dot ca

year of the snake, postscript

I took Auggie birthday party shopping a couple of days ago at collage collage. He picked out this wooden snake as a present and asked to paint it for his friend. We used the leftover paint from the banquet snake. Then he made up meanings for all the colours for his friend. These are the meanings: yellow means the sun will be out; blue means there will be a blue sky, green means it is summer because there is green grass in the park and brown means there are cars and trucks outside. (I don't remember what red and gold mean because I didn't write them down right away.)

hey pal

These great photos are by my friend, Lori Kiessling. (She also took my profile picture).

Looking at this, it just occurred to me how really small you are when you are three. If I met a dog who was my height, I would probably not be this brave :) This is a very gentle African Ridgeback.

honeycrisp

I've always been more of a vegetable person than a fruit person. I love apples — I like drawing them, I like the way they smell (apple shampoo!) and even really like the word apple — my notebooks are full of apples. However, I have a bad habit of buying them and not eating them. I like them in things, like salad or soup or sandwiches. But I'm never been one of those people that walks around munching on one absent-mindedly (I have these people on a bit of a pedestal, along with people who drink black coffee and will eat the core of a pear along with the fruit). But a honeycrisp apple, it is a whole new world.

tow head

Someday soon I won't be able to carry him home for more than a few metres. But today it is still possible. Just.

back to life

Early morning lights on the way home. Cabin floor on a rainy day this weekend.

I had the chance to go for a walk in the woods and have a really good think and sort out my ideas — get ready for the new year. I have a lot to do. I've been slightly changing direction for a few years now with my work and I can finally see where I'm heading. Somewhere that's a little less cute and a little more calm and hopefully, sometimes beautiful. But sometimes a little tiny bit cute. I'm not going to start striding around in a black turtleneck or anything, if you know what I mean.

raining, knitting

it's a luxury.

morning car trip

alpenhorn & bhangra

I've just been going through baby pictures and found this one, which was taken by Rick Collins Photography. It's from a beautiful wedding we went to last year. The wedding album is online, however, I am not sure of the etiquette of putting other people's wedding photos on your blog :) So, I'm going to not put any photos with clear faces. However, they are gorgeous sorts of people.

welcome to the jungle

Well, welcome to the conservatory. But it doesn't have the same ring to it :)

sparkle

We've been fighting various colds and bugs this week. There is one good thing about being sick, it slows you down. I do some of my best thinking with a cold. Anyway, this cat came home from school to cheer us all up.

I am trying to learn continental knitting, so it's non-stop garter stitch until I get the hang of it. Everyone says it's faster.

Auggie has just brought me a piece of green felt, 2 shells, 3 coins, a plastic wheel a dump truck and a plastic moose. I have to go!

pink crows & fireworks

Leaves and crayons ironed between wax paper

A drawing of fireworks (black dots) and pink crows (upper left)  for my office.

Today in the car, Auggie started chanting In-To Out-er Space! in exactly the cadence of a protest march.  We all joined in. It's a good cause.

milk ice cream + cornflakes

When Auggie was midway through his second week of preschool, I picked him up from school and found him to be in the grouchiest, complain-ingest mood. So I tried spoiling him. We visited Aberdeen centre, bought a $2 yellow tractor trailer from Daiso and then had ice cream from mazazu crepe. If you order the milk flavour ice cream in a cup, it comes with cornflakes on the bottom. I don't know exactly why that's so exciting, but it really is.

Augs is telling me that it's cold and creamy and crunchy. Sweet, too. That's a lot of sugar. So...

...a lot of dancing around the fountain. Then a very sudden nap. And lasting happiness for the rest of the week. I think he just needed a little party time. (By the way, he's dancing to Footloose and also various Elvis songs — all of which he's convinced are about tractor trailers).

fall colour

Not much is nicer than rain when you're separated by glass and somewhere warm.

I wonder if this cheese is actually good?

glow in the dark bowling

ballet

shell sculpture

This summer I would find shell arrangements like this one in Auggie's room. This one was on top of his book shelf.

Sometimes he doesn't like me to take pictures of his sculptures, and sometimes he does. This one was ok to photograph. My favourite sculpture so far might be a belt on a window.

so sayeth the soothsayer

These guys really like yellow.
— Auggie

hello, fishface

bye-bye, Yum-Yum.

greengage summer

It's too late for this year — but next summer we should get some pear green tea and keep it iced in the fridge, because it is really good.

I'm listening to the Greengage Summer by Rumer Godden. I loved her when I was eleven and still do. Her books aren't necessarily appropriate for 11-year olds, I guess. Or maybe they are? At the time I intended to have a daughter and name her Rumer, and I was very attached to it, so I was pretty annoyed with Demi Moore when she did it. 

I found this pretty hard cover edition from 1958 for five dollars, but then shipping and handling is a bit much. So, I'll just put it here in my notebook. Takes up less space.

This is a greengage plum I found at the market on Sunday, which reminded me about the book in the first place. They're not my favourite to eat, but the colour is amazing.