{ welcome to my garden ... }

2010-12-11T14:44:00.003-07:00

Testing Posterous's autopost.

Roughly:
1C PB
.25C butter
1 egg
1 tsp BP
1C sugar (1/2 brown, 1/2 regular)
1.5-2C rolled oats
Form discs. Bake 400F 10-15 min.
Crumbly but firm up nicely when they cool.

Sent from my iPhone

Big Doodle

2010-07-24T11:56:00.001-06:00

Big Doodle, originally uploaded by Dandelion Vicious.

8.25x10.5 ... not huge.
Big in time involved ... big difference in approach ... big leap from scratches in margins that are finished 'cuz I turned the page or left the meeting or whatever.

This was A Project that started with An Idea, followed A Plan, that had A Conclusion.

Outside: patterns from nature
Inside: man-made patterns

It was big fun to do! I thought I'd never get it done. As soon as I finished, half of me wanted to start again ... the other half got distracted by a bug.

2010-06-15T11:08:00.013-06:00

Bye Bus!

gone, originally uploaded by Dandelion Vicious.

There's a big empty spot in my back yard where this

there, originally uploaded by Dandelion Vicious.

used to be. It's gone to Barnswallow Corner to be visibly for sale.

going 3, originally uploaded by Dandelion Vicious.

"Oh good," says Mom, "it's still in the family, then."

2010-06-13T15:38:00.002-06:00

Notes, originally uploaded by Dandelion Vicious.

(If I'm ever in meetings with you, don't read this)

This is what's really going on when it looks like I'm taking notes.

2010-05-15T13:50:00.006-06:00

Dani's walking again.

You can sponsor her here.
You can sponsor her in your own name,
in someone else's name,
anonymously,
in someone's memory.

For donations under $25, you can PayPal Dani (solasclAThotmailDOTcom) and she will add it to the total. Whatever you can do helps.

Thanks

2010-03-16T11:13:00.001-06:00

The Cupcake Princess is giving away cupcakes again, #yeg - see today's post: http://ping.fm/Pk5NA #cupcakes #guinness

2010-02-22T13:53:00.002-07:00

Brain dump from early 2007:
I want it to be web-based.
I want a blank slate to start with, into which I can type, chuck photos, toss files, drop addresses, doodle with a tablet.
I want to dump the information first, then decide what to do with it.
I want it all to go into a big pool where I can fish things out by folder or tag or type of thing it is or date or any one of a bajillion other criteria.
I want to be able to hook any one piece to another or to a calendar date or chuck it into a folder.
Then I want to be able to change my mind.
I want to be able to do things in batches.
I want a calendar, and I want it to sync with iCal and Google Calendar.
I want folders.
I want tags.
I want a thought cloud.
I want drag-and-drop.
There are lots of great things out there with lots of different ways to retrieve information, but the input part is limited. I don't want to have to think about how to fit what I want to say into a one-line box, or any kind of set fill-in-the-blank thing.

Not quite there yet, but getting closer all the time, but not quite there yet ... etc. Google Wave, Scrivener, Flickr, Shove Box ... I like these, starting to get kinda sorta close to what I want.

2010-02-22T13:44:00.002-07:00

Dowdy Thaumaturgy

To Do list brought to you by Short Attention Span Day, title brought to you by Two Word-Of-The-Day Calendar Widgets

2009-12-17T12:53:00.003-07:00

Dear Donnan,

I don't know who you are, except that you're a student at one of the schools in my neighbourhood. I saw you and your teacher and classmates sneaking up to mailboxes this morning and wondered what you were up to.

Thank you so much for the wonderful handmade holiday card in my mailbox.
I hope your holiday is great, too!

2009-11-23T18:33:00.000-07:00

NaNoWriMo

2009-10-16T15:33:00.001-06:00

Yay! It's Witchypoo season! http://ping.fm/NzvAo

2009-10-02T16:01:00.004-06:00

Creamless Cream of Cauliflower Soup

1 large head cauliflower
4 large carrots
2 large potatoes
2 large onions
4 bay leaves
2-4 cups water or stock, depending on how big your veggies are

Heat stock while you quarter the cauliflower, chop one of the quarters into chunks, chop the carrots and potatoes in large chunks, coarsely chop one onion and halve the other.

Toss the whole mess into the heated stock and cook until the cauliflower, carrots and potatoes are tender (5 minutes low pressure in pressure cooker. I haven't timed regular stovetop, oven or slow cooker).

Remove bay leaves. Whir the 3 large pieces of cauliflower, two onion halves and the liquid in the blender until smooth. If it is too thick, add a little water. If it is too thin, add a few pieces of the potato and whir again.

Add some salt and pepper or curry paste to taste if desired

2009-09-22T11:55:00.003-06:00

Changes ...

Changes in season are when I miss him the most. It was four years ago today.

We had a lovely potluck at Oliver's on the weekend. It was all salads and desserts and chicken. That's the fun of potluck! Never know what you're going to find.

2009-06-15T14:35:00.003-06:00

Passport Canada's interactive passport application is awesome! Fill it in and print it. The information in stored in a barcode (not made up of bars) in the top right corner that the folx at Passport Canada can just scan. I was in and out in under 14 minutes. The only guy who left more quickly was picking up his passport. If all goes according to plan, I'll pick mine up on the 29th.

2009-06-11T15:58:00.001-06:00

Note to self ...

... and anyone else who's working on this particular lesson

its just a ride from mccabe russell on Vimeo.

2009-06-02T13:43:00.003-06:00

Earth's General Store to refill shampoo, blackbyrd myoozik for Sasquatch Gathering tix.

I'm not so sure about this microblogging thing. Especially with links.

2009-05-17T13:37:00.004-06:00

Whiney Cocktail...

2 parts this car really isn't made for short peeps
1 part it's squishy and floppy to drive
1 part it's not fun to drive
1 part feeling sorry for myself 'cuz MY car was perfect boohoo
1 part why can't I just have a fucking transporter already
1 part what if
1 part horrible I can't breathe allergies making me cranky

2009-05-09T17:58:00.002-06:00

Baking chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips & oatmeal cookies without cinnamon for the mama for Mothers' Day, 'cuz that's how she likes them.

2009-05-02T12:27:00.000-06:00

Important stuff ...

Dani's going walking again.
You can sponsor her here.
I have.

You can sponsor her in your own name,
in someone else's name,
anonymously,
in someone's memory.

For donations under $25, you can PayPal Dani (solasclAThotmailDOTcom) and she will add it to the total. Whatever you can do helps.

Thanks

2009-04-26T12:21:00.001-06:00

Changing shoes (the snow has started to accumulate #yeg ... so much for my sunny afternoon predictions) and going familying for the day.

2009-04-21T14:14:00.008-06:00

Quinoa for Lunch ...

1/2 cup quinoa boiled in 3/4 to 1 cup water for 12-15 minutes
Add a blob of curry paste,
a handful of chopped raw almonds,
a handful of chopped pineapple and
a handful of coconut
Makes enough for two or put the other half in the fridge in a jar for tomorrow.
Add a fried or poached egg,
a handful of chopped spinach and
some chopped cilantro.

One of my household rainbows got a trim.

We kept the trimmings to use as clown barf.

2009-04-19T08:15:00.001-06:00

Heading Whyte-ward again shortly for breakfast at B's Diner with the Poppets and @MacheteSquad

2009-04-09T19:22:00.001-06:00

Yay! It's Short Attention Span Day again!

2009-04-04T21:21:00.001-06:00

I love you
http://ping.fm/F0qiw

2009-03-29T15:31:00.002-06:00

Soup: sautée onion, mushrooms, in butter/olive oil add H2O, bay leaves, cauliflower, spuds, carrots, bay leaves. Cook soft. Blender, season.

... and that answers the "does ping.fm's default setting send to blogger as well as twitter, plurk and facebook" question.

2009-03-28T22:27:00.001-06:00

It was Five Crowns by candlelight at our house for Earth Hour. I kicked nephoo's arse (he kicked mine soundly last time).
Testing posting via ping.fm

2009-03-07T16:59:00.003-07:00

Melting Pots ...

Today was have a shower and do running around day, but I woke up to snow.
No problem!
I figured that instead of adding to the mayhem on the roads, I'd stay home and do laundry. I put a load in and went out to shovel.
When I came in and turned on the tap, nothing came out.
No problem!
I phoned Epcor and they told me there was a water main break and that the water should be back on by tonight or tomorrow morning.
No problem!
Sure, I could go to the store and buy water, go to the pool to shower, find the water tanker (that Epcor says will be somewhere in the neighbourhood) to get enough water to flush toilets.
Or I could have an adventure!
I'm feelin' all rustic, melting snow for water (on a gas stove in an electrically lit kitchen in a centrally heated house, and blogging about it).
I've been at it for five hours and have enough water to flush the toilet (twice if I have to), a gallon of filtred, boiled drinking water, and a tub full of snow and a little bit of water, to which I'll add some hot water when I have enough.
I'm spending the day thinking of the lunatics who settled this country and the people who live on the streets here or in places where they must haul water to live.

2009-03-02T11:24:00.001-07:00

Lions and Lambs ...

If March comes in like a lion, it will go out like a lamb. Everyone knows that! Apparently, most everyone also knows that in like a lion means fierce and with a roar ... and that out like a lamb means quietly and gently. Seems reasonable, eh?

This, obviously (to me), is completely backwards. When I was very small, I pictured March coming like a lamb, all white and fluffy, and going out like a lion, all golden and warm. While I may talk about it in conventional terms, in my head, I know how it really works.

2009-01-25T14:48:00.003-07:00

Unconscionable Perusal ...

Network issues not fixed, but more-than-passable bandaid solution found.
Another glorious sunny day on the prairies and it's not even that cold out.
Washed a load of laundry and hung it up to dry, carefully blocking the woolens, then noticed that it smelled funny.
And what's that on the floor?
Spiffy, a wet, eroded vitamin.
Laundry is rewashed, rehung and reblocked.
Now off to bake cake in jars because I'm curious.

title brought to you by Two Word-Of-The-Day Calendar Widgets

2008-12-26T11:49:00.004-07:00

On Skis from Santa and Microwave Peas ...

Much more visually appealing than a picture of microwave peas

If one cooks peas on the stovetop, one may avoid finding them in the microwave after the meal is finished. However, this is only a bandaid solution. You see, microwavepeasness can neither be created nor destroyed and if not applied to the peas, it will attach itself to something else. It will not bind with the desserts for which one is generally really too full anyway, nor on the bean salad which is not a festive dinner icon. No, its nature is such that it must bind with something iconic like ... oh, I don't know ... Christmas crackers?
They're in the pantry, Mom.

2008-12-15T12:15:00.006-07:00

$11 House in Edmonton ...

Really.
Okay, it's a contest, but it's so cool!

I read about it on Twitter this morning and now I'm all in love with the idea.

An neat old (nearly 100 years) prairie box style house, once owned by Grant Notley that became a rooming house during a housing crunch eventually got so run down it was condemned.

A local man, bitten by the renovation and real estate bugs, and his family bought it to fix up and sell.

Sparked by a funny daughter-comment, an idea was born to run a contest. If enough people buy an $11 entry, someone will have a mortgage-free fully renovated and updated home with appliances and a great story to tell, a family will have done something tremendously cool, and a house that might have been torn down will get a second chance.

So ... if you can think of any reason at all that you might be interested in living in Edmonton (rule stuff), please, oh please, read the article, go to the official website, think about buying in.

Don't need or want a house in Edmonton? Perhaps a friend does. You could get them a chance to dream for Christmas. Maybe you could enter for a favourite charity. You could enter just so this thing will work for someone else.

It's not a draw. The finalist entries will be put up for vote on Facebook.
One may enter only once ... but one knows others who may enter, too!
Please tell people about this.
The deadline is Dec. 31.

2008-11-17T13:05:00.002-07:00

Of Siblings' Progeny ...

Rose running around the room, elbows tucked in, flapping her hands by her shoulders, "When will I begin to fly!?"
Cory, trying to round the poppets up and into their going-home-wear, "Haha! That's going to be my new F*cebook status!"
Cassandra lying on her back on the couch, elbows and knees tucked in, wiggling her fingers and feet, "I've been turtle-tagged! Someone come flip me over."

2008-11-11T16:23:00.002-07:00

Lest we forget ...

Today I light a candle for those who gave their lives, their limbs, their sight, their sanity, their loves, their innocence. Every day I light a candle for peace, that it never happen again. Blessings

Testing Blog This for Mags

2008-10-28T15:08:00.001-06:00

Mtn. Ash pinking up II, originally uploaded by Dandelion Vicious.

This is what the back yard looked like when there were leaves other places than on the ground.

2008-10-28T00:38:00.001-06:00

Pact ...

I was at a wedding in Jasper this weekend and made a Blog More Pact with the bride. Now that's motivation!

2008-03-29T18:02:00.003-06:00

Exuberant Excrescence ...

...and a blogging holiday

On the agenda for the spring/summer:

Oregon Country Fair
Sasquatch Festival
Robson Valley Music Festival, maybe
Visit friends in Nelson at least twice
Visit Don in Kelowna
Visit one more friend, somewhere-not-here
Wedding in Nelson
Take pictures (hahaha ... I'll try to remember)
Learn to sew, then actually do it
Spend some time with Pa, Mary and Rafe, learning to art
Pick up my bass at least once a day when I'm home
Paper journalling (at which I suck mightily ... yah, even worse than this kind)
Walk on stilts
Maybe even dance, though, quite frankly, dancing freaks me out
Find gainful employment that does not insult my soul
Construction of a bedroom for Cory downstairs
Nina moving out, maybe
Cory moving in, certainly
De-cluttering and re-arranging
Play with this

Release books into the wild
Send postcards (thanks, Dani!)
Take my canoe out at least once solo, preferably at dawn
Make it to as many of the first-Saturday-of-the-month Art open house at Expressions as I can
Have something to contribute to the above
Make it to as many of the second-Saturday-of-the-month workday for Blankets for Canada as I can

Blogging isn't on the list. I'm doing a lousy job of keeping up with it, so I'm going to take a substantial break.

I'll let you know in September how I did with my list.

Miss me? Leave a comment, e-mail, phone, txt, IM ... and I'll talk your ear off!

2008-03-16T17:05:00.003-06:00

Mostly Weather ...

The ice was all gone from the sidewalks, there were great swaths of bare grass between the remaining snow piles, and it had been bright and sunny and melty for days!

I took these with the new phone's camera while at the APs, eating their crackers and taking in their mail:

Funny birds made a path going in and out of Beau's kennel through the gate

Juniper trying to escape from the snowbank

Chimnea waiting patiently to be freed from the snow

And birdprints along the lacy edge of the melting snow

Then winter came back on Friday night. This is just outside <-that cat-nose-print-covered window on Saturday morning

2008-03-01T12:56:00.002-07:00

Apparently I Wasn't Done ...

"Cuddle attack!" crowed Bernie from behind the couch yesterday, right before he and Anailese flang themselves on me. Oh, they were ferocious in their snugglings and ticklings and smoochings.

I've just finished John Varley's Demon, third in his wonderful Gaia trilogy. Thanks, Rafe!

She had been out-movied. Twice in one day, Cirocco Jones had used her favorite mythologies against her.
"I've been Ozzed and Star-Warred," she muttered.

... I near laughed myself sideways.

Now I'm reading Yann Martel's Life of Pi. Thanks, Mom!
Martel's main character, Piscine Molitor Patel, on religion:

It was my first clue that athiests are my brothers and sisters of a different faith, and every word they speak speaks of faith. Like me, they go as far as the legs of reason will carry them -- and then they leap.
...
It's not athiests who get stuck in my craw, but agnostics.
...
To choose doubt as a philosophy of life is akin to choosing immobility as a means of transportation.

Whether or not I agree with him is irrelevant ... I love the way he dances the words.

Now, it is blustery and sunny out. I think the lions and lambs have taken a break from weather prediction and taken up cuddle attacking instead.

2008-03-01T11:10:00.005-07:00

Indistinct Amanuensis ...

Of Lions and Lambs, Brent Bambry what it means if it's cold and doing nothing out. Me, I still think of as bright, warm and sunny vs. white, snowy and fluffy instead of the traditional fierce vs. calm. But it's cloudy with the sun peeking out now and then, not snowing (yet, though it's possible), around freezing, and with a mere puff of breeze. What the hell does that mean for the month? Eh? Eh?

The rest of this is pretty much the same post as yesterday's, only with way more words.

It was time ... they've both been gone for years. How long does one keep a hat noone else may wear in the front hall? Twenty-some years is long enough to keep a dead lover's hat hanging on the back of my bedroom door, I think. Barbara and Chelsea knew Phil, but not PJ. I told them the stories that go with each of the holes and stains on PJ's hat. I burned Phil and PJ's hats yesterday, with friends, with kids playing close by, out in the sunshine. Meant for the solstice, but fitting for a hat burning as well:

She who loved you is no more
but the part of me who was once she
is loathe to give you up again to the mists
farewell my loves, blessed be

Thinking Mary might get a chance to stop by to hang out on her birthday, Thursday, I make some cauliflower soup (which is currently back on the stove 'cuz I didn't test the barley and lentils before I added them and they're a little more firm than I like) and a curry. When I was bent in half, whisking up the cauliflower crumbs from the floor, a great song same on the radio and I leapt up ... or would have, had I not been under the cutting board. I caught the corner of it with my shoulder hard enough to rattle dishes on the counter and make a nasty mark through several shirts. After nearly passing out, stumbling around, cursing like a sailor and missing the song I was so enthused about, I realized that the shoulder ... which has been bothering me for months and months ... didn't hurt, aside from the bruisediness. I guess what I've been thinking was a soft-tissue issue is at least partially chiropractic. Cool!

I use lip balm. If my hands and/or feet are more sand papery than usual, or cracked and bleeding, I'll use lotion ... but I don't like it. In fact, I detest lotion. And I won't smear it all over. Yuck. It feels like my skin can't breathe through the stuff and every dust particle in the air sticks to the lotion on my skin. And the stuff gives me rashes. Detest it. Detest. I would rather (and have for years) put up with the dry, sandpapery, sometimes cracked and bleeding, always ashy skin (honest an' for true ... turns out pasty redheads can, in fact, have ashy skin ... colour me deeply surprised). I nod and say thank you when people recommend this lotion or that, or tell me that all my problems would be solved, if only I would moisturize. I am grateful that they care. SometimesI try this lotion ... put that in the bath ... then decide that it's worse than the alternative Sometimes it's so itchy I can't stand myself ... it almost always hurts ... but it's better than lotion. Get over it, they say ... you'll get used to it, they say. That's how much I hate having stuff on my skin. Rant, rant, rant.

So one day I pick up a bottle of avocado oil at Planet Organic Market, 'cuz it sounds like it might feel more wonderful than ew-ick-get-that-off-me and 'cuz something Rafe had said about sesame oil and our kind of skin (wait! what? it's not just me being crazy?) had been rattling around in the back of my mind for a while. I've been putting it on after showering since October. My skin doesn't hurt. My tattoos don't look horribly faded. My feet aren't powder-white. My skin isn't cracking and bleeding, even though it's winter. Okie, it's still itchy out now and then, but it is still winter in Alberta, after all. It doesn't give me rashes. It doesn't make me itchy or break out. The little bottle of avocado oil lasted me three months. They didn't have more. Oh my, said the Planet O girls ... eyes wide, avocado is the heaviest oil we carry ... regular use? after every shower? Oh my! Try sweet almond. Try grapeseed. So I did ... they're okay, but not as good ... the yummy skin-ness from avocado lasts two or three days, from the others, only one or one and a half, and they make my towels smell funny. I'll look for raw sesame oil the next time I'm at the chinese market or Planet O, but in the meantime, I've asked them to please, please, please order in some more avocado oil.

And while I'm on about dry skin ...
I've been brushing the living daylights out of my hair before washing it with just water, and then rinsing with a couple teaspoons of cider vinegar and a couple tablestpoons of rosewater in a couple cups of warm water. My hair is soft and shiny (though no less crazy) and my scalp says halleluja.

2008-02-29T20:05:00.003-07:00

Lovely Leap Day ...

Yummy tofu and mango and apple in creamy red curry sauce lunch with Nina.
Afternoon in the sun at the Mosquito Ranch with Chelsea and Barbara and l'il uns.
I burned the dead guys' hats.
I fixed my shoulder yesterday with the cutting board
My skin hasn't hurt for a while, now.
More later.

2008-02-18T12:18:00.002-07:00

Happy Family Day ...

It is a glorious day out! Bright, sunny and warm. The windows are open, the garbage is out, and the compost (which has been full to the top since I chucked the frozen jack o'lanterns in after hallowe'en) has settled, finally.
It's one in a series of bright, sunny, warm days.
Saturday was bright, sunny, warm and windy. Mary brought Ernie in for his birthday sleep-over. We ordered Indian and went to see Jumper.
We failed to run errands yesterday and went to get him a water bottle at Earth's General Store. How cool is it that my two teenaged nephews wanted keeper water bottles for their birthdays? Then I drove Ernie home on nice dry highways.
We saw Harleys on the road ... usually a Sign of Spring, it was a sign of our annual dead-of-winter thaw. I think it's (the thaw, not the Harleys) what keeps us from going completely nuts in the winter. Last week at this time, I was taking Epona in to the dealership to find out why it was overheating. They couldn't find anything wrong with her. I think she'd just been so very frozen for so long that she couldn't thaw out enough to run properly until we'd had a couple of days of really nice weather. Poor thing.

2008-02-07T19:38:00.000-07:00

Today's Poppet Quotes ...

"You smell like broccoli. Or chocolate. I'm not sure."

"You're such a good auntie." ... patting the top of my head

"I am going to take you to school on Special A day. I will carry you all the way to school. I will put you in my cubby. At the end of the day, I will show you for my special thing that starts with A 'cuz you start with A for Auntie Lynn."

"Why did you pour the tea on the floor?"

"Auntie Lynn, you look skinny"

2008-02-02T01:18:00.001-07:00

Ooohlala of the North ...

Mmm, silk underthings!
The only silk underthings I own are long johns.

2007-12-07T18:53:00.000-07:00

Surly And Derivative

I get to go muck about on Ravelry!

I've been staying home this week, shovelling a little snow, doing a little tie dye, knitting hats, trying to kick a cold. Tomorrow will be a whirlwind of activity, by comparison. The errand list is growing and I'm getting stir crazy.

Nina wanted a recipe for broccoli soup, so I made one up on the spot. She said it turned out well. Woo! I'll have to ask her for the recipe so I can try it sometime.

freerice.com is neat.
Play a word game that adapts itself to your vocabulary level, and PPC advertisers pay to donate rice to the United Nations World food Program.
By my scale, 100 grains of brown rice is about 2g. 1/3 cup is 56g. Cooked, that's 1 cup of rice. So 2800 dry grains = 1 cup cooked, give or take.

Today's title brought to you by the good folx at A Couple Of Different Word Of The Day Thingies.

2007-11-17T20:48:00.000-07:00

The Breadbox ...

... should be kept clean by scalding and be exposed to sunlight at frequent intervals.
That's the last line in the directions for baking bread in my Purity Cookbook. I was so tickled with it that I forgot to read the rest of the recipe and ended up with a loaf of raisin bread as big as a house.

And, apropos of nothing, listen to the Be Arthurs, a ukulele cover band.

2007-11-14T21:44:00.001-07:00

Puppies ...

Take them out twice a day.
Scoop up twice a day.
Feed them twice a day.
And the breath!
Yup, caring for sourdough starters is kinda like having puppies.
They go in the fridge tomorrow (the starters, not the puppies, of which there none, sadly), so the twice-a-days become once-a-weeks or twice-a-months.

2007-11-13T17:37:00.000-07:00

Mama Bear ...

There was drama here, last night. It really didn't affect me, other than that I was aware of it and it involved Nina, about whom I care a great deal. Someone was phoning and upsetting her ... repeatedly. And then there was the wind ... blowing, howling, making the awnings snap and other things bump around outside. The wind just kept getting noisier, half-waking me a bunch of times. By the time I went to bed, I was ready to pick up the phone before Nina did, the next time it rang and go all Mama Bear on his ass. She got to him first and managed to get him to stop calling. Lucky him. I could just bite someone when the wind gets like that.

In other news, there is a small doodle in my sketchbook that has Cleo all worked up. She's looking at me all anime-eyed, trying to paw it off the page. I don't know what's different about this particular doodle ... there are hundreds of them, but this one is the one she wants.

2007-11-05T20:04:00.000-07:00

Pumpkins, Ponies and a Party ...

The guy on the bottom is mine.
Nina and Den carved a flaming skull and a cat on their pumpkins, but they were all shrivelly by Hallowe'en, so I taped orange construction paper over them, turned the pumpkins around and carved faces in the backs.

We had fifty or sixty kids on Hallowe'en. That's way more than we've had in several years. The nice weather probably accounted for some of them.

Inez and I got to meet the new babby on Friday when we went out to have lunch with Mary (and Ernie, 'cuz he was home from school, feeling wretched, poor thing)

Robin says he may name him Kyoto, but wasn't sure yet when we were there. He is so soft!

Here he is with Robin and his Mama (Lucky). That's his Pa (Mylo) behind the fence.

Barbara and Annailese were MIA on Saturday 'til they turned up on my doorstep after lunch, so we got a much later start on the day than expected. We went to the market and took Nina's old iMac over to their house and got them hooked up and running and accessing the internet, in spite of a set-up disc that didn't work and two rather lengthy calls to the tech line (first one disconnected about twenty minutes into the call). I don't blame the tech line folx. They're doing their jobs and have a script to follow. It's ... just ... very ... time ... consuming ... and ... frustrating ... if you know you've already checked all the things they're going to have you check. We used up all of the time we had, so I didn't end up hanging out with Annailese so Barbara could get stuff done.

I played Talisman with Drayce and a friend of his at Drayce's on Saturday evening. It rained a bit, then the rain turned to snow (some of which is still here). There was feet-up snow watching with a wee dram of the good stuff later.

The time changed, but noone told Tiger, so getting up was leisurely, but the pre-getting-up-lolling was kinda naggy. Sunday morning brought tea-drinking and geeking, and yacking in the snow on the deck, crunching snow underfoot.

And then, there was a party at Mona's for Auntie Asobel's birthday.

There were games.
There was lunch.
There were dancing girls.

There was visiting.
There were stories
There was a puzzle.

There were faeries.
There were pictures.
There was music.

There was cake and pumpkin squares and sorbet.

There was a present.
There was a homecoming.
There was hugging and kissing and telling of love.
It was a good day.

2007-11-01T21:51:00.000-06:00

The Usual ...

Inez was over on Friday. She's a lot of fun. We polished an English version of her résumé, went to visit Barbara for a bit, then did some running around, then Barbara and Annailese came over here and we all hung out in the sun on the back steps 'til Chelsea came to get Inez. Chelsea brought Inez back again on Monday, on her way to work. We went to the University, to drop off résumés, got lost, got sent bouncing from office to office in the Van Vleit Centre and found that another we wanted had moved. It all worked out, though, and we got her to her appointment in Sherwood Park on time. Tuesday's plans with Barbara got changed when Annailese fell onto a duplo castle, poor thing. Inez came in again yesterday. We made maki for lunch, did some running around, visited Barbara, made baked tofu for dinner and watched movies while being mugged for compressed sugar by small ghouls and princesses and then I drove her home. Glinda came in for the afternoon, today. We ran into Drayce on the way for lunch at Mosaics (they've taken my much-loved pb and grilled tofu sandwich off the menu ... sadness! ... but they made one for me today), went to see Mona at Earth's General, to pick up bread and come back here to make cauliflower soup for dinner, then got caught up in looking at her son's website and ended up rushing her off to her class at Bosch before the soup was ready. Oops. Chelsea is dropping Inez off tomorrow moring on her way to work and we're heading out to Mary's (where there's a less-than-a-week-old babby horse!) for a few hours, then pelting home so Chelsea can pick Inez up here and Miles up at Barbara's for their weekend trip. If all goes according to plan, Barbara, Annailese and I will go to the market on Saturday, then I'll hang out with Annailese so Barbara can get her work done. I have bananas in the fridge, calling my name. Mayhap I'll get to building banana bread on Sunday.

2007-10-25T19:32:00.000-06:00

Poor L'il Mr. Mousie ...

When I pulled out the garbage can to toss in some crumbs, there was a l'il grey house mouse in it. I don't know if it was Mr. Mousie from yesterday who'd escaped and was back, or another Mr. Mousie. I plunked the tin that was in my hand down over top of him, then plunked the breadboard on top of the garbage can. There was much scrabbling, and I noticed that the top of the garbage can is not flush, leaving a more-than-large-enough gap for Mr. Mousie to escape if he could climb up to it ... so I peeked, of course.

No, he didn't escape (this time), but he was perched on top of the tin, reaching for that not-flush edge with 'is wee l'il skittery, grabby paws. So I plunked the bread board back on top and gave the whole mess a little shake, then another. There was scrabbling, then none. When I peeked again, Mr. Mousie was curled up on his back inside the tin, with a bloody noggin and I was sad. I'm sorry, Mr. Mousie.

I would have been okay with one of the cats having Mr. Mousie for a snack, or with killing him in a quick-kill trap (if that had been the type of trap I'd bought). This is my house and mousies are not welcome to live here ... but I'd rather relocate them than dash in their little brains.

2007-10-25T00:01:00.000-06:00

What A Day ...

I opened the cupboard under the sink this morning and there was Mr. Mousie, doing his balance beam trick on the edge of the garbage pail again. He looked like he was going to try leaping through the hole into the rest of the cupboards, so I reached in to wiggle the garbage pail, startled him, and he dove into the pail. I tied up the bag, took it straight out to the garbage can and put the lid on, all without taking my eyes off the bag, just in case. Pick-up was today. if he didn't slip out of the bag unnoticed and if he didn't escape from the garbage can and if he didn't scoot out when the garbage was emptied, maybe he'll get to winter at the smorgasbord that is the dump.

Holey creepin' crud, it was so warm out! And it just kept getting warmer. A primped tough guy in a muscle car revved his engine behind me in the left-turn lane at the lights, creeping up on my tail, then roared past me in the intersection, only to stop in front of me down the block at the Hughes. That's where I was going, too. We both filled our tanks and washed our cars. I came away with change from a twenty. He went from sneering to, "Dude. No way."

I sat on the front steps for a while, reading. It was 25°C, clear and sunny and that deep summer blue. I went to get chase Nina out into the warm from the basement and by the time I got back, it was 20°C, breezy, and clabbering up. Pretty soon it was 15°C and windy, then 10°C and cloudy and the wind had shifted. Now it's 2°C and calm. It was fascinating to watch. Every now and then Alberta lives up to the "Don't like the weather? Wait an hour."

2007-10-22T23:31:00.000-06:00

Mouse Opera ...

I opened the cupboard under the sink yesterday and saw a wee little grey mousie. Yikes!

Mary took her truck in for service this morning and I picked her up at the dealership at Dark O'Clock. We came back here to feed the cats and cleaned and bleached the cutting board of its copious mousie evidence. We went outing and abouting and picked up traps at Canadian Tire in our travels. We poodled about for the rest of the day, went back to the dealership when her truck was finished, and then I came home and set the traps with peanut butter.

I was checking the traps ('cuz I was worried that the poor little guy would freak out being in such a small space for too long) and when I opened the cupboard under the sink, there he was, doing his best balance beam trick on the edge of the garbage can. I startled him and he jumped up onto the drainpipe, lost his footing, and fell into a bucket. I pulled out the bucket and plopped the bread board on top before he could jump out. Cotched!

Tiger just about let him out by jumping on the bread board and near-tipping the whole mess over, so I moved the whole thing into the oven ... but the door wouldn't close, so I replaced the big cutting board with a pizza pan and put a weight on top.

When Nina got home, she wanted to see him. I pulled out the bread board for some reason, and there was more mousie evidence. Damn! Another? Bother. We opened the oven to get the pail and there was a wee mousie in the back corner of the oven! I caught him under a glass and pulled the pail out to show Nina the first one ... who was no longer in the pail. Buh. The pizza pan left a tiny hole at the bucket's spout and the little blighter got out. So we'd re-trapped the same bloody mousie. We decided to take him to the ravine and let him go. In a fit of not-so-cleverness, we decided to transfer him into a big box to transport him. He narrowly escaped just before the lid got all the way closed. Rot and bother!

We chased him around under the shelves and behind stuff on the shelves and nearly trapped him a few times, then lost track of him, only to find him in the box of wine bottles. We got him trapped again with the glass shoved into one of the wine bottle slots, but it wouldn't go all the way down and he got away again. We chased him around a bunch more, but lost him again. Mousie has won this round.

In spite of being invited to supplement their diet, the cats have failed to notice any signs of mouseness.

2007-10-17T13:45:00.000-06:00

Catching Up Yet Again ...

The Sarah Girls came and went again, over Thanksgiving. Fortunately, it turned out that the time they had to visit was on a different day than family Thanksgivinging at the lake. I took no pictures. I've gotten out of the habit of it. Again. Time to start doing a few a week for Flickr to rebuild the habit. Also out of the habit of blogging. Tsk!

Nina and I have been sorting and organizing and de-cluttering. Years later, we've gotten the downstairs space usable for her (though at the expense of rendering my studio space down there completely unusable). She'll get a few months' use out of it, then have to give it up to be converted to a bedroom for Cory, but she's tickled pink to have the space organized. We cleared a bookshelf of crap left behind that I hadn't felt like dealing with, and moved the shelf into the closet under the stairs for a pantry. The closet is insulated on all walls except the outside one and Dad is building a door for it. Soon, we'll have a nice little cold room and pantry. I'm excited all out of proportion about it!

I've been mucking with variously aging computers and looking wistfully at new ones.

2007-09-28T20:38:00.000-06:00

Whoooosh ...

Hello Equinox
G'bye Equinox

Also, goodbye summer. It's darned chilly, today. I busted out the long johns this morning before heading out. The mountain parks are getting snow tonight. Yikes!

2007-09-15T13:06:00.000-06:00

I Miss The Puppy ...

I have new neighbours next door, on the fence side. They moved in a bunch of big inflated beer bottles and many black T-shirts. They put up an kind of plastic enclosed gazebo hot tub enclosure thingy outside my kitchen window. Today, their driveway is full of tables and chairs. One of them is very industrious. Nina's friends say he's a bouncer/the manager/the owner at a club they go to and that he's creepy and offers them bar tabs. The other isn't around as much, comes and goes by cab, cannot seem to speak below a shout, and prefaces every second sentence with "Maaan, heh heh, ..."

The other guy who lived there still does, so maybe these guys are renting.

The old neighbours had a puppy.

2007-09-12T10:50:00.000-06:00

That 10-12 Jump...

"... sixth anniversary of September eleventh ..."
Really, that's what the radio said to my kitchen yesterday morning. I missed the whole rest of the piece, thinking about how it used to be in the old days, when we had to leap from September tenth right to the twelfth, and how disorienting it was, and how wise they were for recognizing and remedying this oversight.

2007-08-26T22:52:00.000-06:00

Back To What Passes For Normal ...

On Saturday of the Folk Fest, I had a wedding to go to, so Mary came in to babbysit her kids for me for the day (it was funny at the time. really). Kitty and Dannie's wedding was lovely, and I sat with a bunch of folx I hadn't seen in ages at the reception. It was a very Disney thing.

Mary came back and got Cory, Ernie and Linda on Monday, then I cleaned up a bit, got stuff ready to go to Chelsea's, picked up Barbara and headed out to misbehave at the ranch and go to the airport to send off our darling Germans in the morning and back to the ranch to sulk with Chelsea, Darwin, Bernie, Barbara and Annailese. There are gaps. I've forgotten what the plans were for some of the days. Friday, I drove to Calgary to see Sutai's film at the Calgary Fringe Festival's Film Festival, then drove back again. I picked Cory up on Sunday to come in to Fringe for a couple of days ... took the car in for service on Monday ...then took him home and picked up Linda on Wednesday to come in and Fringe for a couple of days ... picked Drayce up at the airport Friday morning ... then took her home on Saturday. And that was the last of my summer plans! Barbara asked what I was doing on Sunday and I said, "I have no plans." We both took a moment to digest that.

On the way back from Mary's, I was enjoying the pretty drive and having no plans for the immediate future, when my phone rang. I pulled over by the old schoolhouse and phoned Drayce back. We ended up making a plan to go misbehavin' and did just that. At one point, we stumbled into a B.Y.O.V. play behind the Black Dog. It took us both way too long to figure out that it was a play.

I'm puttering about, washing and putting away camping gear, and cleaning up nearly two months' worth of clutter. I went for lunch with the APs yesterday, to see if I can drive Dad's van ... I can't reach the floor, but the pedals come up. We're going to swap vehicles on Friday for the weekend, so I can take Barbara and Annailese out to the lake with me for Dad's and my 117th birthday on Sunday. He's going to come by before gymnastics so he can take Epona to show off to the guys at the gym. I figured when I bought her that there'd be times when she just wasn't big enough, but that there'd always be a work-around. This is the first time I've put that theory to the test, so I'm really pleased that he's excited about it.

2007-08-10T00:40:00.000-06:00

Ganging Bloody Agley ...

One of these days, there'll be pictures again.

The plan was to visit at Chelsea and Darwin's for the evening, then come home and crash early to get up early to take Lerris to the airport ... come home and catch a quick nap, then get ready for Mary and the kids to arrive.

We left Chelsea's at 3:15 a.m. ... just enough time to come home, get Lerris packed up, his bags tossed into the car, and to make it to the airport at the appointed time (and beery enough to sleep on the plane, with any luck at all).

Mary dropped us off at the top of the hill at the Folk Fest tonight. Just as we were setting up our blanket, I spotted four people came up the hill toward us wearing Free Hugs shirts and sent Linda to sic 'em. She hit one of them with a flying tackle and they went rolling down the hill. We ended up with a fistful of hug coupons and a good giggle.

Later, Drayce, whom I haven't seen in fifteen years, walked up and into a full-frontal like it was ten minutes ago. Weird and wonderful.

Sleepy now.

2007-08-07T13:39:00.000-06:00

Still Busy ...

Came home from Sasquatch, unloaded the car, had a 2 minute shower and put on slightly less camped-in clothes, and charged off to the airport to pick up PWC Lerris.

Did the WEM thing. I've never spent a whole day there before. Likely won't ever again. What a weird experience. We booked a theme room at the Fantasyland on their summer special rate. We were expecting highly cheesy. The hotel upgraded us to a luxury theme room. It was very nice.

I dragged Lerris around, running errands, meeting friends and family, and packed up last-minute-ish on Friday to go to Drumheller on Saturday for a weekend with Barbara and family, including her brother, and niece and friend of her brother's who are here from Germany, Chelsea and family, and some of Nina's friends. I got all hot and too-sunned and delirious on Sunday. Barbara's brother, Hal, kept my hat filled with ice Sunday afternoon and Monday, so there were no repeat deliria.

Got back last night (hot, tired, and thoroughly funned), unloaded the car, showered, talked to Nina briefly, and crashed. Got up to let Nina in at 1:00, and again when she left at 7:00. Today's a much lazier day. Laundry, maki rolls 'cuz the 'cado's all got ripe at once, movies, maybe some CL tonight. Tomorrow, we're going to the museum, then maybe out to Chelsea's. Early (early) Thursday morning I take Lerris back to the airport, then Cory, Ernie and Linda arrive later to Folk Fest.

I plan to sleep in September.

2007-08-02T23:16:00.000-06:00

Busy ...

2007-07-27T00:10:00.000-06:00

Sasquatch ...

Ernie's sacked out on the couch.

I met him and Mary and Cory and Linda at Rafe's today. We had a lurvly visit. The boys talked about the Wheelmans that C & E are buying with their summer earnings.Then we loaded Ernie's stuff into my car and came back here to do laundry and dishes and packing and food preparation and have dinner and watch some Buffy. We're off to the Sasquatch festival, tomorrow. Wheee!

Back Sunday.
Blessings to all

2007-07-24T00:20:00.000-06:00

And For My Next Trick ...

... I will origami this man into this car!
Her roof doesn't even come up to his armpits!

Oh yes, I will! Watch me.
Epona, meet Chewie. Chewie, meet Epona.
(they met last year, but there is no photographic evidence)
A little fold here, a little tuck there, and voilá!

Look! He even has head room!
We drove around the Fair.
We went to Hilltop for beers.
Chewie had fun!
So did I.

Sadly, the light was poor for this shot and I didn't have a tripod (nor did I think to brace the camera), else it might've ended up on a laminate for next year.

2007-07-21T21:03:00.000-06:00

That's All ...

I got the tent washed today, and some laundry done.

My tent fits on my bed.

Then I went familying. I got to see everyone but Ernie, who was golfing in Leduc.

Says Cassandra, "When I grow up, I'm going to be a fire fighter and ambulance driver and a veterinarian and a cook and a doctor and a baker and a person who sells glass breakable things at a store"
Says I, "Wait! Let me get a piece of paper to write this all down."
Once it was written down, says Cassandra, "I will write my name so you know who will do all this. Now I am going to draw a picture of all these things and all the animals I will help."

Later, when asked, Rose said she will be a fire fighter, a cook, a veterinarian, a juggler, a farmer, she will play the violin and walk on stilts. "And that's all."

2007-07-20T23:03:00.000-06:00

Jiggety-Jig ...

Of the home again, home again variety.

The downside to killing two birds with one stone is that one sometimes winds up with seeds in one's bath water.

I'm recharged and full of love and happy. I'm also tired of driving and out of clean clothes. More later.

2007-07-05T07:26:00.001-06:00

Gone Fairing ...

The cats are boarded. The car is packed. The house is as clean as it's going to get. Mona brought me some lucky travel toothpaste. I'm off to the Fair ... back sometime around the 20th-22nd.
Blessings to one and all.

2007-07-02T10:40:00.000-06:00

Amazing Magical Sisters ...

I knit Mona a hat before I knew how to do the shaping properly. It was fine until it was washed, then it turned all flollopy and shapeless. She professed to love that hat. So much so that when it grew legs and walked away, she asked me to knit her another. I had enough of the yarn left, so I did ... this time employing proper hat-knitting techniques. It was a much better hat! But Mona was having none of it. She really did love the flollopy thing. I took back the well-knit hat to reclaim the yarn because I wasn't sure I had enough for a third knitting of The Hat ... but oops! In a flurry of sistering, we left it in the back of Mary's vehicle in a bag with something that got stinky. It turned out that I did have enough of the yarn to knit a third, though, and Mona loves it. And she makes everyone else see it how she sees it.

I've been collecting egg cartons and toilet paper rolls for Mary. The toilet paper rolls are little cøndom thingies for cutworm susceptible plants in her CSA garden, and the egg cartons are for eggs (how mundane!) from her chickens. I handed her a bag of both when I picked Cory up for his birthday sleep-over last week. You'd think I handed her a pot of gold and a brand new box of craysons! Her face lit up and she squashed the toilet paper rolls flat and cut them in thirds and announced, "That's what I'll do today! I'll plant those! ... and chirped about having just asked her CSA members to collect egg cartons. Now every time change the toilet paper roll or finish a carton of eggs or walk past the little pile of stuff to go out the door, I feel her radiating that joy.

It's cool that Mona loves a hat I knit for her and that Mary took delight in stuff I got to give her to reuse instead of just recycling or composting it. Those things are happy-making enough on their own, but they're merely symptoms of what's really going on. You see, I have magical sisters.

Mary has the power to transform the most unexpected things, a bag of toilet paper rolls for example, into great gifts ... to turn a simple collection of would-be waste into a bright, joyful thing.

Mona has the power to transform just about anything, a shapeless hat knit from kinda meh yarn for example, into a wonder of creation ... to turn mere knotted string into treasure far beyond what I see in it, having knit it.

How cool is that?

I see them do it all the time ... they create joy and magic and treasure and hand it back to people around them on a regular basis ... and they're my sisters.

2007-07-01T17:01:00.000-06:00

Happy Canada Day ...

Happy Birthday, ol' girl. Love you!

2007-06-24T23:55:00.000-06:00

Bee Bums ...

My rose bush is choc full of bees. I wish I could post the smell here (of the roses, not the bees). If you could smell them, you'd bury your face in them, too.

2007-06-21T22:32:00.001-06:00

Happy Solstice ...

By design, National Aboriginal Day falls on the solstice.
Whether by coincidence or not, Gay Pride celebrations coincide with the solstice.
A time of turning points and balance, marking the end of the time when the veil between the worlds is thinnest ...
Midsummer, Alban Heruin, Feast of St. John the Baptist, Gathering Day, Feast of Epona and others ...
Whether or not any of this has any meaning for you,
Bright Blessings

2007-06-19T14:44:00.000-06:00

Sent Knitting ...

Thirty-eight hats and a sweater, sorted into size groups, ready to be bagged and boxed and sent off to Mongolia (via Arizona) for Dulaan, the week before last:

I had help with the packing:

There was also a very nice little commercially made shetland wool sweater (many times handed down, slightly felted, worn by a number of children I love dearly) that went into one of the boxes.

2007-06-19T14:25:00.000-06:00

Uh oh! I got way behind ...

Many blurry catch-up pictures:

Thumper has been a great tug, but was beginning to get quite rotted,

so there was a boat burning at the lake ...

... a wet, rotten, painted boat burns a bit smokey-like.

I got to go with Rafe to pick up his new car!

And got to ride in it to the Hormone Ranch for Robin's bday, where I took nary a picture.

I used up the left-over sock yarn (from the wee socks for Annailese's advent calendar) to knit (and knit and knit and knit) a giant circle, about which I was unsure, right up until it was finished blocking. I figured there was a good chance it would be hideous and was fully prepared to rip it all out again, and just be pleased that I'd knit a big circle ... but it turned out great and I gave it to Mona. It looks two-tone 'cuz it's blocking on two very different bath sheets on the bed:

And for Vince, Sir Bunrab on a misty day:

2007-05-30T15:31:00.000-06:00

Wednesday Gallimaufry ...

When I was out, the little Mountain Ash sucker that was to go to the lake got mowed. Oops.

I am disappointed that I have not yet convinced the pet supply people to apply the cat food to the litter directly, thereby saving me the bother of running it through cats first.

Two women seeking left-handed person with small hands
Barbara has a box of left-hand rubber gloves in her utility closet, as she can't bring herself to throw them out when she wears holes in the right-hand ones. I wear only one glove at a time, so I bought mine a size too big. That way, when I wear a hole in the right-hand one, I can wear the left-hand one backwards on the wrong hand (it made sense in my head at the time, though now I'm wearing a too-big right-hand glove and will someday be wearing a too-big and backwards left-hand one). There has to be someone out there who wears out left-hand rubber gloves!

2007-05-30T02:16:00.000-06:00

Why Am I Not Abed ...

Miss Annailese asked me to take a picture to show everyone that she can reach this high:

And Mr. Eyelashes would like us to think he slipped and painted his arm by accident:

I just had a lovely visit and dinner and more visit with Rafe, and finally saw his bus. Cool digs!

2007-05-26T16:38:00.000-06:00

Last year, for the first time since I planted it, the May Day tree out front bloomed by May 1. This year, it bloomed about three weeks later.

This is the time of year when I skulk about in the house, avoiding my neighbours.

Not really, but if I had any shame at all, I would. Just look at that deep grass and sea of dandelions! I let them go 'til Sir Bunrab has feasted on the first batch of white puffy seedheads. This year, however, I shall mow before they go to seed, as one of my neighbours as planted new grass seed.

2007-05-24T12:06:00.000-06:00

Unique ...

Sir Bunrab, fleeing the scary creature with the camera.

Yes, I recognize that language does and should change.
No, I do not recognize that every little misuse of a word is a part of the evolution of language.
Yes, I curmudge about the ones that get up my nose.
Yes, I am aware that my use of language is far from perfect.

I do not like it when perfectly good words become watered down.

Something unique is the only one of its kind. Sometimes, it is something particularly remarkable. If something is unique, it is beyond rare, beyond distinctive. One thing cannot be more unique than another, as it is an absolute quality. There are no degrees of uniqueness. Being excited about a thing does not make it unique. Unique is a word one would expect to hear only occasionally, rather than once per half-hour TV show or three or four times per conversation or blog post.

2007-05-07T10:51:00.000-06:00

A Monday Farrago ...

I'm going for lunch with Kitty and Dannie today ... and taking them their Christmas present. Mayhap I ought to work a bit harder at getting together with them.

Then I'm off to the store to acquire cat food and kitty litter, unless I can convince them to apply the former to the latter and save me the trouble.

My current working theory is that Gene Kelly had allergies and that's why he was so happy about the rain.

Some guys in a big truck came and sawed off the back eighth or so of the neighbours' garage and left again.

2007-04-19T12:36:00.000-06:00

Scarf Recipe ...

Sir Bunrab has been hanging out under the Mountain Ash tree, being all mostly-brown.

It rained some over the last couple of days, and stuck down some of the dust. That means the battle between headcold and allergies, over sinus real estate, has calmed down a little bit and I can almost think. And now winter's having yet another last hurrah! Hahahaha!

What to do with that one hank of lovely, soft, flurfy Colinette Isis?

CO some stitches loosely.
Row 1: Inc. 1 at beginning of row, knit to end.
Row 2: Dec. 1 at beginning of row, knit to end.
Repeat rows 1 & 2 a while, ending with a row 2.
Bind off loosely on a row 1 (so as not to leave one point pointier than the other).

2007-04-13T11:42:00.000-06:00

Last Hurrah ...

Easter weekend, then it snowed all day Tuesday, Glinda came to visit on Wednesday and we went to see Barbara and Annailese, a garage fire across the street and three houses over (well, three garages down, to be accurate) yesterday, the gas company came to have a look at my meter today, 'cuz they're going to move it in the next year or so. The excitement never stops 'round here.

It snowed pretty much all last week (winter's having many last hurrahs this year), then gave us a break for the weekend. It was chilly but bright for the easter egg hunt in the morning:

The outfits ... just look at the outfits!

Then it was warm enough for shirtsleeves in the afternoon for egg dying:

They each did an egg or maybe two, then pelted off to play in the snow some more while the Mama and the Aunties and the Cousin did a bunch more eggs. We had a glass bowl full of colourful eggs as a centrepiece at dinner.

Sunday was Mom's birthday, too. I made her a scarf from the yarn she picked out when we were in CA last winter:

I took the picture when we still had nice clean snow 'cuz I figured it wouldn't see snow again 'til next year. Nice girl, eh? Gives her Mom a warm scarf in the spring. That'd be the same girl who gives bald friends pictures of warm hats someone else will wear.

I heard a funny whumpy noise yesterday and looked out to see this:

Just a few minutes later, all four streets were completely lined and clogged with ginormous pickup trucks (why almost all pickup trucks, I wonder?) and no vehicles could get through ... including the firetrucks ... buh - dummies. It got sorted out in fairly short order, fortunately.

Stuff and Nonsense ...

Daylight:

Length of day: 13:51
Hours of dark: 9:05ish
Sunrise: 6:40 am
Sunset: 8:31 pm
Start of twilight: 6:03 am
End of twilight: 9:08 pm

Current weather: Overcast. 7°C (44°F), wind S 9.6 km/h (6 mph), relative humidity 70%, pressure 29.83 in Hg.

Forecast:

Today.. Becoming cloudy. Wind becoming S 20 km/h this afternoon. High 14°C.
Tonight.. A few clouds. Wind S 20 km/h becoming light this evening. Low -1°C.
Saturday.. Increasing cloudiness late in the morning. Wind becoming S 20 km/h late in the day. High 16°C.
Sunday.. Sunny. Low -0°C. High 10°C.
Monday.. Sunny. Low -4°C. High 15°C.
Tuesday.. Sunny. Low 2°C. High 15°C.
Normals for the period.. Low -2°C. High 12°C.

2007-04-09T10:53:00.000-06:00

Mirror, Mirror ...

from last weekend ...
Cassandra is standing on the stool in the bathroom, washing her hands and watching herself in the mirror.
Rose is standing in the doorway, waiting her turn.
I am sitting on the edge of the tub.

Says Rose, "Obviously, I'm the prettiest one here," patting her locks.
Says Cassandra, "You are not, Rose! We all are prettiest."
Says Rose, "Yes I am! Just look at me," with a shrug.
Says Cassandra, "Rose! We all have lots of barrettes."
Says Rose, "Oh yah."

Pretty is all about the number of hair clips.

2007-04-07T23:24:00.000-06:00

Goose! Duck!! Ahhhhhh!

I drove under a formation of Canada Geese today, on the way to the lake! They were flying low enough that I could see feathers ... and the light was just so enough that they looked like glowing geese. Very cool! Then I drove past a gravel truck that must've had a hole in it. There were rocks bouncing all over the road (and off my windshield, damn it!) and the truck had a dust cloud like Pigpen.

I had a nice afternoon at the lake, ran a couple of errands on the way home, fed the cats, ran a load of wash, boiled a bunch of eggs, filled some water jugs and now I'm off to bed so I can get back out to the lake early enough for the great egg hunt!

Way back in the very olden days, the moon sometimes came down to walk on the earth. The sun walked on the earth sometimes, and the rivers got out of their banks and walked the earth. The wind grew legs and walked around sometimes, too. When the moon walked on the earth, she was sometimes called Eostre. She would tell the crops when to grow and the animals when to make babies. Late one winter, she came upon a badly hurt bird. She had a soft heart and did not want the bird to die, so with her magics, she turned the bird into a hare. The transformation was not quite complete, though. While the bird looked like a hare, she still had the ability to lay eggs. Every year, to show her gratitude, at the full moon after the vernal equinox, she would lay eggs and decorate them to leave as gifts for Eostre. She still does, to this day, but we call her the Easter Bunny (and often mistakenly refer to her as him).

Happy spring festival, Easter or otherwise.

2007-04-05T21:42:00.000-06:00

Sad ...

Mary's dear friend died this morning.
A dear Fair friend died this afternoon.
Peace to all who love them.

2007-03-31T23:55:00.000-06:00

Sunflurry ...

It was grey and dingy and snowing again, this morning.
Even though Vincent didn't make it to town after all, Marmaduke, Oliver, Dawn and I decided to go for breakfast at Lucky Saloon anyway. It's a cool little place, within walking distance. When we came out, it was still snowing and the sun was shining ... sunflurries!

2007-03-30T17:35:00.000-06:00

Empty ...

She hadn't cried in many years.
She didn't want to say goodbye to Patty in front of everyone, so Patty would take her and her walker over to her new room at the home and we would stay with the kids. She cried saying goodbye to the kids and she cried saying goodbye to me. She asked me to take care of Patty. Once she started out the door, she didn't look back.
When Patty came back, we cleared out the fridge, got the kids into jackets and boots and rounded up their things for in the car.
The last one out, I picked up the bowl that she'd given me to take home and turned to close the door.
Her things were still there, her furniture and pictures, winnowed down to the most precious, as she moved to smaller and smaller places. In that moment, though, the place was empty ... it knew she didn't live there anymore.

2007-03-25T17:47:00.000-06:00

Mosquito Ranch ...

I made (and timed and documented, to see if it qualified as a quick and easy recipe for Mona) hippie lasagna yesterday (see previous post) and generally dawdled about 'til it seemed like a reasonable time to head out to the Mosquito Ranch. Noone else was there yet, but I got to see Darwin (and his übermacho camo clamshell cast) before he left to go hang out with the guys (and escape the girl invasion). Chelsea, Bernie and I hung out in the sunshine, built a smoke (there were flames, too, but really, let's call a spade a spade) and shovelled water down the driveway.

Barbara, Annailese and Miles arrove shortly before Patty, Sarah, Ally and Raye did. There was a game of shovelball in the driveway ... involving one fully inflated soccer ball, one half-flat one, two shovels, puddles, snow lumps, Annailese, Bernie, and rules that only they knew.

After a flurry of snowpants, we went for a walk on the deer trails in the woods behind the house. We saw the rootball of a tipped-over tree, deer poop, moose poop, dog poop and likely coyote poop, all of which was thoroughly examined and remarked upon. The parts of the trails nearest the house are completely carpeted with deer poop. It's quite remarkable how even the coverage is. When we came out the other end of the trail, Chelsea took the road back to check on dinner and the rest of us took another trail back through the woods and all got wet and muddy to varying degrees. We played in the yard for a little while when we got back, then had a reverse flurry of snowpants and went in to get dry clothes on. The kids and Miles played restaurant downstairs and had a musical parade while the rest of us kitchened.

Dinner was baked salmon, brown rice, Patty's wonderful salad, and hippie lasagna ... at grown-up and kid tables (a first!). Afterwards, Chelsea and Miles' cousin arrived, there was another parade, cleaning, shreiking, running, yacking, wine and beer, playing with guinea pigs, stories, jammies, hugs, smooches, tuckings in in shifts, and more wine and beer and yacking. Folx drifted off to bed, one by one, and I came home.

T'was a good day.

2007-03-25T17:29:00.001-06:00

Happy Sustainability Sunday!

Two-Hour Hippie Lasagna

With Clean Laundry, Clean Kitchen and Clean Cook on the side.

Wait. Before we start the clock, there's some prep to be done. No, this isn't one of those recipes that requires that you have scoured the kitchen, pre-heated the oven, assembled all your tools and measured your ingredients before you even start. Those suck. This is mostly mental prep work.

On the other hand, if you want slow-simmered sauce, different sauces for each layer or slow-cooked onions and mushrooms and lovingly soaked and simmered beans, you'd better make them ahead, 'cuz there's no way that's happening in this two hours. Also, this is a solo time ... if you have help (particularly of the child kind) all bets are off.

To make the amazing two-hour hippie lasagna with clean laundry, clean kitchen and clean cook on the side, start with a clear idea of what you're going to do and know where everything is so you don't get the prep work done and remember that the pan you wanted to use is still at the neighbour's from last time or that you used all the sauce to de-skunk the dog last week.

First, decide how big your lasagna will be and how many layers. Make sure you have enough noodles and sauce OR figure out how much sauce and how many noodles you have and decide how big your amazing two-hour hippie lasagna with clean laundry, clean kitchen and clean cook on the side will be from that.

This will help decide whether or not to pre-cook your noodles and chunky vegetables, or shred the vegetables (shorter baking time) or not (longer baking time), and when to add cheese if you're going to, etc.

Next, see what you've got for layer fodder and plan your layers OR decide what your layers are going to be and make sure you have those ingredients.

Think about which load of laundry you want washed and gather it if necessary.

Do you have a clean towel?

Is your favourite cup clean?

I made a vegan version ... I had: bottom layer - kidney beans (canned) and corn (frozen), middle layer - tofu, top layer - shredded carrots and sunflower seeds. I'm taking my lasanga on the road and had a few extra noodles, so I made sure I had lots of sauce, planned to grate an extra carrot and rounded up the laundry. Towel, check. Cup, check.

Okay, now we can start:

Two-Hour Hippie Lasagna

With Clean Laundry, Clean Kitchen and Clean Cook on the side.

Put the water for the noodles on to boil ... or don't, if you don't pre-cook your noodles.
I pre-cook noodles, so if you don't, make adjustments as you go - don't add yeast to thicken things up, add liquid to the sauce, whatever voodoo it is you noodle-non-cookers do.

Put your laundry in.

Prepare the layer ingredients (save the peels/ends ... freeze them and we'll make garbage soup with them next week) and sauce, give the pan a wipe, etc. Now's the time to shred, crumble, thaw, sautée and pre-cook things like carrots, beets, yams, tofu, cheese, meat, frozen vegetables, leeks, onions, mushrooms, or just open cans, if that's your preference. Somewhere in the middle of that, put the noodles in when the water boils ... take them out before they're fully cooked (2-5 minutes less than package directions).

If you have a lot of watery ingredients (raw spinach, a particularly juicy sauce, raw mushrooms, less-firm tofu, raw tomatoes), you can add some flake yeast on top of the sauce to thicken things a bit.

Spread some sauce in the bottom of the pan.
Then alternate noodles, layer, sauce, noodles, layer, sauce, 'til you run out of layers.
End with noodles, sauce, and melty-type cheese if you're going to use it.

Turn the oven to 350°F and put the lasagna in (nope, no pre-heating).
Set a timer for 20 minutes.
Wash the dishes.
If the dog/cat/toddler hasn't licked up the escaped shredded carrots and crumbled tofu, give the floor a quick sweep.
Put the kettle on.
Hang the laundry.
Make tea.
Turn the oven off when the timer goes, but leave the lasagna in.
Have a shower.
Take the lasagna out now if you plan to take it on the road, otherwise, leave it in.
Now is the time to put bread in to warm if you're going to serve it.
Toss the tea grounds/teabag in the compost.
Drink your tea while you build a salad or sit down to write out a recipe for a friend or e-mail your MLA again about allowing grey water recycling in your area.

The amazing two-hour hippie lasagna with clean laundry, clean kitchen and clean cook on the side is ready to serve.

2007-03-23T14:17:00.000-06:00

Salmagundi ...

Patty and the girls are in town, staying at the Grandma's in Leduc. This will likely be the last trip for this, as the Grandma is selling the condo and has moved into a room at a lodge. Since she's already moved, she has no phone, so cannot buzz anyone in without going downstairs. On Tuesday, we had a nice Equinox lunch there, with Barbara and Annailese, too. We went to the park afterwards, while the soup for dinner cooked, then had a nice dinner. Barbara and Annailese went home, Nina and Den came out, then I drove home in a blizzard. Hahaha! Springtime in Alberta.

Once I got back to the city, it'd nearly stopped, but was still snowing biggish snow splops.

Patty and the girls and Barbara and Annailese (and possibly Nina and Den) are going to have a sleep over at Chelsea and Darwin and Bernie's on Saturday night. I'll go out, too, but will have to come home to feed the beasts, so won't stay the night. I'm going to make a hippie lasagna. Both Patty and Barbara say, "Oh, I never precook the noodles," so I'm doing a l'il babby test lasagna, 'cuz my brain doesn't believe it'll work right with rice noodles.

Right after I got Epona's headlight bulb replaced, the front fender light lense went missing. Since replacing it means removing the fender, it's not a quick-fix, so it'll just hafta wait 'til it's time for Epona to go in for something else.

I made a batch of garbage soup - vegetable stock from peelings and ends, along with peppercorns, coriander and cumin seeds and a bay leaf. After draining out the stock, I dumped the rest into the composter. Then I used the stock to make a hearty vegetable, lentil and barley soup. I love my pressure cooker.

Test lasagna update: the top noodles did not cook properly. I'm sure I could find a way to make it work, but I think for Saturday, I'll just cook the bloody things and be done with it. Oh my, that's tomorrow. Right, then. Off to get groceries.

More bloody hats:

The top right and bottom left ones are made from the koolaid-dyed yarns. Some of the others have some of those yarns mixed in as well.

Stuff and Nonsense ...

Daylight:

Length of day: 12:23
Hours of dark: 10:30ish
Sunrise: 7:30 am
Sunset: 7:53 pm
Start of twilight: 6:55 am
End of twilight: 8:28 pm

Current weather: Partly Cloudy. 4°C (39°F), wind S 20.8 km/h (13 mph), relative humidity 64%, pressure 29.74 in Hg.

Forecast:

Today.. A mix of sun and cloud. High 7°C.
Tonight.. Cloudy periods. Low -1°C.
Saturday.. A mix of sun and cloud. Wind becoming S 20 km/h late in the day. High 9°C.
Sunday.. Sunny. Windy. Low -1°C. High 6°C.
Monday.. Sunny. Low -9°C. High 3°C.
Tuesday.. Sunny. Low -10°C. High 4°C.
Normals for the period.. Low -8°C. High 5°C.

2007-03-19T00:21:00.000-06:00

Colour ...

1. Set timer for 2 miutes
2. Grab green things 'til it goes off
3. Everything must be in plain sight (not in cupboards, etc.)
4. Take picture

Happy Green Day
While I'm not Irish, I can't ignore a day that celebrates green!

Patty and the girls are in town for nearly two weeks. Yay! Jaime is here, too, but he has to leave again Monday or Tuesday. Aw!

I applied koolaid to the last of that turquoise yarn this weekend. I meant to take a picture of it all, once it was done, but some of it's still hanging to dry and I've knit some of it already. Oops. I also applied henna to my hair and elbow grease to various surfaces in the house, made a cat supplies run, and built a blog for Dande. Pretty laid back weekend, all in all.

2007-03-14T12:08:00.000-06:00

Leftovers and Something New ...

I just got a sliver in the palm of my hand and thought, "Damn! I wish it wasn't the right hand."
It occurs to me that if I'm going to wish, mayhap I could wish a bit bigger ... like maybe that I didn't have a big, honkin' sliver in the palm of my hand at all!

Cory, Linda and I put her bed up on lifts. Here she is as her Great Woobie persona, in the Kitten Cave:

Yup, it's really that green!

One of the hens laid this (the egg, not the other stuff), the last day I was there:

We took bets on how many yolks. Cory did not win with 2.5. Unfortunately, it smelled funny, so we didn't eat it.

Mary and Robin brought back white grapefruits, picked from the aunt and uncle's tree in CA. We don't get white grapefruit in stores here any more. Apparently, people would rather have pink (good, but not as good as white) or ruby red (can't see why anyone would bother). What a treat!

And that browny-grey blob is a bitty skein of yarn that I spun with a drop spindle ... my very first yarn ever! I spun it on Monday and plied it and washed it yesterday. It's lumpy and bumpy and not very good at all, but I'm so pleased with it and with the process. Today, I'm thinking about knitting with it. There isn't very much of it at all. I'm trying to decide whether to make a little sampler swatch with it or knit it into a hat for B's Diner or Dulaan. The wool came from a sheep named Oreo. It's so very soft!

2007-03-10T16:36:00.000-07:00

Drama ...

The drive home was a little surreal. I had the highway to myself until most of the way through Leduc. The roads were clear and dry 'til I hit 91st St ... then they were one big sheet of ice with the occasionall shallow puddle on top, from Ellerslie Rd. to Argyll.

I came home to find that Nina had had some drama, locked herself out, and broken a window to get in. I bloody hate drama.

2007-03-10T00:37:00.000-07:00

Day Eight ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

Oats, apples, raisins, cinnamon, maple syrup, some with soymilk ... hot soymilk or soymilky chia for breakfast. Cory said the oats tasted different, but we couldn't figure out why. Ernie's the one who noticed that there were no chopped almonds in it. They each got a handful of raw almonds in a pocket. Everyone was well-rested and chatty this morning, everthing got done on time, noone was missing any last minute anythings. It must be Friday!

The dogs didn't come in at all, this morning.

It's another gorgeous day. The snow and ice are disappearing at a great rate. The snow that was in the weekend's forecast isn't anymore.

I washed floors and ran the dishwasher and did laundry and stomped around in the yard and visited the chickens and cat and horses and washed the eggs and had a shower and packed and started dinner.

Cory and Linda came home and computering ensued. I took Mary's vehicle to fill the tank, get peanut butter and a cucumber, and pick Ernie and his friend up from badminton at the school. We dropped the friend off at his house, then went home and finished making dinner - baked tofu and maki rolls. We finished up the chores and packing, relaxed a while, and then Mary and Robin got home (looking all relaxed, in spite of having spent the day travelling).

There was hugging and kissing and grapefruit picked a couple of days ago, stories and pictures and more hugging and kissing.

Welcome home!

Eggs: +11 for the day
Collected - 14
Eaten - 3
Discarded - 0

2007-03-08T21:50:00.000-07:00

Day Seven ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

We decided, the boys and I, that we sure hope the rest of the world doesn't judge us by the crappy comedians that manage to get themselves on TV. We're funny when we make fun of ourselves. We're not funny when we make fun of the U.S. I got some knitting done last night, too.

It has been brough to my attention that I neglected to mention that Cory, Ernie, and Linda decided to eat vegetarian for the week I'm here, and that Mary and Robin are reading this. That's why there's so much about what they're eating.

They had breakfast burritos and hot soymilk for breakfast. Lunches made and packed, dogs and chickens fed, last minute "Where's my ..."s done, and onto the bus two of them went. Cory got a ride with his friend, since he had to be there early for some more prep for that Scottish play. I had a little mango and pita with peanut butter, raisins, lettuce, and a shredded carrot. I'm stuffed to the gills.

Two out, two in, then the other one out ... the poor dogs are banished to the back hall until they dry off. It got pretty soupy out yesterday and it was drizzling when they came in.

Blue sky and puddles

And then ...

Hahahaha!

It's been very bird-y out. This morning (after the snow), I saw four partridges on the lawn, and two hawks circling. The trees are full of chickadees and sparrows and those smallish, almost-black birds whose name I forget. Up 'til yesterday, everyone was tweeping and cawing and squawking and twerdalerping along as usual ... yesterday, they started to CHEEP and CHIRP and CAW. The birds know ... and soon, your stalling won't fool us anymore, Winter. Spring is on her way and it's time for you to go to bed!

* * *

Cory had fun in that Scottish play. Linda said it was good. When you buy bananas, it's hard on the peanut butter supply. There was very little homework today. We had Head Salad for dinner again. Ernie's been snoozing on the floor, in the chair, and down on the couch ... gonna wake him up for bed, soon. Cory went to bed early. I'm not far behind. It turned out to be a gorgeous day! The dogs are soggy, stinky and full of energy.

Eggs: -1
Collected - 10
Eaten - 11 (yikes!)
Discarded - 0

2007-03-07T23:01:00.000-07:00

Day Six ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

According to babelfish, caliente is "it warms up" ... surprisingly appropriate.

Oats with apples, raisins, coconut, leftover coconut rice, cinnamon and maple syrup (and soy milk for some), and (soy)milky chai or hot soymilk for breakfast. Lunches made and packed , dogs and chickens fed, last minute "Where's my ..."s done, and onto the bus they went. Smiley, huggy morning folx, two chatty and one sleepy.

Showered, dishes done (hah! the one whole pot, spoon, knife and cutting board from the oats), yarn rinsed and hung up to dry, laundry started, and out the door to the city.

I stopped at home to check for mail (nothing interesting) and picked up a message from Rafe, so we met up at the grocery store after he ran his errand and I hit the gas station. We both ended up buying some perfectly ripe (some funny name that starts with an A) little mangoes ... free samples work if the product is that astoundingly good!

He wanted to show off his new toy, Wild Divine. I'm looking forward to seeing it in action when I get home. I've been drooling over it since he first showed me the site, ages ago.

Visited the chickens, cat, and horses, messed up the kitchen and cleaned it up again, folded an inordinate number of small clothes (my current theory is that she's been saving them up since Christmas for me).

Cory's staying at school today to help set up for that Scottish play tomorrow. Ernie disappeared downstairs to do his homework as soon as he got home.

* * *

Chili and the rest of Greek salad v2.0 for dinner. Linda had 4H, came home and crashed. Cory's havin' a chilling evening. Ernie disappeared downstairs again after dinner with his small mountain of homework.

Look at her ... you'd think she was personally responsible for the sunset.

Eggs: +16 for the day (uh oh!)
Collected - 16
Eaten - 0
Discarded - 0

2007-03-06T21:28:00.000-07:00

Day Five ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

As I tossed the last handful of chopped apple into the oats, my brain shouted, "Caliente!" It sounded very celebratory, even though I don't know what it means nor where I may have heard it.

Showers, two of the three came up looking for clothes to wear*, then oats with apples, cinnamon and maple syrup (and soy milk for some), and (soy)milky chai or hot soymilk for breakfast. Lunches made** and packed , dogs and chickens fed, last minute "Where's my ..."s done, and onto the bus they went. Smiley, huggy morning folx.

I call this one Wiggly Life With Yarn

Three out, two in. These two help me all day, by sitting on my feet, lying in front of the sink, stove, fridge, and in doorways, and running into the backs of my knees when I walk across the ice.

*Good thing I'd ignored the "Yah, I'm good"s and done a coupla loads anyway

**I made one of the lunches at 7:59 'cuz the bus comes at 8:03 and it wasn't made yet. No, he won't starve, but be damned if I'm going to send him to school without lunch or make the bus driver wait while he makes a lunch. He came up to make it at 8:01 ... prolly could have done it, but I got twitchy.

I was going to change the chickens' light bulb this morning, but Linda beat me to it ... so they have light again. They're already winning the egg race. Without Robin here to help battle the eggs, we could be buried in them by the end of the week. Speaking of conspiracies, I think the dogs make new matts overnight so they get fussed when they come in.

Dishwasher's run, dishes are washed, yesterday's laundry is folded, there's a load in the washer and one in the dryer, and a couple of skeins of yarn soaking in a koolaid and vinegar bath in the crock pot. We're out of fruit and laundry soap, so I'm off to The Village ... I'm doing my own version of the daily trip to Ralph's for groceries, except not in Palm Desert, and not Ralph's.

* * *

Dinner and tofu-for-sandwiches made, laundry loads switched just in time for smiley, happy chatty folx in the door. Linda finished the rest of the egg salad and started on her homework. The boys took their laundry downstairs, then did their thing for a while. They built smoothies when Linda came up for a break and we all watched TV together. I tried to keep the snide comments about the commercials down to one per.

Hippie Lasagna and Greek salad v2.0 for dinner. We've been watching an episode of season 1 of SG-1 each night. Linda had choir, we all did our chores and homework. Cory called leftover lasagna for tomorrow's lunch ... over tofu sandwich! I'm calling it a success.

Eggs: +9 for the day
Collected - 10
Eaten - 0
Discarded - 1

2007-03-05T22:25:00.000-07:00

Day Four ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

This is something I saw when I was where Mary and Robin are now (guess who didn't take any pictures today) ... taken with my phone.

Showers, then oats with apples, cinnamon and maple syrup (and soy milk for some), and (soy)milky chai for breakfast. Lunches made and packed, dogs and chickens fed, last minute "Where's my ..."s done, and onto the bus they went. Smiley, huggy morning folx.

I be'd domestic, gathered eggs, showered and headed home to see if the house was still standing (it was) and if there was any mail (there wasn't) and get groceries. I forgot to get light bulbs ... poor chickens ... though I'm not sure that's the issue.
There was no light on Saturday, so we checked (and adjusted) the timer, but there was still no light, so we checked extension cords and plugged the unplugged one back in, but there was still no light, so we figured we'd find the bulbs and change them on Sunday. \
On Sunday, the light was on, so we scratched the bulb-changing plans.
Today, there's no light on again. I think the chickens are messing with us, but I'll try changing the bulb tomorrow.

Smiley, huggy afternoon folx came home and hoovered up some leftover cabbage, tofu and oatmeal, along with anything else that wasn't nailed down. Greek salad (with bonus kidney beans) and falafel for dinner. Ernie went off to confirmation (I hope he has time to finish his homework after!), Cory's been sorting his room and homeworking, and Linda made a beaded snake for a friend, then helped me wind the yarn we dyed into centre-pull balls, and drew some pictures, then bed.

Eggs: +9 for the day
Collected - 16
Eaten - 6
Discarded - 1

2007-03-04T22:34:00.000-07:00

Day Three ...

at The Hormone Ranch

I went pelting out the door as soon as I got up this morning, 'cuz I suddenly thought, "What if I can't reach the pedals in Mary's truck? I'll have to take the kids to church one at a time in my car."

I can reach the pedals ... whew!

The fuel light is on ... ack!
Can I make it to the church and back and over to the Co-Op before running out? I dunno. Ernie and I consulted and decided better safe than sorry, so I went charging off to get fuel while Cory, Ernie and Linda got ready and had breakfast.

I saw a coyote in a field on the way ... cool!

The Co-Op was closed ... crap!
Keep going to The Village.

The Petro-Can was open ... and I made it without running out of fuel ... whew!

The Co-Op was open when I drove past it on the way back ... thanks, Coyote.

So I put gas in 'til the auto shut-off kicked in, went in and paid for the gas, and left. I was down the road before I realized I'd put in only a quarter tank. I didn't think anything of it, 'cuz that's about how long it takes me to fill the tank in my car. I probably let up on the handle and it shut off. Colour me dingbat.

Back in time to take The Three to church, after which, there was a flurry of egg sandwiches.

The yarn turned out nice.

Again, with the (mostly) reasonable negotiations, today.

Baked tofu, brown basmati cooked with coconut milk, curried cabbage with coconut, fresh tomato, avocado for dinner. Just enough tofu left for one lunch. Ernie called it.

Eggs: +3 for the day
Collected - 16
Eaten - 7
Discarded - 6 discarded

2007-03-04T10:55:00.000-07:00

Day Two ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

Chores while the peppers and onions and musthrooms slow cooked for breakfast burritos. I would like to report that there was complaining and fighting and hair pulling, but the three indoor hormone contributors went about their Saturday morning routine matter-of-factly, negotiating, and even helping one another out. Afterwards, stuffed to the gills with breakfast burritos, there sas no biting or scratching or pulling of hair over computer time. Instead, there were (occasionally mildly sullen) negotiations and compromises. Saturday is their mellow day, so we mellowed, mostly ... 'puter games and music and we koolaid dyed some turquoise yarn.

We made Head Salad (salad as big as one's head) for dinner and ate them while watching Stargate, which Cory, Ernie and Linda hadn't seen. We talked to Mary and Robin on the phone again. It sounds like they're starting to relax.

Eggs: +1 for the day
Collected - 18
Eaten - 7
Discarded - 10

2007-03-03T00:12:00.000-07:00

Day One ...

... at The Hormone Ranch

After much charging about, getting ready, loading the car, acquiring fuel, rendering the windows transparent again, etc., I hit the road at 2:00 this afternoon. From the Hughes on 99th, it took me twenty-five minutes to hit the highway. After that, it was a lovely drive. I got here, found everything where Mary said it would be, unpacked, and got their computer to play nicely with mine before Cory, Ernie and Linda got home from school.

We made baked tofu and a small mountain of maki for dinner and ate it all.

Dogs got fed, chores got done, games got played, and everyone drifted off to bed as they got tired. It's just about my turn.

I took the cats to the kennel yesterday, and did a bunch of other running around and getting stuff ready at home. Wednesday was Mary's birthday. We went grocery shopping (woohoo! weirdo), then met Mona for lunch at B's Diner. I got a chance to take in some more hats. Brenda said she found the blog of someone who was taking apart knit things for yarn to make hats for them. She's going to double check it ... we think it may be this blog! Hah! Bob introduced Mary to a fellow who has a plant store across the way, so we went there afterwards. Tuesday, I turned in my keys at work, collected up my stuff, turned in time sheets, and had a visit with Chicken. A good day!

2007-02-09T17:36:00.000-07:00

Damned Fool ...

There was a guy on the bus with those enormous baggy pants with the crotch at the knees (nope, not exaggerating for effect, in this case) that ride way-low. With the studded belt and the wallet on a chain. This guy's were even lower than usual, though. His belt was below his ass. I stared at him nearly the whole bus ride, trying to figure out how they didn't fall right off. Then it hit me. He must've had a loop around his neck, attached to the front of his pants. That'd explain the extreme slouch, too. But he's not the damned fool.

I was walking around with the laundry pail over my head, being tall, peering out through the handle. When I ran up the stairs, I hit the ceiling and jammed the sides down onto my shoulders.

2007-02-06T17:45:00.000-07:00

Pizza ...

I met Mary and the kids at the art supply store on Saturday ... poked around and looked at stuff ... and left with Ernie. We got groceries and picked up a quiche from BeeBell (oh my!) 'cuz he was ravenous ... went home, fed the boy and put away groceries ... went to Bonnie Doon to look at rude T-shirts and pick one for his birthday present ... came home, put in Mr. and Mrs. Smith ...

... ordered Funky Pickle Pizza 'cuz he was ravenous again ... went to a late showing of Stranger Than Fiction (popcorn ... daym, that boy can eat!), which started 20 minutes later than it was supposed to ... came home and bundled Ernie onto the couch to sleep.

I visited with Nina and her cousin for a while, puttered on the 'puter, and crashed.

We got up on Sunday, fed Ernie the rest of the quiche and pizza for breakfast in front of Buffy ... packed up and loaded the car ... drove to Mona's, packed us and them into her car and drove to Mary's ...

... where we messed up her kitchen but good! We made a bottomless greek salad and home-made pizza (yup, more pizza!), yacked, talked, laughed, hugged and smooched, and talked some more. Then Mona and I packed up Rose and Cassandra and all our stuff and drove back to Mona's house ... fed the girls more pizza 'cuz they are locusts ... put 'em in Jammies With No Diapers Yay, read 'em stories, kissed 'em and put 'em to bed. Mona was performing pom-pom surgery on Rose's toque when I left to come home and feed the wee beasties. It was a good weekend.

Oh! There was singing in the car. The girls sang "Stinky Oma" (Raffi's Schmenge Polka to everyone else) at the tops of their little lungs.

2007-01-31T22:32:00.000-07:00

Green ...

Even those who don't know me might have figured out that I adore the colour green, particularly the yellower shades. Those who do know me are rolling their eyes, 'cuz they know that I love green to an absurd degree.

Anailese, who is not quite three, puts on a green shirt when she knows I'm coming to visit and tells her mom stories about how I buy green babies at the store and hands me things that are "... zat green zat you yuv so much."

Today, she and her mom were having a conversation about hair colour, because Pippi has red hair and Anailese has blonde hair and so does Barbara and Daddy has brown hair and Anailese's Auntie Neen has black hair with a magenta streak and Lynn-Lynn has reddish hair.

Says Anailese, "Yinn-Yinn doesn't have red hair, Mummy!"
Says Barbara, "Well, reddish blonde"
Says Anailese, "I told you before, Mummy. Yinn-Yinn has greenish blonde hair."
Says Barbara, "Oh really. What colour do you see when you look at Lynn-Lynn?"
Says Anailese with a sigh, looking at her mother like she has a tomato plant growing from her forehead, "Green."

What a dear child!