Still around…

just not so full of bloggy news. gearing up for Agatha’s birthday, Christmas here and away, and, of course, MilleyBirthdaySeason tm. am a little bummed, as usual, what with the relentlessly soggy dark weather, and anxiety around all those events i just mentioned. also, and there’s no easy way to write this without sounding attention-craving, or too blase, but my gramma died last week after suffering the indignity known as “Alzheimer’s” for far too long a time. oh, and i messed my back up. again, it’s difficult to write about such things whilst striking the ‘right’ tone: i am sad, but not too sad. i am down, but not too down.
on a lighter note, i am craftily planning for agatha’s fairy tea party birthday party. 9 pairs of wings, 9 wands, 18 metres of tulle, 5 m elastic, various bobbles and craft supplies have been purchased. we have designed invitations…okay, we have modified a template in Publisher, which we will print out, address, cover in fairy stickers and mail to 8 lucky invitees. there will be crown making, cookie decorating, pass the parcelling, and general merriment. am looking forward to it, and to taking pictures of it for your bemusement.
so…that’s really about it for now. i hope that the fall is finding you still chipper, or at least, cozy and not ill. Question o’ the day: what’s the best thing about November?

what i do with my child-free time: a photo essay by me

I spend several hours making this:

and for a closeup:

hope aurora likes it, lisa.

Question o’ the day: What do you do with an unexpectedly unscheduled day? What would you like to do?

SoCal Part the Two

Collages. I am in love with them. How they distill a particular day/time/moment into happy juice. Obviously then, there are more to follow.

Behold our first day at the amazing San Diego Zoo. (Yes, we needed 2 days to see most of it. it’s 160 acres.) Say what you will about keeping animals in captivity–i agree with lots of the reasons against doing so–the kids getting to actually see endangered critters, and learn about them, is pretty great. also, the zoo is delightfully obsessive about social and environmental responsibility. par example, they water the rainforests every day with a total of only 5 gallons (!) of mist. likewise, the disposable cutlery at the food locales is composed of biodegradable sugar cane. crazy. i personally appreciated that all the critters have ‘people free’ zones available at all times, especially the poor goats at the petting zoo. but i digress. here’s collage numero uno:

The next collage is an assortment of pics from that night, on the beach in Coronado. It was perhaps my favourite night of the whole trip: the light was truly spectacular, fantastic for photos, and the sand, well, my children inadvertently brought cups of it home in their pockets and hoods, so delighted were they in its powdery white smoothness.

And, sadly, we come to the last of the collagy goodnes. One final pastiche of photos from our time in beautiful San Diego. sniff sniff. if only the water and highways were better, i really would like to winter there.

Okay, I lied. there’s one more. the last night we went out to dine, I got to try the famous “In and Out” burger. dude, i had to talk myself out of ordering a second. so tasty.

there you have it. some highlights, some lowlights, the works. hope you enjoyed the collages.
Question o’ the day, and a pretty narcissistic one at that (though, I have spent about 3 hours putting this stuff together for you, so…:)): what is your favourite photo from our trip, and why?

Parental Advisory

Seriously. These are products I found in the dollar store today. I’m not sure if it’s a translation thing, or what, but these items can be yours for only a dollar…no, wait, $1.25 now. but still. Wouldn’t you love to take one of these babies out on the town?

What a conversation starter on a hot night of bingo! And they come in so many colours:

There now. don’t you feel amused? On a more uplifting note, I also captured this charming slogan on the back of the van ahead of me:
In case anyone was in any doubt about his awesomeness. or in need of a truly spectacular display of fonts.

Question o’ the day: what’s the most shocking/hilarious product you’ve ever encountered?

Garden Therapy

What a glorious autumn! For all of you who wrote that the weather is your favourite thing about this season, for once, I have to agree. I don’t think I could ever tire of endlessly sunny, warm, breezy days, with crisp mornings, and harvesty goodness all around.

Yesterday I decreed it “Gardening Day” chez nous. I have needed to weed in the veggie patch for sometime, but I was not expecting the chore to transform into a treasure hunt, spying and unearthing all the goodies the garden has been producing, unbeknownst to me, for the duration of the summer.
First, I discovered that our onion had had babies:
ooh, arty onion shot….

Then, tiny mutant carrots revealed themselves under the broad branches of a tomato plant. We have three happy, squat little orange pumpkins, and three more japanese (green) ones still on the vine.

Thanks to climate change (I think) the warmer temperatures mean that my tomatoes and strawberries still think it’s go time, yielding blossoms,
and even berries!!!

Now, all of this may not float your boat. Before this summer, I loathed gardening blogs, all, “the strawberries aren’t getting enough boron, ” and “have you tried soap and water on the squash leaves?” now, i’m afraid, i’m a proselytizing gardening convert, over exuberant about dirt and sun and what to do with a bumper tomato crop. You’ll just have to forgive my naive enthusiasm. I’m sure next year everything will die, and I will quit gardening forever.

Speaking of tomatoes, however, I’ve harvested a few more this week, and was so charmed with their scarlet insides that I photographed a dinner in production. WARNING: FOOD PORN TO FOLLOW. If you don’t like close-up shots of food, you’ll have to look away now.

ta da. now, if only food always looked that appetizing during the prep stages.

What about you? Question o’ the day: What is your favourite fall food? I think i’ve asked this before, but, maybe you’ve changed your choice recently.

now, i leave you with a mostly unflattering shot of me holding the recently felled giant sunflower that towered over our garden plot until yesterday. the birds, ants, and squirrels picked it completely clean.

here, there, everywhere.

cliches be damned. it DOES feel like the summer has just slipped past, and we’re not ready for it to be over. as usual, the time gets away from me and the blog, it suffers. here’s a summary of the past few weeks, though, in a few terse and clipped phrases.
had an anniversary. our 10th, actually, and we’re pretty pleased about it.
had a birthday. less pleased, but in conjunction with the anniversary, received this:

the holy grail of sewing, the coverlock machine. tune in for the next 6 months, as i learn to thread and operate this sewing behemoth.

spent a week (courtesy of the lovely earl and barb) at SunPeaks, sans enfants (indebted to Milley grandparents forever, since edmund was returned to us toilet-trained (!) and chickenpoxy).
spent some time



relaxing inside, and:


enjoying the outdoors.

aw, aren’t we cute?
Question o’ the summer: Can you describe your summer in 30 words or less? or, is there one image that sums it all up?

mmm…pie.

actually, i have ambivalent feelings about pie. seriously. that’s not just for comic effect. i have only recently attempted to make them, and i haven’t always been successful. and, in a “Cake or Pie?” kind of scenario, it’s always going to be cake, as far as i’m concerned. But last night I thought I should go with the season, bringing blueberry pie to greet my cousin-in-law for the first time. Instead, I wound up proffering…”blueberry soup”. um, who forgot the flour????

but i am not a quitter. tonight, Try No.2 of the Great Pie War of 2009.
behold the majesty of…

PIE!!!

CLOSE UP OF PIE!

CLOSER UP OF PIE!

enough with photos of the triumphant victuals. instead, let me pose a Question O’ the Day: What is your kitchen nemesis? What thing would you love to make, that always turns out…meh?

Housecleaning

An apt title for today, as I am both avoiding the task in my actual abode, but managing to do some organizing and resizing of photos here on the computer. I give a random assortment of photos from the summer so far.


Waterpark fun

Cooling down in the creek at mes parents’

a rare, if slightly blurry, photo of my camera-shy sister


rollin’ rural style

my handsome husband, in an inadvertent send-up of the James Dean photo

me as flowerchild

the trees at the top of my parents’ hill (which i am apparently obsessed with)

Question o’ the day: What is your most memorable summer 09 moment (so far)?

when mummy cleans the bathroom…

it’s time to suck on an ink pad!


Question o’ the day: what’s the grossest thing you ate as a small child? or, have you ever had your stomach pumped (alcohol poisoning doesn’t count)?

Summer feet.

ever since i was a wee’un, i have been mildly obsessed with my feet. perhaps it is because they are freakishly skinny, often the only part of me able to lay claim to that descriptor. in any case, there is a moment, a moment that happens only once every few years, where my humble toesies become the perfect symbol for a perfect summer.

this year, it’s made even better by the addition of friendship anklets (or, “piglet anklets” as edmund calls them). agatha made mine herself.

A perfect summer, you say? What makes it a perfect summer?  Well, this:

several hilarious and mostly successful rounds of scrabble,

baking and craft sessions just me and the kiddies,

down time,

day trips with cousins,

water fun of all kinds,

and Canada Day cuteness.

As a sidenote, i love how a gallery of photos distills the fun times, making them far outshine the regular bumps and hiccups of daily life.

Now, we’re back, and into the thick of our first summer of lessons.  Just swimming and yoga, mind you, but the first sessions where both the children are occupied at the same time.

so, now that you’re overwhelmed with photos, a Question O’ the Day:

what makes a summer perfect?