Living the Every Day

The Possibility of Words

2010-09-22T06:49:00.000-04:00

A vague memory will surface from time to time of when I was about four or five years old, and my mother was teaching me how to read. I can recall the annoyance and frustration my four-year-old self felt of being "forced" to do such tedious work as stringing the sounds of letters together to make words. Now, of course, I feel nothing but gratitude for her dodged patience and persistence, because I find that I have fallen in love with the written word. I love the possibility that exists within them. I love feeling that a blank page is like a canvas, and that the words I put on it create a painting. I love the thrill of opening a new book and not knowing where the words will take me, and the thrill of opening an old book and being able to take the journey again.

Words can create and destroy. They can soothe and rile. They can pull forth the entire range of human emotion, and paint vistas that are beautiful or ugly, and every possibility in between. Words can take the reader to far off and exotic places - whether they exist in reality or not. They can bring the past to life, or illuminate a future. Combined skillfully, words can walk the reader down the corridor of a medieval castle, or the mud strewn ruts of a peasant village. They can send you soaring into the sky on the backs of dragons and plunge you into the abyss of the ocean. Words can be beautiful, mundane, startling, bold, evasive, dangerous...everything is a possibility.

This, perhaps, is why I love writing so much. I dabbled in it as a child, creating poems and ballads, but not until I graduated from university did I begin to devote time to it in earnest, and it has quickly become a passion.

Because that is what I love - I love to create things.

To weave pictures and paint words.

The Big Boy and the Little Man

2010-09-01T14:27:00.000-04:00

Keani: "What is that thing?"

Keani: "I can't get the toy, Mom..."

Keani: "Yes! He's distracted. Gonna grab it while I've got the chance."

This is how Keani eats; taking kibble bits out of his bowl and dropping them on the floor.

Icewind: "Don't worry Mom, I'll clean it up."

Keani: "I'll think I'll eat my food after all. I don't need your help."

Keani: "Gotta finish this before he comes back."

Icewind: "Oh, fine, I'll eat my own food. It's exactly the same anyway."

Keani: "My foot. This is my foot."

Keani in the driver's seat

Keani: Zzzzzz

Icewind: "Are you checking up on us?|

Inferno on the Road

2010-08-28T16:56:00.000-04:00

A dense cloud of black smoke became visible as I approached the intersection, billowing up into the sky. Traffic, including myself, were diverted to the right, where most people opted to abandon their cars and scramble onto the grassy stretch beside a plaza to witness the blaze.

The photos don't capture it, but flames were licking out of the side in a huge snarling mass, writhing like they were alive. Thankfully, a woman standing by answered my anxious query about the driver with the information that whoever it was had gotten away. That was wonderful news.

A fire truck and a police cruiser pulled up just before I left, though. Not something you expect to see on the way home from work.

Ordinary or Extraordinary

2010-08-25T09:55:00.000-04:00

The air was a blend of coolness and warmth on Monday. A wonderful day for a walk or two, despite the minute droplets of intermittent rain. We took advantage of the weather to go for a stroll in a local park. It's a place we've been to many, many times. Grasses, trees, flowers, leaves, water... as I explained to a student last week, two people can watch the same sunrise, and see something completely different. To one, it's just a sunrise. To the other, it's dark shadowy clouds dramatically under lit by the rising sun, with a rosy blush throughout. Same sunrise, different perspective.
Same park, different perspective.

Beauty

Bridging the distance

Quiet place for a picnic

Graceful arc

Tibetan Spaniels generally love being on high places, and Keani is no exception.

Autumn's touch

Park residents

Splashes of color. The flowers reminded me of snapdragons

Winding trail

Reflection

The sinuous shapes of trees

In a field of clover

Juxtaposition

Tree bark patterns

Ordinary or extraordinary?

Growing ducklings and their mother

Alone in a sea of green

Bridal trails of ivy

Touching a mirror

Icewind, happily on top of everything

In the driver's seat with Dad

The Friendly Guardian

Art in Motion: Heron

2010-08-18T09:51:00.000-04:00

I can't BELIEVE how much trouble I had getting this one to look decent on screen. Didn't really succeed, unfortunately, as it still looks a bit fuzzy. *Sighs* Oh well. I started this drawing last week and worked on it for little bits, usually at night, when I had finished my writing and other things for the day and wanted to watch a bit of television. Drawing and painting are two of the things I can actually do in front of the T.V., and it keeps me from feeling that I am "wasting" time, *lol.*

Saying Goodbye to Another Season

2010-08-17T08:30:00.000-04:00

The tang of Fall is in the air, and I even find myself thinking about snow, and *Gasp!* Christmas. Horrifying, I know. It may have something to do with being wound up over the imminent, and imminently huge, schedule change that is looming just around the corner. I have to say that I am tired of having it hanging over us - I want to just wade in and get it rolling, already!

On the other hand, it may have something to do with what we spent six hours straight doing, yesterday. It was the perfect day for it; breezy, mild, but not cold. Yes, yesterday we cleaned out 3/4 of the gardens. A little early, you say? Perhaps. But I know I won't have the time (or the inclination, probably), to do it once I'm back in school full time, teaching piano three days a week and still hoping to do a bit of writing/ artwork, and, of course, spend time with my hubby and canine babies.

So we pulled and plucked, chopped and snipped, and the result was eleven bags of yard waste, and much barer looking gardens. The verdict is in on the weed carpets, though. The bad news is that No, they do not stop weeds from growing, HOWEVER, they make the weeds much, MUCH easier to pull. So yes, they are staying as a yearly garden staple.

To celebrate and commemorate another growing season, I have posted photos of the phases it's gone through from March to the peak of the summer. It began, as usual, on my glass kitchen table, with newspaper, Styrofoam cups, a water spritzer and a huge amount of seeds...

...and progressed to the two mini "greenhouses," we put up by our kitchen windows. These two shelves become home to hundreds of plants - both vegetables and flowers - from the months of March to June.

Once the soil warms, it's time to go at it with shovels and other digging implements for the purpose of weeding, loosening the soil, and enriching it with things like composted manure.

This year, we added the step of covering the garden plots with weed carpet. Aaaah, it looks so clean...

At this point, I often wonder if the garden will ever look like it did last year, *lol* These are the seedlings in their cup planters. I placed them where I felt they should be planted (by height, color, etc...) Hubby isn't as familiar with their characteristics as I am, of course, so this was how he was able to help me "install" them.

Almost there. Carpet doesn't look too clean, now, covered in plants and dirt.

And Voila! One garden plot done. For me, it's an annual act of faith to believe that these little ones, sparse looking as they are right now, will fill out, join together, and actually form a flower garden.

And they certainly tried their best not to disappoint.

And there it is...

...Until Next Year!

Sockeye Salmon Dip Recipe, and a Little of This and That

2010-08-09T11:31:00.000-04:00

Last week I posted a rich and decadent recipe that I entitled White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake. This weekend I set myself to experiment and come up with a layered chocolate mousse recipe and some chocolate truffle recipes, but lest anyone think that all we eat are sweets, here is an appetizer recipe that was created on the same day as the white chocolate cake. I have written it once again as a Suite101 article, and it can be found here: Sockeye Salmon Dip Recipe.

For anyone who may be wondering how we can put away all of these sweets...No, my husband and I do not exercise, other than the occasional walk and the "garden" and "house-cleaning" work-out. Our problem is that we have a hard time exercising just for the sake of it, and I am ashamed to say that whenever I come up with a regime, I usually only manage to stick to it for about four days before I throw in the towel. I hasten to explain that we always eat brown rice and red rice, stay away from white bread and pasta (unless it's whole-wheat), and almost never eat fast food, donuts, chips or store-bought goodies, and we never drink pop. Sounds fun-less, perhaps, but it leaves us more leeway for home-baked goodies!

One day, I hope to be able to take ballroom-dancing lessons, to combine exercise with fun with learning something I really want to be able to do well. That's the kind of motivation I need, *sighs*

I snapped this adorable photo this morning of our two boys. I think I'm going to call it "Brother Love." It's wonderful to witness how attached our two canine "kids" are. Icewind is superbly gentle with Keani, and is careful to have a "soft mouth" around his little brother. Keani is the typical bratty little brother who adores but torments his older brother.

These are some additional cute pics.

It's been about seven years since I got my BA from the University of Toronto, and now, in exactly three weeks, I will be returning to the hallowed halls of education and learning, albeit at a different university. Almost time to take a deep breath and roll up the proverbial sleeves.

Along that note... for those of you who, like me, are fans of Dr. Seuss, here is a witty satire of his wonderful book "Oh, the Places You'll Go." I wasn't sure whether to laugh, or feel a bit depressed after reading it, but I enjoyed it enough to share: http://www.collegehumor.com/article:1806240

Adorable Photos of Newborn Foal in his Mother's Lap

2010-08-07T08:51:00.000-04:00

I came across these adorable photos this morning. Having so many of my music students take the summer off has big pros and cons, but one of the pros is that I don't have to rush out of the house at 7:20 am on Saturday mornings, giving me a bit of time to relax, read, and stumble across interesting things on the computer.
Check out the photos at this link: Pix: Nothing like mom’s lap

Happy Saturday!

The Blitz: Part 4 - Reaching for the Finish Line

2010-08-05T21:14:00.000-04:00

after over 900 cookies, 150 (or so) muffins, 30 loaves of sweet breads (meaning banana, strawberries, etc...), vats of spaghetti sauce, broccoli cheese soup, ground beef with onions, sliced pork, 8 whole chickens, and various odds and ends (i.e squares, more chicken, another slew of ground beef), the finish line is in sight for "The Blitz." Good thing, too, since school for me starts in about three weeks.

The freezers? (we have two) - bursting. Thankfully, we were able to vacuum-seal everything except the bread, which should do fine in the amount of layers we wrapped them in.

Have I accomplished everything I said I wanted to this summer? Well, no, not quite, perhaps. But, mind you, I did add more to the list, including all those pieces of art that I've done (and four more I hope to do/ finish). I also completed my second writing course, culminating in a 200 or so page manuscript. Not the first manuscript I've completed, but the longest so far.

My goal was originally to finish two or three more outfits, which was made moot by the fact that my sewing machine pedal decided to give out about a month ago. I had almost completed another long swishy-skirt, too, the kind that ripples and flows when the wearer walks, but with the imminent return to school, it seemed pointless to spend money fixing the machine until I had more time to use it.

I also wanted to complete a second YA manuscript, finish editing a middle-grade one, and get started on a few more. I did manage to finish editing the middle-grade one, but the rest will have to wait a bit. After all, summer only comes once a year, so I've taken more time to relax with books, watch movies, and spend time with my human beloved and our canine babies.

Ah, Summer, Why dost thou flee so quickly?

The Joy of Baking: White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake

2010-08-03T08:35:00.000-04:00

Finding recipes is something that I take great pleasure in, especially when they turn out to be gems. For the past nine or ten years I have been steadily building up a collection of favorite recipes, as well as favorite places to look for them.

But if finding a great recipe is a joy, then creating one and sharing it is even better. This last weekend I put together a summery (although by no means restricted to that season!) concoction that I have dubbed "White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake," the recipe of which I have posted on my Suite 101 page and can be found here: White Chocolate Strawberry Cream Cake.

If you do decide to create this confection, I hope you enjoy eating it as much as we did!

Dance with Me

2010-07-29T12:24:00.000-04:00

My third acrylic piece of the summer is a bit of a departure from my usual styles. I felt like I was taking a bit of a risk, in a way, but I'm quite pleased with the way it turned out.

Art in Motion: Swans

2010-07-26T10:30:00.000-04:00

Art in Motion: Peacocks

2010-07-19T13:41:00.000-04:00

Hard on the heels of Snow Leopard comes Peacocks. Yes, I know, the titles are absolutely boring. I spend a great deal of creative energy thinking of names for various articles and manuscripts. When it comes to artwork, I put the creativity into the actual creation, and don't bother with trying to find clever names, anymore :)
I can't show this one in as many stages, because this piece was painted over a previous work.

Revelling in Summer Blooms

2010-07-14T10:52:00.000-04:00

I have to admit that every year, when I place my little seedlings into the earth outside, I worry. Eighty-five to ninety percent of our plants are home-grown from seeds - that's two to three hundred. I start them in indoor "greenhouses" in March and April. But still, they always look so tiny when being transplanted, and one can never be quite, quite sure, unless one waits until the end of June, that the icy fingers of frost are gone for good.
I was even more worried this year. With the wacky weather, the seedlings just didn't seem to want to grow very much once they were in the gardens. I waited with bated breath for weeks. But now, finally, my efforts have paid off. The front gardens are a riot of color, playing host to bees. The back gardens are mantled with green, and home to darting dragonflies.

This is a picture that one of my student's created for me, using beads and other materials. Goes right along with the summer blooms theme!

Art in Motion: Snow Leopard

2010-07-06T12:05:00.000-04:00

Seven and a half weeks before it's time to roll up the sleeves and once again enter the hallowed halls of Formal Education. In the meantime, I'm taking advantage of these few weeks to create some new pieces of art - something I haven't done (besides the illustrating stuff) for a while. This last one that was finished was created with pencil, ink and watercolor.

First, the picture was sketched onto watercolor paper with pencil.

Next, the edges were inked in carefully with a small brush.

Afterwards, the areas that would be black were filled in with ink, again with a brush.

When the ink was dry, the piece was painted in watercolor.

Cream Cheese Tarts, Creamy Potato Salad and Cascades of Butterflies

2010-06-29T12:14:00.000-04:00

The car hummed quietly as we wound our way down roads and weaved through highway traffic. With the sunroof open, and a portable 'car' fridge in the backseat, we were on our way to spend a day in Niagara Falls. If we could have, we would possibly have opted to celebrate our anniversary in Europe, or Australia, or on a cruise ship, but since none of these options are economically possible at the present time, we decided that it would be at least worthwhile to 'get away' and go somewhere relatively local but nice all the same.
Despite a short torrential downpour of rain, it was a wonderful day, filled with butterflies, gardens, quaint streets, horse-drawn carriages and, of course, the famed falls for which Niagara Falls is named. Descriptions and tons of pictures are below the recipes in this post.
Financial constraints dictates a limited amount of spending money, and so, as in all of our excursions (whether it be a week in Florida or a day in New York State), I prepared food to bring with us. In addition to chicken and ham sandwiches and egg salad with cucumber and ham sandwiches, I threw together a creamy potato salad and some cream cheese tarts:

CREAMY POTATO SALAD
Ingredients
5 large Yukon Gold potatoes
9 strips of cooked bacon, crumbled
1/4 cup fresh chives, chopped
1/8 cup three cheese creamy salad dressing
1/8 cup blue cheese creamy salad dressing

Directions
Peel the potatoes and chop into cubes. Cook in boiling water for approximately 8 to 15 minutes, or until desired tenderness. Drain and place in a bowl.
In a medium bowl, combine both salad dressings, crumbled bacon and chives. Mix together.
Pour mixture over potatoes and toss. Serves 4.

CREAM CHEESE TARTS
Ingredients
15 tart shells, baked
1 block of cream cheese (8 oz)
1/3 cup sugar
1 cup whipped topping
4 tbsp plain yogurt

Directions
In a medium bowl, beat cream cheese until fluffy. Add the yogurt, and beat until well combined and creamy. Beat in sugar and mix well. Fold in the whipped topping.
Fill the baked tart shells with the cream cheese mixture. Add topping, or leave plain. Chill until ready to serve.

These little tarts can be finished with a variety of toppings. Here are some ideas:
Garnish with a small sprig of mint.
Drizzle with melted chocolate.
Top with fruits such as raspberries, blueberries, strawberries, chopped canned peaches or blackberries. Melt some jam and spoon over the fruit.

Now back to the day trip.
We arrived in Niagara Falls at about one in the afternoon. A desire to sleep in made us leave the house a little later than originally planned, and our car needed an oil change that morning.
We stopped at a little tourist information building once there. To our delight, we discovered that a certain little ice cream shop that is based in Prince Edward Island, and with which we had fallen in love with when we were there, had now expanded and landed a store in Niagara-on-the-Lake. We determined to make a stop there, but first we wanted to go to the butterfly conservatory.
We accidentally drove in the wrong direction on route, which I thought was a good thing, because it meant that we were able to meander a little through Cliffton Hill.

The Conservatory is near Niagara-on-the-Lake. Surrounded by beautiful grounds, it is a peaceful place to be, or at least it would have been if we hadn't arrived at the same time as busloads of jabbering school children.

Inside the Conservatory is a 'rainforest', complete with stream and waterfall. Butterflies of all shapes, sizes and colors flitted through the air, hung on the windows, clung to the flora, fluttered past our knees, and landed on arms, shirts and heads.

In a glass observational area were pinned row upon row of cocoons, with some of their occupants free and beating against the glass.

Butterflies sat feasting on plates of citrus fruit and sugar, making a strange tableau.

Although both my husband and I had butterflies land on us to make our acquaintance, one bold fellow clung to my husband's elbow all the way to the exit, where we informed the workers that one of their tenants was trying to hitch a ride out.

Next to the Conservatory is a large and sprawling botanical garden, which we were going to explore before being washed out by the aforesaid mentioned torrential rain. Undaunted, we drove instead to Niagara-on-the-Lake to visit Cows, the little ice cream store so dear to our hearts.

Of course, once we got there, it had stopped raining, which was great, because we were then able to walk around the quaint little streets. Cows is known for their fabulous ice cream and wacky t-shirts that currently parodies everything from Indiana Jones to Star Trek to Hannah Montana.

After our walk, we headed back to the botanical gardens, passing the flower clock on the way.

Some of the garden walkways were flooded, but we braved them anyway.

Only after the gardens did we head out to the falls, leaning on the railing and listening to the incessant thunder of the water pouring into the chasm and looking at the rainbows that glimmered in the spray.

It was a wonderful day.

Art in Motion: How the Stars came into the Sky

2010-06-21T12:37:00.000-04:00

Some months ago I decided that it was time yet again to pad the children's illustrating portfolio. With this in mind, I began to hunt for a legend to bring to life. I came across an allegedly Chinese tale about how the stars ended up in the sky. In a nutshell, the story told of how some children were playing in a field when they noticed pieces of the sky falling. They picked up all the pieces that they could, but some fell in the river and were washed away. Alarmed, the children brought the bits of sky that they had collected to the wise-woman of the village and sorrowfully told her how the rest had been lost. But she told them not to worry. That night, the wise-woman sewed the pieces of the sky back together, and filled the gaps with something that glimmered. When the sky was flung back into the air, the parts that had been filled in could still be seen, glittering and sparkling high above.
This is the first part of the story. The piece was first drawn by hand, scanned into the computer and painted with digital oil.

HOW THE STARS CAME INTO THE SKY

The initial sketch (done in four parts and put together.)

The Blitz: Part 3

2010-06-15T13:29:00.000-04:00

Actually, to be accurate this post should be called 'The Blitz: Part 2.5, 2.75 and 3,' but since that title really doesn't look good or sound good, I stuck with the 'Part 3' thing.
Since the last 'Blitz ' chronicle both the squares and the cakes segments have been completed. Delectable scents kept wafting from the oven, but my husband and I have been very good with exercising our willpower - neither of us snuck so much as a single cookie from the trays or a single square from the pans.

After baking a double batch of regular brownies, mint squares, nanaimo bars, mint brownies and caramel marshmallow brownies, I went on to bake a few pans of snack cakes.
This weekend I figuratively rolled up my sleeves, squared my shoulders and took a deep breath. After purchasing 36 bananas and 6 large containers of strawberries (among other ingredients, of course), it was time to start on the quick breads.My goal: 30 loaves of bread.
Armed with five recipes (actually six, I printed out one too many recipes, dithered about whether I was going to make an extra 6 loaves, and then decided...nah.) I made the 30 loaves over the weekend - six of each type of bread.
I think my husband is starting to worry a little. "Honey," he said, after stacking the banana bread, strawberry bread, strawberry banana bread and pumpkin bread, "there's no more room in the freezer!" We haven't even put the chocolate banana bread in, yet. Thank goodness we have two freezers. Ah well, it's a good time to go in and get rid of old freezer junk.

Actually I don't think we have much of that. Hmmm. Well, somehow, it'll all fit in.

A decadent chocolate birthday cake was also created this weekend. It's my dad's birthday on Thursday, and we celebrated it on Monday.

The day is filled with the noise of loud machines as workers brick our neighbor's driveway (at least, I think that's what they're doing.) Icewind, of course, being the House, Property and Family Guardian has taken it upon himself to make sure that they behave themselves. This is him keeping an eye on things.

The Keani-Man

2010-06-14T19:17:00.000-04:00

'Ding!'
I felt pretty smug when I found a counter-top bell at Staples and brought it home. The idea was to put it on the floor and teach Keani (and Icewind, too, I was hoping at the time) to ring it when he wanted to go outside. That way, I would hear it no matter where I was in the house, and we could perhaps save the screen door from being shredded into tatters.

With great enthusiasm, I gathered puppy, treats and bell and put them beside each other. Cue fanfare. I was confident of the outcome, and I wasn't disappointed. Keani only took about twenty minutes to figure out that all he had to do to win a treat was to step directly on the little thing that was sticking out of the middle of the silver dome. Ah ha! I thought. Mission accomplished! Now to make the association between the bell and the door.

Yeah, that didn't happen. It's my fault, I know. For some reason, after successfully teaching him how to ring the bell in the first place, I stopped caring about whether he rang it to go outside or not. But this was after he would ring it and, upon me opening the door, sit there and stare at me with earnest expectant eyes, not moving until I offered something tasty to him. And I, weak and melty canine mom that I am, gave in.

But I did put my foot down when it came to him asking to be let back in from being outside, and then sitting on the outside step, dithering about whether he really wanted to come in or not. Now he knows that if he asks for the door to open, he has until the count of five to move his little paws inside, otherwise the door closes. Of course, he also knows that he can ask about six seconds later, and the door will open again, but he doesn't usually take advantage of that fact.

Seems like both Icewind and Keani can now count up to five. Not bad, eh?

Birthdays are so Passé...or Maybe Not.

2010-06-08T12:46:00.000-04:00

I'm not sure when my birthdays ceased to be Something to be celebrated with great pomp and circumstance.
No, wait, that's not entirely true. I can make a vague estimate. It was probably somewhere around my eighteenth year, when I realized I was heading into my twenties and that, instead of being an exciting landmark (children are usually very proud when they announce all of how old they are), it was just a day to add yet another number to my age.
Various thoughts rolled around in my head as I wandered through the day Before the 'big' day. One of them was: What's the difference between today, the day Before, and tomorrow, the day Of? Or, for that matter, the following day, the day After. Time has a funny way of presenting itself. It's not like I went suddenly from one number to the next in two days. No, much as I might wish to cling to the 'younger' age, the 'older' one has in fact been inching up, day by day, hour by hour, minute by minute. It shouldn't catch me by surprise.

I used to celebrate my birthdays (or, rather, they used to be celebrated for me) with big parties, colorful balloons and mounds of presents. Ironically, as the years go by, I find that we (my brothers and I) make a bigger deal about my parents' birthdays than our own. It's a strange turn of the tables.
It's not that I don't like my 'special' day being acknowledged. I very much love and appreciate the kind wishes and the thoughts - but more for themselves than for what they commemorate, perhaps.
My birthday almost slipped by uncelebrated by me personally, this year. Despite the 'family' dinner, I still managed to half forget about it. It was a near miss, but a little cake and a dinner at The Keg with my Beloved makes me realize that perhaps birthdays are not completely passé for me, after all.

Why isn't Green my Favorite Color?

2010-06-01T09:36:00.000-04:00

Well, a one week hiatus on 'The Blitz' (because of circumstances) is going on a little longer than anticipated, however I am Determined to finish the Muffins/ Squares segment this week. Then it's on to Cakes. But it's time *Sigh* to start thinking about stocking up on various meats. One more month until the Main Courses and Side Courses need to be done - hopefully the vegetable garden will cooperate.

I am slowly ticking things off my 'to do' checklist (and adding things all the time, of course). The front flower gardens have been planted. Dianthus, aster, snapdragon, sweet pea, petunia, marigold, dahlia, bee balm, alyssum, phlox, morning glory, cosmos and double impatiens are the annual tenants this year, alongside the perennials: Asian lily, malva, heliopsis, a climbing rose, clematis, bleeding heart, something I don't remember the name of, and a rose bush that we thought we had dug out. Apparently it didn't want to move locations, which turned out to be very wise of it.

We've also finished planting the back vegetable and berry garden for this season, and stocked up on our vegetable and flower seeds for next year. Raspberries, blackberries, blueberries, grapes and red currants range along one side of the fence. Tiny green baby grapes are starting to hang in clusters from the vine. Peas are almost ready to be picked, and beans are also making an appearance. Watermelon, cantaloupe, eggplant, tomato, pepper, cucumber, zucchini and corn are growing and biding their time. Meanwhile, the mint are overflowing their bed as usual, and the asparagus look like tall thin feathers in the wind.
Watching my seedlings and plants grow and (hopefully) flourish makes me very happy. Sometimes I wonder why my favorite color isn't green?

The Blitz: Part 2

2010-05-18T12:09:00.000-04:00

Chronicles of 'The Blitz' continues at Living the Every Day with a barrage of muffins and squares. If you're wondering why the focus seems to be on sweets, it's not because we're junk food junkies (quite the opposite, actually, despite appearances), it's because meats etc...don't last as long in the freezer, so they need to be done last.
The numbers for the muffins and squares won't be nearly as great as they were for the cookies - probably about 168 muffins and about 300 squares (when they are all cut into pieces - I don't mean that I am going to make 300 different kinds of squares!). I figured that seven types of muffins, doubled, and six types of brownies/ square, doubled, should be just about right.
This weekend consisted of orange pumpkin muffins, apple cheddar muffins, roasted garlic muffins, banana peanut butter and chocolate chip muffins, caramelized onion muffins, mint squares, mint brownies and nanaimo bars. These are now vacuum-sealed and stacked in the freezer.
They are keeping the cookies company.

Snow?

2010-05-12T11:52:00.000-04:00

What a lovely surprise to see fuzzy crystal flakes pouring down from the sky on Saturday evening. Even better waking up on Sunday to find that the roof looked like the dusted panes of a gingerbread house.

Thankfully this particular visitor didn't stay long. Snow in mid-May isn't welcome :)

Nine Hundred Cookies - Check

2010-05-10T09:30:00.000-04:00

Okay, so I did say approximately one thousand cookies. Does nine hundred and twenty-nine count? That's about one hundred cookies for every month, and even my husband the 'cookie monster' thinks that that's a lot of cookies.

After three hundred and sixty-eight chocolate chip cookies, sixty-seven molasses cookies, one hundred and sixteen chocolate oatmeal cookies, one hundred and forty-four oatmeal butterscotch cookies and two hundred and thirty-four triple chocolate cookies, THE BLITZ: Phase One is done. (Well, it will be in about half-an-hour when my husband has finished vacuum sealing the last batch.)
Seven more phases to go!

The Blitz: Part 1

2010-05-03T10:50:00.000-04:00

I was a bowl of mixed emotions when I got the admittance letter to the B.Ed program. After graduating from the University of Toronto and Sheridan College I'd said to myself "okay, that's it. I'm done with school. I am not going back."

But life has a way of serving our words to us for breakfast and making us eat them.

And this time it wasn't just once, but many times over.

Growing up, I had a huge grudge against the piano, and by grudge I mean that some days I literally wanted to take my mom's cleaver and hack the offending instrument to pieces. "Mom," I complained when she made me practice two hours a day, "why do I need this? I don't ever want to be a piano teacher or anything,"

Heh, heh, heh. Fast forward twelve years and guess what I'm doing right now? In addition to writing and illustrating, teaching piano is my current occupation. I've been doing it for five years, and have discovered that I am very good at it, apparently.

Then, having been an artist for most of my life, as I got older people started saying "have you ever thought about teaching art?" To which I responded, "I don't think I could teach art. It's too subjective and..." Blah, blah, blah. Can you guess what I applied to Teacher's College for? That's right. Visual arts.

Have I learned my lesson? I hope so.

Knowing that next year will be a frantic juggling act between full-time school, work, writing (articles and manuscripts), illustrating, art, adoption stuff, gardening, making my own everything (including clothes), church callings, being a doggy mom of two and being a homemaker,and since I am the 'let's organize in advance' type, I've concocted a brilliant plan *mwah ha ha.*

Okay, well, I don't know how brilliant it is, but hey - if it helps, it'll be worth it.

My plan? Make ahead and freeze six months worth of food. And I'm talking about everything. That way, at least, at least I won't have to worry about the little gnat called, 'I have to cook something.'

So this weekend, 'The Blitz' began, and it began with cookies.

'Thorough' research on the internet (and other sources) revealed that cookie dough, when frozen, only lasts for about three months, while baked cookies can last for significantly longer. Which is probably better anyway. Who knows? Next year I may not even want to take time out of my schedule to take out a roll of dough and shape them into cookies, thereby creating two cookie pans that would have to be cleaned.

The solution? Make and freeze approximately one thousand cookies.

At this point you're probably thinking 'you're nuts. Haven't you ever heard of something called a grocery store? They sell cookies in packages and you can buy them whenever you want them!'

Yes, I am well acquainted with that fact. But hear me out. While we do get packaged cookies on occasion, I really don't want to subsist on them for nine months. And my husband is a self-declared cookie monster. He eats a ton of cookies. Cookies from the store have who knows what ingredients and preservatives in them. Cookies I make? I know exactly what's gone into them. It's a comfort.

So, over a period of three weekends, I am planning to churn out the one thousand cookies. This weekend was a good start, with three-hundred and sixty-one. There were molasses cookies, chocolate crispy cookies, and, of course, the proverbial chocolate chip cookies.

We used the entire dining table as the cooling stand before putting them in the freezer for a short time. Today it's time to take them out and submit them to the vacuum seal.

Let the blitz begin!

Return of the Asian Lily Beetle

2010-04-29T08:23:00.000-04:00

They didn't look so bad. Bright red or orange, they were small and glossy and harmless looking. Pretty, even.

Until our lilies began to look like Swiss cheese.

It didn't take long for us to figure out that these little insects were far from harmless. In fact, if we let them, they would decimate our entire lily population.

Uh oh. Now, I am not a bug squisher. I avoid spiders because I can't stand to be near them, let alone touch them - but things like ants, and harmless beetles and the like...I'll avoid stepping on them if I can. After all, they're just going on about their own business.

These red lily beetles, though, they need to be dealt with. At first, we went with the heavy-duty bug spray. But toxins and chemicals don't sit well with us, for a myriad of reasons. So my husband took matters into his own hands. He's become the official 'red-beetle squasher.' Whenever he's in the front, he'll take a moment to look for the little monsters. If he sees them, they get ground between his fingers.

It's worked quite well.

The other day, I was at the neighbor's. She pulled up a large weed in her front garden. Underneath was a whole colony of these invaders. They must have wintered under the roots.

Great.

Beetle eggs, anyone?

Finickety Squeaks

2010-04-28T07:57:00.000-04:00

I cross my arms and shake my head in disbelief and exasperation, but he doesn't care. He simply looks up at me as if to say 'what?'

Well the 'what' is that I have just spent time preparing his own special food, complete with fresh organic ingredients, and he won't eat it.

About a year ago, Keani's bloodwork showed elevated ALT levels in his liver. Needless to say, I went on a panic blitz. After all, my little man is only just over a year old. Our vet presented us with a couple of options - things like putting him on pills for the rest of his life which, besides being expensive, would make for an unpleasant start to the day each morning. Keani greatly dislikes being forced to do anything. Admittedly it is sometimes necessary.

Our neighbor, however, suggested we put him on an organic homemade diet. That way we could lower the amount of protein intake and make sure that only the best ingredients were going into his food, in the hopes that it would help his liver recuperate.

So that's what I've been doing. At first it was great. He loved it. Our other dog, Icewind, got to share in the bounty for a time, but Ice is one hundred pounds and eats six cups a day. So he gets his raw treats, but not the whole shebang.

Once that started happening, the 'grass is greener' syndrome set in. Suddenly Icewind's dry dog kibble started looking so much better. It is, admittedly, top grade stuff. But when Keani himself was being fed the same food, he was definitely not so enthusiastic.

Now, though, whatever is in Ice's bowl is better than whatever is in his own, and he will stretch as high as he can, hook his paws over the top of Icewind's food stand, push his neck forward and filch the kibble bits.

Now comes the exasperation part. Worried that Keani wasn't eating enough, I made him a couple of boiled eggs. He loves eggs. This is a fact. So I shelled them, broke them apart, put in a bit of 'healthy powder' (also homemade) and put them in front of him. Instant bliss!

Ten minutes later, he came into the family room where I was and cried.

I have to admit, I am a sucker for his crying. I know, I know. It's bad, and he's spoiled. He really is, and I freely admit it. I am not as ashamed as I thought I would be, either. I've stopped guilt tripping myself over it (I will put the whys and wherefores in another post.)

Anyways, I went into the kitchen. The egg was all gone, oh, yes, except for pieces of egg white. No matter how much I cajoled, he wouldn't touch them. So I put them in Ice's food dish.

That's right. Five minutes later, there Keani was, stretching as high as he would go, to pilfer pieces of egg white that he wouldn't touch when they were in his own bowl.

Aaargh!

Food Charms

2010-04-24T20:26:00.000-04:00

Aaah, the weekend. Time to sit back, put my feet up, and relax. NOT.

The weekend does, however, afford me a bit of extra time to play with our food. This last Saturday evening I decided on the following:

char siu (Chinese BBQ sauce) ribs,

cucumber, tomato, purple onion and feta cheese salad

tomato, fresh garden chives and mozzarella cracker dip

baby potatoes baked in an olive oil, garlic powder, garlic salt and dried oregano seasoning

I know, there was absolutely no theme going on there. It was more of a 'throw together what I felt like' mix.

The great thing about it was, not only was all this a cinch to throw together, but they were each very tasty.

The char siu ribs, for example...all that was needed was a jar of char siu (which can be found in most Chinese grocery stores) and a rack of ribs. Slather the sauce onto the ribs, throw them on the barbecue, and there you have it! Delicious.

The salad was likewise easy to make. Dice up half a cucumber, slice up some tomato into chunks, cut up some thin layers of purple onion (not too much!) and crumble in some feta cheese.

The chives were the first herbs to make a reappearance in the garden this year. The cracker dip was the first time I've used them this season. As a lover of chives, I was quite excited about that. This dip pared very nicely with the Parmesan and rosemary flavored Triscuit crackers.

As for the baby potatoes, all they needed was a wash, and then I threw them into a bowl (about 1lb.) In a small bowl I combined garlic salt (to taste), garlic powder, dried oregano, black pepper (to taste) and about a quarter cup of olive oil. I mixed them all up, poured it onto the potatoes, and then used a spoon to roll the potatoes around so that they would each get an even coating. Then I stuck them into a baking dish and into the oven at 400 degrees. Baked them for about fifteen to twenty minutes.

Voila!

'Baby' Proofing the Vegetable Garden

2010-04-22T09:36:00.000-04:00

Ah, the joy of having dogs. They love unconditionally, they are quick to forgive. They stare at you with sad, limpid eyes when they sense that you're upset, and give enthusiastic, snuffling kisses. They cuddle, they play, they chew, they track mud all over the floor and then look up at you, trying to be convincing that they are innocent of any wrongdoing.

They also have no respect for garden boundaries, sometimes picking plants to 'do their business' over. Branches are perfectly acceptable chew toys in their opinion, whether the branches are smooth or have tiny thorns that can become embedded in their mouths. Plants and roots can become partners in a 'tug-o-war' contest.

At least, that's how it is with our dogs.

We have two - a 100 lb ivory, woolly-coated Hungarian Kuvasz, and a 14 lb sable and black-masked Tibetan Spaniel. The Kuvasz likes to use plants as a potty, and the Spaniel likes to chew and play tug-o-war.

Originally, we put up a white wire fence, thinking that it would be a deterrent. Icewind (the Kuvasz) greatly dislikes bumping into things like baby gates, etc...
We also enclosed our fruit bushes with a wooden support covered by a string mesh (although this was partially to keep the birds out, too.)

It took a couple of years, but eventually Ice learned that he could simply jump over the wire fence. And it only took him one season to barrel right through the mesh. Keani, not being able to clear the top of the wire, simply went through it, and lost no time in following his big brother through the gaping holes in the string net.

Well, this was a problem for many reasons. One, I didn't put all this work into growing my vegetables only to have them torn, trampled, or ripped. Two, we'd actually like our plants to be healthy, and not suffer burn from over-fertilization (which is what dog urine does), and three, our fruits include grapes, which can be poisonous to dogs, and raspberries, the canes of which are covered in the aforementioned tiny prickles.

Our solution? To build a second fence about five feet away from the main one, thereby enclosing the garden completely.

At first, my husband wanted to build a chain-linked one, but eventually we went with a simpler (and more 'natural' looking, I think) green wire that is tall enough to keep Icewind out. Using a sledgehammer, my husband drove nine spikes at intervals into the yard. The spikes were about a food and a half long, while the stuff underneath the grass is clay and rock, so you can imagine how much effort that took.

Afterward, he fitted rectangular posts into the holders at the tops of the spikes. The green wire came in a roll of 50'. This we stretched as taut as we could before using a staple gun to hold it in place on the posts. My husband also drove two metal pipes into the ground and hung a latch-gate between them.

Finally, a 'baby' proof garden!

Stubborn Weeds

2010-04-21T08:09:00.001-04:00

The worst thing about gardening (to us, anyway) is definitely the weeds. Versatile, adaptable, insidious and stubborn, they are a nightmare to be contended with on a daily and yearly basis.

So this spring, at the beginning of April, we rolled up our sleeves, slathered on the suntan lotion (I did, anyway,) bent our backs and set to work cleaning out the garden beds. We spared no mercy. With a large, pointed shovel we dug into the soil, pushed the shovel deeper with the ball of our foot, and tore the weeds up by the roots. My husband, especially, was ruthless, going after the tendrils and the tips, trying to make sure that the entire plant would be eradicated once and for all.

We went a step further this year. Tired of expending all this energy and having to re-do it constantly throughout the growing season (and we have a large garden - the entire perimeter of our backyard, two additional plots by the house, two front flower beds and a small 'around-the-tree' plot) we invested in what I call a 'carpet' (although it's possible that that is in fact the actual term) Well, we invested in two.

One is thick and light gray. It's porous, to allow water to go through. The other is lighter and black. In both cases, slits, or holes, are cut into the carpet to allow the desired plants to poke through. The idea is that weeds will have a harder time self-propagating, and, hopefully, growing, since there is obviously much less sun underneath.

Although the light gray one has a lifetime guarantee, I must admit that I like the black much more. It's lighter, so it's easier to work with. Plus, being black, it more closely resembles the 'color' of soil. I can only hope that when the plants get larger, they will cover up the gray nicely, because the alternative looks extremely bizarre in my mind's eye.

It wasn't a good beginning. The gray carpet, being so thick, broke some of my cool-weather seedlings when it got blown around by the wind. I wasn't incredibly thrilled by that. However, we have resolved the problem by weighing it (and the black one) with rocks.

Did I mention that weeds are insidious? Of course, they manage to spawn their seeds even with the carpet in place but, hopefully, it will be much less than it otherwise would have been.

I will let you know as the season progresses.

Perennials Versus Annuals

2010-04-20T12:20:00.000-04:00

That exciting year when we planted our first flower garden, we started with digging out a small strip right in front of the house. Into this plot went a climbing rose, a regular rose and a bleeding heart. Being very green newbies, we didn't know much (if anything) about these plants that we had just put in, other than the fact that they were perennial, and were expected to return the following year.

Thankfully, the plants forgave us our ignorance and, despite initial soil deficiencies etc...have continued to grow year after year. The regular rose, who appeared to have died at some point, has stubbornly reincarnated itself even after having been 'dug up.' (Don't ask me how, I have absolutely no idea.)

In subsequent years we've added a soft purple clematis and a row of brilliant heliopsis and zebrina along the side, as well as a gaggle of gorgeous Asian lilies.

The result is a spectacular display of blooms that range from mid-spring to frost. The upside? I don't have to germinate, buy or replant them year after year, and they continue to expand both in width and height (this could also be a downside, depending on individual preference.) This aspect is especially wonderful in the climbing rose because it is now reaching towards the roof, and when it blooms the flowers are absolutely show-stopping (I will add pics later in the season.)

The downside is that perennials usually have one bloom period during the season before calling it quits for the year. Mind you, the bloom period is often quite a long one, but once it's done, it's done. The exception to this are roses. Our climbing rose blooms twice, and the ordinary one blooms throughout the summer. The heliopsis flower in July and last until mid to late August. But plants like the bleeding heart will only flower during the cooler months of spring, and the clematis and lilies also have a short, albeit beautiful, bloom period.
And this is where the annuals come in.
If (like me) the preference is for the garden to be a riot of color all growing season long, then it's a good idea to have both perennials and annuals in a mixed bed.
The downside of annuals is that they need to be regrown and/ or re-bought, and replanted every year, since, as the term 'annual' implies, they only last for one. I personally germinate approximately two hundred in my indoor greenhouses starting in March. Some annuals such as petunias start flowering as early as June and continue on right until the fall. Others begin in July until frost.
Besides the much longer flowering time, one of the upsides of annuals is the sheer variety. There is definitely something for everyone.

So, if an 'easy keeper' garden is the desire, go with some hardy perennials. They look great and come back every year.
If, on the other hand, a color riot is wanted, mix it up with some annuals and bask in continuous blooms.

Spring, and the Beginning of the Gardening Season

2010-04-19T20:49:00.000-04:00

All seasons are sensory, but spring, for me, is the one that strikes the deepest chord. The sight of the first tiny tendrils of green on the bare branches gives me an indescribable thrill. I love the feeling of waking up to a room that is streaming with sunshine, and opening the window to a chorus of birdsong. Although I am not a huge fan of rain, knowing how important it is for the growing things (and for avoiding a droughty summer and a hefty water ban) I've learned to welcome it, too. The smell of rain, the smell of earthworms, seeing that first bumblebee hovering around my bleeding hearts, the excitement of thunderstorms - all part of the rich experience that is spring.

Gardening Time

And with spring comes...The Gardening Season! This is a joy I had looked forward to for years. When we bought our house, besides the excitement of simply having a house, the thing I looked forward to the most was being able to create our own gardens.

The front yard wasn't a problem. We simply dug a garden bed right in front of the house and planted a climbing rose bush, a regular rose bush, a bleeding heart, and a clematis. Of course, this has expanded year by year to include a large plot of annuals (which I start indoors every year), a strip on the other side of the garage with heliopsis, and a circle bed under the tree with zebrinas and more annuals.

The back garden, however, was a different story because, of course, we couldn't put a garden in until a fence was up.

We wanted a fence for two reasons; one, as lovers of dogs, a fence is pretty important. Two, we wanted a large vegetable and fruit garden. It took two years for us and our neighbors to finally collaborate and get a fence up. Before the posts even went in, I was on my hands and knees digging up turf. We realized that it would be much easier to dig up grass before having an obstruction like a wooden board in the way.

We dug up the entire perimeter of our yard, three feet deep.

Those first years were definitely a lesson in progress. I began by planting my vegetables and flowers way early in February. My husband (who is always on the lookout for things I might like or need) discovered these wonderful wooden mini greenhouses that move on wheels, have a plastic zippered cover, and can be folded up when not in use.

So, armed with greenhouses, I set to work by planting hundreds upon hundreds of seeds, and growing hundreds upon hundreds of plants.

It's been a few years since that initial one, and here's what I've learned in the interim:

1. There's no need to germinate the entire seed packet at one go.
Not sure why, but when I first started I felt that it was somehow necessary for me to use up the entire package of seeds. Needless to say, I ended up with way, way, way too many plants.

2. Start germinating seeds early, but not as early as February.
We live in a cooler climate area, where winter truly sets in at around the middle of December and releases its grip very reluctantly in the spring. For that reason, it isn't safe to plant seedlings outdoors until mid June or so.
I now start my flower at the beginning of March, so that by the time I set them out in June, some will have already begun to bud. Vegetables are started in April, so that they don't get too big for the greenhouse before it's time to transplant.

3. Don't waste money buying tons and tons of pots
This doesn't matter as much if it's only a few pots, but if, like me, it's hundreds of plants being grown, then buying pots is just a method of throwing money away.
Styrofoam cups are much more time and cost efficient. They have the downside of being non-recyclable in terms of the blue bin, but they can be reused year after year. Easy to label, easy to poke holes in the bottom to allow water to drain. And easy to get.
Plastic picnic cups are also great, especially if the plants need a bigger pot. Empty yogurt and cottage cheese containers, plastic ice cream and whipped topping boxes are also wonderful indoor plant homes.
Empty egg cartons are great for starting seed, and are fully recyclable. Their downside is that, being so small, the plants will need to be transplanted to a larger pot fairly quickly.

4. Label the containers
This I knew right from the get-go also. It is extremely important to label each plant, at least until such time as the ability to recognize each individual seedling develops. I had a mishap this year while transferring seedlings from Styrofoam cups to larger plastic ones. I was doing this outside, and a huge gust of wind blew in and knocked down my greenhouse and everything in it. I was three quarters of the way down, and over two hundred flowers were on those shelves. Needless to say, plants got knocked out of their carefully labeled containers. I felt (on a very, very small and much less important scale) like I was searching for earthquake survivors as I sifted through the debris to try to recover as many seedlings as possible. I think I lost about twenty. Thankfully, since I've been gardening for quite a few years now, I've developed the ability to recognize my seedlings on sight, including the ones that are new for the year.

5. Keep the seed packets
Even if they're empty, the seed packets can come in very useful. Most of them have information on the back like when to plant, where to plant, how far apart to plant and how high the plant will grow. When planning out a flower bed, especially, height is crucial. It wouldn't do to have a plant that is two feet tall in front of a ground cover one, for example.

6. Stagger
If planting an entire flower and vegetable garden (which is what I do each year), the process if definitely a long and involved one. Since most of us have crazy hectic schedules, it's best not to do everything at one go. This year I designated one day out of the week as my official gardening day, and it's the day we've done most of our garden clean-up, weeding, carpeting etc... When I started planting my seeds this year, I spent a couple of hours each day until all the seedlings had been sown. It beats sitting down and labeling, filling and sowing hundreds of containers and seeds at one go. As long as there's a schedule and it's stuck to, things will be done in short order.

7. Enjoy!
This is important one. Gardening is a lot of work, but the results can be spectacular. Enjoy the journey, and enjoy the destination!