Creating

Today was a typical March day: cold, grey, and rainy. Yuck. No gorgeous outdoor photos for me, unlike my Friend in the South! This was a day to create. I began by painting the chipped and sad-looking window frame in our bedroom. I like to start a project that can be finished quickly. However, after the first coat, I realized that this will be a long and drawn-out job. Oil paint cannot be recoated after a couple of hours, and I'll have to resand it, too. That will have to be tomorrow. Oh well. We'll be sharing our room with drop cloths and paint paraphernalia for a few days.

On to happier things! I did complete my January photo-a-day book today. Yay! Now I have seven, with almost two more to make (as of March 31). My year of taking a picture every day began on July 1, and it's now 3/4 through. What will I do? I can't imagine not continuing, but we'll see. I'm sure that I can think of other wonderful projects to occupy my time!

Tomorrow I'm having a couple of friends over and I'll teach them how to make my little books. I love Spring Break!

The Daily Grind!

I thought I should dedicate this blog to The Gals....who look after my daily needs! More particularly, these "Gals" keep me accountable to daily (weekly?) morning exercise up and down 'the mountain'; ensure that I am well fed and well watered (decafe cappucino (double chocolate on top), with chewy fruit slice!); bring me up to date with 'happenings'; and keep me on the straight-and-narrow with much encouragement, support, and substantial irreverent disregard for my various pontifications. Everybody needs friends like these!

And though the speed or number of times we encircle the mountain may vary, or the make up of the group may change, there is one thing that remains certain - these Gals are really good at making sure I have my priorities right! Coffee first......all else follows!!!

Dawn's cloak of colours

Although I can't profess to be up and about sufficiently often at dawn to be classed as a 'morning person', I do love those occasions when I am forced to be awake as the sun itself is struggling to unwrap it's night time blanket. This morning was no exception. With the onset of autumn, our mornings are just beginning to get lighter at a later hour. At 7am, the coolness of the dark meant that my boys were (uncharacteristically) still asleep! In fact, L proved so difficult to rouse that we only just stopped short of putting ice cubes down his pyjamas! Once awake however, lil L commented wistfully that one day he'd like to get up early enough to see the sun rise.....! Yeah right!!! By 8.15am'ish, my boys and I and our guest had walked 3.5kms into the heart of the city and were enjoying the morning bustle of the harbour. I had forgotten how much I enjoy the early morning hum of the city as it cranks into gear, ready for another new day. Maybe I should try another early morning start tomorrow......then again, my bed IS rather comfy!!!!!

Clean Windows!

After three days spent mostly in bed or lounging somewhere, I am officially up and about! Even though my throat is still quite sore, it is Time.

Today, I had lofty ambitions that involved cleaning all manner of things that never seem to get cleaned during the school year. Windows were at the top of the list. Do you ever get condensation running down the kitchen windows when you forget that something is on the stove and it boils unchecked for an inordinate amount of time? After a winter of that and other yukky stuff, I decided that today was the day. I managed to find a squeegee and went to work. How satisfying it was! I even took down the curtains from the patio doors and washed out all the grime from male fingers !

I had to admire the view of the Big Bear studiously working on his current paper with a clean window in front of him (hopefully we'll regain our kitchen/dining room table when he finishes it next week...)!

After the kitchen and dining room windows, it was time for the living room. Isn't it exciting! After removing all the wasp and fly carcasses from the window ledge (how on earth did we get so many??) and dusting the blinds, I washed the large window. And as I finished the last section, I stepped back, right into the tub of dirty water, and dumped it all over the carpet!

I think I'm finished my Spring cleaning now. Where did I put my book?

EASTER

"We must accept finite disappointment,

but never lose infinite hope!"

- Martin Luther King Jnr

I love Easter!

Good Friday

For me

Advice for Teen Travelers

My Little Joe arrived home safely from Costa Rica last night. Yay! It sure is great to hear all about his trip and to see his face again. He got some sun on his pale skin, and we're pretty sure he got even taller in just 9 days!
I've gleaned some wise advice from Joe's travel experience - thought I'd share it with you, just in case.
1. Take care of your stuff. Most of the time, anyway. Oops, Mum's camera got stolen. And where did that bank card disappear to?
2. Choose your souvenirs very carefully - they will be lasting reminders of your trip. After much thought, Joe picked a wooden snake and a machete. Probably to clear away the jungle in the back yard. By the way, a machete is just a tool, so you don't have to declare it as a weapon!
3. You can get those cigars for your dad, despite being under age. There will always be some nice American around to buy them for you. And make sure you don't declare them, either, when you come through customs. Especially since you're under 19!
4. Somehow, get your flight delayed. Your mum will remember to check before she goes to the airport, won't she?
5. When you get home, unpack immediately. Or at least, open your bag up and air things out. The hallway, right at the top of the stairs, is a good place to do this so your mum doesn't forget to clean it up.
6. You'll be tired, so get a good sleep. When you get up in the morning, decide what's most important to do first. Maybe sharpen that machete.

More Good Food!

I had an amazing dinner out last night with my friend Joanne, who lives right downtown and across the street from the ocean. She knows all the greatest places to eat!
We went to a hip seafood restaurant and had our chef prepare a five-course dinner right beside us. The food just kept on coming, in a lingering kind of way, and each dish was accompanied by a different wine. My favorite dish was the grilled halibut on a bed of tomato sauce and black olives, with a crispy fennel chip. Wow! Whatever am I going to do for dinner tonight?
I'm going to the airport tonight to pick up Little Joe, who is traveling at this very moment from Costa Rica. Unfortunately, his teacher emailed me to say that his - my - camera (Canon A520)was stolen by a young man who was hanging around the church where they were working. I'm so very sad that I won't be able to see his pictures and help him make a photo show. Besides (although at the end of the day, it's just stuff), you know how I feel about cameras!

Another day is done...

"If you sit down at set of sun
And count the acts that you have done,

And counting find one self-denying deed,

One word that eased the heart of him who heard;

One glance most kind that fell like sunshine where it went-

Then you may count that day well spent."

- George Eliot

Holiday Weekend!

It's still Monday here in the Great White North, and it's the first official day of my Spring Break! We spent the weekend without kids, as both the boys are in Costa Rica on two different mission trips. What a feeling it was to have two whole days without (almost) any obligations! Remember what it was like before kids? Hmmm, that's over 18 years ago for us!
After sleeping in, we went to bottle our batch of merlot at the wine store, renewed the car insurance, visited the scrapbook store for my copy of Ali Edwards' latest book (wonderful!), went to the Big Bear's favorite auto parts store to smell the tires (I humoured him), then Home Depot to gaze longingly at the power tools (I was along to manage the madness), checked out the boat launch at the gloomy looking river, then hung out at home napping and reading. On Sunday we had lunch with friends after church then loaded up on movies and treats. We had wine, cheese (Cambozola is my current fave), and olives and watched "The Jane Austen Book Club". More relaxing while the Big Bear toyed with the idea of working on his latest university paper.
It's not exactly an all-inclusive in Mexico, but I could get used to this life.

Sunrise at the beach

Reach up for the sunrise

Put your hands into the big sky

You can touch the sunrise

Feel the new day enter your life

- Duran Duran ("Reach up for the Sunrise")

Une Soiree Magnifique

After school on Friday, the last day of the term, we met my parents for dinner at a wonderful French restaurant to celebrate Mum's birthday. As you know, I love all things French, and food is no exception! I especially enjoyed hearing the kitchen staff speaking French to each other behind the counter.
It seems that some occasions are simply magical, and this was one of them. Maybe it was the place - this is the special restaurant where I last had dinner with Southern Ange last November, and said goodbye until who-knows-when. It could be that the four of us were simply happy to be together, and the fabulous food and wine made it even happier. Or, it might be that Spring Break had officially begun!!! Que les vacances commencent!
*It really irks me to leave out accents, but I can't seem to add them...
**You may have noticed that although we ate French food, the wine was from BC. It was great!

Here today, away tomorrow....

Auckland

Typical rolling green hills en route to most places in New Zealand

Sweet Baby

Don't you think babies have the greatest hands?
My friend Jessica, whom I have known since she was her mother's pregnancy, and who was my teaching partner last year, became a mummy just three weeks ago. She brought the tiny boy in to school today (maybe now the grade four girls will leave me alone!) for us to duly admire, and admire, we did! I have to say that my gargantuan sons were never this small. Really.
Most of my grade threes commented in amazement on his tiny fingers and fingernails, and this was what I kept staring at, too. When my Little Bear was born, I thought that his hands were like stars.
Just wait, Jessica. this sweet baby will turn into a teenager, too!

Pond Life

At the pond....actually, a stream.

Cicada skins....crunchy!

Monarch Butterfly and Cicada skins

L and some of the classes from school are learning about water care and pond life. They tested the water quality, temperature, pH level, and had lots of fun trying to identify all sorts of weird and wonderful squiggly, wriggly, waterborne critters. Having seen how abundant the wildlife is with each scoop of water, I am exceedingly grateful for filtration systems and water that has been "dealt with" before it ends up in my cuppa! Sleep last night was punctuated with dreams of bloodworms, waterboatmen, skimmers, water snails, dragonfly nymphs, eels, other interestingly configured things with boggly eyes and thousands of legs, and lots of mud...

Flattos

OK - what fruit is shaped like a donut, has the crunch of an apple, tastes like a peach, and fits into kids' lunchboxes with ease?

Why, the Flatto of course!

Call me ignorant....but I'd never heard of these fruit. Apparently, Flattos have been around for donkey's years, but have only recently made it into Kiwifruitland. Time for a flatto.....

Impromptu Party

Whew! My report cards are finished and life can begin again. I took Little Joe to the airport at an ungodly hour yesterday morning, and he is now completing his first full day in Costa Rica with his class. I was planning to come home today and flake out. Maybe I would start making my next photo-a-day book. Or should I clean up my extremely messy house? The greatest thing was that there was a choice, and whatever I chose to do, it would be relaxing!
Until...
Little Bear came to me after school and asked if we could drive two of his friends home. To our house. I was mortified to think of them seeing my house in its current condition, but at some point in my reportcard-induced delerium, I had apparently told him that he could have some friends over. Little did I know that four more friends were also on their way! So much for my quiet evening. The kids played Settlers of Catan in the living room and then devoured three huge Costco pizzas. Their laughter and talk filled the whole house and I was smiling! Despite my initial embarrassment, it was so nice to have a houseful of great kids.
It turns out that they had come particularly to say goodbye to Little Bear, as he also leaves for Costa Rica tomorrow evening. Just imagine: two boys away, Big Bear at work, and peace for me next week at home!!
And I promise to clean the house!

School Camp

Exhausted water slider

Er...oooops...whose child was that?!
(one of the many casualties from the overhead Flying Fox !)

Waingaro Hot Springs

Alright guys....who knows how to reverse...?

A marvellous time was had at school camp. And the stories keep flowing....

On picking flowers....

"Teachers who inspire, know that teaching is like cultivating a garden, and those who would have nothing to do with thorns must never attempt to gather flowers." ~Author Unknown

Saw this quote and thought I'd share it with a wonderful teacher who has dealt with a few thorny ones! Happy Report Writing!

Snowmobiling Tragedy

My brother, Tim, loves snowmobiling as far off the beaten path as possible. In February, he was near Keystone Mountain, in the area of Revelstoke BC, when an avalanche was triggered right above him. Amazingly, he was able to get out of its path with one second to spare thanks to one little switch he had left turned on. However, one of the men in his group was buried. They were able to locate him with his beacon and dig him out, roughly 8 feet below the snow and his snowmobile. Sadly, after 2 1/2 hours of CPR and mouth to mouth, they know that he was gone. Many tears were shed and the exhausted group had a 2 hour ride ahead of them in the dark in order to get out of the area. I am so thankful that Tim came home to his family that night. If he hadn't been listening to the many little cautions he experienced that day, which I am certain were the voice of God, there would have been two bodies in the snow.

Check out the slideshow on the right (click on it for a better view) for some amazing photos of Tim on some of his trips, and a few taken on the day of the tragedy.