monkey in the middle

A Simple Life

2009-05-21T13:45:00.004-04:00

I recently bought The Art of Simple Food by Alice Waters. Not to be too dramatic, it's changing my life. The author calls it a delicious revolution and I couldn't agree more. Although, truthfully, there are many people around the world who have always cooked simply, and continue to do so. The book is asking those people who have come to rely on faster convenient foods to think about the quality of the food they choose, and about the beauty of the eating ritual. Food is necessary for our entire well-being, not just as fuel. Ms Waters speaks about eating locally and seasonally, and although this is not ground breaking news in today's environmentally-conscious world, the way the book is presented is. She teaches her readers to move away from recipe-dependency, and to move towards cooking intuitively and simply. This is a complet change for me - a compulsive recipe follower. She gives us the basics - simple tools necessary in the kitchen, as well as simple techniques such as roasting and making broths. She then gives a few receipes for each technique to be practiced often. The last part of the book is filled with even more recipes, each of which will be learned and put into rotation at my house.

The "simple" way of approaching things is what is resonating with me. Life is so busy and chaotic sometimes, that pulling back from that, and just sitting down and reflecting is how I cope. I've had a lot of ups and downs recently, been busy with so many different things (but at the same time feel I have not really got anywhere), and I want to just sit back, reflect, and enjoy the everday activities. I don't want cooking after work to be a chore anymore - I want it to be a time of reconnecting with my husband and relaxing and recharging. I don't want running a household to be a chore anymore - I want it to be an enjoyable part of life. I don't want to be forever putting off creative ideas and activities for lack of time, or for feeling that something other must be done first. Looking back at how I approach life, I realize that this desire has always been there for me - when I first moved out on my own, I sat down for weeks in a row and copied some of my mother's recipes onto 3.5 x 5 cards, handwriting them in a fountain pen, instead of just photocopying the pages; I get great pleasure from digging a new garden - just smelling the dirt and thinking of the potential of the garden; I am thrilled when I take a freshly baked loaf of bread out of the oven, made completely from scratch. But these are just moments in the middle of stress and work and busy-ness. I want more.

I've spent a few months now reflecting on big things. I've recently finished the second of two unsuccesul rounds of IVF, and have decided not to try again. We are uncertain whether we will be adopting, or moving forward in life without children. Either way takes a re-organization of our ideas and thoughts and dreams of the past 5 or 6 years years which were concentrated on the goal of having kids. Either way, I want to move on from the stress and heaviness of the past several years, and enjoy the here and now, instead of forever waiting for the future to happen. Guess what, I've blinked and almost a decade has gone by.

We are now in a new house, in town (we were way out in the country before), and are reconnecting with friends and family. Now is the perfect time to start enjoying now. I've taken a couple of days off work, and am sitting in my new back yard, messy as it is, sitting enjoying a coffee, barefoot in the grass, sitting under a tree, smelling the lilacs from the neighbours, watching a bird feed her new babies, listening to the wind in the leaves, and planning future 'now' moments.

The weather outside is frightful!

2008-10-28T10:40:00.006-04:00

This is what fall is supposed to be like! Not so, here. The winds are ferociously blowing outside and the trees are swaying back and forth in response. All the colourful leaves are being blown off the trees and whipped across our property. The rain is coming down and it's icy cold - threatening to turn to snow later this afternoon if I believe the weather channel. The sky is completely grey and the only bright colour out there is the maroon from the sumac fruit (a learning moment: the fruit stacks are called bobs!), and the bright ocean blue of the damn inflatable pool that I've yet to roll up and bring into the shed.

Today calls for something homey and yummy! It's a good think I bought a bag of local apples recently - I'll make apple crisp! I take out my ceramic pie dish and place it on the counter. Not that your pie dishes must be ceramic, I just like the feel of this one. Mine is just plain beige, not cranberry like the one online. It sets the tone for whatever I'm going to make - it says: "whatever you bake in me is going to be yummy and delicious and smell like home". Then I cough loudly and look away, and try to look cool after imitating the pie dish talking outloud.... I like the ceramic ones too as they "cure" like a cast-iron pan over time, making them naturally non-stick.

I cut up the apples in wedges, taking out the cores, and put them in the pie dish (maybe about 10 small apples). Next, I take a bowl and mix up:

1 cup brown rice (or other non-gluten) flour
1 1/2 cups old fashioned oats (see note below)
2/3 cup of brown sugar (see other note below)
1/2 little tub of Fleishmann's non-salted margarine (or casein-friendly: 1 stick butter)

Use a pastry cutter or a couple of knives to chop up the margarine into the flour and oats, to a coarse texture. Once mixed, pour the topping all over the apples and pop the whole dish into the oven for 50 minutes at 375F. Perfect for a day like today!

Note on oats: oats are naturally gluten-free, however, since most oats are processed in a mill/factory where other flours are being milled, the companies cannot guarantee that they are gluten-free (including Bob's Red Mill for most of their oats). There are, however, some companies that now have guaranteed gluten-free oats (including Bob's Red Mill).

Note on brown sugar: I adjust the amount of sugar according to whatever fruit I use - if the fruit is more naturally sweet like peaches, I'll use less, but if it is more tart, or I add in berries, I'll use more.

Note on my ineptitude: I went to take a picture of this super crisp, and found the batteries were dead. Left the camera on last time I downloaded pictures :( So, no picture this time of food. I'll try to be less of a useless blogger next time.

Buckwheat Zydeco Pancakes

2008-10-21T21:47:00.008-04:00

It was Saturday morning. I knew I'd be home slogging it out on the laptop for much of the day, working :(. I needed something hearty to get me through the day! I looked in the fridge... wasn't feeling like eggs. I was feeling like bacon, but we didn't have any. Hmm... what to make? Oatmeal? Ok... but guy doesn't like oatmeal very much. He eats it if he has to, but only if it's slathered in fruit and brown sugar and yogurt and nuts and everything else in the pantry that could effectively hide the "bland" taste of the oats.

Then I remembered the entry from Gluten Free Girl where she talks about her husband not being into oats as much as she is. She had come up with a recipe for pancakes, which incorporated cooked oats, and her husband loved them! I decided to do the same thing. I guess it's a bit like hiding the veggies in chocolate sauce so your kids eat them. Or wrapping your dog's flea pills in meat (which only works if your dog is not so smart - ours used to neatly lick off all the meat and then, just as neatly, spit out the whole pill, and then would look at us with a look that said: "Really? You think I'm that dumb? Come on, people, give me more credit than that!" And then he'd walk away, rolling his eyes at us and shaking his head, laughing.)

So, Shauna uses sweet rice flour and oat flours in her pancakes, neither of which I had. I did have regular white rice flour, so decided to use that. My other choices were brown rice, corn, potato, or buckwheat flours. I decided to try the buckwheat, as I had been wanting to try it, and hadn't yet had the chance. I knew from reading about 'alternative' flours that buckwheat gives an earthy flavour (so good for breads and such). And, despite its name, is not related to wheat in any way. Plus it has a cool name - I can't seem to stop at buckwheat, I have to say buckwheat zydeco, and that is just plain fun on a Saturday morning. Laissez les bons temps rouler!

Ok, back to the kitchen. I made the pancakes following her recipe, but substituting the rice flour for the sweet rice flour, and the buckwheat (zydeco!) flour for the oat flour. They, of course, ended up being much darker than in her picture, and they were absolutely DELISH! Guy loved them too! We sprinkled ours with icing sugar, and then drizzled maple sugar (well, maybe a little more than drizzled) all over the top. Yum yum!

Bon appetit, mes amis!

Crispy Cheese Chow Mein

2008-10-17T19:13:00.010-04:00

This is an entry to file under both "succesful" and "not so succesful". A couple of weeks ago, my guy and I (my husband? the man who lives in my house? my love? the oak to my elm?) decided to make pizza from scratch. It's Friday night, the music is turned up, the wine is flowing, and we've still to decide which recipe to use. I found what looked to be a fairly good and simple recipe at the website for Capers Market, which is under the umbrella of Whole Foods Market in Vancouver. I just checked the website for the on-line version of the recipe and it appears they've changed things and taken the recipes down, so I'll type it out below. Anyway, I made the dough, following the recipe, and it turned out great, thankfully! We put our organic tomato sauce on the bottom, and we chopped up all our toppings - green peppers, onions, tomatoes, pepperoni, mushrooms, broccoli, and CHEESE.

We made two pizzas - one for guy, and one for me. The one for guy had real cow cheese... mmm... yummy and melty. One half of mine was plain (just the toppings listed above), and the other half was loaded with the toppings, plus casein-free cheese - I wanted to give myself an out in case my cheese failed me. I chose a soy cheese, as, believe it or not, most of the non-cow cheese alternatives made with rice actually have dairy in them. All the rice cheeses that I've checked include casein as one of the main ingredients to give it, well, a cheesy consistency and taste. The soy cheese I used does not have casein, and that was the main reason I chose it - plus, it was the only casein-free option at my local grocery store.

So you don't confuse this product with cow cheese, the packaging calls it: Galaxy Nutritional Foods Vegan Soy Block (Mozarella Flavor). I grated up my lovely soy block, and put it on half the pizza. I was very excited. I hadn't had cheese since May. I was maybe a little too excited - really, it's only cheese. (Sometimes I catch myself doing senseless things. I had to ask myself, really? I'm jumping up and down over soy block? Yes, yes I was, and many of you people who are deprived of cheese, and are given a glimpse of cheesy hope would have been jumping up and down too).

I put the pizza in the oven and held my breath.

I watched the pizzas get warm.

I watched guy's pizza starting to ooze and bubble and look golden and melty.

I watched half of my pizza start to burn.

Seriously, the shredded soy block was just getting crispy. There was no melting. There was no oozy goodness, there was no more jumping up and down. I had to look away. I had to convince myself everything would be fine in the end.

It wasn't.

15 mintues later, we were eating our pizzas. I basically had to get over my cheesy excitement, and accept the fact that my pizza was italian-asian fusion, as there was nothing else to compare my grated cheese to than crispy chow mein.

Has anyone had casein-free cheese success? Let me know!

Here's the pizza recipe:

3/4 cup organic milk (about 110F) - I used casein-free rice milk
1/2 tsp honey
2/3 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup tapioca flour
1 Tbsp cornstarch
1 envelope instant yeast
1 Tbsp xanthan gum - more on this later, it's an excellent binder and emulsifier
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/4 tsp garlic
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp apple cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 425F. Dissolve yeast in a small bowl with milk and honey. Set aside. Sift together brown rice flour, tapioca flour, cornstarch, xanthan gum, sea salt and spices. Whisk olive oil and vinegar together. Add to dry mixture. Mix. Add milk and yeast. Mix well. The dough shoud be soft and pliable. Turn onto a (rice) floured work surface and knead gently for about a minute. Roll or pat dough into a 12-inch round, place on a pizza stone or lightly oiled pan. Crimp edges to hold in toppings. Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, add toppings and bake 15-20 minutes longer, or until the crust is lightly browned.

Time to share

2008-10-14T21:59:00.005-04:00

Well hello there, interwebs... it's been a while.

You might remember me from such blogs as... well, this one, just a long time ago.

I was talking to a friend at work today (hi!) who was telling me about a blog he started recently. It's a catch-all for all the resources he comes across for his hobbie - he thought it would be helpful for others as a place to learn the techniques of the trade through photos and video, and as a community for appreciation for the sport. It made me think about information and community and sharing - and how you can't have the middle one without the last one, or the last one without the first one.

I'd been thinking a lot recently about starting to write again, and this conversation is what jumpstarted me to be sitting here, in front of my screen, and typing again in the familiar "create post" section of this site. That, and several recent events.

This past summer I found out something about myself - I am allergic to both gluten and dairy! This diagnosis by a naturopath came after feeling bad for a long time. Trying to put my finger on it spefically is difficult, but I would say that I hadn't felt really well in close to a decade. Tired, blotchy skin, bloating, painful and hard stomach, forever feeling like I was coming down with a cold, along with hypothyroidism. I decided to see a naturopath in the early spring, and starting the next day, I spent a month on an elimination diet. Starting two days later, I felt a million times better! The stomach pains starting going away, the bloating started going away, my skin started clearing up, and I was less tired. I had more energy than I had had in a long time. I had eliminated most sugars, gluten, dairy, citrus, and "moldy" items like peanuts, mushrooms, etc. After the month was over, I brought back one item at a time, over 48 hours, and was easily able to tell the things that did not agree with me - definitely dairy, and definitely gluten, along with some citrus. I also eventually did an "official" test, and the results came back as allergic to gluten (protein found in wheat, barley, malt, and rye) and casein (dairy protein).

Pretty bad news for someone whose favourite meal included cheese on a french baguette!

Since the summer, I have been fairly strict about not eating either of those things, and have been feeling a lot better, and have lost some weight. My gains have been tempered somewhat with some stressful issues this summer (mostly work...) but overall, I feel tons better than I have in years.

It has definitely all been a huge learning curve for me - what does and does not contain gluten and/or dairy, what substitutions I can make, what other things there are in the world (teff? amaranth? wha?) to eat. Above all, it has been a lesson in listening to my body. When I unknowingly eat those items, I can tell right away. I can hear my body a little louder now - it's not so stifled under the big loaf of wheat bread.

So, as my friend is starting to do, I'd like to share my experience - through all the learning about new foods, about re-learning how to bake, and about my life in general in a gfcf context.

So, stick around, it'll be fun. Plus you'll get to laugh at all my bread failures. Or, maybe, you're looking for some gfcf goodness. I know there are a lot of gluten-free websites (I like: Gluten Free Gobsmacked and Gluten Free Girl ), and some dairy-free ones too, but not many that combine the two. So maybe, you just love food and arts and crafts and life in general, or you are here for other reasons.

Welcome!

kung f.... whoops!

2006-05-23T23:30:00.000-04:00

Given that:
- I was in the elevator at work by myself
- I had a test tonight to advance another sash level in kung fu
- I wanted to practise my high kicks
- I can now kick much higher than I used to
- I guess I don't realize the size of my own foot

I shouldn't be surprised, when:
- the security desk phoned the elevator after I had accidentally hit the HELP! button when I thought I was just going for the "close door" button

And be hopeful that:
- there are no cameras in there and they don't realize that when I replied "ooops, I hit the wrong button, sorry, heehee!" I meant with my foot and not my finger.

greedy mcseedstealer

2006-05-12T22:28:00.000-04:00

Last night we left the doors open to our balcony off the bedroom as the air was hot and muggy, but left the screen door closed. It rained during the night, and was pretty windy, but it felt good to stir the air in the room. In the middle of the night, we both awoke to some strange noises - not the wind-blowing noises we'd fallen asleep to... this was something very odd. It kind of sounded like someone was shoving something... then it sounded like someone wheezing (!) ... then it sounded a bit like something growling (!!) ... then I just plain thought it was a bear digging around for some food (!!!). We both got up and went outside, slowly walking to the edge of the balcony to see what was there.

Just a raccoon! That's ok, that's pretty normal in the country. The fact that he was eating birdseed that had fallen from the bird feeder above kind of pissed me off - get your own food, buster! The fact that he was eating birdseed that was being shaken down to the deck by the other raccoon hanging from the birdfeeder by his LEFT ARM was what was so alarming about the whole scene! It was the hanging guy who was doing all the grunting and snuffling and wheezing. The little bugger must have jumped up to get more seeds, and got his little opposable thumb caught and was trying to get down.

We went back to bed, he eventually got out and left with his buddy, and then we were left awake and dealing with the damn mosquitos that got in while the door was open while we were watching the raccoons. Do you think they're all working together?

I heart Carol

2006-03-12T12:47:00.000-05:00

There's something about Carol Shields' books that I love so much. Perhaps it's because of the things she writes about in the books are things I like or am familiar - quilting, and sewing, gardening, literature, academia. I'm currently re-reading Happenstance where the wife, Brenda, goes to Philladelphia for a Craft Conference and shows off her quilts. Possibly, it's just a continuation of my current desire to get back into making things, but her writing also illuminates many of the things I am drawn to. The way she talks about the fabric and shapes of the pieces in her quilts, or the connection to her stitches. Apart from the crafty-talk, there's the way this woman examines past experiences, her doubts and confusion, her body, her desires... I feel like I'm coming home when I open one of her books.

Larry's Party is one of my favourite books as well, the way she writes about his connection to the landscape, and his mindful musings on his garden mazes. So beautiful. It's funny, but as I think right now, I don't often read books where the protaganist is male, but I love Larry (even though he's such a loser in so many ways), and I love Jack in the other half of Happenstance (kind of two novels in one). They are so vulnerable, so bewildered, and so tender while also being everything else. I love that. I love the "awakenings" that the characters have as well - they are so human, and so beautiful. It's often just a moment, or an understanding, usually something small, that triggers a wonderful awareness in the characters. Even though they continue with their lives, often continuing in much the same way, they are different, often happier. When I think back to the characters after I've put the books down, I can't help but smile and think of the tenderness of life, how confusing and disruptive and changing and painful and beautiful it all is.

Holy house!

2006-03-11T14:20:00.000-05:00

Well, it turns out we have a bit of a holey house. Litterally, with holes in it, in addition to the temple-like qualities I think it has. We moved into the house last June, so this was our first winter in the house. I was in the bathroom the other day and looked to my right to see the latex paint we just painted a month ago, litterally sliding down the wall! There was a bubble of water behind it, and it was bubbling the paint, and moving slowly down. Cool to look at, not so cool to deal with. The water must be getting in under the outside window sill. In the basement, too, there is a hole where a cable comes into the basement. Who would drill a hole into their foundation? Shouldn't the cable come in above ground, then go down? Oh well, so there's water coming in there too. Neither leak is too big right now (not flooding the floor or anything), but with the very warm tempuratures and the snow all melting, it will keep leaking for a while.

I'm not too worried about the holiness, as it will give us the chance to do more basic house work, as soon as it warms up. We'll learn how to fix the foundation from the outside, and learn to caulk all the windows properly, and make everything tight and dry. My husband's a good diy drywaller, so the wall in the bathroom, although annoying to have to redo, will, I'm sure look great :)

We went to kung fu this morning, all decked out in our new white beginner sashes. For the first month or two, we were called "basics", with no sash at all. So now, we feel like we've made some progress and are starting to feel more comfortable with some of the easier moves. We've noticed a change in our bodies, as well. Not huge, like insta-hot-bods but definitely a progress in the amount of pushups (50 today!) or situps or anything. Also, I've noticed a difference in the strength of my punches too. We started taking the classes as a way to do an active activity together, so we were spending time doing something together, as well as getting fit. Both are working out great! I never thought I'd see my husband doing jumping jacks but there you go. His biseps are beefing up totally too, which is very hot :) Ok, I'll stop talking like a damsel with fluttering eyelids :)

I like the self-defence aspect of this type of kung-fu we're taking. It's basically a new-wave wing chung style (like Bruce Lee did) mixed with boxing and kick-boxing, and some basic aerobics and weight training (mostly using your own body weight). We do lots of stretchy warmups and breathing techniques and then spend most of the class learning combat techniques, and then spend the last 10 or so minutes on super intense pushing your self weight-training/aerobically style activities (called stations which you do for a couple of minutes at a time) like squats or pushups or situps or single leg stands, or medicine ball drills or ... Crazy, but fun - they blast the music and everyone pumps out there max. The school really pushes you while at the same time, doesn't over extend anyone past their capabilities. Nobody's counting to make sure you're keeping up. If you get tired, you stop, and then try again when you can. Everyone is open and friendly, anyone who knows more than the partner they have for that session ALWAYS helps out and teaches and encourages. It's quite a community.

The whole class has been really good for me. It's pushed me to feel and do and acknowledge things I didn't know about myself. Like how far my body will support me, how little some muscles have been worked throughout my life, how flexible I am in some ways, and rigid in others, how excited I am about progressing and feeling my body getting stronger and stronger, how much an actual warrior I really am, and how I've never let that side of myself show. Well, that's not true as I think I've always been pretty "fiesty" but I mean in a centred and controlled way, from a place that comes from inner strength as well as muscular strength.

In other news, the house is cleaning up nicely. I know I've been talking about cleaning it for ages now, but since we spent two hours in the car each day commuting, and have lots of after work activites, there isn't that much time for housework. The main floor is definitely shaping up. Oh! Our new couch was delivered yesterday. Omigod it's like sitting on a block of creamy butta. So creamy and soft and comfy. Definitely a thing of beauty.

Have a great weekend!!

Saturday chat

2006-02-25T09:10:00.000-05:00

Well, it's Saturday morning, and I haven't slept much all night because of a cold I got from work. At least that's where I assume I got it, since none of my family members have it - well, not yet ;) 9 times out of 10 when I get a cold, it's my body saying "please slow down!" and yes, I've been a very busy bee recently, and my body just wants to sit down and have a lazy weekend. Trouble is, it's my husband's birthday soon, so I jam packed today with activities, and we've got a fun day planned. Also the house is in a tumble. We've been painting lots of rooms, and so much of the furniture is in piles in the middle of each room. So tomorrow, yes, I will be relaxing, but I will start putting the house back together. So still lots of things to do around here, but I'll slow down a little, and make sure to have some tea and keep hydrated too. And maybe take a nap here and there!

We are heading out to the Interior Design show this afternoon. You're all like wha? The design show is part of his birthday activities? yup. I really don't know how I got so lucky as to end up with a guy that would rather go shopping for a couch than hang out with the boys watching a sports game. I'm sure this leads to many assumptions about him, but really! He's very manly! He races cars! He plays the drums! It's just that he only emigrated to Canada as a ten year old, and he never grew up playing sports at school, so it was never a part of his life. It's so funny that over the breakfast table he can be looking at his favourite magazine, Grassroots Motorsports, and then put it down and pick up his next favourite, Met Home. :) The Design show should be fantastic, it looks like there will be lots of contemporary design companies in town there.

So, after the Design show, we're heading out to go go-carting! Woohoo! There's an indoor place where the carts go really quite fast, and it's a load of fun. I'm not sure I could pick another activitiy that is more disparate than the design show! hahah. After the fast cars, we are meeting up with friends and family for a big loud dinner downtown at a southern-style seafood place, which should be a load of fun too.

As I mentioned, we've been doing a lot of painting around the house. We recently did several rooms in the house and once the house is all put back together I will take pictures and post them. I think we even have enough "before" pictures from when we were buying the house last year to do some good before-and-after shots.

I'm usually a pretty crafty person, and am always either sewing, or gluing, or cutting, or constructing some pretty thing. Since we started looking for a new house, selling the old, buying the new, moving and unpacking last year, I haven't done a single thing. I set up my craft room months ago, but without the rest of the house looking more like I wanted it to, my energy wasn't into crafts. I'm looking forward to being able to come home from work, relax, and head up to my craft room for an evening of sewing and playing with paper. I know, I know, I could do it now! But my virgo self does not work like that. EVERYTHING needs to be organized before I start something. God I hope this doesn't mean I have to redesign the landscape as well, before I can make my next little journal! Although virgo, and love things to be pretty and organized, I've also spent my whole life pulling back and forth between an "organized" life and and "chaotic" life. Even though I like things in their place, I can live with a very high level of chaos before it bothers me. I am able to ignore the chaos in some cases, but in others, it sends me into fits of need for clean. Aah the conflicts of life ;)

Since my office isn't set up, my "real" computer isn't set up, so I'm just using the laptop we have. This means I don't have access to my "favourite links" for all the blogs I love. I've read tons of blogs over the last few years, and still go back once in a while to some of them. However, recently, I'm spending much more time away from the computer and so have only been reading a few really good ones. Many of my new favourites are crafty blogs. My absolute most favourite one right now is Rosy Little Things. Alicia owns the cutest little shop in Portland, and writes about her business and her favourite crafty things. She's very inspiring to me - she left her job years ago and remembered that as a child she used to sew and design things. While on sick leave, she started sewing again, and loved it so much that she never went back, and opened up a studio instead! Now she loves being a shop lady in her own store, and sells all sorts of cute things, as well as the things she creates. The aesthetics of her shop and handmade goodies and blog are so cute, and actually, really quite different than a lot of the things I have in my own home. But they remind me of things I used to love as a kid, and they are bringing out the girly side of me which has been neglected over time. And they remind me too of spending time in the south of france when I was younger, for some reason. Anyway, I love this shop too cuz I think Alicia is the bees knees. I bought a handbag from her a couple of years ago, and spoke with her on the phone and she was so nice. Then I got an email from her about a year later, saying she was seeing a new dentist with my same last name (pretty unique name), and wanted to know if we were related! Now that's knowing your client list! I'm not related to her dentist, but I still think she's a cutie-patootie. She's also inspiring me to finally get the house back in order, and start making some fun crafty stuff.

Ok, time to wake up my boy and start our day-o-birthday-fun! I'll have to remember to pack some kleenex and Halls though... Have a great weekend!

More than a thousand words

2005-07-27T21:31:00.000-04:00

Since I really don't feel like talking out loud these days, some pretty pictures to keep you happy:

my recent bliss and gratitude

2005-07-11T22:45:00.000-04:00

having the only house on the street that sells in 5 weeks. all the others that were for sale at the same time are still on the market
having a closing date for both the old and new houses that fell into place perfectly
having enough friends and trucks and beer and food to create a smooth and seamless move on the hottest day of the year
birthday suit suntanning on the balcony completely hidden from the road
a place in the country that feels like you are heading out to camp every night
early coffee on the balcony, where my husband says "i think mornings are now my favourite time of the day"
a change in mindset - from everybody cares! to who cares!
a new permanent job that will allow me the time and money to do what I really want to do - to live life fully and out LOUD
the drive to and from the house - farms, fields, horses, cows, deer, trees, open skies, and wildflowers
friends coming to warm the new house with guitar licks and laughter
drum circles at 1am with oscar, my newest 3rd year old buddie, after he had said "one more song!" for the twelve time, and just before he closed his eyes and went to sleep, dreaming in music
hula-hooping at midnight in the rain
a crush on a boy with angel eyes
staying up to watch the sun come up
the beauty and rarity of my three favourite girls
a house full of creative, funny, vibrant, fantastic people
brunch for 10, coffee for 100
refreshing pool time in this hot and humid summer
badminton and volleyball on a lazy lazy lazy saturday afternoon
looking at my legs and arms, and seeing the same thing I did 25 years ago - mosquito bites, shrub scratches, freckles, and brown skin - all reflective of a perfect summer day
pink toenails against a blue pool bottom
little linus and his dimples
meeting new friends and rekindling old relationships
homemade juice popsicles
dancing with my eyes closed for hours on end
healing words and people
my body, for easily finding those old dancing moves, ones I haven't done in months as I was busy with the "rest of my life"
signs from out there - showing me the way, showing me how to slow down, reminding me everything's ok
freedom and letting go
seeing my husband letting go in the same way

funny

2005-06-24T23:19:00.000-04:00

We got the keys to the new house today! Woohoo! We are moving this weekend and I've been busy packing and haven't written anything new in a while. Probably won't for a few more days, especially while all the computer-y fancy techno stuff gets taken apart here and re-engineered at the new place. Till then, here is a very funny website: threadbared - they take old sewing pattern pictures and make fun of them :)

a rest

2005-06-13T21:15:00.000-04:00

So I didn't do much packing this weekend, even though we move in two weeks. I was still pretty mopey about my pup, and I got a cold of sorts on Friday which made me groggy. Mix in the heat wave, and lack of sleep throughout the week, I was one tired lady. I did some packing on Saturday morning, and then got ready to meet my friend to go to the spa!

We had made our appointments a while ago, and it ended up being the perfect day. I was definitely needing some rest and relaxation, and the spa was perfect. May I repeat it once more: this spa was perfect! I got a facial and a pedicure, and it was exactly the right mix of relaxation and girl-time that I needed to make me feel better. They have a very annoying flash-ful website, but the actual building is fantastic. It's an old building that's been renovated and added on to, but it has kept a lot of the charm of the older structure. The facial was great - really nice organic products, and a lot of massage and tender care. The pedicure we got was a stone peddie - they use warm stones to massage your legs and feet before doing all the rest of the footie-type stuff. Worth the extra five bucks! You are allowed to bring your own wine and snacks, so next time we go, we will definitely take a bottle of champagne and some cheese and fruit for a perfectly lovely afternoon.

Seriously, it was exactly what the healer ordered. I definitely recommend it if you are looking for good spa services at a decent price. It let me step back and take some time to relax and not feel pressured about the move. And the bonus on top of this day? My family came over and brought tapas for dinner and I didn't have to lift a finger, except for stopping at the beer store on the way home for my favourite beer and maybe cut some bread. And the extra extra bonus? The beautiful yellow bouquet of flowers my sister had delivered from a lovely store in Manotick, full of gerberas, lillies, orchids, roses, and greenery, just to lift my spirits. The toast that night was definitely to the best family in the world.

Sunday consisted of a lot of continued relaxation - in bed till noon, brunch in front of fave tv shows, more reading of a good book, sitting in the back yard, and meeting my husband for dinner out. yummies! Oh yeah, I also think I packed one box.

we'll miss you

2005-06-09T22:52:00.000-04:00

Warlock lost his battle tonight. He had not been doing well this week, wasn't eating at all and was weak and really slowing down. We took him to the vet tonight and he had become so anemic through all the blood loss that the inside of his mouth had lost all its colour. We took him for a little walk around the block to decide what to do (or rather, when... tonight, or wait another few days?). The vet said his heart was so weak he was going to start fainting, and a heart attack was imminent. I called my sister to come to the vet's office, as I knew she would want to say goodbye. We got to sit with him on the lawn in the sunshine for a half hour or so and then we took him inside.

I miss him so much already, the house is quiet, and his toys are sitting there waiting to be played with. We've had him for six years, and he was so much an identifying factor in our lives here in Ottawa. It'll be strange without him.

Life goes on, and I know he's somewhere out there running his little heart out, chasing some poor rabbit.

I love that he was part of our lives for so long, and that he chose us to be his caretakers. We wouldn't be the same without having met him.

Bye little bean pole, we'll miss you. xoxo.

Finally!

2005-05-17T21:46:00.001-04:00

After all the recent stresses, our house has finally sold! Our realtor came by tonight and we signed the final papers, and then we went out and changed the sign. Yippee! Now it can all sink in, and I can really start to picture myself moving to the new place. It all seems so much more real now :) I predict a good night's sleep.

Q&A

2005-05-17T07:48:00.000-04:00

Q: When is the worst time to find out there is water in your basement?
A: When there is an inspector doing a house inspection on your house that is conditional on the sale of that very same house.

Q: When did we find out there was water in our basement?
A: By phone from the inspector while he was with the house buyer in the basement doing the house inspection that is conditional on the sale of our house.

Fortunately, there wasn't a lot. Fortunately, we now know what the problem is, and it's fixable (the tap to the outside when we attach the hose). Unfortunately, they are now adjusting their offer. We find out today by how much they are adjusting their offering price.

Q: When is the worst time to find your sick dog has had house-training accidents?
A: At 2am after a night out on the town, and also at 8:00am when you are already late for work, and basically any time after you have laid new carpet down in order to help sell your house (see above).

Q: When did we find these same accidents?
A: Yes, those very times, several weeks in a row now.

The dog is feeling worse and worse, and we are facing the fact that we will have to make a life or death decision very soon. My brother-in-law suggested the Health Research Institute's Ottawa Personal Decision Guide. Apparently going through the steps helps one make big decisions related to health - ie. life or death, surgery or not, types of therapies or treatments, etc. - looking at pros and cons, and figuring out which works best for you. I'll keep you updated.

going, going, GONE!

2005-05-13T07:54:00.000-04:00

The house is conditionally sold!!! Yippee. We got a good price, and the closing date we wanted and everything just seem to fall into place in the right way. Kewl, as my boss would say. We need to wait on the other people's finances and a house inspection, and after that we are free to feel to start packing up. Well, knowing me and my need for deadlines, there is no way I will be packing up 6 weeks in advance, but just to know that I COULD if I wanted to is good enough. :)

gimme closure!

2005-05-12T01:40:00.000-04:00

two offers, first one rejected, second one countered, two new offers, second one rejected, first one countered, way more showings, hopeful for more offers!

Monopoly anyone?

gimme shelter

2005-04-14T22:11:00.000-04:00

So... I put my business "officially" on hiatus for a little while. With all the house stuff that's going on, I haven't had time to do the things I wanted to do this spring. They will have to wait until summer. I am going to be adding a lot of different products to the business and have been wanting to come up with things that have more of a unified look to the things I sell, so I'll be working on designs and colour schemes. In the meantime, since my craft room is now in the basement, and needs to stay super neat and tidy till the house sells, I'll only be doing a few little things here and there. Oh yes, two sets of my friends are getting married this summer, so I'll be working on their invitations, and some lovely wedding dresses for myself (dresses to wear to the weddings), but the rest will have to wait.

On wedding news, one of my oldest and dearest friends Emily got married on Groundhog Day this year! What a great way to make an over-looked holiday more special! :) She is also expecting a baby girl in June and I couldn't be more happy for her.

When I was busy getting the house ready to go on the market, I didn't have much time to think (a good thing with me!!) but since then I've been thinking about the houses in my recent life. Our first place in Ottawa was a smallish apartment in a 1980s lowrise complex. It was the place where we lived while we settled in here. It was not homey, and felt very much like student living, even though we tried to make it homier. However, I was busy starting my Master's and Arek was busy working on contract work (oh, the days of the computer boom here where contracts just fell into his lap...). I was so busy that year, we didn't take much time for anything else. Once in a while we'd go out, but it took me a full couple of years before we could drive around town without a map. We only knew our way to our friends' places, the university, the job site, and the bars we liked. I don't really miss that place, except for the entertainment we got from the people who lived below us, who spent every evening out on their balcony smoking pot and weezing and coughing and giggling their way through their conversations. Oh yes, it was also the year of the ice storm here. I didn't like Ottawa much in this place, but I also didn't know it very well.

The following year we rented a whole house near the experimental farm. It was great! Two stories, three bedrooms, bright and airy, wood floors, and a great back yard. The garden the first year was my best one yet. Lots of tomatoes, and other vegetables, a HUGE pumpkin that threatened to overtake the house (it took both of us and a wheelbarrow to bring it to the front of the house and decorate it for halloween!), and lots of flowers. Oh yes, and a cute willow arbour I made at a workshop. The garden was my haven - it's where I sat and sipped tea, and gin and tonics, and where I brought my laptop and wrote my entire Master's thesis (all 300 pages!). It's also the place where we had one of the big parties for our wedding, where we got engaged, and where we surprised my parents for their 40th anniversary with all the family. It's where I turned 30 and loved it! It's where I practised my tap dancing for my classes on the hard linoleum floor in the basement, and where we brought little Wally home to (our dog). He'd sit keeping guard at the front door all day long, or lay in the sun in the back and chase butterflies, or nuzzle the little dog next door through the fence. It's also the last house my dad stayed in before he died, and it's the place where I took a year off from everything dealing with some of the grief and anger and craziness of that period. It's also where I got really sick, but then started recovering. I really liked this house, it was a light-filled house and it took care of my body and soul.

We bought our next and current house, because we felt we were wasting too much money on rent, and felt it was time to make an investment. We looked for and bought this house when I was sick, and moved while I was still recovering. As I look around now, I see this house as a cocoon. It was a shelter for me in my recovery, but in a different way than the light and airy house we had before. It's been much more of a hibernation and inward-looking place for me. It's allowed me to get better physically, but it's also let me fall into many an emotional rut. I've become much more of a hermit here, and feel that I've cut myself off from much of my life while I've been here. This is not necessarily a bad thing, but it was necessary for me at the time. It's been a place where I've searched deeper inside to find the "real" me, and often came up empty-handed, cuz I was looking too hard, and forgot to just BE me. It's been a place where I started to hate Ottawa, and my place here, and the things I was doing, because I wasn't happy myself. But, it's also been a place where I gently pulled back from that, and allowed myself to be freer and more creative that I have in many many years. It's also the place I realized I was unhappy in my relationship, and took steps to become happier and more alive in that same relationship, to make it something we both wanted to be a part of. It's been tough living here, but good. As I look down the hallway, I realize the parallel all this has with my bedroom placement - we're in a split level, and the bedrooms are on the lower level, half above and half below ground. A good grounding and hibernating spot if I've ever seen one!

So, now, we are moving at the end of June, to a two-storey house again, with a bedroom that has a deck where I can look out at the treetops and up at the sky, and a stone fireplace for grounding and snuggling in front of. The best of two worlds :) It's got places for both our creative outlets, and space for more if we want. I feel more energetic now that I have in a while, and I'm ready to live more fully. It's funny, since this house is a lot farther out of town than we are now, but I have a feeling I'm going to be more social there. I'm excited about having friends and family out for the entire day, walking in the area, and making big meals together. I'm excited about new ideas for my business, and I'm excited to have new spaces to make new memories.

Each place has been perfect for what I needed it to be at that time. I know my next place will be perfect in whatever capacity it needs to be. I'm excited to settle in together.

i'm gonna wash that junk right out of my hair

2005-04-09T00:13:00.000-04:00

So... wow... that was a long break from y'all... just needed some time to get my shit together and get to a point where I was no longer waking up with my jaw clenched from the stress I was feeling over the past few weeks.

We got through the inspection on the new house with flying colours - the inspector said he was really impressed with the really good foundation, and the overall shape the house was in for being 20 years old. So there you go, we've bought it completely now. We did not make it conditional on the sale of this house, as we figure we'll be able to sell no problem in this market. But at the same time, it has me a little anxious about ending up with two mortgages in the summer! I'm sure it will all work out, though, and it will all fall into place.

We got our current house in tip top shape too. That was most of the work recently. We have a lot of STUFF and we had to go through it all and get rid of a lot of it, either by giving it away, or storing it until we have more time to sort.

I was so stunned at how much actual garbage was in the house. The crawl space took me an entire day to go through, and I had 8 contractor bags full of garbage when I finished. Crappy old building materials that were there from the previous owners! Boxes for things we haven't even owned since we moved here! All those "I'll just keep this, cuz you just never know..." things. No more! The house looks so much better now, has more flow, has better energy and has even gained a few rooms!

We took all the band's equipment out of the basement, and moved my craft room down there for now. That left us with a spare room to set up as a sitting room, and suddenly, there is a place for people to stand and talk to us while we make dinner. Or, at least, at place for me to read a magazine while my husband makes dinner :) Shut up! I make our breakfasts and lunches everyday so it all works out :) There was this wierd counter thing sticking out of our kitchen, and we just never really knew what to do with it, except for putting junk on it (cool! A long horizontal space!), and so now we've got with the times, and bought some stools and put them along there, and now we have a breakfast nook as well! I love sitting there and chatting with arek, and eating breakfast there (wow! in the breakfast nook! what a concept!)

So... we are still doing a few things here and there, but the bulk of everything is done, thanks to the help of a lot of our friends and family. Thank you SO much to each and every one of you!! We couldn't have done it without you: Erika, Anton, Magdalena, Kevin, Sara, Jane, Mike, Jen, Ruth, Tina, and Joan, we love you!!!

so busy

2005-03-28T22:56:00.000-05:00

i'm taking a couple of days off from here.... we are very busy trying to get our house ready to go on the market this weekend! It's crazy.. I knew we were kind of pack-rat-ish.... but oh my god. I'm so ready to turn over a new leaf and stop hoarding junk!!! take care, talk to you soon.

hello beautiful!

2005-03-20T11:24:00.000-05:00

We've had a very exciting week and weekend! We started looking at houses on the Listings early in the week, found a place we liked, saw it on Thursday, saw it again on Friday, put in an offer on Saturday, and became it's new owners today! I love it!!! It's about 20 minutes from our current house, kind of in the "country" near a small hamlet, near the bigger city, next to the biggest city. It's got DSL for pete's sake, it's not that far out :) But it is on well water and septic tank (I'll have to plant the garden over it, I'll get giant pumpkins!).

So, yah, lots of nervous energy this week, and I'm trying to come down to earth and give my brain a break for a little while But holy crap I'm so happy!! The best part? A full basement, big enough for me to use my hoolahoop all year round :) The second best part? The private deck off the master bedroom, which also has a woodstove in it for those romantic wintery nights. Oh, and the stone fireplace in the living room, oh, and the two acres of land, oh, and the big garage for my hubby, oh, and the red cedar siding.... yeah, it's nice.

Gotta sell my current place though. Wanna buy a nice split-level house with 4 bedrooms and and 55 x 110 lot, 15 minutes from the Nation's Capitol vibrant downtown? Let me know!

here they are!

2005-03-15T23:16:00.000-05:00

Apparently I can't take pictures with a digital camera. All the pics I take with it SUCK, but I think you can get a feel for how the dress looks from the pictures below. If not, you may email me and I can tell you how to donate through paypal for a personal assistant who will take all my pictures for me. I'm sure you'll be very happy with your purchase. :)

So, here's a medium closeup showing all the crazy gathering and the flounciness of it all. It doesn't at all show the fact that there is a boning corset under the torso area, and five layers of fabric, does it? The damn thing could stand up by itself if it wanted to! In fact, it has so much sass, it could probably stand up on it's own, light a cigarette, and tell you all to "eat my grits y'all" except in a nice sorority kind of way. (Oh, by the way, tangent here..... Magda was trying to explain the concept of "sorority" to her mother who is not originally from round these parts, and the closest she could get was some kind of "ladies club". Let hope mama never watches revenge of the nerds of other frat movies, or finds out that her daughter is the cornerstone person on her team for the drink-2-pints-under-7-seconds contest at the greek olympics!!)

Anyway, I present the beautiful Magdalena:

Here's one showing the full dress. Yes, she did force me to make the slit 6 inches higher than in the pattern! There's a word for ladies of that sort.... bossy ;)

And here she is phoning her agent saying "Get me to the Oscars, baby, cuz i'm FABULOUS!"

the dress is done

2005-03-13T14:32:00.000-05:00

So.... I've been very preoccupied recently, and have basically spent ALL my free moments for the past three weeks making the dress for my sister in law. IT'S DONE! I finished it, no word of a lie, an hour before she had to leave. I drove it to her place, we put it on, and after a couple of moments where we thought the zipper wouldn't go up all the way.... zip! It went up! It looked really good. I took some pictures, but I can't find my camera right now, so I'll have to upload them later.

I'm so proud of myself!

Being 21 and a hottie and going to her sorority social, she wanted the dress to fit tighter, tighter! So, I made it as tight as possible, while still being able to get on her, and it worked out pretty well. There was a slight buckle in the back zipper, as the sides of the dress were sewn tighter than they wanted to be, but she just jauntily threw a slinky shawl around her arms, and it draped down over her back and it covered it nicely. I think she's going to wear it again for her grad formal, so I think I might adjust it a little bit. Other than that, it all turned out!

There were five layers to the dress, two short lining layers containing the boning that kept the structure of the upper section (like a corset), then a full length lining, the two layers of the silk chiffon gathered and ruched like in the picture. Although the dress overall was not hard to make, there were certainly difficult parts to the whole process. I'd never sewn with chiffon, and probably won't for a while :) It's very slippery, and delicate, and I feel more comfortable with linens and heavier silks. The armholes were difficult, and the final layer of lining had to be stitched to the dress after it was turned to the inside of the dress, and done from the outside (i know this sounds confusing,.... sorry!). So, i ended up doing that part by hand, trying to fold in 4 layers, and then attach a slippery fifth, without buckling the outside of the fabric. that took a while. Also, the gathering in the front had to be even so that there were no bulges anywhere in the top layer of chiffon. There was one tiny bulge in the end, but that got fixed when I tightened the whole lot. Oh yes, and I think if I had more time, I would have hand sewn all the flounces (the frilly bits). They were cut as long spirals, hemmed a scant 1/4 inch on one side, and then sewn onto the dress between the lining and overlay layers. That was pretty tricky, and I think they would have looked more professional if you couldn't see a hem sewing line on them.

The verdict from Magdalena's view? She was the belle of the ball. She felt like she was going to the Oscars, and everyone was flabbergasted that someone had made her dress, and it was beautiful. Absolutely everyone commented on the dress and how beautiful she was in it. She said she knew she had made an impact, when her friend's boyfriend, who is really shy and never says two words about anything, was staring at her all night, and finally came up to her and told her had the most beautiful dress on, and she was pretty. :) She likes being the centre of attention!!

The verdict from my view? It was quite the learning experience. It taught me to just dive in and do something, without fretting too much about the process. It was tough, but enjoyable, and made me realize I can do anything I put my mind to. It doesn't mean it was perfect, or of the highest quality, but it was perfect for what it was, and Magda was so happy and thinks I'm a star so that's what counts. It challenged me in all sorts of ways, and because of the time restraint (3 weeks!) I was able to just keep going even if I wanted to rip it out and do it all over again, and remember that I'm not a professional sewer, and it doesn't need to be perfect, it just needs to be a dress that I made for someone I love. So thanks Maggie for the shove, it was great!

So those bags I wanted to make for my business? They will SO not be a problem after this!

north is just "up" from wherever you are

2005-03-07T23:13:00.000-05:00

So, it snowed here today in Ottawa. Maybe about 15 centimetres or so, and we are supposed to get a bit more tonight, along with that ottawa-winter-identifier: freezing rain. i was sitting at work looking out the window, thinking how pretty the snow looked, and then we all got word to go home, because of the bad weather!! I was pretty surprised - the temperature wasn't that cold, and there didn't seem to be that much snow. But a snow day! Woohoo! You know you're a complete beaurocrat when you hear "the weather's bad, go home", and for an instant, you're first thought is: "shit... I've got so much work to do...". I got over that pretty quickly.

it got me thinking of my old town, thunder bay, and how the inhabitants there really feel hardy and rugged in the winter. We rarely got a snow day in school - only if there was over three feet of snow falling that day. And we never got to stay indoors during recess - only if the temperature fell below minus 30. A true north strong and free (although, of course not as north as say Peawanuck or Alert)! So, when they said go home, today, I kind of felt like i was playing hooky, and that I wasn't really supposed to be going home. I joked with a guy at work, saying HA! These Ottawa people are so wussy, they can't HANDLE the snow!, and he replied, Hey, I'm from Toronto, I should have gone home this morning, and called the army!! ;)

Ottawa seems caught between being a small northern town, and a medium size southern town. It is north to those in Toronto, and south to those in northern ontario. That reminds me of when my friend took me to a camp in the Muskokas and there was a sign on the door that said "Welcome to the north". I nearly dropped my bottle of wine as I fell to the floor laughing... "I....hahaha.. think they mean... hahaha... welcome to just north of toronto... hahaha!"

Ottawa promotes it's Winterlude, and it's longest skating rink and all the winter activities that come out of those, but every time a few flakes fall, the drivers in this town ...aaaahhhh.... FREAK OUT! Hardly anyone uses winter tires, and there are tons of accidents all over town during a snowfall. It's not the people driving fast who cause them, it's the people who can't stop, or stay on the road. You gotta decide, Ottawa, are you a hardy, skate-wearing, snoe-showing, skiing, rugged driving sort of winter town, or are you TORONTO?? :)

Please, everyone, learn to drive in the winter. It's easy with some good winter tires and a little training. It makes everyone safer.

Oh yeah, as rugged and northern as I say I am, I actually don't like winter at all... give me a hot and dry climate any day over cold and wet. I've been in Ottawa over 7 years, and yesterday was the first time since I got here that I went on the canal! I haven't been skating in 15 years, but it was surprising how easily it all came back to me. Not that I was doing any triple sow-cows but i did manage to do a little twirl, go backwards, and of course forwards in a fairly stable way. yeah me!

PS. Thanks to all of you who spoke with me personally to give me advice for my friend. She's feeling better. xo.

updates

2005-02-23T00:10:00.000-05:00

i've added some "historical" entries from the blog that used to be attached to my other site, in case some of you wanted to learn more about me. i'll add some more when I have time. some are crafty, some are introspective, but ALL make for great reading :)

mr. and mrs. spend-a-lot stay home for now

2005-02-22T22:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I think I get it now.... sort of, anyway.

Many of you who know me and my husband know that we are slightly on the "impulsive" end of the responsible shopper measure. And we're not talking about Pez dispensers, I'm seriously talking about knickknacks, clothing, furniture, and even, it's true - cars. We both get this giddy feeling when we find something we like, and want it IMMEDIATELY to put in our house.

However, it usually finds a place in the pile by the front door, or in one of the piles in the bedroom, or dining room. We buy STUFF, and then don't really think about where it will go, or forget that we actually have 3 of those things already and don't really need another. If it's not quantity, it's quality.... we go out with a specific thing in mind, with a vague-ish idea of a price. Usually, we are way under in our pricing guess, so we realize as we shop that we will have to spend twice what we thought. And then, we see something we like even more, and it's not much more than the twice-the-original-price amount! And then we think, hell, if we're going to spend that much money, why not just get the extra-special version of that higher priced version! We get overtaken with excitement, feelings of spontenaity, that immediate adrenaline courses through our bodies and we say fuck it, we've been so good recently, we deserve it!! And OH MY GOD there is a payment plan - SOLD!

Of course the priciest item was already sold the moment we walked in the store, when it saw us and knew we were those kind of people, and that special high-priced item pushed out it chest, polished it's cute nose, sparkled that smile that only special high-priced groovy items can smile, and gave us that "come hither" look that we respond to so well. sold. Instead of songs about being "hooked on you" there should be songs for shopaholics about being "sold on you, baby, you won't believe how low low low my financing can go".

So.... I was sitting in my crafty area being fairly crafty a while ago, but because the area is fairly small, I was stepping on this that and the other, and thinking, wow, it would really be nice to have a bigger space for all this STUFF (it must be known that I already had the littlest spare bedroom for my craftiness, but I outgrew that, and now I have the den).

So yes, I started eyeing up the family room - it's the room we have our tv and lazy couch in, and it has a door, so everything could be tucked away neatly (or if not, at least no one would see the mess). And, the space is much bigger than my current space. My little brain started working, and I thought - hey - I can switch these rooms! We don't need such a big TV room! Now we don't need to buy a bigger tv, we can just put the tv in a smaller room, and sit closer!

I put forward my proposal my proposal to my husband, and he agreed! Woohoo! The only problem is that we have a huge black sectional for tv viewing, and it won't fit in the new den, so we'll have to sell that one, and get another couch to use in the den. We figured out the amount we could sell the sectional for, and thought, ok, we'll buy another couch for that exact amount, and we won't be spending any money! We went furniture shopping this weekend. Not only did we get extremely excited about going shopping again for the house (we haven't in a while), we found a couch that was 1. extremely fashionable (cuz that's what everyone needs in their den), and 2. three times our original estimate. Lucky for us, we had matured a little, and didn't actually buy the damn thing that minute (delivery on Tuesday!!), but just walked out with business cards, and every intention of returning the next day.

As I had a shower later, I started to feel sick. We have recently committed ourselves to getting rid of our debt within a year, getting better at saving for the future (in all it's meanings - vacations, RSPs, "security" money), and had just spent three weeks setting up a really in-depth budgeting program on the computer. And here we were, spending a large amount of money on something that wasn't a real necessity.

Then I remembered we already had another couch.

It's true. I couldn't believe I hadn't thought of this before. We actually have a daybed in our littlest spare room, that is supposed to be used for guests to sleep on, but is currently under several piles of STUFF. That's probably why I forgot I had it - I hadn't seen it in months! I came screaming out of the shower, yelling and jumping I was so excited that I had come up with such a brilliant idea, once again. We sell the sectional sofa, NOT buy another couch, but use the one we already have for now until we CAN afford another couch, and then take that money from the couch sale to use for something that we actually need, like shelving and storage for the kitchen.

Budgeting can be fun! But my god, it takes a while for those of us with thick skulls when it comes to money. I'm sure this is hilarious to most of you who have already been money savvy, but to arek and i, it's a real eye-opener.

I'm so happy now that I thought of a good, effective, budget-conscious solution, but it still makes me sad to think that my new leather couch and asian-inspired tv armoire will have to wait for me, and keep their chests un-puffed until the day I walk in the store and catch their eye and say, "baby, I'm taking you home with me today and we'll live happily ever after!"

ps. if any of you want to buy a large 6-seater black cotton sectional with hide-a-bed (double) in good condition, let me know!

such a geek

2005-02-17T22:40:00.000-05:00

So, I'd forgotten what a sewing geek I am. i spent the night cutting out the pieces for my sister in law's dress out of the tissue paper that is packed into the little envelopes that patterns come in. I sat about cutting out all the bits and pieces, and then remembered a little trick I used to do back in the day. i went and plugged in the iron and started ironing the tissue paper so it would lie nice and flat! I used to do this a long time ago - i found it really helped in laying the pattern pieces on the fabric - they would lie flatter, and straighter, and were easier to work with than piecees that were all crumpled and folded. I'd also forgotten how long the preliminary steps take - the actual sewing of a dress takes such a short while compared to the cutting out of the tissue paper, cutting out the fabric pieces, transferring all the marks, and all that. So basically, it took 2 and a half hours to cut paper, iron paper, and then cut out four little pieces of fabric!

Did I then take the pattern pieces that I would not be using for this version of the dress and iron them flat and fold and iron until they fit nicely back in the evelope, making sure all the while that the way they were folded revealed the pattern piece number in case I ever need to use it?

Yes, yes i did.

That reminds me of a story I have from when I use to work at the fabric store a long time ago. There were a lot of older ladies who would come in to buy fabric, who would ask for their cuts in yards. We always made sure to ask "yards or metres?" since often they would mean metres, but just say yards from old habits. So, one time, this lady wanted ten yards of fabric, and so i asked "yards or metres?" and she replied with "oh yes! silly me! of course i mean kilometres!"

heehee. I was laughing so hard picturing 10km of flannel pyjamas, and then she caught on to what she had said and started laughing too :)

get the funk out!

2005-02-15T21:17:00.000-05:00

so.... i won't go into to many details, mainly so this entry isn't 800 pages long, but I've been pretty sick and tired this winter, well maybe even this past year :( It started about a year ago, where i found it difficult to be happy anymore, and my husband and I were not in a happy place (spending lots of time together, but no time together, if you know what i mean). So, we realized that was not good for us, and have been working on that issue. at the same time, I've been trying to identify the specific things that make me happy as an individual, and have been incorporating more of those into my life. we went on a long trip to Europe in september and had a wonderful time. It was a good time for us to regroup, come together again, relax, be free from the shackles of everyday life, and have some real FUN!

So, when we got back, I thought everything was fixed! But then we got back into the routine of life, I started a new job and was focusing on that, and all sorts of other things, and basically, we ended up being sick for months on end.... continuous colds, lethargy, blank minds, and the flu for both of us. not very fun. it didn't seem like we could get ahead in anyway. we were eating crappily, and not excersing, and not having the energy to do anything about it. we finally, with time and some antibiotics, got rid of the flus and colds, and started to see a glimmer of health at the end of the congested tunnel.

We've done fasts and cleanses before, not that many, but a few and I remembered how good I felt after them, and suggested we do an extended one together. We'd done them for 3-6 days before, but this time we decided to do an 11 day one. I have several books by a nutritionist named Dr. Bernard Jensen. He was one of those health and wellness people like Dr. Kellogg at the turn of the century, believing that a squeeky clean inside and the right combinations of movement, food and happiness would help anyone feel better. Jensen was actually a really big proponent of having clean intestines and bowels. I actually own two books that have bowel care and bowel management in the title! There were pictures in the books that showed how intestinally centred this guy was - but they were so freaking disgusting that I cut them out. I can now read my books without gagging from here to eternity! We did NOT do the home colonics which are step-by-step explained in the books, but I have the directions if anyone wants to try one!! Anyway, he was very focused on healing the WHOLE person, not just healing bits and pieces, and one does this, according to him, by good regimes that lead to tissue cleansing - basically, stay clean and whole from the inside out, and you will live long and prosper.

I like this guy's way of thinking. I bought these books ages ago, one of them even before I moved out on my own, in my early twenties. I just don't always crack them open and follow the suggestions as often as my body would like. SO.... we decided to do his 11 day elimination diet. It was great! We made it through the whole 11 days without cheating (too many times) and feel so much better than we did three weeks ago! I myself feel like a totally different person, and feel better and more energetic than I have in months. I've even started going back to the gym, and that's helping even more. Yeay me! I only hope that I have the courage to keep it up! We've been eating fairly regularly since the end of the cleanse, but we've definitely cut back our portions, and have added more fruit and vegetables into the daily intake, and less wheat and other stodgy foods. Just being more watchful of what I'm eating is better than shovelling whatever the hell I wanted to into my hole. Even if I have the occasional TimBit at work when those EVIL people bring them in, I know that it's ok in the grand scheme of things, as I am going to chase it with a soy-harvest-fruit munch. Not really, but it's the thought that counts ;)

Anyway, I'm including the cleanse below for any who are daring enough to get rid of those toxins you are carrying around! Oh, perhaps once you've recovered from the image of those toxic intestines, one day I'll tell you about the stuff that came out of me :) Don't be frightened, it was just lots of liquids.... :)

This diet can be adjusted how you like. For example, you could do stage one for only one day, and stage 3 for three days, it's up to you.

Stage 1: 3 days
- water and fruit juice only, preferably grapefruit juice. One glass of juice every four hours.

Stage 2: 2 days
- fruit only - grapes, melons, tomatoes, pears, peaches, plums, dried fruit (reconstituted, ie, soaked in water overnight), baked apples

Stage 3: 6 days
- citrus fruit for breakfast
- salad of three to six vegetables for lunch, plus, two cups of Vital broth
- two or three steamed vegetables for dinner, plus, two cups of Vital broth
- of you get hungry between meals, you can have fruit juice or fruit (you won't really get hungry, since your stomach has shrunk a lot by this point)

Vital Broth
- 2 quarts water
- 1/2 teaspoon vegetable broth powder
- 3 cups finely chopped celery stalks
- 2 cups finely chopped celery tops
- 2 cups finely chopped carrot tops
- 2 cups finely chopped (1/4 inch thick) potato peelings
- 1 garlic clove, finely chopped
- 1 carrot, chopped
- 1 onion, chopped

Place all ingredients in a large soup pot. Slowly bring to a boil over high heat, then reduce the heat and simmer until the vegetables are soft, about twenty minutes. Strain the broth and allow to cool slightly. Drink.

The broth is really quite tasty - especially since we added more garlic, and threw in a hot pepper for more flavour (well, really, to disguise the celery flavour which we don't like).

So there you go! Enjoy, and happing releasing! :)

For those of you just looking for updates to my recent sewing project, and have stayed even after reading all the above, do not fret, the Project will commence this weekend!!

an extraordinary woman

2005-02-13T13:42:00.000-05:00

I just want to give a little shout out to my belly dancing teacher, Tracey Vibert. She is this week's Woman of the Week on Women Moving Forward which is an organization "that empowers women to feel excited about life, fell strongly connected to what is important to them, and impact others with humanitarian living." Many of the women are entrepreneurs with interesting businesses. If the link brings up a different person, there is an archive list, so you can click on her name. Tracey's main occupation, apart from her belly dancing classes, is as a clothing and costume designer. Check it out!

i am sew crazy!

2005-02-12T17:10:00.000-05:00

I cannot believe myself. i am definitely crazy. I worry about the little things and then just jump head first into the big things! Let me explain.

I have been wanting to get back into sewing. i used to do quite a lot of it. i started sewing around the age of 9 or so, with my mother's help. I think the first thing i made was a green corduroy pull over dress that I loved to death. Later on, in my early twenties I worked at Fanny's Fabrics and got quite good at pattern interpreting, and sewing in general. I made a few dresses for myself for various fancy dinners, and lots of casual skirts and shirts and stuff. Since I've moved to Ottawa, I haven't done any sewing at all. The only thing I did was my wedding dress. This sounds more impressive than it was - it was a really simple dress made of stretchy cotton with a veil-y thing attached to the back with some embroidery, nothing high end.

So I've been excited about sewing again ever since my sister gave me an old (1949) Singer machine. It's beautiful and sews so smoothly! I actually haven't had a lot of time this winter for much more than a couple of mending jobs, but I've really been drawn to lots of linen materials lately, and want to make lovely table cloths and napkins and things to sell through Manus Made. I was also thinking of making some loungey-yoga pants and such, I have a few pairs that are SOO comfy, and think they would sell well. So, I thought I would start with something simple like a bag or a napkin, and then my sister-in-law asked if I could make a dress for her sorority formal dance (Nu Sigma Pi!) and I before I thought about it, I said yes!

So... she found a beautiful pattern - unfortunately it says TRES DIFFICIL all over it (advanced) and now I'm freaking out a bit as we went and got some gorgeous lavender silk and chiffon for it, costing several hundred dollars! If the damn thing turns out, it will be absolutely spectacular. She says she has complete faith in me, and even if it doesn't turn out, and it ends up being a tube dress, she will still love it. So her faith in me, and her acceptance of my potential sub-standard work, is urging me to have the same confidence in myself!

I think I might chart the progress here, one, so it will keep me motivated, and two, so that if there any people out there with sewing skills, they can email me and let me know what I'm doing wrong!!! :)

51 things

2005-02-06T11:22:00.000-05:00

i am 35
i got married 4 years ago, we met 5 years before that
i have had at least 5 surgeries in my life
i am a public servant
i am also a business woman
i like to sleep
i am a researcher at heart, and will research all options before choosing what to do. this takes a long time and i am trying to curtail this habit.
i am creative
i took piano lessons as a child for about 6 years. i stopped them sometime in highschool, and didn't play again until my husband bought me a piano for my thirtieth birthday.
i own tap shoes and flamenco shoes. i've only taken a couple of classes
i like summer and want to live in a warmer climate
i like to travel
i am not very social - i spend more time by myself than with anyone else
i'm not good at making small talk, and find it hard to get to know someone well
i like to make things with paper and fabric, mainly because of the colours and texture
i want to live in a natural home, preferably an adobe house or a dome home
i love to dance, mostly in my house
i love to play with my big hoop, although it's very difficult inside in the winter!
i am trying to respect myself enough to stay healthy and fit
i love to suntan, even though it's not "good for you" I still think it makes people look healthier
i have a dog who is 9 years old
i flew off a bike once, going over the handlebars. i landed on my face and knocked a tooth out. i was in so much shock once i got to the hospital that i was laughing after i realized i no longer needed to go and buy a halloween costume anymore!
i was bullied in school
my grandfather gave me a typewriter when i was 10. i loved it and used to type and type and type, usually just retyping my favourite books. this is how i learned to type. later in highschool the guidance counselor told me i'd make a great secretary
i created a library in my bedroom of all my books. i made up an inventory numbering system, and attached labels to all the spines, and set up a book for people to sign when they borrowed a book. i never lent anyone any books, as i liked my library too much and didn't want to have spaces in it. another guidance counselor later told me i'd make a good librarian. i actually wanted to sign up in university for this, but a family member looked at me like i was crazy and i so i felt like it wasn't a "good enough" job.
i'm goofy
i am taking belly dancing lessons. my shimmy is really good.
i do not have a sweet tooth in general, but if you give me a freshly baked apple fritter i will follow you to the ends of the world.
i am a half-orphan. my father died 5 years ago
i never thought I'd like a vacation where you sat on the beach all day, until i took a vacation where i sat on the beach all day.
i am four feet eleven and three quarter inches tall
on the other hand, i am often spontaneous and impulsive
i own a house. some of the rooms are nearly complete and gorgeous, but most of the rooms remind me of student housing.
i love my family, and my family-in-law
i am a good baker
i am compassionate
i am a picky eater
i took violin lessons as a child, got good enough to be 2nd violin in the city youth orchestra, and then gave it up when i thought it wasn't cool anymore. twenty years later, i can barely remember the string names.
i like to laugh
i wanted to take dance lessons as a kid SOOOO badly, but i knew my dad thought it was stupid, so i never asked if I could, cuz i didn't want to hear him say no.
i had my first Krispe Kreme experience last April. it was religious, and i am a convert
i love being female
i used to wear a lot of black clothes, and now my closet is starting to look like a rainbow
i like taking pictures
my favourite wine is chianti
my favourite colour is orange
the friends i do have, i love them dearly.
if i won 5 million dollars, i would quit work, travel a lot, build a big beautiful house, and apprentice at a fashion design house.
i think my husband is beautiful.
he thinks I'm beautiful.
so do i.

just hooping around

2005-01-06T13:01:00.000-05:00

Ever since my hooping and belly dancing routine, I've been wanting to use my hoop again. The problem is that, at 4 and a half feet in diameter, the hoop is rather large and I'm finding it hard to play with it in the house. I go to the basement, but then I can only spin around on the spot, cuz if I move to the left, I'll hit the furnace, if I move to the right too much, I'll hit the dryer, or the clothes that are hanging to dry, and if I move forward I'll hit Arek's drums, and backwards, it's the door. So, this is fine if I just want to stand around and hoop in one spot.

However, I've been reading hooping dot org, a forum for people who like to play with hoops, and I'm inspired to try some of the tricks and dances that other people are doing. Problem is, most of the people live on the US West Coast, where one can hoop outside all year round! Me, I've got two feet of snow out back on the deck, it's often freezing raining or snowing, and it's really hard to hoop while wearing a parka. So, hence my need to find a space in the house. My living room would probably work, it's just I would have to move two big armchairs and a big 3 foot square coffee table each time. A little much for those times I just want to play around spontaneously... I'll figure it out I'm sure. You'll just have to stayed tuned!

I did try some tricks the other night though, in the basement. Even though I nearly broke a few major household items, it was worth the near-breakage, bruises, and humiliation of having the hoop smack me in the face. One lesson learned - new tricks will have to be tried WITHOUT wearing my glasses. I learned two tricks: to grab the hoop while it's spinning around my waist, and to bring it up over my head and spin it round my hands (did I mention our basement ceiling is only 6 feet high... it's a good thing I'm only 5 of those), and then bring it back down to my waist again, while it's spinning the whole time, AND without dropping it. The next thing I learned was to bring the hoop from my waist up to my neck. It's not as painful as it sounds (the spinning around the neck part I mean, the learning part was very hard, as the damn thing slammed into my face a couple of times. I thought I gave myself a fat lip, but the swelling came down in an hour or so). While you're spinning the hoop around your waist, you just kind of crouch down, and get your shoulder under the hoop, and it starts going around your neck. I'd like to try spinning it around my thighs and/or knees, but I'll have to clean out the basement first, I think!

merry hohoho

2004-12-27T23:10:00.000-05:00

To all those celebrating, I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas or solstice, or Hanukkah, or what have you. I wish you all lots of lovely time and happiness with your loved ones, and best wishes for the new year to come.
We spent a lot of lovely time with my family, hanging out playing games, eating, drinking, laughing, and relaxing. Just what the psyche ordered :)

Even my dog spent all of Saturday relaxing. Here is how he spent his day, gradually getting sleepy... sleepier... even sleepier....

and there we go....asleep.

Being partly of English decent, our family continues the tradition of the flaming Christmas pudding as dessert. It is soaked in alcohol, and then lit with a match. Everyone oohs and aahhhs while my mother brings it to the table, while trying not to light her hair on fire, and we bask in it's Christmas prettiness, until the whole thing goes out, and we smother it in whipping cream, and eat it up.

Here are some pictures of the tree I made last year that we hung up again this year instead of a "real" tree. It's made of 5 wreaths of graduating size, strung together with heavy duty fishing wire, so it looks like each layer is floating in space. Last year, I strung it with those berry-looking lights, but I took those off, and restrung it with regular twinkle lights this year - 600 - and I think it looks better. It has glass icicles hanging from it, and various little fake berries and such wound into the grapevine. Even more fabulous, is the new fat mermaid my friend gave me, who now floats gracefully over the whole affair.

Ok... so I hope you all had a lovely weekend! I'm looking forward to more time with the rest of my family in Sudbury this New Year's, and then lots of time making new goodies for the shop! Thank you to everyone who finished their Christmas shopping at manus made, especially all those with custom orders, what a treat! xox Tania

the dance!

2004-12-17T23:04:00.000-05:00

So, here are some links to the belly dance recital I was in last Monday! They were taken by my husband, just with our digital camera. It only has so much memory, so the whole dance is in chunks. Also, from where he was sitting, he couldn't take in the whole dance, but most of the solos are on there. The video is pretty big, but I'm sure anyone with a high speed connection should be able to view the files, although you may have to wait a minute or two for it to download. Enjoy and let me know what you think!!

a few ramblings

2004-11-28T12:12:00.000-05:00

I haven't been too chatty recently... I've been trying to sell some stock in order to get excited about making some new stuff. I sent out an email to a few friends recently and got some sales, so that's always good! I was originally going to do a big craft show at my house this Christmas, but have decided not to do one, in order to just relax and enjoy spending time doing nothing and not feeling the pressures to sell and create when I just feel like hibernating.

Arek and I have also recently been spending lots of time and energy on our dog, who's just been diagnosed with cancer. This has taken a toll, and we are working through the options that are available to him. Who knew we'd be spending time with a veterinary oncologist! Currently he's on prednisone, and he seems to be perking up, and the symptoms seem to be going away. He's only been on it for a few days, so we'll see how things go. All in all a kind of inward-looking couple of weeks.

A few bright spots though in all of this... I bartended my sister's friend's 40th birthday party on Friday and that was a complete blast! The man of honour was very surprised and was really moved by the all the attention, good wishes, friends and family there. As well as the full bar with drink menu chosen just for the occasion! I did some flower arrangements too, with some twigs, red berries and red gerbera daisies and started getting into the festive season. I'll probably some similar things around the house here for Christmas. I can't believe how fast it's approaching!

We're off to see the Tragically Hip tonight (ahh, gordie...). Recently saw the Beastie Boys (awesome), and will go to Fishbone on Friday.... Saw them a few times in the late 80s/early 90s, but then kinda forgot about them till a friend told me about the upcoming concert. Lots of good concerts happening!

a new house to fit my hobbies

2004-11-15T23:45:00.000-05:00

Apparently my house was NOT made for hooping! Did you know that it is actually dangerous to try to choreograph a hoola hooping belly dancing routine in a square living room? Or any other room in the house? Things will fall off the shelves if hit by flying hoops! I need a round house!
I'm actually pretty serious about that... I've always loved organic shapes and have coveted adobe houses for about a decade now. I envy all you southwestern folk! They just aren't all that practical here in the Zone 5 world. Every time I see one in a magazine (often portrayed in mags such as Natural Home), my knees go weak when I think of the lovely navaho blankets draped across my hearth and sofas, as I curl up in front of my organic-shaped fireplace. I LOVED the hobbits' homes in Lord of the Rings, with the round doors and adobe and plaster-looking insides. There is actually something I could build here in the north that would be a compromise - it's a sprayed cement round home built by Monolithic. There are actually a couple within a few hours of Ottawa, that people have built in the last few years, and we may go visit them over the winter. I'm sure one of their houses would have a place to hoop! I'll just have to start thinking about where to put my square furniture...

tania, like a dancer

2004-11-09T18:46:00.000-05:00

So, I pledged some money to a local college radio station for their recent funding drive, during one of Arek and my favourite programs, Drunken Master Review. It's a program where a bunch of guys sit around talking about new and old movies. They know pretty much everything about every movie ever made, and they are absolutely hilarious. So... since they gave out the phone number as we were driving home one night, I just picked up my handy cell phone and called right away. The helpful guy on the other end of the line took all my info, first name, last name, address, etc, and credit card info. Later during the show, the Drunken Master and his friends read out the names of the people who had recently pledged, thanking them. They get to my name and the person on the other end of the phone hadn't given them my last name (it's very long, Polish, and complicated, not unlike my husband hahahahaha), so they just had my first name.

"We'd also like to thank Tania... with no last name... so.. just Tania... aaahhh she sounds like a dancer..."

You could not have tickled me more pink. I started clapping and laughing, a bit like a lunatic, but a happy one none-the-less! I don't really know why it pleased me so much, I DO like to dance, I'm positive I would never introduce myself as Tania, dancer, but it just was funny that he picked one of the activities closed to my heart.

I just about picked up the phone and pledged again!

Anyway, I promised you a glimpse at my hula solo.... I'm currently taking a belly-dancing class, and in mid-December, our class is putting on a recital. My teacher gets all her classes together once in a while, with a friend's classes and they have a show-down of sorts, well, just a recital really. It is mostly just all the other students, plus one guest per student, so it adds up to about 150 people! Our class is starting to put together the choreography, and the teacher thought it might be neat to have each of us do a mini-solo (just about one minute), with PROPS! So, someone will dance with candles, some with swords, some with sticks, and the only prop I could think of that I had, was a hoop so that's what I'm doing! I'm not sure how it's all going to work out, but I'll keep you updated. I tried shimmy-ing with the hoop, but instead of looking sexy and dance-like it looked like I was trying to seizure myself out of a Jeffries tube! (3 points to the first person to email me knowing what that is)

halloween geeks please!

2004-10-31T23:38:00.000-05:00

So, you take one Dremel tool,

Several pumpkins,

Several patterns from the Dremel website

One family,

And mix for great results:

My brother in law did the following one without a dremel, just the old fashioned way with a knife. You can't see it in the dark picture, but in the other picture below, you can see he cleverly used the inner guts as pumpkin vomit.

We actually didn't have the pumpkins out at our place tonight. We went to our friends' house and put them out there, as we were helping them give out candy. They just had a baby this week, and dad was taking the other boys out trick or treating, while mom was home feeding, so we took over the job of door answerers. We all dressed up like pirates and answered the door with mighty "Hars!", and "Hello maties!"

Also, happy 9th birthday Wally-wally-bing-bong-woo! aka Warlock:

oooh it's new

2004-10-20T23:25:00.000-04:00

I made a few changes to my home page - all part of the cleaning up I've been doing. I've also separated the journal from the shopping page a bit. People who are shopping can still access it if they want from the front page, but there is no connection once they are shopping. I just kinda wanted it that way.... people who are curious will arrive there if they like, but those people just wanting to learn about mobiles or somethings, aren't inundated with my personal story. Not that I don't want to share, it's just I'm learning when and where to put up boundaries, even those as ephemeral as a click away.

So.. I didn't find any fabric that was that fabulous at the show on Saturday, just one piece of batiked cotton that will make a nice tablecloth. My big score was a HUGE spool (weighing in around 5 lbs) of linen thread, that will be great for bookbinding or lantern making. Weeeeee! That reminds me, I have a bunch of lanterns that I'll put up in the store soon. A great Christmas gift for the light in YOUR life :)

unbearable lightness of cleaning

2004-10-14T22:36:00.000-04:00

Holy man, what a long break I'm taking! I will be back, my lovelies, I promise! Have been working on a few small updates to the site, as well as spending some time regrouping our lives, cleaning the house, refinancing, getting rid of debt, going out and having fun, celebrating life! It takes a lot of time :) I'm so glad things are clean and tidy around the house again.. it took three whole days! Hopefully it will never get that bad again. We'll be sorting through a lot of our stuff too in the next while, getting rid of things we no longer need, like, want, so that will even add to the light and cleanliness. Yippee!!

My lovely sister bought me a new (old) sewing maching. It's a Singer from the 1940s.... I'm probably wrong... she wrote down the specs, but it's upstairs, and I really don't feel like going to get it! It's so beautiful I will post pictures of it soon. I'm excited to start using it. I've been busy again this week, so haven't started, but there is a fabric sale this weekend at the Glebe Community Centre here in Ottawa on Saturday, so I'll be going to check it out, and see if there isn't something that jumps out and says "Tania! I want you to make me into a bag! A skirt! Anything!"

i'm back!

2004-09-27T22:08:00.000-04:00

Yippee!! I made it home safe and sound, although a little tired. A lot tired, actually. I loved being away and seeing all the things I saw, but there's nothing quite like coming home to your own bed. Especially when it's comfier than any you've slept on in over three weeks. And your shower... mmm, hot pressurized water... you wouldn't think it'd be so hard to master. Yes, well, all you Europeans out there, with your tepid gravity fed showers are really missing out on a great invention! Ahh, my creature comforts.

So, what to say? I have so much, that I guess I'll just say a few things at a time. Poland is beautiful! Ireland is stunning! London... is not exactly the same city it was to me 15 years ago, but still a load of fun. Arek's family is amazingly generous, funny, lovely, and welcoming. They ALL met us at the airport with lots of flowers for me, and whisked us off to a week and a half of being fed, watered, vodkad, and driven around. It was fantastic. I took all film pictures, so you will have to wait to see them until I get around to scanning them in.

For now, here is my list of things I am so happy to have experienced:

Arek's family's open arms
Warsaw's royal gardens and parks
Zakopane and its mountain-nous-ness and my new mountain-cow-boy hat
Krakow and those damn pigeons
In-grid's Milord!
driving on the other side of the road on the Motorways of England
Warwick and the Tudor House Inn
walking like an egyptian on the ferries to Ireland and back
Dublin and it's highest pub
Arek's other family's open arms
the west coast of Ireland in general - fields that flow into the ocean
sheep that stand in the middle of the zig-zag road letting you know who owns the place
a new drum from Spiddal!
getting to say you spent the night in Spiddal
the cliffs of Moher
the Ring of Kerry
the Roman baths of Bath
Stonehenge
Camden Town
sitting in the Holly Bush pub in Hampstead, across the street from Jamie Oliver's house
Erno Goldfinger's house
Tate Modern via the Tate to Tate boat
falling in love with my husband all over again :)

i'm leaving on a jet plane

2004-08-30T23:13:00.000-04:00

So, I'm off on vacation tomorrow for three weeks! Any orders placed between now and September 20th will be filled the last week of September. Please have patience!

I haven't been to Europe since 1991, and I'm excited as all get out. We will be visiting Poland, Ireland, and London for a few days at then end. Arek is originally from Poland, but he and his family left when he was 8, stayed a year in Austria, where his sister was born, and then moved to Thunder Bay. Nothing happened to him there until he was 22 and he met me ;). Anyway, we are off to meet his family - he hasn't seen them since then, and I've never met them. We'll be staying with his grandparents at the old family farm for a few days, and then with his uncle in Warsaw. His mother and step-dad have been there visiting since the beginning of August, and will still be there when we arrive. This will be great, as not only will I get to visit with them as well, but they will be another set of translators for me! I bought myself a little Polish phrasebook, and am already having trouble pronouncing the words. Even with phonetic spellings, I'm ready to throw the book out the window. My mouth hurts from trying to get my tongue and lips around those syllables - there is absolutely no reason any word should have more than five consonants groupings! It will be a challenge, but I'm looking forward to it. I have a certain degree of familiarity with England, as well as "romantic" European countries such as Spain and France, but I've never been to an Eastern European country. From what the guide book says, I will either fall in love with this crazy country, or be so dwunk on wodka that I von't effen notis, yes?

The thing I'm worried about is my lack of "caring" for the Polish cuisine. Arek's mother has tried to get me to like borsht and other such dill-fully delights, but I can't get my taste buds to embrace them. Why, oh, why, my lovely Poles, must you pickle everything? And food in Poland is so entwined with their hospitality, that I'm sure I'll be offending at least a dozen people by my polite refusal of the fourth helping of ponshki. I will let you know how much weight I gain while on vacation. Apparently, according to Arek's sister, the Pastry Truck goes by his grandparent's farm every morning! Pastries, now you're talking a language I can understand :)

the shows

2004-08-20T00:42:00.000-04:00

So, the two craft shows I participated in this past weekend went grrrrrrreat! Ok, here's a run down, with both "business info' and 'personal info' since there are some that are interested in one, and some in the other, and I suppose some in both!

We drove down to Kingston after work on Friday, getting there around dinner time. We checked in at our lovely B&B that we went to in July, and then went and had a cheap but good meal at a local place. The Festival of the the Islands was on, and we went down to the harbour to take in the sights and sounds. A really good Beatles cover band was playing, so we watched them for a little bit, and then went back to the B&B.

This show started at 10:00am, and last time we didn't arrive until about 9am, and I was still setting up just after 10. This was not good, as a lot of people (probably the same breed of people that go garage sale-ing) like to get to the shows bright and early and buy the best stuff. So, I remembered this, and we got to the park at about 8:30. For those of you who know me, quite a feat indeed. Anyway, I must be a pro or something by now, as it only took about half an hour to set up. I had the same configuration of tables as last time (in the shape of a U). It seemed to work alright, but I felt it could be better. I looked at the booth from afar, and it just looked flat to me. I didn't bother changing it that day though. I had my first sale at 9:45 - some Sassy Kathys! How tickled was I?!! I tried to look all calm and business like, but when the person left the booth, there was some definite up and down airborne activity on the part of my body. My first sale to someone I totally didn't know! And I felt absolutely certain it wasn't someone that my mother had paid to attend the show to buy a few cards (thanks, for asking, though, B-I-L)! After one or two more sales, I was an old pro, and was selling like I did in the "good" ol' days at the mall. You may remember from my last show in July, I thought the stuff I was selling was too out of sync with the type of show it was. I made a few lanterns out of very natural papers, and those seemed to be a real draw for many people. I'll have pictures of them up in the shop soon. It seemed to help, too, that there were more people attending the craft show, probably because of the festival.

Anyway, the day went well, except for the "no-foam" latte we ordered that was just 4 plain shots of espresso in a cup. Needless to say we didn't need many coffee breaks after that!
After the show, we packed up (again: pros - it took us half an hour), and went and checked in at the place we were staying. Later, we went and checked out the park where the craft show would be the next day, and then went and ate at our favourite restaurant in Kingston. We just relaxed, kicked back, had a few 'tinis and wine, and enjoyed a lovely 4 hour meal. We then returned to our ultra-high class accommodations, and had a good sleep!

We woke up bright and early once again, packed up our gear, and got to the Women's Art Festival around 8:15. This show, too, started at 10am, but it was more "democratically" organized, shall we say, than the previous one. There were no reserved spots, you basically picked up your registration package, and then picked a spot on the grass and set up there! The organizers had set up lines behind which you could set up (making room for large aisles for people to wander around in) but other than that, it was a bit of a free for all! It was pretty fun though. As a first time participant, the entry fees were waived (they aren't that much to begin with), but you had to donate 20 percent of your earnings to the festival. The organizers would then give it to various local charities they had selected.

I changed my display on Sunday. Instead of a U-shape, and I had my two big tables (which are awesome, since the top folds as well as the legs, therefore fitting in my little station wagon) in the middle of the booth, to create an island. I then used the various-sized containers that I put my stuff in, as risers, under the cloth. This allowed for several different heights for various items. I had the lanterns on top, some books on the medium shelf, and then more books at table level. Pictures of the booth at the Sunday show are here. I think this set-up was MUCH better than the other one. It allowed people to come into the booth from any of the three facing sides, and for those people that are feeling like they don't want to go too far into the booth, for fear of being accosted by the owner, it allows a comfortable space, although people are certainly close enough to greet. I was SO tired by the end of Sunday (as you can tell by the picture), but it all went well.

All in all, I made way more money this past weekend than I did at the other show, learned some more things, and had a great time doing it all! One of the main things I learned was about pricing. I have always felt that the prices I gave to my items were extremely fair - for the cost of supplies, and the time I put into them. The thing is, I've now realized I must take into consideration what people will actually PAY for items. I am new at this, and I DO take a long time to make my items, as I haven't got the hang of all the short-cuts I could be taking. I can't expect people to pay me for 4 hours of work when things "should" be taking less time. They will eventually take less time, once I set up some jigs, or out-source some of the work (like basic paper-cutting), but for now, I'll have to realize I cannot charge so much for my items, as people won't buy them at the price they were at. SOOOOOO.... what I'm saying is that I've SLASHED my prices! It's like Christmas in August! It's an amazing deal! And all the other schmucky things that people say on tv. Anyway, yes, I've lowered my prices by various amounts, so check out the store to see if there is something you'd like to snap up!

On another note, I'd like to give a shout out to Kristi at Kriss Kross Designs for the two beautiful necklaces I bought and recently got in the mail from her, and to Alicia at Posie for the stunning handbag that arrived last week. I'm SO in love with all of it! I heart the Internet :)

baby it's cold outside

2004-08-13T09:30:00.000-04:00

The weather here in Ottawa this summer has been pretty miserable - lots of overcast skies, cooler temperatures. There have only been a few really lovely hot days. Most mornings it starts out overcast and then decides if it will get overcast and muggy or overcast and cool. It's only once in a while that the sun kicks the clouds in the nebulus and says "Get out!". So, even with all this weather, I've had a lovely meadowy garden this year, and I'm just ever so glad that these lovely ladies decided to show up.

intense!

2004-08-12T22:40:00.000-04:00

I went to a "healing intensive" workshop this weekend. What a weekend! We did lots of meditations of various kinds, did yoga outside at 7:30 every morning!, had a drumming circle with all sorts of different drums, I hooped a lot, and we had various healing sessions. It was wonderful. But at the same time it KICKED MY ASS. Along with the asses of the other participants. What a lot of energy we moved! I found out all sorts of interesting things about myself, and I'm sure everyone there did. We all released anger, disappointed, fear, and other bottled up emotions in various ways through our meditations and dynamic breathing exercises. We are each so powerful, and I often forget that.

Each one of us is unique and beautiful, and strong and gentle. I am all those things and more. It was beautiful to get to know myself and learn to like myself better! I was exhausted by the end of the weekend, and have been doing a lot of my "releasing" since Sunday night, so have been back and forth between the bathroom and bed! As gross as it all is, I know a lot of unneccessary crap is leaving me, and I'm making room for lighter and more lovier things. Basically, I know there's a light at the end of it all!

This has made things a little difficult re: my craft shows this weekend. I'm not finished making all the stuff I wanted to make, and I haven't started to put price tags on things either. Well, I've decided that's ok. I'm spending time with my boy, relaxing, and making a few things here and there, but I am NOT stressing out. I know that I can price things while at the show, and if I am making a few things while sitting behind the table, well perhaps it may even intrigue people to see how things are made, and come and chat. So, yes, a lesson in relaxation.

The other lesson I learned this weekend: not to take your loved ones for granted. My husband's second year of racing has been cut short because of a slightly damaged car.

Yes, he flipped it.

And walked away without a scratch. Unbelieveable. Crazy. No words, really. There was something wrong with the car as he began the race, and he tried to work on it to figure out what was wrong, but couldn't, and that, combined with a wide turn, ended up in a crash. He's been ever so busy this summer, and we were both looking for a way to find more time to spend together. What a universal wake up call! Be careful what you wish for! I always suspected he has got some kind of fantastic angels looking over his safety, and now I know for sure. He will either buy a new car this winter, or rebuild this one, but this time, a roll cage will be first on the list of purchases. Needless to say, we've been spending lots of time together, hugging and being in love.

Take the time to hug your lovely person. You never know what can happen in an instant.

august 6th - 4 years!

2004-08-06T00:00:00.000-04:00

31 December 1995 - Ooh, a New Year's Eve party, cool! ooh boy, he's so cute! How YOU doing?
01 January 1996 - So, we're dating, right?
02 January 1996 - You're a drummer? In a band? COOL!
Summer 1996 - You love me? I love you too! *blush*
July 1997 - I'm moving to Ottawa to go back to school, wanna come?
September 1997 - Our first apartment! Can you get your friend to move out?!
September 1998 - Our second apartment! It's a house!
Spring 1999 - It's a Boy! Here puppie puppie!
July 1999 - So, you wanna get married? - Yeah. Really?! -Yeah. Cool!
August 06 2000 - It's official!
March 2002 - Our first house!
August 06 2004 - 4 years of marriage, and eight and a half years of togetherness! My how time flies.

happy anniversary lovely boy