My Everything Corner

Although not every gift I received this year was Tolkien related, there was a definite theme.  This 50th anniversary edition of LOTR was definitely the highlight, but under the tree also was Thorin's Map, (yet to be framed), two Hobbit themed notebooks, and the least desirable, but really very funny Adventure slippers.  Yes, they are slippers in the form of Hobbit's feet, and they are dangerously big.  Manageable, but you'd better pay attention to every single step, especially on stairs. My husband and I are also big "Firefly" fans, so naturally I now have a t-shirt that has a blazing "Shiny" written across the chest.  Continuing with the 'geek' theme, a "rock, paper, scissors, lizard, Spock" form-fitting t-shirt was also waiting to be tried on.  Everything was a great fit, and I promised to wear it all, (even in public) with exception of the Adventure slippers.  I really don't think they would hold up at all if I did decide

Another Christmas has come and gone.   The anticipation I felt leading up to it was fun but really only when I was observing what my children were experiencing.   As a child, I had nowhere near as much as my kids do now.   That’s what I tell them, that was what my Mother told me, and that was what my Grandmother told her.   I wonder if in upcoming years we would be terribly sad if we could no longer put on a Christmas with all the gifts and foods we have come to expect.   We say every year that it is all too much, and that we need to cut back, but if we were forced to, I’m certain we would look back longingly on our years of plenty and feel a certain amount of sadness. Okay enough of that, the best part of the season was being together with everyone and although there were a few disappointments with the gifts given, most were received with surprise and followed up with joy.   The most difficult part of the season was when I put an ornament on the tree that holds a picture of m

  It is very hard to believe that nearly 2 weeks has gone by since I lost my best fur friend, Junior.  A cat of 20 years, 17 of which belonged to me. When I went to the Saskatoon SPCA 17 years ago to adopt a kitten, I walked out instead with a 3 year old cat that everyone there could only describe as 'special'.  That particular shelter never kept animals for more than 3 months, and if by then they were not adopted out, euthanasia made room for the constant inflow of animals in need of a home.  But for Winnie, (his name at the time) they felt they needed to wait, and made an exception.  They even had him in a special display cage at the front desk so he could meet and greet everyone.  It wasn't long before I had him moved into my little apartment and had renamed him Zeke Jr.. I named him after the black cat I was given when I was born and whom I had until I was 17 years old. My new cats' name was quickly shortened to Junior, and although it seemed very natural

I've really enjoyed decorating for Halloween this year.  Plenty of pumpkins again, no snow, and a fantastic new marker to work with.  What more could you ask for?  Now for picture overload.  Enjoy, and have an awesome Halloween! An adorable cluster of Halloweenery. Did this last year.  Loved it.  Did it again.  A witch needs her apothecary. Thank-you to my baby sister for growing 2 of the most adorable little gourds.  And then giving them to me!  Cuz she loves me. Pumpkin carving in the shop = much easier clean-up.  Yeah! A dry run of my Daughter's wolf costume.  Not bad for my first time. That marker went a long way... Favorite pumpkin face.  Ever. 3 dimensional cookies?  Why not? New this year is the bat weathervane.  Love it. Nothing says Halloween like dead flowers? Night... Ha Ha wind!  In your face.  No candles to blow out this year! And here we are all lit up at night.  Maybe not quite as charming as individually lit jac

These chocolate cupcakes were a real hit this past Saturday evening after we finished decorating the house for Halloween.  My daughter, who has taken an interest in the kitchen, helped with the decorating.  I stayed patient as her small hands tried to put even pressure on the pastry bag and helped her figure out how to fill in the spaces.  She listened carefully, tried her best and did an awesome job.  I definitely see cake decorating in her future! Those little ghosties are a Wilton treat, but they could easily be homemade with a bit of fondant and a candy corn.  I was just too lazy and decided to pay the $4 for the dozen.  The colorful leaf quins are crunchy little delights, or at least they were until they sat overnight under glass.  The display was lovely and kept my nosey cats away from our dessert, but the humidity ruined them making the leaves soggy.  I have to say the texture was much more appetizing when those candies were crunchy.  And it wasn't just the texture tha

  My daughter is crafty and has recently taken up sewing.  Junior, my 20 year old black cat was her first victim.  Dressing up animals is obviously adorable, and other than their scorn for us, I don't know why we don't see more animals in stylish numbers such as this rustic, felted chapeau with a little black pompom on top.  He wore his new hat willingly for a while, but kept flicking his ears back under the flaps.  Eventually it tilted sideways, covering one of his eyes and even though the one-eye-hidden-behind-a-hat cat glance is very mysterious and sexy, it proved to be too much for him and he worked his way out of it.  I am sure this is just the first in what will be an entire fashion line for our feline friends.  Junior is our most willing model, able to put up with almost anything for the sake of looking good.  I also think it is fair to say that he is among the oldest in the business, as he is pushing 100 plus in human years.  That in and of itself is no small

As interesting as I found this scenario, I also felt very confused.  I was very happy to see a healthy, well-fed Mama snake in our yard.  At the same time, salamanders are adorable little critters, and I've come to love interacting with them so I felt very sad for this poor, dying one.  It definitely is not a fair fight here.  Salamanders are a whole bunch slower than a snake and definitely weaker.  The only thing this amphibian has going for him is the fact that he rarely comes out during the day and prefers to stay hidden under a rock until nightfall when the dew starts to settle. It was my daughter and I who got an unexpected lesson in ambivalence that day.  The fact that it was too late too make a decision about whether or not to save the salamander was a good thing.  We walked away saying, "That mama needs all the energy she can get.  We will save all the salamanders we can from the shop, the garage and even the road.".  And so, we were good.  We placed Mama s

Most people that know me understand that I love the Fall and the pumpkins that I grow.  Most people also know not to ask me for pumpkins.  That doesn't mean that I refuse to share.  But to assume that because I have a lot of them, and therefore it should be easy to give several away would be the wrong assumption.  The people that I have shared with, very much deserve to be given a small part of my pumpkin family.  To those of you I haven't shared with, either you haven't visited and therefore haven't been offered.  Or if you have visited and left empty handed, well, tough break. I am very much attached to each and every pumpkin I've grown.  This year, the number grew from last year's 100 to more than double at over 225.  It was still only half of what I was hoping to grow.  There are plenty of bare places in the yard begging to be adorned with a group of pumpkins for the Fall season.         The tire swing path complete with an antique lantern and

September 5, 2013 - The third day of school. My daughter wakes up, kisses me good morning, (while I'm still in bed) and promptly heads off to the kitchen to prepare her lunch for school.  I can only assume she is in a rush to beat me to it as she has insisted, since we bought her new lunch bag, that she wants to be responsible for this task. I really had no problem with her taking this on as long as she would allow me to scrutinize her choice of foods.  She had no problem with this, so it was on to learning how to slice bread.  I'm very fussy about my bread.  I really can't stand it when someone messes up my nice, straight cut.  But, for the sake of my daughter's education in the kitchen, I will put my fussiness aside.  Although she did a decent job of it on the two mornings I was supervising her, today, when she took the loaf on herself, it was a disaster.  Bread crumbs.  Dog food.  I walked into the kitchen and she immediately started apologizing, insisti

Taken on September 3, 2013 I was told when I bought this plant that it would never reach it's bloom stage in our climate.  Last year when I planted cardoon, it did get big, but no where near blooming.  This year, although it went into the garden later than last year, it  has shot up and produced these artichoke type blooms, which are as spiky and unfriendly as they look.  This plant has been around since ancient times, but very few people I meet have ever heard of it.  It's always the first plant they notice in the yard, and we always go for a visit and I almost always make the mistake of telling them it's related to rhubarb.  But it is in the artichoke family, also known as an artichoke thistle.  I think I've made the mistake, because when the plants are young, you can harvest and consume the spines , just like rhubarb.  I haven't tried this because I want the plant only as an interesting specimen. I tried to grow my own plants from seed this past year

Tuesday, September 3, 2013 Doesn't everyone look happy on the morning of the first day of school?  Look at the faces in this photo.  Even the dog looks depressed. I must admit to experiencing mixed feelings.  I was looking forward to the peace and quiet of the day.  Todd had left in the morning for his week away, and the kids were off to school.  So I had no one to distract me as I went about the typical day of a housewife.  Weeding the garden, laundry, etc.  But as I was going through these mundane chores, I had a rather uncomfortable feeling come over me.  With my family being scattered, although it was peaceful, I no longer had the safe feeling that comes with us all being under one roof. I pondered this thought throughout my day, and even ventured out into the future to imagine what it will be like when the kidlets leave home, and go God-knows-where in the world.  There are too many unknown factors, of course, to get an accurate picture of this future, and so feelings

It is hard to understand where the time has gone, but my little guy is turning 8 tomorrow, and going into grade 3 next week.  He says he is not looking forward to all the hard math he will have to do.  But he is excited about recesses and gym class.  So as far as that goes, he sounds like a typical little boy.  He also adores LEGO and anything to do with Star Wars, and again, typical.  What makes my little man stand out from the crowd, is that he is exceedingly funny.  I can be in the worst of moods, and with perfect timing, he will give me one of his off looks, and without being able to help myself, I will burst into giggles.  He's always trying to get a laugh out of someone, especially his sister.  He can almost always set her to giggling and leave her wanting more. I could go on and on and in detail about all of his redeeming qualities, but in this moment I am feeling grateful for his sense of humor.  I hope to give him an awesome birthday tomorrow, and can hardly wait to

I'm not at all knowledgeable when it comes to birds.  I have bought books to help me recognize who's who, but find it far too tedious to scan through all the pages and find a likeness.  And really, from this distance, it is very difficult to see any details.  But none of that matters, because as a flock, any kind of bird is impressive.  I was lucky enough to be standing by my window with the camera this morning when this group decided to abandon my front yard for a few dead trees we have at the back.  They were all just pecking away on the front lawn, when suddenly something startled them and they 'flocked off'' to the  backyard to settle in a few dead trees.  We plan to take these trees down this fall, which is good, because I'm running out of firewood, and Autumn is the best time to sit around a fire.  Sorry about the reflection, but this flock was way too skittish to put up with me outside among them. 

My Dad had a speedboat when I was little, and I fondly remember going boating on the river which was only a few miles from our farm.  This was the first time since I was a kid, (under 10 years old) that I've been on the Whitesand, and I can honestly say, I really didn't remember a thing.  I don't think those banks have changed that much, but they didn't feel familiar at all.  There are a couple of new houses, and a bible camp that's been there several years now.  However, the dam, 6 miles from the launch, has been there forever, and I don't even remember that.  Being that it is a major landmark of our particular area, one would think that it would stand out in my memories, but no.  Now, when I really think back, all I truly remember is my Dad at the wheel with a proud smile on his face, (he loved that boat), and my hand dragging and splashing in the wake along side.      I wish I could say that I didn't feel a pang a of jealousy whenever

Near the beginning of August we took a mini vacation to Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan, a city not far from Regina and only 2 and a half hours from home.  What a treat!  We fit a lot into the short time we were there, and have several hundred photos to look back on.  Here are just a few...   This gigantic moose is in front the Visitor Information Centre welcoming all the travelers.   Yes, we got to play with these ridiculously adorable, 1 month old Burrowing Owls.  Meet Cricket and Cocoa, ambassadors for their endangered species here on the  Prairies.  They will spend their lives travelling and meeting people all over the prairies in hopes of educating whomever they meet about how to conserve their habitat.   Near our campground, there was a tree that had grown in a very unique way.     Also near our campground, just across the river was a very busy train station.  This rickety looking bridge is still being used today.  My timing was off, and I d