I left my parent's house and blueberry bushes with some sadness. But we do have a few raspberry bushes here in Lethbridge, so that is a little compensation this morning. No pancakes, though, just coffee and english muffins. July 26
Sunday, July 26, 2009
breakfast, 206/365
just one of the many things I'll miss about my parent's house: my dad makes pancakes in the morning, and you can pick fresh blueberries from the yard to eat with them.
july 25
mosaic, 204/365
Thursday was too rainy and cold to consider our original plan, a beach day, so we took the kids to Science World, where we found this cool mosaic of coleoptera. I used to collect insects, but never found any this cool, and even if I did, would never have mounted them so beautifully. Vancouver. July 23
more marshmallow madness, 202/365
July 21. The firepit that we roasted a pig on last year for the family reunion was still intact and in good shape, and had been unused since that epic lechon. After the deck had been rebuilt, Dad cut a passage in the railing so we could step straight down to the fire, and hired a summer student to removed the old lumber and clean up the yard. So it was time to celebrate with a wiener roast and marshmallows, which was a great way to inaugrate the deck.
djembe, 201/365
July 20. At the Folk Music Festival, one of the booths had instruments for sale, one of which was this djembe. Theo begged and begged, with some reasonable arguments - he IS learning percussion in school after all, was recently introduced to hand drumming, and does have aptitude for making more than mere chaotic noise. But I was resistant, till later in the evening when I decided to surrender the matter to the universe. On our way to the food tent, I said "I'm sure the booth is closed now, but if it's open, I'll take it as a sign that you're meant to have it."
"It's open!" he exclaimed triumphantly.
"Fine..." I said, taken aback, "but I bet they've already sold that drum. If they still have it...."
"mom, it's here!" he said, pouncing on it in the corner.
"Okay, well...I dont' have much cash. We can only get it if they take Visa"
Three times I put it out to the universe, three times I was answered, and thus, the boy has a djembe.
dances with sun, 200/365
the kids at this year's Vancouver Folk Music Festival. July 19.
This year, Isabel and I went with the kids for Sunday. We met up with Rosa and Zhara and as a complete surprise, I ran into my old friend Dawn at the ticket lineup first thing in the morning. Dawn and her mother were the ones to introduce me to my first festival in 1981, so it was extra cool to share it with her these many years later - and to listen to Roy Forbes, who back in those days was called Bim. The kids were unimpressed with Bim, but by the time the main stage concert began, Bellowhead got them on their feet.
Tuesday, July 21, 2009
back porch, 199/365
view over the back gardens and alley, evening before going to the Folk Festival. July 18.
blue under blue, 198/365
a set of iron chairs that my used to belong to my grandparents, abandoned in the shade of blueberry bushes. My parents brought them when they immigrated from the Philippines. Hopefully they can get them cleaned up and restored, even if my mom hates them because they're uncomfortable. July 17.
beluga, 197/365
we hadn't actually planned to go to the aquarium again so soon (I usually need to wait a few years before braving the crowds again) but there was a new beluga baby again this year. Here's the newest baby beluga, with last year's baby (what's the whale equivalent of toddler?) with one of the mamas. July 16
Thursday, July 16, 2009
glass stucco, 196/365
When I was 4 or 5 years old, my parents lived next to a house like this in pretty much this same neighbourhood; I was fascinated by the little chips of broken glass embedded in the stucco and whenever I got the chance, I'd sneak over and pick off little chips of glass. I was especially excited about the occasional blue or red chip. July 15
wagner hills, 195/365
I finally managed to find this place! I worked here as a summer student building a horse trail. It was one of those federal programs put into place me during the early 80's recession. When I interviewed for the job, the crew leader expressed doubts about my being physically strong enough to handle the manual labour, so he challenged me to an arm wrestling contest. I've always been stronger in the legs than arms, so I counter-offered to carry him up the nearby flight of stairs. I did, got the job, and there's still a sign there saying so. July 14
braids, 194/365
Sera can almost sit on her hair, which makes it fun for everyone to braid, in as many permutations as they can come up with. July 13.
rust never sleeps, 193/365
While Tim and Dad put the new boards in, Isabel and I pried out the old planks and pulled out the gazillion nails embedded in them. Supposedly to make them safe (more or less) to be hauled away, but maybe also to keep us from getting in the way. July 12
demolition, 192/365
When Tim visited during Easter, Dad was bemoaning the condition of the back deck, upon which we have eaten many meals and held all manner of celebration. He's finally admitted he can't do this sort of work alone anymore, so Tim offered to help as long as Dad got the lumber delivered in time for our yearly summer arrival. It's a daunting task, but Tim said the foundations were really solid, and the new planking could be installed on top with no problem. Still and awful lot of boards to be ripped up, though. July 11.
glade, 191/365
one of the things I miss most about living in BC is this: forest floors dappled with light, just being caught by the ferns. Needless to say, I don't get to see this sort of thing a lot in southern Alberta. Taken just behind our campsite in Revelstoke, BC. July 10
By the time I got done taking pictures in the glad, it was time for the Dousing Ceremony, wherein the lemonade cups saved from the Stampede came in very handy.
solitary, 190/365
the poor guy at the campsite next to ours. He probably rode his motorcycle to Blanket Creek thinking "wow, it's so nice and quiet here mid-week, what a perfect rest stop".
He was probably not figuring on two vans full of kids and a dog showing up. July 9
Theo managed to get everyone else to play poker with him. Better than dogs playing poker.
Thursday, July 9, 2009
packed, 189/365
I was so busy today finishing some things up at work, then packing for holidays that I forgot to take a picture till - well, now. Last minute snapshot, July 8.
swinging in the clouds, 188/365
July 7.
I haven't been to the Calgary Stampede since I was a child, and have since developed an aversion to crowds, noise and shiny blinking lights. This year, however, the children's pleas, along with Cris and family coming up to Calgary, finally made me succumb. Because at least this way, it was also a family occasion. It was the best way to go - it was still loud, blingy and expensive, but Trish and Cris's bargain hunting was productive indeed and we got great prices for wristbands and the rodeo. I'm glad I went and having family along made it not just tolerable, it was really a lot of fun. More Calgary Stampede pics at Flickr.
Happy face, 187/365
I've driven past this barn on the road up to Calgary for 21 years before actually taking the time to stop the car and take a picture. July 6
ramble, 186/365
if you visit us, we make you walk up a coulee. It is our way off trying to offset the constant eating and drinking. July 5
cattails, 184/365
taken on my Friday night bike ride. I rode out here hoping for blackbirds, but I didn't bring my long lens, and also, they fly away as soon as you pull out your camera. So I contented myself with the cattails, cooperatively staying put. July 3.
Friday, July 3, 2009
poor Sami, part 2 183/365
Poor Sami! As if the bad haircut wasn't enough, she cut her paws really quite badly while out fishing yesterday. It wasn't till we were heading back to the car that we noticed her limping - she seemed fine for most of the afternoon. We used to take Tassie with us fishing all the time, and have never had a problem. But it seem Sami's feet still haven't toughened up enough for this kind of terrain.
The vet bandaged her feet and put these cute little Canada flags on them, but we are still kind of sad.
Kind of funny - the vet turned out to be the daughter of our first vet, the one we brought Tassie to. I played soccer with her years and years ago, and I guess she grew up to step into her dad's practice when he retired. We hadn't seen her in the last few visits because she had been on maternity leave - it was kind of funny to see her all grown up. And she was very nice to Sami. July 2
Sami loved the water, though it would be nice to be on foot-friendlier terrain.
Happy Canada Day, 182/365
The iconic symbol of the opening of the Canadian west, tieing the country from end to end on a ribbon of steel. I had to take this really fast, as I was in the midst of putting sunscreen on Stasha. I had to drop the bottle quick and dig out the camera to try to get a picture before the train went by. I could practically hear Gordon Lightfoot singing :) July 1
poor Sami, 181/365
Tim took her in to get clipped for the first time since we adopted her last year. The poor thing looks like a poodle (not that there is anything wrong with poodles). Her legs look so skinny and her paws look puny. It freaks me out. June 30.
upstairs, 180/365
I wanted to go to the coulees with just Stasha this evening, since I wanted to bring my camera and dawdle. I was on the lookout for cacti in bloom, which turned out to be abundant in Indian Battle coulee, and Stasha developed a pretty good eye for spotting them. In the evening shade, though, they were mostly closed. But the light was beautiful as we came out the coulee and started up the red shale path and the steps. Just as we were getting back towards the main road, we saw a porcupine, waddling down the hill about 15 feet away from us! which makes me think I should have Sami on a leash all the time, really, however much she loves galumphing about on her own. June 29
socks of resignation, 179/365
Finally, starting to use the sock yarn I got from my sister in law Julie - last summer!
I'd actually knit almost an entire sock from the Socks for Handpainted Yarn book, then realized I absolutely hated them about an inch from the toe. I've tried retro rib before in other yarns and hated it. For some reason (perhaps resignation) this one seems to be working out. By that, I don't mean I really think the pattern suits the yarn - in fact, it's a bit lost. I mean, I don't hate it. I have had sock knitting dysmorphia lately, and this is the closest I've come to being not completely discontent.
June 28
mending fences, 178/365
Despite being incredibly sore from dancing the night before, Tim mended the wind damage (lost boards, wobbly gate) on the fence today. It's well over 25 years old and has seen a lot of sun, snow, ice, and wind, and it shows.
There have been a lot of tasks to catch up on lately, and the fence was just one of them. Tim got a lot of help from Theo and the next day Stasha helped him plant a hedge by the front drive. I stuck to everyday charwork like weeding and laundry. June 27
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