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Poetry has been a worthy companion across a long life. My mother read poems to me from babyhood which started it, and the cadence, the rhythm of those and the many, many since recur again and again, ongoing 'companions'. Here is one of mine. It was written years ago in Toronto.
from Moon Madness and Other Skywritings
During the recent cold snap here in Victoria (in most of the rest of Canada it would be called a cold spell - but, even so, it lasted long enough to be more than snappy) this is the footwear that braved the snow and cold and wind and ice and drifts and ruts and shoveled ground and unshoveled ground etc.
They did a very good job. They are still in the front hallway.....just in case......
These are my winter Pixie Puddlers, a size larger than the other seasons, to allow for thick socks. They also did a very good job in the recent weather for driving and shopping and errands and getting about where the moon walkers could not.
Now what I am amazed by is ......
......this. See how the rubber has perfectly cracked into a cross: the freezing temperatures and the pressure from my rather high arches resulted in this neat solution to a bit of tightness and made them even more comfortable. I plan to mimic this on my other pairs!
If you want to know more about Pixie Puddlers, go here.
They are available at Knotty by Nature
You really can have this bread on the table an hour after you decide to make it so if a sudden "let's have tea" happens the house can be on its way to smelling delicious by the time the person arrives.
It is versatile - I've added different seeds and spices over the years; used oats turned into flour in the blender because I did not have any whlole wheat flour; sour milk with lemon or lime juice; make one larger loaf or two as shown; serve it with cheese or a savoury spread or something sweet. The only time - ever! - that it did not turn out was when I was trying to impress an Irish man; when I cut into the loaf it was not completely cooked.
It's in Edna Staebler's second Schmecks cookbook.
I phoned Rundles in Stratford to ask them if it was still on their menu and got a pleasantly-voiced message that the restaurant is closed for the season until May but I could leave a reservation request.
It freezes well and comes back to life in a toaster.
One of the highlights of Christmas Day was when Orion (22 months old) and I were 'hanging out' while mommy and daddy focused on all the details for a family dinner. He suddenly noticed my hands and very carefully tried to smooth out the wrinkles.
Then he got 'busy' ........
It's here. Enjoy.
This is from my childhood. Something special that has traveled with me far and long, which my children remember and the grandkids will too. This is the first year it has seen snow on Christmas Eve Day in Victoria!
The snow is melting but there is enough of it that I expect it will still be evident tonight and tomorrow and qualify us for a white Christmas, the first time the whole country will experience this since 1971.
Can't think why I didn't remember that I had these in the basement until now when the snow is melting and they sort of sink into it. Hmmm...... I got them at a garage sale in the summer - more as a deterrent than a 'just in case'. Hmmmm, again..... Actually, I believe it was a few summers ago, so it did work for awhile. I have used snowshoes back in Ontario and find them enchanting footwear trudging over the top of snow.
Merry Christmas Eve!!!
Snow to the east....
....snow to the west......
......and far off facing north.
The nectar in this feeder had not frozen overnight but the mustaches delayed breakfast for the hummer until the alternate feeder was put outdoors.
Magnetic snow.
Look closely.....can you see them? If not, move on to the next picture and then come back.....
I do not find it easy to photograph bubbles in the snow so feel greatly fortunate to have somehow captured this bubble peering through another one.
In Ontario I discovered that wearing sandals with thick woolen socks keeps feet surprisingly warm in cold dry snowy weather. This snow was cold and wet and these are rubber clogs and I was wearing them to shovel the deck - but - standing in the snow was pure playfulness.
Late afternoon, errands done, home with a coffee from the cafe that was closed yesterday, I sat in the garden and shared a stare with the turtle that serves as a foot rest when not thusly cloaked.
I could smell woodsmoke from someone's fireplace. Now and then was the sound of birds.
It was easier to move me than to move the car so plans were altered and I set out on foot.
There were sounds of birds chirping and boots crunching and snow shovels scraping and kids playing. The main roads get plowed but side streets get sanded - eventually.
The cut out in the fence was back dropped by snow; usually the giraffe is green.
The bakery where I had planned to get a coffee had a "Sorry, Snowed In" sign on the door so I kept on walking. The thrift store was open so a browse happened but it felt so wonderful to be outdoors that I did not linger inside. This park is just down the street and a bench sit was considered but the depth of the snow leading to it was unknown - the wind had done much with drifting overnight - and I kept on walking.
If you have an empty pick up truck and you clear your driveway of snow............
I had seen two boys throwing - underarm tossing, actually - huge snow chunks back and forth at each other and then came upon this scene in another park - a snow fort and sledding.
A rest stop. The snow on the roof was melting and had formed an overhang that was dripping but no icicles had formed; I think a bit colder temperature would have been needed.
One way to clear a parking lot - roll up a snowman.
I could see that the cafe to which I was headed was not 'snowed in' but very much open for business; however, this stopped me in my tracks and I stayed and watched. An igloo. Made by this man and two kids. From snow they packed into a plastic container like a dish pan and then cut into blocks with a saw and then stacked to form the shape. They'd been at it for several hours. It looked charming and many people - and dogs - were stopping by to chat and watch the progress and get a tour.
The inside of an igloo would have been an experience.
I opted for a hot chocolate instead. On the shortest day of the year.
The shortest day of the year. Nature's new year begins. Cause for celebration.
These are oat delights from the old Red Roses cookbook, a family favourite, made often over the years; my mother used to make them; I make them.
For the past eighteen years I have - no, wait - let me put it this way - the number of chocolate delights in this most recent batch alerted me, once again, to the fact that for the past eighteen years the recipe has been producing quite a few less than this - or - if this many (the yield is supposed to be 4 1/2 dozen) then much smaller.
This is the reason. It was only a month or so ago that I noticed that the cup in the sugar canister is a half-cup measure! Which means every single thing I have made for a very long time has had half the amount of sugar called for in the recipe.
I suppose there is a conclusion-type statement to be made here but I am still in a rather bemused - and amused! - state over the whole thing.