the first day of christmas

oh my cookie recipe - sigh - how sweet (miss you t)... i am starting a new tradition in the slightly more alarming realm of don't electricute the bb...

left is ~t~
right is ~d~

this is 8000clicks between chicks

"It does not do well to dwell on dreams and forget to live."

perhaps the opposite can be said sometimes as well - do not forget to make time to dream (it has been a little busy around here). tango - love the coloured clothes pegs... we took bb boy to stand under the massive lit tree @ english bay just as dusk was rolling in.

left is ~t~
right is ~d~

this is 8000clicks between chicks

i am canadian

we are canadian - in case anyone was wondering... can we be more stereotypical than this red rose & the products of the lovely maple (t did you take a suitcase of syrup with you?):

left is ~t~
right is ~d~

this is 8000clicks between chicks

flickr friday

last week was just the beginning - literally - of bb boy's week long battle with a nasty virus (this is what we sign up for a parents i guess - but hope will never happen). bb boy is better - finally - and flickr friday resumes (if a day late).

1. Punica granatum, 2. o o o ^, 3. Flare Friday from Death Valley,CA, 4. In the fog - DAY 267, 5. feathery, 6. dreamingly leaves see locked in gold afterglow are trembling.....e.e. cummings, 7. Old memories are like old memories, 8. 361/365: Reduce, reuse, recycle, 9. ..., 10. ~Nella Fantasia~, 11. She acts like summer and walk like rain, 12. s c h w i n n, 13. 311/365 Leaves, 14. Fall 2008 [archive], 15. Trees are poems that earth writes upon the sky, 16. ruby red, 17. ., 18. tip., 19. “In solitude, where we are least alone.”, 20. Bark, 21. Dancing in the Dark, 22. 192/365, 23. Untitled, 24. because, really..., 25. 8 of 30 days of gratitude, 26. T H E . L E A F, 27. quartet, 28. painted, 29. simply rosie photography, 30. ., 31. 190/365, 32. cool reds, 33. looking up, 34. fall bouquet, 35. autumn apparitions, 36. Beauty comes as much from the mind as from the eye.

flickr friday

it has been a long, nerve-wracking day with bb boy (a fever of 39+ for more than 30 hours)... he seems to have beaten whatever he was fighting (yay baby). so i'm looking for a little sweetness & escape - hmm things i love thursday to the rescue:

my flickr contacts inspire me : 1. autumn apparitions, 2. On the Way to Saskatoon, 3. *Best Friend, 4. morning light, 5. Monday morning..., 6. Fragile ~, 7. Bestill, 8. Untitled, 9. rough waters

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

flickr friday

so the house wasn't all it was cracked up to be... it is also not friday anymore but i have these lovelies to share on what looks like is going to be a lovely sunny day (gotta get out for a walk & a little photo shoot)...

1. Black Pearls ..., 2. underground - non-pose pose, 3. Mick Fanning in the foam, 4. autumn hill, 5. On the Way to Saskatoon, 6. T H E . F I G, 7. Monday morning..., 8. bench monday #24, 9. type, 10. *Best Friend, 11. morning light, 12. Fish with a view, 13. Futebol de Praia [Beach Football], 14. starboard morning, 15. 176/365, 16. Fragile ~, 17. Ice Water, 18. Untitled, 19. connecting, 20. The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living., 21. Have a nice Friday !, 22. 172/365, 23. B i r c h !!!, 24. rough waters, 25. A thousand lanterns

flickr friday

1. connecting, 2. The fall of a leaf is a whisper to the living., 3. Have a nice Friday !, 4. 172/365, 5. B i r c h !!!, 6. r o u g h w a t e r s, 7. A thousand lanterns, 8. dangle, 9. Untitled, 10. 285/365 Worm, 11. MY PUDDLE JUMPER, 12. 171/365, 13. the path less traveled, 14. the struggle, 15. Untitled, 16. bench monday #22, 17. role call, 18. plume, 19. Janelas de Paquetá [Windows in Paquetá], 20. Faithful and loved, 21. Suger coated, 22. signs of nyc, 23. Untitled, 24. sweet like chocolate, 25. 168/365, 26. Goís belltower, 27. seat, 28. Anna's 11_small, 29. 843, 30. 161/365

& i love what Prickles and Pixie Dust had to say about bb boy...

flickr friday

today i am chilled - fall is definitely in the air - my flickr faves warm me...

1. home is where my cat is, 2. fireworks, 3. I I I l l, 4. Autumn leaves, 5. fingerless bamboo I, 6. I'll find my way, 7. bench monday #20, 8. T'is the season to collect VI, 9. Painter's Brushes, 10. Bones of a Poet ~ Yes!!!, 11. 258/365 The other side, 12. fall is the smell of apples, 13. These knees have stories, she said, but they'd have to be a mouth to tell you., 14. If there is any secret to this life I live, this is it: the sound of what cannot be seen sings within everything that can. & there is nothing more to it than that., 15. Untitled, 16. The Simpler Days, 17. what would i do if the sun stopped shining?, 18. water for our friends, 19. 81322889., 20. Musée Rodin, 21. bicycle love.., 22. "If I could tell the story in words, I wouldn't need to lug around a camera.", 23. vintage brownie., 24. 140/365, 25. a boy's summer, 26. Point Break, 27. the accidental tourist, 28. Untitled, 29. Copper, 30. Wyatt's 1, 31. Wyatt's 1, 32. Harvest, 33. all you need is love, 34. say what???, 35. Porchbound, 36. Grace

on the road

in the spirit of 'better late than never' & international relations, tango november & djbeat have joined shutter forces once again to bring you this highly poignant yet brief message regarding what 'on the road' means to them: literally or figuratively (or on the seawall as it turns out)...

oooh - i like how this came together...

flickr friday

i am fueling my flickr friday with my 'things i love thursday':

1. fruit, 2. B L U E B E R R I E S, 3. a taste of summer, 4. flare berry, 5. Cherries Are My Favourite Fruit, 6. one word : summer, 7. ..., 8. fruit cup, 9. 220/365: Fruity, 10. the grape escape., 11. The elusive fruit of the photo before, 12. 96/365: The cherry on the cake

Created with fd's Flickr Toys

flickr friday

cause i'm @ work & these make me feel good!

1. Untitled, 2. Burn Out, 3. shades of autumn, 4. from our tree, 5. "For a moment, you can really escape and feel the thrill", 6. What?, 7. Building Blocks, 8. I miss Spring..., 9. cats, 10. Getting Air, 11. blog header art, 12. pear, 13. b r e a t h e, 14. Untitled, 15. more water, 16. blackberries... yum, 17. marina reflections, 18. eggs, 19. it was worth the effort, 20. under the table + dreaming (of snacks)., 21. ., 22. Untitled, 23. she sells seashells by the seashore, 24. Day 117 - Paint it black, 25. M O V E . O N, 26. sf city scene, 27. F O R L O R N . P L A C E, 28. |, 29. electrifloric, 30. Viva Lavandula 4, 31. * * *, 32. hehe =), 33. Hello, Dahlias, 34. tigress, 35. fearless, 36. Looking for texture

1 day & counting

i am writing up lists for bb daddy: make sure to talk to him about the location of his nose & his toes; add eggs to his menu, & butter & whole milk; point to stuff; ask him if he would rather have peaches or blueberries or toast; encourage him to build a tower... breakfast, snack, playtime, lunch, nap, snack, music, then i will be home again (to see him eat dinner, have a bath & go to sleep)...

this little journey, this love affair, started not quite a year ago (i left work a week early simply because i could no longer remember my name & had trouble walking on my flip flopped swollen feet). hmm now that i think about it - that was the last week that bb daddy & i went out to a movie (argh)! so much (& so little) has happened since that not so tiny bundle pushed his way into the world (after some 42 hours of labour).

we started here:

each of us (bb daddy included) went on instinct & love & it just seemed to work for us (ok the hospital staff were awesome & having my sister here for a couple days saved our lives). the whole crazy thing (having babies & having babies in your 40's) seemed so natural & despite rocky first 2 weeks (dr induced *sigh*) we hit a groove & an understanding quickly.

maybe i'm romantizing the whole thing now that we have been through it; it just seems like it was pretty amazing & magical (no purple baby crying, or colic & we managed to sleep 3 or 4 or 6 hours at a time) so we count ourselves lucky.

it's just that now that we are here:

everything that made our lives easier - love & understanding & bonding - makes it so hard to leave. i literaly feel incomplete if i go out for dinner or to the store without my little appendage snuggly latched to my hip & arm. i automatically order food we can share & i cut up my sandwiches & fruit into little bite sized pieces...

i've been thinking about this blog ' a year of living differently' now that my year is over - do i continue writing? i guess the rest of my life will be lived differently because we are now three (or six if you count the animals); because we have a bb boy who is magic: with brilliant starlit blue eyes, who dances to r&b, & smiles sweetly to strangers & offers them his cookies, who is remarkably strong & lithe, who`s downy hair now golden, still whisps into a fauxhawk, who is curious & careful & fearless all at the same time (unless you baaa in his face).

i guess my life will be lived differently because i have this son who makes me think about beauty & bubbles & a better world & has made me a gentler person...

cucumber recipe

i'm sure there are many many uses for & recipes containing cucumbers; this is the only one i could think of today:

1. get a clean glass, add:
2. icecube (1 or 3 - depends on the height of your glass)
3. pims (doesn't matter how much)
4. gingerale (canada dry eh)
5. cucumber slices (feel free to put the whole thing in if you want - this is a cuke recipe)

fireworks

i have always been a fan of fireworks & in vancouver, the hsbc celebration of light competition has been going off since 1990. i went to the first ones & have since seen the display with friends and family from almost every angle imaginable:

- a roof top deck in kits point

- the beach access point at cornwall & macdonald

- on a point grey hill

- a sailboat

- the beach

- the bard on the beach tent

- the grassy slope along english bay

- a high rise near city hall

- standing on pacific street

& the boathouse restaurant

** one day i will see them from my outrigger canoe & perhaps from a heli

i have lived on english bay for 12 years (most years i wait until the last test explosion is done then i walk straight down my street - three blocks - stand in the throng & then wash home with the flood of humanity to sit comfortably on my deck while tens of thousands stream by for the next hour). since hunter has come to live here our fireworks evenings consist of lots of patting & consoling as he trembles uncontrollably (since we can clearly hear the explosions all we can do is turn up the tv & comfort him).

this year we watched via katcam (this is the webcam bb daddy uses to check the winds before windsurfing) - we are sitting here giggling - listening to the booms & taking webcam shots: