Week in the Life: Tuesday

Early Morning Boy with Milk.

Farmer sausage at Main Bread and Butter (Piper's photo).

Lillies beneath Piper's roses, lillies that will last as the house falls into chaos and bareness.

Week in the Life: Monday

I've been lugging the camera everywhere this week, trying to document these last days here. Monica emailed to say she was participating in Ali Edward's Week in the Life project, and I decided to jump on the bandwagon, even though the timing is kind of hectic (nine days left in Canada). I have an idea for a physical document I'd like to make, with bits and pieces of our life here, brown paper bags, square photos, not entirely sure yet. I wasn't really thinking of blogging the project, until the final product. But I love looking at Monica and Ali's photos, love the mundane-ness of them, and the beauty captured in the midst of the mundane, so I have decided to post just three photos a day, with minimal words, so that I can have the pleasure of seeing them evolve, but so that posting doesn't take forever, cos time is at a premium at the moment!

Anyway, without further ado, here's Monday:

Facing the week.

Dessert at Baked Expectations with Pat & Dar.

Osborne Village (Gord's photo).

Strawbale House

Thought that it might be a good time to update the straw bale saga...

First up, the curves of the place. As is well known, the walls of a straw bale house are wide - all 18 inches or so. This means that the window openings present an opportunity to add a bit of character...

But, before we see that, see Mark busily at work getting the insulation in above the windows...

Ah yes, the ever-present smile. And doesn't Mark look like he'd belong in an issue of Mother Earth from the 70s? 

Insert gratuitious family shot (which shows that I'm doing my job of minding the kids...)

Here you can see the curves around the window... this reminds me of something I said a bit earlier, when we were musing on the fact that the walls weren't going to be perfectly straight... I was wasxing eloquent about the natural, curvacious feel of the walls...and in fact, we don't call the front door our entrance...we call it the vagina....

Another smaller window open.

Fast-forward about a couple of weeks. Mark was fortunate enough to get some plasters to his house. They finished in a day what would've taken him a month. Very efficient. This means that the house should be weather-proof from the outside until the final coats can be put on in spring.

The feel of the house really changes when this is on - looks a lot taller, for one.

Note the curve of the fundation up to the wider walls.

And yes, the curves on the outside of the .. err.. side door.

Work work and more work... and still so far to go.

Garden Fresh Tomato Soup

To use the last whack of tomatoes, I found a recipe for Garden Fresh Tomato Soup. Tried it out and it tasted good, plus I didn't have to skin the tomatoes, which was a bonus! Now Gord picked the last fruit off the vines at our place and Matthew's - guess I'll be cooking tomato soup again!

Here's the recipe for Garden Fresh Tomato Soup:

4 cups chopped fresh tomatoes
1 slice onion
4 whole cloves
2 cups chicken broth
2 tablespoons butter
2 tablespoons all-purpose flour
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar, or to taste

In a stockpot, over medium heat, combine the tomatoes, onion, cloves and chicken broth. Bring to a boil, and gently boil for about 20 minutes to blend all of the flavors. Remove from heat and run the mixture through a food mill into a large bowl, or pan. Discard any stuff left over in the food mill.

In the now empty stockpot, melt the butter over medium heat. Stir in the flour to make a roux, cooking until the roux is a medium brown. Gradually whisk in a bit of the tomato mixture, so that no lumps form, then stir in the rest. Season with sugar and salt, and adjust to taste.

A wander in Sandilands

On Saturday what I most wanted to do was go for a walk in Sandilands. The air was crisp but the sun was warm, and the foliage, of course, is glorious at the moment.

Happy one moment...

And sad the next, just at the end! This is why I didn't want to come with two children by myself!

Is this the last glorious weekend?

Birthday Baklava

I made baklava for Gord's birthday, both cos he wanted it, and we wanted to use up the filo pastry we had kicking round in the freezer! I used this recipe, using almonds as well as walnuts (with inspiration from Nigella, of course, but I couldn't get hold of rosewater, hence I went with the cardamon-flavoured recipe). (For those of you who give a rats'!) It was very tasty, and there was plenty enough for me to be enjoying a piece as I write this, the day after (but now there's only one left!)

I made it the day before Gord's birthday, in a bit of a mad rush before his cousin's wedding (why do I do that??). That's probably why I was hyper, hanging out with Matt, Sharon, Dar, Jeff and Gord at the nuptials! Then the next morning, I was making a gluten- and dairy-free cake for someone at house church, and Gord was whipping up some mini quiches (using up more of the filo!). We brought three dishes of food to the housechurch special brunch, in honour of some guests. Perhaps that was overkill, but they all tasted good! And so did all the other dishes!

Housechurch was busy, lots of people, and three birthdays to celebrate! Monica showed everyone how to draw labyrinths. Then when we got home, Scott and Leanne, friends of Gord's from his Winnipeg days, who he hadn't seen for five years, were waiting on the doorstep (not for long, thankfully, and yes, the visit was planned, they weren't just rocking up out of the blue after a half-decade!). I was wasted, unfortunately, and eventually crawled off to lie down with Jas to try and convince him to sleep.

Then, when I got up, Scott and Leanne were gone and Gord told me Shaun and Helena were coming over, spur of the moment. That worked out really well, especially the bit where, after a bit of visiting, Shaun whisked Gord away to the bottleshop - that was EXACTLY what he needed to perk him up and make him feel like he was celebrating his 34th birthday! See, my parents know him well! (see below...)

So yes, long story short, Gord's birthday: a fair whack of cooking, and three lots of socialising, culminating in a lovely relaxed (to the point of delirium!) visit with Shaun and Helena. There goes another birthday...


Here's the family man.

Birthday cards and fall foliage, beneath Piper and Jasper's creativity. Piper drew Captain Hook on her envelope, which was very cool, with a definite hook instead of a hand! I just drew flowers. Gord liked them =). Mum and Dad bought Gord a cordless drill as a present, and rather than send it over, they send a miniature cardboard version - very clever (Dad)!

But look closer at the card from Mum and Dad, yes, that one with 'Son' written on it - notice what's on the front? It's a pint of beer, a pleasant honey amber ale, by the looks of it. They know Gord too well! (See the cardboard drill set?!)

Birthday bonfire

To celebrate Gord's birthday, we hung out child-free with his parents around a fire in their backyard. Ah, the serenity!

It's definitely fall time... I'm loving it!

The birthday boy, sorry, not the best shot in the dusky light...

Me sporting a freshly-made pompom, part of a secret project.