Christmas correspondence

Here's Gord going about the arduous task of writing a few Christmas cards...

... always easier with a bit of fortification!

Gord and Piper today, holding lollies from Pippa! Mum took the kids this morning, so Gord and I got to go out for coffee. And then Piper got to go out with Pippa for lunch (and lolly shopping), so we were all pretty lucky today!

Here's the crazy fun kids of ours...

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.

When death comes

There's much to be said for having reading books lying about the house in oportune moments.

The thoughts and emotions of our impending departure are stirring stuff in the depths. Last night I was able to put words to one of the deeper stirrings. There's an tension on the shoreline of my soul where the outside expectations of the world meet my hopes and dreams. 

...what do I want to do/be? 

...what do I feel others want me to do/be?

...how then, shall I live?

This tension is a fact of life, but against the backdrop of these questions, this poem is not so much about death as it is about living. 

I've said enough.

====

When death comes

Mary Oliver

When death comes
like the hungry bear in autumn;
when death comes and takes all the bright coins from his purse

to buy me, and snaps the purse shut;
when death comes
like the measles-pox;

when death comes
like an iceberg between the shoulder blades,

I want to step through the door full of curiosity, wondering:
what is it going to be like, that cottage of darkness?

And therefore I look upon everything
as a brotherhood and a sisterhood,
and I look upon time as no more than an idea,
and I consider eternity as another possibility,

and I think of each life as a flower, as common
as a field daisy, and as singular,

and each name a comfortable music in the mouth
tending as all music does, toward silence,

and each body a lion of courage, and something
precious to the earth.

When it's over, I want to say: all my life
I was a bride married to amazement.
I was the bridegroom, taking the world into my arms.

When it is over, I don't want to wonder
if I have made of my life something particular, and real.
I don't want to find myself sighing and frightened,
or full of argument.

I don't want to end up simply having visited this world.

Vintage Gord!

Have been scanning some old photos of Gord lately - thought I'd post a few here:

These first two shots were taken the kitchen of the house that John, his Dad, built, the same house that Jeff and Sharon live in today (and the same house that we stayed in last time we were in Canada). Nicely historical...



Gord turning ten...


I love this family shot... Gord only had that dog for a couple of months - he says it crapped everywhere!