Wine weekend

Hello again, Naramata Bench.

Many things have changed since last year, but your beauty surely hasn't. And the joy I find in getting away from the city to this incredible landscape and spending time with dear friends hasn't either.

Embracing, and letting go. And trying not to drink too much as the designated driver on the wine route.

And remembering to savour every minute of it.

xo






















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Living life on Instagram

Having fun with Instagram - I know it will get tiresome eventually, but for now it's keeping me mildly entertained. 

If your life is boring enough to warrant it, you can find me and follow me.

Where I was, and where I am

I'm back from Ontario now, and getting back into the rhythm of the rainy west coast. Next time, I will stay out east a few days longer. It was good for me, in more ways than one. (see the first three photos below, including the portrait of handsome young Hamish!)

That being said, being home feels even better. The last two shots are from a walk I took yesterday - and they don't even scratch the surface of how beautiful this place is, even if it WONT STOP RAINING!

Sometimes it is good to remember there are bigger things than you.








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This post

... Starts with a big Hi to Rich's Mom - thanks for stopping by and reading!

A really lovely night out with my dear pals, a decadent meal at Nota Bene, and a nightcap at my hotel. So good to see them both- it's been far too long. Another belated Gemini birthday to celebrate (I'm a couple of weeks older than yesterday's birthday boy...and those two weeks make me oh so much wiser ;)





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Location:The end of the night...

Cutest. Cake. EVER.

And it came with the Best. Tea. Ever.






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The Big Smoke

I've been in Toronto since Wednesday night. The flight over was fine - except for the two hour delay in deplaning after we touched down. Oh Ontario electrical storms, how you like to toy with us! What I'd don't understand is why they don't seem to be able to air condition planes that aren't in flight - it turned into a sauna in there...no, that makes it sound too pleasant. Thank god for my trusty iPad, at least I had something to entertain myself with.

Overall it has been a good trip - work has gone pretty well, we did some dragon boating which was actually pretty fun, and for the first time in a long time I'm feeling a bit nostalgic about being in Toronto. Nostalgic in a good way, I think. I am sure it is in part that I'm really looking forward to seeing friends over the next few days - which I am, I am feeling a strong need to reconnect and regroup with my Toronto peeps - and in part just a product of my life shape shifting over the last little while. This I think will help me find my bearings again, at least a little bit.

One thing that is killing me is the weather - the stormy pressure changes have my head pounding, reminding me that this is truly the breeding ground of migraines and all sorts of other noggin pain. I will soldier on, tossing back Tylenol with codeine and hoping the wine I look forward to consuming with Rich & MM tonight will make things better, not worse (let me hang on to that delusion please)

Had dinner in the Distillery District last night...this snap was taken there. I think next time I'm out this way I'm going to stay for a bit longer and dig myself back into this city a bit more tightly once again. I would never move back, but a home away from home is a nice thing to have.


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Like the mating calls of sarcastic sharks...

Not really sure what to write today; a quick update will suffice, I guess?

• Wendy MacNaughton - illustrator. A new find for me (see chart above). She's great.
• Saw Jack White's solo tour on the weekend - brilliance. All girl 6 piece band, with very pregnant double bass player - double brilliant.
• Saw a theater piece that involved a woman choking on socks and breaking into a dumbed-down rendition of Seal's "Kiss from a Rose." Thanks, Hive.
• Am doing so much self reflection right now that I don't know what end is up. I really don't. Drowning, people, drowning! Or at least only managing a feeble dog-paddle.
• Bracing myself for another dreaded work trip to TO next week. The saving graces (yes, there are two): Dinner plans with R & MM - I know I can expect a push the boat out, really did we drink 4 bottles of wine with dinner? evening. AND a couple of days with my pal A at her farm - it's been far too long.
• Telling Vancouver to brace for Tui's return from Edinburgh - her siren-loud voice won't be tempered by a Scottish accent after only a year, will it?
• Oh, and I turned a year older. Yay, me?

God, llamas and broncos...

After a week of glorious sun, we are back into the summer rain - typical long weekend weather it seems, but that didn't stop A, L and me from heading out to the wilds of Cloverdale for a day at the rodeo...apparently an event of some significance on the rodeo circuit (who knew?).
The fairgrounds were really more just a big pile of midway rides - woefully underutilized because of the weather, but every now and then you'd see one damp child in a rain jacket, shorts and sandals, skin almost translucently pale, looking incredibly cold, determinedly spinning around in a giant teacup or something equally arbitrary. Couldn't help but feel sorry for the kids, and for the fair, which must have been losing money hand over fist.
We spent some time looking at the animals they had on display - everything from goats to chickens to horses to my favorites - the llamas and alpacas. Ohhh such unfortunate hair-cuts on those alpacas. You just know that they will be getting their own back on someone, someday.

But the highlight? THE RODEO. Luckily the stands were covered from the drizzle, so the weather was no big deal. And heck, warmth was spread throughout the crowd as we were encouraged to join in a prayer of thanks - I guess the Lord doesn't get thanked enough for things as specific as horse breeding and cowboy safety, so who am I to judge? I forget we have a bible belt in BC. And as the three of us discussed, bible belts seem to be closely tied to agricultural land, which is maybe no surprise - success or failure is so dependent on "acts of God" (sun, rain, wind...) that at some level it makes sense, as must as anything ever makes sense I guess.
And though I have mixed feelings about some rodeo sports, I can't deny they are entertaining. There is something about watching men get tossed around like rag dolls on the backs of powerful, beautiful horses that is both horrifying and amazing. What compels someone to choose that as a sport, I will never understand - having been bucked off horses a number of times myself, it certainly isn't something I would choose to do for fun. But that's just me, a city gal with strong self preservation instincts.

And it is just those self preservation instincts that make these two women so incredibly important in my world. Well, it is an awful lot more than just self preservation - my life is made SO much better because they are part of it. And not just because they like llamas, too.

Not Dead Yet

Well, DOXA wrapped up this past weekend. Looking back, I think this DOXA was the best yet - at least for me - in terms of the consistency and quality of the films. Sure, a couple were flawed, but still worth the time - and a few were truly remarkable.
Jason Becker: Not Dead Yet is one of the truly remarkable ones. Good old fashion shred guitar isn't one of my favorite things by any stretch of the imagination, but Jason Becker's story is an amazing one, beautifully told. The guy is still a mischievous ladies man, and an incredibly driven creative spirit, despite the limitations brought on by ALS. Any time you're feeling sorry for yourself, pull this one out of the DVD rack (once it's released, that is!). Truly lovely stuff. In other news, the sun is finally shining, work is too busy and stressful for my liking, and...well, and. That's all for now.

That's the last of that bag of flour...

I have lots to write about the DOXA films I've seen, but I don't have a lot of energy to do it...so we will see how far I get. So far, I haven't seen a dud in the bunch. A few to keep an eye out for... Scarlet Road - a truly lovely documentary about an Australian sex worker/advocate/Masters student who has a client base that includes a number of men with disabilities. A wonderful reminder of the importance of human touch and companionship, and a mind-shifter in terms of what comes to mind when you hear "sex worker." She makes my job feel completely meaningless. Big Boys Gone Bananas* - Ooooh so important to see, for so many reasons - the horrors of corporate manipulation so beautifully laid out. Excellent, excellent film. I will never look at a banana, or journalism, in quite the same way. Hard Light - the trailer doesn't do it justice; a beautiful film interspersing dramatizations of stories from Newfoundlander Michael Crummey's Hard Light with interviews with Crummey. I have to admit I haven't read any of his works yet (not for want of trying, oh reading group - ahem!), but after seeing this I am itching to. I almost wasn't going to mention this one yet, as it resonated with me in ways I wasn't expecting...I need to digest more. And maybe talk more. Not sure. But if you have a chance, see it. And you know eventually the NFB will post it alongside all the other wonderful films on their website... More to come, at least that's the plan...

Today's moment of calm....

Back from whirlwind Toronto business trip. It went as well as could be expected, though the one bright spot in the trip - dinner with my pal A. - had to be cancelled as she came down with the flu. So, it was just me, trying to spoil myself in my hotel room, with limited success. As for life in general - things are still pretty challenging. But, I'm pushing my focus to the forces of good (read: the gym, friends, walks, good books...) and am excited by this year's DOXA festival - I have at least nine films picked out to see, hopefully I will feel motivated to write about some of them here. And in the meantime, I will find my zen with Shiro's help....

Lost and found

Thought I'd share a video from my most recent musical experience - not my favorite Andrew Bird concert of all time, but I'm someone who looks less for the polish and more for the passion. That being said, it was still pretty great. I was there with the Terrible Twosome siblings and a couple of friends, including my dear pal L. She is now an Extra Dear Pal after helping me through yesterday's crisis - which involved a couple of large pieces of jewelry finding their way down my bathroom sink drain and into the comforting hammock of the u-bend beneath. This was upsetting for me for a couple of reasons - the pieces themselves, and the cosmic significance that their potential loss meant, and the fact that I couldn't deal with it myself. The u-bend connectors were too tight - not just hand-tight, as they should be. Luckily, between L. and a huge pipe wrench, the problem was solved. Jewelry retrieved, cleaned, and safe. Emotional breakdown averted. And the cosmic significance of their retrieval embraced. Off to Toronto tomorrow - there for a day of work craziness, then I return. Hopefully it will be so whirlwind that jetlag won't have time to set in. Wish me luck.

If wishes were horses....

One thing I am learning is that life will laugh at you as soon as you think you've got it all planned out. There are changes in my life, and though I'm not ready to talk about it here, know it is a rough and rocky road. The right road? Ultimately I think so - I have to think so - but that doesn't make it easy, trust me.

One thing that seems to bring calm are ridiculous cat videos posted here.  Something about Shiro's (the cat on the far left, of course) face makes me smile every time.

I may be awol for a while, or I may be back sooner than you think - right now, it's hard to quite figure out what I'm doing in the next hour, let alone anything more forward thinking, so time will tell.

It's not like I've stopped....

....going to gigs, it's just that I seem to have stopped writing about it.    So, a quick post about the Magnetic Fields at the Vogue this weekend.   It was a treat.  There, that's the post.

Ok not quite.  As expected, it was a low key gig, but for me that made it all the more engaging.  Stephin Merritt's crustiness came out - I love a front man who challenges the audience about their choice to stand up when there are seats available; but that attitude is something anyone who has seen the highly enjoyable doc Strange Powers would have expected.  Anyhow, his bittersweet, sardonic songwriting appeals to me no end, as does his lazy, crazily deep voice.  I taped a few songs, but Andrew in Drag makes me smile every time, so I'm sharing it here.

And that, my friends, is me dipping my toe slightly into the water of writing about gigs again.  I could say a lot more, but I might get the bends.

And a few more

I'm tired. But I'll be back.

Portland is awesome.

Some photos to prove it.  Well, they aren't awesome, but Portland is.  Hopefully I will have energy to say more soon - and hopefully will have some nice photos from the Boy's collection to share :)

Portland...ia

On a quick vacation to Portland, land of beer, hipsters and coffee - very good coffee, I might add. And the hipsters are a surprisingly friendly and attitude free bunch, unlike their Vancouver counterparts...but I'm jumping ahead here.

We drove down with pals A&J, through some pretty crazy snow squalls and rain storms. I would have been white knuckling through most of it, jut J calmly soldiered along behind the wheel. We stopped for some very good Mexican food In the North end of Seattle - somewhere no non-Mexican would know about unless they were a slightly crazed chowhound, as A luckily is. Also lucky is her command of Spanish, as there wasn't a whole lot of English being spoken. And even more lucky? The super tasty eats (see snap of happy munching Boy below).


We arrived in Portland, and stopped at Ristretto for a cup of house roasted coffee, and a chat with the cheery baristas about coffee in Portland - something taken very seriously in these parts.


We got to the hotel (Paramount - nice place, good deal), then went for cocktails at Teardrop - I had the awkwardly named Artistaint (gin, Cynar, elderflower and lemon - lovely arc of sweet to bitter, so very good), then we headed to Deschutes where i had a gluten free elk burger and GOOD gluten free beer (oh how I miss good beer)....followed by more drinks and snacks at Clyde Common. What has struck me the most is the friendliness of the people here - everyone seems willing to provide suggestions of good places to go in their fair town. Such a different vibe than Vancouver.

So - so far, loving Portland. More later:)


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Location:SW Taylor St,Portland,United States

The Christmas of the Swedish Licorice

Christmas is over, and it was much closer to the relaxed Christmas of my imagination than most.   Christmas day, The Boy and I opened presents with Miss Mags in the morning, then headed to Mum's to get ready for the family - and in The Boy's case, set up Mum's wireless network and iPad (she's hip to the technology, people!)

I could talk about how once again I was spoiled, about how delightfully (?) odd my family is when you get them all in one big room.  About how we missed Kerry and Tui at the table, but enjoyed the extra elbow room.  Actually, scratch that re Tui - she made her presence known through a box of xmas goodies sent to us from Edinburgh.  Lovely home made ornaments, soaps, candies...it all seemed so uncharacteristically NICE.

dip dabs and flakes - oh my!

 

 

 

 

And then her genetic link to the family was revealed through a bag of Swedish Licorice she picked up in a recent trip to Stockholm.  So kind of her.  Her uncle appreciated it - as did I.

We enjoyed the challenge of the salty outer shell of the licorice, leading to the sweet inner chewiness.  We are not put off by the UNBELIEVABLE, fragrant nose of cat-pee that wafts to the back of the palate and cleans out the sinuses with each chew.   We are not afraid of the cat-pee Tui, your evil game DID NOT take us down.

It did, however, take down Grandmere and The Boy

A closer look perhaps?

Such kindness from afar, Tui.  Such kindness.

It's Tree Time again....

Yes, that's right.

The Boy and I headed down to my favorite tree lot (ok, a parking lot with trees stacked in it) to pick out another example of the beauty of uncultured trees.  It was, of course, the first one we picked up that we ended up stuffing into the car on top of a camo-pattern tarp that made the whole mission feel a lot more military and precise than it actually was.

I do look forward to decorating.  It is something I started on year two of life in the Bunkle, and this will be year two of having the Boy assist with carefully placing felt birds on the branches, for which I am grateful.  I love the charlie brown tree, the little decorations, the sparkly white lights, the string of pudding carrying cats that make it all feel like Christmas.  It will also be the second year Thomas won't be around to hide under the tree or decapitate unsuspecting wooden reindeer - maybe I shouldn't be surprised at how much I still miss him, but I really do.  And though he had been missing from the celebrations at home for a few years now, this will be the first real year without Dad.  And without Tui - who is too busy frolicking around Europe to bother with her family *sniff*  (There is no thinly veiled jealousy here.  None.)

The holiday season is always a weird ying/yang of happy and sad, relaxation and stress, calm and frustration.  This year I've decided to try and take a little bit of time off after the holidays, instead of before - which I have come to realize never ends up being relaxing time off, it ends up being thinly veiled chaos.  And this year, time off after Christmas will be dedicated to starting the process of transforming the basement in preparation for the Boy's impending addition as a household fixture in the Spring - this will include the creation of a man-cave for his man-stuff, and more useable storage space for the mass of stuff we have both collected.  Hopefully I will have the energy to track some of that process on the blog for those that are interested.

In the interim, I will continue to try and keep Christmas what it should be this year.  Or rather, what I want it to be.

And I will leave one tiny decapitated reindeer at the bottom of the tree, just in case the ghost of christmas past drops by.