sunny

I've been reading a bunch of the "weirdness" memes going around, and although I am not particularly interested in divulging a list of my quirks, one that came immediately to mind that isn't too embarrassing is my extreme dislike for shopping. Sure the odd browse through a thrift store or stationary store is enjoyable (in fact I have I great love of stationary shops- all those pens! and notebooks! and folders and binders and day timers and paperclips... okay, maybe this is another weird thing...) but I despise shopping for things that I need, especially clothing. And if it is in a shop that has attentive and helpful salespeople that want to tell me about their product or comment on how great I look in an outfit I'm trying on, well, I'd rather gauge out my eyeballs with a spoon. But one exception to this (besides that aforementioned stationary and thrift shopping) is books. Especially kids books. I can accumulate kids books like nothing else. And though spending 25$ on a shirt is physically painful, this doesn't seem like much for a picture book. So its no wonder that bookshelves factor largely into our home reno plans.

One of my favorite bloggers started doing reviews of kids books recently which I have been enjoying greatly (oh good! more books to covet and long for!) and when I recently picked up this book at my local bookstore I decided I would have to jump in and do a review of it because it is just so great and needs to be known. After doing an internet search I was not surprised to find that I am not the only one who thinks this book is wonderful.

Sunny by Robin Mitchell and Judith Steedman is part of a series of books that uses bendy dolls, simple household objects and wonderful collage to create a hip and magical landscape. Pencils become telephone poles, doodles on black paper are chalk drawings, a ruler and empty wooded spool become a see-saw. I've not read the other titles in the series but this one is decidedly urban, which is a nice change from our usual reads. Sunny wanders around the city enjoying the noises he finds and decides to have a hootenanny with all his friends making their own clanging, rattling stomping music. The book also comes with a ten song CD full of fun upbeat kid songs with one rowdy tune by Veda Hille's kid band Duplex! whose CD we own and love.
Ari and I danced around to the tunes and I dreamed of crafting up some bendy collaging goodness. I look plan to try to track down the rest of the books in this series, Windy, Snowy and Chinook, and Gail.

tromping about

Lots of long walks in the woods these past few days. With all the freezing and thawing we've been having there is a crispy layer on top of the snow that makes snowshoeing delightful. We've been seeing parts of the property I'd never even known were there, and Ari loves being in the trees. Walking on top of the snow when it is so deep is rather surreal, landmarks like the fire pit and the raspberry canes seem outrageously far away, giving a sort of dreamlike sense of flying or hovering- if you ignore the heavy clomping of the snowshoes.

It has always seemed to me that winter is hiding something, covering up what is really there, and it seems especially true when there is so much snow. Even though winter is the longest season by far here, it still seems like summer and the snow-free, green ground is the real state of things. Winter just throws a blanket over everything, smoothing out the bumps and valleys, covering what is ugly and what is beautiful, making the tidy ordered spots indistinguishable from the messes. We just have to wait for spring to whisk away the covers and show the truth of it all.

These photos are from the archives. Perry has made off with the camera again, he's busy snapping pictures of art with two shows opening this week. I guess this is a good excuse for stealing the camera, but I was in a photo taking sort of mood today. Humph. We can pretend that these are pictures of our latest adventures and just imagine the family of grouse we saw in the woods today, and the lovely little bare spot we stopped at under a spruce tree, and Ari all rosy cheeked (and runny nosed unfortunately, we will be glad not to have a picture of this- there's been a nasty cold going around here,) and I will take a round of pictures of some of the projects I've been puttering on (a new bag for me! This is the first thing I've made for myself and it feels like Christmas!) as soon as I can filch the camera back. The sun has been shining and the days have been beautiful, so it is not much of a stretch to imagine these pictures were taken today, though we've been avoiding the road now that the back woods are tromp-able. But the mountains looked just this lovely today. Only they are in their true state when covered up in snow.

who's the fairest of them all?

The weather is yucky and grey and raining on top of the piles and piles of snow we have been continuing to get. The roads are nasty- the compact snow turned to ice from the rain, and we got wet on our walk. So we are once again back inside and having fun with that ever-eager playmate, the baby in the mirror.

The rest of the week will be busy, a birthday party, playgroup (our new favorite thing to do on Thursdays- sing songs and rhymes at the local library with a bunch of funky moms and then march over to a local coffee shop and drink tea while our wee ones chew the toy train set and spread avocado and yogurt over all available surfaces,) a family dinner and a Reggae dance. The latter is probably not very baby friendly but I really want to see the band which is made up of various friends and relatives, and dancing sounds like a really good idea right now. We have baby ear plugs and a grandma will be present (to see said relatives) so Ari should be well cared for even if he spends most of the night in the back room or walking around the block with us taking turns. If it's not too loud I'm pretty sure he'll think dancing is a good idea too.

jingle, jingle.

Our dear friend was in town for a visit this week- he used to rent one of the houses on the farm and we miss him sorely now that he has moved on to the big city. We still have plans to lure him back one day, but in the meantime we love the visits. On his last day here he organized a sleigh ride for all us farm folk, and it was a lovely time. The kids loved the horses and the dogs that ran along behind, and the bigger kids loved the hot chocolate that was served halfway through the trip at sweet a little cabin in the woods. The owner had a fire going outside for us there when we arrived and we ate goodies and chatted with the horses and we managed some outdoor breastmilk snacks for Ari. A lovely time for all, Thanks Matty!

baby on the move

Ari is on the move! He is fully crawling now, and gets himself into a sitting position and is pulling up and cruising around whatever he can. These blurry photos give a small glimpse of his current favorite activity- getting into all the stuff we have yet to baby proof. We are trying to make our home safe and secure for little hands, but he is always one step (crawl?) ahead of us- getting into the tea shelf or discovering that the bathroom door doesn't latch properly or unpacking my newly sorted sewing basket.

Tomorrow we will be rearranging the kitchen and installing the gate around the wood stove so that we don't have to be on high alert every minute worrying that he will get into the wrong cupboard or get too close to the stove. We live in such a teeny house that we don't have the luxury of closing off rooms or sectioning off areas. We just have to make this little home as baby friendly as possible and let him crawl off some steam in the safe areas, like our giant futon family bed.

He has been so much fun though, despite being higher maintenance. He is so incredibly curious about what is going on around him and studies everything we do and every object he gets his hands on (turning it over in his hands, tasting it, shaking it...) He has a new found interest in food too which is pretty exciting- he still makes lots of faces but asks for more of everything- so far he's approved of peas, broccoli, pears, blueberries (though the stains on the clothing make this one less exciting for mama,) brown rice, apple, yam, parsnip... he would rather his Papa feed him solid food though- I'm the milk lady exclusively it seems. I'm okay with that. Really I am.

And it's way too late and he will be awake again in a few short hours, ready to tear the house apart just ahead of our baby proofing.

bearing treasures

My love is home. We have been settling back into family life together and it is wonderful to have him back. Ari was so excited to see him (phew! there was that quiet worry that he would forget, but of course not, he's his Papa!) wiggling and grinning and putting his arms out to him. And the bonus is all the treasures he brought back with him- look at these lovely things! Fabric and paper, a sewing box, sweet treats, wooden spoons (we seem to collect them... not sure when that started...) and Ari's favorite, clay bells. See those hands blurred with the work of ringing them? He would do that all day if we held him up to do it.

felty lovin'

This is a Ari checking out and snacking on a tiny bunny I made him yesterday. I am really loving the wool felt I got from playful pixie (yeah to Waldorf toys and materials being available in Canada!) and am enjoying making toys so much! I got a wonderful book from my mom which I saw recommended on one of my favorite blogs -The Rowdy Pea- she was making such great toys from this book that I just had to ask for it for Christmas. These fellows are from that book and will be gifts for two little girls, one who just got a new baby sister and one who is turning 2 in a few days. They have little waistcoats too but they didn't make it into the photo shoot. And this little bunny I made from the scraps from the bear from no particular pattern. He's very teeny. And tasty too apparently.

that kind of day

It was looking like it was going to be this kind of day...

But after a long nap and a long walk things are looking up.

cars, trucks and buses

I made this bag for my dear friends and landmate's son who turned three this week. He is in love with all things motorized and his favorite game is entitled "cars, trucks and buses." The game gets more and more imaginative as he grows and we can no longer call him by his name but must refer to him as whatever vehicle he is currently embodying. His birthday party was digger themed with such highlights as a kiddie pool full of soybeans for excavation and a dirt-cake. My crunchy earthy friends never would have guessed they'd be living in a home full of earth moving machines with a child named "truck!"

It was hard to figure out what to make him since excavators are difficult to sew out of felt so I settled on a bag for carrying his cars, trucks and buses about with him.


This gift also comes with a "repair policy," since it's quite likely that my rudimentary sewing skills will not have produced an item that will stand up to toddler play.