Clapotis

Thanks Kara,
I love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love, love it and you!

Yarn hound

Star light, star bright...

...first star in the sky this afternoon!? Thanks Brad & Mart! I finally have a spot for it until we are hanging out again in the garden...

Instrumental

Mr. adores shopping off of Craig's list. Here's his latest purchase - an upright. Well, it was a trade really (he managed to swap it for one of his many electric basses). I can't wait to hear him have a go at it. He also recently picked up a half-sized cello, so that should make for fun listening.

Last visitor of 2008

Aunt came to see us for 'wrestle-mania.' Now Katharine, before you get too excited, let me mention that it is actually a college wrestling meet, tournament, whatever. As far as I know, there are no capes or masks - just a lot of sweat and cauliflower ears.
Anyhow, she was occupied during the days, but we got to see her and cousin for a couple of nights. Of course, I forgot my camera - so no photos of cousin looking like the mountain man with his beard - du-oh! But, here's one that came out of Aunt & I...

Narcolepsy

It would be nice if we could all stay awake at the same time in this house. After the humans went to bed, Ernie decided that it was time to be awake. Damn dog :)

Cranky

So, my Christmas gifts this year to myself were 2 giant zits on the side of my nose. Yesterday, I looked like I'd just stepped outta the ring. Today they seem to be a little calmer, but they're still prominent enough! I'd better go eat some chocolate and scratch at them a bit. Who's a pretty girl?

The happiest season of all

Maybe for some, but I don't think that Mr. enjoys this stuff somehow. Perhaps you've never heard his arguments in favour of eliminating such arbitrary 'holidays.' He does try to get into it for me a bit, but look at him just squirm with discomfort - poor guy!

hairy

What a sweetie Sean is - it shouldn't be too much longer growing his hair out for Locks of Love...

Old Ernie

Ernie whizzed on our new rug today for about a solid minute. I hope that his kidneys don't get too much worse over the next few weeks. Poor guy - I can't even get pissed (ha) I just feel so bad for him.

Projects and presents

Curt has been helping Sergi with his senior project and I've been reaping all the benefits. Let me explain...
So far, we've gotten a gift basket of cheeses and apples and the goodies that go along with; we've been given a yummie cranberry-nut bread; a gift certificate to Undercurrent and this neat canoe bowl all as thanks.
Now I have to say Thank You for all the great gifts. Hopefully Sergi gets a good grade - we ate all the edibles and I don't like returning stuff:)

Sofa snuggles

It took a long time, but see how happy Ernie looks with Uncle? Clovis, of course, adores him as usual...

Merry, merry

This year we decided that we have enough: enough clothes, enough entertainment and certainly enough food. What we both wanted was a new rug for the wooden room so that when Ernie jumps off the sofa, he has something soft to land on. So happy holidays to us - yay!

Floppy

Okay, I couldn't resist one last picture of the amarylis...Houston? We have floppage!
Guess the supporting stakes were too elegant and not functional enough. Such is life.

Dear Todd

We are very interested in your youtube journal of what life in Japan is like.
In any case, I came across these photos of you fellows from Christmas 01 - enjoy!

Inspiring Mum

Well, Mum's knitting is much more interesting and not so riddled with mistakes. However, I am pleased to see that I can still do it (albeit rather slowly and poorly:)

Open and unexpected!

Our amaryllis is finally opening. I was expecting a 'red lion' bloom, but we ended up with an 'apple blossom.' Oh well, it'll be just as pretty when it's going a bit better...

Amaryllis today

Well, the bloom is on it's way, but unless it opens tonight, Mum will miss it - drat!
Anyhow, it began doing the big lean over (not surprising since it's about 2 1/2' tall). So, I was afraid it would become the big flop & thus staked it so. Not so pretty, but what to do?

Tasty toes

Ymummas! Actually, I'm just jealous of how flexible he is in his old age. I'm getting to middle-aged and have trouble just tying my shoelaces half the time.

Look-see

How the Amaryllis has shot up in the last few days. I think the forking at the top of the bud must mean that a flower is coming along soon! I wonder if the whole thing will flop under the blossom's weight?!?! Looks as though we'd better get my knitting needles at the ready to become potential plant stakes.

A Cinderella story

That's right, she spends an untold fortune & flies thousands of miles to come see us. Then we put her to work cleaning the kitchen! Mum sure is a trooper...

Nappage

Mmnnnnn, early afternoon napping is the best! Especially when one has to get up for work at 4:30 am.

Black Friday

Okay, being the slacker-hypochondriac-type that I am, going out shopping with the masses really is just not going to happen. We prefer to go broke online.
Let me encourage you to shop like us...
If you are thinking of a unique & beautiful gift for a gal, may I direct you to our dear friend, Paula the Dragon Lady!

Giving thanks

Aren't we lucky to have such great folks sharing a holiday with us!?!? We had a wonderful time & still have full bellies. Curt has a blister on his thumb from peeling chestnuts, a knife slice across one finger and sore hips from cooking & prepping for two days. But, what is Thanksgiving without a few battle scars (I only have a swollen tum:)?

Knitting Mum

We are having a great time with Mum! She has taken on a scarf project that uses quite fine wool and is somewhat lacy. The pattern is called 'falling leaves' - very appropriate for this time of year...

Update

Here's where the amaryllis was up to a few days ago. It's even noticeably grown since then. What a satisfying plant!

Winter wonderland

Okay, the whole winter thing is outta control. I heard Christmas songs around the beginning of October, got a box of gifts before Halloween and now snow. When Mum asked me what to bring 2 weeks ago, the days were still in the high 70's. Of course, the day she arrives, there is a dusting of snow!

Happy day

It's your birthday!
Thanks for giving me another great year Hon!

In search of me

Ha! It's always good to see my name in print. I wonder what this's about...
Ooh, that Serena, she sounds like a meanie!

Kitty camo

So, having an orange cat means that we can usually see wherever he's hiding unless it's a really creative or dark spot.
At this time of year though, he can be sitting out in the middle of the yard and he blends right in. I am now double & triple checking to make sure he's not in our driveway everytime we start our cars.

Tidal terra

Okay, I know what autumn here means. It is beautiful - especially this year - but it means a lot of cleanup.
Here we are with waves of leaves washing up the drive (and I just went over the whole property a week ago). Good thing those damned trees are so pretty! Did I mention how much I love my leaf blower?
Anyhow, it beats blowing snow!

44rth

Well, we have out 44rth now and I am beyond thrilled that the election went the way it did. After the last couple, I just haven't had any trust in my own intuition about how these things will go.

We are hearing a lot of healing words. Many people around the world must be letting out a sigh of relief today. Of course, words cannot get us out of the muck we're mired in.

How much is it possible to mend? How long will it take? Where do we start? What will we have to give up?

My hope is that with this kind of leadership, we can all feel responsible. We can each work hard to improve at the local level around us. Instead of feeling afraid of the looming financial crisis, we can roll up our sleeves and help our neighbours who are already suffering. The onus is on us!

Soupy

We finally passed out. So, I only just finished off the pumpkin soup. It came out really good. I am thinking that it would be a good base for a lot of other things.

You could thicken it up to make a sort of vegetarian gravy, or maybe beat eggs, cheese and veg in - pour that in a crust and make a tasty quiche.

Anyhow, it looks kind of like baby food, but really hits the spot on this gorgeous fall day...

Holidays

We usually spend Thanksgiving with Dad and Maria and I was a bit sad to think of not all being together. Then Mum cheered me up with news that she'll be coming in to spend some time with us for the holiday! Yay!

Curt bought me my 2008 amaryllis this last week & it's begun to sprout. I love how they just shoot up. I never have any luck in getting them to flower after the first year, but they are so pretty for those few weeks that I just can't resist. Hopefully by the time Mum gets here it will be quite a bit more impressive...

Early bird special

This cold seems to go away when one is vertical only to reappear when we try to go horizontal. Since I am not quite tired enough to sleep standing just yet, I've been gummaging about the house for half the night.

We had all good intentions of making pumpkin pie from scratch. So, last night Curt roasted one of the 'pumpkin-pie' pumpkins that we bought about a month ago. You can see the remaining one in the background of one of the photos below.

Anyhow, I decided instead to make up a soup. There's always the other pumpkin and some butternut squash (which is what most canned pumpkin really is anyhow) to fall back on for that pie.

First I chopped half a large vidalia onion into big chunks. Then I sauteed it in some garlic-herb butter (the last remnants from our summer garden) until it was limp and semi-translucent.

Once the onion pieces were looking pretty, I added about 2 cups of frozen chicken/vegetable stock and let it cook on high until it was all liquid.

While that was doing it's thing, I pureed the cold pumpkin flesh with a bit of whole milk and a pinch of fresh grated ginger.

Next I turned the heat down to the low-medium range and combined the pumpkin with the broth and added a bit more milk.

Finally I added some seasoning - salt, pepper, paprika, hot pepper flakes and a smidge of Thai curry paste.

Then I just kept stirring that sucker until it bubbled.

Now it's in a bowl cooling. I wil run it thru the food processer again and probably top it with a dab of sour cream and some chopped spring onion to cool off the spice a bit.

Even with my cold, it smells wonderful.

We be illin

Great. The plague continues. Curt and I keep sharing this lovely cold. Granted, I started it, but must we share everything!

Greensboro will now be re-christened 'Snottsville' with our home as the new city center. Nothing says bureaucracy better than that stabbing feeling right behind your left eye and a throat on fire.

Autumnal and such

The leaves are starting to really fall now. Our nieces helped me to pick out some good ones. Anyhow, here's a sampling of what's in the yard...