Noel

The wall in my kitchen directly across from the island is entirely painted in magnetic blackboard paint. Each season I change the picture. Sometimes it's a recipe, like this summer's lemonade recipe, or sometimes it's a couple of lines of Robert Frost, and this Christmas it's a skating Santa. The wall has provided hours of fun for the girls who draw their own pictures on the bottom half and play with their magnetic letters and puzzles.

Country Morning

I drove out to Hammond this morning to buy some stocking stuffers at the tack shop and met up with this on the road.

Christmas Cookie Fun

Last weekend I got out the sugar cookie and gingerbread dough I had in the freezer and let the girls go wild. I think the look on Caroline's face says it all.

The artisan at work

Sarah in her Christmas apron

Merry Christmas Everyone

The girls are 7 this year and still believe in Santa Claus, although Sarah is not too sure about those ‘helper Santas’ she sees in the malls. Mind you, we haven’t let them near a mall Santa since their JK Christmas field trip to the Cumberland Heritage Village museum, when Caroline told the Santa there not to bring her Mummy any more underwear. The previous Christmas she had been wondering why Santa gave Mummy so much underwear, and I told her I suspected that Santa thought Mummy needed lots of little bits of lace. Anyway, Caroline made sure she set Santa straight the next time she saw him. This of course was relayed back to me by the mothers who had volunteered to help that day. Santa obviously didn’t take the hint, as I received more lacey bits that year and Caroline was totally baffled. When our rector asked her after last year’s Christmas Eve service what she thought Mummy would get for Christmas, she just heaved an exasperated sigh, and said “Oh, probably more underwear.” It’s a wonder I can still show my face around this village.
Dodgy mall Santas or not, the girls still believe and both have already written their letters. Sarah is very concerned because she only realized after she mailed hers that she misspelled horse. Instead of asking Santa for a real horse, a white one if he can manage it, she asked for a real hose. She’s been going around for the past week, slapping her forehead and saying, “ I can’t believe I left out the R”. Meanwhile, I’m gift wrapping a length of rubber tubing. I understand she plans to name it Snowflake.
As for a horse with an R, I’ve explained that Santa has to check all requests for pets and other four-legged creatures (like the reindeer Caroline asked for) with Mummies and Daddies, and we don’t think she’s old enough to have her own horse quite yet. For one thing she has to be tall enough to saddle up by herself. I figure that alone ought to buy me at least 10 years. Besides, we’ve already given in to the dog lobby, so I think we’ve done our bit. Hopefully waking up Christmas morning and not finding a horse and reindeer stabled in the garage won’t be too much of a disappointment.
So as the weeks leading up to Christmas fill with wishes big and hay-eating, and small and lacey, the ‘helper’ Santas in our household work tirelessly to keep the magic alive while hoping to impress upon our two little letter writers that it’s not what you get that’s important. After I explained about the horse and reindeer thing, new letters were written. This time it wasn’t just a list of I wants, but a request to bring presents for everyone in the family, and one ends like this:
Thank you Santa,
p.s.: You may take the cookies home, and take a bag of them to share. We left stuff for the reindeer too.
Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

Christmas Comes to the Village, IV

This Sunday was the Sunday School Christmas Pageant. For me this is really the start of Christmas. I love the home made set, the little shepherds clothed in bathrobes and tea towels, and of course the singing. The girls class recited a poem. Both Caroline and Sarah did beautifully, not a hint of stage fright. They've come a long way since the first year when they were 3 year old angels who were too scared to go on stage and ended up sitting it out on Mummy's lap.

For the second year in a row our intrepid Sunday School leader, Debbie has had to work around Hydro One's diabolically scheduled power outages. Bitter cold, snowfall, no electricity? No problem, it's times like these when the Village pulls together. The local electrical contractor supplied a portable generator so we were all cozy and warm. Villagers filled the church hall that morning to standing room-only capacity. This in spite of the fact that the majority of them woke up to a cold house with no running water (remember we're all on wells whose pumps need electricity to work). Still they all came. The children sang like the little angels they are, everyone stayed afterwards for a hearty potluck lunch, and the church ladies, as always ensured everything ran smoothly.

Merry Christmas.

The Joys of Dog Ownership, it's Going to be a Long Winter

Yes, walking the dog when it's -21C is a real treat. The weather turned very cold over the weekend and it's certainly been a challenge taking Poppy out for her twice daily walks. Especially since she's decided that it's much too cold outside to attend to her business. She just scampers through the snow trailing a frozen owner at the end of her leash until we give up and come home. Murray came back Sunday night with a good case of hypothermia and had to soak in a warm tub to defrost.

This picture is of me this morning. The blunked out little orphan Annie eyeballs are because my glasses were all frosted over. Brrrrrr

Saturday Gallery Opening

Sounds so sophisticated, doesn't it? The art certainly was. On Saturday we attended a group exhibit of up and coming young artists. Caroline's art class at the Ottawa School of Art had their end of term show. This fall the class focused on sculpture and collage and studied the work or Rodin, Cezanne, and Van Gogh, to name a few. Caroline's work drew rave reviews for it's non-linear abstraction and rejection of traditional representation of subject matter in favor of a tactile emotional response to the medium.

(I wasn't an art history major for nothing, you know.)

Oh the Weather Outside is Frightful...

But inside it's so delightful....because we have our own generator.

Yes, the day we're been waiting for, Hydro One's first "planned" power outage since we had the natural gas generator installed. They always do this maintenance work on a Sunday and for the second year in a row, they managed to schedule it on the same Sunday as the Sunday School Christmas pageant (coincidence or not?). It was also the coldest day of the year to date. We woke up at 6:30 to the sound of the generator kicking in and arrived at Sunday School having had a hot breakfast and showers, unlike the majority of the congregation. They had arranged for a portable generator so the pageant and potluck went ahead as per schedule, for which everyone was really thankful.

The outage that was to last until 10:00 stretched all day and into the evening. Eventually our phone lines went out as well. It wasn't until around 8:00 p.m. that power was restored. Unlike a lot of our neighbours, we managed beautifully - even if the installers forgot to hook up the lights in the kitchen. We lit some candles, plugged in a reading lamp and toasted the adventure with some champagne.

The Montreal Vienese Ball

We had a lovely time at the Austrian Ball Saturday– I much prefer it to the Ottawa Winter Ball. This one is so Austrian. The dance music is provided by a trio called Edelweiss (made up of the musical and vocal stylings of Fritz, Hans and Dieter). Murray says the highlight of the evening for him is always when the band plays By the Rivers of Babylon, and all the Austrians start line dancing. This year, being the 50th anniversary of the ball, they even had a little mini operetta. The party went well into the morning, we only made it to midnight but for us, that’s doing well.

The March of the Debutants

While we were yodeling it up in Montreal, the girls were having a sleep over at Uncle Rob and Auntie Claire’s . They had such a great time they didn’t want to leave. Claire gave them a cardboard box, and a bunch of craft supplies and helped them make a doll house. It has a staircase, chandeliers and is fully furnished. They’re adding a stable block and pool next.

Christmas Comes to the Village III

Hot on the heels of the ACW Tea and Bazaar comes the Navan Christmas Craft Fair. Those who get my Christmas letter will be familiar now with my rant about the amount of baking I have to do for the Sparks/Brownies bake table at the craft fair each year. For those who aren't it's two items for the bake table and one for the lunch counter, PER CHILD. I'm usually my own worst enemy, going all Martha Stewart and hand decorating 75 gingerbread snowflake cookie tree ornaments or some such lunacy, but this year I was sensible and went with less labour intensive items like mini cranberry orange pound cakes.

The sale runs Saturday and Sunday, and we decided to meet after the girls various lessons Saturday to have lunch and shop. One of the things I got that I'm really tickled with are these hand made Christmas cards. I plan to use them for our friends in the US and Europe whose cards have to be sent nice and early so they'll arrive in time. Well that's the plan anyway, even with the best of intentions, I'll be lucky if I can get them done in time for New Years'.

Christmas Comes to the Village II

Saturday I helped out at St. Mary's Christmas Tea and Bazaar. The Church Hall was packed at usual with what seemed like the entire village coming out to enjoy plates of fancy sandwiches, dainties, and of course numerous cups of tea served in the ACW's collection of china cups and saucers.

The Ladies (and Gentleman) of the Bake Table. Everything was sold out within the first 20 minutes!

The women who organize these event are truly amazing, and village life wouldn't be the same without them. If they weren't running the church diners and teas, the Sunday School, Girl Guides, and just about everything else that happens around here, the social life of this little village would come to a grinding halt.

I was serving, but managed to fight my way to the knitting table to buy my annual supply of hand made mittens. The Tea had everything a country Christmas bazaar should, a bake table, knitting, preserves, quilting. I always envy whoever wins the draw for a handmade quilt.

All in all, a great way to spend an afternoon.

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Christmas Comes to the Village I

Well, to Laura's Corner at least. Every year to kick off the village holiday season, Laura's Corner has a Christmas Party. It's always packed and lots of fun. This year, they were blessed with perfect weather, and the crowd started to line up before the doors opened at 7pm. I was there hoping to get in and out before heading off to my riding lesson.

A Warm Welcome

The store looks amazing decked out in its holiday finery. Even if you missed the party, you must make a day trip out to the village to have a browse or by a few goodies for the holidays. Why not do it this Saturday and take in the St. Mary's Church Tea and Bazaar, while you're at it? I'll be there serving from 2-4!

Country Living Must Haves

Our new generator is now installed along side the air conditioner. In the country there are two issues that are uppermost in everyone's minds, plumbing and power. Since moving here four years ago we've had to suffer through fairly frequent power outages. In most cases they are 'planned maintenance' outages courtesy of Hydro One. These planned outages are usually Sunday mornings from 5:00 am to 9:00am, although they never manage to keep to their schedule. In most cases we are without power until noon. Now when you have no power in the country, you also have no water (the pump for the well runs on electricity) and no sump pump, so things can move from inconvenient to emergency pretty quickly. And, in a region that remembers the Ice Storm and Big Blackout of 2002, it's really tempting fate not to have any sort of backup power source. All this is to say that after four years of living recklessly, we finally invested in a natural gas-powered generator that kicks in as soon as the electricity cuts out. Murray says with our luck, this pretty much ensures that Navan will never have another power outage again.

It's Ball Season Again

The party season for us usually starts in late November with the Austrian Winter Ball in Montreal, but this year, we kicked things off early and travelled to Toronto for the Bell Celebrity Gala, which benefits the Hospital for Sick Children. With the re-orgs at Bell, Murray has found himself even more involved in the Bell-sponsored events than ever.
The theme was the Big Top, and the dress code was 'Black Tie or Circus Chic.' That had me stumped, but in the end I got a lovely Nanette Lapore lace dress that fit the bill nicely. What a night, there were acrobats, a midway, roller coaster, semi naked caged models in body paint, fashion, food, and fun. It's going to make the Winter Ball seem awfully staid by comparison.

Here's a picture of us - I'm on the right, Murray's colleague Jacqueline is on the left.

This picture of the table setting doesn't really do it justice. It was awesome.

Horse Show Fun

Forrest Hill Stables, where the girls and I take our riding lessons had a show the other weekend. Since the girls haven't yet mastered the rising trot, I didn't think there were any classes they could enter, but there was a costume class. This involved dressing up horse and rider. Sarah opted for a fairy on her fairy horse, Caroline was a witch in her spooky (but not in the equine sense) pony, Pegasus. Sarah won for 'most whimsical', and Caroline for the 'scariest.'

Fall Bonfires, and Movies in the Back Yard

We had a lovely Thanksgiving long weekend this year. The weather was just perfect for sitting outside, so we made an evening of it. We lit a fire in our new fire bowl, toasted marshmallows to make S'mores and watched a movie outside, with the help of a screen and digital projector. The girls loved cuddling up with a cup of hot chocolate and Abbott and Costello Meet the Mummy. Next year, if I can get organized, we'll have to invite people over and make a party of it. It was great fun.

I Love Paris in the Fall

Well, it looks like my attempts at blogging by Blackberry were a failure. I've managed it successfully from within Canada, but the 4 posts I sent from Paris never did come through.

So, here's a recap. The whole family packed up and headed for Paris last week for a 5 day bit of R&R. The girls were in a high state of excitement as would be expected. We rented an absolutely lovely apartment from http://www.alacarte-paris-apartments.com/ and spent our days sightseeing, going to the playground at the Luxembourg Gardens, and visiting the crepe stand on the Blvd. St. Germain nightly for dessert. In spite of the vast quantities of food I ingested, I managed to come back weighing less than when I went. God, I love Paris.

Yippee it's done

I came home last night and there were no more piles of gravel and debris. Everything was all tidy. The work was done and the landscapers have folded their tents and melted away into the night.

Sooner or later it all comes down to plumbing

Further to my recurring theme of the vibrant social life the village affords, it's community septic tank pumping time again!

Apple Picking Time

Every fall I take the girls to a nearby orchard to pick apples. We end up with a giant sack of various types of apples - current favorites are Honey Crisp and Cortlands - that find their way into school lunches, pies, apple crips and tack boxes as treats for the horses. So this Sunday after riding lessons, we headed out to Pine Hill Orchard in Hammond to pick our fill. The girls' friend Hannah came along and the three of them spent more time climbing trees and sampling than picking. It was a beautiful September afternoon, too bad there were so few apples. The weather this year was very hard on the areas' apple trees, so we weren't able to get our usual amount. Still, a good time was had by all, and it's not so much the apples and the experience. We'll be back again next year, hopefully mother nature will be a bit more generous with her apple crop.

September is Soup Month

Every September I end up with a bumper crop of tomatoes and have to make numerous batches of soup to use them up. This year was no different. There's a reason the market in Ottawa is filled with stand after stand of farmers from Navan. The soil here is sandy loam, perfect for growing just about anything. I had 6 tomato plants in the back garden that yield lots of lovely red and yellow tomatoes. I've made 4 batches of soup and the freezer is full. There's nothing like hot homemade tomato soup on a cold February night to remind you that summer will indeed come again.

Here's the recipe:

3T olive oil
3T butter

2 med. onions, chopped
3 cloves garlic, chopped

3 carrots, peeled and chopped
3 celery stalks chopped

12 large beefsteak tomatoes, chopped
1c. white wine

4-5 cups chicken stock

Fresh basil for garnish


In a really big sauce pan, heat oil and butter over med. high heat, add onions and garlic and sauté until soft (about 5 mins.).

Add carrots and celery and cook gently for another 20 mins – or until soft.

Add tomatoes and wine, mix together with the other vegetables in the pan, and then add just enough stock to make it the consistency you like (This year my tomatoes were so juicy that I just added one can of concentrated chicken stock for flavor, other years I’ve used the full 4-5 cups the recipe calls for).

Bring to a boil then turn down the heat and simmer for 40 mins. uncovered. Cool and puree in batches in a blender.

** You’ll end up with a lot of soup, but it freezes beautifully and tastes just as good when you defrost it.

Heat and serve garnished with basil - at this point you can also add cream, if you like a creamy soup.

Sandwich Board Wars

Here's further evidence of the rich social life a village affords. Last week two sandwich boards appeared at the main intersection in the village. Both advertise that mainstay of village life, the community dinner. One is for a church dinner at St. Mary's in aid of their on going restoration of the 100 yr old stone church that anchors the corner of Colonial and Trim road. There's nothing like a country church dinner on a fall evening.

The other is for a Lion's Club dinner with proceeds to go to FoodAid, a charity that supplies area foodbanks with beef from local farms. Both will be sold out I'm sure.

A Night at the Opera

If you don't think village life is very exciting, then you probably don't live in one. There is a constant social whirl in Navan. This weekend was Bradley's General Store's 110th anniversary bash. The whole village was invited to an evening of live country music, highland dancers, and all the good wholesome fun you could handle. http://www.jtbradleys.com/index.htm

Sadly, we weren't there. We were in the big city at the Marriage of Figaro. Arguably the other end of the entertainment spectrum from the down home fun of the Bradley's party, but a fine evening as well. The reception afterwards was wonderful, and for once we got to stay and enjoy it because the girls were having a sleep-over at their cousins', so there was no babysitter to worry about getting home to. Yeah!

Tremblant

The week before school started I took the girls up to Tremblant. Murray had to work, so didn't come up until the weekend.

The girls had a great time on the Euro-bungie and Rock Wall. Both were able to climb all the way up and ring the bell.

When Murray did arrive for the weekend, he had a terrible cold so was pretty miserable all weekend (see exhibit A).

Still we had a great time, and even managed to get our annual end of summer lobster, corn and blueberry pie fest in before we had to head back to our village and the first day of school.

Under construction

So this is what our front yard currently looks like. We have had the landscapers at our house - or not, actually - for the last 3 weeks doing more stone work on the drive. They pulled apart the steps to repair them, dumped 4 loads of earth, gravel and stone dust all over the front and started working, then disappeared. You can only get into the drive if you have an SUV and have to vault over the rubble to get into the house.

First Day of School

Ah, the smell of freshly sharpened pencils.

Another August, another Riding Camp

Or horsey camp, as the girls have been calling it since they were 5.

This year, they were really riding. No more glorified pony rides. They had a terrific week. They rode, went for wagon rides, swam, and even did a little show on the last day of camp. All this was made even more idyllic by the spectacular summer weather - the first good weather of the entire summer I might add.

Once school starts they'll be taking regular lessons and be well on their way to being even more horse obsessed than they are now.

The Fair Comes to the Village

Every August, the village fair sets up for four glorious days. It's the big event of the summer and my two little ones look forward to it all year. This year the rain held off for the most part so we were able to make maximum use of our passes. The girls even entered their drawings this year. Caroline won 3rd, which upset Sarah no end, but Mummy thinks they both deserved first place.

Here they are having the time of their lives on the rides.