Merry Christmas, One and All!

“I hope you will have a wonderful year, that you'll dream dangerously and outrageously, that you'll make something that didn't exist before you made it, that you will be loved and that you will be liked, and that you will have people to love and to like in return. And, most importantly (because I think there should be more kindness and more wisdom in the world right now), that you will, when you need to be, be wise, and that you will always be kind.” ~ Neil Gaiman

Merry Christmas, everyone!  Here's the front page of our local paper, showing Griffin and Holly with their best friends: (yes, they are wearing pyjamas! - it was pyjama day at school)

Also, if you're in the neighbourhood, and looking for something to do on New Year's Eve, check this out:

Wishing you Warmth, and Good Cheer, from All of Us, to All of You!

Getting Ready for Christmas

Hello again!  Ok, so lots of stuff happened.  Hooray!  Holly turned three, and I had a birthday, too :)
We've all been super busy, and I have not been keeping up with the family photos.  BUT yesterday was the day when we finally got some Christmas photos done.  It was Santa Claus Parade day, here in Bridgetown, so naturally we did that first.

It's officially the shortest, quietest parade in the history of parading, and that's part of the reason that we love it so.

(this picture actually shows the parade, in it's entirety.)

Plus, Santa stops at the end, and hands out goodie bags to all the kids.  Holly was very proud of herself, because she said "Merry Christmas" to Santa, and that made him "very happy."

Then I set up some backdrops, and we set to making some Christmas magic. Or something.

This one reminds me of the speech the mayor gave during the town tree lighting ceremony, "We wish you all a very serious Christmas."

Finally, at the end, I resorted to bribery, and got some sweet pictures.  Griffin shouted "let's stand up and hug!" so they did.

And then again.

And there's the magic.

 Love!

Fall has Begun!

Hello again!  All is well here.  I can hardly believe that Summer has ended, and we are well into Fall. These pictures are from one of the last farmer's markets we had here.  The pumpkins were out!

 The kids are getting excited about Halloween, which feels like it is just around the corner.

 We couldn't afford to take this bonnet home with us, but I couldn't resist snapping a pic of Holly in it - she's a cutie!

 And the library was doing their story times outside in the park, so we managed to fit one of those in, too.  As you can see, they are are very popular around here.

 They even had a pirate show up :)

 And we had Sophie's Squash out of the library - such a fun book, if you get a chance to check it out - and so, of course, Holly had to get a squash of her very own.  She checked first, to make sure it was suitably snuggle-y.

 One thing we haven't had to buy is tomatoes.  We had a bumper crop of tomatoes this year - so far we have jarred over fifty jars of assorted tomato things (mostly salsa), and made soup.  One more batch of salsa should do it.  It's been lovely, and I know we will enjoy those jars for the entire year that is to come, but it will be a bit of a relief to come out the other end of this tomato business!

Griffin is enjoying school immensely - he loves learning new things, and bringing them home to share with us ("did you know the proper word for an apple seed is "pip?")
Holly is happy as ever, talking about unicorns, and her cousin Rowyn (her latest obsessions.)
Jai just attended the provincial library conference, and loved it.
I've pulled out the knitting again, mainly as an antidote to all the hours I've been spending on the computer editing people's wedding and family photos.  I'm just about finished the first hat of the year, and am thinking this might be the year that I tackle socks.
The planning has started on the new school they will be building in town here over the next couple of years, so I am just figuring out how involved I should let myself get with that.
  I just finished "Growing Pains" by Emily Carr, and can only stand amazed that it took me this long to discover what an incredible and inspiring author she was.  If you haven't read it - DO!
Also, we've been renovating, stacking firewood, planting bulbs, baking, and watching old episodes of "Restoration Home".  Life is good!

First Day of School!

 Ok, clearly time is flying.  Griffin had his first day of school today.  Big School, as we called it way back when he was in pre-school.  He was pretty excited this morning.  He got himself dressed in the clothes we had picked out last night.  He dragged Daddy out of bed.  He raced down the stairs, dragging Daddy down behind him, to get his cheese biscuit (we made them specially for his first day of school breakfast.)  He buttered it himself.

His backpack was packed the night before, but he loaded it into the bike trailer himself.  He and Holly climbed in and we zoomed him off to school.  It was a bit of a slow zoom, at that last little hill (I admit it, I got off and pushed), but we made it.  We found the picture he dropped off last week, hanging in the hall.  We found the hook with his name on it.  He changed his shoes.  He stood in the doorway, hanging back for a second.  One little push was all he needed.  We held hands, and I walked him over to the table where Ella was already sitting.  There were blocks on the table.  I had trouble getting his attention long enough for a kiss goodbye.

And that was that.  He was in.  Holly and I rode home.  I tried not to cry.  I mostly succeeded.

The house seems a little empty.  Holly and I, I'm sure, over the coming days, will settle into a new routine.  Things will go back to seeming normal.  But not today.  Today is Griffin's first day of school.

Griffin's Graduation

Hello again!  I know, I know, but I haven't forgot about the blog, we're just ridiculously busy at the moment.  Anyway, I have a very small moment (with a very lot of interruptions) to write something quick here.  This is a photo of Griffin at his Preschool graduation...

And now he's ready for BIG school.  Yikes!  How does that even happen?  I'm not sure it's quite sunk in yet - we are in for more big changes over the next couple of months.  Also, gardening, painting the house, renovating the shop space, swimming lessons, many weddings, etc. etc.  I would love to sit and write more, but it's already taken me more than half an hour to write these two tiny paragraphs!  Hopefully I can share some more here one day soon :)

Dusting off the Box Camera

I have a spare moment, and I wanted to post this photo.

My friend Lola sent me a message to see if I was interested in playing around with some expired 120 film she bought off ebay.  This is the kind of thing I can't shout "YES!" to fast enough.  Finally, a chance and an excuse to dust off my fabulous box camera - kindly given to me by my Grandfather when I started to show an interest in photography, and only used one other time before this. * 

We had a blast kicking around her property and playing - she with an old plastic Holga, and me with my Zeiss-Ikon box camera and not one sweet clue how to work it properly.  There are several pictures that turned out wonderfully, but this one is my definite favourite.

Of course, neither one of us was content with ONE camera around our necks, so you can see some of her other shots with expired colour film here:  http://lifeinanalogue.com/2014/05/07/lauren/

As you can see, she's pretty darn talented.

*The only other time I shot 120 with this box camera, I tried to develop it myself in the darkroom, and ended up dropping the film, finding (in the dark) what I THOUGHT was the film, finally forcing it to thread onto the carousel, and "developing" the paper backing** - all of which I discovered when I turned on the light, and found my (now ruined) film, lying on the floor.  

**If you ever have the chance to develop your own 120 film, it may help you to know that it comes on a paper backing.

This is definitely something I will be playing around with more.  

IF - Voyage

Illustration Friday time again!  And it's not Thursday night, minutes before I go to bed!  Go, me!
There's a thousand things the word "Voyage" brings to mind, but these two little Russian space dogs from the 1950s - Belka and Strelka - have been on my mind lately.  So here they are :)

IF - Revenge

Hello!  I've been falling behind, but I managed to get an Illustration Friday done this week.  The word was "Revenge" and this is what sprang to my mind.  It could have something to do with the extra cake that's been lying around my house, since Griffin turned FIVE this week!   I'm hoping to get some pictures ready to share here soon.  I've been swamped with doing photos for other people, and I always feel like I should do those first!   I'm sure there's a saying out there about a photographer's kids...
Anyway, I'll do a birthday post soon (ish.)  FIVE!

The Sweetie Witch

Here's a little drawing, for a contest on Susanna Leonard Hill's very excellent blog :)

IF - Red

Two for Illustration Friday this week, both with red cedars.  I admit it - I missed the West Coast this week!

We survived last night's storm just fine.  That was the first time I've ever felt the house move in the wind that much.  It was quite something!
I'm in the paper this week, because I actually wrote a letter, got a bunch of people to sign it, and presented it at a town hall meeting.
Jai had a one-day work week because he was working all weekend, and then we had stormageddon.
Griffin stayed in his pajamas all day.  Holly was a baby monkey who kept finding and eating invisible bananas.  Now you are up to date.

If - Spark (Number 2)

Hello!  So, I did get another reprise at Illustration Friday this week.  This started off as a little doodle while I was waiting for lunch to cook, and after lunch the kids and I dug out my good pastels and played around.  They did some nice colour fields, and I squeezed this in.

We're in the middle of Spring Break here, so all our usual programs are cancelled.  There's a small danger of us going stir crazy - we're in the middle of a freezing rain warning, and no one wants to go outside.  The danger comes mostly from me - the kids would be happy to watch Peppa Pig videos over and over and over. So far, we've managed to keep the fighting to a minimum - two more days to go!  When is Spring coming???????

Here's the sketch:

IF - Spark

Hello! Here's another Illustration Friday doodle.  I used Griffin's pencil crayons and my Neocolor Pastels.  I may try and re-do and refine this picture (charcoal and watercolour?), but I'm trying to at least make one thing a week, without worrying too much.  With the kids around, I don't always have time to set myself up the way I'd like, and I'm trying not to let that stop me from doing something, at least.

In other news, things are going well here.  We're SO ready for spring.  Not summer, just spring.  Positive temperatures.  The kids have March Break this week - even preschool is cancelled, so we're all here, all the time, this week.  Today we made Maple Bran Muffins with Maple Glaze (yum!) and a big roast dinner.  I'm not sure yet what tomorrow will bring.  Probably something yummy! Have a good one!

IF - Voice

Hello!  It's Illustration Friday time again!  One week I am going to try and fit in some more time to do this, but for now I'm just glad to get something done, if I can.  My course is going really well, but it's a LOT of work, and I don't have any photos of the kids to share right now - I've been too busy editing photoshoots.  Anyway, this is just a fun one.  These are a couple of the characters I've been playing with for a story I am working on.  I'm just loving having an excuse to actually sit and write stories.  SO much fun!

IF - Space

Fitting another Illustration Friday in!
Not much to report on the home front at the moment.  Everyone was sick, and is now on the mend.  I am LOVING my course, and looking forward to the day when I have a little more time.  Jai has been running every night, and can now get to the highschool and back without stopping.   Holly is starting to ask "why" a lot (isn't she too young for this phase?) and Griffin is (according to his teacher) the only kid at Kindergarten Kids (his pre-school group) that didn't get yelled at today.   They are growing fast!

IF - Prehistoric

Hello.  This is just a silly one, that I thought Griffin might like, but it's nice to get another Illustration Friday done!  It's been a while!

Life Circles

 Hello again.  We keep having big life events, and I don't really know how to talk about them here.  My Grandmother passed away two weeks ago, and while we knew it was coming since around Christmas, it has left me a little bit reeling, and less motivated to post.  Most of my posts were for her!  (And you, too, Grandpa!)
So, anyway, we keep on keepin' on.  I'm always a little less motivated to take and process photos at this time of year.  We've been inside a lot.  Lots of indoor picnics and tea parties (see pic), lots of baking and eating, lots of activities to get us out of the house, without being outside.  It's cold!  The kids have been enjoying the snow, though - I have a few videos I will put together sooner or later of them tobogganing down various hills :)
Before Christmas, I went on a wreath-weaving kick.  The red one below is from our dogwood tree, decorated with the wild rose that is growing up through it.

 And I made a bunch of crowns for the kids out of a friend's willow tree.  I think it might almost be time to make some more baskets.

First, however, I have an on-line course that I'm very excited about.  I'm taking  the Children's Book Academy Craft and Business of Writing Children's Picture Books e-course!
I'm pretty excited about this - it starts tomorrow, so I will try and keep you updated about how it goes (although I think I will be crazy busy for the next five weeks!)  I've been wanting to do something like this for a while, and it seemed like a good time.  Something I can do, in a small way, to honour my Grandma.
Hope you all are finding your way through Winter, too.