Pictures from the first days of Spring

The morning sun shining on a misty, cloudy day














Snow drops - the first brave flowers. And the beginnings of red poppies.












Buds that will become beautiful pink blossoms very soon.







And our bikes. Liberated from the basement. They've already been used for a couple of long trips!

Winter Pictures

Rhiannon playing in the snow with our neighbour boy.








My beautiful Black Locust trees that I can't resist photographing... I'd never heard of them before I moved here but I love them. Everyone should have one. They are beautiful without leaves, they have blossoms in the spring that smell soooo sweet! And they give good shade in the summer and make my driveway look very dramatic.

Well, snow is hard and crusty now but Rhiannon likes to slide on the ice that is our driveway...

And today it was so bright and sunny and cold. So cold. -21. Like a prairie winter day. The sky blue and cloudless and the sun so bright. And bitterly cold. A day to stay indoors and make bread. With cold pressing in on the walls and windows, it took a long time to rise but in the end, it was perfect. I was going to take a picture of the delicious Thai Shrimp soup that I made with it.... but Kaetlyn ate the last of it before I could. So this bread is my picture of the day. (Laura)

Here's the recipe for the unseen soup. ( I made it for Dean before he left for Revelstoke today at 3) It is easy and delicious. Everyone loves it except Rhiannon who won't even try it. What can I say? More for us.

This is a weight watchers recipe.

Lime mixture: mix in a small bowl cover for 15 minutes to 2 days.
juice of one lime
1T soy sauce
1T minced ginger
1 t brown sugar
1 t Asian sesame oil
3 cloves of garlic, minced
1/2 t ground coriander
1/2 t dried chili flakes

Other ingredients
6 cups broth (clam, veg or chicken)
6 oz thin dried Chinese noodles or caprelli
1 lb shrimp, peeled deveined (thanks Denny)
1/2 lb white mushrooms, sliced
1/4 lb snow peas, sliced in half

Topping (put on top of each bowl)
2 scallions, thinly sliced
2 T chopped fresh cilantro

Bring broth to a boil. Add noodles and simmer uncovered for 5 minutes. Add shrimp, mushrooms, peas. Return to boil. Reduce heat andsimmer on low until shrimp are opaque and veggies softened. Stir lime juice in and simmer 5 minutes.

A great follow up to this amazing carrot soup.

Christmas Music

Couldn't resist adding this picture - taken during the snow storm yesterday afternoon. This is the view from the window by the computer. Isn't the lilac bush beautiful in the snow?

So, for most of my childhood my favourite Christmas Song was "I Heard the Bells On Christmas Day". I liked it for the second to last verse: "Then peeled the bells more loud and deep/God is not dead nor doth he sleep/The wrong shall fail, the right prevail/With peace on Earth, good will to men". The idea of peace on earth prevailing has always appealed to me. I have come to believe as I've gotten older that it is something that each of us must create - starting in our own hearts and in our homes. I no longer believe it is something that will be thrust upon us - I don't think it is possible that it would work that way.

But these days I have a new favourite. Its "Little Drummer Boy". I've always enjoyed that song - since I was a child. The last few years it has really been speaking to me. I think I finally 'get' the meaning of the song. More than a cute story about a poor drummer boy's imaginary encounter with baby Jesus, it is about (to me) the purpose of life. You know the song - the little drummer boy is invited to come to see the 'new born King' and bring his finest gift. He has nothing to bring that is 'fit to give a King' but asks to play his drum. He is permitted and then plays his very 'best for him' and is rewarded with a smile. It occurs to me that this is all that is required of any of us - not expensive gifts of fine things but simply to do what we love and what we are good at. I believe that our purpose in life is to be our best self. Not to try to be like anyone else but to bring what is inside of us, out - the be who we honestly and truly are - to do what we love and what brings us joy. Like the Little Drummer Boy. This is why we are born.

So that's my favourite Christmas song. What's yours and why?

More on a Winter's Dawn

I couldn't resist taking another picture of the winter dawn. (although as Rhiannon would point out, it is not yet winter...) Here is the view out of my kitchen window as I stood there cooking hashbrowns and eggs for Kaetlyn and her friend this morning. I love dawn - the sunrise.

What is it I love about dawn so much. I suppose it is the same thing I love about piles of fabric and piles of wool - it is the potential. Dawn is so quiet and still, there is a peace about it. A promise. Nothing has happened yet in the day. Everything is possible.

Winter Dawn

Here is what this morning looks like at my house. The Black Locust trees - so artisitc in the way they grow they look beautiful without leaves even. And the elm trees with several empty bird nests. Will they return? And then the line of willows to the east - a pretty yellowy brown against the more somber winter colours. Here is the winter dawn with the pheasants squawking and running hurridly through the trees. Why are they always in a hurry?

Photo Essay on the Beginning of Fall

After I spent the day doing this....
















And my food storage room shelves were starting to look like this....













And the evening sky was looking like this between the trees in our back yard where the Linden tree's yellow leaves glowed in the gloaming....



















We gathered all the fallen wood around the yard and our sticks together and did this....












And sat in the firelight's glow and talked and sang "fire's burning, fire's burning, draw nearer..."













Happy Fall