No time for pondering...

"What good is living a life you've been given if all you do is stand in one place?"

Roadtrip Music - Part I

Yuri and I are preparing for our trip to England and Scotland this Autumn. Part of this preparation includes some excellent roadtrip music.

First up, an indie folk band from England.

Tide of Blossom

Have you ever had a bad day? Or even a bad week or month? I'll be honest, The last couple months haven't been so rosy pink for me.

But this skinny, slightly awkwardly adorable British kid with the deepest, most mellow voice is soothing. Listen to George if you need soothing.

 Caught in the tide of blossom, caught in the carnival
Your confidence forgotten, I see the gypsies rule
What you waiting for?

It is rare that I have a Tuesday off from work. Even rarer that I am blogging about it.  But here I am, sitting in a pool of sunshine while the chicken fajitas cook in the crockpot, and my raspberry tea gets cold, and the cat impatiently stalks the hall waiting for her supper. Spring is coming.






 

How I go to the Woods

Ordinarily, I go to the woods alone, with not a single 
friend, for they are all smilers and talkers and therefore
unsuitable.

 I don’t really want to be witnessed talking to the catbirds or hugging the old black oak tree. I have my way of praying, as you no doubt have yours. 

Besides, when I am alone I can become invisible. I can sit on the top of a dune as motionless as an uprise of weeds, until the foxes run by unconcerned. I can hear the almost unhearable sound of the roses singing.

If you have ever gone to the woods with me, I must love you very much.

 

-Mary Oliver 

Jennie's day off...

Yuri half leaps, half stumbles out of bed at a glorious 5:50 am, leaving a mostly comatose Jennie in his pillowed wake.

An hour and a half later Jennie awakes due to her internal alarm clock beeping incessantly reminding her that she is late for her non-existent shift.

A lazy roll out of bed and the first cup of tea of the day is made.

A load of laundry.

A peep at "Love it or List it". Guilty pleasure.

Search for cute house rentals on Kijiji. Found one! It's perfect! Emailed! Aaand it's not available. Nevermind. 

Some yoghurt and chia seeds are consumed.

The kitchen is tidied and scrubbed.

Time for second breakfast! Eggs! Cheese! Tomatoes flecked with cilantro!

A second cup of tea and a rather languid peruse of my Russian notes.

A moment of frustrated self pity that I will never be able to speak nor understand this language.

A harsh self admonishment to study more. 

Blow nose for umpteenth time. I'm not getting sick...not getting sick?

To do list is made for all the packing and errands before we leave for holidays.

Nothing is scratched off...hmm.

An incredibly British looking sky outside beckons my presence.

Jennie capers off...

Spring? Spring???! SPRING!!!

The cold weather has decided to stay forever, and at this point I'm convinced that Spring will never arrive.

So in this perpetual Narnia-esque state, where it's always Winter, I've decided to try and embrace the cold, wind, snow, and ice.

                                                                   This is me embracing


I should tell you that I only lasted about 30 minutes outside before rushing indoors to enjoy a London Fog.

"They say that love can't grow
Beneath the winter snow
But if we never see
Then how will we ever know"

Sit back with your cozy essentials. Tea, fire, and of course, a Canadian folk song. 

Deep in the heart of winter...

TODAY

 -I've sent Yuri off to Toronto for a week.
-I am sick with what my boss terms the "cuban flu" although I have never felt the warmth of Cuba.
-The weather is cold, deeply cold.
-My creative spirit is struggling. 
-And I am sad.

 BUT

 I am surviving this Winnipeg winter with the help of:

1. My fleece-lined black tights.

2. My fake fireplace. It's abstract warmth soothes me.

3. My ginger tea.

4. The fact that there are only 59 days left before spring.

5. Netflix. My guilty pleasure.

6. The sauna at my gym. I sweat out my toxins and pretend that it's summer.

7. Honestly, sheer will power. I survive because I must.

Our apartment

I often tell people that I can't wait to move, to find a little house, or a downtown apartment with a view...but truth be told I am happy to live where I do. Sure the rent is tragically high, and our neighbours are mostly Asian students with no desire to converse, and our parking garage looks like the roof is about to collapse...but it is home.

Our apartment is located at that delightful spot where the sunlight hits in mid afternoon...if I were actually ever home in the mid afternoon this would be a highly enjoyable trait. We have a cozy fake fireplace which I LOVE. We have two bedrooms AND two bathrooms which has made the whole marriage thing a much easier transition. Yuri has his office space, and I have a bathroom that I can clean to my personal standards. We have a garbage chute literally fifty feet away that does not require going outside. We have room for guests to stay, should they so desire. Aside from the clacking of our upstairs neighbour's dog walking around at strange hours, we have an abundance of peace and quiet. It also protects us from the bitter Winnipeg cold which has been particularly harsh as of late.

All in all, I am content to call this place home.

Blue Christmas

I'm feeling bluesy tonight, but I'll try not to spoil your holiday cheer.

I'm feeling the realities of adulthood upon me. No longer can I rely on others to bring the holiday spirit to me, it is time to create my own magic.

Alas, magic is hard to create when one is in the midst of a drastic cold snap (-32 tonight), when one has to work on Christmas day itself, when one has a cankersore that has decided to set up permanent residence in one's mouth, when one's kitty has destroyed the lower half of a carefully decked Christmas tree, and when one lives three provinces away from one's family.

Let me be clear, I am incredibly blessed to be sitting here with my cup of Christmas tea (all the way from England thanks to my mother-in-law), my alpaca socks all the way from Kazakhstan, an adorable (sometimes) grey cat curled up by the fireplace, my pot of Christmas smells simmering on the stove (bay leaves, cinnamon sticks, cranberries, cloves, lemons and oranges), and Frank Sinatra crooning in the background.

 I am also blessed to not be truly alone.

The First Aid Kit ladies help make this song sound truly tragic, and it comforts me.

la la la

A mellow Sunday evening made even more relaxing with the inclusion of the smooth vocals of Laura Veirs and fair trade hot cocoa.

Yuri would call this video incredibly "hipster" but it reminds me of Nelson and makes me deeply homesick for BC. I happened to see Dan Mangan (the singer with the tambourine) perform live on a warm, sun splattered July day when I was home for a summer holiday. I sat on the grass listening to his music and dreamed of a life full of travel and adventure. I thought that if I could only explore the world I would finally understand my part in it. Two degrees, a husband, and several years have occurred since. I feel somewhat more accomplished, but still just as perplexed. Particularly in regards to the ever pondered question: "But where to live?"



Tonight, I pick the mountains.

Some Autumn Photos...

 Chloe entertains with her amazing musical talent

 I entertain with my, well, non musical talent

 A lil' Thanksgiving feast

 A precious moment

 A Thanksgiving bake off with my worthy opponent

 So sweet...

 So crazy...

 So happy...

 So grumpy...

 So innocent...

 So proud...

 So carefree...

 So helpful...

 So cold...Finally!

 Going on an adventure!

 Nature will bear the closest inspection. She invites us to lay our eye level with her smallest leaf, and take an insect view of its plain.

- Henry David Thoreau

 

 

Fun Family Fotos

November

There is something strikingly grey and melancholic about the month of November. Earlier now, the days are getting dark. Tonight as I left work, snowflakes swirled about me in anxious haste. My nose is in a constant state of cold and I still don't have my winter tires on.

I recommend Jordan Klassen's latest album "Repentance" as heart warming reprieve from these cold days. I also recommend a grey cat and a fire place.



"With your hand in my hand, go to me"

Last week

While Yuri was in a very exciting work related conference last week, I decided I would go along and keep him company. It doesn't hurt that it was located in our Nation's capital city, the lovely city of Ottawa. An abundance of lattes were drunk.

                                                         I am a girl of simple pleasures.

A couple of months ago a resident at the nursing home I work at passed away. Death is not a surprising phenomenon when working with seniors, but it is still one that I often find difficult to process. Some days are harder than others. The resident who died, had only hours before been helping me put tomato plants in the garden. He talked proudly of his garden at home and the many years he had tilled the earth. As the tomato plants have grown, flourished, produced fruit, and are now starting to whither and die, I find myself remembering him. I remember his stories, his humour, his love for nature.

"It is not from ourselves that we learn to be better than we are"

-Wendell Berry

“The crickets sang in the grasses. They sang the song of summer’s ending, a sad, monotonous song. ‘Summer is over and gone,’ they sang. ‘Over and gone, over and gone. Summer is dying, dying.’

“The crickets felt it was their duty to warn everybody that summertime cannot last forever. Even on the most beautiful days in the whole year – the days when summer is changing into fall – the crickets spread the rumor of sadness and change.”

- Charlotte’s Web

There is an air of magical happenstance in the air today...perhaps it's the early Autumn glow. And I feel I must write, even if I have nothing of brilliance to share. In fact, Yuri and I find ourselves in the midst of a rather exhausting, run-of-the-mill work week. Both of us are fighting some sort of head cold that simply prefers to drip and linger as opposed to leaving us be, and work demands from us our precious remaining energy. This is why, I firmly believe, we as humans, need the beauty of thought, creativity, and art, to give the world some whimsical joy just when it so desperately needs it.

In light of the crisis surrounding Syria, I leave you a slice of thoughtful art:

A lovely summer tune...

I know we are in the midst of a summer heat wave (+30's all week), but the elderly keep reminding me in a depressing realistic fashion, that a long, hard winter is coming, and it's right around the corner. Even the most positive person would crumble beneath the frigid foreshadowing.

And so, this last week of heat, I shall cherish and delight in. Because the thought of cold weather makes my toes curl.

Yuri and I have made a point of enjoying as much of the outdoors as possible this summer...camping trips to Ontario, bike rides, trips to grand beach, and trail runs at Bird's Hill park.