Christmas Day and Boxing Day - Yeah!!

Now my memory may be faulty, but I do think this is the first Christmas I've celebrated since I was a Mom that no Kids were with us.
Thank goodness for the Phone!!
With that handy invention and having Richard and Arlene with us it felt like our whole family was together.

It seemed like Arlene and Richard arrived to an igloo instead of a yurt!

Setting the Festive Table.

Thank you Grace and Albert for the lovely flora arrangement!!!

Lights please!

Of course I forgot to take any photos once the meal was on the table. sigh.
I cooked the entire meal from one cookbook, my birthday present.
Everything turned out wonderfully and was very easy and fun to make.
If you want a new cookbook I highly recommend this one:
"Around My French Table" by Doris Greenspan
Great photos and clear instructions and the food is amazing!

Bandida fell asleep waiting for Santa.

Keith loves his new hand made pajama bottoms from Alyssa the Seamstress!
Later on Christmas Day we four drove up river to Potato Creek for a little snow shoeing.
Beautiful!
Naturally we all forgot our cameras.
But it was a perfect outing for Christmas Day.
I think Keith & I will do some more snow shoeing trips this winter.

Boxing Day Morning Moon sighting.

Boxing Day Morning (photos courtesy of Richard)

We hope Everyone is Staying Warm!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

I haven't blogged since Summer!
There is so much to catch up on and I think, most likely, probably that I will post what all went on in our lives this past September, October and November..... but for now I will start with what is going on right now.
Which is Snow.
Lots of it.
Which means Shoveling.
Lots of it.

Keith is Shoveler in Chief at WC Fields... he uses The Shovel and,

The Tractor. But he wishes he had what our neighbor Dave uses....

The Cool Snow Blower!

This was our first real snow, before Thanksgiving, 5 inches in one day.

and this was our second Big Snow on Dec 11th - 17 inches in one night!

"There's a truck under here, some where."

"The Pool"

View of the House from the Barn - cozy!

Bandida and I are of one mind!

My protector, Ms. Cinderelly.

New LED lights on the bridge and doors.

A decorated sled instead of the traditional wreath on the Door.

"Welcome"
except you have to enter through the back door because there is a big ol' chair inside blocking this entrance!

The Tree - Before and

After.

Santas and Spirit

"Meow"
Translation
"Merry Christmas!"

The 2010 Summer Holiday Really Began In Montreal

Ben, my daughter Madeline's dearest friend, loaned me his apartment for the duration of my stay. What a great guy! Montreal apartments can be tiny but are definitely charming. At least the apartments where Madeline stays are always in older character buildings. Ben's apartment is in a building right next to Madeline's so we were always together even while separate.

This is Madeline in her apartment. While I slept in Ben's apartment, I ate my meals in Madeline's. Both apartments had books, so I was happy. Madeline's apartment has lots of colour while Ben's is the classic white and wood tones. Madeline's apartment is definitely bigger...

...important since it is here that she both lives and does her art: two glimpses of her studio.

And here is the neioghbourhood where they live...

Madeline and Ben walking to work, while I trail behind briefly then say goodbye at Central Stamp. While they earn their bread and butter, I wend my independent way. Madeline took her holidays while I was there to help me find my way around. Such fun!

My Summer 2010 Holiday In Montreal Part II

There are so many things I love about Montreal, two of them are that there are parks everywhere and that I can walk just about everywhere. Here am I walking through a park very close to Madeline's apartment! Life could hardly be better!

While I was in Montreal Madeline talked through a Grant Proposal she was planning to make. While she talked I took notes, then in this cafe we sat together to organize the details. Lots of fun for me. After I left she did the hard part: putting it together. She is now awaiting the results!

Another thing I love about Montreal is the Italian Market. This is too far away to walk to so at least once a visit Madeline and I take public transport here. We walk for hours first sampling the fruit that is placed for just that purpose, then return to the kiosk that had the best of whatever. We have a...

... coffee there then lunch then wend our way homeward. Madeline leading the way above and getting the cafecitos while I hold the table.

My visit ended with parties; this one was at Isabel and Enrique's house. That is their son Quique helping Ben put a puzzle together. Sacha, the owner of Central Stamp, was there too.
From here I flew to Washington State to see Megan and Keith, Richard and Arlene.

Saturday Market in Mexico City

Near San Angel Restaurant is a park that becomes an art exhibit on Saturday. WOW. Can't wait to show Madeline this when she visits for Christmas.

Every inch of the park is used...

The Virgen of Guadalupe protects the artists and all who wander therein...

and surrounding the park are artesans selling their crafts along the walkways.

Even leaving the market is charming. I left Mexico City late June for Montreal. The next posting will focus on that leg of the summer journey.

Summer 2010 Started in Mexico, Checking Out the New School

I was in Mexico City for 5 days. First came work: meeting with Jutty, my boss and director of the school. Here she is with Bill aka Guillermo, at dinner. She hosted me in her apartment. What you see next are views from her apartment, which by the by is my apartment block as well.

The Block is call La Triada and I live in Tower B, Jutty lives in Tower C. What you see is the center, common area...

and a view across this little part of the city. The Peterson School is just around the corner.

On Saturday we played. First to dinner at a fancy restaurant called San Angel, right across from Diego Rivera´s house and Frida Kahlo's blue house. The houses are linked on the roof so Diego could visit Frida when he chose. While we could go on the roof, the pass was blocked and guards
made sure we honored the restraints.

The restaurant was once a monestery.

The Last Days in El Salvador Were Fine

Here am I drinking cold coconut water from it's source. There were two beaches I learned to enjoy. One was here where I went with Carol who has a membership at this exclusive Club Salvadoreña and the other was the following photo....

... also a club but its membership is the school's, the American School of El Salvador. I like the second because of the wonderful saltwater pools, and the first because of the...

friendship with Carol. Both beaches are very dangerous for swimming in the surf, hence the saltwater pools of the second. Carol and I didn't swim, we walked the beaches. Once, when the surf looked mild we attempted a swim but after being buffetted about, we went in for a coconut.

A friendship is also what made this jaunt possible. Sam´s half-sister´s half-brother, Kenton by name, came to do some work with a Coop the Canadian Government has been sponsoring and called me. He was in desperate need of books to read and I was in need of a companion with whom I could explore. One of the first places we went was to the Mayan ruins: Joya de Ceren.

The last year in El Salvador, the seniors asked me to be one of their sponsors. This involved meetings and monitoring their plans, including designs on their tee-shirts as well as various other things. One bonus was being able to travel with them. here we are taking a party boat across a lake near Suchitoto.