Life's a Stitch

The colours of paradise

After 20 months our world widened again. Grateful to return to Kauai, reuniting with good friends, it was the proverbial feast for the eyes and soul. So accustomed to the comforting greys and forest greens of home, the scenery and colours of Hawaii were startlingly beautiful. 

Prior to the days of digital photography where it’s too easy to amass 25,000 photos on one’s phone (my guilty conscience needs no accuser), on vacation I would limit myself to one roll of 36 or 72 shots. This method encouraged more direct interaction with my surroundings, rather than viewing all things beautiful through a screen. Limiting the quantity made me focus on the quality of my photos. Those days are gone. 

Learning a lesson from the past, rather than inundating this post with images, overloading your brain like the memory capacity of my phone, here is a handful of the best examples of colour and scenery from our trip.

 

 

 

 

Dog days.

It’s pet portrait time of year. There’s a lot of interest in the colourful variety. Here’s the famous Petey, who shares an Instagram account with doggy sibling, Donny.

Petey loves his blankie. 

A colourful scene, asking to be painted, is the Canadian/US border at Blaine.

 

That was taken last week prior to the nonstop rain delivered by La Niña, which produced an Atmospheric River. Inverse.com defines this phenomenon:

Atmospheric Rivers are long, narrow bands of moisture that extend from the tropics to higher latitudes. These rivers in the sky can transport 15 times the volume of the Mississippi River.

 

This weekend, up to 150 mm of rain is forecast (that’s 6” for the non metricated). Could you imagine if that was snow? The common 1:10 ration would produce 1.5 meters (60”) of the white stuff. In that regard, it’s a good thing La Niña comes with warmer temperatures.

We All Scream

At this never ending pandemic? At the state of the world, be it political or environmental? Nope, something for more simple and pleasurable. As the song goes: I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. 

 

We recently made the 35th variety of mostly sugar free ice cream, some lactose free, in our countertop machine acquired in May. Yes, that’s six batches a month. 

 

Some have been pseudo healthy. I’m thinking of the one made most often - banana frozen yogurt. 

 

Then there are the everyday favourites: maple, coconut pineapple, or eggnog. 

 

There’s the deliciously unusual - basil ice cream, white with a hint of green, and the subtle flavour of our summer garden. 


And there was the epitome of decadence  - Callebaut dark chocolate ice cream. The richest most fudgy deliciousness you’ll ever taste. A little goes a long way, a small satisfying bit feels like enough.

 

 

And all the rest in between: coffee, variations of vanilla with the addition of blueberries, strawberries and cherries, butter rum, and strawberry cheesecake. 

 

I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I’m not much of an ice cream eater. But the intent was to find treats for C, who has had to cut back on sugar. Mission accomplished. 

My Creative Life

Recently, Opus Art hosted a challenge, “Your Creative Life,” where artists were invited  to submit a work in progress with an explanation of their approach. It was so nice to receive a message today that my sunflower painting was one of the projects selected. This is a portion of it in progress:

Seeing my name in writing, tagged as a “Watercolour Artist” feels like a dream come true, considering my artist’s  bio starts with “I was an art school reject at the age of 17, when I was told my work was too commercial in style.” I”m grateful, after a satisfying career in non-profit management, to have the opportunity to pursue my art.

 

Where in the world?

 

Judging from the pictures can you guess where we were? Hint: we got brave and took our first flight since the pandemic started. 

 

There were badlands, cactus, sage brush and hoodoos, enough to make you believe we were thousands of kilometres south, when in fact we were a bit northeast of Calgary, in Drumheller, Alberta. It was a glorious 23 degrees (74.3 F). 

It all started the previous week, with Canadian Thanksgiving in AB where we did it by the book. It was a relief not having to Zoom yet another holiday dinner, but was disappointing not to be able to gather with more than M and KC’s household. And don’t let yesterday’s photos fool you, Thanksgiving brought us a smidge of snow. 

 

Being Thanksgiving, food was the highlight. I’ve handed the Turkey baton over to M, so I was only responsible for sweet potato cauliflower mash and gravy. Dessert was from Made by Marcus, their famous pumpkin ice cream pie decorated with torched marshmallows and toasted pumpkin seeds. 

 

The rest of the trip’s meals did not disappoint, given KC’s passion for cooking. The highlight for me was a lesson in making his homemade gnocchi, light potato pillows that melt in your mouth. Now back home, I’ve already made them and they were delicious with chicken cacciatore.

 

What a great souvenir, coming home form travelling with the ability to relive the experience with delicious food. Thank you KC and M.

Slipped my mind

Now what was I going to write about? Who's knows? It was one of those questions about where you fall on a specific topic. Those kinds of things half of those questioned answer one way and half the other, but it's slipped my mind. It must have something to do with how I've been spending my time: knitting, cooking, walking, painting, watching Ted Lasso. Nope, that didn't bring it back. It'll rear it's head around 3:00 a.m. I guarantee it. 

Last night we cooked crabs. C, the lucky fisherman caught four keepers in under an hour.

And here's my recent painting (watercolour 11x14), done from a photo taken in Varadero, Cuba, by local artist and online instructor James Koll. I love the golden hour lighting in it. 

I will let you know when I remember what this blog post was to be about. 

Don't you hate it when that happens?

It took me three months to realize I had been paying for Apple TV, something I had never used. Ninety days came free with one of our phones and Apple "generously" extended the deadline during the pandemic.  Such an oxymoron when it comes to its customers - Apple and generous. Apparently I failed to extend it on my calendar as well. Reviewing my bill I did wonder when my iCloud storage had increased, but carelessly dismissed the thought. The penny dropped when I compared the two credit card bills and realized we were paying for both services. Insult to injury? I could have had those months for free as I, too, had purchased a new phone. 

I immediately went into action, cancelling the subscripting and noting I still had access for nearly a month. The challenge - watch enough free Apple TV to make my $18 mistake worth it. The weather has cooperated in supplying a "robust" storm system, perfect for movie/series watching by the fireplace. So far we've gotten hooked by Ted Lasso, viewed the documentary about the US presidential war room during the week of 9/11, and watched the Broadway production of Come From Away. I'd say we're getting our money's worth. 

It's been quiet here as the kids have gone home with the exception of B and S, who can't leave due to covid restrictions at their destination. They've gone to spend the week with friends in Vancouver. I've spent a fair amount of time painting and taking online classes. I have been a follower of Lian Quan Zhen for years, studying with him in Spokane and Portland. A second Spokane class was cancelled due to the pandemic and he, like many artists, went the Zoom route. I generally find these classes too expensive for what they offer, but there have been exceptions. I found this one geared to his previous students and all the introductory information provided in the pre class video, so we spent the actual instructional time learning new things. I like the way he encourages us to come up with our own placement of objects, so everybody's composition is slightly different. It was nice to work larger, too, ending up with a 16x20 painting. 

It’s easier and far less expensive framing-wise when a painting is a commercially standard size. I sell my pet portraits matted so they can be popped into a widely available standard 11x14 frame. Many artists use the oddly sized traditional paper measurements that can only be custom framed, which can be quite pricy. And don't you hate it when that happens? I cut my paper to fit standard sizes.

It’s getting to be that time, when Christmas gift commissions start coming in. If you know someone who is interested please comment or dm me on my artist’s page on Instagram. Matted 8x10 custom originals, for 11x14 frames, great gifts for $150-$200 including North American shipping. Finished paintings also available with a good selection of matted paintings for 8x10 frames for $40-$70 plus shipping. 

17 years hence

This week in 2004 this blog was founded. 1337 posts later it still exists! Scrolling back, looking at some of the original photos and posts I found this one from my 50th birthday party with Bryant at age 14. Read the post and make sure you read his comment below it. 
We are fortunate to be together after long a pandemic separation, so we took advantage of the opportunity for this shot:

He's a lot more cooperative at 31. 

So many good times with family here including Christmas dinner in August, complete with a carol sing along:

and mile high Yorkshire Puddings:

Afghan Kitchen take away:

M hosted a champagne sunset on the deck:

 

Last night the weather cooperated for a sausage bbq on the beach.

There. I think I got photos of everybody and most of the highlights, which in this family seems to center around food.

Examples of efficiency

You probably detect a hint of facetiousness. This one truly baffles me. 

Because this year's taxes included the sale of our recreational property, we owed more in taxes than we ever have. We prepared ourselves, filing and paying in a timely manner, but the unusual amount triggered the dreaded review of our taxes with a turnaround time of 30 days. I noticed the date on my letter, realizing it took almost two weeks to arrive, meaning a response was due in 14 days.  

The letter was four pages in length, and the list of required documents annoyingly included items previously filed and in their possession. Not wanting to rock the boat with complaints, I scanned 35 documents and was ready for the final upload three days prior to the deadline. I logged into CRA's website and was met with a major roadblock. In order to submit your information online you need to apply for a code, which can take 10-15 days. I would have had to apply prior to receiving my letter and the need for the code isn't apparent until you attempt to submit. I appreciate efficiency and this made little sense. The next step proved even more perplexing.

I called the number of the closest taxation office, listed on C's letter. The person was happy to give him an extension, but it was a no go for me. It turns out reviews are assigned from random CRA offices across the country, and although C's came through the office in the next town over, mine originated from the office located in St. John's Newfoundland, 6600 kilometres (3600 miles) away. No wonder my letter took almost two weeks to arrive. Extensions can only be issued by the office of origin. The four hour time difference left a narrow window for a phone call, which had to be delayed another day. It was taken care of the next day, but government efficiency bewilders me. 

That wasn't enough administrative glitchiness in a short period of time. The next day I cancelled a flight we have booked for December. Cancellations are free and can be accomplished online. Supposedly. The process appeared successful until I realized my Westjet dollars weren't automatically redeposited to my account, something that usually happens instantly. A four hour, yes FOUR HOUR phone call, resolved the issue. It helped immensely to realize the kind woman assisting me was also on hold for the same length of time with the department responsible for the mistake. Not even their own staff could escape the endless on-hold music.

Once again my rant is over and life is balanced by happy times. By the end of the day, the last members of the entire family are scheduled to arrive, from places near (Alberta) and far (Bali). It's going to be Christmas in August.

The celebrations have included the pandemic delayed opening of the 30 year old bottle of birthday wine. After I had a bottle of Torres Gran Coronas from my birth year, in my 30's, we bought a bottle of Torres wine for each child in their birth year, to be opened on their 30th birthdays.

And a dinner supplied by the ocean, a ten minute walk from our house.

 

Another delight and a fright

That rhyming title reminds me of seventh grade, when the response would be "You're a poet and didn't know it 'cause your feet are two long fellows." Middle school humour. 

This delight is one of my favourites - bird song. A little house finch serenaded me on our deck throughout the first half of the summer.

They seem quieter now, as always happens in August. The other thing that occurs as the summer progresses are forest fires. This year is particularly bad in British Columbia and two of the three camp grounds we visited this year have been evacuated. Considering the town of Lytton burned completely to the ground without much warning, it must be frightening to get the message to evacuate. Unfortunately much of the province is on fire.

Although we're 150K from serious fire activity the smoke has painted our sky with a red wash. Early this morning I noticed a car stop in front of our house. The driver snapped a picture. I grabbed may phone in case of a photo worthy opportunity and this is what I found. Our sun dyed pink by smoke. There was even ash on the car. This is not touched up:

It reminded me of the lyrics in the Cyrkle's song, from those same middle school years of mine, "The morning sun was shining like a red rubber ball." Apologies to those of a certain age for the ear worm.

A couple hours later, the sun burned through the haze, but the air is thick with the scent of damp burning wood. 

Last year we camped at Manning Park, parts of which are on evacuation watch this year. I just finished this painting from a Zoom class where coincidentally, the subject was Manning Park.