Bazinga!

This song of happiness brought to you from the Neuman gardens

That is all.  Carry on. :)

Candy apple red

In the corner of my kitchen, amongst the clutter of canisters, coffee mugs holding handy teaspoons, and condiments, is a new(ish) queen of the counter ... Bruce's new coffee maker.  He loves this coffee maker .. and in true guy style .. he refers to it a Cadillac. 

 Most times, when he needs something new, I wander off to various stores looking for what I consider to be the best balance between functionality, price and since I'm a woman ... aesthetics.  When the last coffee pot broke, Bruce stepped up to the plate and insisted on purchasing this one himself since he's the sole coffee drinker in the Neuman house and has a substantially larger stake in its operation than I.  I think he actually hit a number stores over the course of two weeks before settling on this ... all the while haphazardly crafting his coffee with a filter over his mug.  So he took his time and when he brought this baby home .. he was very, very pleased with himself. If he could have revved it up like the candy red cadillac he named it .. he would have.  

You might have noticed that our kitchen has somewhat of a red theme going on ... some appliances, assorted knick knacks and trivets, even dinnerware upon occasion.  I've been on the lookout to replace our somewhat undersized fruit bowl for a number of years, but I'm cheap.  I refuse to pay $45 or $35 for a bowl to toss my bananas and pears into and watch them age past their preferred edible states. (Don't be judgin', I know it happens in your house too)  And to say I've been on the lookout is a bit of an understatement ... its been years I've been shopping.  I'll occasionally check over at Homesense while I'm there looking for something else ... and upon this latest visit, I came across two perfect solutions. One was a rather elegant oblong bowl with a sparkling white interior.  The other was this homage to Italian living ... and since I don't mind occasionally diving headlong into over-the-top ... here's the result.  It makes me smile whenever I look at it.  And it was only $12.99 ... so was the other bowl.  I may have to go back.

Spring is in the Air

I walked over to Cecile and Richard's place last weekend, to help her make some breakfast for the Huliguns while they were out on the water.  And I know that you folks in Alberta were in the middle of Mother Winter's last grasping demonstration of power, but here in Lala Land, it was all signs of spring ...

This is the jasmine outside my kitchen window.  Each year, it gets just that much more show-stopping

Fuzzy catkins on a tree stopped me.  Although they are sneezes budding out, they also look a lot like flowers!

When breezes play tag along the
streets .. there are always
cherry blossom casualties.

This has to be one of the best pictures I've taken in ages. The colors are simply amazing, the spring buds could not have been more dramatic and there's even a whimsical wee portal into the neighbor's yard.  This is at Cécile and Richard's.

Easter Update

The other day, I was wandering through one of my favorite stores and something twitchy happened ... it was that sort of twitch that happens to me occasionally (and I dare say most women) when they see something that they just have to have.  Now, I restrained myself .. I only bought two of these cute little juice glasses.  But they were gorgeous .. all glittery in their shiny pinks and greens, blues and aquas .. with their bumps and pretty glass patterns.  I should have taken a picture in the store.  But failing that .. here's one I hope you enjoy.

I know its been a long while since I made a post ... I had a lot of difficulty with January and February and March blahs in the rain, rain, rain .. and more rain.  And then I realized one day (when I had been absent from my gym once again this week except for my weekly beating up by workout with Simone) that I actually had things on the go.  So I'll try to bring you up to speed ... not that there is a great deal of impetus there yet, but .. you know .. one can wish.

I continue to visit the gym and have a Thursday morning half hour each week with Simone, my Brazilian trainer.  She's been away for the past couple of weeks so I've been working out with Paul Pilates .. that's not his real last name, just a handy moniker that Bruce and I give him.  The first week, he damn near killed me.  I was going to text him on Friday and tell him that my upper abs weren't aching when I breathed .. that he "missed a spot, nyah, nyah" .. but the rest of my body wasn't so sure I wanted to push that button.  I'm pretty sure he could have delivered on that dare.  This week was a bit easier, thankfully, since we were off to visit Ilana and the girls on Good Friday.  Which brings me 'round to why I was in Chapters .. buying an Easter gift for the girls ... and then, apparently, being sucker punched by an effective display of glassware.

Sailboats near the coast of Vancouver.  You can't tell from this weather, but the ferry crossing was
a bit eventful, travelling through a thick white coat of fog, sounding the big ships horns every
two minutes as a warning to other boats asea.

I picked up a couple of books ... Elsa insisted hers be read to her immediately upon receiving it.  Elina was more interested in the unused diaper drawer and having her teddy bear dressed up in them.

We went off to the park with the girls in tow, along with Jordan and Lauren, Ilana's nieces  who were exactly what you hope all cousins will be when you're that age.. fun to be around, willing to slide with you and show you how to get to the high places on the merry-go-round.  They were also the right age to be watchful of the girls and perfect for Ilana who has preschooler whiplash keeping an eye on two active girls running in two different directions.  The park was as super busy as you might imagine .. gorgeous weather, if somewhat windy, on the first long weekend of spring during school break.

Kitsilano Beach Volleyball

Thumping rap music added counterpoint to the bouncing of the basketball and smack of their feet on the asphalt as players drove down the court for the layup, the bumps and calls from the volleyball nets as players warmed up their style for the summer, and over it all  ... a layer of children's laughter and shrieking joy as kids played on the merry-go-round, the swings, the obstacles, in the sandbox, with kites or chased frisbees and big soap bubbles.

Elina and Ilana on the slide that Elina was determined to walk up as the other kids were sliding down.
Fortunately, she was fairly easily guided by Lauren into safer pursuits.

This is a far cry from the girl who, last visit, was afraid to come down the slide herself.
This time around, Elsa showed the other kids how to be more daring, launching herself face first down the slide.
The hat comes as a result of a night at a Canuck's game with her dad.

Visits with them always seem too short in retrospect, but while you're around them, they certainly know how to fill the space with sound and movement, color and creativity .. even putting on a pair of socks and shoes can be an adventure.  Ilana, I'm zipping and sending you all the pictures that I took.

Liz and Ian Taylor met us for lunch at the Lantzville Pub while they took a day or two break on the island to get in touch with their Scorpio water sign.  Just kidding .. only Liz is the Scorpio.  But they do love their nature breaks and they gave me a couple of pictures so I'll show off my island to you through their eyes.

From the turbulent northern shores ...

... to the calm serenity of a mannequin enjoying the spring sun on a houseboat
deck along the Victoria shoreline in the south.  Home security takes an ingenious twist.

Liz recently forwarded this wonderful picture that a friend of hers took near Jasper.  Amazing story of struggle and survival in the wild.

I've been doing a bit more reading lately (I really should update my blog as I do that) and have gone through some books from two of my favorite Canadian authors, Charles de Lint and Guy Gavriel Kay.  It's funny .. the e-reader is the right size and has the right features to replace the paperback and I've even got a fold out case for it so it opens like a book and it's wonderful for the treadmill at the gym.  But it lacks two things that would make it better ... the brightness of the page, the contrast of the typeface ... and the feel of turning the pages of a book.  My birthday iPod manages to do that .. no, you can't actually turn the page, but as you flip from one page to another ... the page curls over and you can faintly see the type reversed on the rear of the page you just turned if the new one happens to be blank.  So it fulfills that tactile need.  I'll be jonesing for a iPad before too long, I expect.

In family news, I understand there will be a wedding up north this summer as Myranda and Ryan make their partnership officially official; Samantha and DeWynn are looking forward to parenting ...and may I just say that Maureen is a good name for a girl?  Dad and the boys are cleaning out the farmhouse toward the end of April .. they're taking away the more valuable items since Dad is living with Dorothy now.  Dad invited me up, but we have a few 'must go' events off the island this year and its always an expensive prospect.  2012 and so far, 2013, have not yet been generous to MRI (our recruiting business), so we're watching pennies carefully, especially since dentists and optometrist visits have been a familiar calendar item for both Bruce and I this first quarter.

Bruce's race season is underway, and I've got some nice shots of the recent Crazy 8 race where the Huligans competed and placed third overall.  Had some confusion not put them in the open division, they would have placed second in the more age-selective Masters.

LaDonne, Holly, Richard, Marcus, Toni, Bruce - the Huliguns in fine form

Paddling past some stunning shoreline scenery and catching up to another crew.

With all this gorgeous weather this weekend, I feel a bit guilty about spending time on the computer when we have bulbs to put in the ground.  However, tomorrow is time enough for that .. and for getting other parts of the garden ready for showing off.  My pretty little pots need a bit of a face lift .. and some replacement since one of them blew off the edge of the stairwell and broke.  Bruce was kind enough to put some foot stones in good spots in my rather soggy lily bed, so I'll be able to get in there more often; I need to prune back some heather shortly and continue spring cleanup.  I'm sure you'll hear and see all about it as I go through my season.

Until next time, my friends .. stay warm.  I hope that you don't have too many of last year's weeds to pull out of your own gardens.