I spent this afternoon napping with the baby, so just a quick post for today. After dinner I did a little photographic catch-up for the theatre by assembling a frame featuring last season’s kids shows (amidst squalling children and short tempers, I might add). Not terribly exciting, but I’m sure a couple of the performers will be pleased to finally make it onto “the wall”…
Tags: frame, Loose Moose, theatre for kids
During the southern portion of our trip, we made our way back to a cute little town we kind of stumbled upon last year called Pacific Grove. It’s the kind of place I could spend hours – perhaps even days – poking around, though I have yet to get that opportunity (with the kidlets in tow, that is). At any rate, here are a few snaps of the place to give you an idea of what it’s like.
The main street through town is called Lighthouse Avenue.
Which is the home of Holly’s Lighthouse Cafe, where we once again grabbed a wonderful and filling “big breakfast”. Soooo good!
And then it was time to explore a bit.
First stop – Blessings Boutique, where we were a bit… scrutinized. I found out later that Monkey Boy Jr. had walked out of the store with something to show daddy (before paying for it), not realizing that that kind of thing is frowned upon… Ahh, so that’s why!
The store merchandise was beautifully displayed…
With an eclectic mixture of antiques and homemade items.
It was a maze of little rooms spilling into other little rooms…
Each one with a slightly different theme.
We could have spend hours in that store alone… it was LOVEly!
Just a few doors down we found Miss Trawick’s Garden Shop…
Which was filled with too many things I wanted to take home.
Statuary, pottery, not to mention the gorgeous plants…
I could have just stayed there all day!
*le sigh*
Of course with little ones, crankiness was soon upon us and we had to head back to the hotel for a little snooze.
But not before I grabbed some quick snaps of the awesome architecture along the way.
Quaint houses, reaching trees…
Quirky features, and proximity to the sea…
What’s not to love?
One day I hope to get some more “alone time” to poke around the town – I hear it’s even more wonderful that I’ve seen. Well, we’re near the end of the trip photos – just one or two more posts of “hanging with the extended family” and I should be done. Hope you’re enjoying Vicarious California, Katie style. 
Tags: blessings, California, Holly's Lighthouse Cafe, Miss Trawick's Garden Shop, Pacific Grove, trip photos
Just a few snaps as we head into the weekend. When life gives you snow (and a chinook)… make lemonade! Er, I mean – go sledding!
The baby had a few smiley moments amidst all the whining.
But Monkeyboy Jr. was as pleased as could be.
T’was a bit chilly with the wind, but that didn’t stop him.
He got in plenty of runs, and even some “big brother-ing”.
What a fun way to spend an afternoon together – wheee!
Hope you have yourselves a great weekend!
A while back I blogged about how we were going to get our photos done at Kidsphoto. Well, they just came back and I thought I’d share. (I haven’t had time to even scan them yet, but here are some quick snaps of the snaps…) 
We started with some “shirts on” pics of the whole family.
Then we moved on to just the boys – the baby would NOT sit still!
He kept making his way to this chair, so we decided to use it.
We then ditched the dress-shirts and took some more play pics.
And then tried some more “fambily” shots. Yup. That’s about right.
We then settled down for a few final shots of all of us together.
And then we were done. Whew. I personally was exhausted after the 30 minute shoot – lots and lots of chasing of the baby and being all happy and smiley! But it was so worth it to have some really nice shots of both the boys and all of us. Yippie!
Tags: family portrait, Kidsphoto, Photography, pics
It’s been cold where I live – the kind of cold where people start rumors about it being the second coldest place on the planet on a given day. The kind of cold that makes taking the baby out in it not fun (he cries when I put on his snow suit but won’t let him play in the minus 30 Celsius weather – so we’ve pretty much stayed home this past week or so). The kind of snow that gets you a little stir crazy <twitch twitch>. Good thing the temperatures are on the rise…
Anyhow, as I can’t just pick up and take off for the other side of the hemisphere right now, I thought I’d take a peek at what life was like here a mere 6 months ago. The baby had short hair, the eldest had all his teeth, and we were spending lots of time outside playing and getting the garden in.
Things were starting to bloom, like the hyacinth…
…the flowering plum…
…and the crocus.
And there was just so much to look forward to – playing outside, going to parks, having picnics, going for walks, throwing open all the doors and windows and letting the sunlight and fresh air in… *sigh* I often feel like I spend half my life waiting for the other half. Why do I live here again? Hmm. I think I need to go and slather on some sunscreen and sit under my full spectrum light for a while…
Tags: brrrr
A little while back we decided to upgrade our 10-year old denim clad couch. Having children, we wanted something comfortable, economical, and relatively disaster-proof (which is a pretty tall order, apparently). Some friends of ours had a really cozy leather couch, so we started looking around at them. We finally decided to get a second-hand couch and love seat set that we found on Kijiji. Unlike most of the super-sleek couches we saw in stores, they were very plump and comfy – and inexpensive enough that if we decided that leather just wasn’t “our thing”, we wouldn’t feel put out too much.
Now, the couch isn’t perfect – there are a couple of nicks in the piping and small tears beginning in the pillowback corners, and it’s a little chilly to sit on now that the weather is colder – but it sure does make for some great napping when the opportunity arises. As well, the legs are an awkward height – tall enough that toys still get under the darn thing, but too short to make getting them out easy. Plus, the love seat now sits over a heat register, and the height is too short for the deflector to extend fully and properly heat the room. What to do, what to do. Well… fix the legs of course!!!
At first I looked at simply replacing the legs. You can find replacement legs everywhere from your local hardware store (i.e. Home Depot, Rona/Revy) to various online stores. Unfortunately, prefinished 6″ legs were running up to $45 each – and we would have needed 8 of them! Uh, no thank you. I remember reading (at some point, long long ago) about somebody who had used fence finials instead – decorative post caps and the like. So, I checked out the lumber section and found some spherical toppers for less than $4 each. Yes, they needed to be stained and yes, the threads on the screw were not going to work directly with the couch hardware, but I knew I could figure something out.
Well, I finally got around to staining the new legs this weekend, and let me tell you, their idea of “low odour” stain and my idea of “low odour” stain are two entirely different things. Peeew! But I digress. Next step was to see how deep the original leg screws were set, so I dug out my trusty drill and made a hole from the bottom up. I found I only had about half an inch to work with before I hit metal, so I grabbed the hack saw and chopped down the finial screws… until I broke the saw, that is.
Luckily, I managed to get at least four of the screws shortened before this happened, so after adding a bit of wood glue to the bases if the toppers, I screwed them onto the bottom of the original legs and tried the resulting combination out on the love seat. The finishes aren’t identical, but I doubt anybody’s going to get that close to them to notice. They allow easy toy access and improved heat flow under the couch, make it easier to get in and out of the coziness – and for a kid-friendly family room, I’m not about to complain!
So there you have it. Not terribly “artsy”, but a somewhat “creative”, solution to our couch problem.
Tags: comfy, creative solution, fence toppers, finials, kid-friendly, leather, old couch, post caps, replacement legs
When I was a girl of about 6 or 7, my grandmother started teaching me how to both knit and crochet. I remember it being kind of tricky for such tiny fingers, but it certainly kept me occupied during my summer visits with her and grandpa. I had a great time making blankets for my dolls, human-sized scarves, and eventually worked my way up to more “complicated” items, like these decorative dried-flower-stuffed wall hangings that I gave out (to everyone in the family, I might add) for Christmas one year. Ah, the 70s.
Now, English was my grandmothers fourth or fifth language, so I never actually learned the names of many of the stitches I use (though I do know ‘knit’ and ‘purl’ at least). I just learned by playing. Trial and error. Experimentation. That sort of thing. (You can check out the “stitchery” page in the gallery for past works, if you are so inclined.) Well, recently I’ve been admiring those flowery hats you see around – you know, the ones you see a lot in those cute “sleeping baby” photos? So, I surfed the web and tried to find a pattern that I liked in the hopes that I could make myself one. Well…wow. I was amazed at how many free patterns are out there, AND that I had trouble reading every single one of them.
I think it’s kind of like being a musician that plays by ear instead of knowing how to read sheet music – you can be really good at what you do, but are also a bit limited in what you can learn in the future. And in what you can communicate to others about what you know. In any case, I soon gave up my quest and resorted to my old standby – playing. The resulting hat is pretty close to what I had in mind – it’s not perfect, mind you, but it’s close enough. I splurged and used some organic cotton yarn for it, which is a bit pricier than your typical acrylics or wool blends, so when I decided that I wanted matching mittens, I was a bit stuck. Personally, I couldn’t justify spending the extra money – the yarn was nice, but not that nice. Hmm. Luckily, I found some inexpensive mittens at a local craft fair that I embellished quite easily. They were knitted instead of crocheted, but oh, well.
Yes, the hat is crocheted and the mittens and flowers are knitted, and yes, the browns are just ever so slightly “off”… but I love them. Yippie! It was a fun project that I could do whilst watching the baby play, and it resulted in something that has both fun form and function – triple win! Though, I did feel a bit “old lady” as I was crocheting by the fire on a cold, snowy day… I’m debating making a second set using a less expensive yarn and colours that would go with my black winter coat, but I think I need to let my hands rest a few days – my fingers are so achy! Plus, I didn’t actually write any down directions, so who knows how the next set will turn out. Ah, well. Lalala. Okay then, happy Monday!
Tags: cropchet, embellishments, flower, hat, knit, mittens, musician, organic cotton, play by ear, stitchery, yarn
Last week I took some photos for The Elves And The Shoemaker kids show currently playing at Loose Moose Theatre in Calgary. When I finally got around to editing the photos, it became clear that I was once again facing a typical “multi-subject” photography problem – that is, you have a photo where everybody’s perfect… except for that one person. That one individual is either looking away or has a goofy expression on or has their eyes closed or whatever. *sigh* I hate it when that happens!
This time, however, instead of just deleting these photos, I thought I’d try my hand at “photoshopping” them… except that I don’t actually have Photoshop per se. I’ve been using “Microsoft Picture It!” for years, as it was free (thanks to a kind donation by our friend Jason) and up until now, it has done everything I’ve needed it to do. Lately though, I’ve been wanting to try my hand at stuff like adding textures to photos (i.e. multiple layering of digital images), and I can’t seem to find any tutorials on how to do this sort of thing with the program I am currently using. My friend Keith also showed me how he could easily adjust for my camera’s barrel effect using Lightroom, and I am even more convinced I need to upgrade soon if I want to further my photographic studies. But I digress. Elves. Editing. Faces. Go.
So, for example, here is one of the photos I took for the show. In this case I love the expressions on Mr. and Mrs. Shoemaker, but I clearly caught the elves at a, um, less than flattering moment.
And here is the second (and last I took of this scene) photo, where the elves are fine, but not so much the Shoemakers (nothing personal, Djoeke).
Now, looking at these little square versions (I cropped the originals to get better detail here for the blog), it occurs to me that I could have just cut the image in half almost-horizontally and just combined the two. Ah, hindsight… Instead, I painstakingly deleted the elf faces from the first image, then copied them from the second, pasting them back into the first photo. I then blended all the surrounding details to make it all fit properly. It was a bit of work, but totally worth it.
Here is the work in progress.
And here is the finished product.
Not too shabby, but I’m sure I could do it with a little more finesse if I spent the time learning my current program a bit better. Or if I saved my pennies and upgraded. Anyhow. Just thought I’d share a little behind the scenes magic with y’all on this cold and snowy Friday. Hope you have a great weekend. And if you’re in the Calgary area, please come on down and check out the show!
Oh! And if you’re on Facebook and would like to see the rest of the photos, head over to the fanpage and check it out!
Tags: blend, crop, cut and paste, Elves and the Shoemaker, Loose Moose, Microsoft Picture It!, multi-subject problem, Photography, photoshop, theatre for kids
About half way through our trip, we bid farewell to the San Francisco / Alameda area and headed south. We spent the day alternating between driving and eating and shopping (Why, hello there LEGO store…and how you doing outlet shoppes?) but none of that was really terribly interesting photographically. So, for today, I offer up some photos I took during the rest of the trip, whilst beach combing on various days in Seaside, CA. Can you tell how much I adore the ocean, giant graveyard though it’s beaches may be?
The colourful exoskeleton of a typical gull’s lunch.
Wet sand on dry, reminds me of inkblots. What do you see?
Exploring the freedom of the not-so-clear blue sky.
So this is seafoam, huh?
Poor solitary jelly.
Juxtaposition.
Another crab carapace.
One of the gorgeous holey rocks I found.
And yet another, peeking at the ocean.
I loved watching the pelicans diving for food and flying.
Feathers everywhere.
Most beautifully coloured seaweed.
Death is always close at hand. I won’t make you look at the seal.
The iridescence is so beautiful.
Such luscious greens.
The first bleached bone I’ve ever found.
And last but not least, a heart for my sister.
Tags: California, ocean, sea stuff, Seaside
Okay. So upon rereading my Far From Perfect, post I am struck with a combination of both shame and scrappiness. Not that the things I listed are untrue, but they are definitely one-sided – my exhausted, frustrated, doom-and-gloom side. In reality, there are manymanymany good things to balance the bad out – like making time to do fun things with my children, like making time to be creative again, like making time for hot baths and cool music and tasty food and amazing friends. Though this week has been far from ideal in the sleep department, I have managed to grab a few larger bits here and there, and as such, have gotten a bit more perspective. Thank goodness.
I just have to keep reminding myself that I’m pretty much in “survival mode” right now (i.e. make sure we are all fed, watered, dressed, sheltered, and safe…period), and that I can’t possibly do everything – even at the best of times. With that frame of mind, I picked up Kelly Rae’s book again and forced myself to get past Chapter 1. So what if I can’t get all introspective and dreamy right now? Who the heck cares? It doesn’t mean that I can’t still learn from the book, does it? No. No, it does not. In fact, I’m using it like one might use a cookbook, and it has inspired me to try out some new techniques – even if they’re not necessarily in the spirit of self-discovery and personal growth, as the book had intended.
Taking Flight, by Kelly Rae Roberts.
I’m actually mid-way through working on a collage right now, and I’ll be sure to post the results when I’m done. But it’s been exceptionally freeing to just set myself aside for a bit, and focus on somebody else’s work. This process actually reminded me of one of my first year art classes where every week, we would have to copy a well known artist’s work to the best of our abilities. We would have to chose a piece, analyze the materials used, how the marks were made, the “feel” of the image, etc… and then try to duplicate all of it – even the signature. Standing on the shoulders of giants and all that. It was a great way to practice without having to concern yourself with being “original” or “creative” or whatever. Here are a few of the ones I did, paired with photocopies of the originals.
Van Dongen
Gustav Klimt
Pablo Picasso
Unknown
Egon Schiele
So, yeah. It’s been a breakthrough of sorts. It’s gotten me working again without me having to stretch too far beyond my capabilities, and it feels good to just play. Not that I would ever fully adopt someone else’s style as my own and try to profit from it, but it is a great feeling to admire somebody’s work and then to be able to create something similar that you enjoy as well. There is an irony to all of it, however. I was just reading Kelly Rae’s blog the other day. She just recently had a baby and has had to set aside her artistic endeavours to embrace motherhood full on. Fancy that. It’s been a tough journey, though, as it turns out that baby True has recently been found to have INFANT ACID REFLUX. Ah, universe. You and your wacky ways.
Tags: acid reflux, collage, copy, creativity, dreams, duplicate, introspection, Kelly Rae Roberts, new techniques, originality, personal growth, perspective, practice, self-discovery, standing on the shoulders of giants, survival mode
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