A safe Halloween. Trick or treating at home

Happy Halloween everyone. Not what we all wanted but about what we all were expecting, huh? What a year. What a time to be alive.

The world goes round around us. Seasons turning, summer progressing to autumn, to winter.

And in the meantime, there is one in my family who has reached the age of understanding trick or treating for candy. Not our little Zephyr. He's still blissfully happy just to be cuddled by his cousin Isla.

But that one! Do you see him? The little hedgehog in the back. Nate, my little 2 yr old.

My children and I were wondering how to make this first Halloween, the Halloween of his understanding, special to him...to all of them; who we will not risk out in the hood, (no matter how safe our hood may be). And we came up with a Halloween at home treasure hunt. All my grandchildren were dressed in their costumes and they rang the doorbell. "Trick or Treat!!!" Then they came in and ran around the house finding groups of 5 treats which they could each pick one of.

There were candy treats of course, but also Halloween pencils, creepy crawlies, gamepads, glow sticks and necklaces, squishy balls shaped like sheep, hedgehogs and teddies. Basically a ton of $1 store fluff for fun.

And then! And then they could sit down, spill their treasures on the livingroom floor, and eat their fill. Until there was a pile of wrappers! I swear the look in out Nate's eyes was like, "What? Candy? All I want? What?"That's right. One day of sugar hell children, and then back to substantially fewer treats per day.

And after they couldn't eat any more candy if they tried, and after it was waaaay past bedtime for some... we lit sparklers in a spare pumpkin and had our own little light show. It was a magical Halloween to remember.

Hello from Sunday night, and Happy Mother's Day to all who nurture and love

Hello from Sunday night everyone. I hope everyone had a lovely day, and all the caregivers and nurturers and all those who are in a position to love another, I hope you all had a wonderful day. And for the other, pray I hope this post will lend you comfort.For us, it was a beautiful Sunday.Finally!After days and days of rain, the sun peeked out. You know, it feels like we went from winter to summer in a weekend. I'm just two weeks from the open garden Art in the Garden weekend and am thinking that perhaps there won't be any roses this year. What an odd spring it's been.But today the hummingbirds were displaying, and the swallows have returned, new little goslings were everywhere, and eagles were soaring high in the sky in pairs.Chloe and I drove out to mom's, picked her up and headed to the old fishing village of Steveston to meet Jonathan, Chantal and our Megababy Asher for lunch and a walk. I had forgotten to pick up a chest pack from the closet which I bought online for the sole reason being us visiting this fishing village, but I was certain I would be back soon with it to complete the fishing experience.We had lunch in our favourite fish and chip restaurant and walked the boardwalk into the old fishing village and then just sat on the pier and talked.So there we were, four generations talking in the sunshine.Such a beautiful day.PS. Chloe bought me a new camera for mother's day. It's a little polaroid camera and we had so much fun taking photos and trying to figure it out. I'm excited to take it to Europe and be able to put some of the photos in my travel journal.

Hello from Sunday night which turned into a Looong Sunday night, which turned into a Monday morning post again

It's been a beautiful family weekend round here with my daughter Kerstin and her three little girls, and on Saturday we picked up my mother and all of us drove out to visit my son Jonathan and his little family.Most times when it rains in the Lower Mainland, it rains right here where I live underneath the mountains, but a few miles away in White Rock, where Jonathan lives, most times the day is much sunnier.This was the case on Saturday, and so all seven of us got into Kerstie's big Suburban people carrier and went for a visit.I brought an easy lunch of cold cuts, pate, a salad Nicoise, dressing on the side, and some fresh buns.The cousins, who haven't seen each other since Christmas, played along beautifully. It was wonderful to see that Asher is almost walking and that he's clapping along and waving bye bye.But Isla's incredible hair proved too tempting and we had to keep an eye out for that.Little Butters just hid under Chantal's chair or the coffee table for safety.Everyone had fun playing and catching up, and soon it was time to go back home.This bear on the left is Jonathan's baby teddy bear. I can't even remember the amount of times that bear has been stitched together and washed. I'm amazed it has any threads left.Then back home, and as the day was fine, the girls asked to have their afternoon tea outside.And while the day was fine in Vancouver, Sunday morning a blizzard hit on the coastal mountains just as Kerstie and the girls were heading home, stucking them behind a horrific accident on the highway in subzero weather for two hours before she managed to wiggle the car thru a gap in the barrier and try an alternate route. No sooner did she get on that route then that route was shut both ways as well. Kerstie had no choice than to turn around and head back to Vancouver. They arrived at 10pm having been on the road for over 8 hours!I think they may take an extended holiday with me for the next few days.

Hello from Sunday night..with the Megababy

Here's a beautiful update on our Megababy Asher.I had a chance to drive out to visit my son Jonathan, Chantal, and our little Ash baby.He's now three months old.This is Butters, Jon and Chantal's dog. He's a puggle (pug beagle). Since there are some beaches...most actually...where dogs aren't allowed from May to September, we went for a walk on a beach where dogs were allowed so we could take him. He was so excited in the car, but on the walk he was such a good boy.The tide was out and there were dozens of great blue herons fishing for little creatures. I always feel lucky when I see one or two, but it was so amazing to see so many.See where those dark clouds are? That's where I live!!! Under those cloudy mountains. I'm so glad I drove south today. Jonathan lives in the sunniest Lower Mainland spot.Hi Butters. Good little puggle!Here's our beautiful Chantal wearing Asher.I was really surprised to see so many sea shells on that beach.We met this little five month old puppy. Isn't she the cutest thing ever? If you look in a dictionary under the word cute you'll see this picture.We had the best walk. It was quite windy and after an hour or so we got a little chilly so we turned around and headed back for home.It was so wonderful getting to cuddle my little grandson and catching up with my children. :D

A lunch with Jonathan, Chantal and Megababy

I can't even begin to tell you how much I was looking forward to today, but I can tell you that one of the biggest reasons was that I got to drive out and see my son and his family. Our baby Asher is now two weeks old and this is not only the second time I got to hold him, but also the first time my mother, his great-grandmother, got to see him in person.I picked my mom up, (she lives halfway between us), and drove out to my son's house, where we were greeted by Butters, Jon and Chantal's puggle. He's such a funny little guy.And then I got to hold Asher.He's changed so much in his two weeks of life so far.He's had a bit of a RH negative/positive problem and a bit of jaundice, but he's much better now, and he's just so beautiful.Mom and I stopped on the way for some hot roast chicken and some potato salad, fresh veggies, baguette and a fruit flan. That seemed like the best plan. That way no one had to cook and run around and we all just got to maximise the time we had with each other.We chatted and toured the house, (the kids are trying to complete their renos), toured the garden, (now that's where I can lend a hand), and just snuggled the megababy.Too soon it was time to go; I think Butters looks very sorry to see us leave. I'm so glad we had the chance to drive out to see the kids. Hope to see them soon again. :D

hello from Sunday night, and a goodbye

Hi everyone!Well, what a surprise weekend.We have a new family member. Please meet Asher Neal Roth, my brand new grandson, baby Mega.As his wonderful mother Chantal says, Megababy decided he wanted to be a Pisces and not an Aries like he was supposed to be.Lucky for us. We're so in love.And, lucky for Chloe because Chloe is leaving on Wednesday for Japan and will be away for 6 months and up to a year.Chloe's already had a giant going away party with her friends, which lasted till 4am as only 20-something parties can last, but this weekend we had an open house for the rest of us who know the value of our sleep! And had some friends and family stop by.So we cleaned the house, baked a glazed ham and made some yummy potato salad.Baked a brie and some banana bread, bought chocolate croissants made a pot of tea, and opened a few bottles of wine.Friends and family came and said goodbye all evening.Whew! What a wonderful and long weekend. :DWe'll miss our Chloe, won't we? But she promises to get her blog going full speed so we won't miss a thing. :D

A baby shower for Chantal

As most of you already know, my son and his beautiful girl are having a baby boy.This Sunday Chantal's sister and mother threw her a wonderful baby shower.Kerstie planned a little with Chantal's sister Janine, and brought her collection of beautiful vintage supplies for serving plates and decorations.I love Kerstie's supply of vintage children's blocks and her handmade cork board.Here are my girls. Doesn't Chantal look beautiful? She has about three weeks to go before baby boy arrives.There were 20+ people, friends and family, to help celebrate and Kerstin, Chloe and I met some family for the first time.People brought so many lovely gifts.There were some fun games.And in with the happy helium balloons was this one special Care Bears balloon, which was last inflated at Chantal's birth. Chantal's father kept it all these years.Kerstie made this beautiful transfer of our new baby boy's ultrasound mounted on a piece of silver piece of driftwood.And she also brought Chantal this vintage trunk for their new home.I can't believe my baby is having a baby. This was Jonathan 34 years ago.I wonder what my fourth grandchild will look like. :D

Hello from Sunday night

Hello from Sunday night everyone.Lately I've got out of the habit of writing my hello from Sunday night posts, and I began to miss them. For me, it's really nice to take a little time on Sunday evening to reflect on my weekend and share with you.I really do love writing this blog and posting some beautiful photos. It's mostly something I look forward to very much. At the beginning of November, when I signed up for the NaBloPoMo Nanopoblano :D I wondered if I might find the daily blog posts a bit of a chore, but I didn't. Mostly I found them easy and natural, like a 30 minute wrap-up of my day, like an on-line journal.I wonder if I want to keep up the daily posts. What do you think guys? Is it a bit much?Anyway, as you can see from these photos, it's been another stellar day here. Clover and I went for a walk down at the docks, which are just nine blocks from my house.We didn't go very far today or spend too long, because my son Jonathan and his beautiful girl Chantal came for a late lunch. Chloe and Bryson are planning their trip to Japan in a couple months and, since Jonathan's lived there for some time, they wanted to talk to him about everything they could to prepare.When Clove first planned a lunch with Jon, she was going to meet him somewhere, maybe downtown, and have her brother to herself, but I said to invite them home. Clove was a bit worried that Chantal and I might feel a little left out of the conversation, but not us! My daughter in law and I went upstairs into the studio and had a lovely catch up. She carved a little stamp for her Christmas gift tags while I worked on my lino cut. Ha, we know how to amuse ourselves, thank you very much. :DLater in the evening I inked up the linocut and pulled a print to see what I got.I must admit that it's not my favourite print. Actually, I don't really like it. I do like the trees and how I realised them, but I'm not keen on the field or the rabbits. They feel very amateurish. Oh well, back to the drawing board.That's the thing about learning and exploring. You win some and you lose some. And, as my late friend, artist Robert Genn used to say, "Success has to do with deliberate practice," and "come talk to me after you've put in ten thousand hours." OK, so maybe I've got another...oh...nine thousand hours to go. :D

Hello from Sunday night, and happy Mother's Day

Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers in North America who celebrated today. I had the most marvellous time. Chloe and I took a long drive out to the old ship yards by the river and had lunch with my mother and my son at a new to us restaurant called The Blue Canoe. We couldn't get any reservations at our usual fish and chips place out here, but it didn't matter, this little restaurant was lovely.After lunch we walked out onto the docks with the thought of maybe buying a fresh fish. Just then there was a sea gull commotion, as only sea gulls can manage, and we saw a very large sea lion thrashing a fish on the surface of the water, as a bald eagle looked down from the mast of one of the fishing boats. Just lovely.Ice cream for desert and a nice walk along the river.Just about a perfect mother's day for me. How was your day? Your weekend? Hope you had a lovely time. :DSharing  with Judith and the mosaic bunch.

Hello from Sunday night...before everyone heads their separate ways

Well, it's been a wonderful extra long weekend round here. We lived it up to the max and enjoyed every minute.Not only did I get to spend oodles of time with my granddaughters, but Kerstin's good friend Na'ama came over with her brand new baby and her three year old son for a play date. Kerstie and Na'ama have known each other since they were children, and so it was lovely for them to catch up.Binky and Bunny, having had enough of babies and boys, snuck up to the studio to be with C and me.I brought out the doll's house and the girls had a great time rearranging the furniture in the rooms.Later, when everyone left to visit Adam's family, C and I felt a bit exhausted. Kind of like Morgan.There are still toys all over the house waiting to be put back into the huge steamer trunk where they belong.But in the garden, the first tree peonies are starting to open......and so are the first roses.Plus, something wonderful happened today. All my children and my mother managed to find a couple hours to have lunch together. It might have been the full moon, but, with everyone's schedules, four generations together for lunch is pretty rare.We all met at a local Milestones restaurant on the patio.Everything was happy and fine, till Bunny found out she wasn't sitting next to Auntie Chloe!Cuddles and hugs made everything better.Ziggy is at that stage where she just wants to walk around. The trouble is that she picks everything up and puts it in her mouth, so a restaurant patio isn't the best place to let an almost one year old loose. We played pass the baby around for two hours.Binky and Bunny's water glasses came to the table with those cute plastic animals and only one mermaid! The lovely hostess was sent back for a second mermaid. Another small disaster averted! In the end, all the animals and the mermaids went swimming.Jonathan drew something inappropriate in the children's sketch pad. That's very Jonathan. Kerstie gave him a LOOK and drew something else over it.This was a wonderful moment for me...for us all. Looking forward to the next chance time when we all can get together. :DHope you've all had a wonderful weekend. Sharing with JudithJudith and the mosaic bunch. :D