turquoise

I am apparently Turquoise...what colour is your life's path?
I don't know why I thought I'd had time/energy to update over the holidays.
Madness!
Madness, I say!

I promise to update more, soon.
1997 was weird. Titanic was not that great.
I have slightly higher hopes for 2011.

going home

Christmas Holidays...where the heck did you even come from!It hit me hard on Thursday just how much has to get done and be organized before we go. Things are under control.
I've got some dates of the mejool? variety and coffee,
motivation ... whoooza bring it on!
I am going to win, Sunday!
I am going to miss my darling Molly.
I am really excited to see my Nannie.
I am going to miss all of my lady birds.


I have not yet reached the point in my life where I have the desire to spend Christmas anywhere but my Homeland. However, this year, I got the first inklings of a wish to stay right where I am, or have people come out this way instead of making the epic journey once a year.
Seriously, might as well be one of these guys.


My card-making workshop with the kids was a BLAST. We made cards, Santa and Rudolph costumes, and little gift boxes. At the end we had hot chocolate with candy canes. I believe they had as much fun as I did, and I hope they had fun at Santa's Ship. Some of them made cards to give Santa because "Santa gives US presents, so why don't we show him how much we care?".
I feel Christmas Spirit coming on.

Christmas Spirit?
Yes, I have it. In spades. I would have it all year long if everyone else went along. Not singing Christmas carols and such, but just..really. You know?

Alright, so life has been crazy.
My  laptop is janked, so no new update.
But I will have one by Monday.

I am IN Newfoundland!

Double Rainbow...omg!

Double Rainbow, OMG.
been busy.busy busy.
The craft fair went quite well on Saturday, best of all though, was bartering with other booths, after.
Did I already say that? In another post?
Deja-vu (deja-vous?)
????????????
Back to normal.
Monday was filled with errands and such.
Tuesday was town, which was actually great. Having breakfast with Genny and Jenn at Jazzamiah's was excellent. I highly recommend it if you are in need of good-priced, tasty eats in Sidney (behind Capital Iron).

TODAY
Located my best friend's number.
Worked with five distinct personalities and learned a lot.
Took pictures with my friend, Kris. Thank you so much! I learned a lot.
Had the last volleyball practice of the year with the school kids.
It has been truly inspiring working with them.
I must write more on that later, but we ACTUALLY SCRIMMAGED today
and I am SO PROUD.
Needless to say, I learned a lot.

TOMORROW
Spiked, spice rum beverages with G&J, sans kids, and baking.
Lots of baking. And rum.
Yum!
Expect pictures and videos in my next blog.
To be honest, I probably won't update again until Friday.
By then, I should be able to think in-depth, ha.
Christmas is coming,
I'm leaving on a jet plane so soon!

Lino Printing Amongst Other Things

Hello All....

My friend Peggy inspired me to do my own project,
and my personal project will be, from now until at least
the New Year, to make how-to videos and post them, at least
once a week. So here is a really quick video I shot last week
and threw together a few days ago. I intend to make a more
thorough lino making video soon. And a cookie video. And
OH the goodies I have in store for you, my friends...

In the mean time, this past Saturday was the Christmas Craft Fair
at the South End Hall. I made gift tags, organic cat toys, cards, and
cookies! Chocolate Pretzels, Gingersnaps, gingerbread (not the kind I made but looks great), and cranberry-
blueberry shortbreads - yum yum. It was a very successful day, and at the
end I did a bunch of bartering with other booths.
Might have got a few Christmas presents..!!!

Anyways, here are some holiday-esque pictures, followed by my How To Lino Print...

Goodnight Everyone!

VooDoo Dolls!

Here are two of the dolls made at my doll-making workshop...
I am so proud - how excellent are they?
Looking forward to doing a few more doll-making classes with
the kids after Christmas.
Anyways, here they are.
Christmas party tonight with dear friends.
Perhaps a bit early, but better early than
not at all. We've all got places to be over
the holidays, so we shall gather now!!!

How to Pickle

Finally, here it is...
a casual video about how to pickle.
I wanted to make a video to demonstrate how
easy and relaxed food preservation can be...
it is pretty straight-forward - so much so that I feel like
there HAS to be something more to it,
and people these days have been lead to believe
that they can not take care of themselves.
So. Relax, enjoy the film, and consider pickling for
yourselves. You can pickle nearly anything
and it is another step on the path to self-sustainability!

More tomorrow. I've been taking lots of videos recently, it's time to splice them together and share.
I've decided that I like snow better than rain, but I still can't stand the cold! But it's more fun to be cold and play in the snow than run through the freezing rain!

craft fair success!

too much going on to post much until monday, but here is a teaser...
i can not wait to have a wicked monday morning sleep-in.
no manic monday going to be happening over here!

HELLO to some new friends...Pam, Petra. It was great singing at the pub and fireside chatting. Hope to see you all back over here sometime :)
and also from a few weeks ago, Caelie and Mallory. Sorry I lost that scrap of paper with your blog on it!! and same goes for you two, come back over whenver!

Hi Nannie, can't wait to see you over Christmas (make sure Nannie sees this blog!).

Crafty or Crazy?

First of all, I finally did it.
I have been wanting one for years
but kept coming up with reasons to justify
NOT getting it.
But I finally ran out of reasons,
and with a cold winter approaching,
it just had to be done.

I got myself a mandolin.
It's tuned like a violin but played like a guitar.
I've been tearing it up -

so happy.
So so happy.

This weekend I have my Father coming, which will be fun.
I also am teaching a doll-making workshop on Sunday,
and SATURDAY is the Lion's Hall Christmas Craft Fair.
Gotta finish my knitting, my prints, do so much baking...
I love it so much but I don't know if this makes me Crafty or Crazy...
so much to do!

Wish there were three of me.
But there can only be ONE Kathryn.!!!

On a different note..
All of this TSA shit in the States upsets me,
and I use "upset" as an understatement and blanket-term
for all the emotions I have felt from researching this.
And not just the pat-down, the amount of radiation in the scanners,
the theft of civil and personal rights.....just google it.
How about the scans that have been illegally kept?
Get out there and DO something about it, US Citizens!
Maybe if you guys start waking up and getting angry,
Canadians will do the same,
as we don't like to be outdone by our Southern Cousins :P
ha. well, to be honest,
We all need to wake up!
There is a lot going on, folks.


Buuuut on a happier note, here is a picture of Molly, nipping out on the catnip I grew...
and a deer video!

It rained a lot today...but we had fun, anyways!
I think Molly had the right idea, though...
goodnight, world.

rainy day, go away!

Here is something to help you with the rain blahs...
Cuteest thing ever!
Going to post a homemade movie tonight...
either on the pickling process
or making something delicious to eat.

It is already the middle of November.
Christmas is coming soon!
Some might not believe it...
but if you're into crafting/craft fairs
or just into making excellent homemade treats...
you can never start too soon!

Trim up the tree...

 Winterize the house, play in the snow...

 Prepare for turkey!

So. Saturday.

Saturday could have been terrible.
On my way to a craft class for children,
I put my van in the ditch by my driveway.
Very gently.
My van is temperamental and do NOT worry mom,
I am fine, the van is fine, it is allll good. 
These tourists were walking by and would not get out of the way
and in trying to not hit them and watch for traffic,
I got distracted.10 out of 10 for finesse, though. Ha.

Anyways, at this point,
a miracle.
Two angels in disguise, Don and Bill, both drove by and got me out of the ditch in 15 minutes, van safe and sound. That was that. Crazy.

So. Back en route to my craft class. I decide that everything is FINE and I will be ok and the class will either happen or not happen (trial-run). If it does, excellent fun. If not, ah well, more homemade Christmas presents for me.

It ended up that I did NOT have anyone show up (needs better advertisement).

BUT.
(i don't know why i am using so many capital letters today..)
World Canada Youth were staying at our school's gym on a little mini-vacation.
They did a 12-hour healing circle on Friday, and on Saturday, they were just relaxing,
getting ready to prepare a feast of Mozambiqian food.
The food was delicious. Yum yum.
Anyways, when I arrived they were about to take a course from my friend Cedana on making homemade herbal first-aid kits. They also had made these plaster of paris face masks.

So. They were interested in tie-dying, my class. So I came back afterwards and did tie-dying with all of them. For those who do not know, WCY is related to Katimavik, and the people involved were 18-24.
We had a laugh! I wish I had my camera for the first part of the day, but here is my tie-dye shirt...

Couldn't stop laughing!

                                                                      

But after the dinner, I came home to a romantic evening, complete with baked brie, before heading back out to the folk-rock show at the South End Hall. WHICH WAS AWESOME!!!!
There were so many people there! 20 people from WCY, about 20 locals, and 10-15 other randoms.
Holy cow. After the band stopped, someone put on an ipod or something and we danced up a storm...they taught us a few moves, those WCY people. There was appreciation all around, so much fun.
I hope I can go out to Sooke before they go back to Mozambique!
So here are a few highlights from the Dance....

                                       Katherine and Sultan - everyone wanted to dance with him!

                                              Myself, Katherine, Mercia, and Jacque

                                                                          Us ladiezzz

                               The volleyball team....LtoR Bernardo, Felizado, and Leopolo

LtoR Bonnie, Jacque, Carston, Tristan, Mercia

                                              It wouldn't be a west coast party without Ian

                                                         We danced to the wee hours.

 

  mmmm baked brie with maple syrup, walnuts, blueberries, and brown sugar

and pastry!

it is getting dark so early!
when the clocks first go back in the fall
and the nights are quickly darkening..
i appreciate the moments of cool sunshine through the clouds -
i actually stop wherever and feel it on my face, my hands..
and as the world fades gray-blue and the chills
put their chilly fingers on my neck and
slide down my wrists to my elbows
and the Damp creeps in - but not too much..
ah, such a slightly mischevious feeling
and a reason to run inside to my cozy fire
and cuddle in my cabin!

It's hard to describe the first feelings of fall turning into winter and the magic of it all without it being cheese-arific. In a few weeks all the leaves will be off the maples and birches and we will settle into a winter routine. Excitement up to Christmas, waiting for nicer weather come January. Starting to find comfort in the winter months, though. You have to have hobbies, and be OK with yourself. I feel OK with myself.

Still need to tell you all about yesterday, but not now.
Some things to contemplate..

the end, for now!

Fate is in MY hands

What started off, and could have been one of the worst days of 2010 ended up being one of the best.
I could feel the badness coming and I said to myself this morning "You can let this get to you and ruin your day, or fight it! Relax! Be happy!" And so I did. And good things kept happening, and the things that could have
infuriated me were swept off with ease.

Cap it off with a nice of excellent dancing and laughter, new friends and old...wowza.
And now, to retire to bed, to cuddle some scapulas and cuddle some clavicles...err..
in other words, I go now to be the Little Spoon.
After I eat these dried blueber - dizizaaaammmm
DRIED BLUEBERRIES ARE DELICIOUS.


Do not worry my friends, I will be posting current pictures soon...but I feel like THIS.

 

and THIS

AND this.

  and this!

                                 beautiful beach somewherez between San Diego and Santa Monica
                                                                   goodnight, peace.








oohhhh ps updating tomorrow. i am feeling motivated.

Remembrance Day! Pickling Fever!

Today is Remembrance Day here in Canada.
Today I wore a poppy and thought about my poppies (grandfathers).
Both of them served in World War 2.
Both of them lived through the war but died before I was old enough to get to really know them -
or for them to know me, I guess.
So, remember on Remembrance Day.

Here are some pictures to help describe life, since words often fail me..

  Molly.

                                                                             

                                                               Life is rough, eh Molly?

                                                           ...don't think that's even a cat..

                                                             That is definitely not a cat.
                                          This is one of Molly's victims, 1 week after death.
                                                                    More on this, later.

                                                                    Who caught Who?

                       Pickled green beans, garlic, ginger, radish pods, and hot peppers..
                                                                             Uh Oh....

                                                         Someone caught Pickling Fever!

                                                                          So did she.

                                                                     aaannnnnddd him.

                                    Might have been that tomato weird tomato we ate...

                                                                 Run home, run home!

                                                                     goodnight deer.

                                                                              
 
                                                                                fleurs.

                                                ain't no party like a west coast party

                                                                   winter is coming.

                                                          finish the harvest, call it a day.