Spring!

After my last posting I received some concerned feedback, so to reassure those of you who worried that I may be wallowing in nostalgia I've decided to introduce a random list of things I like about living in Victoria. Of course I still miss Montreal. Sometimes it just seems ridiculous to be this far away from so many loved ones, especially when I am so bad at staying in touch properly (apologies to almost all my friends and family). But the purpose of this exercise was to focus on the positive, so... Number 1: I like that 90% of people riding public transit say thank you to the bus driver as they get off the bus, even if they are getting off at the back (they yell). And I don't care if people think Victoria is putting on airs - I still like riding on the top of double decker buses.



Last week was spring break for the children. It was a cloudy week, but in one of the brief bursts of sunshine we made it out to Swan Lake, a nature sanctuary home to many birds and a Garry oak ecosystem. We hiked through the Garry oaks to the lake, where we saw ducks, Canada geese, Western grebes, an American coot and a bald eagle. (No swans!) Back at our home we noticed a new bird at the feeder. I think we were all almost equally excited about this - in addition to the house sparrows, Northern juncos and purple finches, we now see the red breasted nuthatch (photo below).



We also accomplished a little spring cleaning last week. We moved the sideboard in front of the windows which opened up a space for the sofa. It really feels like a living room now - I don't know why we didn't do it earlier. (For anyone wondering, the contraption over the wood stove is our energy efficient drying rack. Assembled with hockey sticks and duct tape, this Red Green inspired creation is a great conversation piece.) On the topic of spring cleaning, you may have noticed my stunted attempts to revamp the new vics. Unfortunately, I am lacking the technical savvy to get the title where I want it on my new banner (if anyone has advice please help!) Along with a list of my favorite ways to procrastinate, I have also added a flickr badge, which you can click on if you'd like to see the photos that don't make it onto the blog. Last but not least, I figured out how to allow everyone (not just Blogger members) to leave comments. Hope to hear from you! Happy Spring!

Ode to 327

Goodbye old house. It seems a little strange to only be saying goodbye now, seven months after we moved out, but I suppose that until you sold two weeks ago there was still a little part of me thinking we might end up back within your walls at some point. The photo above was taken in December 2007. It seems such a long time away now, even though it isn't really. The kids were playing in the backyard as Dave shoveled the snow off the skating rink, Christmas lights twinkling all around. Not knowing then that it was our last winter there, I ran to the front of the house wanting to capture you as you were, glowing with so much warmth. We go a long way back, you and me. The slumber parties and summer parties I remembered from my childhood evolved into birthday barbecues and friday pizza nights for my own children. I felt so lucky when we got you, feeling we had magically been given the perfect place to raise our family. I remember the day we moved in, Mairi had left a little pair of red rubber boots in the entrance, and an orchid in a vase on the shelf by the kitchen. It was just me and my little three-month old firstborn in that almost-empty house for a short while before the movers (Dave, Al, George, Blair and assorted offspring) arrived. There were still some raspberries for the picking, and Cam found a soccer ball under the porch and started kicking it around with his cousins. You were home immediately. I would have liked to pass you on in a similar manner, scrubbed you from top to bottom, given your walls a fresh coat of paint, and left some flowers on the shelf for your new owner. But there was no time. Once we made our decision to leave it was as though we had to race to the finish line, because there were too many reasons not to go. If we had slowed down it wouldn't have happened. So all that is left is to say goodbye. Goodbye and thank you, old house.

And especially to those who made it possible for us to live there; Dave, George, and Mairi. Thank you.

What do you mean, knitting basket?

I spotted a pile of these beautiful fair trade African baskets in the window of this shop before Christmas, and dropped a few (too subtle perhaps) hints. When I went back after Christmas to have another look they were all gone. But lucky for me (and Herko) I spotted another pile in the window earlier this month. As soon as I brought it home and sat it down in the sun guess who jumped in. Dave said "You should have got one for yourself as well" (he always sides with the cats). I let Herks have his afternoon in the sun but then I reclaimed it (to be fair, the cats already have their own cozy basket right next to the wood stove) , and now it sits by my bedside, filled with balls of yarn. Now for the big confession: I have rediscovered knitting in a big way. And while usually my blogs are neglected because of work and school and everything else that fills up my days, sometimes, just sometimes, they are neglected because I am knitting in a rocking chair by the fire. There. I've admitted it. And now, I will do everything in my power to not turn this into a knitting blog (believe me, there are some really lovely ones out there in blogland already). Actually I have a little spring cleaning planned for this one. A little renovation, if you will. For starters, you may have noticed that I referred to my husband by his real name. Well, it seemed a little silly to go on with his secret identity once I linked to his website. I've grown tired of the name changes, and having spent more time in the blogosphere I am less wary of it. So as I usher in a new season with a new look I plan to abandon the old names. Stay tuned for more excitement!

Grandpa's Visit

We had a spectacular sunny spring week for my father's recent visit. (We have now returned to a cold drizzle with a chance of flurries(!) this afternoon). It was perfect weather for seeing the sights and we packed it all in, checking off almost all the items on the list the children had made of "things to do with Grandpa". Some of the activities included feeding ducks in Beacon Hill, taking Grandpa to the beach after school, ice cream at Roger's, a visit to the museum, fish and chips on the pier watching the float planes, as well as lots of time spent just hanging out on the front porch in the afternoon sun. We all had a wonderful time and hope to see Grandpa (and maybe even Gramber) back on the west coast soon. In the meantime, I've booked our summer flights back to Montreal so we have that to look forward to.

We interrupt this blog for a special announcement....

... Someone (known to readers of this blog as Dylan) has a new website! Please visit http://davehogg.ca and leave your comments in the guest book.

This will be brief, as it is late here in Victoria, but I've been meaning to share a few photos from the Chinese New Year celebrations for the past two weeks. Lily's class had a field trip to Chinatown just before Year of the Ox rolled in, and she came home bubbling over with all sorts of information; how red is lucky, the number 4 is not... She even pulled out her carefully preserved fortune from the cookie she had been given ("Pay close attention to your business interests in upcoming weeks"). So when I saw in the paper that there was a lion dance happening that Sunday, I asked if the children wished to go, and the answer was a resounding yes. Following Lily's instructions we dressed in any red clothes we could find, then met up with some friends and walked down to the gates at Government and Fisgard. There was loud drumming and a sea of people - we stood on tippy toes to catch glimpses of lions and dragons peeking up over the heads. We got a much better view of the events after we went in to a little bakery to warm up- we came out just as a lion was approaching to perform the dance:



Going for the lettuce...



Got it!



Sam: "He didn't eat all his lettuce".

We had seen merchants hanging up lettuce and money outside their businesses in preparation, and as the afternoon wore on, the lions danced from establishment to establishment (we watched from Bakery to Tattoo Parlour), munching up the lettuce and money, and then setting off a few noisy firecrackers on the threshold. From what I understand this is a kind of recession-proofing ritual. As you can imagine, we were enthralled as we stood watching, eating our warm honey buns.

Flora and Fauna

As promised, portraits of UVic campus resident rabbits. These photos were taken just a few moments ago, out on the lawn in front of the building my two classes are held in. Today is a grey day, but there were still many rabbits out. They only seem to take cover in the bushes when it rains.

Before I had kids, I read a rather depressing survey done amongst kindergarten-aged children, revealing that they could correctly identify a startlingly large number of corporate logos, but only a very limited number of plants and animals in their own environment. I'm sure that this observation is true for most adults in urban settings as well - I know that it is for me, despite the flower walks my mother used to take me on, and the bird-watching trips to Point Pelee I went on with family friends. It has been one of my goals to attempt to reverse this trend in myself and my children, and one of my hopes in moving to Victoria was that this task would become easier. So far, I think the learning curve has been pretty good. Yesterday, I finally spotted some birds at our feeder, and I think I am correct in identifying them as Northern Juncos. They matched the description fairly closely, with black hoods and their white tail feathers flashing as they fed. Dylan says he thinks they are roosting in our roof.

Sunday we all went for breakfast at the Beacon Drive-In, and carried on to the beach for a walk (and a wade). Sam pulled off his boots and his pants and went in this time. We just sat on a log, watching in disbelief. We saw seagulls snacking on crabs, a bald eagle flew right over us, and we spotted an interesting bird with a bright orange beak, that we later identified as a black oystercatcher. (We have a very handy pocket naturalist's guide to the BC shoreline wildlife, but I haven't managed to remember to bring it with us yet, so we just struggle to remember all the things we want to identify on the way home.) We strolled back, past the pond where the men with remote control boats were out once again.



I hope the following picture provides a little respite from the scenery most of my readers are used to these days. (Snowdrops instead of snow). If it is more irritating than enjoyable, feel free to say so in the comments, and I will stop posting this sort of thing.



Tuesday brought lengthy sessions of lego in the sun on the stairs for some:



And scenic bike rides for others:



It's a strange sort of season. It seems like spring, with the snowdrops and little green buds appearing on some plants. Even the neighbour's rhododendrons have a few pink blossoms opening up. I can't help feel like we're cheating winter somehow. But there is snow in the forecast for Saturday, so we'll see what comes next.

Holiday Recap

All aboard the Christmas Train!



This picture is from our lovely après-Noel visit to Vancouver. My sister had bought tickets for us to go to the Bright Lights show in Stanley Park, complete with train ride through all the lights and Christmas displays,with musical accompaniment and culminating in a dancing stiltsman (when I checked stiltman in my computer's dictionary it asks "did you mean Stilton?!"). For my regular readers, you can now put a face to "George" (centre) and "Amalia" (right). We had a wonderful time in snowy Vancouver. Our timing was really lucky as we were able to get there and back without any snow-related trouble. Our other outing was up Grouse Mountain (on gondola) for skating, rides on a snowtractor-pulled-sleigh and hot chocolate in the lodge. It was quite a mob scene on the mountain, and a thick fog set in while we were there, so we were happy to head back down a few hours later and return to their cozy house for homemade mac and cheese. Really my sister should go into travel planning.

Candy on the beach



Less than one week later (Jan. 2nd) we had a Beautiful day, so I convinced Sam and Lily to join me for a walk to the beach (they were in full vacation mode, still in pjs, and had already declined a visit to the museum with Dylan and Alex, but I was quite determined to get out and enjoy the sun/give the kids a good dose of vitamin D, so I bribed them with a stop for penny candy at the confectionary - hence, candy on the beach) Followed by:

Rock hopping



Cliff scrambling



Building a driftwood staircase




And finally, the sunset



I had to keep reminding myself it was January 2nd. Sam absolutely wanted to go swimming and was furious I hadn't brought his trunks. I'll have to sign him up for the next polar bear dip. If it is any consolation to those who may not have enjoyed these activities so early in the New Year, we have had almost continuous grey weather since. This has actually worked out for me, since 2009 got busy fast, what with deadlines looming for the book and deciding to finally, at long last, complete my neverending B.A. Yes, it's true - if all goes well I will graduate in the spring. I worked my way through a pile of paperwork to get Concordia to grant me permission to finish my last two courses at UVic, and went through the pile of paperwork to be admitted as a visiting student. Classes started on the 5th, and despite increased stress levels, I'm very happy to be there. And what UVic lacks in architectural charm it makes up for in spades with its large population of adorable rabbits (I don't use the word adorable very often, but it really applies here). On the first day of class I counted 9 rabbits on the lawn in front of the building my classes are in. I think that for the next little while, as I am a little overwhelmed by work and school, this may become more of a photo blog, so there may be some UVic bunny portraits coming up. Wait and see! Happy New Year!