Andrew has this habit of chalking things up to “being a farm boy at heart” because he “grew up on the prairies” in Saskatchewan. The reality is that he grew up in one of the biggest cities there (maybe the biggest city? the capital city? errrgh, I didn`t really pay attention in geography), Regina, and he pretty much saw the inside of a farm on grade school field trips and spent the remainder of his youth playing video games and hanging out at Manchu Wok in the mall like all other, non-agrarian, Canadian kids. Thomas will have just as much right to the phrase “farm boy at heart” as his father after his three hour adventure to Riverdale Farm in Toronto this past weekend. I sense that this would be Andrew`s kind of farm, smack dab in the middle of a big city with a Starbuck`s within walking distance. Seriously though, it was this amazing space in Cabbagetown that made you feel like you were`t in the city and we had such a great day there. And here`s a whole lotta pictures to prove it!
The windmill. Clearly.
Chickery Dickery Doc.
A very mean Turkey. I`m glad there was a fence between us and his beady little eyes
Jemimah Puddleduck and friends
This was the cutest thing ever: the mama would stick her head through this gap and call to her kids……..
…..who would come over all “What mom? I`m busy”
We were getting the real stink eye from this cow.
If Henry had his way, he would have been in the pen with the goats
Mendin`fences
Being wistful
I liked this little creature the best. We were allowed to pet him and feed him. We took this one home.
While the circumstances of my spontaneous visit home to Ontario were not ideal (if dad really wanted a visit he didn’t have to go to such extremes as having emergency open heart surgery) it has turned out to be a really lovely time at home with my family. We’ve had some amazing sunny days and lots of time with cousins and at the beach, the park, out for bikes rides and eating our weight in ice cream in Port Dalhousie.
Building the Taj Mahal
Being a crab
Bonding over a shared love of toast with marmite
cousin Bronwyn, 2 going on 22.
The only smile I ever managed out of my nephew Gethyn, who was otherwise wary of me for the whole visit.
Sunset walks to the lake
Very pretty
Beachcombers!
Mum and T
Hiking the Green Ribbon Trail. Walking stick in hand
“Mum? Can I poke at birds and stuff with this?” Ummmm, no David Suzuki, you may not.
A little game called “spot the frog”
“Mum, I’m fishing for water here” He was far more successful than I’ve ever been at fishing for fish.
With dad home and well, back to his baseline and joking that he really did all this just to get the free membership at the YMCA for rehab (always hated to pay membership fees, that cheapskate), we managed to make a not so great trip home, into a great visit.
As I write this, my amazing dad, is recovering from emergency bypass surgery. I am so thankful to my equally amazing mum for acting so fast so that he is where he is. Yesterday, after running the gamut of feeling terrified, anxious, relieved, thankful, etc, just when I thought my own heart couldn’t possibly take any more, Thomas came home from daycare with this picture that he drew
Have you seen The Fantastic Mr. Fox yet? You MUST! It is the best. I actually saw it when it first came out and I was nine months pregnant with Mr. T (Thomas, I mean) and Andrew and I went on this epic Christmas Day walk that ended up being 4 1/2 hours in total but had a nice little movie break in the middle. Anyway, I LOOOOVED the book and the movie, for once, did the book justice. Ever since, I have really wanted Thomas to have a little fox toy of some sort but I could never quite find what I was looking for so…… I made this guy….
The hipster fox, complete with an infinity cowl as they`re all the rage.
I love this guy! I used a pattern for the head but then winged it for the rest of him because I was picturing a fox with long, spangly limbs. As I was making the long, skinny legs I was thinking about hipster guys with their skinny jeans but because I have no idea how to even begin crocheting skinny jeans, I decided to give this hipster guy an infinity cowl instead. Why a cowl you are undoubtedly asking your collective selves? Well, yesterday at Meinhardt`s (over priced fancy grocery store that sells DE-LISH-US macaroons) I was sort of blankly staring at the person in front of me, admiring their cowl and figuring out how I could make up a pattern for the same when the person turned and….ohhh, hello SIR, I like your man-cowl. So you`re wearing cowls now are you boys? Alrighty then, hipster fox with a cowl it shall be.
Of course, no hipster photo op would be complete without the requisite old-timey moustache pic……
I`m a crafty fox, seeee. And I got this stach, seeee. (read that in an old timey villain voice)
And if the fox is going to do it…..
Mwaaaa haaaa haaaa!
We then headed out for the day and, of course, we took foxy with us for some city adventures. (note: my apologies for the poor quality of many of my photos lately – I`ve been taking lots of pics with my iphone which just don`t look as nice when inserted here.) Every time I tried to get a pic of Thomas and Foxy, Thomas would turn Foxy to look at him so there were a lot of shots of Foxy`s tail in different parts of the city.
Dudes
It was an exhausting, but fun, afternoon. Sullied only by a brief pit-stop at the doctor`s to find that I have strep throat, booooo. Nothing that a hot tea (and antibiotics) won`t cure.
Foxy had a latte. Skinny, obv.
Later, I made a mini-foxy to mail to a friend. I`ll post a tutorial for the little guy this weekend some time. Here are a few pics of Foxy and his little friend and of mini-fox, staring out at the rainy day and wishing he could have a city adventure like Foxy did. Sigh Some other time mini-fox.
Buddies!
I should have crocheted a tiny tear for his little cheek
After three years of enduring haircuts from me (which invariably involved kitchen scissors and bowls), Thomas finally agreed to go to an actual hair dresser (well, what he ACTUALLY agreed to was to sit through a haircut with the promise of a little treat for his “bravery”). The result was a haircut that cost more than most of mine do.
Ummm, what is she DOING back there? Is that a barrette mum?
Ok, I can tolerate the barrette if I can just stay focussed on what Diego is up to in this movie
“I can`t do a full thumbs up. It`s too snippy!”
That`s better. Thumbs up!
This styling part is a little weird.
But I sure like the part when she rubs the mousse in!
Done and done! Now, how about that treat we talked about?
Was March only 4 days long this year? It feels like it was. It was a total blur of final papers, final assignments and final exams that happened to coincide with the most amazing spring weather that Vancouver has seen in a good long while, making final papers, final assignments and final exams super hard to concentrate on. But………it`s done! School is over (*high five*)! No more homework, no more books, blah, blah, blah. I am now, officially able to tend to all your trauma needs. I might make myself a giant pin that says ASK ME ABOUT SEPSIS because I know more about it, down to what is happening to your every cell, than I ever planned on knowing. I was happy knowing all about hearts for my 4 years in cardiology but am looking forward to considering some other organs in the ER.
I did manage to sneak in a few sunny hours in the fresh air with the kidlet before my final exam. Here`s proof.
We started with a little side walk chalkin`which involved the creation of an elaborate, if utterly confusing, city for a tiny garbage truck to travel around, doing it`s thing…..
City Planner Numero Uno
The first thing he drew was a coffee shop. Hmmm, where does he get the idea that everyone needs coffee before they start work?
Now get to work!
My plans to “go all out” with Easter decorating began and ended with this……
Bun Bun. This was about all the creative energy I could muster.
This cool and stylishly leaning child was enamoured of Bun Bun though so my meagre efforts were worth it.
Just before Easter weekend, my sister and my niece and nephew arrived from Arizona. Thomas hasn`t seen his Aunty Lizzie and his cousins since he was a teeny babe so, understandably, he was super excited and super curious about them. We sat, in giddy anticipation, watching the big screen that shows people coming out of the luggage area before they come out to the arrivals area. For an entire Air Canada flight from Hong Kong, he asked “Is THAT my cousins??!?!?!?!” about EVERY. SINGLE. PASSENGER. “No, Thomas, that is two little old women. Your cousins are two kids, with red hair.” He would promptly forget my description when the next passenger came through, and so it went. After a while he just started yelling “COUSINS!!!!!” randomly, until at last the right little red heads came running. Amazing! I love airports.
They brought some seriously nice sun with them from Arizona and while I holed up in a coffee shop studying, they all had a sweet day at the beach.
Ta-da!
Cousin!
New buddies!
and the park…..
Concentrating hard on a giant hole that needed digging.
Just swangin`
If the amount of fun they had in their first few days corresponds to the amount of sand they brought home in their collective shoes, then I would say they had a, literal, mountain of fun.
We made use of Thomas`s bunk beds while the fam was visiting which meant a lot of early mornings that started with a little head popping up over the foot of the top bunk……..
Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Mom? Are you awake? Mom? Mom? Mom?
