Sunday Dinner Takes the Cake

Peter and I discovered to our great amusement that we were wearing matching sweaters! Carmen served a beautiful dinner of two roast chickens with all the fixin's, and Wilson showed Miranda how to play "The Cifford Game." My carrot cake--after just a little too long in the oven earlier in the day--was iced decoratively within an inch of its life and was pronounced a success by all. As Nanny Carol (visiting from Ottawa for the next couple of weeks) observed, we're lucky to have such good friends!

Tickling or Tinkling...?

THE IVORIES!
I can never decide which is the right expression. But in any case, we are the happy recipients of a free vintage piano--an upright grand, dating from the 1890s--from a friend of Auntie Janie's. Janie sent us the photo below, taken in the garage where this grand old dame (the piano, not Janie or her friend!) had been reposing for several years. "All" we had to do was arrange for its shipment to Bowen (a "grand" pricetag on that one)--and once it got here, the movers couldn't make it up our steep driveway with their truck, so they PUSHED it up the hill, with Steve's help (thank goodness he had that back surgery--maybe he'll need some more after this!)...
My Mom and Dad both came over for the occasion, and Nana Lorna (a longtime ivory tickler--or perhaps tinkler) was in seventh heaven. Grandad even sang along with "Baa Baa Black Sheep" at Miranda's behest. Yes sir, yes sir! Our living room's FULL!

African Potluck

We enjoyed a marvelous African evening with friends and neighbours (hosted by Ken and Ann, who live just across the street), who invited us to join their international-cuisine potluck group! Steve made a marvelous chicken dish, and I tried my hand at a banana-peanut cake! Miranda enjoyed playing with her little friend Ellie (Gil and Sue's daughter) and meeting some other (older) kids as well...even cut a rug with some African dancing as the evening wore on! I forgot to bring my camera to take photos--but here are our cookbooks! Salaam!

Happy New Year!

Ah, the last day of freedom for me! Miranda started back to school this morning, and Steve and I took down the tree (and chucked it over the balcony!) in her absence. I took down the majority of the seasonal decorations yesterday, but have tried to capture it all in a few photos. Highlights of the hols post-Christmas: parents here on Boxing Day; dinner with dear friends in Vancouver on the 29th; Drum Circle at the Church Hall on New Year's Eve; New Year's Day visiting with neighbours; the cousins with us for lunch and the afternoon on the 2nd; attending a birthday party on the 5th. I'm sure I've left something out (like when the dishwasher and washing machine broke down on the same day), but you get the general idea of merrymaking with family and friends! And now (with apologies to Margaret Wise Brown's wonderful book, "Goodnight Moon") it's...

Goodbye, tree, we'll miss your presence...







Goodbye, pudding's rummy pleasance...







Goodbye, folks in Christmas Town....








It's time to take those houses down...








Goodbye, wise man, seeking child...








Goodbye, shepherds, meek and mild...








Goodbye, colourful displays...








Goodbye, flowers (dead for days)...








Goodbye, front-hall Yuletide shrine...








Candles, dim your Christmas shine...








The year is over, greet the sun--








.................................................... It's time to start another one.

Goodbye, Terry Murray

Teacher, counsellor, philosopher, godfather, friend: You were a person of true integrity, intellect, and love of humanity. Your kindness and wisdom touched my life and shaped my heart and mind (and I'm but one of many); your legacy is beyond all reckoning. Adieu, mon cher.