candlelight fair

On the weekend, Jayla and I attended the annual Candlelight Fair at the Toronto Waldorf School. We have been attending this fair for several years now. My favourite part is the puppet play. This year it was an african folk tale called Akimba and the Magic Cow; a story of a poor man who repeatedly loses his magic animals through the trickery of his friend, and the friend gets his payback in the end in quite a humorous way. What a treat to hear all the little giggles coming from the front of the room at the end of the play.

Another treat for us that day was that friends of ours arrived and spent the day with us. The last we heard they were not going to be able to be there, so it was a pleasant surprise for us that they were there after all.

Many of the children’s activities are for the “children only”. No parents or guardians allowed. We big people have to wait outside the room and wonder about the magical goings-on inside. Each year I try to get Jayla to describe it in more detail. She did three activities this year: visiting with the Good Witch and receiving a cookie, walking through the magical Woodland Pond and receiving a gift from the Princess of the Pond in exchange for the gift of dewdrops from the children and shopping in the Children’s Corner.

Here are a couple of photos of the goodies that Jayla purchased in the Children’s Corner shop.

And every year we end our day in the little woods behind the school. This is where the children who attend the school play every day. What a magical place.

Now we just have to wait a whole year to do it again.

will – an update

I am a cat person, through and through. I love all animals, but I just have a special connection with cats, and with this fellow in particular. I think this is because of what we have been through together already in his short (6 months) life thus far. He is fully recovered from his injuries. The vets are amazed at how quickly and fully he did recover.

He is quite a pretty boy and is so soft and fluffy and cuddly. And he is totally my baby; he has completely attached himself to me as his main “person”. He is now six months old and so it was time to bring him to the vet to be, well, how do I put this delicately?….he will never be a father.

“Everything I know I learned from my cat: When you’re hungry, eat. When you’re tired, nap in a sunbeam. When you go to the vet’s, pee on your owner”. – Gary Smith

fall walk in the woods

This morning, Jayla and I went for a walk at one of our most favourite and local conservation areas. I love the smell of the woods in the fall.

Here is a sampling of the conversation we had:

Jayla: “Mommy do you believe in fairies?”
Mommy: “Yes, I do.”
Jayla: “Yeah. Fairies are nice. I have never seen one, but I am sure they are nice.”
Mommy: “Yes, I’m sure they are nice too.”
Jayla: “If I ever saw a fairy; I mean if they ever let me see them, I would keep that secret. If I told someone then they would probably want to put them on the news and I’m sure the fairies wouldn’t want to have their faces “flastered” all over the news.”
Mommy: **sniggering to myself** “Absolutely. I mean who would want to have their face “flastered” all over the news.”
Jayla: “Yeah, that would be bad for them.” “It is much better that they are a secret”. Don’t you think so Mommy?”
Mommy: “Yes, I do.”

There is a special spot in these woods where we have constructed a little fairy house. It is at the base of a tree. It curves inwards and there is a perfect spot just big enough for a modest-sized fairy family dwelling. There is a roof made from tree bark, and a large bed made of moss. They even have a fungus table and plates made from acorn caps.

Every time we hike in these woods we go and visit our fairy house and make any necessary repairs. Today Jayla found some tiny little mushrooms and put them on the table in their little acorn cap plates.

“[W]hen the first baby laughed for the first time, its laugh broke into a thousand pieces, and they all went skipping about, and that was the beginning of fairies. And now when every new baby is born its first laugh becomes a fairy. So there ought to be one fairy for every boy or girl”. ~James Matthew Barrie, Peter Pan

weekend with my girls

My oldest daughter began university this fall. Yes, university. I can’t believe I have a daughter that is old enough to be attending university. We are all very proud of her accomplishments and she is very much enjoying post-secondary education thus far.

This weekend Kiera came out for a visit. She is currently staying with her grandparents who live closer to her school. So, when she is able to, she comes home and visits with us. This was one of those weekends.

Saturday was spent doing a variety of things – Jayla had an art workshop; Lianne had rehearsals for a school musical she is in; the dog went to a rabies clinic to get her vaccination and the rest of the time we just hung out here at home.

On Sunday, the girls and I met up with my parents at Lang Pioneer Village for the day. It was the annual Applefest there. The weather wasn’t the greatest, but we had a fun time anyway.

jayla and little ellie

I have been a fan of Jennifer Murphy and her adorable bears and other stuffed creations for some time now. Last fall I was drooling over her latest creations and Jayla happened to see a bear that she absolutely fell in love with. Her name was Ellie. And the funny thing is, one of Jayla’s dear friends (she lived right across the street from us) is named Ellie. It was just too much of a coincidence. I decided then and there that I absolutely had to purchase a Jennifer Murphy bear for Jayla and it had to look like Ellie bear and it would be for her 8th birthday gift. Jennifer Murphy is an amazing artist, and an even more amazing person – so kind and generous. So, she made a custom bear for Jayla working within my budget – voila “Little Ellie”.

My camera decided to take a vacation this summer; but it is working now and so I was finally able to get a few pictures of Jayla and Little Ellie together. She adores her. And so do I.

Check out Jennifer’s blog.

happy fall everyone

Today, Jayla and I made a dragon bread together to celebrate Michaelmas – the feast day of Saint Michael the Archangel.

“England’s patron saint, Saint George, was the Archangel Michael’s earthly representative. In heaven Saint Michael was the angel who threw Lucifer out for his treachery, and on earth Saint George was famous for slaying dragons and rescuing princesses.” – Mrs. Sharp’s Traditions by Sarah Ban Breathnach

poor little Will

Our little kitten, Will, was bitten by our dog over the weekend after Canada Day. We didn’t see what happened between them, but we heard it and went running to find the dog laying guilty on her bed and we had to follow the trail of blood to find the kitten cowering under the side table beside the sofa. He had a bite to the forehead and also to the side of the nose, just missing the eye. He was also bitten on the upper arm and has 2 fractures there. I really didn’t think he was going to make it through the night; he looked really badly hurt. He did and he is continuing to recover and heal. He will be going to our local vet to get a new cast put on on Tuesday – the one he has on in the picture is a temporary one. This all happened at 11:45pm on a Saturday night and we had to drive quite a distance that night to find someone that could care for his injuries. I later found out that our local vet is available 24 hours – 7 days a week. Ugh!

cat lady

Willa

Willa’s sister — yet to be named — any ideas??

I love cats. I have always loved cats. I love all animals. However, if I have to choose whether I’m a cat or dog person, I would have to say I am a cat person. Since meeting Jean, I never thought I would be able to have a cat as a pet ever again – he is allergic. And then one day, on a very cold day in February a cat collapsed on our doorstep. We took her in and nursed her back to health. I put her on a raw food diet and lo-and-behold, Jean wasn’t allergic to our dear Sally. We are not exactly sure how old Sally is, but the vet said she is definitely over 10 years old.

Yesterday evening I started out for my walk. I didn’t get very far. A teenaged girl was walking towards me with 2 kittens. I remarked how cute they were. She asked me, “do you want them?” We walked back to my house. I called Jean. He said yes. Now we have 2 more cats.

Just call me “the cat lady”.

**edited to add: Willa is really Will — oops, how could we miss that one. Will’s sister is now named Lille.

photo shoot

This weekend a dear friend of mine did a photo shoot with my three girls. The location was the beach. Sebrina is an amazing photographer and the most amazing part is that she just began last summer. She captured my girls exactly as I had hoped. Their personalities and beauty shine through in the photographs. And the best part — it was so much fun.

Just look at the results.

ode to my mother

just when the
caterpillar
thought the
world was over,
it became
a butterfly.
– proverb

Happy Birthday Mom!
I Love You.

**edited to add:
this photo is from my mothers’ birthday celebration this year. i mailed out these butterflies to friends and family, i asked them to decorate the butterflies and write messages on them and then mail them back to me in time for her birthday and then presented her with them on that day. she was so surprised and thrilled.