Luscious Fibers, Food and Life

happy anniversary

Suz's Wedding 109, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

Yup...that's my parents, Ernest and Dianne. Today is their 47th Wedding Anniversary and I hope they have a great day.  They have provided an incredible model of marriage especially in regards to open communication and understanding.  The love and strength they share is unsurpassed and I feel very fortunate to have grown up with that love and be touched by it each day.  They can also cut a mean rug - check that out here and here.

Have a wonderful day Mum and Dad and I'll see you tomorrow!!

good news from boston

003, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

So last week Mum, Jim and I went to Boston to meet with the Dr. Sugarbaker, a well-known mesothelioma surgeon and specialist at the Brigham and Women's International Mesothelioma Program.  It was confirmed that my mother is not a candidate for the radical surgery Dr. Sugarbaker is know for, which is ok because she didn't really want it anyway. We learned that she has a very rare form of mesothelioma and that was good news because the this type of meso generally progresses slower than most.  We also learned that her cancer has not progressed in the last 3 months and that too was great to hear.  Way to go mum!

I've finished some knitting...news to come!

a great holiday

Christmas Daryl 2007 331, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

Our holiday was lovely. Mum, dad, James, Daryl, Grant and I started Christmas day with some coffee and warm cinnamon rolls by the fire outside. Tut thought the conditions were just right and Grant and I agreed.

We spent the day opening gifts, laughting and admiring many wonderful and thoughtful gifts.  For dinner we headed to my brother's house to have an incredible dinner together and open gifts to each other.  Again, lots of laughing and appreciation of each other.

I'll write more about some holiday knitting and cooking. I've uploaded more pictures here. You can also check out my brother's blogs for more pics (James and Mike.)

made it through the storm

Yesterday we spent the day inside because of the snow storm going on outside.  It snowed all day and into the evening. I think we got about 8 inches, which was much less than the 3ft originally predicted.  Since we knew that we'd pretty much be inside all day, we had made plans for inside entertainment.

Dad made us brunch at exactly 11:15. We had ployes and vegan sausage. Ployes are a traditional French Acadian pancake and my dad makes them perfectly...nice and thin.  They are great with syrup and fruit - yum!

Mum and I decorated the tree on and off most of the day.  She and dad have so many ornaments. Many bring back wonderful memories from growing up and she has a number that I'm not as familiar with, but that are quite beautiful. I, of course, want to look at each one which makes trimming the tree a longer process.  I think the tree looks great!

In the afternoon I cut up some "tud" (fudge for those of you that don't know the family pronunciation, thanks to my niece Sarah) that I made on Saturday.  I made the recipe from The Joy of Vegan Baking and it's the first time I've made fudge. I think it's pretty good and my dad does too as he can't stop eating it.

For dinner I made some curried couscous with cranberries and garlic roasted brussel sprouts, along with some leftover white bean and garlic stew.  All very tasty!!

It was a terrific snowy Sunday. Something I haven't had in a long, long time. Here are a couple more snowy pics...

Elf Yourself Fun

Can you believe it...another post so soon, but I forgot to post this yesterday.  Some holiday cheer from me and my brothers.  Click here to see our cheerful moves.

Chilly Breakfast

One thing I love about being at my parents is watching the birds and squirrels eat together at the feeding sanctuary my father keeps stocked (and shoveled out) during the winter months.  Each day you can see blue jays, finches, doves, downy woodpeckers, chipmonks and squirrels.  There's a place for everyone to feed and it's really quite something. My dad has always had a soft spot for animals (I could actually see him being a vegetarian.) and he nutured, or at least understood, my compassion for animals when I was growing up.

More shots from the Thurston Winter Feeding Sanctuary...

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We're not in DC anymore...

As you can see I'm up in chilly Maine. There's lots of snow and it's really quite beautiful.  This picture is of my parent's front yard.  My parents made the big welcoming snowman a couple days ago. You can read more about that on my mother's blog.

Last night we had dinner with my brother. He made a fantastic lentil soup (read more about that here). It was good to visit with him, Mira-Su and Chris.  Their tree looks beautiful and the house is festive!

It's nice to be home for the holidays. I'm looking forward to when Grant, James and Daryl join us.

Yeah....we're married!

Suz's Wedding 193, originally uploaded by dcjay64.

Just a quick post to say that we got hitched!

It was the most wonderful weekend with family and friends. Our ceremony and reception was exceeded all expectations and we were incredibly happy the entire time.  We couldn't have asked for any to be better.  We are so incredibly grateful to have such supportive family and friends. 

I'm sure I'll post more soon, but you can check out family blogs here, here and here...and pics here.

time for a change

At the request of my family, especially my mother, I've been asked to please update my blog.  My mother is sick of seeing the hospital photo of herself.  Well, at least she still have her sense of humor.  So the above picture is of my mother, father, brother and dog Murphy, going on a daily walk with my mum.  I'm not sure what they're all looking at but it sure looks puzzling.

This picture was taken a few days ago and as you can see my mum is recovering *amazingly* well from surgery.  She is still on oxygen, but is needing it less and less each day.  The road ahead is uncertain and scary, but for know I look forward to everyday I spend with her and my family...they are all incredible.

Here are a few other shots from my visit to Maine.  I'm looking forward to flying back up there tomorrow.  But for today, Grant and I are off to celebrate with the animals.

Mum is doing well

Just a quick note to say that my mother is amazing. Even with all the wires, tubes, beeping and pain, she finds a place for humor and laughter and doesn't she look great in this photo?

She is healing well, and may be out of the hospital tomorrow or the next day.  The road ahead is still uncertain, but our family and support system is strong and loving. Thank you everyone for your thoughts. I will pass them on...

My brother has written a nice entry on his blog, so feel free to take a look.