Luscious Fibers, Food and Life

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...

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.

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.

My Dad Shoveling Out

    Originally uploaded by mammiet.

My mum posted this picture on her flickr account of my Dad shoveling their driveway in Maine. Yeah, I don't miss that much snow.  Though I do think it's so pretty and bright. I'm sure my Dad thinks otherwise.  Mum, perhaps you can get Dad to leave a comment about what he thinks of the snow.

How do you feel about snow?

Catching Up!

So my trip to Maine was great!  A little working...a little relaxing...a little knitting.  Since I'll never catch up on my posting if I describe in detail. I decided to make a picture mosaic with brief descriptions...

1. belfast harbor, 2. silly in belfast, 3. belfast yarn store, 4. inside the sock yarn store, 5. downtown camden, 6. camden brook, 7. a yarn store in camden, 8. look at all the buttons, 9. enjoying wifi in the back yard, 10. my tech savvy parents, 11. suzanne relaxing, 12. sock knitting in maine, 13. playing fetch, 14. a hidden home, 15. humming bird, 16. early morning sun, 17. morning dew, 18. morning sun on the flower, 19. murphy, 20. stashu

Pics 1 - 4: Belfast, Maine is so lovely. Lots of little shops, located right on the ocean. There is a yarn store, a green store and a number of other specialty shops. Just blocks away from Main street you'll find the cutest gingerbread houses hugging the waterfront.  Belfast is definitely a place I could enjoy spending time in.

Pics 5 - 8: Camden, Maine is another cute oceanfront town, but to me not quite a lovely.  It's a bit more touristy, so a lot more people.  However, there are two yarn stores, beautiful views, and yummy places to eat, so it's always nice to visit.

Pics 9 - 20: All of these pictures were taken at various times while hanging out at my parents.  I've grown to really like my parents new house. It's no longer on the water, but it's special to them and they've made it a lovely place to relax in.  Their backyard area is surrounded by trees, flowers and many birds. It's enjoyable to sit back there and knit (and in Maine, it's cool enough). We've also hooked them up with Wi-Fi so my brother and I can keep in touch with friends and DC, I mean work from Maine, of course.

Lastly, I took some shots of Maine neutrals...

1. murphy, 2. stashu, 3. frog candle, 4. stuffed monkeys, 5. neutral yarn, 6. buffalo yarn, 7. napkins rings, 8. more neutral yarn, 9. huge hydrangea

When I got home, I found two surprises waiting for me. My July Project Spectrum Postcard:

My partner was Lolly and she made me a beautiful postcard. I love the pressed flowers and well purple is one of my favorite colors.  I feel very lucky to have had the Project Spectrum Hostess as my partner.

The next surprise I came home to was my flip-flop swap surprise - yeah! 

1. flip-flip surprise, 2. yeah! flip-flop surprise, 3. cool footies

Joni sent me all kinds of summer fun! The flip-flops have a straw foot bed and red trim. I have lots of flip-flops but none like this so she made a great choice.  She also sent me some needles, (all sizes I don't have!) some great yarn - perfect for washcloths, a book I've been coveting, little note pads, oh!two cute toe rings that I'm think she made (I'll have to take separate pictures of those) and something that completely amazed me...she knitted me some footies!  Clearly Joni is a much faster knitter than me, as we only had a couple weeks to put this package together and had I'd tried to do the same, I'd probably gotten through my cast on.  My gifts were wonderful and I'm really enjoying everything. Thank you Joni!