October 31st

This post is in honour of my beloved Gramps, whose birthday is today, Hallowe'en. If he were still with us, he would be turning 89 today.

Happy Birthday Gramps. I miss you every single day.

Hallowe'en Circa 1975

My earliest Hallowe'en memory was the year my Gramps took me out trick or treating around to the neighbouring farms. In those days, we knew all the neighbours and in the culture of true Manitobans, they were all considered members of our extended family. Everyone was either an "aunt" or "uncle".

That Hallowe'en, my grandparents bought me a Bugs Bunny costume, which in the late 70's consisted of a thin jumpsuit that tied at the neck with Bugs' body printed on in, (in blue if memory serves) and a plastic mask of Bugs' face and ears held on by a flimsy elastic stapled to either side. Oh look! Here's a pic of the exact same costume!

Now if you know anything about Winnipeg and the surrounding area, you'd know that traditionally Hallowe'en night was usually pegged as the first snowfall of the season which often turns into a blizzard. It means that your choice in costumes is dictated by the weather. Either you wore a costume that was big enough to fit your bulky winter coat (or in some cases, snowsuit) underneath or you had to put your coat over top and then "flash" your neighbours so they could see your costume before they gave you candy. Fortunately, my snowsuit fit under the jumpsuit piece of my costume, so I looked like Bugs Bunny while staying toasty warm.

The farm houses were set a fair piece back from the highway, so Gramps loaded me up in the Funcraft (a sort of pre-minivan van-all the room of a minivan, minus the seats) and drove me from farm to farm. The Funcraft had a sliding door on the side, so he left the door locked open and I sat in the opening with my legs dangling out while he drove. Thinking about that now makes me laugh. Can you imagine tooling around in the dark, on a rural highway with a child of 4 sitting in the open door, legs dangling these days? Um...yeah...no...

Anyway, we drove up and down the highway, stopping at the end of each driveway and I would hop out and run up the drive to the house. I'd be almost out of breath because those were looooooog driveways, but somehow I'd manage to belt out "Hallowe'en Apples!!" (Kids in Manitoba say this, not "trick or treat". I don't know why, we just do. My husband thinks we're weird.) Someone I knew would come to the door and pretend they didn't know who I was and then dole out the candy. I of course was thrilled to be putting one over on them and the candy was just the bonus. I'd say thank you and then run back down the drive and hop into the Funcraft and we'd be off to the next house.

My quest for goodies ended with a trip to Don & Lou's house, our next door neighbours. Don & Lou had the longest drive of all. They built their house on the back end of their 5 1/2 acre property, on the river's edge, so Gramps drove me right to their front door. (Walking, it would have taken me about 20 minutes to get up the drive.) I hopped out of the van and hollered "Hallowe'en Apples!" at the house and Don came to the door. He went through the motions of pretending he didn't know who I was and teasing me before he gave up the candy. ALL of it! I loved Don.

I love Hallowe'en. It's my favourite holiday.

The Wilds

So this beautiful piece of real estate is where we stayed on the Island. It's called Cougar's Crag Extreme Bed & Breakfast and is located in Metchosin. It's definitely off the beaten track-when you arrive, you go up, up, up the drive and this jewel it at the very top.

Months ago when we decided to go away for our anniversary, I spent some time searching for just the right place. We wanted to take Indy with us, so it was important that we find a place that was 100% dog friendly. Steve, the owner of Cougar's Crag has four large breed dogs, so this was the place for us! (He has Maximus, a Great Dane and Banjo, a hound, as well as two working dogs who live with and guard his goats.)

Steve took good care of us. He's an amazing cook and our breakfasts were delicious. (We especially love the gingerbread pancakes and the world's best bacon! MMM!!) He even surprised us with a lovely bottle of wine which he left in our room to welcome us. When we travel, we always prefer to stay in a B&B-it's quieter, we get to support the local economy and we tend to learn more about the area we're visiting from the person whose B&B were staying in. We've had great luck over the years and have always had best experiences doing this.

This is the view from the balcony of our suite. The whole time we were there, we were hoping to get a glimpse of a cougar. Steve said one morning at breakfast, a cougar ran right past the dining room window! No such luck for us, but we did see two baby bears in our travels, seals, quail, deer, a rare and endangered salamander, raccoons, Great Blue Herons and eagles. I think we did pretty well!

Indy was in his glory-he got to swim in the ocean and in several lakes, while visiting beaches all up and down the south west coast. At this time of year, dogs have the run of the beaches. He had a blast. Several times though, when he was in the ocean, seals were checking him out and would inch closer and closer, at which point, we would have to call Indy our for his own safety.


At one beach, this was the beach access-a long and slippery staircase, with barely enough room to get onto the beach-see the tide line almost at the foot of the stairs?! While it was a bit hairy going down...

...it was a really long climb going up, especially on tired legs after (at this point) two whole days of hiking!

There were an amazing variety of mushrooms growing everywhere we hiked. I don't know much about them, but I plan to get a book just to see how many varieties I saw and whether they were edible or not. In the rainforest, mushrooms grow big. I asked my husband to put his hand in the photo for scale-this one was huge! Red capped mushrooms always remind me of Mary Stanley.

Just to give you and idea of how wild the area we were hiking in was, here's a shot of one of the beaches we landed on. We spent 3 hours in a downpour travelling through the rainforest to a series of rugged coastlines. It was the kind of hike where if someone slipped and broke an ankle, they'd be in serious trouble. This was no Sunday walk in the park!
We were wearing rain gear and had layers on and we still got soaked to the skin, but we loved every minute of it.

At one point, we were standing on this beach and I realized that in order to communicate, my husband and I were shouting at the top of our lungs.
That's how powerful and loud the ocean is in the wilds. It's both awesome and humbling.

This is one of the curious things we saw-pocked marked rocks. I have no idea why they are like this, but maybe I can noodle around online and figure it out.

On the trail. This looks like something off of a movie set with the mist rolling through like that. Return of the Jedi, anyone?

There are sections of boardwalk from time to time, I suppose to keep you up out of the mud and to protect the environment, but it's extremely slippery when wet, even with hiking boots on. I kept wondering why they didn't at least lay a layer of tread mesh across them. Like I said, break an ankle here and good luck to ya! Hiking this section was my favourite-I thought the forest looked so magical, all twisted like that and the way the light was coming through.

Natural occurring Bonsai in one of the bluffs. Who knew?!

On another hike, we visited a spawning stream. We were able to go right down on the shore and see the salmon up close, including several that had come to the end of their life cycle, like this one. We didn't stay there very long because along the shoreline had short, dense brush making it exactly the kind of cover bears like.

Years ago, in recognition of the fact that I live in bear country, I took a bear aware course so that I could peacefully co-exist with nature and recognize the dangers before anything might happen. I figure your best defense is a good offense. Anyway, I kept my eyes peeled, made alot of noise and we didn't stay long.

As we were returning to our car, a man with a camera that had a huge telescopic lens on it came along and said he was out there looking for the bear. Apparently there is a female with two cubs that lives in the area and had been spotted by the river just an hour and a half beforehand. That confirmed why my spidey senses were tingling.

We did an incredibly large chunk of the Island in 4 days, which means we've now covered the Island to our satisfaction. We've seen it all now, so on our next vacation, we will have to figure out a new area to explore. There's been some talk of Portland, Oregon or taking the train somewhere. We like to do road trips, with no real plan in mind-just driving, stopping wherever we want to and discovering cool things along the way. I'd really love to go up north on the inside passage and then drive back.

We had a wonderful time celebrating our 20th Anniversary and we couldn't have picked a more beautiful place to spend it. Only time will tell where our next adventure will take place.

Celebrating 20 Years

(Photo taken in the wilds, Port Renfrew, BC, Canada)

Happy 20th Anniversary to my Love;

It's hard to believe it's been 7305 days

since we exchanged our wedding vows.

Every single one of those days has been a gift

and I am the luckiest girl in the world.

xox

***

We just got back from an amazing 4 day adventure, hiking the wilds of the south western coast of Vancouver Island, British Columbia. As soon as I finish unpacking, I'll tell you all about it. Stay tuned!

Bonne Fete!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! to my Love.

You are *so* worth celebrating!

More Writerly News

I am happy to share that I have an article in the latest edition of ATC Quarterly. It's about the two TV interviews I've given on Artist Trading Cards and what it's like to do both live television and a taped interview. (Which are incredible different experiences. Personally, I prefer to go live!) If you're interested in ordering the Fall 2010 issue, you can find it here. Thanks to Ronna for the invitation!

I have more exciting news to share, but I'm waiting till I have all the details before I post about it. As soon as I get them, I'll tell you what's next. (Never a dull moment around here.)

Oh and for those of you who've asked, yes, my cast/brace is finally off. The tendons are still a bit sore and I am being cautious about lifting anything heavy with my right hand, but I *think* it's healing. It was definitely a painful and disabling injury and one I hope never to repeat. I guess I need to curb my wild side just a bit. (Yeah right! I'm saying this as I am about to embark on another adventure. *smirks* What's that saying? "It's not fun till somebody loses an eye"? Um..yeah...)

Signs, Signs, Everywhere A Sign...

Isn't this both amusing and yet oddly weird at the same time? There's this one abutment downtown, near Science World, which I pass when we walk to Granville Island. The first time I noticed it, "I'm not lovin' it" was plastered on it. (In reference to Mc D's "I'm lovin' it!" advertising campaign. There's a big Mc. D's right across the street from where this abutment sits.) That made me laugh 'cause I wasn't "lovin' it" either.

Last month, it read "Cross my art and hope to buy." I think this latest one, "Meet your new leaders" is funny. The dog looks curiously like a certain big black dog we all know and love, but I'm not sure as to the identity of the feline sidekick. *wink*

I'd sure like to know who keeps posting these little ditties. I suppose some of the charm lies in not knowing where they come from or why. That's one of the things I love about the city-it's both weird and wonderful and keeps me constantly entertained.

It's Turkey Day!!

HAPPY THANKSGIVING

to my fellow Canadians, wherever you are!!

I hope you are having a relaxing weekend. Indy and I went to Cranberryfest out in Fort Langley yesterday and had a wonderful time. The weather was perfect and I met some lovely people. It reminded me how much I enjoy being in a crowd of strangers and meeting people. I know that might sound kind of odd, but it's something those of us raised in Winnipeg (the heart of the Canadian prairies) understand. Winnipeggers can walk into a crowd of people they don't know and make instant friends. It's just what we do. Ask any of my friends -they'll tell you that's one of my secret powers. *wink*

The only thing that would have made the day more perfect would have been if my guys could have joined me, but they had to work. It was a 52 hour work week for them. (Yikes!) They're off for the next two days though, so today is turkey day and then tomorrow will be leftovers. I always think turkey tastes better the second day, don't you? I made the pies earlier in the week, so there's less to deal with in the kitchen today. I made both pumpkin and apple because my husband doesn't like pumpkin. (What kind of a person doesn't like pumpkin?!?!)

We got up early this morning and took Indy to the park for some off leash time and then headed over to our local Farmer's market. I love shopping there. We really have a fabulous market. I picked up some farm fresh parsnips and some beautiful rolls from the bakery truck to go with dinner. I can't tell you how happy it makes me to be putting my food dollars into the pockets of local Canadian farmers, rather than the big chain grocery stores. I try to shop local as much as humanly possible. Not only does it help keep those farms (and farm families!) in business, but it also ensures that our family is eating the very best of fresh, healthy food. It's win-win.

Anyway, it's almost time to get busy in the kitchen, so I will leave you with this beautiful piece of writing, which has become my favourite of the season.

Harvest Prayer

(Anonymous 17th Century Sermon)

Please be gentle with yourself and others.
We are all children of chance,
And none can say why some fields blossom
While others lay brown beneath the harvest sun.
Take hope that your season will come.
Share the joy of those whose season is at hand.
Care for those around you.
Look past your differences.
Their dreams are no less than yours,
Their choices in life no more easily made.
And give.
Give in any way you can.
Give in every way you can.
Give whatever you possess.
Give from your heart.
To give is to love.
To withhold is to wither.
Care less for the size of your harvest than for how it is shared,
And your life will have meaning
And your heart will have peace.

Hello Again!

Hello dear Readers! After three weeks of feeling simply awful, I am on the mend, with the help of some heavy duty antibiotics. Let's hear it for modern medicine!

The little bit of eye candy above is a page I did for a collaborative book for my friend Penn's 50th birthday. She got a good laugh out of it, which was the whole point. It was the first thing that popped into my head (thanks to my warped sense of humour) and I was pleased with how it came out. I'm glad she liked it.

Now for a bit of catch up:

Creating: Well, seeing as I've been so sick, I haven't been in the studio for almost a month now. (!!!) I've begun the next issue of Manual Dexterity Zine, which no one guessed was a Hallowe'en edition. Thing is, having fallen unintentionally behind, I am unsure whether I will be able to complete it before this Hallowe'en. I may put it on the back burner and work on it for Hallowe'en 2011. I hate the thought of not completing it now, but I just don't think I will be able to pull that off. Sometimes, you have to know when to let things go. It's in the hard drive and will keep, if need be.

Reading: The Last Man on the Mountain: The Death of an American Adventurer on K2 by Jennifer Jordan. Yes, another mountaineering book. They're my favourite! Once I finish that one, The Book of Awesome by Neil Pasricha which looks like it will be very happy-making.

Watching: Rubicon, which is intriguing and so well written. God bless AMC for their stellar story telling. If you're not watching it, you're missing out. Glee, which is amusing on a whole different level. House, which I am loving and hating in turns right now, the same goes for Rescue Me. Lastly, I'm still watching The Amazing Race, which I will never get tired of.

Listening: Zaac Pick, a local artist whom I'm really enjoying. If you haven't checked him out, get thee to iTunes!!

Anticipating: Canadian Thanksgiving, which is this weekend. It's one of my two favourite holidays. (The other is Hallowe'en.) It's also the annual Cranberryfest, which I enjoy. YAY!

Dreaming: About all the upcoming projects I'm involved in and celebrating our 20th wedding anniversary soon!

***

If you're looking for copies of Manual Dexterity Zine, you'll find them in my Etsy shop. The link to the shop is on the sidebar.

Thanks to everyone who has purchased copies so far!