Jolly Old England

   When I was a little girl I began having strange and vivid dreams about a green hillside with simple huts nestled against it and a simple and hard but happy life. I didn't experience them as you typically would in a dream with a story that goes from here to there. It was more like snippets of life that were unremarkable save for their realistic quality and contrast to my own life.
   At some point I felt that I knew it was England long ago even though I had never been there and didn't know anything about it. It wasn't until my mother introduced me to the idea of reincarnation when I was about eight years old that it made some sense to me. Though I could never be sure, it was an interesting possibility.

Shropshire country lane

   Many years later I flew to England to see my beloved band, Radiohead, for the first time and I had a distinct feeling of coming home. I didn't want to leave once my trip was over. I have always felt more comfortable in old places and around old things than new ones, but it felt like more than that. It was an almost tangible feeling of familiarity, especially in the countryside.
   In the meantime, I met an English couple that worked at Granville Island like I did and we became dear friends. I have since had the privilege of visiting them in England a number of times and did so most recently last month with Isla because they had a baby girl recently like we did.
  Although a scary emergency landing caused a 20 hour delay and some serious exhaustion ( which was made better by some seriously sweet and helpful fellow passengers), we eventually arrived safely, slept for many hours and proceeded to have the most lovely of trips together. Isla smiled her way through the trip and was an absolute delight of a baby. It was very special to travel with just the two of us, though I missed the boys terribly.
  We divided our time between London and the Shropshire countryside. Forgive me for the volume of photos this entry. There was just so much to see. Enjoy!

Balfron Tower, the famous Brutalist
apartment building where I stayed
with my friends 

The farm where the BBC2 documentary series 'Victorian Farm' was filmed

The 800 year-old house where my friend spent her early childhood. Notice the columns in the front window.
The original and oldest part,  the building on the right, was built to protect the King's huntsman.

Stokesay Castle with its unusual timber-framed add-on

Gatehouse at Stokesay castle

Another view of the manor house's unusual architecture

The window where the ladies of the house would
sit and watch the world outside

The gorgeous panelled walls added in the 17th C. to make the place warmer and more homey

View from the tower. Barely got there due to the fact
that I had to squeeze up a tiny staircase with
Isla strapped to me. 

Shropshire hills. Never got tired of this sight

My happy adventurer

One of Ludlow's famous half-timbered
buildings.

The most famous of them all; The Feathers Hotel and Pub.
We stopped there for lunch with my friend and her father.

View from Ludlow Castle

One of my favorite photos; it just captures the essence of England in the autumn

The Queen at rest

The Victoria and Albert Museum. One of
the wonders of London. These two
photos show plaster casts made from
original antiques.

The most intricately carved ivory I've ever seen

What people go through for fashion!

My Arts and Crafts hero, William Morris's original tapestry.
I  recently found this made into a fabric.  

Fence Post

   Living in one of the most unaffordable cities in North America has encouraged Josh and I to discover new abilities and learn new skills out of necessity. There is so much to be done on our little rancher to make it a safe and cosy place to live and some things come with an hourglass tipped over so we need to do them in a timely manner. Because we can't afford to hire someone, we just do it. So when our watermain broke last winter, Josh got digging and between him and my brother-in-law they dug a giant trench the length of our house and only called the professionals to hook it up to the city pipe.

Westin helping Daddy

    Our fence became another one of those things we couldn't ignore. At first we though some bored kids were knocking out fence boards, but soon came to realize that parts of it were so rotted that even small gusts of wind were making them fall out.  After Rowan escaped one day through a hole we knew we couldn't put it off any longer. So we ordered the panels and posts and Josh began the arduous process. I won't bore you with the details, but in a nutshell it was lots of digging and axing through giant left-over tree roots, much measuring, much cement mixing and  gravel and cement pouring and the endless search for stones to throw in the post holes to steady it for the cement. Each post seemed to take ages and as the auger seemed more and more dangerous Josh replaced it with hand digging, no easy feat for such deep holes.


Vision + Perserverance = Success
 

The long, long fence line

Just watching the action

Loving the sun and the dirt piles

Ditto

Now what to do with that space...

Proud Papa

Our future kitchen cabinet doors once they're planed

   With some help from Josh's parents, many long hours and just enough dry days to complete the cement pouring, the fence was finally finished and boy is it beautiful! As the days passed and I became more and more impressed with Josh's persistence, I could see that his recipe for success was more than hard work; it was his strong vision. From the moment he picked up his shovel he could see our new fence standing strong and straight, and he worked hard until his reality matched his vision. It's something a lot of us know in our hearts, but it was great to see it played out so beautifully. It's nice when others remind us of these truths just by example.

Trick or Treat

   It's a funny world we live in sometimes.  So much is altered and virtual that we almost get used to not taking things at face value (pun intended). So when I sent out photos of Josh's pumpkin carvings, a number of people thought that they weren't actually pumpkins but altered photos of our faces made to look like glowing jack'o'lanterns. Therefore, even though Josh created a treat,  quite a few people thought it was a trick.

Josh in the background working hard at carving.

The beginnings of Isla's face.

   With so much technology surrounding us at every turn, it's easy to forget that there isn't an 'app' for everything and sometimes it's just good old-fashioned talent creating some good old-fashioned fun.

Family O' Lanterns

The Morgans in all their pumpkin glory.

   When I married Josh, I knew he had a lot of great qualities, but I've been delighted to learn over the past five years that he has a wealth of undiscovered talents that are just coming to light. My favorite by far is his talent for cooking and baking which neither of us had any inkling of until someone gave him a cooking magazine subscription. He took to it like a chef to a favorite recipe and our kitchen has never been the same- but I digress.  A couple of years ago he entered a neighbourhood pumpkin carving contest on a whim and won it. He entered last year and won again. He decided to go for something really crazy this year ( but not enter the contest and give someone else a chance) and carved our entire family on pumpkins using a woodcarving tool set. This took much of two days, but it was worth it. It was pretty eerie seeing myself as a pumpkin. I can't imagine how he'll top it next year!

  


  Handmade Halloween


     Each year since Westin was born I've been making various things for Halloween and enjoy much satisfaction from the magical quality Halloween takes on when the home is full of handmade objects. This year I added a costume to our tickle trunk. I was inspired by the feathers from a costume from imaginechildhood.com

and made a bald eagle costume for Rowan. I sewed it from organic cotton fleece and organic bamboo so it turned out very soft and cosy.

   The children have come to love the trick-or-treat bags I made them last year and were happy to see them again this year.  The sewing was very simple, just two rectangles sewn together, but I've learned that the right fabric choice can turn something basic into something beautiful.
   Paper chains are also very easy to make if you take high quality construction paper with strong colors, cut a bunch of thick strips about an inch wide and then just staple them together. I made this one last year in just a few minutes and it adds an instant festive touch.

   I'm a busy mother, but by crafting one new item each year,  I'm creating heirlooms for years to come. The kids also love to unpack all the creations from the Halloween box each year as they've created such fond memories with its contents.

Going through their loot after a very exciting evening gathering it.

Our spooky candle sconces that we actually use year round, but they sure work for  Halloween night!

                                            Hope you've all had a HAPPY HALLOWEEN.