Tuesday, May 31, 2011

Ol' Macdonald fixed my tractor

E-I-E-I-O

Can't stop humming the tune now that the oversized lawn ornament is up and running. I should have known all we needed was a farmer to solve the dilemma of whether our old Ford 8N tractor would ever run again. And now she does.

I can't thank Sam enough for his time and perseverance in trouble shooting the piece of machinery that has caused us much regret since we bought it several years ago. The tractor we thought would ease our snow removal woes came with a front end loader - perfect for moving massive amounts of weight around (what more could a potter ask for?) But perfect it did not turn out to be. Rather, it wasn't suitable to our narrow property and needed an owner who was more mechanically minded to tinker with it every so often. So inevitably it stopped running and has sat idle long enough to make us whinge with regret at having invested in it.

But now faced with the need to get it out of the way to make room for even bigger machinery to put to work on the property, Sam came to the rescue so we didn't have to rent a flatbed to carry her out. Here's a picture of Sam making good use of a fine piece of Jim Etzkorn's pottery to test the fuel lines!

So, anybody want to buy a tractor???


Sunday, May 29, 2011

Worth the effort


I haven't been blogging nearly enough these days, and it isn't for not wanting to post, but instead for lack of time and a moment to collect my thoughts.

It's been a whirlwind of a couple months really. Robin was away five and a half weeks of the last eight, sourcing brick, visiting friends, attending workshops, stoking fireboxes - all for the love of clay of course. He's been back now just over a week and its been a frenzy of activity around our place with all our summer projects ramping up.

And at the end of the day, all the effort I can muster up is dedicated to climbing the stairs to my bed, sometimes before the sun even goes down.

But today was a true Sunday, the weather cooperated perfectly and we honoured the seventh day of rest and forgot about our todo lists.


Today will also be remembered always as the day Roscoe learned to ride a bike. Remember Isla's? Well with Roscoe, we skipped the training wheels entirely and last fall he cruised the sidewalks in Logan on a strider bike. Then this spring, our neighbour lent us their little two wheeler with the pedals removed. But today, the daddy decided he was ready for pedals. And was he ever.

It took Roscoe about 5 mins on his hand-me-down 'Glamour Girl' ride to figure it out. And with a grin a mile wide, he spent the entire rest of the day with his behind truimphantly planted on that seat.

To make it even more memorable, we all headed down to the rails to trails just below our property, a converted old rail line that runs along the length of the river as it meanders south down the valley. What we thought would be a good practice zone for Roscoe's new talent, turned into a 5 km family bike ride. Both Robin and I couldn't believe his stamina.

But all good things must come to an end. And as I put a wailing and over tired 3 1/2 year old to bed tonight, with real tears wanting to go back outside and ride some more, I remembered oddly that his very first word was 'BIKE".



Tuesday, May 17, 2011

What's a few more laugh lines?

Life is full.
Full of chores, doing laundry, washing dishes, packing lunches, making beds.
Full of work, scheduling meetings and conference calls, writing proposals and making deadlines.
Full of obligations, paying bills, booking appointments, filing forms and making phone calls.
Full of relationships, spouse, children, parents, siblings and friends.
Full of hobbies, planting starts, watering beds, knitting projects and blog posts.
Full of family, visiting loved ones, caring for children and spouse, making time for pets.

At 35, my life is full.
But most importantly, it is full of joy, adventure and laughter.
Looking forward to another year as The Potter's Wife.

Sunday, May 8, 2011

I am Mommy, hear me roar!

My dream of sleeping in late, breakfast in bed, a leisure morning sipping coffee and flipping through cookbooks didn't exactly happen. Instead I was abruptly woken by a piercing screech that 'Lighting (McQueen) was missing" which set off another piercing screech from the next bedroom, "I'm hungry" and so went the first two hours of my Mother's Day.

But with food in their bellies, an extra long cuddle on the couch and some days events to look forward to, me and the kidlets made a pact to make sure Mother's Day would be a most pleasurable one for all of us.

Although I didn't sleep in late, I did get to enjoy my morning coffee, had helpers to make a batch of homemade granola, and had my own mommy show up to spend the afternoon together in the garden.

Happy Mother's Day to all the mom's out there. May you have been as lucky as I to spend it with the one person that appreciates being your 'mom' the most.

Tuesday, May 3, 2011

On top of Poo Pile

I inadvertently ordered what turned out to be a large ol' pile of poo for my garden. Composted manure, HA! More like a heap of horse apples, at a closer glance.

Oh well, it'll hopefully prove itself in a year or two, and perhaps even produce a squash or two this growing season.
At the very least my mistake entertained the kidlets for several hours as a jumping platform.

Monday, May 2, 2011

Occupancy Granted

I suppose when you choose an unconventional lifestyle, you tend to do things, um.... well....unconventionally. Although seven years have passed since we first broke ground on our mountainside, today is the first day we can officially (or legally for that matter) call home, home! Congratulations to us, we have been granted occupancy.

Meanwhile, the kids have taken up occupancy in the living room. Perhaps I'll make them take out a building permit for their fort.


Sunday, May 1, 2011

May Day Hey Day

It was a most festive and celebratory kind of day today, with bright sunshine and warm enough temperatures to make any and every one want to join in on a parade.

And so that is what we did. After a morning in town, dressed in our Sunday best, we congratulated cousin Sophie on her First Communion ceremony, and then headed back out to the valley to change into something a little more costumey for the annual Winlaw May Day Festival.

Alongside a couple other hundred colourfully clad revellers, riding bikes, drumming drums and waving banners, we fell into the flow of the town's parade which took us all the way to the Slocan River and back in just over an hour.

Ariel, the mermaid (aka Isla) and Spidey (Guess who?) rode their bikes, weaving in and out of the moving mass of people, careful to keep an eye on where Mom was at all times and just thrilled to be part of a live parade, the eight annual May Day Water Festival in fact. It was a beautiful afternoon here in the Koots, perfect for donning a Spiderman costume, all for the love of water and one that really felt like summer is only a short ways away. Happy May Day.