2:22 p.m.

This little elf will soon hold a basketful of mandarin oranges. He is one of a number of characters who people my home at Christmas, thanks to my creative sewing friend Shelly. Everett pulled them all out of the old trunk after he decorated the tree, and took pictures of them for you:

~ reindeer made of wool socks ~

There are more ... oh, there's more! Once she made paper and fashioned Christmas tree ornaments with it; we hang those up every year. One year she made stuffed cloth wreaths. Once it was homemade candles; another time, homemade soaps.

***

Wildlife seen recently:
-red fox Dad spotted while on our way to Saskatoon to catch his plane
- 10 white-tailed deer in the unharvested flax field northwest of the yard at dusk
- the redpolls have made an appearance at the window feeder

One of Emil's craft creations from school.
We have lots of snow, so it fits.

***

1:41 p.m.

Most of my Christmas shopping is done; now, to wrap and bag and tag. Usually I enjoy everything to do with gift-giving, but this year I feel like it's too much to do well. I even imagined saying "To hell with it" but that's as far as my grinchism got.

Everett assembled our tree and hung the decorations yesterday, and put out the rest of our seasonal ornamentation. He strung coloured lights in my office windows. Will any Christmas baking be done? I am beginning to doubt it.

My throat's been sore the last two mornings, and my voice is about two octaves deeper than usual. Whatever Scott is still recovering from, I appear to have caught. If it doesn't get worse than this, though, I won't complain. This isn't half bad.

There's Grandma at her party on Sunday, sitting next to my Uncle Neil. There was a good turnout and Grandma enjoyed herself.

Looking good!

Thurs 7 Dec 2006
12:27 p.m.

Grandma says she can't do the highland fling anymore. I say "Hmph; bet you could."

I called her this morning to wish her a happy day, and will take her a gift this afternoon. It's an easy one: she does wordsearch puzzles and finished the current book today. All I have to do is stop at the drugstore and buy her some new ones, and a card.

Reta, she got your birthday card and said it is very nice. She was wearing the red top you sent (fits just right, looks good on her), and will wear the vested one to her party on Sunday.

left:
Annie May and John (Jack) Bartley,
Grandma's parents

right:
Dad and his parents

~ Hm, what should I do first? ~

Mon 4 Dec 2006
11:50 a.m.

Scott and I ended up going to Tuffnell yesterday to pick up the new piano. It was a stormy drive through the countryside, and visibility was much lower on the shorter, paved-highway part of the trip.

We feared a blizzard stirring up, especially when we got about 10 miles south of the farm. Quite the different weather system only that far away. Surprising. We'd left with snow blowing from ditch to ditch, sure -- we're from Saskatchewan, it takes more than that to keep us off the roads -- but only those few minutes away and ghostly veils of snow appeared above the fields around us. The van bumped through many drifts before we got back home with Everett's new toy.

Sat 2 Dec 2006
6 p.m.

This year the job of hauling in wood is officially Everett's. This is the first time we've bought the major portion of our winter wood supply. Normally Scott is out chopping down trees, mostly around the yard, when we are right out of wood or getting close. Often it is 20 or 30 below and he is tired or sick or somehow struggling to do it. This year I suggested we find someone to buy wood from, instead. "I'll pay for it," I said, "and you get it home and woodstove-ready."

Then I enlisted Everett to carry it into the house. He is to fill the wood ring, seen above, on the weekend and bring in a few armloads every day to keep it full.

Me, all day I tend the fire. It requires many trips up and down the stairs; about once an hour I run down there. I should be in fine shape, right?

***

Last night Emil went to his first Christmas party with the clients of the sheltered workshop in town. Everett stayed home to have a free hand with his Playstation (a big deal to him, who rarely gets his fill of that damn thing) and Scott and I dropped Emil off at the hall and went out for supper ourselves. After killing time with some night shopping, we went back to get Emil around 9:00. As expected, he wasn't ready to go. We stood in the foyer watching him boot around the outskirts of the central room with its very happy dancers.

There was a Dixieland band playing on the floor in front of the stage. This is the time of night, someone told me, when they let the clients come up and sing a song or recite a poem. We saw them get up there with such enthusiasm and unselfconsciousness it was a joy to see.

My favourite part of the evening was when we were dropping Emil off and hadn't left yet, but were standing in the entryway chatting with people and waiting to say goodbye to our boy, who had already trotted off to scout out the joint. A lady I'd never seen before came rushing up and threw her arms around me.

"Hi!" she trilled, as if I was someone she hadn't seen in six years. "I'm Gail!"
"Hi!" I trilled back, returning her hug. "I'm Kathy!" I'm pretty sure we had matching big grins on our faces.

***

Some of the people there last night are people we will probably be involved with from now on, for the rest of our lives, as Emil works and plays with them. It is new ... it feels new, though of course it isn't. I'm a regular at the local recycling spot, which is attached to the sheltered workshop. Many workers there are very open and friendly, so I've had conversations with a few. Now Emil has started his work placement there for a couple hours a week, as part of his school curriculum. He is easing into it, and so are we, I guess. But last night I was moved. Why? I'm not exactly sure. Maybe it was a sense of having a glimpse into the future and the unique community that is welcoming Emil into its social life.

***

Scott went to Yorkton today to buy some construction material and on his way home will stop in a little town to pick up Everett's new piano. We managed to find, with his piano teacher's help, a four-year-old Yamaha to replace the little Casio he practised his first year of lessons on. Special appreciation goes to my soon-to-be former husband for agreeing to pay for it.

 

~ mmm, beeswax candles; there's no scent like it ~

Wed 29 Nov 2006

"Canada Reads" is an annual contest held on CBC Radio, where five panellists debate the value of five books of their choice, until after many weeks all but one title is voted off the list of "must-read" books.

"This year’s books are an intriguing mix. Four of them were published since 2001, with one just released this fall. Four of the novels are about children or youth, from first-person accounts to young lives witnessed by a teacher. Even the novel featuring all adult characters includes a mystery about two missing children. The books explore cities and countryside, kitchens and streets, Canada and India, the lives of immigrants and others traveling between cultures. Plunge into these novels to figure out which book is your favourite, and tune in to the debates from February 26 to March 2, when our five passionate panelists will do their best to sway the voting and become champion of the novel that Canada Reads."

This year I'm going to read the books so I'll know what they're talking about. The local librarian is onside, busy tracking down and ordering in my requests.

You can listen to the radio discussions, if you don't live in Canada, by going to the CBC website. If you live in Canada, you know how to find CBC on your dial. "Canada Reads" will be broadcast between 10 and noon on weekdays.

Go here to get the list of books and join me in some good reading.

It occurred to me as I did some yoga this morning and had this view of the kitchen table and chairs, that a lot of my relatives and ancestors on both sides of my family have sat at that table and in those chairs.