Another day another walk.
This time - pay attention - at dawn. Yes DAWN. As in virtually still night time, cold and dark.
No 2 and his GoPro (I swear he loves that thing more than his parents) had the 'need' to take sunrise photos.
And so we went. Because I'm nice. Also because the sunrise is at 8.14am... so really... I don't deserves such a big medal after all.
It was actually really beautiful.
And chilly.
And spectacular.
And back home by 8.30am.
Good start.
Contrary to what I said yesterday... I didn't go to`IKEA today.
Just couldn't face it.
It was sunny and crisp, a perfect winter's day.
So we went for a walk...
.... with:
- a winging teenager.
- a cold pre-teen that didn't listen to his mother and didn't wear enough clothes
- cold hands, mine, because had to lend my glove to aforementioned cold pre-teen
- an excitable dog
(my parents)
(woolly cow)
(us)
We then went home and had hot chocolate and biscuits.
All's well in the world.
I'm back.
All the men in the household are watching the football. Boring.
(All bar one: No 1 is shooting insurgents in his bedrooms whilst skyping his mates and snap chatting girls. Who says men can't multitask when it's convenient to them?)
So.... nice Christmas? lots of food? snow?
yes, yes, and no.
Nice Christmas lunch out. No washing up. Genius idea.
Walking back home in the cold, through empty streets was strangely Christmassy...
No Downton Abbey Christmas Special... sadly, so we watched James Bond instead, because I'm sure it's illegal not to watch JB on Christmas Day.
On Boxing day we hit the shops... but I wasn't inspired and came back with nothing. Richard Attenborough after dinner, of course.
Today we hit the woods. My sister in law has a really lovely piece of woodland and we spent a lovely afternoon eating bacon sandwiches cooked on the fire and sat on logs whittling.
I made a crochet hook
!!
It's rather large. Tomorrow I'll test it on some chunky yarn... if it doesn't work... it's still pretty. And 30 minutes earlier was a stick... do you know what I mean?
They boys swung from rope swing
(I want you to notice his boots... they're mine. Sigh)
The men yielded a chain saw and filled the boot of the car with wood.
Tomorrow I'm having to get my sorry bottom into IKEA to buy lots of crockery for Mr M 50's dinner party... Wish me luck.
I finished the seed stitch cowl I was knitting. It's gorgeous. I'll try to take pictures tomorrow.
If I survive IKEA that is.
Merry Christmas to all of you wonderful people!
I'm going to go AWOL for a while and enjoy a quite (ha ha) time with family and knitting and inappropriate quantity of food. I'm looking forward to Christmas (now that the central heating has been fixed... doh...) and beginning a new year with my nearest and dearest.
This time of the year always goes by so fast, I really want to slow down and enjoy it.
You do that too ok? Promise?
Go go go.... turn your computer off and breath out...
It's better already right?
See you in 2017.
In my mind I wrote lots of blog posts.
In my mind I wasn't absent at all... I wrote about frost and beautiful silver landscapes.
I wrote about Christmas shopping and asked your help on presents for an 11yr old who wants 'surprises'.
I wrote about a gorgeous chilli recipe I found, a recipe that for once was enjoyed by all the family (if I ignore that No 1 patiently removed every single kidney bean in his plate)
I wrote it all down. In my head.
Honest.
Cross my heart and hope to die.
Pinky swear.
But seriously. I've been busy. Busy doing stuff and in actual fact I have finished a quilt, and a pair of mittens, and have wrapped all the presents that are in the house bar the three that have been delivered this morning.
The Christmas cards writing marathon will begin soon but first I need to finish my fight with the laundry that threatens to kill me lately.
And we need food. Food shopping is one of those things that can't be postponed for too long I find. Most annoying.
We have a tree and it's gorgeous... and mahoosive... although it's shedding needles like mad and I'm really worried it won't reach the 25th. I love having the lights twinkling away in my peripheral vision. I can live without Christmas music... but not without the tree!
Mr M make me a gorgeous advent calendar: He's a keeper.
Mr M and I have been to party last Friday, rare occurrence, and had lovely food and nice chats and were entertained by Elvis. Quite scary actually. He took it waaaaay too seriously. And should have done his suit up a little higher. Just saying.
I put a few things in my Easy shop. (I'll throw in a free delivery if you're interested...)
We have decided to take turn choosing a 'family' activity each Sunday afternoon in order to consciously spend more time together rather than simply in the same house and passing each other like ships in the night or meeting only at the dinner table. (And moan about red kidney beans then).
When it was my turn I dragged everyone to see Magical Beasts and where to find them. Mr M fell asleep. No 2 and No 3, mad HP fan found it a little boring (it is a tad slow). No 3, who really didn't want to come, who has never seen/read HP books... loved it. Go figure.
Yesterday No 2 took us all bowling. I lost. Both games. I think I might have to secretly practice when they're at school!
Mr M is going to put everyone through a showing of Christmas Lampoon with Chevy Chase. A classic.
No 1 is still thinking about it.
No 3 wants to go Ice skating. Oh boy. That will be interesting.
I'll keep you posted.
I gotta go now. But I'll be back. And not only in my mind.
I've been thinking how to best describe my day in Rome last week but words totally fail me.
My brother - the Franciscan missionary in South Sudan - had applied for two tickets for the weekly meeting with the Pope in St Peter's square and we were both very excited about it.
We'd both been woken up in the middle of the night by that horrendous earthquake that devastated so many villages in central Italy... it was clearly felt in Rome too and let me tell you... it's not a good experience. Weirdly I didn't get scared on this occasion, but you never feel as powerless as when the earth shakes around you and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it.
The Pope replaced his usual speech with a rosary for the victim and I found it very moving. So many people from so many different countries and races all praying together was a lot to take in for my rusty Catholic heart.
(don't let them rob you of your hope)
Such a popular guy. He spent more than an hour shaking hands and blessing people. He had a good chat with my brother too:
So that was 'Papa Francesco'.
Then because the stars aligned in a certain way, or divine providence, or because sometimes things simply happen for no apparent reason we were offered (OFFERED!!) the chance to meet Joseph Ratzinger aka 'Papa Benedetto XVI later on that day. Well, my brother was asked... I tagged along like a shell shocked groupie...
Stunned we wondered around Rome for hours...
And then the time came and we were escorted by the Vatican Police to the middle of the 'Giardini Vatican, normally close to the public... to be honest at this point we didn't really know what was going on... was it a case of mistaken identity? did they know who we really weren't? were we going to disappear and never see our family again? were we going to get hired for a secret mission? shouldn't we've been blindfolded? secret service and government cars and a Pope... and us?
So surreal.
But then, after a 20 minute wait near a grotto with the reproduction of the Lourdes Madonna during which my legs got butchered by vicious mosquitoes... we were told to walk around the corner and there he was; twenty yards from us a fragile, diminutive man dressed in white stood up and welcomed us with open arms. Stood up! for us! ahhh the refreshing humility...
My little brother was happy chatting away, I was dry mouthed and kind of speechless, so ridiculously overtaken by emotion that my mind was blank. So blank that it was the Pope that asked ME questions... about my kids and where I lived... instructed me to pray daily for my brother and his work... such a kind, gentle man with the most piercing eyes that went straight through you. Intimidating but for the 'good' in them.
Seriously. 'Good'.
We got back into the car (who even took us back to ours outside the Vatican), looking at each other laughing and pinching ourselves.
Did it really happen?
Day 16 - Moraine Lake
And then... just like that we're on our last day.
WHAT???
Mr M still not on top of his game so whilst the two younger ones looked after him (... not... they used him as an excuse to stay behind), No 1 and I went on another expedition.
Takakkaw Falls. (Best name btw)
A short drive from Moraine Lake (short in Canadian terms... make it 50 minutes... which is huge in English terms, right?), it's really worth a visit. You can't actually see the top of the fall but it measures 387m. Seven times the height of Niagara falls. Bonkers.
And you can walk right near its bottom (treacherous and don't get too close... you get swept away by the fast river and next you know you're singing with the angels) and get totally sprayed by the mist.
Which, if you're sad like me, it's totally exciting.
And your fifteen yr old son will walk away embarrassed. We're at that stage in our relationship, obvs.
In the afternoon we mooched around Banff (nice place, although I'm totally kicking myself for not seeing the Hudson Bay Company store till we were driving home... doh!) and then ended our holiday at the hot springs.
Cool stuff.
(hot actually, but you know what I mean)
Bye bye Canada.
You've been amazing.
Miss you already.
Sigh.
Day 15 - Moraine Lake.
I think No 3 took pity of me because he decided to accompany me on a little hike (5.8Km return from Moraine Lake, piffles) to Consolation Lakes.
A gently climbing path through the forests leads to this gorgeous clear lake.
'Refreshing'.
We dipped our feet (yes No 3 has very big feet) in the glacial waters because let's face it, you don't get the chance to do that very often, right? (also... just as well... your feet feel like they're being squeezed into a vice)
Can you see the tiny boat on the lake? A group of scientist were taking their yearly measurement... keeping an eye on lake transparency and water level and so on. Not a bad day at the office I say!
Day 14 - Moraine Lake
This place is incredible.
Just when you think you've seen all the lake variation in the world... you arrive here.
Moraine Lake is bluer than blue.
(it gets also incredibly crowded and by 10.00 people have parked a mile down the road and the road itself is shut until later)
Pinch-yourself blue.
Can't-stop-looking-at-it blue.
Mr M was not well (at all) and the weather was a bit meh, so we chilled and relaxed. After the shenanigans of the previous two weeks we deserved a day off.
We stayed at the Lodge right on the lake and it was the perfect spot.
Day 13 - Icefield Parkway.
What a drive.
Seriously but this road on your bucket list. Now.
We left Jasper under a beautiful blue sky and I promised myself I'd be back. We stayed at the Fairmont Jasper Lodge and I can totally recommend it. The location is beautiful, the accommodation is spacious and it has an old charm that makes you feel immediately at home. The boys loved the heated pool and the games room.
As I said before, we didn't stay long enough.
But the road.... oh the road to Banff is a sight to behold.
Mountains and glaciers and river beds, incredible views around every corner...
We bumped into an 'elk jam' just out of Jasper (blurry photo taken from the moving car).
First stop: Edith Calvell Glacier. Stunning. Short hike to the milky blue glacier fed lake.
Yes the water was cold.
That's an understatement.
Can you see the little people on the lake shore? Everything here is bigger than you think...
Next stop: Athabasca Falls
A bit crowded, but it's high season and a lot of the places are.
We then looked for a place to picnic and found Buck Lake by chance. What an idyllic spot... sigh...
here's my tribe chilling and eating (which let's be honest are their two favourite activities... sloths...)
After lunch it was more miles of stunning scenery.
I can't get enough of this place. The immense space. The mountains.
(That's called Endless Ridge)
and this is the Athabasca river... at least I think it is... given that we then bumped into the Athabsca glacier... huge thing...
You can see my three 'scale props' (aka my children) in the foreground building towers with rocks. Maybe next Christmas I'll buy them all a huge lorry full of rocks... they seem to have a compulsion to pile them up wherever they go.
Weird.
AND THEN... WE FINALLY SAW A BEAR!!
A real life Yoghi bear eating berries by the side of the road.
Incredible.
I felt almost moved by it.
What a day.
Seriously.
Wonderful.
I feel so lucky.
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