Canvas to the Imagination

From Free Will Astrology

LEO (July 23-Aug. 22): Here’s an update on the world’s tigers: Fewer than 5,000 are living in their natural habitats, while the U.S. alone has more than that number in zoos. Let’s use that fact as a starting point for your meditations, Leo. How much of your animal essence is in captivity, and how much is running free? Is your inner lion able to wander at will through places where it feels at home, or is it trapped in a confined space it would never stay in if allowed to choose? Keep coming back to these questions during 2009. It will be an excellent time to spring the great cat in you from conditions that make it pace in neurotic circles.

Oh, yes please! Especially to that last part. I love Free Will Astrology.

Once upon a time there was a small family of Germans, who lived on a small island called Bowen in the beautiful land of British Columbia. The family was made up of an entertaining German father who made funny jokes, a lovely German mother who looked after everyone, and a Big Cute Fuzzy Strapping Geeky German son (who was also the King of Drupal, but that’s another story…) This small family of Germans really loved to eat meat, as Germans have a tendency to do. They also loved to eat bread as well as cheese, but this particular story REALLY focuses on the meat.

As the Yuletide Season approached, the son who was always full of big ideas, came up with a meat-focused way to celebrate the Christmas season. He decided to call it the Twelve Meats of Christmas, and it would involve preparing and eating a variety of meats twelve different ways. The First Meat of Christmas was Chorizo with kale and chard in a pasta dish. (He was starting light you see.) The Second Meat of Christmas was delicious crispy bacon cooked for breakfast. The Third Meat of Christmas was roasted lamb with parsnips, garlic and lemons. The Fourth Meat of Christmas was Duck Soup with cabbage. The Fifth Meat of Christmas was Creton a spicy pork pate. The Sixth, Seventh, and Eighth meats of Christmas were prepared by his friend Zak and came in the form of Pork Tenderloin Wrapped in Prosciutto, Chicken Forcemeat and Puff Pastry. The Ninth Meat of Christmas was pulled pork cooked for six hours and marinated in delicious North Carolina style BBQ sauce. The Tenth Meat of Christmas was Montreal smoked meat cold cuts for breakfast. The eleventh meat of Christmas was braised beef cooked into a broth in Czechoslovakian cabbage soup.

It was as the eleventh meaty meal was achieved the son suddenly realized he needed something different, something out of the ordinary to be the crowning glory, as it were, of the twelve meats. But as the wintery weather was at its worst outside and the purveyors of further meats were inaccessible from the small island, he wasn’t sure how he could achieve this. Then low and behold, as his lovely German mother was clearing the paths around their home of snow, she stumbled across a poor young deer that had perished from the cold. The son was thrilled, ecstatic, excited beyond words, because now all his meaty dreams could come true! What a prize to find a fresh and tender young deer, and to have it die peacefully in the night.

In a flash, a band of merry revelers came together to help butcher the deer and prepare a magnificent banquet feast. People came from far and wide to taste the wonderful venison and to share in the miraculous meat. There were rare venison steaks, sauteed venison heart flavoured with garlic, beer and mustard, haunch of venison braised in cabbage soup, roasted venison with dried fruit sauce, and jerky marinated in raspberry wine vinegar with soya sauce. It was a happy meal and every reveler left with bellies full from the feasting.

The German son was content having achieved his dream of the twelve meats of Christmas, and in the process to have made so many others happy and well fed.

The End.

(This story is based upon true events from my Christmas on Bowen, and is dedicated to the Mann Family.)

There was something magical about yesterday’s snowy weather. I felt like a kid again as I walked up my street to catch a bus to work. I was warm, cozy, and happy all bundled up in my many layers and I wasn’t bothered at all about having to slog through the wet snow. It reminded me of winters in Ontario, of those days when the snow is thick on the ground but the texture is dry and fluffy, the sky is clear and the temperature is surprisingly warm. I walked outside a lot yesterday, part of the way to work and all the way home later in the evening. There were a lot of other people doing the same but maybe not for the pleasure of it like I was.

Good Things from Yesterday:
- Getting fresh air and exercise
- Helping put together an excellent Christmas luncheon for Hop Studios
- Goofing around outside helping to clean off Travis and Susie’s car
- Feeling over-sugared from eating Susie’s excellent homemade caramel (it’s so good, yet so bad for you.)

Before I had a bird of my own I had no interest at all in winged creatures. I may have even thought they were boring. Then my sister brought home a breeding pair of lovebirds, and soon I had a cheeky little bird of my own, one I’d raised from an egg. Many years and one lovebird later, I am fascinated by birds of all kinds and am capable of watching them for hours on end (dorky, but true).

My apartment is a great spot for watching small birds like sparrows, chickadees, and dark-eyed Junco, and I’m amazed how these tiny things can survive just fine in cold weather. I think they look warmer out there than I do in my many layers… I’m a bit worried about them not finding enough food with all this snow so I decided to purchase seed for them and put it along my window sills. They are very entertaining as they help themselves to food and bob up and down to keep an eye on me through the window.

The Field Guide: Birds of British Columbia group on flickr for plenty more bird photos.

I love this piece. It actually started out as a test to see how a particular Japanese paper (I don’t know the name of) looked layered over the gel medium transfer I’d done of one of my tree photos on wood. I did a test of each colour of paper – green, blue, and an off-white – and suddenly it was becoming a composition rather than just a “test piece” for collaging techniques. The leaf skeleton, splashes of watercolour, bird stamp, and coating of gel medium were further additions to make it complete.

On another note, I’ve been having doubts about making Christmas presents versus buying them. My thoughts are whether handmade presents are less valuable, or maybe less valued, than something store bought, and is it cheaping out to do things myself. I know this isn’t true, and I love it when friends gift me items made with their own hands, but not everyone appreciates a handmade item. I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.