In the Christmas Spirit!!!

This is AMAZING!!! You MUST follow the link to see this FABULOUS video!
I LOVE CHRISTMAS!!!

The 12 Days of Christmas!!

Enjoy!!

A Brief Hiatus

Hello Everyone!
I just wanted to let you all know that I am taking a brief hiatus from blogging land for a little while.
As you may have noticed, I've been experimenting with some new looks for the blog, and I am planning to continue working on that. Hopefully this will mean that you will have a new and improved blog to see when I return.
Also in the works are a studio web page and personal web page. Ideally they will all be accessible from one fabulous page....... any ideas on how to do that, or on books that will teach me would be greatly appreciated!!! Please feel free to leave a comment if you have any suggestions about things you would like to see.

Life is busy here in this busy city, but I'm always so excited to come home from work to the comfort and coziness of our tiny little home. Currently I am preparing for a recital here in Toronto (less than 2 weeks to go!!) and for a performance in Banff. Of course, I'm usually up to some sort of project that doesn't include my flute, and currently that project is cooking classes! How fun!!!

See you soon!

Busy as a...... Flutist!! And more 'Fall Gifts'

I love my life as a musician. Right now it is exactly where I want to be. I have a full studio of fabulous students, with only a few available lesson slots left. And it's still September!! I've been practicing hard, preparing for 3 performances in November. I'm playing 2 full recitals in Ontario, and then I'll be performing in Canmore, Alberta, as part of the Vic Lewis Festival. Exciting!! I'm very much looking forward to it. The past couple years I've spent most of my practice time practicing technique- scales, scales, scales and more scales, and I have to say that it's pretty nice to feel that all that work is taking my playing to the next level. I LOVE playing my flute, and I am especially enjoying being able to play the more virtuostic technical passages with ease, and musicality. Love it.

Around the Coach House we are in the process of switching into fall mode. The straggly summer plants have been replaced by gloriously huge mums and there's a new mat at the front door to greet all of my students. Although I have to admit that the mat makes me pretty happy every time I come home too!! It could have something to do with my love of birds, and the fact that the new mat has a super cute Chickadee on it!!
As you can see in the above photo, there have also been more instances of 'fall gifts' around the Coach House. I found a perfect peanut, still in it's shell, nestled in with the petunia's yesterday. And today, when I went out to photograph the mat, I found this: Right outside our front door!! I'm pretty convinced that it is the same white bellied grey squirrel who is leaving all of the goodies, as I heard him rustling in the tree behind me while I was taking the pictures!

I will never be a hand model.

It's funny how we discover things. I have just discovered that I will never, ever be a hand model. No Palmolive commercials are in my future. I do NOT have photogenic hands. They look quite nice, at least I think so, in person. But in a picture? NOT AT ALL. However, I digress. Let's see what even made me decide to attempt taking a picture of my hands.

How is it that in the past 28 years, being quite a girly girl, I have not ever had a French manicure? I've had a normal manicure on the very rare occasion (re. weddings), but I just don't function like a normal person when I'm wearing nail polish. I can't look in my purse for fear of denting the polish, and then there's the matter of trying to undo, or do up a zipper, without chipping anything. Don't even think about gardening, cooking or cleaning. Even while wearing rubber gloves I have managed to mangle a manicure. It seems that no matter how hard I try, the nails look fabulous for a hour, and then I bash my hand into something and the glamour is destroyed.

Yesterday, while celebrating the last few days of my friends single life, we decided it would be fun to get manicures. Knowing that my nails would need to stay beautiful for over 2 days until the wedding, I decided to forgo the usual red, or dark polish in favour of something...... lighter. And behold!! A lovely French Manicure!
So far so good, and it's almost been 24 hours. Keep you fingers crossed I can make it another 24!! (And yes, I do have a thumb, it just didn't photograph well).

Fall Gifts

I know that Fall is just around the corner, but it sure doesn't feel like it with the 33 degree weather we are having today! Still, the animals know that the seasons are starting to change. The first big flock of geese flew over our little coach house this morning while we were drinking our coffee and listening to the radio. Then, on Jeremy's way out the door to work, we discovered this present left in our plant, presumably left by the cute, grey, white bellied squirrel that quickly scrambled up the tree when the door opened.
"Hee, hee". Jeremy and I laughed about this seemingly random storage place for an apple. Imagine my surprise when I went down to do some laundry later on and discovered this at the bottom of our front steps!
I especially love the little nibble marks on the top left corner. I am even more amused at the scene pictured in my mind, of the little squirrel dragging along this massive loaf of french bread, so pleased with his bounty. I'll be giggling about that all day while I'm cleaning house. I'll just have to make sure the image doesn't pop into my mind while we're playing cards tonight. It is not a good thing to immediately follow an "I'm all in" with uncontrolled giggles!!

A reading adventure!!

Instead of reading the newspaper, or watching the news every morning, I allow myself a few minutes to peruse the latest happenings in the lives of the people who write my very favourite blogs. (Look for an new side column with links in the near future)

This morning I was thrilled, having just finished reading a book, to find a post on a blog I frequent inviting readers to enjoy a book, all together. I love the idea of all of us readers/writers/bloggers reading and enjoying a book at the same time. I've often thought about joining a book club to experience the joy of reading a book at the same time as someone else. To be able to discuss our thoughts, our feelings. I'm so excited to finally do it!!

Such a clear picture comes to mind- It's late at night, the house is quiet. A window is open to allow the crisp, fall air to gently blow in. Beside the window, I am reading by the light of a solitary lamp, wrapped in my favourite throw. My cup of tea is just about empty. Glancing at the clock, I discover it is way past my bedtime. I get up, but instead of crossing the room to my bed, I head to the kitchen and put on the kettle for a fresh pot of tea. It's going to be a little while yet before sleep beckons.

If any of you want to join me, I encourage you to check out this fabulous blog, Tales from Pixie Wood, not only for the invite, but also to discover all of the fabulous adventures in housekeeping, recipes, inspiring posts, and great writing. Enjoy. I hope some of you decide to join us.

2 more.....

Okay, let's add just 2 more choices into the mix.

7.
8.

If you prefer both arms showing.....

Let's call these choices number 5 and 6....

I've ruled out these choices for now. Please feel free to let me know about choices 7, 8, 1, 2, 3 or 4!

Thanks for all of your input so far!!!

Press Shots.....

I was in need of some press shots, and needed them very, very quickly- and cheaply. Enter Jeremy with our digital camera, me spending much more time to get ready then I like, and an afternoon hiking around High Park in search of a great shot. The following four are the ones we liked the best.... what do you think? 1, 2, 3 or 4?

1.

2.

3.
4.

Mr. Pomeranian

As I was taking the subway (almost a month ago now, how time flies) I had quite an entertaining experience. I was standing at the end of the platform looking towards where the train would be coming from, when my eyes were suddenly distracted from their task. Newly arriving on the platform was a very tall, bearded man pushing a blue pram. This wasn't too out of the ordinary in itself, but the fact that he was surrounded by at least 10 little pomeranian dogs barking and yapping made for quite the scene.

They were quite well behaved for little dogs with more attitude than would seem possible. Travelling together in their little pack, free of the restrictions of leashes, they happily bounced along the platform, freely barking at whomever caught their attention. I myself was deemed special enough for a bark by the leader of their pack. He came right up to my leg, gave me a little bark of a greeting, then strutted back to his gang. By this point, Mr. Pomeranian himself had pushed his blue pram close enough to me that I could discreetly peer inside.

Imagine my surprise when I saw, not a little baby or toddler, but another 4 or 5 little pomeranians all sitting together. Prim and proper as pomeranians could be, carefully viewing the goings on of the rest of their pack from their prime pram position in life. It was about this point when the subway came roaring into the station, and all of the little dogs clustered like small children against the back wall, until the subway had reached a full and complete stop. Alas, when we boarded the train I was one car ahead of Mr. Pomeranian and his crew- although I can imagine that the ride that ensued was as equally entertaining as the waiting time on the platform.

On writing comments on blogs.

Why do I read blogs? The blogs I frequent most often are usually those of my friends, and most of them live hundreds, if not thousands of kilometers away from me. Blogs are a great way for us to keep up with what is happening in eachothers lives. I read the blogs of a few people I don't know personally because I enjoy the way they write, and the recipes or other interesting things they write about.

Do I leave comments? Sure, on my friends blogs I absolutely do. Do I leave comments on other blogs? Yes, if I am feeling particularily inspired about something they wrote. Do I anonomously leave comments which attack the writer? Never. If I feel strongly about something I write my name. Blogs can often lead to an interesting dialogue between the author and readers. That is what makes writing a blog so interesting!!!

It has been interesting to see what readers leave comments about. I guess I'm fairly lucky that most of the comments I receive are generally positive and encouraging. So, I was quite surprised to read a comment correcting my grammar in a less than kind way. I'll let you know right now that I am not a "dumbass" thank you very much. I do appreciate the correction- infact I had intended on fixing it shortly after I published that post, but alas, my full, busy, fabulous life got in the way and my little grammatical mistake fell by the wayside. Oops. Little did I know that someone would take such offense- I'm so sorry to have caused you such anger!! I do appreciate the thought though. You're absolutely right that I wouldn't want someone to read my bio and think I was a "dumbass". But then again, I did begin each sentence of it with a capital letter, so it can't be that bad. I was kind of hoping that those reading it would just enjoy reading a short story instead of a list of pretentious facts that most people don't really understand or appreciate anyways.

For those of you who care to read the comment being discussed, you can view it here. What do you think? Personally, I'm quite happy to have the odd imperfection. Especially if it means that my life is so interesting and fabulous that I don't have the time or desire to read other's blogs with the sole intent on correcting their grammar and calling them "dumbasses".

Just about there!

One more day to go and I'll have completed Orff level 1!!! YAY!! It has been a crazy, amazing 2 weeks. There have been many late nights- like, past 2 or 3 in the morning, and all early mornings- 7 am wake up call. Most nights have averaged 4 or 5 hours of sleep. But, it was all worth it. My marks have been really high, and they have told me that I really should consider doing level 2 next summer.

Highlights of the course? So far, writing my own song and lyrics, creating my own game, and writing last nights project- a song (4 verses and chorus) plus orchestrating it, based on Roald Dahl's the BFG. Other highlights- last week's Stepping class (no, not like aerobic step- but actual body percussion, stomping feet in crazy choreography), realizing that I might actually sound good singing (apparently some people thought I actually had vocal training- HAHAHA!!), and acting. I'm looking forward to performing tomorrow- I'm the 'lead' character!!

It's been a blast, and I've learned so much about teaching- and I am no longer scared of improvising!!

I'm looking forward to some social activities after class tomorrow with all of the great people I've met, and actually being able to have a social life for the rest of the summer!!

Also, I just want to brag for a minute about Jeremy. He has been absolutely incredible this week while I've been at class. Not one complaint about me being up late- instead he made me tea! He's played guitar for me whenever I needed, so I could hear the chords I had written while I played the melody. There's been dinner for me every night, and he even made me lunch everyday. The bed's been made, and laundry has been washed, folded and put away. Not only that, but he's put up with me singing, composing, playing recorder until all hours of the night- and not to mention the one near breakdown he prevented me from having. So, Jeremy, thank-you!! You are absolutely incredible, and I am so lucky to be with you!! I love you!!! I'll do the dishes tonight.

whoah.

How is it that despite my best intentions I had only two posts in the month of June? And here we are- half way through July. Yikes!!!

Thank goodness it is Friday. I'm taking the Orff level 1 class through the RCM, and it is insanely intense. I am having an absolutely fabulous time, and learning a ton- my students are in for a treat- but it is totally insane!!! Class for 8.5 hours, and then the homework has been taking me at least 5 hours (It's the perfectionist thing in me coming out). All the hard work is paying off though, my marks have all been extremely high. Yay! I have some major assignments to do this weekend, and thank goodness, Jeremy will be back from band camp on Sunday.

Okay, I know this post is not up to the norm. All of my creativity has been poured into writing body percussion, chants, songs, dances and poems this week. Once I'm recharged you'll have something you can sink your teeth in to. I promise.

June Flowers and Recitals

It's mid-June, and my flowers are going crazy. I still haven't actually even planted half of them- they are just hanging out in the pots waiting patiently (hopefully this week!!) to be properly planted. The plants don't seem to mind though..... in fact, it is quite the opposite- they are growing like crazy. Only a few weeks ago they were cute little baby plants, looking a little lost in the terracotta pots. It's amazing how quickly things can change!!

Our crazy basil! We can't use it up fast enough!!

Besides flowers, June also means year end music recitals. My students had their year end flute recital on Sunday, and it was excellent!! You can see a picture of my students that played here. Lessons are wrapping up now, which means that I'll have some more time to blog! I'm also planning on making some changes to our website for Coach House Music. And of course- there are some stories about our trip that still need to be written.

And of course- It's Father's Day!! I already talked with my Dad on the phone today, but here's another wish for a Happy Father's Day!!

Eat, Clean? and Be Merry!

In my childhood, Saturday morning's were reserved for two things, cartoons and chores. Almost as soon as we had climbed out of bed, my sister and I, comfy in our p.j's, would cozy up in front of the t.v. for a couple of hours. Every half an hour we took turns to decide what cartoon we'd cast our bright eyes upon next. Sometimes this had to be refereed by our Mom, but mostly it was a peaceful affair. We'd eat our breakfast, laugh and be merry for a few hours while enjoying the colourful, visual feast displayed on our television.

Inevitably and all too soon, noon would arrive and the fun cartoons would be replaced by boring adult shows. We'd try unsuccessfully to feign interest, but Mom always knew better and we'd be ushered into the kitchen to eat some lunch before the next part of our day began. Chores.

I didn't ever really mind helping out. The fact was, if we didn't get our chores done, we couldn't go out to play with our friends. And the sooner our chores were completed, the sooner we'd be jumping rope, or riding our bikes outside in the sunshine. Complaining took time, which meant valuable minutes with friends were being wasted.

We didn't really have that many chores to do. Our bedrooms had to be tidied, and we each had one bathroom to clean. My sister usually got to vacuum the carpets, and I vacuumed and mopped the floors. I remember feeling like I always got the harder chores. The ones that took longer. But I think back now, and realize that my sister just did her job faster.

It's not that I dilly dallied around. It's not even that I didn't like cleaning. I actually loved the finished product, all neat and tidy. Yet I always felt on the verge of tears or anger while I was cleaning. I compensated, as children often do, by making up a special game for cleaning the bathroom, called 'Clean or Dry?' Which basically meant that the sink or toilet had to be so clean and spotless and shiny that when I brought my Dad, he always seemed to be the lucky chosen one, to inspect my work he wouldn't be able to tell if it was really wet or dry. He always guessed, "Wet?" and I'd squeal with delight and laughter and make him feel how dry the polished sink actually was.

wet or dry?!

Fast forward a few, okay more like 15 or 20, years. I'm cleaning at the coach house. I start off in a wonderful mood- excited to get everything neat and tidy. By the end I am a crazy, grumpy, irritable wreck- reminiscent of some irrational woman experiencing a round of the worst PMS ever. I couldn't understand where this rage was coming from. The sink was glistening, all of the dishes were done, and the floors were gleaming. I was finished!! Shouldn't the fact that everything was tidy result in elation? Yet here I was, a sweating, furious mess, trying to body check the vacuum back into our tiny closet.

I decided to sit down and thumb through a magazine. It can only be described as serendipitous that the magazine opened to an article about cleaning. On the pages in front of me a Mother was telling the story of her son. A wonderful, happy child who was keen to help out, who was always laughing. Yet, every week after she had finished cleaning her home, something changed in her son. He became cranky. Irritable. He whined and cried. After months of this, a light went off. Could it be the cleaning products that were making her child behave so uncharacteristically? She went out and purchased a non-chemical floor cleaner, came home, and cleaned the floors.

She looked over at her son- who was still contently playing with his toys. After a few days, all of her old products had been replaced by new, chemical free, biodegradable versions. Her son was a happy camper. No more unexplainable out-bursts!

Well. I closed the magazine on my lap, and thought for a few minutes. Could this be where my cleaning rage had come from? It was resolved in my mind. I would conduct my very own experiment, with me as the guinea pig. The next time I was out I would purchase a few new cleaning items.

A few days later I went to the store and found the cleaning isle. Lined up side by side, immaculately presented, was a whole row of various natural cleaners. To my surprise they weren't much more expensive than the products I had used before. They all looked so... inviting! Promises of fresh lemon scent- from actual lemons! Toilets that sparkled and smelt like oranges. Was it possible? How much extra elbow grease would it take to achieve the results I wanted. After far too much time reading and sniffing the various products, I finally settled on a few bottles. Forest fresh pine for the toilet, orange reminiscent of fresh orange juice for the bathtub, chamomile and aloe for the dishes. Sweet, succulent lemon for the floors.

I waited for a day that I was feeling exceptionally cheery and energetic. I didn't wait long!! Armed with my recyclable bottles, I was ready. I scrubbed, polished and danced with my mop gliding across the floor, happy like a clam, for 2 hours. The house was immaculate. It smelled like fresh citrus, but delicately. There were no over powering chemical perfumes lingering in the air. The toilet actually gleamed and glinted like the cartoon animation on a commercial character's smile. I could almost hear the chimes tingle in perfect time with the sparkle. "Ching" My toilet seemed to agree. I rinsed the mop and placed it back in the storage closet, no body checking required.

"Ching!"

We now use natural products for everything. Laundry, dishes, toilet and shower, furniture and floor. They often last longer than my old products because so much less product is required. Although, I am using them more often, because who doesn't love a sparkling home?! And the best thing- no extra elbow grease required!!

a post!

We've been back for a week now- and every day I've sat guiltily in front of the computer screen wondering what to type. Where does one begin? Well, at the beginning, I suppose. But HOW?! I plan on going day by day- it would just be too much otherwise. Do I do it in a picture story? How many pictures do I post? How many is too many? I know there are some GREAT short stories that I want to write, about adventures we had- where do those fit in? This is going to be a bit of a project. I don't just want to throw a bunch of photo's up and say "That's is folks- that's all you get" But I also don't want to ramble, because admit it- no one really wants to read about all the little details......
So, while I turn this project around in my brain for a few days, here are a few pictures to get you started.

Rome

The Chateau, and a view from the Chateau

Village in France- you'll find out where later!!

Jeremy and I, on our last day in Paris:

bangs blowing in the wind

I've received a few complaints about not enough updates this month.

I'm sorry!! I've been running around like a crazy woman, (I'm sure I have actually looked crazy, running through the subways, bags flying, purse awkwardly flapping, bangs blowing back/up so high I could be paying tribute to the 80's). I've literally been running all around Toronto, playing concerts, rehearsing and teaching up a storm. Alas, it doesn't sound/read as busy as it actually has been. Every night I fall asleep within 30 seconds of my head hitting the pillow, and every morning at 7 when the alarm goes off my entire body protests. Just a few more minutes (err.. hours?) it pleads. Nope. There's no time for that now. There's a big trip in our future, and it's just around the corner. Happily, this means that you will have plenty of random adventures to read about when I get back from our trip!! Maybe even a few posts along the way.

Rome for 5 days,
an overnight train,
Nice for a day,
A Chateau near St. Tropez for 8 days,
Paris for 2 nights.
I'm sure there are plenty of amazing stories in my (and therefore, your) future!!

I'll try to post one more time before we leave. Enjoy your day!! I hope your weather is as amazing as ours is. Sunny, and 21 degrees. Yay Spring!!

my new bio

I have a couple concerts coming up in the next month, (A flute a harp recital in Stratford, and a flute and harp children's concert in Stratford) and I was requested to submit my bio. It was time for an update anyways.... So this time I decided to write something a little less formal, and a little more fun.

Shauna Basiuk’s musical adventure began when she was a just a small child. Each night at bedtime, in an attempt to lull her to sleep, her parents would turn on the blue, Fisher-Price radio on her bedside table. “Good night”, Shauna would drowsily exclaim while giving her parents a hug and kiss, “I’m SO tired” and then she’d pretend to go to sleep. As soon as her parents left her bedroom, her eyes would pop open and she would lay awake, enjoying all of the captivating harmonies emitting from her radio. Eventually, as it always does, sleep would take over and Shauna would be carried into dreamland, drifting off to the enchanting melodies of classical music. The radio program was called Adventures in Music, and little did her parents know, the classical music that soared out of that little plastic radio would shape Shauna’s entire life.

A few years later, after much begging, pleading and promises to practice, Shauna’s parents bought her a piano. It wasn’t until many years later, at the age of 16 in fact, that she discovered her passion for flute, and her real musical career began. A few years later Shauna received a Bachelors Degree in Music Performance from the University of Calgary. In 2005 she completed the prestigious Artist Diploma in Orchestral Performance at the Glenn Gould School of the Royal Conservatory of Music, in Toronto.

As to be expected in a musical career, and just like the name of her childhood radio show, Shauna has had many adventures in music. Music has taken her to exotic locations such as China, The Netherlands, Scotland, Germany, California, Texas, and across Canada. Beaches have also beckoned, and Shauna has been repeatedly invited back to perform as a guest of the Bermuda Chamber Orchestra. During the past 2 years, Shauna has performed regularly with harpist Ruth Mar. They have performed throughout Toronto, as well as in Stratford, Ontario.

Shauna’s contact with some of the most prominent flute teachers of today has helped her to form a unique and inspiring musical voice that she offers to her own students. She currently teaches at St. Clements Private School in Toronto, as well as in her own tiny but quaint coach house. Shauna is also on faculty at the University of Calgary Regional Summer Band Workshop and the Toronto Summer Music Camp. In her spare time she enjoys bird watching and writing short stories. She still enjoys listening to the radio.

iron maiden

I hate ironing. Most of my clothes just don't need it. And, I'll admit, the few items that do require the despised task, quite unfortunate since they are often the most beautiful, get worn less often. Strangely enough, I don't mind ironing sheets, usually once they're on the bed, (a handy trick).... warning though, once you try ironed sheets you won't want to go back! There's nothing quite like sliding into freshly laundered and pressed linens after a long day of work! However, I digress.

I am not always aware of things I should be, like for instance, where the iron might be stored when it is not in use. It is usually jammed into the side of the closet somewhere (remember, 400 sq ft coach house = not quite enough room for storage!) and sometimes requires standing on a chair to be retrieved. Such was the case when I decided it was time for the closet to be reorganized.

I'm sure you have better things to be doing than reading about my closet cleaning adventures, so I'll get right to it. I had pulled out all of my sweaters, refolded and organized them, and was beginning to put them back in their proper place, heavy just about out of season sweaters on the bottom shelf, when "WHOMP" it hit me. Hit, I suppose, could be deemed quite the understatement. In fact, upon more reflection, flattened would be far, far more appropriate.

It had come out of nowhere, and left me hunched over and struggling to get my wind back. "Is everything okay?" I spoke aloud, to myself. And I began what could only be described as the hurt check test. Squiggled my fingers. Check. Bent my arms. Check. Wiggled my toes. Check. Gingerly moved each shoulder. Check. Carefully twisted my neck from side to side. Check. Gently arched my back. Check. Everything seemed to be in working order which left me free to get down to business. What the heck had just pummeled me in the back??!!

Gently rising up from my hunched, winded stance, I looked over and saw this crime scene:
It does not take a brain surgeon to determine that the stuffed monkey, although looking quite pathetic laying face down after his fall, is not the culprit. Only the iron could have been capable of causing me to randomly exhale a spontaneous, huge "HUHHH" in the moment it bounced off of my back to land so eloquently on the floor. Only a point 5 deduction for the cord being slightly unwound.

"I was ironed," I thought to myself, a smirk sliding across my face. "I wonder if it'll bruise?" Nope. Nothing but the most subtle, faint purple line across my left shoulder blade the next day. At least the closet is organized. How ironic. Hehehe :)

In Like a Lion

So, here I am practicing my piccolo (Hindemith Symphony in B flat) for an upcoming concert, and all of a sudden there's a bright flash of light from outside. It lit up the whole coach house- through the blinds!!!
Of course- it is SNOWING!! We're supposed to get a fabulous mix of snow, snow pellets and freezing rain over the next day. And now, apparently, thunder and lightning!!!

Hair Update

Those who have known me for an extended period of time know my chameleon tendencies with my hair. It's been a struggle, but over the past few years I have managed to keep dye, and pretty much scissor free. Here's a few pics of the results.... straightened.

In other news- I got confirmation that I'll be teaching again this year at the U of C Summer Band Camp, August 19th - 24th. Yay Calgary!!

Beatboxing Flute Inspector Gadget Remix

the BIG news!

Jeremy and I are going on vacation!!

A huge, fun, amazing Mediterranean extravaganza.......

Here's our plan. It could change a bit- but this is the basic itinerary- as we booked our flights last night!!

Fly to Rome, drive/train to Florence, drive to Cinque Terre (I'm especially excited about this one!!), drive around the Mediterranean to a Chateau in Ramatuelle near St. Tropez, where we'll stay for 10 days, fly to Paris, just one day in Paris, and back to Toronto. We'll be gone for just over 2 weeks. YAY!!!

big news.......

It has been so busy around here recently that I've hardly had a second to even think about updating!!! There's lot's of fun news in the works- You'll just have to wait a couple (maybe even just one more!!) days before I can tell you!!

But for now, here's a quick story for everyone to think about.

One of the biggest changes that Jeremy and I are making in our lives is trying to reduce, reuse and recycle more and more. I know- we've all been saying that phrase for years, but how many of us actually make a conscious effort to follow those ideals?? I remember learning that phrase in elementary school- and it's been in the back of my mind since then.

It's way over due for those important words to get out of the BACK of everyone's minds- and become a part of the way we live our daily lives.

One of my favourite things about living (and trying to be more environmentally aware) in Toronto has been the introduction of the green bin. Every city should incorporate this into their current recycle program. If you don't have one already, I encourage you to write a letter to your city council expressing the need for one!! Having a green bin has reduced the amount of our garbage every week by amazing amounts! All of our food waste, kleenex, paper towels, coffee grinds etc (you can even put in maxi pads and diapers!!) gets put in the green bin- and gets composted!! It's amazing- and every other week we now throw out less than a full bag of garbage.

The other day I was shopping at a well known Toronto health food store. In my efforts to reuse (and therefore reduce!!) I reused a plastic rice bag. Most of the rice we buy comes in a resealable bag- and Jeremy got the bright idea the other week to start reusing them. It's cheaper to buy bulk anyways- and they have the exact same rice available in bulk. So I filled up my brown rice bag with some wild black rice.

At the check out, the girl swiping the groceries held up the bag in such a weird way- She was examining the wild rice!! I told her the bulk rice code- and she replied "Oh- I'm pretty sure that the pre-packaged rice comes with their own scanner bars." I was shocked!!! Here I am, in one of THE Toronto health stores, and the check out girl hasn't encountered this before?? So I explained to her that it was my own bag- and I was re-using it. She was shocked!! It was actually pretty hilarious to experience her reaction!!

"Oooh," she said, which she followed with a heart felt "Thank you!! Thank you so much!! What a great idea!"

ummm "You're welcome?" was the only response I could think of at that point!!!

The point of the story- obviously, try to reuse or recycle something today that you normally wouldn't. Even if you just bring your own bags to the grocery store instead of using their plastic ones. Every little bit we do makes a difference. And if someone at a health store was surprised at my efforts to reuse, it sadly shows us how far we still have to go.

my house

I am having a lazy day today. Jeremy is out with a friend, and I am enjoying some time alone. I was browsing my usual blogs, and came across this!!

this is my house!

To see my house and street, click here!

You can build a house too, and add it to Green Gardens Street.

My house also has a garden in the back for organic vegetables, and some fruit trees. There is also a beautiful patio. The roof is also made of grass, even though I'm not sure if you can have a chimney with a grass roof!!! If you want to come and stay, we cook an awesome organic breakfast, and we have a beautiful guest room and amazing linens. You also have your own en-suite bathroom, with an antique, extremely deep, sloped back, soaker tub. And extra large towels from France. We have a library and a sun room, so you can read by the fire, or if you prefer, lounging in a sun beam. Our flooring is all reclaimed, and heated........

I could go on and on and on........

must practice!!

i want a desk

now we just need to find one.......... and then work miracles to find a space to put it!! I've started writing again, but it is difficult to write without a proper place. And I don't like writing at the kitchen table. It's not the right size, and when I'm sitting there I just want to eat all day. So. The search for a desk begins, and the writing continues on the big chair. I'm an old school writer, apparently. I like the feeling of writing fiction with a pen and paper.

It's been all things creative here for the past week. As well as writing, I picked up my sketch book and have been doing some drawing with some sketching felts. Chickadee's and some other random ideas have all been sketched.

Practicing has been going well. I took a bit of a break for a while, gasp, I probably shouldn't admit it- as taking breaks are often frowned upon in my profession. It's fun to be playing, and I am thinking about scheduling a recital in May or maybe early/mid August.

Other crazy ideas have also been flying around in my brain. I'm thinking about going back to school, just thinking right now, and maybe doing something non-music related..... we shall see. I'm NOT saying that I'm stopping music. I'm just thinking about getting some schooling in an area that I could do while having a music career. I like to do too many things!! I'll post more about that if and when things get a little more serious!!

It's getting to be time for a haircut. It's January, which means that I am fighting the colour battle again. Blonde is beckoning....... maybe just some highlights?? Probably just a trim. It's getting long. When it's wet, it is mid back. That is CRAZY long for me. I think the longest it's been since I was in grade 3!!

I'm tired.

My sweatpants are calling my name.

Oh yeah! Mary- I dreamed about you last night!! We were in some forested place, teaching at a music camp. We were finished teaching for the day and were catching up on each other's lives. It was dusk when we were suddenly surrounded by mountain lions/cougars (just 2 of them). Luckily there was a good climbing tree near us, and we scaled up the tree and into the back door of the building near us!!

meteorologist wannabe

I always love it when a weather warning is issued. Thunderstorms or snow storms, the crazier the better. Usually the warnings don't pan out, and the supposed 'awful' storm blows on by, leaving us with only a few drops of rain or what couldn't even be called a blanket of snow. And more importantly, leaving me waiting for the next exciting weather warning.

Last night a weather warning was issued for the Toronto area. 10 - 15 centimeters of snow, snow pellets and freezing rain was expected. I was ecstatic!! Our first real snow storm of the year. YAY!! I could hear the scratchy sound of snow pellets falling all night. I was thrilled. I even read the full out warning....... I have to share some of it with you. Who knew that someone at Environment Canada had a sense of humour?!! I guess in Canada you have to have one if you're in the weather field!!

Taken from
Environment Canada's Official Weather Warnings

Warnings
City of Toronto
3:50 PM EST Sunday 14 January 2007
Snowfall Warning
10-15 cm of heavy snow mixed with ice pellets. Overnight and Monday.

"...... Despite the lull, the battle between the mild air well to the south and the invading cold Arctic air of winter from the north is not over........ Winter will finally win this latest battle with the mild air as the storm center races off into New England by Monday evening. In it's wake, the coldest airmass so far this season will invade by Tuesday. Temperatures will plunge several degrees below normal as winter finally settles in, for the time being."

Battles, invasions, storms, racing off and more invasions. I think the person who wrote this secretly wants to write fantasy novels instead!!!

Alas, the warning has ended and all that is forecast now are a few pitiful flurries. And so, like usual, I am left to eagerly await the coveted, much anticipated, highly elusive perfect storm.

It's up

Just in case you want to read about our Christmas in Winnipeg, it's now up!! Just scroll down the page a bit.

Happy Birthday Natasha!

We haven't put her present in the mail yet...... but this is what will be arriving in a few days.