Halloween Morning at the Brooks House

This morning all the kids dressed up for school.

Naomi, the snow leopard.


Rhiannon, the zombie bride's maid.













Xavier, the wizard.


And last evening was spent carving pumpkins.

Xavier made a jack-o-lantern eating another jack-o-lantern. (as an aside, this white pumpkin smells like cantaloupe.  It is crazy.  I am going to taste it tonight)

Rhiannon wanted to do a beagle.












Naomi also wanted to do a beagle.




















And Leo want to try his hand at carving a face into a pumpkin.

As for me, I can't wait to look through all the candy the kids bring home tonight.  Mmmmm, stolen candy.

Textile Use ... in Mesoamerica

My dream is to carve some time out of tomorrow and go to the Research Symposium called "The Many Facets of Textile Use and Production in Mesoamerica".

The small taste of South America that I had last year needs to be fed.  I only had the taster tour and now that I am home, I am so happy to see chances to go hear lectures, to see films, to listen to the politics of that other continent.

There are two excellent events.  One, a walking tour of the ceramics in the archeology department, and the second is this evening reception and symposium.

If it is as interesting as it seems to be from the poster, I will be reporting back.  The poster says, admission free and everyone welcome.

Arta

Brooks Kids -- Photos for Pheobe

My very good friend Anne-Marie Bouchard is a professional photographer -- AMBphoto.  I adore both her and her photos.  I have had the very good fortune of getting to have her take photos of my kids on several occasions.

This past weekend she did a fundraiser for a girl in Ottawa who has a rare form of cancer.  My kids participated and here is the result.

Don't I have gorgeous kids?

Reading Challenge

Typing "tooth" into the search engine for Larch Haven.

I am starting the 200 nights of reading challenge at my school.

So far, one night has been completed which is this night.

Do you wanna join the challenge?

You have to read for 15 minutes each day for 200 days. You can read blog posts, like this one. The days don't have to be consecutive. It is okay to miss a day. You have 365 days to complete the challenge.

Also, if you don't manage to do 200 days within this year, then that's okay. You can continue for the next year.

It's the tooth on the left side of my mouth,
on the bottom row, three over from the centre.

Last night, as I was trying to fall asleep when I discovered I have a wiggly tooth.

I asked my mom to check if it was an adult tooth or a baby tooth.

Turns out it was baby.

For my reading challenge tonight, I did 15 minutes of reading about teeth on this blog.

There are a bunch of posts.

I read about Hebe losing her second tooth.

I also read about Zach loosing a tooth.

Is the real tooth fairy a tooth mouse?

I learned a lot about my own history. For example, I learned that I almost lost one of my baby teeth for good on a train.

Also, that I was obsessed with mandarin oranges at a certain point. While me and my dad were walking to a museum somewhere, there were many parks for me to play in. And there was a mandarin orange merchant. I got two bunches of oranges from him.

This happened on the same day that my tooth fell out on a train.

During my reading on the blog today, my favorite picture was the one of the mouse, Ratoli Perez (in Catalan), carrying away a tooth on his back.

Happy reading.

David

Meow Island ... first complete draft. Illustrations to follow ...

Adventure Island:  Meow Island

by David Camps-Johnson

The year is 2552. Meow Island is the last Cat Residency on the planet. Cat population has decreased because the Evil Dog attacks. On Meow Island a teleporter appears on Hatred Mountain. Evil Dog appears on Hatred Mountain through the teleporter and looks down at the cats' homes. The cats do not  notice him.

In the flatland the cats made their homes and the food pile. Meowmeow was talking to Firemeow who is their leader. Meowmeow was talking to Firemeow about the foxes in their territory. Meowymeows and Longsword were hunting in a forest. Suddenly Longsword stopped moving and smelled the air and said “dogs.”  A moment later six dogs appeared through the trees.

One of the dogs barked “Take us to your leader.”

“Okay” Meowymeows mewed.

At the camp MeowMeow was still talking to Firemeow when Longsword and Meowymeows come back with the six dogs. The dog who had said “take us to your leader” said to Firemeow “Give up all your territory or else you will be fighting against Mr. Evil Dog, or was it Wizard Evil Dog? Super Evil Dog? Just ... just Mr. Evil Dog. I mean Evil Dog. Sorry.”

When the dog who said “take us to your leader” finished talking and looked at Firemeow, Longsword, MeowMeow and Meowymeows, they were all laughing so much. And then that dog said “what's so funny?” 

Then MeowMeow said “How many times did you mess up trying to say Evil Dog?” 

Then that dog said “Are you going to give up the land or not?” 

Then Firemeow said “No.” 

And then the dog that had been talking all this time said “Then you shall be at war with ...” “Got to get it right this time” he whispered to himself. “...You will be at war with ... Evil Dog.” And then he whispered to one of the other dogs “Did I get it right this time?” And then the dog he whispered to nodded his head. 

And the first dog whispered “good.”  After that, the six dogs turned around and left the cat camp.

The six dogs had now returned to the current Under Construction Evil Dog Lair, and they informed the Evil Dog about how the cats had decided not to give up their territory. The Evil Dog said “Scout their camp. Make sure you are not spotted. And tell me what they have.” Then the Evil Dog turned to another group of dogs and said “You have a high chance of going to fight at the enemy camp soon.” 

Around an hour later, meow time, the dogs who scouted the camp returned. One of them said “We have figured out they have around 32 cats in the camp and there is only one entrance that is hard to get through for a dog because there are thorns. It would be tricky for a dog to leap through it, but easy for a cat to do it.”

Then Evil Dog turned to a group of around 36 dogs and said to them “Attack the cat camp and try to destroy as many of the Cat Dens as you can and scatter their food everywhere.”

It took around a half an hour, Meow-time, for the dogs to get close enough that they could see the cats but the cats could not see them. They had to find a rock to hide behind that was close to the entrance, although it had to be a quick sprint so they would have enough energy to leap through the area in between the thorns and into the camp and still have energy to start going crazy. 

The dogs finally found a rock really close to the entrance and then the dogs all gathered behind the rock. And then the dogs began all sprinting towards the camp and leaping through the thorns. Eighteen of the dogs charged toward the food pile, eight to Firemeow's den and eight to the warriors' den. Meowymeows and Meowmeow were working together to fight off a dog slightly bigger than them around the food pile. Firemeow was fighting off three dogs who were attacking his den, and Longsword was fighting off five of the eight dogs who were attacking the warriors' den. Firemeow after a bit of time had forced five dogs away from his den causing him to fight only three. Two more cats joined Firemeow evening his battle. Four cats joined Longsword and helped him push back more of the dogs. Seven more cats joined the battle to help Meowymeows and Meowmeow at the food pile. After fighting for around 15 minutes, meow time, it was turning towards the end of the day and the cats had forced the dogs back against the gate. The dogs just ran through the gate and ran back to Evil Dog's lair. 

Then Firemeow told three of the cats to guard the entrance during the night and five to fix up the food pile, six for the warriors' den, and Firemeow and Meowmeow fixed up Firemeow's den. After fixing up the food pile, Firemeow's den and the warriors' den, the three cats who were guarding the camp at the start went to sleep and three more cats went to guard the camp's entrance. The rest of the cats went to sleep.

In the morning, 3:30am meow time, a morning hunting group consisting of Meowmeow, Longsword, and Meowymeows were halfway through the forest. Meowmeow spotted a dog running away. Meowmeow sprung into chase immediately. Meowmeow yelled to Meowymeows, “Get the rest of the cats to follow us!” Meowymeows nodded yes.

An hour and a half later, all of the cats were on Hatred Mountain. They were hanging from the edge of the cliff where they could see the dogs' location by poking their heads over the edge to look at the dogs. Then all the cats threw a bunch of rocks to the right of the dogs' defenses to mislead the dogs. All the dogs moved towards the rocks. Then all of the cats charged at the part of the wall that was completely unprotected. And then the entire area of the wall fell apart. Before the dogs noticed that the wall was falling down, the cats destroyed the other part of the wall sending the dogs flying. The dogs' defenses fell quickly (5 minutes meow time).

All of the cats and dogs ran into the cave. Meowmeow was about to bite Evil Dog. Then a blue laser beam hit the ground in between them. 

Exterminator Bot #1 said “aattaackkk!”

After an hour of running and chasing (and flying?), all of the cats and dogs and exterminator bots were on a cliff. 

The dogs and cats leaped over the exterminator bots. Then half of the dogs pushed the bots off the cliff. One hour later cats and dogs were still fighting. Evil Dog barked “I shall destroy all cats.” Even later all of the dogs were against the edge of the cliff. All of the cats kicked the dogs off the cliff leaving Evil Dog as the only dog left. 

Meowmeow meowed, “This ... is ... Meow Island!” and then Meowmeow kicked Evil Dog off the cliff. 

And then Firemeow said, “We shall take all of your territory! And the territory between the cat and dog territory!” And, that's what they did. 

You may be wondering who I am. I know you are.

I am the narrator.

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

Bonnie Here: 

Richard left the Shuswap area in the Ford to go back to Calgary.

He arrived at 4:45 am from Calgary on the Greyhound. I asked how his trip was. He felt his neck and then said, "Head still on? Yep. The trip was fine."

Oh, that dark humour.

He woke me at 8:30 am with hot pancakes for breakfast. They were soooo tasty and golden brown. I kept trying to find the gritty texture feeling from the whole wheat flour he must have used. I couldn't figure out why they were so fluffy and smooth. I asked, "Did you use brown flour?"

He replied, "Chocolate milk."

"Oh yeah", I remembered. "I am out of white milk."

He played me one of his favourite current songs that has an adorable music video to go with it: Willie Wonka's Pure Imagination.

We went for "the morning walk" and took turns tossing the imaginary talking feather. We agreed that the last leg on the beach was the perfect reminder of how beautiful this place is. We stacked rocks, slipped on rocks, and skipped rocks. We swapped gratitude lists about life and exchanged anecdotes about our children.

Just before he left at 11:11am, he left me with another song cued up on my computer. It is one that he and Michael sign to each other . It started with him discovering that singing this song is an effective technique for helping his son transition from the car to the house. I hope he makes a video tape of that and sends it to us.

Look closely to see what the litter patrol found on the beach:
Reduce, reuse, recycle

Richard and I even got in a selfie.

As I looked at the photo I thought, that can't be us.

We look much older than I feel.

This photo does not do Richard and me justice ... but here it is.

Written by Bonnie

Posted by Arta

Legend of Love

I decided to try the ballets in HD this year.  

I don't know why, for I am not a fan of watching dance. I am known to fall asleep within the first few minutes.  The theatre gets dark. The reel begins to roll. I fall asleep.

Yes, I like to dance.  That would keep me awake. But going to the theatre for dance is not a life-time habit for me.  I may not have the right tools for interpretation so after a while I loose the fascination for ballet because I don't know exactly what I should be look at.

To give myself some help, I have been out looking for reviews of the Bolshoi's Legend of Love. Below is the best ... and all I could find in a quick search.  Enjoy the review if going to the whole ballet isn't your thing, either.

Arta


"The royal apartments of Queen Mekhmene Banu are plunged into mourning - her young sister, Princess Shireen, is dying. The Princess will only be saved if the Queen gives Shireen her beauty. The Queen decides to sacrifice herself, but later regrets her action when she is disfigured and Shireen falls in love with the Queen's own lover, the painter Ferkhad.

This splendid tale of forbidden love, self-sacrifice, jealousy and suffering returns to the Bolshoi stage after a ten-year absence. The Legend of Love is one of Russian master Yuri Grigorovich's earliest choreographic works, and its storyline explores the conflict between love and duty through its two heroines.

Featuring dance movements, sets and costumes inspired by the Middle East, this stunning ballet, which uses pure dance to tell the story, is further enriched by the talent of the Bolshoi troupe."

Tickets that Fell from the Sky

Roch Voisine (pronounced Rock)

Miranda’s mother gifted Richard, Miranda and me with some tickets to the “Roch Voisine: 25th Anniversary as an Artist” Concert. 

The possibility of upgrading the tickets to include the pre-performance meet and greet wasn’t there, for the tickets only came into our hands about an hour before the concert began.

 And I had to go to the internet to find out who he was and what kind of music I would be listening to. The tickets were just under $100 so I knew this was a better choice than the free entertainment I had scheduled for the evening.

Richard and I pretty well drew a blank on the titles of the songs, but the Epcor centre was full of fans who knew every piece. I was looking around for a programme.  There wasn't one.  This is the kind of concert where clapping from the audience begins at the first few bars of a song and there was lots of calling from the audience to the performer, sometimes in the form of catcalls. I spent a lot of my evening watching the tenor who was doing the back-up in many of the songs -- Roch should never get rid of that guy...always there with exactly the right tone and volume.

I came to learn Roch Voisine recently authored Living out My Dreams, Canada's Olympic Team theme song for the Sochi Winter Olympics. I was even drawing a blank there. By the end of the concert I could hum "Kissing Rain", "I’ll Always Be There" and "There’s No Good Way to Say Goodbye". So the concert was a success for me.  Three new songs and an enjoyable evening's entertainment.

I tried to get Richard’s cell phone off of him so I could wave it in the air. I have seen groupies do it in London and I wanted to join in with the Calgary crowd. He just gave me a look and put it back in his pocket.  Of course we had to help with the standing ovation at the end of the concert -- at least by standing because everyone else was block our view.  I clapped, but I was more interested in the whole body language of the music lovers, whole groups of them waving their hands high in the air, synchronized amongst themselves and with him.

 Our biggest adventure for the evening was trying to get a parking ticket from the vending machine. We were fifteen deep waiting fora turn to get a ticket  extracted and punched.  I didn’t know that cash was so out of fashion. No use in pulling cash out. The machine accepted credit cards, though there were instructions on how to park using your cell phone.

Now there is a reason to get a cell phone, if ever there was one.

Arta

Skylight

Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan in David Hare's Skylight.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton for the Observer

Tonia and I caught Stephen Dauldry’s production of David Hare’s Skylight tonight. It is a thrill to have the theatre darken and then a play begin onscreen.

Tonia laughs at the intermission and then says, “I know it is irrational, but I feel that we should be able to go into the lobby and buy a ”three pound Dixie cup of ice-cream. This whole experience feels so “London”.

I had to have Tonia remind me about the significance of the title at the intermission.  When she told me, yes, I could remember that piece of dialogue, but there was so much going on that I hadn't caught the significance of the window to the outside built for the dying Alice.

I was surprised at the simplicity of the set and at the minimalist costuming. As the credits rolled by at the end, I noticed that ties that Bill Nighy wore were even given a nod.  There wasn't much to be said about Mulligan's costuming.  Even I can pull a pair of old jeans and a baggy t-shirt out of my closet.

To get to the heart of the show, the dialogue moved so quickly and was full of amazing intensity, all of that done in a drab London flat. I watched Carey Mulligan making that marinara pasta sauce as she delivered her lines and when she put the spaghetti in the colander to drain, I leaned over to Tonia and said, “I hope I can find some pasta to eat at the intermission. She has been making that look really good, even if she is putting the chilis in at the wrong time.”

I would love to see the show again – having the whole plot book-ended with the dialogue between Mulligan and the son was just the best touch. And the interview between Emma Freud and David Hare at the intermission was so natural and illuminating. Three cheers for shows from the West End – so easy to access with the HD Live transmissions, and the price so gentle on the pocket book.

Arta

Made in Calgary: The 2000s

,,, poster advertising the Nickel at Noon

There is a series of tours and lectures at the Nickel Gallery Hall that runs through October to Dec 4th.

All I have to do is arrived a noon on Thursday, as I did last week for the curator's tour of the Mayan Textiles.

 People who have travelled widely have been known to say it is the best exhibition of Mayan and Guatemalan textiles that they have seen anywhere.

Katherine Ylitalo is the curator of the Made in Calgary: The 2000s.

This is a series of pictures and interactive art that is in the gallery right now.

Now that I have walked through the exhibition listening to the curator's talk, I am dying to go back and take a closer look at some of the pieces:  both the profane and the  politically incorrect -- 'twas fun to hear Ylitalo describe the pieces and then say, "We couldn't show this at the Glenbow.  But up here at the university, people's imaginations are more playful."

Shelley Oullette: Lake Louise

There is an amazing beaded picture of Lake Louise, created from an image someone else has done in oils.

A photograph was taken, digitized and the Shelley Oulette invited people to come and help her make an installation with beads of the picture.  It is stunningly hung at the back of the gallery, the artificial and natural light sparkling through the crystals.

See you at the Nickel -- every Thursday at noon.

Arta

Second Tooth

... my second tooth is out ...

There are some childhood moments that can always be remembered.


Hebe is having some of them right now.


When I was young, the folk tale associated with the loss of a tooth was this:  if you didn't put your tongue in the hole that the baby tooth left in your mouth, then the new tooth would grow in gold.


Now that I think about it, I am not sure I really wanted a gold tooth.



My dad just made it sound so desirable that I worked hard at keeping my tongue out of that hole.

Look.  Here is my tooth in my left hand!

It was a great disappointment each time a tooth fell out and a failed to keep my tongue out of that hole.


I have no idea whether Hebe knows about this practise.


Arta

Skylight

Michael Billington reviews David Hare's Skylight in The Guardian, which played in the West End in 2014. I think it is a miracle that I can go to my local theatre and see this play.

For us in Calgary, it is playing on Thursday.

Keenly attuned ... Bill Nighy and Carey Mulligan in Skylight.
Photograph: Tristram Kenton

I have been trying to see everything in every theatre:  music, dance, drama.  It doesn't work.

Tonight I went over to hear the John de Waal Quintent.  A jazz drummer joined by four oner Calgary musicians.

Right evening, but wrong venue.  I should have been downtown at the National Music Centre.  Now that was disappointiong.

Sunday Tonia, Kelvin and I went to see the HD Live Museum Series called The Vatican Museums.  I don't know why this was such a disappointment.  "Too short," said Tonia.  "I had settled in for two or three hours and suddenly it was over."  I thought the cinematographer and the writer were working too hard to show us the wonder of the pieces.  Those works of art speak for themselves.

I was alone at the Le Noze de Figaro on Saturday.  Well, alone with everyone else in the theatre.  At half time people began chatting in so many international languages.  I don't know what surprises me the most at the opera series: that it is often full; that 90% of the people have white hair; that over half of us are on walkers, crutches or at the very least, rock our bodies back and forth a few times before we can get up.

The staging was beautiful.  The pantomiming so clever.  How do those opera singers go double forte while laying on the ground with someone else pinning them there by sitting on their stomach.   These performers are not the cardboard stereotypes of opera singers of the past.  The artists can sing, act and dance.

Tomorrow the University Drama Department opens their production of Jebat by Hatta Azad Khan (stories of the Malaccan warriors Hang Tuah and Hang Jebat).  I may drop in and see it twice.

Retirement is wonderful.

Arta

PS.  Another wonderful review, this time by Susanah Clapp of The Observor.

Question for Ducan or Alex.

When was the last time you were at a play when the audience spontaneously broke out in applause over a speech one of the characters makes?  That is going to happen in this play.

Ancestry and Artistry: Maya Textiles from Guatamala

October 16, 2014

 There is a textile show that runs from October 16 to December 13 at the Nickle Galleries, a free museum at the University of Calgary. I took the Curator’s Tour of ‘Ancestry and Artistry’ on Thursday at noon. The Gallery Hall (second floor) is filled with huipil (blouses), belts, skirts, men’s trousers and jackets – from some of the earliest collected by the Textile Museum of Canada, to some of the most recent they have acquired.

There were 20 or 30 people on the tour -- a lot for a tour.  I think some were professional weavers and others seem to know a lot of about working with Mayan cooperatives.  I  am going back and taking a chair to sit on so that I can read the museum plates and take a long and close look at the weaving and design.

In connection with this show is a Research Symposium Oct 30 and 31st.

 As well, on Oct 30 there will be a Tour of the Mesoamerican Ceramic Collection in the Department of Archaeology. That day at noon, meet at the Gallery Hall of the Taylor Digital Family Library and there will be a walk over to Archaeology.

All events are free and open to the public. I am expecting to have an enjoyable time at the end of the month and visit the show many times before it closes.

Arta

Adventure Island: Meow Island - Part 2

When the dog who said “take us to your leader” finished talking and looked at Firemeow, Longsword, MeowMeow and Meowymeows, they were all laughing so much. And then that dog said “what's so funny?” 

Then MeowMeow said “How many times did you mess up trying to say Evil Dog?” 

Then that dog said “Are you going to give up the land or not?” 

Then Firemeow said “No” 

And then the dog that had been talking all this time said “Then you shall be at war with ... got to get it right this time.” He whispered. “You will be at war with Evil Dog.” And then he whispered to one of the other dogs “Did I get it right this time?” And then the dog he whispered to nodded his head. And the first dog whispered “good.” 

After that, the six dogs turned around and left the cat camp.

The six dogs had now returned to the current under construction Evil Dog lair, and they informed the Evil Dog about how the cats had decided not to give up their territory. The Evil Dog said “scout their camp, make sure you are not spotted, and tell me what they have.” Then the Evil Dog turned to another group of dogs and said “You have a high chance of going to fight at the enemy camp soon.” 

Around an hour later, Meow-time, the dogs who scouted the camp returned. One of them said “We have figured out they have around 32 cats in the camp and there is only one entrance that is hard to get through for a dog because there are thorns. It would be tricky for a dog to leap through it, but easy for a cat to do it.”

Then Evil Dog turned to a group of around 36 dogs and said to them “Attack the cat camp and try to destroy as many of the cat dens as you can and scatter their food everywhere.”

It took around a half an hour, Meow-time, for the dogs to get close enough that they could see the cats but the cats could not see them. But they had to find a rock to hide that was close to the entrance but it had to be a quick sprint so they would have enough energy to leap through the area in between the thorns and into the camp and still have energy to start going crazy.

The dogs finally found a rock really close to the entrance and then the dogs all gathered behind the rock. And then the dogs began all sprinting towards the camp and leaping through the thorns. Eighteen of the dogs charged toward the food pile, eight to Firemeow's den and eight to the warriors' den. 

Meowymeows and Meowmeow were working together to fight off a dog slightly bigger than them around the food pile. Firemeow was fighting off three dogs who were attacking his den, and Longsword was fighting off five of the eight dogs who were attacking the warriors' den. 

Firemeow after a bit of time had forced five dogs away from his den causing him to fight only three. Two more cats joined Firemeow evening his battle. Four cats joined Longsword and helped him push back more of the dogs. Seven more cats joined the battle to help Meowymeows and Meowmeow at the food pile. 

After fighting for around 15 minutes, meow time, it was turning towards the end of the day and the cats had forced the dogs back against the gate. The dogs just ran through the gate and ran back to Evil Dog's lair.

Then Firemoew told 3 of the cats to guard the entrance during the night and five to fix up the food pile, six for the warriors' den, and Firemeow and Meowmeow fixed up Firemeow's den. 

After fixing up the food pile, Firemeow's den and the warriors' den, the three cats who were guarding the camp at the start went to sleep and 3 more cats went to guard the camp's entrance.

Still Dancing into the 70's

From Wyona

Oct. 15, 2014

We are now nearing the narrow passage between Africa and Spain where we hope to see the Rock of Gibraltar from our fabulous sunset veranda at the back of the ship. Only sometimes the back of the ship is not so fabulous. The evening we left Rome we were out on our deck but the smoke coming from the top of the ship was drifting down to us looking black and smelling of burn. The next morning our veranda was covered with little black soot pieces.

After one cruise and at the beginning of the next cruise the ships incinerator burns the garbage and the soot and smell is a result. Three days later we have no soot coming down. I remember cruising with Arta and we had larger pieces of ash falling on our balcony.

The first morning of the cruise we went to the Elite Breakfast. There were so many elite travelers that theTuscan Grill could not cope with the numbers nor could the open bar from 5p.m. to 7p.m. that night cope with the drinkers. So now we have drink vouchers and six bars on the ship are open for the Elite drinkers. We just get soft drinks with our vouchers. What a waste!

Life is tuff!

Greg loves this life.

... on their  summer deck, a quick dance practise for Wyona and Greg ...

Now there is a dance lesson at 9:30a.m. every morning on the big stage and then the DJ comes at 10:00a.m. and plays ballroom music for one hour so people can dance and practice. So I guess there will be no more sleeping in for us. I go back to the room with my hair wet after 1.5 hours of nonstop dancing. This is what we cruise for.

 night we went to the Production show twice so we did not get back to the room until after midnight. That is the time that Gabe would get back to his room when we cruised with him. It is great to be 12 years old!

Adventure Island: Meow Island - Part 1

The year is 2552. Meow Island is the last cat residency on the planet. Cat population has decreased because of the Evil Dog Attacks.  On Meow Island a teleporter appears on Hatred Mountain. Evil dog appears on Hatred Mountain through the teleported and looks down at the cat’s homes.  The cats didn’t notice him. 

In the flatlands the cats made their homes and  a food pile. Meowmeow was talking to Firemeow, who is their leader. He was talking about the foxes in their territory. Meowmeows and Longsword were hunting in a forest. Suddenly Longsword stopped moving and smelled the air and said “dogs”. 

A moment later six dogs appeared through the trees. One of the dogs barked, “Take us to your leader!” 

“Okay”, Meowymeows mewed. 

Meowymeows and Longsword brought the six dogs to the camp to speak with Firemeow. 

The dog who had barked “Take us to your leader” said to Firemeow, “Give up your territory or you will be at war with Mr. Evil Dog (or Sir Evil dog, or Wizard Evil Dog).” 

“Huh?” 

“You’ll just be at war with Evil Dog.”

to be continued

A Birthdoween Party

David and Bonnie pose with the Creepy Event Coordinator
and Nemo.

My friends Marla and Julie asked me what I wanted to do for my 48th birthday this year. I chose a Halloween party at the Bjorgan home. The guest list included Marla, Eric, Noella, Julie, Dave, Beatrice, Milo, Joaquim, and David.

During a lunch hour at work we brainstormed spooky activities to offer and creepy foods to serve. We divided up the Creepy Banquet tasks:

• cold spaghetti labelled "someone's brains"
• cranberry juice in a goblet labelled "old blood"
• peeled grapes in Rebecca's bowl that looks like blood is dripping down the jagged edges labeled "eye of newt"
• melted marshmallow with a few candy corn corn tossed in as undigested bits labelled "ghost poop"
• gummy candy shaped like dentures labeled "someone's teeth"
• raw almonds labelled "zombie teeth"
• pistachios labelled "witches finger nails" 

David's first independent pumpkin carving.

At the party, children took turns choosing events from the sticky note agenda that Marla had placed on her wall. 

David chose "pumpkin hunt" when it was his turn to select an event. Names had been were placed in small wicker pumpkins (decorations borrowed from Arta's storage), and hidden through out Marla's garden. David and Bea a were good sports about giving the younger children a chance to find some of the wicker baskets. Party-goers were allowed to trade in their paper with their name for some Halloween candy.

Marla artfully displays the work of the party goers. 
Can you find the spiderman symbol, the owl, and the bat flying by gothic windows?

There were pumpkins and tools for all who wanted to carve. I was reminded of my first pumpkin carving party I attended in 1995.A professor invited me over and said it is her perfect event for all her academic friends. They can sit, focus, and not have to try to make conversation with each other. That really made me laugh, and to be honest, I found it a very relaxing party.  I purchased carving kits when that season ended and they were on sale, then threw my own party like that year after year in Kansas and Illinois. In Florida I discovered that pumpkins have a much shorter carved shelf-life in the warm, snowless Fall.

Glow in the dark stick dance party. Photo by Eric Bjorg

After carving, we did some fishing. Marla had set up a spooky fishing pond. Objects that were pulled from the deep (the imaginary sea on the other side of the ship-shaped barbecue). They included mitten decorated with glow in the dark bones of the hand, a plastic arm with a bloody stump at one end, tongue tattoos, and jars of bubbles.

At the glow in the dark dance party event, I was reminded that you can never have enough glow sticks and they are a multiage crowd pleaser.

Marla told everyone to bring white sheets, one for each party-goer. At the end of the party we had a "ghost dance" outside to the music for the Adam's Family. I think it may have been the event during which we all laughed the most. We just walked around the yard bumping into each other. Since it was raining, it was good timing to be covered in a sheet.

Nice to have some comfort food after trying the creepy food banquet.

They party was so fun, no one wanted to leave after the designated two-hour period, so we ordered in pizza and hung out late into the night.

May your Halloween be filled with as much fun as this one has already been for me ... and tick-or-treating is still yet to come.

Bates: Rome on the Horizon

By time we packed and left the ship, I had a back ache. I am not proud. I found a place in the airport to put my feet up.

I changed our hotel in Rome the night we left Calgary in August. We were not arriving in Rome until 11 p.m. and our original hotel had short hours for checking in. I booked a hostel again. Breakfast was served in our room. Chocolate corn pops!

 A beautiful view of the inner courtyard from our bedroom window.

Don't you just love our twin beds. It is really a bunk bed made into twins. There are two more mattresses under these beds. We could have had two more people stay here with us.

And here is the upper view of our courtyard. The price was right. Just $330 dollars for three nights and a 10 minute walk from the train station. The walk was scary. It was dark. We passed a long line of street people sleeping on the sidewalk by the station. 

Bates back to Istanbul

We had a beautiful day when we sailed back into Istanbul. We had one night on the ship in Istanbul before we disembarked. A hillside view of 15 million people who live in Istanbul.

 It takes two hours going through the Bosphorus Straits to arrive in Istanbul.

 There are so many beautiful mosques dotting the mountainside all the way through the straits.

 Just another day walking down one of the streets in Istanbul.

One of Greg's favourite things to do is to take the Taksim Tunnel around the mountains. It takes three different trams for him to complete his journey.  Only Greg can tell you about the ins and outs of his trip.

Bates in Mykonos Greece

Here we are in Mykonos, Greece. Greg took this picture so Glen can see how his deck will look in a few years after his vines have filled in his gazebo.

 And as we walked down the seaside we saw these lovely octopi hanging from the ships sails. They were a fresh catch. We saw the sailor hanging them.

The water is beautiful. Houses close together and then scattered on the hillsides.

A view of some steps leading up to the homes.

The buildings are all whitewashed and they usually have blue trim. Even the sidewalks have been whitewashed between the stones.

 When a car or truck comes down the street, the pedestrians just move to one side or jump up fast into a doorway.

The sea breeze makes the air cooler. We were the first ship in to dock. Two other ships came after us but there is only room for one ship to dock. The other two ships sat out at sea for a couple of hours waiting for the wind to die down so they could tender into shore. However, the wind stayed strong and the ships left without people coming ashore.