An Ordinary Day

Shirley Treleaven's gift to me --
a slip from her ruffled lilac tree

Rebecca and I went to London Drugs tonight to take in some prescriptions that the doctor had faxed to the drugstore and they were all ready for us. 

After picking them, I remembered that I also needed to by some Voltaren eye drops as well, and the druggist told us to wait 5 minutes, which Rebecca was happy to do, and in fact was willing to spend that time shopping. 

Five minutes of shopping, happy shopping on her part.

Since we had been to London Drugs the week before she knew there was a the International Isle of Food because we had looked at about one half of it. She was willing to look at every product in the other half of the isle. Unfortunately, the clerks had cleared the international shopping aisle out and are beginning to displaying seasonal items since spring is here, at least at London Drugs.

I had expressed an interest in looking at the cards, and she was willing to go down that aisle, but I knew at the end of the day I wouldn't be buying any of cards, having never bought any before. So we stopped at the aisle for the magazines. Both of us picked up cookbooks, me, one from America's Test Kitchen and she, one from Cook's Company. Side by side play she called it when we began to look at different magazines. I wanted to show her how many times there are different recipes for macaroni and cheese in the magazines. And I wanted to show her a pickled ginger recipe. But more importantly there was a great carrot salad which she seemed to be disinterested in. I told her look at all the great ingredients that we don't put in our carrot salad: serrano peppers, fish sauce and I can't remember the other ingredients .

... David Camps's apple tree in bloom ...

The best isle for me was the toy aisle. I found a beautiful Scrabble game there, wooden, the price, $150.

I wanted to open the box and look inside. It was carefully sealed and I could understand why. Nobody wants to buy a game like that and then have some of the pieces missing.

I told Rebecca that if I were living in Calgary, I'd buy that in a second and then play it with Michael, Betty and Alice.

... a view of the lake through cherry trees ...

I told her I know that Betty and Alice are too young to play Scrabble, but we would make up our own rules, and then play with that beautiful board and have our fantasies with words that intersect, parallel and vertical, and spell them any way we wanted, and not worry about who got the most points.

We would all win in the game we would make up.

... Moiya's tulips ...

In the isle that holds housewares, there were three different sets of knives, forks and spoons; one black, one with fluorescent colours that would sparkle as you moved the utensil, and the last set was gold. 

I could not help but pick them up and turn them over.

Again, I told Rebecca if I were home I'd be putting these in my shopping cart.

She replied, "The black ones are made from all of that coal we see drive by us on the railroad and headed for China."

What's the fun of having grandchildren right next door if you can't surprise them at every move.

... new material for bags
designed by Moiya and executed
'by her granddaughter, Sidney ...

It's been a really full day.

Physio in the morning, from which my shoulder is feeling a little tender and then Rebecca had a big conference call for which we had to sit in the car after physio since we couldn't make it home in time and she needed to listen in.

On the way home we stopped by The Farm, and then to Fairways to pick up some cream for Steve’s coffee.

Across the street I watched people line up for Fujiia’s (the Victoria equivalent of a fast food Japanese take-out full of wondrous items.

I was entranced at how fast people have learned the rules of lining up. All of them were keeping there 6 feet of social distancing.

"Grandmother, will you show me
how to make a bag," says
Sidney Wood to Moiya Wood.

In the afternoon we watched the film The Angry Inook.

I actually love that film. and then I went to her class from 3:30 pm to 5. pm.

For extra entertainment for the day, Canada Post delivered a beautiful set of books in the mail. Rebecca had to order them from a collective in the far north. When book is called Atanarjuat: the fast runner. Most people have probably seen the movie. The book contains the script of the film in both Inuktitut and English.

So today I read pieces of the larger script from which the film is made. 

There's another beautiful book arrived at the same time: The Journals of Knud Rasmussen published in a similar vein having both languages and stunning pictures from the film. I've had my hands in both of those books today, and then Gillian Calder dropped me off another book with a lovely card.

... close up of a new bag design
by Moiya and her granddaughters ...

I've read about the first 50 pages now of Hamnet and Judith by Maggie O'Farrell.

The card from Julian was so beautiful.

Written in a printed script. The note said that if I'd read the book, I could pass it on to Rebecca.

I know she hasn't read it. It's the one thing I see her not to do. She is never reading anything that is outside of her discipline, no matter but public opinion tells her to read.

She did say that all her friends have been loving this book, High Praise indeed. And to bolster my argument about what she does with her time, she is rarely watching Netflix.

Rarely means almost never.

... bags sewn and designed by Moiya Wood
with her Adam and Michelle's girl (Sidney and Nora) ...

Wyona and Moiya are going to come next week to Victoria

I know their presence will help me put a lot of things into my shopping cart.

Of course, I'm looking forward to that! 

I love shopping for things I don't really need.

Arta

The Secret Stream

Everytime a little soul is out having an adventure with their parents and walks by my house I try to tempt them into The Secret Stream (formerly known as the Love Stream and before that, Campbell Spring). I show them the secret path to the stream, then the stream and I usually end with “this is a good place to come and play Goldilocks and the Three Bears”.

Photo: Judy Weidlich

... and into the woods the Woods go ...

The last troop that entered the arches of the cedar trees were Moiya’s little grandchildren – this time a walk of only girls: Celeste, Sidney, Nora and Evangeline. I like to have the chidren walk along the stream and come out where the water goes under the road. But this group were out to explore.

 Celeste started the adventure, hopping from one side of the stream to the other. Sidney joined her, and soon Evangeline was on the other side, climbing the steepest bank on the far side of the stream, hanging onto Celeste's forearm who was in front of her, with Celeste ripping Evangeline’s weight off of her and telling her to climb on her own.

That wouldn’t have worked for Evangeline for she couldn’t get her footing, so I let get of Nora’s hand and reached for Evangeline. I felt my foot go into the stream.  What the heck, none of their shoes were dry by this point.

Celeste had gone ahead and I could see her off through the trees where the sunlight was streaming through the branches of the trees. She was calling to the rest, “Come over here. It is beautiful.”

Photo: Judy aka Nanna

Maxwell, Moiya's "smart" baby

... the little boy left on the outside

of the adventure ....

Celeste had found a secondary stream, a tributary, one I had never noticed before. The girls were out of my control, each taking their own path through the woods. No single file for them.

Spread out and see the world.

The large wagon that had been left on the road broke loose and I could hear an alerting call  from their mother or their nanna and the rumble of wagon wheels as it took the curve and proceeded down the hill that it had just been pulled up.

At least there was no baby in the wagon.

Another lovely day in the woods and with the Woods.

Arta