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Photo credit, Barry Babcock (my dad)
Happy Father's Day to the man who taught me to look and really see - one of the most important things an artist can do. To the man who taught me to "do it right the first time". To the man who taught me to swing a hammer and swing a bat. To the man who says, "Nothing is impossible, just the impossible takes longer". The only thing is I'm not sure that it is possible to love you more, Dad. Love you.
Mum,
Some lilacs for you. Remember how we always had lilacs at the old house? Remember how they smelled? I always think of you when I see them, when I smell them. I stand there and breathe them in. And it's like you are there.
Love you Mum and wish I was there.
Happy Mother' Day Mum!
You've probably been wondering where the heck I've been. Well, after I got over the lurgy that infested my body, I was doing this:
A wee bit of hiking on Islay, an island off the Western coast of Scotland. Where in the week of Christmas there is pretty much nothing else but scenery like this at the Mull of Oa:
And this:
And this:
Believe it or or not that sunrise is at 10:30am!
There were also cool old things, like battlements:
And strange little beach-side chapels:
And the ancient seat of the Lord of the Isles:
While my hubby amused himself with taking beautiful pictures I amused myself by inventing a whole new game. I call it - Mess with the Grumpy People. The hardest part of this game is catching the eye of passing grumpy people. Once you establish eye contact, you smile and with much enthusiasm greet them and wish them a good day. Points are awarded according to how much you make the grumpy person squirm. 1 point for a grimace, 2 for a grimace with averted eyes, 3 if you elicit a shudder. Very good game. It made me smile anyway.
Keep smiling - if only to confuse those grumpy people!
I'll never forget being about 13 and a friend was sleeping over. We were watching TV and Mum & Dad said, "We're just having our bath now." She looked at me, shocked, and asked if my parents always had baths together. I replied that of course they did. I thought that what married people did - wore rings, shared a bedroom, paid bills and had baths together. Apparently not. Just the super happily married ones.
And feel free to laugh so hard, you cry. That really throws them.
Also it's a good safety tip to always hold hands if you plan on laughing so hard in public that you cry - sooner or later you are bound to fall over.
My brother and I never said "Eww" about my parents kissing because they did it so often. That is just what married people do. See no 1.
Learn to listen intently while saying “Hmmm”, “Yes” and Oooh" at appropriate moments. While following the other one around special interest events make the aforementioned noises. Remember this goes both ways and you get points for enthusiasm.
Publicly everyone says they are stupid, but privately everyone wants one. Plus it makes writing little notes for each other so much more fun.
On presents and left on tables when you nip out for something. Hide them in lunch boxes and luggage and on pillowcases because everyone likes to be told that they are loved.
And you are loved Mum and Dad and not just by each other. Happy Anniversary. I love you.
If you read my blog regularly you may have noticed that I disappeared for a while, but I wasn't abducted by aliens and I didn't run off to the circus. I went to Canada to surprise my mum for her 60th birthday. And let me tell you she was pretty surprised. It was pretty fun to see my beautiful mum go all slack-jawed. And she cried of course. And then she cried some more when I gave her this:
I made this in Angela Jarecki's Window class on Doll Street. It's a portrait on fabric done with pencils and watercolour pencils with an appliqued and free motion stitched mini-quilt frame. The class is still available so if you have a yen for portraits and/or need to make a loved one cry then this is the class for you.
Besides smooching and slobbering all over my mum and dad and various family members, including my brother who was also celebrating a birthday, I got to spend two weeks with my hubby. Granted, I do live with him, but often Himself his working and I don't get maximum hubby time as I would wish. So we maxed out on the activities available.
We went to the Distillery District in Toronto.
We saw friends and visited more family and then Himself was eaten alive by various insects. He is after all fresh, never been nibbled British meat. Weirdly we went here to the marshlands at Point Pelee, but it was on my uncle's back deck that he got the worst of the bites. The next day I trounced him at mini golf. But alas there are no pictures of the defeat.
I then got to squish my toes in wet sand at Rondeau Provincial Park and Himself was swarmed by mosquitoes. He is a tasty morsel!
Then, lucky us, we got invited to use a friend of the family's cottage at Grand Bend. And both Mum and I did some toe squishing.
And I trounced Himself at mini golf again. And we walked a lot.
And who wouldn't want to walk around a place that looks like this?
So with all that toe squishing and visiting and glorious triumph on the mini golf courses I was a pretty happy girl.
That is until I had to say goodbye to Mum and Dad. I miss you guys.
Dear Dad,
Do you remember when you walked me down the aisle? I was so nervous that I'd trip over my train or fall off my heels, but there you were, solid as a rock. I wasn't nervous about actually getting married though because I think my hubby is a lot like you in a lot of ways, so I knew I was getting the best kind of husband out there.
Do remember when you used to play catch with me in the backyard? I used to try and throw as hard as I could so it made a satisfying noise when it hit your mitt. And whenever I did manage to throw it really hard, you'd give me a little smile.
Remember when we gave that guy heart failure at the wood show because you let me try out power tools when I was only ten?
Do you remember when I had to buy steel toe, steel shank boots and we couldn't find any small enough to fit me? We went into that shop in Toronto and the sales person said that women of my size didn't normally do that kind of work with that terrible tone of voice. Boy, you let him have it!
Remember when you got me the 'paint mobile'? That little wheeled seat is probably still famous at York University.
Do you remember when we used to look through my Brownie book to see what badge I should go for next? That is, until we ran out of badges.
Remember that year that you forgot I was behind the Christmas tree where I'd been attaching lights around the back and you shoved the tree back to see if it looked nice? I ended up with a branch up the nose.
Remember when we used to sit together and do word searches?
Remember when I went to Mr Lamb's outdoor centre in Grade 5? He showed us a case of stuffed songbirds and asked if anyone knew what one of birds was. I piped up that it was a female cedar wax wing. He was very surprised and kept pointing at birds, trying to stump me, but I named every bird in the case. That threw his lesson plan somewhat, so he a bit peevishly asked how I knew all that. 'My dad taught me. He likes birds', I said. That afternoon we went for a nature walk to look at wildflowers and plants. Mr Lamb pointed out a plant and I volunteered that it was bloodroot. His face went red and he asked if my father knew plants as well. 'Oh yes,' I said 'he photographs them.' The next time we went to the outdoor centre we went pond skimming. He asked if my father knew anything about micro-organisms. I said that I didn't think that you were really into that, but that you'd made me my own pond skimmer out of a broken hockey stick, a coat hanger and some window screen and held it aloft proudly. Mr Lamb must have wondered if you were some kind of Super-dad. And of course, you are!
