No Accent...

"Life is what we learn as we live it. And it is what we learn as we live it that tests and shapes the mettle of our souls."

I'm not sure what Joan Chittister means by "soul" (in the quote above), but as I see it, life shapes our thoughts and attitudes... which, in turn, shape who we become.

We need people around us, our whole life long, reacting to what we say and do, to teach us. We bounce ideas off others to get their reactions and see new perspectives. But in reality, all of life is a "bouncing" process. Everything we say and do gets bounced against others - unless we are hermits. Until we see the reactions of others, we consider our actions and ideas to be flawless! (Everyone who thinks differently, of course, is wrong!)

It's almost like foreign "accents": Everyone else's accent is "foreign." We have no "accent" of our own... until someone tells us we do!

"I thought you had a British accent," a fellow traveler (from Rhodesia) once told me in a Paris subway, when I was helping her find the right train.

"I thought you did, too!" I replied.

We all have "accents" - we just aren't aware of them... or of any personal or cultural biases, annoying habits, and so on. We never see ourselves as others see us.

"Our own dirt is cleaner than other people's dirt," my mother once quoted to me when I was in my teens. I remember thinking: Wow! I never thought of it like that, but - you're right. (That's why it's so easy to criticize others. And so hard to see any faults in ourselves!)

In other words, "We have no accent..." Or so we assume... But, in reality, we all do.

Recipe for Date Bread Muffins

I recently made some delicious date muffins by modifying a date bread recipe in my old LLL cookbook.

1. I briefly boiled:

• 1 1/2 cups of dates in 
• 1 1/2 cups of water.

2. To this I added 2 tablespoons of butter





3. When that mixture had cooled a bit, I added dry ingredients:

• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon cream of tartar
• 2 3/4 cups of flour (as usual, I mixed together different types of flour to increase the protein and the fiber content: 3/4 cup spelt, 1/2 soy flour, 1 tablespoon each of psyllium and wheat germ, unbleached white flour making up the rest.)
• 1 cup (not the 1 1/2 cups called for) of white sugar
• 1 egg

After mixing it well, I spooned the mixture into 20 muffin tins. The date muffins tasted delicious - and, in my opinion, they were sweet enough!

Iris Season

My perennial garden is moving into a new phase of color: the purple and blue of "iris season."

As the euphorbia that was in full bloom a week ago loses its brightness...

And the lovely white anemones turn into round seed pods...

The irises are beginning to bloom. Most are tall with purple flowers...
















But there are a few tiny ones, too - tucked away under taller plants...

These bountiful bunches are a third kind.

All the irises were transplants from the garden of a friend. I'm glad I have them. They are a bridge between my spring flowers and the bright early summer ones that will bloom next in line.

I love perennials! My only "complaint" is that the blooming season of each flower is too short. I'd like them all to bloom a little longer!

Silent Mentors

None of us knows how we influence others - for good or for bad - by our day-to-day living. My mother, a former home economics teacher, inspired one of my cousins to follow the same career path. (This cousin later switched to elementary school teaching.)

I also became a teacher - but my eyes were always on another career: writing. Should I go back to school and study journalism? I often wondered as I trudged off to work, thick file of marking in my briefcase. I was tired of my daily marking "homework." But taking a year off work to study full time was a luxury I didn't think our family could afford.

When my kids were in their teens, I did take a correspondence course in journalistic writing and submitted articles to our local newspaper. Some were published. Others weren't.

The closest I got to working in a newspaper was a brief internship I did at our local newspaper one summer. I could have inquired about a full-time job at that time... But I didn't. Why? Looking back, I think that I didn't know if I could make it as a journalist, and I did know I could teach. 

None of my children followed me into teaching.  

Why would we want to do all that marking? they replied when I asked them why.

However, one of my sons did follow me - in my writing dream.

You wanted it so badly, I thought it might be fun to try, he once told me.

Now he is a young journalist who loves his job. And a story he wrote about a Canadian con-man who stole antiques - and made a lot of money before he was discovered - has been nominated for a Canadian writing award.

I don't expect to ever win a writing award, but I like to think that my hopes and dreams had a small part in that story being written.

My Latest Pottery Dishes

Every week I look forward to seeing how my finished pottery pieces look when they come out of the kiln. Here are my latest creations.

I'm happy with the mug - though white is a little bland!

At the suggestion of my daughter, I made four spoons that could be used for sugar or salt. The handles aren't glazed. Next time I'd color them with oxide.

I'm not sure when I made the plate... I've been playing around with creating textures on plates. This one could probably be used for holding jewelry on a dresser.
  

Or maybe as a saucer for the mug!

And more things are drying in my next batch!

(It never ends!)

Terry always asks: Where are you going to put it all?!

Honestly... that thought never crosses my mind!

Making Outdoor Pottery Pieces

I don't have any of my pottery outdoors. Potters around me are making tiles to hang on sheds and other outdoor art. Maybe I should make something for outdoors, too.

Last year I made two bird baths (that I never used)...

I'm making another one this year. Here it is drying before going into the kiln..

I've also started a rabbit for the deck...

It's modeled after a rabbit I photographed in our yard.

The head on my clay one insists on leaning. I've never seen any of the outdoor rabbits do anything but hop. They move their ears - but I've never seen them tilt their heads!

The body is also small for the head... (A baby rabbit, perhaps?!)

Nothing in clay is ever easy!!!

Lunch at Schwartz's in Montreal

A piece of Montreal food history exists on St. Laurent street, within walking distance of Old Montreal...

(Okay, it was a long walk! But we did it in 30-40 minutes, enjoying the scenery along the way...)

Schwartz's sells smoked meat sandwiches... Three kinds: fatty, medium or lean. (I've never been asked before.)















 

We had the medium - a generous portion - and enjoyed a wonderful meal!

Clouds... of Blessing

I love to read in the morning, when my mind is clear. One day recently, after reading some lines of a poem by William Cowper, I turned to look out the window...

... to see the sky illustrating the poet's powerful words:

"... the clouds you so much dread
are big with mercy, and shall break
in blessings on your head."

(What an amazing promise!)

"Blowfish" Sculpture

The idea of creating a blowfish sculpture came from one I saw in Hawaii a year ago.

It was hanging on a balcony - leaving me to wonder if it was a lamp or simply an ornament.

I really had to try to make one!

I needed some photo references... Found one in our old toy box. Not sure how realistic it looks!

So I went to the internet to hunt for a few more images. (Not sure how real-looking they are either - they all look like cartoon characters!)

In my research, I discovered they are also called puffer fish or toad fish.

Here's my little clay one (in progress...) It looks like a cartoon character, too!

Peaceful Montreal!

Terry and I lived in Montreal for a few years, so going back is a little like "going home."

We have a lot of good memories of living downtown.

On our last trip, we didn't visit our old neighborhood. We usually do!

Instead we wandered around Old Montreal and neighborhoods surrounding St Denis Street.

One morning, we took a leisurely early-morning stroll along the St. Lawrence River.

Montreal has a beauty and pace of its own.

Every visit fills us with nostalgia...

At some point, one of us invariably asks: Should we move back here again?!

Montreal Street Art: Spring 2015

Knowing how hard it is to paint small pictures, I'm in awe of artists who create large murals on the sides of city buildings.

I managed to photograph some on my last visit to downtown Montreal.

Who paints these? I wonder... 

Are they all done by local artists?














There are different styles - sometimes, even on the same building!

Some look like graffiti - and they may be!

Others are more realistic.

Some are a real mish-mash! (I wonder what the message is here!)

Are impulsive last-minute changes possible, given the large scale of the pictures?

Do artists work on these alone, or in a team?
 

How long do they take to make?!

Do neighbors ever complain?!

(So many questions I'd like to ask a mural artist... if I ever met one!)

Hand-Stretched Noodles... in Montreal

While walking through Montreal's "China Town," I noticed a chef hand-pulling noodles in the restaurant window.

In less than five minutes, he took a lump of dough and stretched it, doubled it over and stretched it again and again...

... until it was a thick cord of thin noodles!

Then he cut the circular cord and handed the pile of uncooked noodles to another chef, who tossed them into a pot of boiling water. (Then he started all over again!)

It looked so easy!

Years ago, I bought a pasta making machine (hand cranked)... Fresh pasta tastes so good... But it was a lot of work, and we only used the machine once or twice. Now it's sitting high up in a cupboard shelf, gathering dust.


I don't want to get rid of it, but I never use it. This looks so much easier.

But when I googled "stretched Chinese noodles" and found someone who had learned to make them, I discovered that it's a lot harder than it looks. (The dough has to be kneaded a lot to be very stretchy! Someone even indicated 'all day'... Now that I find hard to believe!)

I may give it a try!

Montreal's "Quartier des Spectacles"

Terry and I drove to Montreal a week ago - to enjoy the city we once called home...

We wandered over to the new "Quartier des Spectacles" - in the center of downtown - where outdoor festivals are held in summer.

In the theater area, near the Place des Arts subway stop, it was a perfect place to sit outside and enjoy the two warm weather days we were there.

St. Catherine Street becomes a pedestrian road for several blocks, allowing people to wander more easily, without worrying about traffic.

We spent our time people-watching. When we arrived young children were splashing in the water fountain that erupts on the sidewalk at regular intervals.

Are people more peaceful here? Terry wondered. Nobody seems to be rushing anywhere.

Maybe these are downtown apartment dwellers, happy for the opportunity to enjoy the outdoors, I suggested.

In any event, nobody seemed in a hurry to leave, and neither were we!

Just Like Mother?!

My mother never made one apple pie - she'd make a dozen! (And freeze them!) Why go to all that work for just one?!

I thought of her the other morning as I baked cookies... first one recipe, then another.

The cool night air had made the house a little chilly. Baking took the chill away. Besides, if I'm already messing up the kitchen...! Keep going!

(Now into the freezer they go!)