My Noisy Little Girl

Today was supposed to be the launch of my weekly, Friday feature, "My Noisy Boy" picture. I have a variety of crafters, photographers and more waiting in the wings to show you their interpretation of noisy boys, which I thought would be rather fun. However it seemed more fitting today to pay homage to my poor, poorly little girl who has contracted the Chicken Pox (as expected) and is currently head to foot in rather awful looking spots. Today has been the worst day for her so far and I am hoping that this is a sign that things will start to improve tomorrow (trying to be the optimist). On another positive note - we have been cooped up in the house for 3 weeks now and once this has passed we can hopefully join the real world again (how are you all out there?). My girlie is still trying her best to smile her way through it all. When she is comfortable she is learning to blow us kisses and balancing on her feet in anticipation of walking soon. She is 10 months now which is hard to believe and has been such a joyful addition to our noisy family. After spending 80% of my midwife appointments in fear and tears of starting over with another baby - having a second child has been the happiest decision we could've ever made. Life isn't dull and some days are overwhelming, but one big cheeky smile from the little woman or a listen in to her and the Noisy Boy sharing a laugh helps me to remember that all will be good. Well that and the litre of wine waiting for me after they are in bed!


Thank you so much Sarah from Smiling Rain Photography and Vintage Props for the wonderful pictures you took of the whole family (what a fun photo shoot that was - for a camera shy individual like myself I had no idea taking family portraits would be such a laugh). I will be posting these throughout the weeks and do pls check out her work at http://www.smilingrainphotography.com.

Ramblings from the House of Pox!

Ok to say I am an absent blogger would be an under statement. I have been so lapse with keeping this up along with my laundry, personal filing, exercise regime, healthy eating notions and a whole ream of other items on my "to do" list. I am currently trying to figure out which items on my "to do" list are in fact "to shoulds" and if so which are "good shoulds" (would they make me happy - I should take myself to the spa more, I should spend more time in my studio) or are they really "other people tell me I should" (all those guilt driven items that make me cringe when I see them). I don't think I will really up date you from where we left off as life has pretty much been predictable with new baby, 4 year old issues and daily life commitments. We were however supposed to be on a plane today with the whole family to embark on the big "Poppy Tour" so that family and friends of both my husband (Ontario) and myself (England) could meet our new bundle. That trip has now been cancelled due to the poor Noisy Boy contracting Chicken Pox (despite immunization). I was disappointed to say the least and heartbroken when breaking it to the Grandmas And friends - but today - I have to say I am more reflecting on the words of Mike Jaggar when he said "I can't get no...satisfaction"...ha ha, no ..when he says "you can't always get what you want, but if you try sometime..you might find..you get what you need". What I have needed since Poppy was born was calm, peace and space for our family. What I created for myself was stress, busyness, more stress, exhaustion and various forms of mild sickness. Life with 2 kids is busy - it is rather inevitable - life with 2 kids and a self-employed husband whose busy period is April - Dec gets somewhat stressful, life with 2 kids, self-employed husband and a limited company year end gets even more interesting and then add in a house on the market / viewings, a small craft business, Christmas, a need for social interaction and you end up with a life that feels a little like some high speed car careering into a wall. I have never enjoyed "busy" - I know some do, but I like steady - I like to start and finish one task before I move onto the next. When I see a job that says the applicant must enjoy tight deadlines and multi-tasking I run a mile. When I worked in a little Deli before I had Jack I remember a woman asking me abt how I had moved here etc and then she gave me a big nodding smile and said "and are you busy?" as if being busy was the goal I should have, a definition of happiness. So here I am today on my fifth day of quarantine with the boy, the girl, my husband and a lot of time, space and peace. Maybe I had planned a wonderful trip rushing around with the kids to see everyone and do everything we could in a month - maybe that had been what I really wanted, but maybe the fact that we haven't really stopped and spent much quality time together, alone since Poppy was born - means that a good bout of contagious chicken pox was what we needed. It is funny when I look back on rather momentous occasions or decisions in my life - many of them do come from a very easygoing process. They are not the decisions that I worried over and fiddled with endlessly. I decided to travel to Australia after watching a documentary one day and there had a fabulous time and met my future husband. I agreed to marry my husband after one month of distance dating. We moved to BC from Ontario after a quick phone call to my husband at his work - "we should move to BC" I said - after a slight pause he said "Ok". We bought this house (after viewing what felt like hundreds of homes) the first day we saw it - in a town we knew nothing abt, I wrote "I love it" on the details within a second of being inside and my husband has built his whole business around answering an ad "gutter cleaner wanted" 7 years ago. The list feels endless when I mull it over (I have the time these days) and it makes me smile, it makes me realise that life doesn't always need to be this frantic, forcing of worries and decisions - sometimes life has a way of opening paths for you without you even knowing. I guess the trick is to try and quieten down the day just a little, if you can, just to check and see where some paths maybe opening up for you. We will get to see everyone we need to later this year - I am sure - "we will re-build" as they say, it just won't be the plan we had in mind. We will just try and enjoy this quiet period of time together, focus on getting the boy (and maybe the girl) well and enjoy the sweet little packages that arrive on our doorsteps from our dear friends here!

My Dad.

As father's day approaches I have been thinking about my dad. I sadly don't have many pictures to show you of my dad .... but as an avid fan of Downton Abbey, I think of my dad everytime I see Mr Bates. My dad was very kind hearted but sadly not strong hearted and died of a sudden heart attack at the young age of 49. I was seventeen and it broke my heart. To anyone out there who has maybe lost their dad recently I would love to tell you that it hurts less as time goes on - sadly it has been 22 years since I lost mine and I am crying while writing this. It doesn't hurt less as such - but you will have more and more days / months as time goes on where it isn't on your mind - you will be able to remember the good times as well as the hurt and you will be able to love them just the same as if they are still on this earth. My dad was not a noisy boy - just the opposite in fact if you would've met him socially, but the time I think of my dad the most is when I am in my studio (as well as when I am watching Downton!) My dad is the one who taught and encouraged me to draw. My dad was the one who would come home from work with books on drawing from thrift stores, fancy pastels he had seen, different pencils, paints and paper on a whim. It was my dad (a technical drawer) who let me play in his office (the garden shed) with his fine pen inks, his stencils, his measuring and shaping rulers. It was my dad who told me what he liked and what he didn't like about my art projects - it was my dad who let me storm out the room, slam the door in frustration at a criticism and then let me back in the room when I was ready to discuss and improve it. It was my dad who made me laugh out loud and it was my dad who made me smile inside when I made him laugh out loud. It was my dad who drove me absolutely EVERYWHERE and would pick me up late when he would rather have been in bed. It was my dad who tested me on fractions when we were in queues on holiday, my dad who kept quiet while I tried out different 80's fashions, my dad who read the board game instructions so fast we never understood a word, my dad who let me dry his hair on a Sunday night..it was my dad who spent a whole day cooking a Chinese meal for me and my friends on a birthday, my dad who fried us chips as a secret treat when mum was away..and most importantly it was my dad who showed me how wonderful husbands and dads can be. To my dad I say thank you - I miss you - but I am lucky to have married a man as lovely, hard working and as funny as you - who sadly loves bacon as much as you! Happy Father's Day.