mumma yaga

 Feb. 16 I found this most charming "gypsy" ceramic at the St. Cajetan Church Flea Market in Mansonville, which is open Saturdays during the summer, (covid protocols in place summer of 2020). It is 19th century Staffordshire, (my main collection), obscure, and not a beautiful piece perhaps; still, Staffordshire and of great interest to me, priced at $1.00.  Friperie, n., French: thrift shop, second-hand shop. Thrift shops, flea markets, church sales, garage sales are my passion. It is so satisfying to find a treasure - a sweater, pair of shoes, a vintage mug, that cost a few dollars and are now one-of-a-kind finds rather than one of 20, or 200, pick your size and colour, in a big city mall. At the price, you can enjoy your purchase for a few months or a few years and let it go on to a new home without thinking of all the money you might otherwise have paid that would make it hard to part with. It also benefits the environment since you are re-using instead of buying new, and ...

 feb. 15 The morning sun. A rainbow cloud in the valley.   Covid day 342: This is counting the days since the World Health Organization declared Covid-19 a pandemic. When these days were running into the 50s and 60s it was foolish of me to think it would end soon. 342 days is a more realistic number for a pandemic, but it is distressing to see that in many parts of the world covid is still rampant, and always mutating to best take advantage of its human hosts as countries try to balance opening up for the economy and lockdowns to counteract the increased infections. We keep opening the oven, so to speak, to check how the covid cake is doing, but each time we do that it resets the time it will take for the cake to be done. Covid numbers rise whenever we let our guard down. Here in Canada, as prevention protocols have become more aggressive and more consistently adhered to, the number of cases is once again getting under control. With vaccinations underway there is a chance we ...

 Feb. 15    I have several dozen pictures just like this. The snow falling at the edge of the world. Never gets old. Here is the chicken house and the chalet in the snow.     The icicles that formed at the roof over-hang one warm day. This over-hang will either melt gradually or avalanche down in one great crash. While I waited outside Reilly House Charity Shop a rainbow circle formed around the sun. I didn't get the whole circle because I wasn't sure what the direct sun would do to the picture. On the right is the vineyard in the snow. One day when I went out to see the day I could smell fallen grapes.    I  took this from the road that leads to the chalet.  Clouds in the afternoon, and sunset.   Be well. Mumma Yaga

Feb 7 Yesterday was warm enough to sit on the porch and watch the snow falling. Fig preferred to stay in and sleep.     The snow gets piled up in front of the house as the plow person keeps our driveway cleared. This snow shovel is my new workout equipment. No lifting just pushing and tipping.       Mumma's Stovetop Baked Beans When my children were little I developed the practice of making dinner in the morning. At five o'clock, when one might usually begin cooking, I was tired (and out of spoons - although we didn't have that expression then), the children were hungry and needy, the kitchen a disaster area and the house a "tip" of the day's clothes, toys and adventures: laundry, crafts and newspapers. Breakfast and lunch were simple; the ingredients were household staples. Dinners needed more attention to nutrition and variety, timing and shopping, and a lot more work in the kitchen. But if the chicken was cooked, or the vegetables prepped, or if the whol...

 Feb. 5 This morning I woke to a pink sky.                           This was the view north through the trees above the house.     Tuesday we had a most excellent snowfall. On the left are the witches in the storm, and on the right, the hen house. It snowed all day and into the night.  Wednesday was warmer and before the snow started again Fig and I went for a walk down to the farm, our next neighbours down the hill. (We have one neighbour above us on the road - the family that Blackie lives with.) It was our first walk in a while, because Fig can't manage if it's colder than minus 10. I put him on leash and we set off. He seemed excited and ran along beside me down the road. After a while I let him off the lead and he seemed to sense where the road was and barely ran into the snowbanks at all. He enjoyed smelling along the road and you wouldn't know he couldn't see! It was reassuring to see ...