soeurs du jour

10-4 Rubber Ducky

Remember that movie Convoy?

BB and I were talking the other morning, well, he was listening and I was talking, you know how that goes!    I was telling him about Tired Mama and the kittens or I may have said something about Tangobaby and her Sarah Palin Bingo or Wayfaring Wanderer and the amazing orchid photo she posted or I might have commented about how beautiful Robin Bird's little Livi is.  I probably mentioned all of you.  Like I said, I was talking and he was listening.

Anyway, who I was talking about or what I was saying isn't really all that important to our story.  I wasn't saying anything particularly funny but BB, and to his credit, he was listening, started to laugh and said, "10-4 Rubber Ducky".   At first I didn't get it, then I caught on.   Our bloggy names are our "handles".  Apparently we're just truckers on the internet highway!

Happy Thanksgiving to our Canadian friends!  And remember  keep your shiny side up and your greasy side down.  10-4 Good buddies and if you like, leave us a note and tell us how you came up with your handle, I'm sure there are some good stories out there and we would love to hear them.   I'll let Margie tell you about how a couple of anglophone sisters came up with soeurs du jour.

Kath

Meandering.

I spent the last weekend of the summer, meandering about.  You know the kind of weekend.   Started with BB and I heading out for breakfast at the diner, bacon and eggs, because that won't be happening again any time soon (we have five days until the Challenge begins).

I dropped him at work and parked the car thinking I would meander around town.  I hadn't done much of that this summer. Unfortunately, we've lived here long enough that unless I have company that wants to be shown about, I avoid the centre of town because (oh dear, I have really and truly become a local) I can't stand all the tourists.  All of them eating ice cream, all of them jostling about and to a one, ignoring the rules of parking and driving.  Not you though, if you come, you won't be a tourist, you will be company.

Once I got parked and joined the walking masses, it was much better, I exhaled my tourist induced anxiety away with a few deep cleansing breaths and made up my mind to enjoy myself. 

It was a perfect way to spend an end of summer weekend.  The thing is, I didn't know at the time that it was the last weekend of the summer, I feel like I should have nodded my head in a, "Hey, Summer?  Thanks, it was great", kind of way, but I did not.  I'll say it now, "Summer, I should have thanked you before I sent you on your way, it was great, truly great.  Come again next year!"

Meandering is wonderful, not only when I'm out walking, but at home, going from room to room, doing this or that, reading a book, watching a snippet of a cooking show, folding that pile of laundry, making those muffins.   It's lovely, I accomplish a lot when I let my heart take over from my head and guide me from one thing to the next thing with little thought.  I slow down because I'm not plotting and planning and fussing about the next thing on my list.  There is no list.

I would never have noticed this guy and stopped to watch him for a few minutes if I hadn't been walking slowly down one of the few quiet side streets.

I would never have looked at the brilliant colour of this single weed,
because they are nasty when there's a mass of them.

Most of all, I would not have seen this had I not been meandering.



I know!   I have absolutely no explanation either.
White, shiny (you can't see it, they were positively glistening) plastic clogs.
With knee socks.
I suppose it is entirely possible she was very fashion forward.
 Could they have been designer patent and all the rage on the runway?

I'm giving this look the Shudder Sister's Seal of Approval*
because I can't stop looking at them, yet they're making me shudder!

Kath

*TM

me meme

in the house

i found this through one of our comments, hello tangobaby this is my first meme and so appropriately i've called it me meme. here goes, and apparently you have to promise to go and give a heads up to soozphoto

and...you can only give a one word answer.

1. Your cell phone? meh
2. Your significant other? patient
3. Your hair? enviable
4. Your mother? ageless
5. Your father? popular
6. Your favorite thing? camera
7. Your dream last night? angst
8. The room you're in? calm
9. Your fear? boredom
10. What you're not? healthy
11. The last thing you did before logging on? coffee 
12. Where did you grow up? ottawa
13. Favourite drink? wine
14. What are you wearing? grey
15. Your TV? LG
16. Your pet? charley
17. Your computer ? mac
18. Favourite place? beach
19. Your mood right now? content
20. Missing someone? sister
21. Something you're not wearing? earrings
22. Love someone? definitely
23. Your favorite color? moselle
24. Kids? lots
25. Your life? good

interesting, i had to change some answers. a. is lying on the bed beside me and he was correcting my answers, what the heck? but he is right, these are my answers.

Inspiration

Margie wrote earlier about vision boards and my opinion of them.  It's ironic that I feel that way because I'm the one with the books stacked a foot high, I don't have to mention the titles, if you read them you know them.  They're no secret, but if you eat, pray, love and find yourself where you already are, asking four questions, you will know which ones I mean.

Then I found this.  Don't you love it?  Inspiration in a pocket.   It seems so much easier and somehow, more mature.  I like that I could simply put things in it and move them around.  I must find something like this.  I think they have pocketed clear shower curtains for photos that might work.

 This photo and the fresh peaches in my kitchen right now inspire me and my head buzzes with all sorts of ideas.   First, of course, there's the cooking and eating. Grilled peaches, jam, pies or simply sliced onto a bowl of cottage cheese or yummy ice cream.

Then I jump to thinking that I should get out and photograph them in their natural habitat while the orchards are so beautiful.

And then I think I should photoshop this photo a little bit, crop and brighten, have it printed and hang it in my kitchen.

Afew days have passed since I originally drafted this post.  And I've been successful in completing two of my ideas.


Peaches, on the tree and in the jar.

Are Giveaways the New Black?

My sister has fled to her cottage.  She's gone to deal with this bathroom reno.   Sadly, she didn't win the give away, nor did I.   If I had won, my husband wouldn't be spending his spare time on our garage roof re-shingling it. 

Are giveaways the new black in this world of blogging? 

We all want readers, I suspect most of us write for other people, this is not just a diary, there's something thrilling about seeing those stats and knowing that people are looking at our work. 

We want to share our ideas and thoughts and we like the reassurance that we fit in somewhere. We want to be inspired and have interesting chats and laugh and cry a bit. I think that’s why we read blogs and enjoy peeking through the window into other people’s worlds.

Look at these guys, faces hiding in unexpected places

Don't they look friendly?   They're like us, we're friendly too.

So, Hi!    We see that some of you are peeking in our window.  We've pulled back the drapes so you can have a better view. What the heck, we've opened the door, you are cordially invited right in. 

This is welcome from the sisters. Poke around, if you're so inclined, leave us a little note so we can reciprocate and visit you.   Tell us what YOU think. We would love that!  Let's talk, cause frankly, the sisters can only talk to each other for so long.

is it just me?

i think of so many things so much of the time and when i sit down to write something for my sister to read i give my head a shake and i can hear my own brain banging around. why can't i remember anything. i wonder if anyone other than ma soeur reads this, or am i really playing for an audience of one. so what the heck, will she care if i ignore her for a day or two, or five yesterday she sent me a great present in the mail. i owe her some participation in this blog. but hey, i have choices, i can walk away from my mac, find something else to do and think away, or i can start playing with photoshop. photoshop, that time sucking software!!! i sit with my scott kelby book by my side, surfing my usual photoblogs and i end up with things like this

or this

Vacant

 

I feel like I have a vacancy.  In my head. I've not felt very engaged the last few days.  The weather has been unpredictable, thundering, rainy and sunny all at the same time.  BB has been working late hours and I haven't seen much of him.   I have a lot of chores that are begging to be done.   I come to work and do what I need to do but while I'm at work, I'm daydreaming about what I would rather be doing. 

I would rather be on holiday.   A week off.   At home.   Then I could stay up until BB gets home, sleep in late with him, clean the house, putter in the garden, read a book, drink some wine in the afternoon, take some photos and just be slow.

Bit O' Vacation.

That's what I am daydreaming of.

Completely unrelated, I wanted to share a small bit o' practical advice with you.... the next time you're near a dollar store buy a couple of packages of disposable shower caps.  So far I've used them as a cover for a bicycle seat on a rainy day, a raincoat for my camera on a drizzly photo shoot and as lids for bowls  instead of trying to get plastic wrap to stay put.  

Do you have something that you use differently than it's intended purpose?

This or that? You choose.

How do you choose something?

What is your process?  Do you know immediately or do you dither around?

Sometimes it’s visceral.  I love that thing.  Easy.  Done.

Other times?  I have no earthly idea how to make the right choice and then it's not fun, it's stressful and panic making.

I suspect you're like me, it's a little of both, it depends on the day or the phase of the moon, if it is for yourself or someone else, is it a temporary or somewhat permanent thing.  It all depends.

When I bought my first house.  I had to choose paint colours.  I was so excited.  Then I remembered that I didn't know how to do that.   I had no idea what colours I liked, wanted or needed. 

But, I did have a great idea.  I would take my problem to the maven and let her pick the colours. You see, Margela, my wonderful sister, has the ability to look at a blank room or a floor plan and see a finished product.

I went to her and said, “Here do this for me.” 

She said, “No.”

However, she didn’t leave me hanging.  What did she do?  She taught me how to choose paint colours.  We started with 50 paint chips, she put two on the table and asked the question, “Which do you like best?”  I kept asking “But which room are we doing? What's it for?  What's the name?  But what if that's not the brand of paint the builder will use?”  To every question she answered, “It doesn’t matter just pick the one you like the best.”*  I would point to one and she would take the one I liked best and set it aside.  We  sat at her kitchen table and did that for another 25 times and then took the "best" and did it again and again until we were down to three or four colours.  That house?  When it was done?  One word:  Gorgeous.

I love applying this technique any time I feel unsure and there are too many choices.  You can do it too, simply pick two out of the bunch and pick the one you like the best, don't think about other factors, just consider which you like the best.  Once you've done the willowing down and the field is more manageable, you can now apply any other criteria that you have to consider and you'll likely end up making a good choice because you've only had to compare the two.

It's a bit of an obvious trick and you probably already do this automatically every time you make a choice when you're confident, but there are times when you find yourself in that dilemma.  It is simplistic and it won't work for everything, we're talking paint colours, make up, thread count in sheets, mascara, digital cameras,  brands of coffee here,  you know, important stuff  ... but the next time you're faced with a multitude of choices and you feel overwhelmed, try our unpatented 50 paint chip method. 

You might be pleasantly surprised!

*endlessly patient by the way

jump and a net will appear

last week on cheap movie tuesday the newly released sex in the city was beckoning.  my friend and i headed to a local theatre for the afternoon show only to find a steady stream of strollers and moms....baby tuesday.  yep, lights on, sound down low, babies in every seat.   we tore across town to another theatre.   too old for that.

loved it.   two and half hours of laughing and crying, the ultimate chick flick.  big, carrie, samantha, charlotte, miranda. gorgeous clothes..gorgeous shoes..gorgeous apartments, well maybe not miranda’s new apartment, but the rest for sure.   we brought our own licorice, our own water, broke down and had unbuttered popcorn and vowed that every tuesday for the rest of the summer we will have some fun.

 

remember that book, tuesdays with morrie, well i am doing tuesdays with rhonda.   my rhonda and her husband are in the midst of selling everything they own because they have bought a five room resort on the bahamian island of eleuthera.   fifty somethings on the run to fun and sun.   a gutsy move and we will all watch them as if they are a test case, a measure of how brave the rest of us can be.  rhonda and i go back 25 years, we had cottages next door to each other, houses near each other, we both owned stores across the mall from each other, sons who are best friends, we took holidays together and now, i am spending tuesdays with rhonda because our days are numbered.   this is the best friend who taught me about shoes one size too big to allow for swelling, shoes that are just for sitting, never for standing.    this friend taught me a lot.  and she leaves at the end of the summer.   for good.   

 

my sister and I have had the what is really important to us discussion, chanel v. sample size bottles, bike v. car, bookstore v. used or library, clothing from holt Renfrew or from superstore or consignment; cooking with the best ingredients compromising on others that no one will ever notice (begging the question, is it the process or the end result that makes you happiest?)

 

how do you find your style because it has changed you know and from what we can see, some people haven't noticed that they should change their style or at the very least get a new hairdo.   or do we really just need to get rid of the extraneous, sell it, give it away, haul it to the curb and pursue a dream.  change the lifestyle.

 

oprah and the like suggest that we make "dreamboards",  collages with your vision.  the sister and i had this dialogue and she made a very valid point, does an adult woman give a crap about cutting pictures out of a magazine, if she can find the scissors and then driving to the store to get a piece of bristol board, and who has a glue stick anyway?  doesn't it sound a bit like you are doing your kids homework?

how do you decide what the dream is?  how do you achieve it?   do you just jump and a net will appear?

missed!

Ah, we missed a day.  Oh well.   I'm at work and my keyboard is misbehaving.  Busy night tonight, we're off to Toronto to deliver the motorcycle.  BB sold it this weekend.  The weather is frightful, thunder, lightning, rain, wind so I am thankful we're going in a truck.

Here's a picture to tide us over  ...

The rain was so heavy, it pushed their heads down.  I love how they glisten, like there is ice on them.  Taken at dusk after the rain.  No editing.  (Early May, 2008)