Birthday Tales

The other morning when we headed out to take me to work, we were greeted by a sight that had us both thinking fondly of the villa in Florida.  Our front yard was white-washed with frost.  All the neighbour's roofs were white.  The leaves on the trees had a frosty-white tinge on top of their fall colours.  The air was brisk and chilly.  While it looked very pretty, it reminded us that soon there would be snow arriving in Canada.  Poppa got thinking about tuning up the snowblowers and digging out the shovels.  And I started thinking about which shorts to pack for Florida and making lists of things that I mustn't forget to pack.  You know, the camera and the wire to plug it into the computer, so I can post pictures for you.  Luckily, by lunch-time the frost had disappeared and the grass was looking green again - but the air still had a chill in it, and people were sporting heavier jackets. 

Munchie had a wonderful time on his birthday.  He enjoyed ripping the pretty paper off the parcels that magically appeared in the parlour.  There were lots of wonderful things inside the packages.  He got this new outfit from Nanna and Poppa - and this noisy - oops, I mean wonderful musical instrument from Mumma and Dadda.  He really liked the xylophone/piano - it seemed to be a favourite toy for the rest of the weekend.  Of course, there were lots of other toys too - a tool box full of little tools, a chain-saw (yes you read it correctly - a chain-saw with noise) and  a walking/riding toy that was lots of fun.  I think Daddad liked the toys just as well as Munchie did - he tried them all out and patiently sat on the floor where he could help Munchie master all the noisy (oops I mean exciting) toys.

Of course there are always other things that are just as interesting as new toys.  One of Munchie's favourite things when he went for a stroll during those lovely summer months, when Mumma stayed home with him, was the flowers growing in flower-beds along the route to the grocery store.  One of the first sounds he learned to make was his approximation of the word flower.  He was quite interested in my gerbana daisy and managed to knock off one of the largest blooms on the plant.  Of course, then he wanted to taste it - so we had to take it away.  I originally bought that plant to sit on the little table on the front patio that Poppa created in the summer - but what with the frost arriving and the nights dipping below zero, I thought I would try bringing it into the house to see if I could keep it until next year.  Some of the leaves are looking a little crispy and yellow, but I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping for the best.

Now, I must introduce you to the newest member of Auntie Colleen's menagerie!  This is Jolly Roger.  Isn't he marvelous?  Uncle Shaun and Auntie Colleen went on our annual Studio Tour.  This is a day when local artists open their doors to the public and allow folks to wander around and browse among the many artistic creations available.  Inevitably, this tour leads to a new acquisition for Auntie Colleen's collection of unusual critters.  You really should click on the picture to see a larger version.  Roger is truly unique and oddly beautiful for a metallic object.  He makes me think of a bird in colourful, shining armour - I think we should call him Sir Jolly Robin!  Kudos to the artist who had the vision to create Roger - he's lovely - he will surely make Uncle Shaun and Auntie Colleen smile for many years to come.