Happy Father's Day!

I have written a lot about my mom over my blogging years since her passing impacted me pretty hard, but I've never written much about my dad, who passed away in 1993. Here he is :)

He was born in Vancouver, BC in 1920. In this photo he must be around three years old. So bright-eyed!

Here are the four siblings (the fifth sibling, Robert, would arrive in the household several years later). My dad, Tad, was the eldest and I think he was already a smoker when this photo was taken! Mari is next, then Dan and then George.


Fast forward to our family in Montreal after WW2. Here are my parents with the first four of their six children. This must be around 1958 since my sister Nancy is just a wee thing.

Ten years later, 1968, here is my stunned self with my dad in our front yard. Like father, like daughter - both of us often had our mouths hanging open...

Here's our early 70's clan. I love my mom's funky orange dress (very thick textured polyester), my dad's too-cool purple shirt, my three brothers' side-swept bangs and my sisters' geometric mini-outifits. I am the youngest looking like a small cranky man in a red dress.

Ever the hipsters, here are my dad and my oldest brother Ron in their fine leather duds, at Butchart Gardens in Victoria BC, likely around 1977 or so.

Dad was pretty serious, but he did have his goofy moments. We put those plastic glasses on him with the fake nose attached but it really matches his skin tone and seems to kind of blend in with his face!

My dad was a very hard-working, honest and caring man. When I think back on it now, he was way ahead of his time and an involved father even with everyday stuff - I have clear memories of him bathing me and taking me shopping; my sister even remembers him hemming her new coat because she was so excited to wear it and my mom was in hospital giving birth to me! He took us camping and taught me how to fish - how to put the worm on the hook, how to grab a fish without getting cut by the fins and how to take it off without harming it to put it back in the water. He really enjoyed all the holiday food preparations - he was the kamaboko (fish cakes or patties made from freshly ground fish) king! We could never get it quite right once he was gone...

At his happiest, with his love, my mom.

Happy Father's Day to all the dads out there!

Family BBQ!

Here are some pics from a barbecue my nephew hosted earlier this week when my nieces drove into town from Ontario. Thanks for hosting and cooking, Phil, Janice and Allison- it was delish! Oh yeah, and Granny and Granpa for the yummy dessert!

Phil bbq-ing the chicken that Allison and Janice marinated.

Chowing down on the balcony...

... moved inside for dessert.

Phil, Janice and Allison with Granny and Granpa. Sierra the Boston terrier is Allison's little girl. Thank you Granpa, for the excellent photos!

Now for some older pics of three "kids" above, taken around 20 years ago. Here's Allison dancing with her Bachan (grandma in Japanese), my mom.

And here are Janice and Phil playing with Bachan... or Janice and Phil watching Bachan play (^_^).
Happy week-end everyone!

More on my trip to British Columbia...

I'm so proud of my family.

My siblings and I are taking the promise we made to my mom (and indirectly to my dad too, of course!) to heart - we stay in touch with each other by email and see each other when we can, but it's not that often since we live scattered across Canada.

However, selling at the Powell Street Festival in Vancouver for the past three summers has meant I can see my two brothers who live close to Vancouver. And my sister in Edmonton has also been selling at the festival for the past two summers so I get to see her too. The first time I did the festival in 2007, Nancy surprised me by showing up without telling me (although the rest of the family knew, including my husband!) - there was a lot of screaming and tears at the airport when we first saw each other. We can be pretty loud.

It has now become a tradition (can three years in a row make it a tradition?) that after the Powell Street Fest, we go to this amazing Japanese restaurant in Coquitlam, close to where my brother, Mike, and his family live. Good Japanese food and sushi is easy to find in Vancouver - everything is so fresh. I'm jealous. There are maybe a handful of good Japanese restos here in Montreal (maaaaybe), everything else is mediocre at best. Anyway, this place, Shyun, is wonderful and Mike and his family go there pretty regularly. Here we are after our scrumpy meals have been wolfed down. Looking forward to eating there next year again!

My sister Pat (my only other sib here in Montreal), supplied the surprise factor this year, by just showing up at the festival! Picture lots of hooting and hollering going on in front of our tent that you see in the pic below. Good thing she showed up with her boyfriend early in the day, or we would have scared customers away with all the shrieking. Did I mention we can be pretty loud?

Here we are on the ferry to Nanaimo, Vancouver Island, to see my oldest bro Ron, who just retired in April, and his family. I know it's no big deal for people who take this ferry all the time, but I just love this ride!

We took another small ferry from Nanaimo to Gabriola Island to do some kayaking - what a perfect afternoon! Here's my niece Emily, patiently waiting to leave the dock.

And below you can see Ron and Nancy practicing their strokes in the bay before we headed out to more open water.

JF had the camera, so this is shot below was taken while I was paddling alone against the crazy current, just before it nearly swept us into these rocks. That's what you get for trying to get closer shots of the seals (hey, we're city folks).

Here's one little guy on his own, click on it to see it a little bigger! There were sooo many seals and little babies; our guide was saying it was a good year since there was enough fish to feed all the moms and pups.

Here are the paddling siblings! Mike and Doug, you HAVE to join us next year!

JF and I can't go anywhere without taking this shot at least once. Awwww!

We are seriously trying to plan for a six-sibling and families vacation at some point. JF is aiming for Japan, but I'd be happy out on the west coast again, which is a little more affordable if we want to do this in the next couple years. This year, we had five of the six sibs... maybe next year? Ahem, Doug?

Friday cat blogging with a Boston terrier bonus

I work from home, so my cats are used to having me around. I think they really noticed it during the holidays when we were out pretty much all the time since we didn't do any hosting this year. I haven't been taking many photos of them lately, and they so hated the little Santa jacket we put on them last year that I didn't have the heart to do it to them again this year. So here is the photo greeting we sent out last year (it's clickable):

Cats seem to hate having anything covering them - they do that funky get-it-off-me walk when something that is not normally there is touching their legs or body. Both Chibi and Ebi really hated it - lifted their legs high to take a step and then paused before taking another uncomfortable step. And yes, I admit to laughing at them. I'm a meanie, I know.

Dogs, on the other hand, seem to like wearing jackets and sweaters. I don't quite get it. Sierra, my niece's Boston terrier, is the sweetest little thing, and look how she loves the two new additions to her wardrobe - umm, actually the only pieces in her wardrobe.

Posing, and looking pretty spiffy in a sweater that my sister-in-law, Karen, knit for her.

And in her seriously-cold-outside coat, with faux-fur collar, and booties.

I spent my holidays with these two cuties - lucky me!

Will be back with some craft-related posts next week!

For my siblings out west...

Preparing a fish might not be too exciting for you all, but this one is really a beaut! This post is for Nancy, Mike and Ron, my siblings who live out in western Canada, and do not get to see our New Year's feast... We got an absolutely gorgeous red snapper this year from our favourite (and only) place to buy all our New Year's fish and seafood, United Seafood .

My brother, Doug, got to work on it when we got home, propping up the tail and head to give it a nice arch; he also holds the fins and mouth open with toothpicks.

Below, it's ready for the oven.

Above, he is out of the oven and cooked. If I was 8, I would have played with the eye once it was plucked out; would've scraped off the outer soft coating to reveal a transluscent bead-like centre. But alas, I digress, and I am not 8 years old...

And here he is on our New Year's Day table!

What does this year hold in store?

Happy New Year everyone!

I took a break from making stuff - well, more of a break from making stuff I sell. I did quite a bit of making of the baking and cooking type, and of course, plenty of eating. LOTS of that. That combined with not playing taiko for 7 weeks has resulted in a rather mushy body with some areas that seem to move on their own. Jiggle, jiggle. I'll be getting back into shape quickly enough (I hope) with intensive practices for our upcoming concert and my own little home routine.

We continued our family New Year's (Oshogatsu) tradition over at my sister's new apartment, where she moved last August; I think she had New Year's at the back of her mind as part of her criteria for selecting a place - somewhere big enough to accommodate our sprawled out preparations, all the food, and our guests. It ended up being the perfect place - a great size and layout for a party. We had enough room for two buffet tables, so they actually look a little sparse in the photos - I think we could have completely filled the one table and it would have been nice. Images are all clickable to see them a little better. Sorry for the glaring plastic wrap!!!

On this table: sushi platters (maki, inari, nigiri, ones with caviar - don't know what you call those), peel and eat shrimp, kazunoko (more fish eggs), chashu (BBQ pork), kinpira gobo, red snapper (check out that curved body! That'll be another blog post on its own), tako.

Here: nishime, maguro, won tons, bean salad, fruit salad. The cows (ushi) standing ready for the year ahead...

The newest and least helpful member of the family, Sierra. Points for cuteness though.

Doug, slicing salmon for nigiri sushi.

The octopus, or tako, was actually cooked the night before. We had to get two this year, since they were so small (one three-pounder, one 4 pounder). Slow-cooked to perfection, Doug's tako is never rubbery - thanks to Uncle Yosh's recipe!

The inarizushi (seasoned fried tofu pouches stuffed with sushi rice) crew this year included, JF, Yukari (my friend who is a potter) and Yumi, a visitor from Japan. Yumi was a staff member with Kodo, the taiko drummers on Sado Island, where she is from.

Here I am rolling maki - I'd be fired if I was working in a restaurant for slowness and poor technique. I might get points for good ingredients.

New Year's celebration was wonderful, although we were missing some family members due to illness. The best of health to everyone!__________________________________________________

My craft show season was great, my best ever sales-wise, and I'm looking forward to a good year. I'm preparing my application right now for a summer art festival here in Montreal - not sure if I'll get in to that one (mostly fine arts, but around 30% of participants are artisans/craftspeople) but I thought I'd give it a shot anyway. I'll let you know how that goes when I get some news.

Will be cleaning up my studio (it's in a very scary state right now), taking inventory and trying out some new materials. Will also try to get my Etsy shop back into shape, since I've been a very bad shopkeeper. *whispering* Oh yeah, will try for a consistent blog too...

Bad habits and a list of food

I'm feeling like this is going to be a productive day. Well, I have no choice really.

It's 10am, got my second coffee sitting in my good friend, the French press. Just got back from doing some work for a community newspaper that I volunteer on - wanted to get it done early so I still have full day to work. I feel like there's a flame at my heels today since it was only yesterday that I really got into gear again for my next sales, which start tomorrow. What is it that makes me act like a meatloaf on some days and a whirlwind on others, when I could just spread the work out evenly and have a normal work week like everyone else? I think I'm a freak.

Anyway, it IS going to be a productive day. Got some more pendants to varnish, some jewellery to assemble and cards to finish up. I'll be setting up early tomorrow morning at CBC / Radio Canada (Canadian Broadcasing Corporation, kinda like the BBC in the UK); looking forward to that one! It's a nice building too and they have a decent cafeteria - although I usually bring a lunch to sales events, I'm always concerned about having good coffee and a good snack.

My brother, Doug, and sister-in-law, Karen, were in town this past weekend to see a play that their son, my nephew Phillip, did the costume and set design for. He's studying at Concordia University here in Montreal. The show was great, the costumes were amazing (woo hoo Phil!), as were the actors. I'm always amazed at young theatre folk, as the acting (and singing in this case too) just comes so naturally. Where can I get me some of that talent?

We all went to my sister, Pat's for brunch on Sunday morning. My other sister Nancy, remarked in an email last night, that I'm like my mom in that I like to list what foods are at any gathering and comment on them. Cannot deny it. I like to eat, I like to look at food, talk about it and take pictures of it. It's all true. I didn't have my camera on Sunday but thank goodness Karen had hers (yay!). So here are the boys looking a little odd, that's Doug in the Habs' cap (he always wears a cap), Phillip in purple and JF saying "cheese"...

And here was brunch (Nancy, my sistah, this list is for you):

• lovely fruit platter - that pineapple was crazy good
• clementines (yay, it's clementine season again!)
• a delightful and mild camembert from the monastery in St-Benoit du Lac
• chocolate chip muffins (fresh from Pat's oven)
• whole wheat bread (fresh from our bread machine)
• the BEST bagels in the world HANDS DOWN - Montreal bagels (why are they the best, you ask? the secret is in the Romanian Jewish recipe that you apparently don't find in other cities. ). These are not buns with barely a hole in the middle, THESE are the real thing.
• cream cheese, to sit on the bagels of course
• smoked salmon, to keep the cream cheese company of course.

Now for some randomness... This terribly unflattering photo supports a theory: apparently, our armspans are supposed to be kind of equal to our height. So I wanted to test this, and Phillip measured me on the tiles. I guess I'm kind of proportionate despite my very short legs.

Ok, will get to work now. On my way home this morning, picked up an almond croissant from the Italian bakery around the corner and will have half with my coffee that is now very strong since it's been sitting in there for 15 minutes! The other half will accompany my afternoon coffee. Aaaah, the ever so temporary joy of sugar and caffeine.

Week-end eating!

Monday, phew...!

Seems like it was a busy week-end for lots of bloggers out there - mine was jam-packed, and involved lots of eats from some of Montreal's best restos!

Saturday lunch/dinner: Indian food from Indian Curry House in Montreal, where our taiko group often eats after performances. Toronto taiko group, Nagata Shachu, were our guests since they were in town for two shows. Director Gary Kiyoshi Nagata is an amazing taiko player (the best in Canada!) and teacher who we are fortunate to call our friend. Their show was stellar, to say the least.

Sunday lunch: Beautiful Japanese bento style meal at Sakura, for a volunteer appreciation gathering of a community newspaper that I volunteer on. Crap, I should have taken a photo!

Sunday dinner: My sister has turned us all onto Roberto's lasagna since she started ordering it in the humungous family format size years ago. The homemade pasta and simple tomato sauce is the best. The pan is so big, we always get to bring some home (^_^), so no need to even think about dinner tonight!

Sunday evening was a perfect evening, with dinner at my sister's, and my brother Ron in town overnight on a stopover on his way to a meeting on Canada's maritime coast; my nephew Phillip made it too since he actually had a free evening from his university studies (we'll be going to see a play he is working on (costume and set design) in a couple of weeks. Here we all are: Pats, me, Ron, Amy, Phillip, Sarah, JF (our cousin, Judy, had already left).

Moving a step forward while Friday Cat Blogging

It's been two years since my 19 year old cat, Jerzy, died. This was the photo I used for his 18th birthday party invitation.

He was the scrawniest kitten at the pet store (and had a crusty, puss-filled eye to boot), which is why I chose him. He grew into quite a fat cat who believed I was his mother; I think he was just so grateful that I brought him home with me. I got Oliver on the same day at a different pet store (I was 19 years old and didn't think to go to the SPCA) and they bonded immediately.

Oliver died at the age of 7, and I wondered how Jerzy would be afterwards. He lived another 12 years, all the more attached to me; he'd even sit on the edge of the sink waiting for me to come out of the shower.

Three days after he died on March 22, 2006, my mom had a massive stroke that would keep her in hospital for three months. Mourning the loss of my friend, Jerzy, was over pretty quickly, as my focus shifted to my mother. I love this picture of the two of them, when she was looking after him while we were on vacation; notice how his flesh squeezes out between her fingers!


This might appear to be a strangely blended post, but since my mom was such a cat and animal lover, I know she wouldn't mind sharing space with Friday Cat Blogging ☺ Please bear with me.

Although the past year has been better, I still get stuck in feelings of guilt and sadness over the loss of my mother - feeling like I should have and could have done more and that if only that was accomplished she would still be here. I still have moments of seeing her last months through her eyes, even though I cannot possibly understand or know what she was really thinking or feeling. But it still makes me wince.

Maria Shriver was on Oprah (yes, I admittedly still watch Oprah from time to time, depending who's on) the other day and this brings me to my "step forward." She was talking about what a big influence and the major role model her mother, Eunice Kennedy, has always been in her life, always pushing her to be active, pro-active, and ambitious and leading by example. Those are good things, but only focussing on this makes for a pretty frenetically-paced life where value and self-worth are found in what you do and accomplish rather than who you truly are as a person. Shriver recently found herself looking after her mom who had suffered several small strokes and she said she liked herself as this kind and caring, gentle person. She was being the mother now.

I know I kind of felt like I was mothering my mom while she was in hospital, and I was grateful for having that time with her; I considered it a gift. But after listening to Maria Shriver, I realized that just a slight shift in thought, in perception on my part, would reveal that it was not only the time spent with her that was a gift, but the opportunity for me to be kind and caring and motherly to her was the biggest gift; if I can allow myself to accept that I am a good-hearted, caring person, then that's something, since I'm constantly dumping on myself (don't we all do this?). I don't know how much sense that makes, but I know a bell went off in my head listening to this interview.

I had another major revelation about my relationship with my mom while watching this interview, but I think I'll save it for another time. I'm a little weepy now, so I think I'll go and clean myself up :)

A day with my niece

Today, I took the day off and my niece, Amy, came over; for her birthday present from me and JF, she asked to spend the day with us! How flattering is that? I was quite surprised when she agreed to write today's post, so heeeeere's Amy...

We started off the day going grocery shopping to make a pizza and muffins. Then we got to the counter to pay for all the items and Auntie Sandra noticed that she forgot her credit card and all her money. It was quite embarrassing. When we finally paid we went home and Uncle J-F started making the pizza by making the dough. He put it in this machine that made it spin like a disgusting hairball! Meanwhile, while the "hairball" was getting ready, Auntie Sandra and I made some muffins.

It wasn't difficult at all and it ended up DELICIOUS! Then with the candy I got (I was in the hospital to get my appendix taken out and got a humungous bag of candy), we made a few names with the coloured candy.
After, we played a game of RACK-O. She beat me in the overall points, but I'll tell you that I could have beat her very easilly! After all the fun, the dough for the pizza was finally ready.

We shot all the vegetables and cheese on the dough. While Uncle J-F and I covered the pizza, Auntie Sandra took many pictures.

Then, when it was finally finished we put it in the oven, and watched the 15 minute show. The cheese on the crust was breathing!
Later, we ate it.
It was GREAT! We watched the movie "Enchanted" after that, with ice cream!
BY: AMY

Both JF and I loved "Enchanted" and Amy restrained herself from reciting all the movie's lines. We later played RACK-O again, this time with JF, who is not nearly as competetive as we are - Amy and I play to win. We had a quick dinner, did some computer stuff and watched a bit of tv before my sister came to pick her up. It was a chill-out, inside activity day since Amy is still recovering from her surgery. JF and I had as much fun as she did!