That was the best birthday ever!

I cannot remember when
my 3 children and I were in one place at the same time!
I remember when I was taller, too!

My eldest son, and his fiancé, share a
birthday in May. Quite unusual, methinks!  Both are actors, and they moved from Toronto, to Vancouver, nearer to Stacie's family and to explore the acting market. I'm sure many of you can understand how far away that is for us!

When we lived in Muskoka, it was much easier for Jesse and Stacie to visit, being located in Toronto at the time. We would drive to where the kids were performing, as well, and we visited Jess at the Shaw Festival several times.

A first happened this past year, as Caitlin and I had never been on a mother/daughter trip like this: Caitlin and I visited Jesse and Stacie in Chemainus, in June 2010, where they were both performing in Singin' in the Rain!

Another coincidence, my birthday and Stacie's mom's birthday are on the same day, Boxing Day, Dec. 26th. What is up with that? Caitlin hosted her father and step-mother, as well as her brothers, on Christmas Day. They came to visit us on December 26th. We celebrated Christmas that day. My birthday, the next day.

Josephine is a darling!
We share December -as a birthday month.

It makes it tough for the kids to visit, between family Christmases and birthdays, but it seems it was our turn this year!

Undaunted, one of the best tools we have is Skype. We have Skyped with our grandkids since they were babies, 2008. We made a video of it, too! Grampa learned the Mickey Mouse song, and sang it for them via Skype! (Grandparenting from afar).

What a difference to hold a baby up to the videocam and see how they move, talk, and directly interact. Eventually, you can talk and sing songs together! The first visits were brief, but as their attention spans increased, our conversations deepened. I often have chatted with Jesse on Skype after he moved out west.

It's been awhile since I've Skyped,
now that the grandkids are closer!

It was time to upgrade my Skype application, though. I hadn't realized how spoiled I have been, living only an hour's drive away from grandkids. We swam every Monday in July, having long picnics at the beach. That was a blast for this gramma.

I have spent many lonely Christmases, when the kids were at their dad's house, and I was a single parent. It builds character. There are many who have never lived alone, others who are always alone. You just have to come to terms with your situation. One of hubby's clients lost his wife after 70 years of marriage. He has never lived alone. That is a tough one. He hasn't adjusted.

We spent 10 days without power during Ice Storm '98. This, too, builds character. But building relationships is much more fun when family can get together. They are only dates on a calendar. The important thing is to make time for family, to love them and embrace them in person, or as best you can.

Everyone crowds in!

Stacie's mom and granddaughter talk to our girls.

Stacie showing her mom in Vancouver
 our backyard deer

How many families can get together like this?
Stacie's mom asked Isabelle a numerical question!
Izzy show the answer on her fingers!

What does the elf say?

Bambi and the fox.
I bought the book What Does the Fox Say?,
and the stuffed toy,
for the girls. It's a fun book.

Stacie and Isabelle drew a picture.

Skypeing Jofee & Isabelle meet Stacie's
niece and nephew!

Isabelle loved our cake (carrot cake!)
What a laugh she has!

Snapping turtle on the road

On the backroads, coming home, we found a snapping turtle.
We'd taken Jesse, who was visiting us from Vancouver, out to lunch in Westport at our favourite spot, The Cove Inn.

It was an interesting turtle, as it was covered in algae, and several blood suckers! The algae on its tail made it look like a dragon tail. We tried to convince it to cross the road, but it wasn't interested. As the car passed, it watched us, turning towards us. Rather a fierce little guy, it is the garbage collector of the swamp.
They push up suddenly on their front legs, and snap with their jaws. It startles you, no matter their size. It appears to be missing part of its tail at the end.
Not a highly traveled road, we hoped it would make it, as they are endangered. We brake for snakes and turtles.

Congratulations to Jesse and Stacie!

In the lobby of the hotel
in Chemainus

Yes, my son, actor Jesse Martyn, is visiting us from Vancouver. He announced his engagement last month. We are thrilled. We gave him a card. Stacie will have to wait until he gets home to see the card! Here is a sneak peak! My crafty blog buddies inspire me, and I decorated the card accordingly.

I wrote them a poem

Caitlin and I visited Jesse, where he was performing at the Chemainus Festival all summer, with his 
fiancé, Stacie.
We had a fine visit.

Jesse, me, Stacie in Bala, 2009

Jesse visited in 2011

Caitlin, me, Jesse in Chemainus

His nieces adore him!

 

Jesse at Shaw Festival

Celebration of an actor

I must celebrate, being a proud mama! To make it on TV is terrific!


Thanks to Jodi Balfour and Jaclyn A Smith.


He's a handsome man, and I've had much fun watching his career.

Victoria Anne & Gilbert gig, 2007

Marla & Jesse in Stepmother, Shaw

Here is my son, Jesse Martyn, on The Killing.
Here is his scene from Episode Six of Season Two, "Openings"
With Kristin Lehman and Marc-Antony Massiah.


Mind you, granddaughter Josephine's favourite Jesse Martyn movie is Jesse in Lake!

Arctic Air on CBC

One of my favourite new shows. Arctic Air is Canadian, set in Yellowknife, and it's all about the joys and difficulties of living in the north and running an airline.

Here is a better shot, a screen capture. I'm so glad I could watch Arctic Air online!

We've been watching Arctic Air faithfully. Even so, I missed the good-looking young man who was watching the groom intently as he was toasting the bride.

Starring stud muffin, Adam Beach, there are many Canadians in it. A multi-national cast, with some humour, drama and intrigue.

We watched Ice Pilots NWT quite a bit. This appears based on that reality TV show. Lots of swearing and bleeped out parts!

Crew - Ice Pilots NWT

THE BUFFALO AIR CREW. horizontal rule. Sky-high dreams, an appetite for adventure, and nerves of steel are virtually prerequisites for a job at Buffalo Airways

Crusty Buffalo Air owner, with difficult working conditions with -40 temperatures, and a beautiful place to live. We watched it faithfully.


My daughter told me today that my son had a walk-on on it. Who knew?!

Sure enough, I watched the show on-line.
He's the young man, on the right, reaching for something.

Jesse Martyn is also on The Killing, on April 6th or so.

Today would have been his gramma's birthday, April 4, 1925 - (D) May 2006. She would have been so proud.

Winter comfort food

It could be rabbit stew?
Nope. Ms. Bunny, if she can escape the coyotes, cats, wolves, the mink, hawk, and all the other predators, there is no way we could do that!
She likes to feed on the grass in the evening and the dark morning hours.

Instead, with son Jesse Martyn visiting from Vancouver, fresh off of his Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat gig he had in Kamloops, I popped a stew into the crock pot. It simmered all day. Smelled so good!

I wanted something different. I wanted, too, to disguise the lamb (not a fave for hubby). We ended up giving Jesse a quick tour of Perth, and I didn't want to be stuck in the kitchen.

Jesse and I went to the LCBO and grabbed some wine from Niagara-on-the-lake. In case you think I'm being paid for all this, I'm not! Jesse was at Shaw Festival for a couple of years. We had fun visiting him. We usually visited a couple of the wineries. Reif Estates, Malivoire, too.

These NOTL wines bring back good memories for us.

Such a beautiful town.

Good to see Jesse! He lives in Vancouver.

I dug out our 5-ingredient Slow Cooker Recipes (Better Homes and Gardens, 2004). While many go to the Internet for recipes, we have a couple of cookbooks hanging around.

I adapted this one, and it was a fine meal. With some lovely bread chunks, and red wine, We had a fun dinner. 

We don't often see Jesse during December. He usually has to work. This was a pre-Christmas visit and whirlwind tour for him, visiting family and friends.

Lamb Stew

• 2 lbs. lamb cubed
• Indian Masala spices
• potatoes, cubed (a couple per person - you want leftovers!)
• two onions, two carrots and whatever else (celery?)
• 1 14½-ounce can of diced tomatoes

1. Plug in the crock pot. Turn it onto high for now.

2. Heat up a frypan, throw in the lamb cubes. Sprinkle the cubes with the spice. (You can do this a half hour ahead. I didn't bother as I was slow cooking it on low all day!) You want to brown the outside of the meat, turn them over and around, and sprinkle a generous amount of the masala on it. My recipe suggested 1 tablespoon, but you can judge it for your family's taste buds!

3. Once the meat is lightly browned, throw it in the crock pot.

We had leftovers!

4. You want to add the veggies that take the longest to cook first, e.g., potatoes. Then pile on the carrots and whatever else. I added some chunks of onion, large enough to be speared by a fork!

5. On top of this, dump the canned, diced tomatoes, liquid and all. Put some water in the empty can (¼ or ½ cup or so) and swish that to get all the good bit and put that on top of your stew. Do not stir for now, as the meat should be on the bottom.


6. Turn the slow cooker to low, if you have 8 - 10 hours cooking time. Otherwise, you can cook it on high for 4 hours.

We had some nice bread chunks to sop up the liquid. The recipe suggests you top the serving bowl of stew with yogurt. Twas a lovely dinner. Even better the next day!

Who goes there? Reading the forest's story...

Don't you love the snow? OK, many of my readers do not. But, if it has to be cold, I like reading the story of the forest.

fox ambling along

Next, found some tracks on the driveway.

The key is the outer pads, larger than the top two.

I went for a walk around the bog. Very exciting, to be sure. 

It is only frozen a mere inch or two. 

Across the bog, it looked liked something had a bit of a skate.

I think the deer slipped a bit during those melt down days. Remember Bambi and Thumper during the first encounter with ice?

That's the story, methinks.

Mouse, squirrel, chipmunks abound in our forest.

Everyone seems to share the paths.

Then, I came around the corner of the house.

They looked familiar.

Much tinier than the previous tracks, my four fingers, as well as my boot width = 4" wide..

Camera Critters