Getting into the groove

The past few weeks, we've all been slowly getting things going in all sorts of different directions.  We've altered our usual weekly schedule to fit in a few new or different things.

Youngest has started up with a voice coach.  She loves to sing and has a fabulous voice.  Now she's going to learn how to use and control it.  She's had all of 3 classes so far and is quite enjoying it.  When we interviewed with the voice coach and made the decision to go with her, she asked Youngest to burn a cd with some of her favourite songs.  Severl of them, the coach has never heard of before, and she commented favourably on my daughter's wide ranging tastes. *L*  She's got songs from Vitas, Gowan, Great Big Sea, and a whole bunch more, including songs from Disney's Hunchback, Fiddler on the Roof and Phantom of the Opera.  Anyhow, those are once a week.

We've also been going to a different home school organization's weekly park days, though now that the weather is getting cooler, those will be stopping.  The girls aren't interested in going to the park days we've been going to for the past few years anymore, though we'll probably take in a few now and again.

The big thing we're getting ready for right now, though, is a road trip. After 4 years, we're finally going to be heading back "home," to visit family for (Canadian) Thanksgiving weekend.  It's going to be a double family reunion.  It's going to be a tight schedule.  It'll take us 2 days to drive out there, unless we drive through the night (NOT my preferance!), we'll be there for 3 nights, but have to leave early on Thanksgiving morning to get back home at a respectable time.  I've been able to reschedule Youngest's voice lesson, so we don't have to hurry back for that anymore, but we'll still need time to rest up from the trip.  More specifically, to give my husband time to recover physically.  His back has been giving him troubles a lot lately, and the trip is going to be quite painful for him. 

One of the things we're looking forward to is bring back some of the boxes we'd left behind when we moved, expecting to send for them rather quickly.  That didn't quite work out, and we've been really missing our library!  We won't be able to bring everything back with us, but we at least want to bring back the books.  We've got encyclopedia sets and referance books that are very handy to have.  How many boxes we'll be able to cram into the van is questionable.  Even with the back bench seat folded down, we'll still need room for our suitcases. We won't need to pack a lot for such a short trip, but it'll still need space.  Then there's the camera bags and at least one tripod we'll be bringing along.  Ah, well.  We'll see how it works out.

Library List

Our weekly schedule for the year is going to be changing, as we're looking into joining another local hs'ing group that meets on what is normally our library day.

Eldest has gone all out in studying art; specifically watercolour techniques. She explains here. In the process, she's been putting on hold as many watercolour (and watercolor) books she can find in the library system. Hence the current pile of related titles.

Mastering Light & Shade in Watercolor: Infuse your paintings with luminosity and dramatic contrast.
Painting Wildlife in Watercolor
Paint a watercolor landscape in minutes: Buildings, Bridges and Walls
Paint a watercolor landscape in minutes: Atmosphere, Mood and Light
Paint a watercolor landscape in minutes: Skies, Mountains and Lakes
Watercolour Series: Hills & Mountains
Robert Wade's Watercolor Workshop Handbook
Watercolor for the fun of it: Flowers & Leaves
Watercolor for the fun of it: How to Sketch with Watercolor
Reader's Digest - The Ultimate Watercolor Course: Simple Techniques to Paint Like the Pros
Exploring Watercolor: Creative Exercises and Techniques for Watercolor and Mixed Media
The Watercolourist's Guide to Painting Buildings
Watercolor: Painting outside the lines: a positive approach to negative painting
Chinese Brush Painting: Step by Step
Watercolor made simple with Claudia Nice: Complete easy-to-follow instructions from start to finish
Simplifying complex scenes in watercolor: 18 hands-on projects
Light up Your Watercolors Layer By Layer


This is just the list of what was waiting for pick up today. She maxed out the number of holds the library allows, and has already taken out dozens more that I never blogged about over the summer, with more she wants to put on hold once there's room again.

Yeah, she's passionate about her art. :-D

Youngest is still working on a couple of books from before, including one on drawing in the Graphic Noir style. Lately, though, she's been plowing her way through old, again mostly film noir, movies. This week she has:

"Crossfire" Hate is Like a Loaded Gun. This 1947 movie features Robert Young, Robert Mitchum and Robert Ryan (a suspect a bit of confusion on the set with 3 Roberts starring!), along with Gloria Grahame, Paul Kelly and Same Levene.

The Hunchback of Notre Dame with Anthony Hopkins. This is a newer version than I'm familiar with (other than the Disney version, of course). It stars Derek Jacobi (who played Brother Cadfael in the tv series) as Dom Claude. Lasley-Anne Down plays Esmerelda. Looking it up, I see was was a TV version from 1982. No wonder I've never heard of it before.

The Usual Suspects. At 1995, this one is positively new.

As for myself, I borrowed books with specific requirements. We're finally going to heading out to see the families next month, and I want to make gifts. Since I still haven't figured out what I want to make for this year's Christmas decorations, and even if I did, it's unlikely I'd have time to actually make enough of them to bring along, I was looking for quick projects in crochet. Hats, Scarves. Accessories. That sort of thing. With that in mind, I got...

Get Your Crochet On: Hip Hats & Cool Caps.
Quick Crochet: 35 fast, fun projects to make in a weekend
Crochet in No Time: A Simple, Stylish Collection of 52 Quick-Crochet Projects
Easy Crocheted Accessories: 30+ fun fashionable projects
24 Hour Crochet Projects

I've taken all of these out before, at some point or another. The last one even includes how long each project takes, which is good to know for what I have in mind.

So that's our list for this week. :-D

Cinnamon Caramel Cream

I guess all those cooking shows I've been watching while crocheting have come in handy!

Have you ever had one of those times where you crave... something? Nothing specific, and usually not something that you actually, you know, HAVE in a cupboard somewhere?

I had one of those moments yesterday. I was craving something luxurious. Indulgent. Decadent. But what? I had no idea.

Then I remembered a comment someone had said on a Food Network show about making caramel with brown sugar and cream. I've never made caramel before, but it sounded good. I had brown sugar, and I was pretty sure we still had a bit of whipping cream left.

So I started experimenting and came up with a creamy sauce that was a total hit. Here's the ingredients - quantities are not precise, since I didn't actually measure anything.

Cinnamon Caramel Cream

about 2 Tbsp butter
approx 1/2 cup brown sugar
a bit of water (1/4 cup or less)
whipping cream (a little under a cup, but I would have used more if I'd had it!)
powdered milk - optional - about 1/4 cup
ground cinnamon to taste
vanilla to taste

In a small saucepan, melt the butter, then add the brown sugar and water. Bring to a boil and cook on med. high heat to a syrupy texture, stirring constantly with a wire whisk. Add ground cinnamon and stir until smooth.

Remove from heat and slowly whisk in the cream. When incorporated, return to heat and continue to cook at med. temperature until its at thick as you want it. Stir in the powdered milk at this stage, if using.

When at the desired consistency, remove from heat and stir in the vanilla. Pour sauce into a deep bowl and whisk while cooling. I did it by hand, but you might want to use an electric mixer. Continue whisking the sauce until it's completely cool. Pour into clean container and refrigerate.

This cream sauce thickens slightly in the fridge, but it still quite pourable and does keep a bit of that air from whisking. I was looking for an almost foamy consistency, but would have needed more whipping cream for that. It worked just find as it was, though.

After making the sauce, Eldest and I made a quick trip to the grocery store to pick up some bananas, strawberries and plain vanilla ice cream. It works well as a dessert sauce, or as a fruit dip.

The kids are already asking me to make sure I pick up more whipping cream on our next big grocery shopping trip, so we can make more! :-D I'm thinking a bit of nutmeg as well as cinnamon would be nice.

And yes, it did satisfy the craving for "something."

What if?

Driving home today, we had the radio on an alternative music station the girls like. This evening, they were doing a show on alternate histories - those pivotal points in history where, had things not happened the way they did, we find ourselves wondering, "What if...? " The most commonly debated versions of these are things like "What if the assassination attempt on Hitler had succeeded?" or "What if the Nazis had won?" Others are things like "What if JFK, Abraham Lincoln, or Mahatma Gandhi weren't assassinated?" What alternate history would we have, if these "what if" moments ended differently.

Eldest had two interesting examples. One was;

What if Crete wasn't destroyed?

Crete was home to the Minoan empire. This was an advanced civilization, with some of their technologies being rediscovered only recently, that flourished 5000 years ago, then suddenly disappeared. There are some that believe that they are the source for the myths of Atlantis. Their technology and culture were highly sophisticated, with such modern conveniences as an elaborate sewerage system and hot and cold running water in homes. Their disappearance is still somewhat of a mystery, with blame being put on such things as a volcano, an earthquake and tsunami, famine, war, or combinations of several of these possibilities. How much different would our world be if the Minoans and their technology were never lost? One suggestion brought up was that the Roman Empire would never have risen to the power it did, being instead a part of the Minoan Empire. The fall of Rome would not have lead to the Medieval Dark Ages, where a great deal of knowledge and technology was lost. Would our modern technological and information age have happened millennia ago, instead of within the last century?

The other question that came up was;

What if the Avro Arrow had not been destroyed?

The Avro Arrow was the most technologically advanced plane of its time. In fact, much of its capabilities were not matched for many years after its destruction; a dark blot on Canadian history. The project was incredibly expensive and, when a new federal government was elected, shutting it down was one of its priorities. Shutting it down wasn't quite enough, though, as the prototypes and plans were also destroyed. Most of the developers ended up working for NASA, helping to put the first man on the moon. There are a number of theories as to why so much effort was made to wipe out these planes entirely.

I believe the destruction of the Arrow was as much a blow to the Canadian psyche as it was to the physical planes and plans. This was a project that brought Canada to the forefront of technology, worldwide. The excitement of this innovation could have spawned a culture of achievement. After its destruction, Canada faltered and fell behind. Personally, I think we have yet to recover from this, with our tendency to downplay our own achievements and look to other countries to emulate, rather than taking the lead ourselves.

One "what if" scenario suggested was that, if the Arrow had not been destroyed, Canada would have been the first to send a man to the moon.

All in all, it's a fascinating philosophical question.

So what is your "what if" scenario? Is there some pivotal point in history you can think of that might have change our world, had things gone another way?

Our latest adventures

With various things going on lately, it's been difficult for me to sit down at the computer at all lately, never mind actually writing a blog post. Time to take care of that while I can! *L*

A few days ago, we met with a voice coach and ended up signing Youngest for singing lessons. Starting after the long weekend, she'll be having weekly lessons. The teacher seems to be a good match, though I have to admit to being a bit taken aback with her mannerisms. I thought she might be used to teaching very young children, but her students range in age from 10 or so to over 70! It was like talking to Mr. Rogers or something. *L* Youngest was comfortable enough with her to give the go-ahead for lessons, so we signed her up. I do hope it works out well for her. Youngest as a marvelous voice; she just needs to learn how to use and control it.

I also recently managed to take in a local government surplus sale. A couple of times a year, in a warehouse on the outskirts of town, the government sells off various pieces they no longer need for their offices. Desks of all shapes and sizes, tables, chairs, bookshelves, couches, armchairs, coffee and end tables, storage lockers, filing cabinets, and even cork boards, clocks, wall art, fake plants and more were all available and ridiculously low prices. I got there an hour before the doors opened, and there were people already there. Thinking ahead, I brought along the afghan I'm crocheting for Eldest and got some decent progress in before the doors opened. :-D

There's a trick to going to these things. First, get there early. Very early. Second, if you're looking for a number of items, bring someone along to help find things. Third, if you find something that looks good, don't leave it in the off chance you'll find something better. By the time you get back, it'll be gone. The way they work it, once you've found something, you stay with it and raise your hand. People working the sale go around with clip boards to the people with their arms raised. They make out an invoice with the item and mark it as sold; then you can take the sheet and look for something else to be added to it. For people in groups, they come in and immediately fan out, searching out the items they need. Sure, they end up with multiple sheets, but it works out. Various businesses, churches and charitable organizations have furnished entire offices that way.

On the down side, once something is on the sheet, you can't take it off. So if you *do* end up finding something better, you're stuck with the old one. Which is how I ended up with two couches. *L*

The last time I went to one, we had the car. I could only fit two chairs into the back seat. They cost me $5 each. This time, I had the mini-van, with all the back seats stowed away. It took three trips and snagging my husband from work to help with one particularly heavy piece, but I've re-furnished much of our living room and part of our dining room for under $60. I was actually there for bookshelves, but never found any, though the shelf I did get was listed as a bookshelf. It's more like a sideboard with hutch, though all in one very solid piece. It's a bit dinged and scratched, but being made of real wood, not particle or pressed board, we can refinish it.

That particular shelf just fit into the back of the van, lying flat on it's back. I'd hoped we could set it on its side and fit something else in with it, but it was a bit too long for that.

For the other trips, I was able to fit in a couch and an armchair per load. Between the number of loads and the long drive to and from our place, it took all morning and most of the afternoon. Things had to be out by 3pm. Anything left behind got donated.

So now we have a "new" couch in the living room that doesn't hurt my knees to get in and out of! Granted, it does need a serious steam cleaning, but it's solid, has almost no wear and tear on it, and only cost $15. As for the second couch, we're still debating whether to find a way to keep it in the living room (we need to re-arrange it anyways) or put it in the master bedroom. Personally, as much as I'd like it in the bedroom, I don't really want to haul it up the stairs! *L* For now, it's standing on one end in our dining room. Youngest's cat has discovered that she can use the new shelf to jump to the top of it, which puts her at about 18 inches from the ceiling. She stayed up there for most of the day! :-D

As if that weren't enough, the next day the girls and I were up early and heading for the library. No, it wasn't library day. It was the library's book sale. We walked over to arrive just before the doors opened, and there was a line up down the block! Talking to one of the staff later on, they estimated that 200 people came in when the doors opened.

Unfortunately, the room the sale was in was really quite small. The last time I made it to one of these, they'd set up in the underground parkade. There was lots of room, not only for a lot of tables of books, cds and dvds, or for people to mill about in between, but for the couple hundred boxes of books waiting to be unpacked as room became available. Not this time! They did the best they could with the space, but there was barely room to move even without everyone with boxes, bags or armloads of books.

The girls and I managed to score some good stuff. I found some cookbooks, craft books, photography books, etc. Eldest got a couple of interesting finds, including a book on North American birds that's she's enjoying. Unfortunately, she was after art books and, before she even got to the section, she saw someone going in the opposite direction with her arms filled with all the art instruction books she could find. Ah, well. For Youngest, I spotted and snagged a bunch of mythology books from the Time Life series she's been borrowing for a while now.

It didn't take long for me to fill the backpack we'd brought to overflowing - thankfully, we brought an extra bag. Grand total for them all? Only $13.

That was just the first trip.

We met up with a friend later on and went back in the afternoon. Things weren't quite as crowded, but it was still hard to get through to some sections. This time, I actually got into the dvd section and we got a bunch of Cirque du Soleil dvds, as well as a couple of nature documentaries. Youngest asked me to show her where I'd found the mythology books I'd snagged for her earlier, but when we got there, there were no similar books left at all. She kept me company as I worked my way down the table. There wasn't much order left by then. As we were doing that, a staff member started restocking across the table from us. That's when I see Youngest suddenly reach out across the table and grab a book that had just been added. The Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were. She's borrowed that book so many times and really loves it, so this was a major score for her!

All in all, it was a very successful event for us. The sale is actually still going, and I will have to really resist going back for more! They may be incredibly cheap, but we do still have to stay in budget. ;-)