quietest

Whisk is allowed on the bed when D's away. He's in the city tonight, recording with his band for a few days, so the dog's keeping my toes toasty while outside blows a cool -28C windchill. The fire on in the front room finally sends heat back here, since improving our attic and crawl space insulation last week. Another house to-do off the list. Soon we'll get to the more exciting stuff (counters! sinks! doors!).

Spent the day in bed, sick. Being sick is such a strange thing, but the best part is how great you feel when it leaves you. You even feel better than you did before you got sick. Tonight I feel a little less awful than earlier so hoping tomorrow I'll be well enough to get groceries and maybe even work on some music.

The house is so quiet when it's just me and the dog and the cat. It's a heavy kind of silence in that everything stays so still in its place - any moving or shaking comes from nature or weather. I like it. I like how truly alone and undisturbed I can be here. A very insular, internal existence... living in the womb of a two-bedroom bungalow.

And so quiet compared to the Christmas bustle too. Two families, lots of driving, lots of relatives, lots of friends. Lots of food, lots of gifts, lots of card games. Not a feeling of excess tho... more like a full, satisfying completeness. All topped up for another few months of winter, and another year. Merrily we roll along.

wind

At night I imagine we're in an airplane, or a submarine, on a desert, or in the Arctic. The wind moves against the house like a real presence, with an eerie, lonely, growl. The ghost of winter cometh, visiting for days, waking us in the nights. Like a sad dog.

Whiskey & Mo got their annual shots today. D got the vet to clip W's nails, as we had tried with no luck. He was very difficult apparently... and our vet said it's obvious he was hit when he was a puppy. Usually it's hard for her to tell but with Whisk she can say that for sure (he would flinch back whenever she moved her arm). It made me so sad to hear this, I almost cried. But at least now we have him and we love him sooo muchhh.

storm watch

Delaying my Toronto visit until the storm passes. It's coming tonight, all wind and snow, slashing it's way from the states up to us. They see it coming in photos of the sky, and the news is whispered in our collective ear: warning!

I was prepared to narrow my brows, harden my shoulders, and plow my way through... but danger is danger. The warnings sound real enough I shall surrender to the dark clouds to the South, and wait, and watch it blow by through the window, tea in hand. Or maybe I will go out in it and feel the winter's kiss, hair swirling, eyelashes frozen.

just a temperature adjust

Once the chill cools over, time freezes. We move slowly, bundled, shuffling, from a warm room... and quickly back again. Unless the fire's on then we can stay by it. Late November's only the tip of the iceberg.

Turn on the car a few minutes before the drive to get the heat blowing. Tidy the yard now cos the snow's coming. Leave the dog in the house when at the pool cos he's sleeping. D. brings tea in the morning but I'm still sleepingggggg.

Bodies quiet and harden, fragile in the dark mornings and dark evenings. Only a long hot bath, or a long warm phone call, or a long good movie, can really lighten and soften. The sun now more for mind than skin. Our sunny dispositions still beaming at least. Lots of singing. Always ridiculous songs to each other. Dances too. Love makes my winter shine.

Focus: sweaters, flannel, socks, scarves, slippers.
Essential oils: cinnamon leaf & sweet orange.

fall seeds

We planted the garlic today, this beautiful November fall day, in short-sleeves. About 200 cloves of our own seed (music and german red). Also planted a couple rows of daikon radish as an experiment. The new garden is starting to shape up... the soil is lovely and I'm already anxious for 2010 seed catalogues to arrive!

Also spent a bit of the day cleaning up and organising boxes of seed and the potting table in the basement. At the end of it all, I was inspired to start some herbs to grow indoors over the winter. Any extras I can unload onto friends and family (right Mom?). Started: savory, parsley, cumin, chamomile, basil, lemongrass, rosemary, thyme, and... sensitive plants, for fun. That should tide me over for awhile.

Kale chips are tasty! Cut washed leaves off stems, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with sea salt and nutritional yeast, and dehydrate for 4hrs. Good way to get your greens in.

Also, D is cool. He needs a table, he builds a table. Now I hear him downstairs organising screws and nails.