Spring 2014

From the country...

So we have been lost in space for a while, but there are many exciting happenings around here. Amelia is moving on home to the farm (at least for the summer while Simon is touring with the Strumbellas).This old farm house will be rocking with a big brood of kids! Speaking of kids,we welcomed baby Frances Pearl in March- another girl to the mix! So we will be posting more often with our new adventures on the farm and Amelia's adventures touring with the band across Canada in mid summer with a toddler and a new lil' one. I of course,will be here on the farm plugging away and periodically updating our life here. Stay tuned...

What Mama Wore and Other Good Things: Juno Edition

From the City...

The best thing about dressing for the Junos is that you can do things like wear a fully sequinned butterfly shirt and not even think twice that you might be overdressed because you can pretty much guarantee somebody else will wearing something even crazier, like, silver spray painted antlers...

I kid you not.  

Laura's and my crush, Corb Lund.

Strumbellas on the red carpet, 

Simon and Izz on the red carpet.  Yes, Simon is wearing three collars.  

Night 1: 

Outlaws and Gunslingers Show Put on by Six Shooter Records...So many good acts; Corb Lund, Sarah Slean, Rose Cousins, Royal Wood, Amelia Curran, Great Lakes Swimmers and The Strumbellas!

Night 2: 

The Juno Gala hosted by Gian Gomeshi.  Fancy dinner with fancy ladies and whole lotta booze (cranberry martinis!).  Followed by a sold out Strumbellas show at The Artful Dodger. 

Night 3: 

The actual Junos...so many incredible acts; Metric (Emily Haines is not not hot), Serena Ryder, Hannah Georges, The Sheepdogs, and Classified.  Then off to a universal party where we danced all night!  Think; dancing with Anjulie, Hedley front man, Wooden Sky, etc etc!  Most surreal experience ever.

Robyn and I then dragged our sad bodies to the airport at 3 am for a 5 am flight.  One must never drink all night prior to a flight, this was learned the hard way.  Trust me.  Nothing about being in an airplane intoxicated/hungover is remotely enjoyable.  

Overall, the weekend was incredible.  I was just blown away by our Canadian music scene, so much talent.  I feel compelled to support more Canadian musicians and I suggest you do the same.  

Buy albums, go to shows, buy merch!

Plus Canadian musicians are so damn humble! I could have talked to Martina from Dragonette all night, she was just that cool and down to earth.  

Anyway, now back to reality.  

Theo has the flu and has been puking all night, there is vomit on every towel and sheet we own. 

-amelia 

My 33rd Birthday.

From the country...

1st hatch out of the incubator

New GORGEOUS earrings that I adore.

Went out for noodles.

1 of 2 Mason bee houses that I am SUPER excited about.

Well, look at me thirty three. Not old but certainty not a young wipper snapper either.

32 sounded cooler and 23 sounded even better.

I like getting older though believe me, I appreciate the maturity that has found me.  I feel that you get better with age- more so in your mind.

Man, I wish I had that 23 yr old body...

So my incubator has been rocking all week long and my brooder is full of little chicks. It doesn't stop there though, I already have a new hatch on and am always on the prowl for something new and exciting in the poultry world. Right now I have my eye on a Speckled Americauna rooster to bring home to my ladies and have some Speckled Sussex and Silver Laced Wyandott eggs in the incubator. Also bought myself this new poultry book to add to the library. I highly endorse the Storey's series.

My sis bought and sent me these amazing earrings that I am very in love with. I am not as fond of material things as I once was but man do I love these earrings. They look like the top half of an Easter egg.

We went out for an authentic Chinese dinner. The kids thought we actually were going to China, even though we tried explaining we were only going to China town. Lucas kept asking if we were back in Canada on the way home. We ate at the Pacific Mall in Markham at a place that came recommended for making their own noodles.  It was good, the noodles were fresh and we enjoyed watching and hearing the thwack of the dough being shmacked on the counter while the noodles were being made. We ate in a food court and out of one use plastic bowls and cutlery which was a drawback but the dumplings were really good and I LOVE baby bok choi in a noodle soup. The black bean and bok choi dish was really fresh and tasty too.

My lil' family presented me with 2 Mason Bee homes yesterday morning. It is my first foray into beekeeping. I am very excited to make another space for pollinators at the farm. I want to find a way to have them close to the new orchard that we are putting in this year. I have some research ahead of me to best accommodate these little wonders.

So while my sis is jet setting to Regina to attend the Juno Awards and all the partying that comes with being a wife to a very talented member of an amazing Juno nominated band, I will be attending my first farm auction of the year.

How very different our lives are.

33 here I come.

So this happened...

From the City...

Simon's uber talented, hot, amazing, incredible, hardworking, and freakishly talented band The Strumbellas was nominated for Roots & Traditional Album of the Year at the Juno's!!!! I won't even lie, it's still all sinking in over here.  By no means is this not completely deserved.  These are six people who've driven across Canada twice (in one year), played show after show into the very early hours of the morning- just to wake up and get to their 'professional jobs' at 7 am in the morning, showed love and patience for toddlers who require baths/diaper changes/snacks regardless of what time papa bear went to bed and a band that puts on a live show that will get even the stiffest of folks up and dancing...

As I'm typing away at this, The Strumbellas are on their way home from a whirlwind east coast tour which, when it's said and done; will include two 20 hour straight driving days.

To say I'm proud of them is an understatement.  I am blown away by their drive and ambition and willingness to push themselves everyday. And my Simon, words cannot express what it's like to be married to someone with so much passion and such overwhelming talent, someone who has used personal pain and loss to create something so beautiful it brings tears to my eyes.  

Congratulations to The Strumbellas!
xo

Dandyfest in Sparta Ontario

From the City...

There are a handful of perks of being married to a musician; a permanent spot on the guest list, free shirts, stickers and cds, behind the scene band gossip, oh and of course, free festivals at vineyards and stays at lovely country b&b's.  The whole big group of us went, wives, kids, friends and little babes.  We stayed up late as predicted and danced and drank beer and laughed while kids ran in circles around us.

The next day we tucked into a big sunday B& B brunch, drove to Port Stanley where we swam and ate fresh perch straight from Lake Erie with chippies slathered in ketchup and malt vinegar.

A pretty perfect way to round out the summer.
-amelia

Hillside and some things in between...

From the City...

Here's a little recap of our August so far; we survived a weekend long camping adventure at Hillside with a one year old, went on our first canoe ride and made an eggplant parmesan with a fresh picked eggplant from a school garden project right here in Toronto.

          A sold out festival, one of my favourite Toronto bands, Simon's band playing with The Bahamas 

         The Strumbellas playing to a packed crowd, a tuckered out baby, Elliot Brood on the big stage

Here's a better picture of the crowd that Simon was playing for at Hillside, I'm just so damn proud of that guy and I wanted to show him off.  

I think he stood in the canoe the entire time, we'll get to boat etiquette later...

..And a good and cheesy Eggplant Parmesan

Here's what I did:

Sliced an eggplant nice and thin.  In a bowl, crack an egg and scramble with a little milk.  In another bowl, add a good scoop of flour.  Dip eggplant in egg and then in flour and then back into the egg and then back into the flour.  Then pan fry the little suckers in mixture of butter and vegetable oil until they're nice and crispy.  In a shallow baking dish, add a scoop of tomato sauce and then layer eggplant with sauce, cheese, sauce, eggplant...you get the picture.

Bake in a hot oven for 45 minutes until its good and bubbly and browned on the top.

-amelia

A long Couple o' Weeks Ahead of Us...

From the City...

So the boys left for the west today.  The very packed van was gassed up, outfitted with new tires, snacks, movies, music, laptops, books and I'm sure no shortage of conversation that only boys in bands say to one another..I shudder at the thought.  The first leg of their trip is the longest, two 16 hour days to the first show in Winnipeg.  After Winnipeg, it's off to Regina, then Saskatoon, then Edmonton, Calgary, Vancouver and home.  

So it's up to Theo and I to hold down the fort until the Papa bear gets home...so what to do?? A girls weekend coming up which should be nice, some dinner with friends, a duty parent day at daycare, work (ugh),  balcony gardening and hopefully a sleepover here in the city with my sister...are you reading this Laur???

I'm also on the hunt for some kid friendly vegan recipes for the daycare as I am now the Thursday lunch person so if you have anything good up your sleeve, please send them my way.

-amelia

What we have been up to

From the country...

The new kitchen

Seed organizing and ordering

cookies of the play dough variety...

fresh batches of soap (lavender and oatmeal/tea tree)

I have been trying hard to be productive this month. I do have a slight case of the January blahs though, so needless to say I have been a bit slugish. I have spent some time planning and organizing the new growing season, taking trips to the second hand stores to purge the house, making countless batches of play dough for the boys (in baking colours), and I had a chance to invite some friends over for a soap making session. I hope to have all our soap made for the year (and for some gifts) in the next few weeks. 

We have been playing around with the new kid's kitchen that I bought for Millie at Christmas. I know she may be a tad young, but I found it here, it was fifty bucks AND it was hand made to boot! It is a really great little prize and I hope  Millie plays with it for many years to come.  

The seed order is done and the decisions have been made for this up coming season. We plan to go big on growing onions, which is exciting for me because they are one of my favourite vegetables to grow. Also on the new list is more culinary herbs, and some more early lettuces to accompany the fiddle head harvest in spring.

We have also been dancing around the kitchen to our advanced copy of My Father and The Hunter by the Strumbellas (one of the perks with being related to a band member).

So with spring in mind, I am trudging along.

This is a Recap.

From the City...

Here's little recap post of what's been going on for me these days.

Theo had a bath with his cousin Everly.

I went to an unreal Strumbellas Show and danced until I could dance no more.

  Theo fell asleep with his shoes on.  

I attempted to make christmas cards with a teething nine month old.

Yes, I'm crazy.

I realized after the first batch that the red hand was more on the gory creepy side and less on the festive holiday side therefore we made another batch in green.  

Don't worry, we still sent out the red hands, just not to the grandmas on my list.  

Thats it, theres my little recap!

But come back tomorrow because on my favourite fellow bloggers will be guest posting and it's a gooooood one!

-ab