we got jeremy's lamp from an antique store in a barn near where we got married. there were so many treasures there we also took home the red bench that sits by our front door and the floor lamp that stands by our couch. my favourite thing about buying antiques is how they've had this history without you that you can imagine.

i always wonder if they like their new home best. or where i would fit in the story of their life.

that picture is a woodcut print of a camping trailer near a lake lined with trees in the moonlight. we found it on etsy so my next favourite thing to old things with history are new things made by people you can read about. the artist emailed to make sure it arrived safe and i told him it had and he said he was 'very, very glad'.

i liked the two very's.

we won this guy from ebay to hang over the intercom and muffle the buzz when the pizza guy comes. you can re-adjust his eyeballs, up and down, on the yarn that their attached to. he's from the 60's which means he's older than us both which means we need to listen when he talks. or hoots. or buzzes through his centre.

there's one more picture to complete the mantle. it's one of our feet swinging over a boardwalk with lily pads at the top. it looks like summer and reminds me how nice things feel when they're blowing through your toes.

i love to stare at the picture on the left as the picture stares back at me with two familiar faces. our faces frozen in time.

i like to think of staring still when we no longer recognize those faces, when ours have grown long and tired, but still with that smile underneath.

the french donut is an endangered species.

the sign at the bakery up the street says they are for sale on saturdays and tuesdays but that sign is a fibber so don't be fooled.

the first time i went i was too late, the second time more of the same and the third time they were still in the oven.

but i tried once more this saturday past and and they weren't as good all those tries but carrying them home, in a paper bag, warm from the oven...

well that was worth its weight in gold.

a good egg omen.

OH HELLO! what a sight for sore winter snow glasses you are. do robins even go anywhere for the winter? i think i've seen them around the whole season but maybe that's just other birds in robin costumes making themselves feel like spring.

hey, whatever gets you through.

this breakfast was 3 dollars from a little place down the road. there's pictures everywhere of the owners family and a faded poster of deli meat and a handwritten endorsement from burt reynolds in red marker on the wall.

i think the best thing about being a celebrity is that you get to write your feelings on the wallpaper of restaurants.

on the way home we collected twigs from a fallen pussy willow to arrange in a vase on the mantle. twigs make lovely decorations but aren't recommended for the construction of houses especially if you're a pig and extra especially if you're expecting wolf visitors.

HAPPY SUNDAY! HAPPY SIGNS OF SPRING! happy whatever you like you should celebrate it and we'll join in.

x

the sun woke me up this morning. just like this.

i felt warm on my face and too warm under the blankets and i opened my eyes and there she was stretching in here. coming to see the place. coming to wake me.

so warm and bright and life giving. hope giving. she reminds me of spring and i am anxious.

jeremy is still in bed and the curtains are mostly closed but she'll find him in there soon as he sleeps that deep, wonderful sleep of someone who is absolutely at home.

it's a great day for a stroll.

i bought two books on natural magic which has to do with plants and the moon and how nature is full of all sorts of energy and how you can learn to channel those energies and how you can make a relaxing bath with milk and honey that cleanses your aura and your armpits.

i'd love to be a witch! like nicole kidman in practical magic. so pretty and sexy and she never wears shoes. glinda the good witch of the north is pretty good too especially how her dress is the same one later worn by peaches and cream barbie.

bring your work people a mountain of fresh baked cookies!

and the people will be happier, oh yes, the people will be happier.

also i will be happier on sunday night on account of my taste testing duties.

indoor picnic and art activities

on saturday i like to dress up. i put bobby pins in my hair and pink gloss on my lips. i ask jeremy to take a photo of my pretty grey sweater. i go for coffee with jenn cairns and we share a bench seat by the window.

we talk like old friends who don't need a backgrounder.

i come home and the house smells like lemons and jeremy's been cleaning and now he's on the couch with his feet tucked behind him and he looks like a frog or a boy watching cartoons. i kiss him on the head and he smiles.

i sit down to write and i look out the window. the sleeves on my sweater are the perfect long length. only my fingers are bare as they slide along the keyboard and find their right keys. i type to you.

i toast to saturday.

on this hour of mantlepiece theatre, our mantle!

this was our first large scale construction collaboration and i use the term collaboration quite generously as this was clearly jeremy's baby. jeremy's wooden, nailed together baby. but the baby let me sand it and paint it and even though jeremy's the favourite parent i think we share something quite special. (read when jeremy's out i feed it junk food and let it watch television with swear words.)

i painted the bottom part a colour called canadian sky. i love sky! i love bringing sky into the apartment through a well named paint chip.

jeremy stained the top part dark walnut. not as well named but still very attractive.

i enjoy how our home is looking more and more like a cottage. or a flea market. or a flea market moonlighting as a cottage. and i love all the tools on the red bench in the back.

in the future jeremy will have a wood shop for all that stuff and he'll be in there on saturday mornings and i'll bring him coffee in a thermos and ask what he's making and he'll say it's a surprise.

the dog really loves the new fireplace too, the warmth is good for his arthritic bones. especially as he insists on laying down in yogic poses.

those photo frames need photos, (and i know just the ones), and that phrenology head needs a hat if he's ever to go outside but we're basically done!

let's roast chestnuts and marshmallows and our buns when first we come in from the cold.

x

robeson, you done me real good.
i’ve had a lot of people ask why i’m changing my name so i’ve pondered on it and i’ve slept on it and i’ve asked the magic eight ball for his opinion and i’ve come up with an answer. a real goodie.

i’m changing my name because i feel that in doing so, jeremy and i have become a unit in an outside-looking-in type way. we’re the sorrells! so nice to meet you! won’t you come and sit by the fire? mr. sorrell built it with his bare hands.

i also like that if we had children or adopted children or saved a pet monkey from its horrible circus life that we would name that monkey, 'something sorrell'. the sorrell family! the flying sorrells! we'd go on tour twice a year.

i like the idea of being a sorrell because i like the idea of being a part of jeremy’s family. of BEING jeremy’s family.

i think marriage is a transition in many ways. it’s about merging with someone all your dreams and hopes and fears and laundry and for me, sharing a name is a very real representation of that.

i loved being a robeson for 29 years. and i’ll love being a sorrell for the rest of my lifetime.