crooked house

Adventures in a Certain Wallpaper Pattern

 

Some of my legions of readers may remember the wallpaper on the walls of my childhood bedroom. And by some of you I mean my mom, my brother, and my oldest friend from childhood, Sara. And by legions of readers, I mean those three, although Sara doesn't get online much, and maybe two or three others.

I've framed a scrap of that wallpaper and it's there on that shelf by Vivi's bed. Do you see Vivi's sheets? The pattern is very similar -- I found them for a song at a store in town that was going out of business. And that's the quilt from my childhood bedroom. You can see that I am reliving my own childhood through my daughter's bedroom decor, whether she likes it or not.

And now I've started dressing her in the pattern, poor thing.

You can get a good view of the dress from all angles in this impromptu performance. If you can't stand the song about how she is a pink-red rose, fast forward to the rear view, which happens around 34 seconds.

And thus endeth the "let's forcefully relive our own childhoods through our children" post of the day. (It's nice that so far, she still cooperates.)

What I Want for Mother's Day

Someone on facebook named Mary Carpenter posted this touching Mother's Day request to her children and I have seen it popping up all over the place. You should go read it. I will wait.

Mary's request is nice but I decided to write my own version. Here it is:

So I've decided to be proactive and tell my kids what I want for mother's day. Here it is:

Dear Children,

Mother’s Day is coming up, and I thought I should tell you what I want. This way there’s no guilty panic or last minute purchasing of flowers at the closest gas station. So, this is what I want, this year and every year after; it’s pretty simple really.

I want your father to take you away for the entire day so I can spend it reading in bed.

See, simple.

Love,
Mom

Crystal Palace

Last weekend, we took the kids to the Crystal Palace in Moncton, New Brunswick, along with a couple of other families. That's Luke in the back, his friend Jack in the front, and Jack's mom Krista. Krista is brave. This is what that swing thing looks like from the ground.

I went on the merry-go-round with Sylvie and felt like throwing up.

Sandwich Bag Art

David LaFerriere, a graphic artist, has been decorating his sons' sandwhich bags since 2008. There are hundreds of them. Watch a video of him here.

Friday Nights

This is called "Friday Nights" by Deborah Dewit and it is my idea of the perfect Friday night date. Alas, my night tonight isn't going to look like this and it's doubtful my Friday nights for the next little while are going to look like this, either. I suppose we could hire a sitter but how exactly to explain? And how to keep the children in other rooms, so they aren't leaping from our stomachs and over the back of the couch and blowing out the candles in between? I guess we could take a hotel room...

Four Sisters: Then and Now

Photographer (and eldest sister) Wilma Hurskainen forced her younger sisters to retake these childhood photos. Aren't you glad she did? Via My Modern Met.

Giveaway: Tickets for Four to the Movie ParaNorman

Alliance Films has offered Crooked House readers in Nova Scotia a chance to win free tickets for a family of four to a pre-screening of the 3D animated film "ParaNorman"  at 10am, August 11 at Empire Theatres in Bayer's Lake.

In "ParaNorman," (from the makers of the Academy Award-nominated "Coraline") a small town comes under siege by zombies. Who can it call? Only misunderstood local boy Norman, who is able to speak with the dead. In addition to the zombies, he'll have to take on ghosts, witches and, worst, of all, grown-ups, to save his town from a centuries-old curse. But this young ghoul whisperer may find his paranormal activities pushed to their otherworldly limits. The film is rated PG13. From the trailer, I'd guess it might be most appropriate for older kids and tweens.

I have four sets of four tickets to give away! Count 'em, FOUR! Readers, the odds are in your favour! To enter, please leave a comment below this post. The winners will be chosen on Friday, August 10th.

Painting

While I worked on this -- I am painting our lower kitchen cabinets in chalkboard paint -- Vivi sat quietly at the dining room table with her watercolours. I heard nothing but the clinky-clanky-swish-swish-swish of her paintbrush being dipped in the mug of water, presumably to clean it between colours, just as I had spent a great deal of time demonstrating to her. And then I got up to check supper in the kitchen.

Oh well, at least it wasn't as bad as this.

Secret Heart Garden

A hot-air balloonist in England recently discovered this meadow in the shape of a heart tucked away inside a stand of thousands of oak trees.  Turns out it was made, secretly, by farmer Winston Howes,  in memory of his wife Janet, who died of heart failure at age 50, in 1995. From The Daily Mail:

Mr Howes, 70, said yesterday: ‘I came up with the idea of creating a heart in the clearing of the field after Janet died.

‘I thought it was a great idea – it was a flash of inspiration – and I planted several thousand oak trees. Once it was completed we put a seat in the field, overlooking the hill near where she used to live.

‘I sometimes go down there, just to sit and think about things. It is a lovely and lasting tribute to her which will be here for years.’

He created the wood next to his farmhouse in the months after her death, marking out the massive heart shape with a large hedge.

The entrance to the secret heart is accessible only from a track leading up to its tip.

Mr Howes added: ‘We got people in especially to do it – there are several thousand trees.

‘We planted large oak trees around the edge of the heart then decided to put a hedge around it too. The heart points towards Wotton Hill, where Janet is from. We plant daffodils in the middle that come up in the spring – it looks great. I go out there from time to time and sit in the seat I created.’

Janet and Winston Howes.

Shadows of Shadows

Me, with my shadow. And my other shadow, and her shadow.