art in the park

My favourite thing on Sunday was Art in the Park (which has been renamed the New Art Festival but I still prefer the old name). In fact, the Great Glebe Garage Sale and Art in the Park are my two favourite Ottawa weekend events. This year I discovered a new (to me) ceramic artist, Lesley McInally, whose work is beautifully and interestingly textured and evocative. I bought four(!) things from her--they were small--brought them home and liked them so much that I rode my bike back and bought one more. And I like them more and more each day. I'll try to take a picture one of these days and put it up here. And several years ago I "discovered" Meaghan Haughian at Art in the Park. One of her paintings is on the wall beside me now and I still love her work.

chimes

Last Thursday my favourite thing was watching Ben play chimes at a school concert. He was so concentrated and intent on the music. He now wants chimes for his birthday.

I don't think anyone mentioned playing music on the favourite things list but that might be because people were trying to suggest things I might like and everyone knows that I am not at all musical (I can't even clap on beat). But I do love listening to the kids!

tour la nuit & dusk

Tonight we went on the night bike tour organized by the city. It was amazing to have the roads closed and to see so many bikes out together (and so many inventive versions of bicycles) but I was most struck by that full-bodied scent that comes as dusk falls, the earth and grass and leaves and water all at once seemingly releasing their scents. The air was suddenly and warmly musky and alive with lush fragrance. This effect was intensified by all of the flowering trees in Ottawa: we passed through patches of lilacs and wild roses and various unidentified but powerful smelling blossoms. And so there was the smell of dusk interspersed with pockets of flowers. And then there was also the sliver of the moon and the deep blues and greens of the fields and trees in the Experimental Farm. But most of all: the almost intoxicating scent of dusk. I had forgotten how sudden and strong it is.

bird's nests and bedroom paint

This year we have a bird's nest tucked in the eaves of our front porch, a bird's nest in the fir tree outside our living room window, and a bird's nest on our bedroom window ledge. I love bird's nests and was happy to have so many so close by. But this afternoon the nest on the window ledge was blown apart in the high winds (that also sent all the papers flying in my study and the curtains blowing to the ceiling) and a baby bird fell to the ground. Our neighbour found it between our houses and made a makeshift nest to hang from a birdfeeder in our yard. The parents--blackbirds--were crying out like crazy, very agitated. I hope they'll find their baby and feed her/him. I wasn't with my neighbour when she found the bird but when I looked at it in its new "nest" it looked very forlorn and just-hatched. We'll see. The baby bird falling from the ledge was definitely not a favourite thing, of course, but it did remind me of how much I appreciate the nests, the sound of the hungry chicks, and the graceful elegance of birds (not counting pigeons) in general.

Since I've written about birds before I've used up bird references from the five-favourite-things list but bird's nests remind me of robin eggs which are blue and so here is Ari and Alisa's favourite bedroom paint colour: "Benjamin Moore Gossamer Blue."

variations on tea

Ever since Jodie introduced me to mauritius tea about six or seven years ago (which I can only find at Alice's Tea Cup in New York) I have had the exact same pot of tea five days a week. It is definitely in that rare and refined group of one of my five favourite things, one of those things that I wouldn't want to live without. Here's how to make it (and this, I think, is going to be the best recipe on this blog--nothing surpasses it).

One small teapot with a holder for loose tea ingredients.

One teaspoonful of mauritius tea (I've tried to find it other places but thus far have been unsuccessful. If you go to to NYC you should buy a lot. I usually ask for $100 worth while Joel W faints in line beside me and Joel E suggests I should seek treatment for my "habit"). IF you can't get to NYC, you can substitute a regular tea bag of strong tea (PG tips is ideal but Tetley will do) and a one-inch vanilla bean cut open or vanilla extract. Mauritius tea grows on the island Mauritius and is apparently naturally infused with the vanilla plants that grow alongside it.

Half a teaspoon of whole cloves.

Half to full teaspoon of cardamon (adjust to taste--some cardamon is stronger than others)

broken up cinnamon stick

hot pepper flakes (just a few)

1/2 cup or so hot milk (adjust to taste)

teaspoon of honey.

Mix it all together and you have the best hot drink in the world.

BUT there is recent breaking news on the tea front. This past weekend I bought a premade organic chai mixture from the hole-in-the-wall tea shop, "Tea and Ginseng," in Ottawa and I was shocked to discover that it is almost as good as the above recipe. I have tried dozens and dozens of premade chai's, trying to avoid the process above because it takes a comical amount of time to make, and this is the only one that is in any way comparable.

The best chai I've had in a restaurant was in Palo Alto waiting for the train to San Francisco. Sarah L introduced me to this place; in my memory it serves only tea (but in fact surely must serve more things). A woman was always there stirring an enormous vat of this milky tea and on the few occasions when my train came before I could get my tea I mourned my lost cup of tea all the way to SF.

The best tisane I know of is from Cha Yi's Maison de Thé. It's called honeybush vanilla.

And, finally from the list, Eran mentions Mariage Frere Tea as his favourite tea and lots of people (way more than those who mention sports) note drinking tea and reading as a favourite activity.

ottawa race weekend & sports

This weekend Michal ran the 5K with some other kids and teachers at her school. I took her to the race and cheered her on. It was exciting! The next day we went and cheered for those who were running the marathon (in the pouring rain!) a few blocks from our house. There was an extraordinary range of people and almost all of them, at 38K, looked great. We would cheer and often people would say "thanks!" and I was thinking, "are you crazy? don't thank us--save your breath!" They had only 4K to go and so we can hope that most of them made it. There was a family in front of us and the father kept calling to the kids to make sure their ball didn't roll into the track of the runners. As they left, he said to his kids, "be sure to clean up your banana peels." And then in an aside, "that would just be too cliché."

Not that many of my friends mentioned sports as a favourite activity (not surprisingly?). Here's Larry's response (which made me smile): 1. Favorite Winter Sport: Drinking Hot Cocoa (Those cups can be heavy); 2. Favorite Winter Sport, Active Division: Cross-Country Skiing with friends.

glacial lakes

Another huge gap in postings and another back log. A few weeks ago we went to Jasper, Alberta and I didn't have my computer (a rare occurrence) and, as a result, didn't write here. And, once again, as soon as the habit of writing slipped it slipped and slipped.

At any rate, while we were in Jasper I remembered a favourite thing that I had forgotten all about: the brilliant turquoise colour of glacial lakes. Jasper was great but my two favourite lakes in this regard are the lake just before one climbs Black Tusk in BC and a lake in the Sierras where I had what was probably the best swim of my life. The water was clear as crystal and each time we jumped in it was like glass cracking and splintering, the light going off in all directions, and then the sudden quiet when one is underwater. I can still remember the shocking cold but also the beauty of it all.