:: mlle. h. bean ::

:: Monday, December 21 :: hold me closer tiny...

So I'm at work this morning and somewhere in the library I come across this book. So of course I have to photograph it and show it to you all, because it is clearly the most awesome book ever. I mean, a horse named after Tony Danza? Brilliant!

And, it also makes me think of Elton John. "Hold me closer, tiny danza..."


Who would want to leave this cozy scene? This is my couch, with one of our three cats. Seriously, I could live on this couch. Especially at night, with sparkly lights up like it is here.

But, tomorrow morning I'll be getting on a bus, which will take me to a train. And then I'll take the train all the way to Montreal. We're leaving the cats in the capable hands of a neighbour, and going to see what we can see in la belle province.

I added some new links in the sidebar: Shapely Prose, or Kate Harding and her minions... Alex Hanam, or Lexi as she is known sometimes... Shutter Sisters, an amazing resource for women who like to take pictures... and "I Phone the Prime Minister Of Canada Every Day", which was just started by a friend of mine in Sydney. It's kind of hilarious. No wait - it's all kinds of hilarious.

Also: I'm leaving Facebook! And it's not just a knee-jerk reaction to something - I've been thinking about this for several months now. More on that to come - it's making me think about the Internet, and our lives online, and how we interact with each other.

But first: work! And then: a train! And later: more posts!

Labels: holidays, my photography, silliness, travel

Leah said at 9:59 AM
...

The other day I was going through the newspaper, and I happened upon an article about George Clooney that was accompanied by a photograph. Something about the photo of his head just begged to be cut out and put on a hand-drawn body, so that's what I did. Then I taped my creation under the wreath by the kitchen table, so that we might have a Clooney-rific Christmas. Five minutes with a sharpie and a pair of scissors, and a lifetime of Christmas magic.


A few days later, I was over on the West side of the island. My friend and I were driving along, marvelling at the high winds and the whipped waves. We stopped the truck and I got out to take some photos. "Don't be offended if I don't get out there with you!" said he. "Don't worry, I'm not!" Then I got out of the truck and blew away - I mean, nearly blew away. And took the shot above, of the ocean and the snow and all the wild whiteness.



Yesterday, after a hiccup or two, my Christmas cards arrived! I was so happy when Kal Barteski offered these for sale last month. And, they're even better in person. The cardstock is nice and firm, the colors are gorgeous, and the fonts are to sigh for. Beautiful, just beautiful. So now I'm hopping to it, addressing and stamping and writing out these babies, to get them back in the mail and hopefully out to their recipients by Christmas.

(But, not stressing too much about that. I've been trying to be realistic about things lately - when I get stressed about something like, say, getting my Christmas cards to the people they're going to by December 25th, I stop and think: wait a sec, why is it SO important? It's not, really. If they get them at all, it's good.)

Just in case you wanted a gander at some of her beautiful designs and entertaining blog - that's where to go.

This time next week, I'll be posting from Montreal! Keep your eyes peeled in the meantime, I might just be doing some random posts between now and then.

Labels: Cape Breton, holidays, my photography, winter

Leah said at 1:02 PM
...

Hard to believe this was just a little over a week ago! I was at a beach over on the West Side. I took my boots off to cross a little brook, and kept them off to feel the sand on my toes. And now, there is something like one or two feet of snow on the ground.

This is a mid-week post, just because. Sometimes I find myself reading other blogs (like the daily Love Life blog of Winnipeg) and getting inspired to post each day. Of course, trying to actually keep up with that would probably drive me nuts - and, I'd soon run out of things to say, because I don't want to be as open about my life as she is. (And, I haven't got any babies to provide constant cute material.)

So instead I settle for random, in-between-Thursdays-posts.

My weekend was good. I got to see other parts of the island, and drive through snowy weather in a big truck that I actually felt safe in. On Sunday, after a huge snow dump (two feet literally fell overnight), and after some shovelling, I set out for a snowshoe through fresh powder. It was quite the workout for my legs, and it was also really good to get outside. Being outside by myself, for a long walk or a long snowshoe, is like taking all the furniture out of my brain, dusting it off, and putting it all back in, clean and with a new perspective.

I dropped in on some neighbours and we talked for a while. My sweat had cooled and I was getting chilly by the time I was going to set out again. So the wife of the two said, "I'll take you on the bike!" Meaning, the bright green Arctic Cat four-wheeler. This woman is an inspiration. She's tough as nails but you can see her heart melt when she talked about her grandkids. She goes hunting right along with her husband, has her own ATV and snowmobile, and talks rapturously about being out in the woods, cross-country-skiiing on a day with heavy snowfall. Being outside is her "bottle of pills," as she says. But when you meet her outside, she's also likely to have a fresh coat of lipstick, and her long nails painted pink. She's fierce and I'm glad she's on my "team."

We bungee-corded my snowshoes to the front, and I jumped up behind her. We whizzed along the dirt road - still unplowed after a whole day! - towards my house.

"Don't you wear a hat?" I leaned in close to her ear to yell this.

"I like to feel the wind!" she shouted back.

Labels: blogging, conversations, friends, my photography, winter, women

Leah said at 2:50 PM
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