So, Jamie continues to take his medication, and feel quite literally like crap, but we're hoping that after these long ten days, he'll be feeling like himself once more. We've been resting lots and hanging low, making lots of fresh juices (two favourites right now are fresh carrot with a dash of raw cream, and kale/pear/ginger. YUM!) and eating healthy foods to try and boost his system a little.

We are getting out and about for walks too, though the torrential rain and huge mud/slush puddles left behind did make it easier to just cuddle up inside! Before the rains, though, we found these great cattails, which the kids have discovered spread fluff everywhere! Ryland is at the perfect age to be fascinated by these for hours, and it's so fun to watch his reactions! He's a little less fond, though, of the itchy nose syndrome!!!!!!

Check out this funky little guy that has taken up residence in Jamie's guts. He's been feeling really off for a while now, and we've FINALLY gotten organized enough to establish a new family doctor here in Ottawa, and make appointments for us all to go in. Jamie did a bunch of testing, and the results came back as positive with Entamoeba histolytica, blech. I've heard people referring to it as giardia and others as amoebic dysentary so I don't know if they're basically the same thing OR if people are just confused, but whatever it is called it's a nasty little bug that requires some nasty medicine in the shape of horse pills to conquer, ugh. So for the next 10 days, we'll be treating Jamie's guts, and hoping that this clears up his system.

Updates on the Yurt..... Ger-ta?!

We drove out to the property last Sunday, in order to work a bit more on the yurt. We are bound and determined to get camping out there this winter, so we knew we had to put a few layers on it! First we started with a thin canvas....




Then we added the felted wool, which was heavier than you'd expect and a bit awkward to get up, but so thick and warm. It's really rather amazing, and I think very beautiful!



Of course, we'd forgotten to bring our ladder with us, so getting it wrapped properly around the top was a bit problematic. The canvas was light enough that Jamie could shove it up with one of the sticks, but the felted wool was far too heavy for that. So the guys improvised a little and got the job done!


After that bonding moment, they gave each other a few manly punches, finished putting up the sides, and then we all stood back and looked at our natural Mongolian Ger. Wow. However, something was missing.....it doesn't look like most new homes we see around us.....



Oh, there you go, THAT's better!!!


THIS is what happens when you marry a building envelope engineer and try to set up an all-natural, authentic Mongolian yurt with him. He just CAN'T leave well enough alone, gotta add vapour barriers (or was that moisture barriers?) and rain screens and all sorts of goodies. I'm sure once we're staying in there I"ll be thankful, for now it just makes me shake my head and laugh a little at my guy!


However, it still looks just as beautiful, from my resting spot in the middle of the floor!!!!! ALMOST ready to camp in, hopefully in another week we'll be out there for the night!!!!!!

Ski bums

So, we've started out with ski lessons for the kids at the beginning of January, and so far everyone is loving it! Kea is a bit more pensive and careful, and should probably not have skipped last year but is happy enough to slowly snowplough her way down the hills! Ryland is very new to the whole concept of downhill skiing and can't quite grasp why he should 'make a pizza' and slow down his descent. He spends the first half of his lesson grumbling about how he doesn't wanna make a pizza, and then enticed by the idea of getting to go up the magic carpet (new age version of the rope tow) or on the big chair, he'll obligingly do as the teachers are asking! As for Tiegan, she'll do a couple of awesome snowplough stops to show she can, then proceed to plummet down the hill at breakneck speeds! And not surprisingly, she is the one we have to literally drag off the hill at the end of the day!!!

This last Tue, Jamie played hooky from work for the afternoon and joined us on the hill. After collecting all of the gear and loading the van, arriving at the other end and putting all said gear on the kids, getting them out of the parking lot and getting all of the gear adjusted right times 3, he tells me he has gained a new sense of appreciation for the many times I've done this alone! He also now can really appreciate what effort it took his parents to take him skiing so many years ago! I'm just astounded that with the amount of times we've gone downhill skiing, this is the first time Jamie's joined us - and wow, how much easier it all was with two sets of hands! Here's to a winter chock full of both cross-country and downhill skiing!!!!!

On the twelfth day of Christmas...........

we wrapped up Christmas in the McKay household. All inedible decorations are off the tree, and it is ready for the birds tomorrow. We're packing up all of the movies and CD's (thank goodness - I need to expand our collection as I am SO. SO. SO. sick of the few we have!); the decorations and Solstice/Christmas books are going back into the winter box for next year. We've finished up all of our alcohol and fancy cheeses, and are back to a healthier diet (for the month of January anyways!) And the girls had one last stab at their gingerbread houses before the rest gone thrown out. Tiegan spent hours making sure she got every last bit, and although there were a few bits that were too hard to break off the gingerbread house (wow, what GREAT icing!), she managed to get a few good licks in anyways!

On the eleventh day of Christmas...........

we started back to the reality of our daily lives! Jamie had a wonderful two weeks at home, and today was back to staring at a computer screen all day and looking at drawings - I'm sure he's rather be skiing in Mud Lake! The kids and I woke up to figure out what our new routines are going to be this Jan. A few classes (swimming, choir and violin) but mainly we want to do a lot of skiing, both downhill and cross-country, and snow play - and a lot more book reading and board-game playing! Here's a photo of Ryland playing one of our winter favourites, Waldschattenspiel. We'd love to hear if anyone has any suggestions of other family favourites!

On the tenth day of Christmas...........

we had brunch with Jamie's step-siblings, and nephew Nikita. Tiegan and Nikita are about the same age, and it's so neat to see how they seem to hit it off each time we get together! It was a perfect way to end a great holiday, catching up with everyone and enjoying coffee and brie cheese:-) Now to start gearing up to the return to work and classes, and 'real' life, starting tomorrow....

I also wanted to post a few photos of our gift to Tiegan this Christmas. I took an old wool sweater and washed it in hot water to felt it down. Then I sewed it into a doctor's bag, we filled it with all sorts of fun bandages and tongue depressors, and I made a nurse cap and a doctor's hat. She loves it, and plays with it all the time - even though I think ALL of the band-aids were used up within the first hour!!!!!!!!!!

On the ninth day of Christmas...........

we said good-bye to my Great-Aunt Mary. She had been battling cancer off and on for many years, and today at 9:30 am PST it finally claimed her life. She will be dearly missed, and I hope that I manage to have nearly as much energy and spunk as her as I near 90! Here she is, dancing at her grandsons wedding two months ago - amazing! May you rest in peace knowing that you have lived a good, long life. xo

On the eighth day of Christmas...........

we spent a perfect first day of the new year. Asides from getting FAR too little sleep, that is! We spent a lazy morning with family, broke in our new skis with a magical circuit in Mud Lake (where the ice has been replaced by fresh snow!), and then came home to hot soup and an hour of quiet time - the kids watched a DVD, Jamie drew house designs, and I tackled some of the crafting sitting in a pile in my study!

I'd say these photos represent many of our wishes for this next year - more time with family, more exercise, more time in the outdoors, and for me, more sewing and crafting! Hope everyone else has had a wonderful start to their new year! xo