Attila the Mum

The other day, I had a parenting moment.  Not one of those stellar look back upon and smile moments.  I do have those, but this wasn’t one of them.  I took three of the crew grocery shopping with me.  Sounds pretty innocuous, right? I often think to myself, if only one child was having a…

My vegetable garden is this amazing space of green-ness.  It is dense, tall, and wild.  I plant and tend, but I mostly let be.  I am amazed every year by how a wee plant, a tiny seed, or a bristle of sticks become the wild, entangled thicket that is my garden.  My dear husband says…

I live on a corner and have a rather large fence that is aesthetically devoid.  I have grown morning glories and nasturtium up it.  I have thought about cutting holes through it, re-spacing the boards, and reducing the height.  During the winter I decided I would create a mural on the fence using thin plywood….

I am a puddle jumper.  Actually, more of a puddle stomper.  I am a slush stomper too, but that is another season that I don’t particularly want to think about now.  There is something joyful about summer puddle jumping.  You head out in the warm summer rain (for whatever reason, or no reason at all)…

Did you know that only 50% of the population reacts to poison ivy?  This is something I  recently learned.  I knew I was one of the 50% because I had experienced poison ivy as a kid.  I was very recently reminded what a poison ivy rash looks like. I am pretty good at plant identification.  I…

One of the rocks of my life died yesterday. He wasn’t someone I saw frequently, or spent a lot of time with recent years.  He was someone I always knew would be there if I needed him.  He helped me work through my creative ideas.  He was always enthusiastic, encouraging, and supportive.  When we did…

I think that when you become a parent there are conversations you imagine having with your children.  There is the “talk”, where you intelligently and insightfully tell your children the mechanics of where babies come from.  Then the chats about the other varied and sundry things about life, living, and the pursuit of happiness.  Of…

I took my children to the art gallery the other day (I love the other day,  it is this lovely indeterminate time reference).  I am never exactly sure if they get anything out of these cultural trips, other than the experience of the train ride in, the busy-ness of the train and subway stations, and…

One of the things about having my kids with me most of the time is that I have become a firm believer in the benefits of being bored.  Boredom has lead to sculptures being made from kitchen utensils, various and sundry stop motion films made using a variety of objects and materials, insects discovered under…

It starts out as a wee seed (acorn, chestnut, bract, key) and becomes a place of shade, coolness, an air filter, and oxygen creator.  It is a productive member of the environment for fifty to hundreds of years. When it loses a branch in a wind it becomes viewed as a danger.  So it is…