Split Pea Soup

The only thing better than a bowl of soup on a cold day, is a bowl of soup made by someone else. 

Growing up, we were treated to a Dutch recipe of pea soup called snert.  We called it snot because it was green, and we didn't like it.  I know that I didn't like the thickness of the soup, and maybe that skewed my perception of it, or maybe my tastebuds are maturing.

This soup is fabulous, made by my friend and brought to my house because most of her family doesn't like it.  My kids do.  

And why isn't it green? I didn't ask.  Maybe she uses yellow split peas.  According to the web, the only difference between yellow and green split peas is the colour.  That might make the difference between a child calling it snot and snert though.  And maybe the difference between a child trying it or not.  That's a big difference really.

As far as I can tell, the other big difference is the thickness.  This version is thin and souplike.  The one I grew up with was really thick.  

So, make it the way you like by switching out the green peas for yellow, or adding more or less water to thin it out, but this is the soup I've been enjoying for two straight days now.  I'll have to try my mom's soup again one day. I'll probably love it now.

      Her Mom's Pea Soup

      2 cups dried peas

      ham (however much you have, and the bone if you have that too)

      1 carrot

      1 celery stock

      1 onion, sauteed

      1 bay leaf

      1 potato

      salt and pepper to taste

      Boil the peas in 10 cups of water for 5 minutes with the ham bone.  Leave to soak for 1 hour.

      Add the rest of the ingredients and simmer until the veggies are soft.  Remove the bone and eat!

Love

This is a sweet video in honour of Valentine's Day.  Thanks for sharing it, Coralee!

Ancestry

Now I feel like I have to post something even if I'm not thinking about terribly much.  It doesn't really mean nothing is in my thoughts though.

Tonight there are a few things going on around here.  Guides and Brownies are having a potluck supper tonight to celebrate their various ancestral backgrounds.  So, what should I make? 

Meat and potatoes would be the normal Dutch meal.  Blah.  Boerenkole?  Potatoes with green bits doesn't have univeral appeal with other people's kids.  Hmmm.   Oliebolen was suggested by the kids, but I don't have a deep fryer.  Croquettes?  Same hinderance.  Boterkoek?  Desserts are always loved, and something so full of butter should appeal to everyone.

Then there is their French heritage.  Pancakes with maple syrup?  Hard to cook and bring.  Split pea soup?  Even I say "yuck" to that.  Tourtierre?  Again, I say yuck because I've never liked the traditional spices in that and I shouldn't experiment on others with my first attempt.  Hmm.  Laura voted for French Fries.  Not exactly Quebecois french, unless I turn it into poutine.  There's a thought.

At Christmas my kids were granted their Metis status.  We've raised them with none of that cultural background simply because Yvon was not raised that way either.  I wouldn't say there was a lack of pride in that part of their family background, but certainly no emphasis.  However, bannock would be easy to bring.  

So, boterkoek and either bannock or poutine.  We'll see what the afternoon brings. 

And tonight I've been asked by Beth's principal to either speak to the open house attendees at the school about our experience with late French immersion or just be a contact for potential students to talk to.  I hate public speaking so I've opted for the second option.  Really I'd rather attend choir practice, but last year I wished for some parents to talk to about the challenges that late immersion might bring, or some reassurance that this is a good thing to do.  I'll suck it up and be that parent tonight.

Increased postings

Rosa informed me yesterday that she is going to post every day.  Every day!  I should maybe try that too, but I know I won't have something to post every day.  Does that mean I have nothing on my mind worth sharing?  Maybe it's a blank hole in there sometimes. 

So here's what I'm thinking this morning. 

If kids want their stuff to be private, they shouldn't leave it on the kitchen table. 

And if they don't want me to read their books, they shouldn't leave them lying on the couch, open.  I may just lose their page. 

That ties in nicely, actually to what Beth wrote in her notebook on the table.  (They aren't very private thoughts, so I'm sharing them today without permission.  I'll ask later and apologize if I must)

The book lying open was Alice's, called "Love That Dog" by Sharon Creech.  It's written in poetry (or short lines) in the words of an elementary school boy.  The boy doesn't like poetry at the beginning of the book and struggles to understand it.  Here's an example of his writing:

     I don't understand
     the poem about
     the red wheelbarrow
     and the white chickens
     and why so much
     depends upon
     them.

     If that is a poem
     about the red wheelbarrow
     and the white chickens
     then any words
     can be a poem.
     You've just go to
     make
     short
     lines.

That's generally how I feel about poetry too.  Usually the lines and the thoughts behind them are so compressed into a few words that I just don't get them.  And is everything in short lines considered a poem?  Are there no rules?

     Is
     this a poem?
     A short
     meaningless
     top-of-mind
     poem?

Beth writes similar poems, but I do actually like them and maybe because I know her well, I understand the thoughts behind them without much explanation required.  Or maybe she expresses herself well.  This is from her notebook:

         The Bookmark
         The golden stick
         That puts off thoughts of fantasy,
         mystery.

         The Bookmark
         The marker
         That holds together the flow of thoughts
         and dreams
        
         The Bookmark
         The remote
         That presses the pause button for the movie
         in your head.

         "I'm sorry.  I accidently lost your place."

         Flipping pages
         Searching for landmarks
         Finding checkpoints
         Retracing steps

         Found it.

         Sigh.
         Breathe.
         Read on.

I hope she continues writing as she grows up, and I hope the topics don't get so private that she stops reading them to me and sharing.

And Alice, I hope I haven't lost your place in your book.  Use a bookmark next time! :-)

All freshness and light

Okay, so I managed to get some alone time this week and it was good.  And what did I do with it?

Exercising.  Even on a Friday night!  I am finally starting to feel like the exercising is starting to benefit.  I've been exercising with a friend 3x a week since September.  It's been time-consuming and kind of fun, but I'm not losing any weight whatsoever.  While that's disappointing, I've lately been waking in the morning being "aware" of my muscles.  Not sore exactly, just like I can feel muscles in my arms and the back of my thighs.  I'm thinking that's a good thing. 

And I've been painting. This is what my one wall looked like in our room.

It wasn't always that streaky - that's after I sanded a couple of areas, but that's truly how dark and shiny it was.  I understand the color.  Forest Green was popular at one time, but why did they paint all of the walls and ceilings in high gloss?  And why did it take 11 years for me to change it?  Maybe that's the most important question.

And this was our very lovely ceiling light.

Only one halogen light worked in the fixture and we could hardly see into our closet in the morning.

And this is what the room looks like now. 

Sooooo much better!  In the late afternoon the room actually glows.  It's so pretty.  And at night it's nice too.  And notice the matching white bedside tables?  Nice! 

All is far from done though.  The "white" walls are far from white and they are still glossy.  So far the room hasn't cost anything because I had the yellow left over from Beth's room two years ago.  I don't have any white though. 

I am planning to buy the good low-VOC stuff like the yellow.  That stuff is fabulous to work with.  It didn't drip anywhere, even though I did the ceiling without covering the bed.  I'm not saying I recommend that, but I'm just saying that the biggest mess you're likely to make with this paint is if you step on the lid.  Benjamin Moore Aura.  Buy it.  You won't regret it. 

Okay, so all is going smoothly so far, except this. 

Not only is the wire not centred in the ceiling, but it also doesn't have a light box.  I need one for my new fixture, so that means finding a beam, cutting a hole and moving the wires to it.  Nothing that I've done before and I'm a bit hesitant, although I know the concept is simple.  Finding the beam is what is currently stopping me from cutting the new hole where I want it.  I have a nice new fixture from the Habitat Store ($12.50!).  Hopefully this week I'll try it.  Then I have some holes to fill, prime and paint.  

Oh yeah.  And I noticed that my knees and legs are stronger this year by the ease in which I climbed on and off the stool while painting the ceiling and getting on and off the floor cutting in at the baseboards. 

None of my other activities were done alone.  Two choir practices, a community league meeting, potluck at the school, serving a meal to the innercity needy, a games party last night, a child's birthday party, making soup for 40 people at church, a sewing lesson, piano lessons for the girls. 

One day I'll remember these busy days with fondness.  For now, I look forward to laying on my bed, alone, in the late afternoon with a good book and silence in the house.

Selfish time

It's been an odd week, child-wise.  Sometimes I feel like I don't get any time to myself.  It's not true really.  I get lots of time after the kids are in bed, and sometimes they all go to school, but it just seems like they are stealing my time when it doesn't work that way.  It's selfish of me, but I love my lonely times.

Monday and Tuesday turned out to be PD days for Beth.  Originally I thought, "It'll be nice to spend two days alone with Beth."  Then I remembered that I exercise on Monday mornings out of the house and that seems to take all morning.  And in the afternoon I had agreed to teach a young friend how to sew by whipping up a small project together.  With that young friend came her mother and sister, and then my other two girls were suddenly home from school.  No alone time with Beth. 

And then I vaguely remembered that I may have checked a box on a field trip form saying that I could maybe volunteer to accompany them.  "Did I say I'd spend Tuesday at the museum with your class?" I asked, hoping that she'd say no.  "Yeah! And the teacher told everyone that you'd be there!!"  Shoot.  6 hours spend in the museum with 8-year-olds learning about rocks and minerals.  I don't even like rocks and minerals.  No alone time with Beth.

Wednesday.  Alone at last, I thought!  Nope.  Beth went to school and called from the school before classes even started, asking for a ride home because she was sick.  So, some alone time with Beth maybe, but she spent it in bed and I tried to be quiet in the house for her sake.  Wednesday always involves one extra child after school, Brownies, Guides and Pathfinders' meetings, one dog to be walked and my own choir practice.  We quite happily managed getting Alice to Brownies and walked the dog.  Quickly made supper and prepared to go to Guides, a Pathfinder's ceremony, and if the ceremony was quick, I could still make it to choir practice.  That was not to be.  Not this week. 

On the way to Pathfinders (which Beth thought she was well enough to attend), her finger unexpected turned yellow.

Yellow!! Like it was dipped to her second knuckle in dusty yellow powdered paint.  Change in plans!  Maybe an evening at the hospital was in order instead.   We were quite freaked out actually.  I wish I'd thought to take a picture, but it looked like this (only on one finger though).



We are happily ignorant of many medical things, but sometimes it would be nice to know when freaking out is justified. 

Anyway, it went away and tingled a bit after Beth breathed warm air on her finger, so we stayed home, but I also skipped choir in case it happened again so that Yvon wouldn't have to drag the whole family to emerg.  It didn't happen again and we had time to Google and self-diagnose.  It sounds like a clear case of Renauld's Syndrome.  Nothing much to worry about, but we've got to schedule a physical for her and make sure a doctor knows.  

Thursday:  Beth was still not feeling great and stayed home.  By noon, all kids were home (they have a half-day on Thursdays) and I had two extra kids.  I do love having the kids home with me, and I love that our home is a place that friends like to hang out in, but is it selfish to wish they would all go outside for a few hours and leave me alone?  I just wanted to be alone!!  Instead, I took them skating while I exercised at the community hall with two friends.  Then a meeting at night that I didn't feel like attending.

Friday:  PD day for Laura and Alice.  Beth did have school but STILL wasn't feeling well enough for a full-day field trip that would have been awesome.  Amazingly, she was fine to go skiing at night.  It's my own fault, but I offered to take the girls skiing, and bring one extra friend as well.  By this time in the week I didn't want to do that anymore.  I just wanted some time to myself. 

Here's hoping for a quieter week this week.  Maybe with some alone time built into it somewhere.  For one thing, I'm forcing Beth to go to school.  There was a lot of social activity over the weekend during which she felt just fine, so school should be just fine too.  Maybe we'll get to spend quality time together at a doctor's appointment and have her finger issues checked out.  Sounds like fun, no?

Changing light

I always go into a bit of a slump after the Christmas gift-making.  Only the deadline of Christmas keeps me going through that, because the lack of light in this country kind of gets me down.  I don't necessarily stop creating, but my heart isn't always in it.

The light is increasing and changing and I love it!  And it only gets better as well.  The weather feels like spring too (unseasonably, so I'd better not start looking for tulips) and now I'm jumping into projects with a bit more energy. 

This was a tiny project for a birthday present. 

I found this nice little notebook for a ridiculously cheap price.  I do love paper - recycled paper, notebooks, the feel of good writing paper.  I don't actually write, but I'm attracted to the stationery section of stores. 

This little girl does like to write.  Stories and journals, mostly.  I didn't want to cover the nice cover with a notebook cover though, so I just made a little slipcover for the back of the notebook to carry a few pens.

The big project occupying my mind these days is our master bedroom.  I hesitate to call it that because that brings visions of a much larger space than what I'm talking about.  Our room is a typical 1960 bungalow bedroom with only room for our bedside tables, bed and two dressers, and just enough room to walk around them.  So  without budget for anything new, I am mainly painting a lot of things.  We've been in this house for over 10 years now and our room is the last to have anything done to it.  It's still got a feature wall of lovely dark forest green.  When we moved in, I knew it would have to go, but every room seemed to have priority.

It's finally time.  And I've got a real deadline to help me keep it moving.  By the middle of March, we are having a friend stay in our house for a full days while Yvon and I go on a short holiday.  I can't have her stay in our room as it is. 

Over the years we've managed to find two bedside tables that are identical except in their paint treatments.  And one still has the sewing machine inside.  I've never even tried it to see if it works. 

Goodbye mismatched tables.  And hello two matching white ones.

Yvon won't let me use them for a few days until they are properly cured, but I'm dying to move them back into our space.  Two more pieces need to be painted too. 

The whole room needs to be whitened and brightened.  The forest green is becoming either apple-y green or yellow (we have leftovers of each from other projects and I just have to check on their status.  Dried up and crusty?  Or fresh and ready to use?  How much is there?)   And I have some lighting ideas in mind, but not sure what I'll find that's cheap.  I love going to the Habitat store, so that'll be my first stop on Monday.

And this...

I didn't think this was my year to quilt, but that's what my brain is constantly dreaming of.  I'm starting simply though.  More of a pieced duvet cover.  And I shouldn't have to spend a penny on this.  We've got the duvet, the white that makes up most of the cover, and certainly lots of scrappy bits for color.  I can't wait to see it all come together! 

No quilter will be allowed to ever see it.  It's a mess of mismatched corners, but it makes me happy.

How are your brighter days going?