There are quite a few dishes I would love to try, some of them a little more complicated than others.  L16 was inspired also so who knows what we might get to sample.

A few I’m interested in attempting are:

Alvin’s Drunken and Bruised Chicken dish.
Callum’s Violet Macaroons with Raspberries and Butter cream
Gary’s Rhubarb and Blackberry Souffle Crumble

I could go on and on, there is enough inspiration to last us until next year… or at least until the Junior edition starts!

Our older daughter turned 16 this week.  She is pictured above on Broadway, but no we did not go to New York for her birthday.  The picture was taken in May when Stellae Boreales were there on their 5 day tour.   She actually worked on her birthday, because you see 16 is old enough to have a summer job, even if it means having to work on your birthday.  After she was finished for the day Andrew cooked a delicious crab dish, as requested.   We also enjoyed a Curtis Stone dessert in front of MasterChef.  Although MasterChef has finished in Australia, we have yet to watch the grand finale…hopefully tonight.

Last night we spent a very enjoyable evening at an outdoor concert. The NAC and other orchestras do a series of free concerts in the park in summer. Last night’s featured Nikki Yanofsky, a sixteen year old singer from Montreal. We packed a picnic and lay out our blanket to enjoy the show.  As we arrived 75 minutes before the concert we were able to sit near the white sound tent which put us in front of two thirds of the audience.  The support artists, Time for Three were great, playing some familiar Stellae Boreales repertoire but with some interesting twists such as both violinists playing the same violin simultaneously.  Nikki Yanofsky has an amazing singing voice which you wouldn’t expect to hear if you only heard her speak.  As she chats to the audience she sounds like a sweet young girl, but as soon as the music starts she blows you away.

For the girls it was their second concert of the day as they attended the Chamberfest Rising Stars concert where two Stellae Boreales members performed.

A14 turned…well 14 this week.  We didn’t do anything fancy but enjoyed a bunch of things that she likes to do.  In the morning she opened a few cards and a FIFA soccer ball and chatted on the phone to family and friends before finishing watching Akeela and the Bee with B9.  Watching a movie about a spelling bee made her want to play Scrabble so we did that until, just before the last round, B9 dropped a ball on the board!  In the afternoon A14 and her friend E(almost14) spent the several hours shopping.  Apparently the few purchases they made were made only after lengthy periods of indecision.  I can easily believe that after watching them try to choose a movie to watch after dinner!  Birthday dinner was a BBQ followed by “Kate’s Aussie Mess” from last year’s MasterChef recipe book.

I have done this once before.  In 1989 I spent the year at Theological college doing a 1 year Diploma of Bible & Missions.  I had worked for two years and saved in order to study that year and decided not to spend any money on clothes from January to December.  I did not know when I began  that before the end of the year I would be preparing for my wedding.  I stuck to my commitment regardless and made my own wedding dress, something which I had always planned to do anyway.

So far this year I have turned one dress into a skirt.   The dress was one I bought in Melbourne while shopping with my dear friend Alexandra.  She convinced me to step out of my comfort zone and buy a green dress,  a change from the blue I usually wore.  I bought it from Monsoon, which was for a long time my favourite clothing store.  Fortunately they had very impressive sales twice a year otherwise I could never have bought anything there.  I realized too late that I should have taken a “before” shot, so I could post it beside the after.  L15 was not impressed when she saw that I planned to cut up the dress, she thought it was much prettier the way it was.  She was probably right but I felt I would wear it more as a skirt and it would fit me better.  Just after I converted it I was given a “hand me down”  blouse which matches beautifully.  Hand me downs are totally acceptable in this diet, in fact they are encouraged.

There are two sides to this challenge of course, one is making or remaking what I want or need.  The other is not buying;  the best way to not buy is to not shop, but I do see things when I am out shopping for the girls.  I saw a pink sweater one day for $20.  It was calling my name, despite the fact that I have two in that colour.  They have zips, but this one was a pullover, an important distinction.  I walked away.  Harder was the day I saw a swimsuit.  I will need a swimsuit very soon and the one I saw was precisely  the style I like, exactly the colour I wanted, and on sale.  It was however, not  my size.

May is always a crazy month, May madness is not an inappropriate name for what goes on around here.  In May many of our activities come to an conclusion.  They do this with end of year concerts, projects and get togethers.  While this is happening spring and summer activities are starting meaning that for a few weeks at least two, but usually three members of the family were out every night of the week except Saturday. ( So naturally we had to squeeze some MasterChef into Saturdays, but that isn’t the point of this post!)

The girls had several concerts and a five day whirlwind tour of New York.  I hope to get them to choose some of their favourite photos to share on the blog soon.  B9 had soccer two nights a week with Andrew as one of his coaches.  They both enjoyed it and did not miss a single game because of rain.  May drew to a close but the madness carried into June.  All three children worked hard on their various academic tasks in order to finish earlier rather than later.  B9 has wrapped up and the girls are almost there.  We closed our Geography course for the year by holding an Asian feast.  Each member of our group brought a dish from one of the countries they had researched and the spread was impressive and delicious.

Our final art class occurred on a very pleasant afternoon spent at the arboretum, drawing whichever vista took our fancy.  Outdoor education was scheduled to finish with a camp out but as the bugs were very bad it was postponed and replaced with a soccer game and potluck.  We also squeezed in the last literature discussion, covering a Canadian book, Bifocal, and then met to plan for next year.  We are going to run two groups next year for Junior and Senior highschoolers so  I have been reading  quite a few books in preparation for that.  B9 participated in a read-a-thon where he had to set himself a goal for 7 weeks of reading.  Each week he was sent a riddle to solve and the culmination was a party last week where Ray’s Reptiles brought along some animals native to Ontario.  His favourite was the impressive turkey vulture.  He had no trouble completing his target number of chapters each week as he is totally engrossed by the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series.

We have been playing tennis a few times a week and everyone is improving.  A13 has signed up for a Track and Field program this summer which began a week ago is held three times a week.  She ran in her first meet on Saturday in the 100 and 400 metre sprints.  She is hoping to get the chance to try hurdles and high jump also.

So life has been full but much has been achieved.  In the next week we should settle into our summer routine which will involve a bunch of tasks and activities which we have not had time for through the year… but at a more relaxed pace, I hope.

The excitement of Kiwanis pales into insignificance when compared the upcoming Stellae Boreales tour.  Both A13 and L15  leave very early on Saturday to travel by bus to New York.  While there they will pack in as much sightseeing as possible as well as 4 performances.  As both are members of the senior performance group they will be playing solos at the concerts.  You can follow the tour and photos by visiting the Stellae Boreales blog.  They arrive back home on Wednesday evening.