walking with purpose

you know when a photo can capture something that can sometimes be so hard to explain? well here it is.... I swear that's all he wanted to do--

walk and walk with purpose

oh and there are so many canadian-made sites and blogs i want to share with you today. i'll start with this toronto-based artist and many thanks to amber for featuring her on her blog and reminding me of her wonderful work. I am actually lucky enough to own one of her pieces (purchased away back when I had no qualms about going into debt for art) and albert, I know you are going to love it!

also via poppytalk I found out about this new online store presented by motherbrand and in partnership with the gladstone hotel in toronto. it is devoted to the ultimate canadian souvenir featuring limited edition works by celebrated designers in canada---

and finally also via poppytalk I found this wonderful blog about an artist who lives away up north in dawson city, yukon territory. beautiful photos and a refreshing perspective of life north of 60!

and that is all--xoxo--worsley

leap

happy leap year!

washing up

tinK.vintage spring photo shoot.
monogrammed wash cloths.
linen, viscose, cotton.

oh dear

oh Loki what goes on in that very large head of yours?

what is it about appliance noises that scares you so?

I don't think we'll ever find out, but we love you anyway.

xoxo

worsley

jaune & assiette

maybe it's because i have yellow on the mind...and maybe it's because i'm just a little desperate for some winter white relief...or maybe it's the oilcloth {i do love oilcloth}...regardless, today while looking for colour inspiration from here...this image struck my fancy...
and then i saw these plates, justine....and they made me smile and think of you....

each other

dear hugh,

today we bid farewell to 'mama's boob'. it was time. {sniff, sniff}

i was sure you would stop nursing on your own...just so sure of it...after all, those expert parenting books said you would.
my-oh-my, how those book were wrong.
it's quite clear you're not going to stop on your own...and i know you desperately want {need} to because i'm afraid, my little one, you have become a....boob junkie.

it wasn't always this way...
i will miss those moments when 'mama's boob' would make the world stop...and your great big saucer blue eyes would stare up into mine...blinking ever-so-slowly and peacefully as you fed.
i will miss those moments when you felt sick, scared, hurt, bored or tired...and 'mama's boob' would cure all.

how will we bring a silent pause to the world...without 'mama's boob'?
how will we cure all things unpleasant in your very pleasant being...without 'mama's boob'?

i never intended for our nursing to become an addiction. i never intended on you even being able to say {rather loudly and in the most public places}, 'mama's boob!!!!' and actually mean 'i want mama's boob right now and will do anything i can to get to it'.

so the time has come...21 months later...
and i am setting you free.
or shall i say, 'mama's boob' is setting you free.

tonight, as i tried to help you fall asleep, you cried in my arms for an hour. i rocked you back and forth quietly singing and quietly wiping my own tears with my shoulder. so what a shock it was when your wailing suddenly stopped...and what an even bigger shock when your great big watery blue eyes met mine...and the world paused...you kissed me 1, 2, 3 times, sunk your head in to my shoulder and fell fast asleep.

you see hugh, we don't need 'mama's boob'...we've got each other.

love,
mummy.

yellow

in hugh's world, two colours exist. "yellow" and "no yellow".

we have many, many (an actually mind boggling amount of) discussions throughout our day about these two colours.

"yellow car?"
"um, no actually hugh, that's a red car."
"yellow?"
"nope, it's red."
"ah, yellow car."
"okay, it's yellow."

"yellow star?"
"yes hugh! clever boy...a yellow star."

"yellow hat?"
"well no, not really. i would say it's more purple than yellow."
"yellow hat!"
"purple."
"oh, no yellow?"
"EUREKA! no yellow!"

as hard as we try...red, green, blue, purple, orange and every other 'no yellow' colour out there just doesn't live up to hugh's yellow...

but who can blame him...after all,it is a very delightful colour...
don't you think?

slow bread

one of my favourite aspects of winter is it's slow lazy pace...
the fact that the days are moving faster than i can run {which is actually quite slow...but lets pretend i can run really fast...and not duck-footed too} is more than i can handle!
so here on albert street, we are collectively trying to slow time down by celebrating slow food {it should also be noted that here on albert street we do all we can to celebrate anything whatsoever...and usually food is involved.}

we have kicked off our slow food festivities with,
baking bread...{which was mighty slow indeed as the recipe called for the yeast to sit for 24 hours...i would have moved on to a faster recipe but i wasn't the one baking this batch...and lest i forget our motto: slow down}

while the bread was baking...it was fun practising cutting the bread
and after practising cutting the bread...
it was most fun eating our prized salty delicious home baked slow food creation!
{recipe from this fabulous cookbook!}
hmm...i wonder what delicious treat will slow us down tomorrow?

soon

We have this to look forward to---soon---

I promise

In the meantime you could visit here and here for spring cleaning inspiration... oh and this wonderful site...

just because.

Happy Family Day!

xo

worsley

in the post

when it's february...and winter feels like it may never wander away...it's amazing what can perk you right up!
for instance, a good day of mail....
today, i received:
a valentine's day card from my loyal cupids...
and a new catalogue filled with bright and colourful inspirations....
{i might also add...i didn't receive a single bill!!}

worsley, the picture above is for you...
isn't the blouse lovely? and doesn't the glass of prosecco also look divine?
when i saw the blouse...i thought of only one thought,
worsley must have this...and same goes with the glass of bubbly.

el corazon

h hearts m

lazies

worsley says it's the weather. i agree...mostly because i refuse to believe that i have acquired a very serious case of the lazies.
while i desperately need to be working on this....
i am instead doing what any other professional procrastinator would do...
i am:
1. cleaning my house {an obvious choice for not doing what i should be doing}
2. tinkering with my camera {this is a dangerous stalling technique as it sucks hours away from the day}
3. entertaining hugh with my hilarious song & dance routines {hi-lar-ious!}
4. and i am eating...and eating....and eating {and drinking tea}
so here is my oath:

i, resider on albert st, will commence all necessary work {read: knit my pants off} as soon as i post this entry. i will not look here or here or here...no sir, because when i go to those enchanting places i spend way too much time absorbing their loveliness...

signed,
albert

knit

knit, knit, knit...
must knit...
must not procrastinate...
knit albert knit!!!!

mighty lena

meet beautiful lena mankope mahalefa.
she is the newest member to my inspiration wire...
and what an inspiration...

who is lena? well, she is a taxi driver in johannesburg, south africa...

is she crazy? perhaps....but more importantly she is one brave mama.
with a family to feed and the lack of employment opportunities in johannesburg,
she risks her life every day at her job to ensure her children will not go hungry.

a mama who inspires...

cupid

as a child living on washington street...i remember february 14th as a very special day. i remember my nose waking up before my eyes to the smell of boxed candy chocolates sitting on our dining room table awaiting my two front teeth to sink deep into its odd mystery creamy center. did i eat chocolate for breakfast on this special day? hmm, i think so...but that memory may be wrong. however, what i remember clearly...and most fondly...were the cards from my parents. one from my mom...one from my dad...and one from the two of them. such loving cards....

and then as the years passed...as they always do...i barreled into my prepubescent bowl-haircut phase...and no shock here, february 14th became a dreaded holiday. sure, i had the loyal heart shaped box of chocolates in the morning along with kisses and hugs and cards from my parents...but the anticipation of receiving a candy-gram or a love note from one of my out-of-reach crushes at school, was more than a freckled face-noodle body could handle. so, it was then that i wrote off this hallmark day of love for good.

even after meeting my love...my dear husband...i still did not celebrate february 14th. and lucky me, he also thought the holiday was a total sham. truth be told, i think he too had a bit of an awkward time during his young teens...or as his mother would describe, "david's husky years"...anyway, it was agreed by all to simply treat the day like any other.

so last night as i lay in bed desperately trying to coax my mind to sleep, i couldn't believe that i was tossing and turning to the visions of a heart...a big boxed chocolate....paper cutout....bright red conversation 'be mine' heart. yes, it's true... st. valentine snuck in to my crafty brain...and by morning, he was still there. instead of fighting, i surrendered...and the excitement i had as a child came rushing back.

before the sun had risen, i was knee deep in my art supplies closet grabbing paper, scissors, tape, yarn, hole punch, pictures, more tape, more scissors and for the heck of it, more yarn. by the time hugh had finished his last bite of breakfast, i had our valentine's-day-card-craft corner open and ready for business. 5 hours, 15 snack breaks, 1 nap, and 2 walks later, hugh and i proudly completed {um...only} one very heart-shaped valentine's day card...

and i think that will do just fine for this year...

perhaps you were wondering where I was?

finally here I am!

this is what's new on worsley st:

M. slept through the night for the first time since.....well since ever! couldn't believe my good fortune--spent the whole day thinking about just how well rested I felt

he has since not repeated this feat--ah well it was wonderful while it lasted

we will soon have a fully functioning bathroom--this is BIG news here on worsley--(it's a long renovation tale and perhaps deserves photos and a post of it's own)

our 85 pound dog has not torn any window dressings apart (he has a sensitive nature)

and I found out who sings my new favourite song

birthday crown

tinK. vintage photo shoot.
featuring: handsome hank and the birthday crown.

early

hugh and i were very lucky today as we had our favourite banana lovin'- bed head wearin'- toe tappin' friend over for an early morning visit...none other than the infamous son of worsley...mr. m.

as soon as he stepped through our front door, the two boys settled right in. after saying farwell to worsley, i shuffled my way into the kitchen leaving the kids alone to visit. as i was rubbing the sleep out of my eyes and pondering why it is that hugh wakes up every morning around 3:30am to begin his day...i noticed there were no sounds coming from the other room.

uh-oh.

a shot of adrenaline ran through my sleepy veins catapulting me out of my thoughts landing me in the middle of our dining room where i witnessed two pals...cozied up to their table...quietly sharing a read together.

ahh...early mornings with friends makes sleepless nights seem far, far away.

here were some of them

something i didn't anticipate about mummy-hood was how much i would fall in love with the nightly ritual of reading books to hugh before bed. i pride myself on the way i can change my voice from character to character...i never a blink an eye when he piles 15 - 20 books beside us...all stacked patiently awaiting to be read. i love the way he hurries me along especially if i'm trying out my best english accent or if i'm lingering on a page asking too many questions about the names of objects.
and oh my is he ever particular about his books:
margaret wise brown books - yes.
lift-up-the-flap books - yes.
tractor, trucks, tools books - definitely.
dr. seuss books - well, no. {which pains me to no end but i will keep trying}.
sandra boyton books - only if he's in the mood
beautifully poetic books...like this one - he would rather be strapped down in the car seat on the world's longest road trip than sit through one page of the book {which also pains me a little...but at the same time his honesty makes me grin}
so you see, when hugh picked up this book on our last trip to the library...i was in complete wonderment.
1.) not a board book
2.) nor any flaps to lift
3.) no tractors, no trucks no trailers
4.) and finally, it's kind of wordy
but no matter...the kid loves it.
and so do i.
it's big.
it's birdy.
it's beautiful.

12:36pm

ahhh.
at last.
nap time for hugh.
design time for me.
besides tea time, i do believe this is my favourite hour of the day.