Robbie Burns Day

Today is Robbie Burns Day. Being of Scottish descent I should have been celebrating but it completely slipped my mind as I focused on the many pressing tasks at hand this morning. Only when I wandered into the office did I find someone wearing a kilt, telling me I had missed the canned Haggis.

I should have been there earlier.

He then fished the empty container from the recyle bin as proof that Haggis had indeed been had here and he focused my attention to the vegetarian on the label.

Vegetarian Haggis was had.

The "real" stuff was still sealed in another tin.

Canned Haggis.

An aside: the canned Haggis was bought here and you can order it online!

I read the label and Haggis really goes well with whisky. Whisky is recommended as an accompaniment to, and as part of, any recipe which uses Haggis.

Yes there are recipes that use Haggis in it.

After I finished my potato scone and my oatcake I wandered out of the office thinking about my Scottish side. Argyle. Really, what else is more Argylier than Argyle plaid?

Here is the official Argyle tartan according to tartansauthority.com

This is one half of my official ancestry. Of course Argyle patterning has been everywhere these last few years, like on this stuff for instance:







popular for dog sweaters


butt patterning squid knitting


luggage blank book

cakes

cat collarshead to toe outfits

cufflinks distressed patterning


dog collar dog tag

felted flower

jumper knit shirt

needlepoint needlepoint


ornament pants


plaid'n'pegasus paper ipod


ribbons ring


sneakers skateboard


kilts (him, her)


socks (her) socks (him)


sock vases stationery


tote vest

visor wallpaper

Wonder what Robbie Burns would write about today? I could get him some fancy tartan stationery for inspiration, and a smartly dressed companion animal to keep him company if he had to stare at the blank, tartan-bordered paper before his muse arrived.

Mild.

I woke up to the sound of pouring rain. I like to lie there and listen to the weather outside my window. We haven't had too many howling winter nights this year and this morning it was heavy rain.

Today's forecast high was 9C. It was overcast most of the morning but then the sun broke through as I crossed a mall parking lot schlepping two bags of groceries toward the bus stop on the opposite side. It felt like April.

The unmistakable sight of snow melting

Smiles all 'round.

Goals

I've written my goals down many times and worked with affirmations for years, but I have never combined this with a calendar. I found this free calendar template and decided to make my own calendar this year.

I love calendars.

I simply titled the space below my Whiteout image 2010 Goals and I'm going to keep track this year of what I am doing to make the things that are important to me happen. There is always a step you can take toward a goal. It could be tiny, but so long as you continue to move forward you are getting somewhere. I think if I kept focused all year, (always hard for me; my distractions are very attractive), I'd be very far along toward my personal goals this time next year. I'm going to try it.

Feel free to copy this page and convert it to your own goal calendar.

Polar Bear Swim... the complete event!

When I have my camera with me I always wonder whether I should video the event or take pictures.

At Britannia yesterday I _really_ wanted to get the closeup shots of the faces contorted by the cold water, and the sheer surprise at what they were really feeling.

In the end I opted to video the whole thing. It's just such a fun, crazy thing to do, jumping into a frozen river. I wanted to document the whole thing. I figure if I need the still images I can get them from the video, at least enough so I can paint a few frames of it.

Here is my complete video, chopped up into four YouTube digestible bits. If you were one of the swimmers my fuzzy winter hat goes off to you! I hope to join you next year.

Polar Bear Swim, Ottawa, Britannia Park January 1st, 2010

How best to start the New Year?

And so, here we are, the day after the night before
aka New Year's eve 2009/New Year's Day 2010

Britannia Park, January 1st, 2010 just before 2pm
Weather: overcast, light snowfall, wind 4km
Temperature: -3C/with the windchill -5C

58 participants in the Britannia Park Polar Bear Swim
The event raised money for the President's Choice Children's Charity

pre-swim
pre-swim

first glimpse of the "canadian hot tub" aka the ol' swimming hole

we all stood on the ice
a giant cracking sound made more than a few of us nervous,
causing us to wonder
if this was the year we all participated in the polar bear swim

the ice is pretty thick this year

contemplating the future

getting ready for the dippers
ropes are placed around the waist of every swimmer so they can be pulled
up and out of the water, or guided to the edge to help them out

you don't see this every winter day

in Grover we trust

participants get a "safety talk" before they go in

afterwards
lots of slush and a good look at the edges of the swimmin' hole
brrrr.