October 31, 2008
On Tilly Witch
For Halloween’s sake, I bring you Tilly Witch, the 1969 book by Don Freeman (who was also the author of Corduroy). I had forgotten about Tilly, until I encountered her by chance this summer, and remembered that I had been obsessed with this book as a child. I have a feeling now that being obsessed with a book back then meant being in love with the pictures, pictures you could gaze into for extended periods of time, and detect new entire stories.
The pictures are pretty wonderful, dark and spooky, but made magic by juxtaposition– Tilly’s yellow surfboard, the witch doctor’s mask, the colour from the window in the picture shown here.
The story begins with Tilly Ipswitch, Queen of Halloween, suddenly finding herself in a rather jolly mood. She doesn’t see why she shouldn’t be– after all, “if boys and girls get to have fun pretending to be witches, I don’t see why I can’t play at being happy and gay, just for a change!” But Tilly soon finds that playing at happy is sort of like pulling faces– once in a while, you might stay that way. Tilly dancing around with flowers, and on the eve of Halloween– even she knows something has to be done.
Naturally, and most politically incorrectly, Tilly hops on her surfboard and flies the the tiny island of Wahoo to see a Doctor Weegee. (Walla walla bing bang). He is horrified upon examining her, and writes an emergency prescription to Miss Fitch’s Finishing School for Witches.
Upon re-enrolling at the school where she’d once been star pupil, Tilly’s problems only get worse. The lessons fail to take, she keeps giggling, and finally she is sent to the corner to wear a dunce cap. Such degradation proves too much for the Queen of Halloween, and Tilly begins to get angry. Seething– she is not a dunce! She leaps up from her stool and stomps on her hat. It is Halloween night, and she has duties to attend to.
Tilly flies back home, takes some great joy in frightening her cat, and then sets out on her broomstick to scare children the world over. The story ends with a moral: “For Tilly had indeed learned her lesson. As long as Halloween comes once a year you can count on her to be the meanest and wickedest witch in all Witchdom”.
So the lesson is bad is good– and as a little girl, I think I appreciated such a complex message. The greater lesson being that non-conformity (and rich pictures) can really make a children’s book delicious.
Happy Halloween.
September 3, 2008
Delightful Things
This past weekend, because it was long, because it was summery weather, and because my sister-in-law was staying with us, we indulged in delightful things. Chocolate raspberry tarts at Dessert Trends, a sunny afternoon at Riverdale Farm, bbq indulgences (esp. corn on the cob and mmm that grilled peach blue cheese salad was good), a trip out of town to the Twenty Valley where we loaded up on gorgeous produce from a roadside stand, and then to Ward’s Island yesterday, to wade in the warm (!) and gorgeous Lake Ontario and dinner at The Rectory Cafe. All in all a perfect way to kiss goodbye the summer, or perhaps more to give summer a whole lot of temptation to stay. Just a little bit longer?
We’d been discussing Rosie Little earlier this week, my sister-in-law and I, having both fallen in love with Danielle Wood’s tales something fierce. And we were talking about the restaurant in Vancouver where Rosie has tea at the end of the book– The Junction Tea Room? (Which I cannot
verify, as my downstairs neighbour has borrowed my copy for a holiday to Japan). And how we wished the magical tea room was real, but a fruitless Google search suggested it wasn’t. Alas. And then come Sunday afternoon in Jordan Ontario, we find the only parking space in down right out from of the Twenty Valley Tea House.
We had a brilliant afternoon tea there, sun pouring in through the windows. As at The Junction Tea Room, we got to select our own cups and saucers, mismatched and gorgeous. A hat racked mounted with chapeaus and feathers was there for our pleasure, should we choose to
partake. Oh, the tea was delicious, the cakes and triangle sandwiches. Ok, there was no cream (no cream?!) but the scones were so moist and flavourful, none was really required. We ate in tiny bites, morsels, in that afternoon tea way that always has us come out stuffed. Afterwards, a browse in the gift shop, with tea goods for our pleasure. All in all, a superlative teaish experience. Even worthy of fiction…
July 28, 2008
This is a photograph
As in Atwood’s poem, “This is a photograph of me”: “The photograph was taken the day after I drowned./ I am in the lake, in the center of the picture, just under the surface…” Except that I didn’t drown, and I am just left of centre, but this is a photograph of me and I am in the lake, with Stuart. We’ve been away all weekend with our friends Bronwyn and Alex, who were kind enough to share their cottage and the BMW to take us there. And the weekend was such an adventure!
We saw two frogs, three hummingbirds, a snake(!), and lots of minnows. The cottage was cottage-perfect, full of thirty years of fantastic family history. The weather was sometimes good, and often terrible. This meant a massive thunderstorm knocked out our power and so we had to live as our ancestors did, conserving freezer-door openings in order not to hasten the ice cream’s melting. Luckily we had a bbq at our disposal, and the beer stayed cold, and after the storm the sun came out, and we went swimming and canoeing. As the sun went down, we made do with candlelight, and played Apples to Apples late into the evening, and then went outside to be ravished with stars.
We made an obligatory cheese factory stop, and bought a bag of curds and then went in and bought another. We spent plenty of time reading (and I writing!), and, of course, eating. Obligatory watermelon too, and we all pretended not to be terrified when the storm came, when the hail fell from the sky like wrath unfurled. We cheered when the sun came, and cursed it when it left. We also took 85 pictures, because we have a new camera at our house (exciting!). I gave up a lifelong passion for frog-catching because Stuart said it was cruel. We bathed in bug spray, and braved cold water, sang “Boom didi yada”. The power came back on this afternoon.
July 25, 2008
Looking forward
It may have been raining plenty of late, but it is still summer. We’re off on a cottage mini-break this weekend, for which we’re very lucky and excited, and life is never ever better than it is in July. However the following is a list of things for which I’m looking forward to autumn (and they must be good, to make me look past July). Surprise, surprise, they’re mainly bookish:
- Once by Rebecca Rosenblum (Biblioasis, September 15)
- Goldengrove by Francine Prose (Harper Collins Canada, September 3)
- The Flying Troutmans by Miriam Toews (Knopf Canada, September 2)
- Alfred and Emily by Doris Lessing (Harper Collins Canada)
- Lucy Maud Montgomery: The Gift of Wings by M.H. Rubio (Doubleday Canada October)
- When Will There Be Good News? by Kate Atkinson (Bond Street Books, September 9)
- What It Feels Like For A Girl by Jennica Harper (Anvil Press, September 15)
- Promised Land by Dar Williams (September)
July 14, 2008
Summer Fiction
One of my favourite events of summer: The Atlantic Fiction Issue is now out and about.
July 6, 2008
My weekend
…has been full of marvelous things, including bbqs, long walks and long bike rides, lingering mornings, wine and scrabble, hot dogs, Sunnyside Park, a patio lunch with a pint. But it all can be summed up as follows:
- Friday: One roasted marshmallow ice-cream cone from Gregs around the corner.
- Saturday: One lavender-blueberry ice-cream cone from Kensington Market Organics on Queen West.
- Sunday: One raspberry gelato in a cup from Bravo Gelato on Roncesvalles.
June 9, 2008
Magic Tricks
Summer has begun to work its magic. For example, on Friday I inadvertently had ice cream three times. Friends materialized in the evening, and fun was had. Saturday was even more miraculous– tea and crumpets in the sunshine, with the paper. We had a picnic that afternoon, returning to our beloved Trinity Bellwoods park, and we welcomed an ant for the occasion, just so convention could be defied.
It was a splendid afternoon, the sunshine sure for the first time this year. Though of course we were sitting under a shady tree, feasting on good bread and cheese, and also blueberries (which were from far away, please don’t tell Barbara Kingsolver). Enjoying the absolute heaven that is that park, and the privilege of such peace in a bustling city.
We partook in a game of Scrabble (our magnetic pocket set), and competition was intense. I am pretty bad at Scrabble, so I was quite pleased to accomplish highlights Bandit and Oasis, with a triple world score for each of them.
Friends came in the evening, mix of new and old, but both much adored. Delicious barbeque miracles, and the fridge stocked with beer, and fine conversation (which, it was pointed out, did tend to be a bit too 1998-centric so we tried to curb that, but failed). It was the first night this year we were not driven inside by cold, and so we could stay out late on the deck, watching tricks performed by bats.
June 8, 2008
Barbeque Pizza
At our house, one of the very best developments of late has been the advent of barbeque pizza. We adore homemade pizza, but as the weather gets hot, turning on the oven becomes deeply undesirable, but then the desire for pizza still remains, so whatever to do? The following recipe (and grilling instructions) are based on those from our favourite cookbook Vegetarian Classics by Jeanne Lemlin.
- 2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
- 1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon dried basil
- 4 tablespoons chilled margarine
- 1/2 cup of milk or soy milk
- 1/2 cup water
- Olive oil
1) Mix first four ingredients in a large bowl. Add the margarine, and then rub it into the dry ingredients with your fingers until the mixture is coarse. Blend milk and water, and slowly add to the flour mix, stirring until the dough is evenly moistened.
2) Place the dough on a floured surface, and knead two or three times (“until pliable”). Divide into four balls.
3) Press the four balls flat, not so large that all four will not fit on your bbq grill. Brush both sides of each pizza with olive oil.
4) By this time the bbq should be lit and hot. Place oiled dough on the grill for three minutes, and then flip and cook on the other side for three more minutes. Remove from the grill.
5) Add pizza toppings.
6) Return pizzas to the grill and cook for about three more minutes, until the cheese is melted.
7) Cut into quarters, and serve
