All posts by Tracey Vibert

About Tracey Vibert

Creativity abounds and balance is sought in both hermitting and peopling.

Halyma~ Just before going on stage…

Halyma, , ,

 

HPIM4992.JPG, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

Thursday, June 12, 2008 ~ the Ottawa Centre Class Party~

What a night. It was the culmination of a lot of hard work and a lot of fun. I am still recovering from it in that I have done the bare minimum accounting, putting things away, send out thank you emails and put up some pics in a private area on Flickr for those who performed and might want copies.

Sorry, not open to the public – that’s the domain of our official photographer. When I get that link I’ll let ya know!

But it was a blast, and I am happy to now look forward to some random workshops this summer and some more sewing.

And the sun is shining today, so I think we’ll take advantage and have some outside time – forecasting a rainy week ahead!

Happy Father’s Day to all of those Dads out there!

Three in Pink

Halyma, , , ,

Click on Picture to see more photos

HPIM4919.JPG, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

It all began Saturday morning. 9:30 a.m. And the lovely ladies Zamira, Halyma [ me] and Zeevah graced the Oasis with their strength and energy.

Supporting the Weekend to End Breast Cancer here in Ottawa is a fun and rewarding experience. Supporting any cause you feel strongly about in a way that feels right for you is always a win-win situation. I have already extolled my opinion on the importance of volunteer performances in a previous post, so I won’t go on about it again.

We worked hard both mornings, we had fun with each other, and the smiles on the faces of the Walkers as they came into the Oasis each morning were priceless.

Thanks to Zamira, Zeevah and Shade – see more pics of our fun weekend by clicking on this one!

Sorry about the tan lines; next year I will have some spray on 45 SPF – or maybe 60 by then. 30 SPF just does not cut it any more!

I was able to take the afternoon to relax – Zeevah continued out to Art in the Park and supported the other group of dancers gracing that area of town! Zamira headed home to prepare for the show that night as well.

Saturday evening took us to Ottawa U alumni Auditorium for Jalila’s – now known as “Jewel”- Welcome to the Dance Event – a multi-class recital that featured students and teachers from across the city. I was fortunate to be able to present my advanced group, Zafar [ Victory in turkish] and perform a solo myself. I did not get pics of me in my outfit, but I am hoping that Lainie did!

A great evening – lots of fabulous dancers and some really nice progression as we see dancers who started a while back and have improved in their skills with each consecutive show in which they perform!

A long day brought a quiet evening at home, checking over video footage [ Hubby shots the video of the show].

Sunday morning had me up not too early – I was able to sleep in a bit. I chose to go easy for costuming and was ready to head off by the time Shade arrived. We headed over to pick up Zamira, and off to Pit Stop # 2’s second location. Not too far form my place, but definitely a drive. And we were heading off to the Clutch afterwards, a non belly dance event of relaxing and nibbling of fresh fruit in a quiet lovely basement in Navan! So I wanted to have the car handing and ready to go.

Zeevah joined us at 10:30 as the Walkers were not moving so quickly on Sunday morning! We danced, had our pictures taken some more, laughed, felt hot, sweated, got sprayed, drink water and ate bananas!

Then Zeevah again headed off to Art in the Park while Shade and I finished off the final hour before happily finding our way to that air conditioned basement!

All in all a great weekend of belly dance – and I am happy to have a light day today to put away all of these costumes, and get back to work on Thursday’s Ottawa Centre Class Party that I am organizing!

Minty Bean Balls – a new recipe

Recipes Blog, , , ,

Well, sort of balls...

Along with sewing and dancing, Tracey – my everyday ego – enjoys cooking.  I have been missing that lately with so many other deadlines, shows, sewing projects for clients on the go.  Today, I was able to sleep in, make whole wheat pizza crusts to freeze for easy meals this week, start some 24 hour whole wheat, no-knead bread, and do some groceries.

We have an invite to go to some friends for supper – another luxury at this time of year – and I wanted to bring something light and fun as an appetizer.  Even though I did buy groceries, I had not thought about what I wanted to make or bring. Upon arriving home and scanning the fridge and cupboards, I came up with these.

Based loosely on the concept of falafels – or perhaps simply inspired by falafels, I took the idea and ran healthy with it.

  • 1 can of mixed beans [ included chickpeas, kidney beans, pintos and black beans I think], drained and rinsed.
  • 1/4 cup tahini 
  • 1/2 cup fresh mint leaves [ organic from my back yard]

Dump it all together and use a blender/food processor/hand blender to puree it all together.  Make balls on an oiled cookie sheet, and bake in a 400 degree oven for  about 30 minutes.  If you prefer to fry them – go ahead. I don’t like to add too much extra fat, so I wanted to see how they turn out as a baked product.

Changes I will try next time:

Mine was very soft – as you can see in the picture, they did not hold their shape as balls.  I had to make dropped balls from a spoon. I think I would add more beans or less tahini.  Or possibly add some ground flax seeds or other seeds/nuts.  They would have the consistency of cookie dough, and then can be rolled by hand.

I would suggest that if you have garlic and onion and like them, add some.  I cannot eat these without spending the next day clearing my throat, so I avoid them, but for most people they would find them a standard addition.  Say 1 clove garlic and 1/2 a small onion, both minced and then purees with the rest.

You can always use different fresh herbs too – cilantro, parsley, basil, hmm, whatever works for you.

We will be serving them with some garlic mayonnaise for those who want a dipping sauce tonight, but I have thoughts of these going really well as an alternative to meatballs in many recipes/meals.

If you try this, or create your own variation, I would love to hear!

Sprouting Goodness

Recipes Blog, , ,

Occasionally I like testing various seeds for sprouting to increase my raw vegetarian comsumption.  I think it is fascinating how quickly the seeds can go from this:

To this in less than 48 hours:

After less than 2 days

I have a very simple system of glass mason jars, a mesh sieve/strainer, and tap water for rinsing.

I found some amazing recipes and ideas for this online at http://www.sproutpeople.com where you can purchase seeds online as well as get generally free advice and great ideas of what to do with your sprouts once they have developed!

Each seed/bean has a different taste, and I made raw hummous based on a recipe from the sprout people and it was wonderful!  You don’t have to cook the chickpeas!  Some sprouted legumes do need to be cooked to kill off a particular toxin – look into each type before eating raw!

And then there are whole almond soaks – what a great way to wake up your food!

I just love watching the sprouts develop – give it a try yourself!  Be sure to get organic seeds though for best results!  non organic ones may be “mules” and not meant to be grown, just cooked and eaten…

Shen Dance & Friends:The Ladies dancing for the runners/walkers!

Halyma, , ,

Click on picture to see more shots!

 

HPIM4783.JPG, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

Sunday morning, bright and early, with the sun shining off of the sparkles and glitter of the dancers as they lined the Rideau Canal to welcome to participants of the ING race weekend!

GeeGee Robinson is one of the matriarchs of our belly dance community here in Ottawa and has led the Shen Dancers as they perform and share their love of belly dance, middle eastern dance, Raks Sharki, whatever name you would like to call it.

Along with many of her former students, and friends in our dance community, they created a fun and joyful atmosphere with music, drums, zills and cane dancing!

I was glad to be able to pop by to take some pictures of them – deciding that two dance events in one weekend was enough for me.

I had been at the Indo-Caribbean Cultural Celebration performing on Saturday evening, and then was heading off to dance and teach for a friend’s party around lunch time. So, I offered some moral support and documentary assistance to the group of lovelies!

Congrats ladies – there were a lot of smiling faces as they passed you by!

Early mornings ahead…

Personal time, , ,

made a few years back, but you get the idea

Tis the season that I begin my day at about 6 a.m. [ ish] and start sewing by 8 a.m.  Working until 1 or so, taking a break, and then draggin’ myself back to it for the afternoon shift – unless I have a class that evening.

My busy season.

Wedding dresses, prom dresses dance costumes abound – yay for the chance to create such a variety of beautiful things~!  

My first deadline weekend was May 18th.  Irish dance dress. Gone. After 11.5 hours of sewing.  Does not sound like much time, I know.   And if it could be done all at once, it would be two, not so long days.  But it gets spread out over weeks and looms quietly in the background.  Taunting me with the huge, heavily interfaced skirt that knocks everything off my shelf and window sill as I try to work on it.  But it is gone now.

Next deadline: May 26.  Silk prom dress should be done by then.  That means working on the weekend probably, amongst the two dance events I am booked to perform at as well.  

Oh, did I mention the dance gigs have been picking up this spring too?  Yay! And that means new costume pieces for me as well – must have new things when you are dancing all the time!  Which means making them as well.  Good thing I hand sew fairly quickly when watching Buffy episodes!  5 episodes got my new silver bra and belt done to the point of wearing. Updates will take place though, before the June Recitals/Shows.  But I now have the pre-made fringe [ thanks, Diane] that will form a back ground for the hand beaded and coined fringe I will add myself.

And June 5th brings the light at the end of the tunnel to most of the dance costumes I am making.  A few I can push over to the next week, if I need to.  And then I will run away.  I will take a brief respite after the June 12th show to find a moment of sanctuary before the rest of the bridal season takes hold. There is a retreat that calls to me, but at $400, it may be pushing things a bit out of balance.  Perhaps my retreat simply needs to be me and Boing and a hammock, out of Tom’s way while he processes DVDs of the OCCP.

I’ll decide closer to it.  Once I figure out what I want, it will all fall into place.

For now, I am actually enjoying the structure I have managed to set up for myself with Ical. I schedule in the work time for each project, with some flexibility to move things around and change my mind. As long as I get those pieces worked on before their appointments, all is good.

Today introduces a new wild card into the mix. The return of working in Beacon Hill.  I have been working with Ivy for about 20 years now, part time, full time, off for a while, on to contract work.  It has always been a great way to get out from my own clients work, and see something new.  And play with even more expensive pieces, and this summer offers some fun beading to be done. Yay~!  Here’s hoping that I can find a way to schedule this work too…

Well, off to walk Boing and get ready to head out!

 

 

 

 

 

Dreaming of August…

Personal time, , ,

Click the photo to see more shots of Algonquin Park

DCP_1623.JPG, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

For as long as Tom and I have been together, August is our camping month.
The bugs are almost non-existent, the nights are cool enough for sleeping, and the days still have some warmth to enjoy.

Our hammock collection has grown each year, after we hit the top of the line with our tent collection. We bring the Condo { 3 rooms when needed, 2 rooms most of the time}. We loan out the Apartment { 2 rooms when needed}. And we offer space on the site to visiting friends who might come up for a long weekend trip.

When May and June roll around, I am in my high season of work. The dancing is still in full flow, with classes and the Ottawa Centre Class Party that I organize coming up on June 12 ( http://www.tav-creations.com/classparty )

And the prom/bridal/dance recital season is blooming too as the tulips begin to wilt and finish their brief visit to the world.

When I daydream, it is of Algonquin park and whatever date we are set to depart in August. We have been going there for 11 years – this will be year 12. It is always the same, yet always different. Some years we canoe more, some years we walk more. The Ice Cream hike has become infamous amongst our visitors.

And the sunsets, and the hammocks, and the general sense of wholeness it brings to our souls.

I hope everyone has a happy place they can escape to in their minds during times of pressure and/or stress! Feel free to borrow mine if you need it…

The Painful day of Garbage

Personal time, , ,

....in judgement

Taking my morning walk on garbage day has become painful for me.  Like walking into an animal shelter and seeing all of the rejected unloved little creatures who just want to be loved and feel wanted, so my heart goes out on garbage day.  I walk past piles of, what seems like still usable goods and chattel that should be given to a good home, not sent to the landfill.

If I can on the night before, upon spotting some fantastically amazing item that someone can use, I will make an effort to come home, and jump online to post a “at the Curb” notice on the Recycling yahoo groups I belong to:

www.freecycle.org [http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/OttawaON-Freecycle/] 

or 

http://ca.groups.yahoo.com/group/FullCirclesOttawa/

If I only see this fantabulous gift to humanity on the morning of, I will carry it home, if I can, and store it in the back yard for a day or two.  And again, post it and let someone who can use it, resell it, whatever – keep it out of the landfill.

Then I look at all of the recycling.  We just received our updated notice of the pick up weeks for both boxes and what is and what is not taken.  They actually took photographs for this one to help make it really clear what they do and do not want.  It seems very limited as to what they will take.  But at least there is some  recycling here in Ottawa!

So, I had my pad thai last night and walked over with my take-out container, cleaned and ready to be re-used.  The lads laughed as they took it and plopped my pad thai pak into it, but no problem, they save  a few pennies themselves.  And I refused the new chopsticks as well – I keep the ones from previous meals out. Promo: Champa Thai on King Edward – simple, good, not sure how business is for them, but I am doing my part!

But I still had take out, and have it quite often.  That should be considered as well in order to examine my commitment to the environment.  I reuse and recycle for sure.  And I probably will now start to look at ways to reduce and yet still enjoy my very busy little universe….

So, stop putting your usable stuff out to landfill – post it on Freecycle or whereever – someone can use it!

Boing says so!

 

Ginger Lily

Personal time, ,

Click on photo to see more pics – takes you to my Flickr page!

HPIM4739.JPG, originally uploaded by campdancer2000.

Hard getting back to it this morning!

I had a great weekend but little time off. I know, poor me :-).

After brunch, wandering the market yesterday morning and then coming home to quickly let Boing out ( Thanks, Shade, for walking her!), I had a lovely time at the Clutch, where we were able to give M her baby blanket. Still early in her journey, but with a busy summer ahead, it seemed appropriate to pass it along to her when she was hosting!

Then I packed up and headed off to Renfrew to deliver these lovely flowers on behalf of my outta town brother, and spend some time visiting with Mom and H.

Supper out at their fave haunt, and then back into the car to head home to Ottawa.

It has been awhile since I have driven for hours on my own. I did enjoy it. Lots of music blaring, I get to sing along – no one wants to hear that! Folk are driving more and more erratically all the time though. I can see the point to re-testing for one’s license with some regularity. It is a bit frustrating and scary to see some of the moves people think are okay to pull while driving over 100 km/hour.

Well, after that harrowing experience an evening on the futon was in order, and Buffy came to the rescue. And I slept through most of the episodes. I’ll rewatch today…

But I should get some sewing done first!