You have Island roots when...

...your Dad installs a magical, Princessy canopy around your bed and you dreamily say...

Melaia, 8, reading Avatar in her dreamy bed. Yep! #IslandGirl!

It wasn't the reaction that I was expecting when she tested out her new bed that she had been dreaming about for months.

I felt a whole lot of Island pride as I immediately thought about my Mother telling me how she slept with a mosquito net growing up. Mosquitoes. That's a whole other blog post right there. 

For now, my #IslandGirl has zero concerns looking forward to the summer months ahead. In the meantime, her canopy seems to provide many other uses that you'll need to put your creative-cap on to fully imagine and appreciate.

Good-night, Sleep tight,
Don't let the mosquitoes bite!

Sweet dreams,

daisy

The Library

I didn't grow up with many books in my home. I think there were two reasons:

#1. Books are expensive

#2. Books were unnatural

Allow me to explain.

#1. We didn't have a lot of money growing up. Our basic needs were provided. Food, clothing and shelter. Anything else was a luxury and books, along with toys, were most certainly a luxury. As a child, I recall few books in my home. The Bible, a children's Bible, a few other religious books and a couple of music books. I have a slight memory of a "See Jane Run" type of book. I loved that book. I don't have memories of feeling hungry or starving for food (just the normal hunger pains right before a meal!) but I do have memories of feeling hungry or starving for a book.

Thankfully, my Dad introduced us to the local library. Our neighbourhood library was only a few blocks away from our home and was located in a portable on the property of a Catholic school. Stepping into that library was always exciting. Where do I begin? I was starving to read but had no idea where to start. So, I just moved, picked up books that looked interesting and read. I loved reading Garfield books, Calvin and Hobbes, Amelia Bedelia and Curious George.

#2. I believe books were unnatural to my Dad because his parents came to Canada from Poland with very little. Can you imagine how cumbersome and expensive it would be to carry books across the ocean? They also just focused on providing those same basic needs of food, clothing and shelter for my Dad and his siblings. Books were a luxury. My Dad does recall having school books for schooling and,

"the odd newspaper and magazine if we could find one. We never bought them as we saved the money for food...if I ever had extra money, I would make the ten minute bike ride to the store down the road and buy a 10 cent comic book."

Aha! My love for comic books probably came from my Dad - who still loves reading his comics today - along with a variety of other reading material.

For my Mum, books were simply non-existent in the culture. They're just not part of the predominantly oral culture of Samoa. Samoans have a strong cultural tradition of passing on their history and culture orally and through their art. The written word came when the Europeans arrived and that didn't happen until the early 18th Century.

Mum recalls her family having a Bible but no books of their own. She also remembers books at school but they were mainly in English. The only book at home was the Bible - which was usually read daily. Growing up, we didn't read daily from scripture but we certainly read often and that tradition continues in my home today too.

You can see the cultural unfamiliarity with story reading in this comedic clip of a Samoan comedian who's playing a character named, "Uncle Sam". Uncle Sam is what we Samoans call a "FOB", or "Fresh Off the Boat". In New Zealand (probably Australia & America too), the younger generation always have a good laugh at watching our Samoan family members that have been isolated to island life, try to adapt to the ways of the Europeans or in Samoan, the "Palangi's", pronounced pah-lung-ee. FOBs haven't yet mastered the English language or the culture and often make humorous mix-ups. (note: I confess. I was raised by a FOB and am thus, second generation FOB)

Here's "Uncle Sam" (played by Tofiga Fepulea'i, member of the Laughing Samoans), sharing one of his stories on his "iBlog":

The public and school libraries opened my eyes to the world of books. I credit my school librarians for teaching me about different authors and getting me excited about choosing different books. Those weekly trips to the library at school were exciting for me and filled my hunger to read. The passion that came from the librarians was inspiring and I soaked up that passion like a sponge.

As a youth, I had the privilege of babysitting many different families. Those families had shelves of books in their homes and the children usually requested a bedtime story. As I didn't grow up with Peter Rabbit and Dr. Suess, I was as captivated as the children when I read these stories to them.

When I went off to University, the library would swallow me up. I was in awe of how many books were in one place. How could I possibly read them all? Well, that was obviously impossible but I often admired the floors of books that represented so much knowledge, thoughts and ideas of so many different people.

When my first child was born, books were born for the first time in generations within our family home. Books always surrounded my babies, toddlers, preschoolers and now school children in our home. It thrilled me to see little baby hands holding a board book and faces engrossed in a story. When those little hands turned the page with eyes soaking in the contents and then those scrumptious little hands flipped the page back and forth comparing pages and then onward again until the book was complete but only to be repeated again in picking up a new book, my heart beamed as I knew a love affair was only beginning.

Today, the books that draw my kids into reading frenzies are Calvin and Hobbes, Garfield, TinTin, Asterix, Peanuts, Avatar and any book about Sharks. The other day they were telling a friend (that had recently gone to the new Toronto Aquarium) about sharks. I thought they must've watched a program on sharks but they quickly informed me that they knew so much about sharks from all their shark books that they borrowed from the library. #HeartBeam!!!!

We still don't have a very large book budget in our family, so, the library continues to play a significant role in our lives. That's a tradition I joyfully continue from my Dad. In our family visits to New Zealand, Nova Scotia, British Columbia or just within Ontario, we always find ourselves a library and enjoy exploring the books within. Each library has a different feel to it as it invites you in to explore the world and beyond through books. You also get a good feel for the local community that you're in through the architecture of the local library as well as from the books offered, community boards, librarians and patrons. Even though each library is different from each other, there's always a common familiar feeling that is home.

You'll never believe how lucky I am. Not only for the tradition of books but also for a friend who has an amazing book review blog. It's called "The Busy Mom Reads". (Now you're lucky too!) Her name is Meredith. She lives in Waterloo like me. She has three gorgeous little girls. She's well read, honest and is an engaging, down to earth writer - which is amazing for being half asleep as her girls are still young. (I could never have done it!) She reminds me of the passionate Librarians of my childhood who helped open my eyes to new books and adventures. I love her. Reading her blog makes me want to do nothing else but read all day. You've been warned.

I'd like to dedicate this post, on International Family Literacy Day, to all Libraries around the world. Thank you libraries of the world for being accessible to all people, for feeding my family and I with knowledge and passion, for being there for me wherever I go and for being an inspiring extension of our home.

Build an extension to your home and become a member of your local library. They probably have a better book budget than you!

Happy Family Literacy Day!!

daisy

Food Interlude I - Lemons

Tipolo (pronounced tea-poh-loh) = Lemons

My Mum always made the best lemonade. If she was to share her perfect recipe with you, she could not give you any definite measurements. It's the Samoan way. "About this many lemons, about this much sugar and put some water in it. There. What's your problem?" Mine never turns out. It's either too sweet, too sour or too much water and Mum knows just what's missing from my Lemonade and how to fix it. Somehow, she has passed this gift onto my oldest son. He now makes the best lemonade in our house. He could probably give you some exact measurements so that you could replicate it but he refuses to. He wants to be the "special lemonade chef" in our home. Fine then. Make me some lemonade!

It took me until now to figure out why lemons made a regular appearance in my home growing up. My Mum had several lemon trees on her plantation! Can you imagine having lemon trees in your backyard? I was raised in Canada. I couldn't imagine it. During my youth, I spent some time in New Zealand visiting family. They had a lemon tree in their backyard. When I was making a cheesecake and needed a little lemon juice, my Mum said, "just go get the fresh lemon from the tree!" *Duh!* It was a new and exciting thing for me to pick the beautiful lemon and taste the fresh juice. It added the perfect brightness to compliment the rich and creamy cream cheese.

I asked my Mum what she used lemons for in Samoa. Her first response was "lemon water". Did you add sugar? "Oh yes!" So, you made lemonade. "Yes! We drank it a lot." Anything else Mum? "Our hair." Why? "It made our hair soft but it took a long time to comb out the pulp." (google: "lemons for hair" and you'll find some juicy hair tips!) When you see and feel Samoan women's hair, you'll understand why they were trying to soften their hair. Their hair is naturally coarse and the girls usually had A LOT of it! Come back here in a couple of weeks (I need to find the pic at Mum's house)and I'll post a picture of my Mom with her gorgeous, long, Island hair. Her hair was magical! She looked so different when it was up vs. when it was down. I've always wished to have long hair like my Mums but mine just would not grow as long.

I have vivid memories growing up, of my Mum washing her hair with lemons. It made her SO happy! She would tell me she's going to wash her hair with lemons with the same excitement a child exhibits when they tell you that they're going to buy their favourite candy at the store. Then, Mum would spend quite a while in that bathroom and come out smiling, laughing and happy as a little girl on Christmas morning. She smelled fresh and lemony. Probably a little over the top for a cool Canadian day but it made her happy, so, I would just smile and give the thumbs up. It all makes sense now. Lemons probably brought the sunshine of Samoa back to my Mum.

They now make me feel very happy and warm too. I even like to just have them around on the table or counter top in a lovely bowl. Simple. Lemon. Joy.

What else did you use lemons for Mum? "They would squeeze it on raw fish but I don't like the raw fish." We did squeeze its savoury juice over any fish Mum served though. Is it possible to eat fish without lemon juice? I think not! What my Mum also liked (when I was growing up) was making rice pudding and adding lemon zest to it. It always livened up our pudding with another layer of yummy, zesty, happy flavour.

Mum also made delicious lemon squares. I hate the store bought ones. They never do a lemon justice. I always thought lemon squares were hard to make. I finally made them from scratch recently and felt elated that they were SO easy to make and then that first bite of lemony goodness was dessert divinity. I found the recipe here: The Best Lemon Bars Recipe. Click. Cook. Indulge.

My kids cooked some up while I was writing this post. I helped very little. They turned out like glorious lemon cloud treats.

Do you have any other memories of lemons Mum? "No. What do you mean? Well, the lemon trees we had were VERY tall. We couldn't climb them. They had those - what do you call those prickly things on a rose bush?" Thorns? "Yes! They were covered in thorns. So my Dad made a long stick with a curve at the end that we could reach the lemons with. We had four or five trees. They grew all year round." All. Year. Round. Were lemons meant to bring us year round joy? I think so! Even my Dad got on the lemon boat every winter. Got a cold? Flu? Sore throat? Just sniffles? Lemon and honey. Lemon and honey and garlic. Drink it warm and drink lot of it. That same drink soothes me today even more than it did as a child.

Speaking of children, my kids joined me with a few fun lemon pics:

Today, lemons have a new association for me - besides all of the above food memories and stories. The word 'lemon' reminds me of the brilliant Canadian duet that is "Lennon and Maisy" (ages 14 & 9). Their natural, pure and perfect harmonies remind me of Samoans singing together with the same natural skill and a whole lot of heart. I'd like to dedicate this post and this song, to my husband, who turns 38 tomorrow. We've made a lot of Lemonade in life together and Babes, you're MY sweetheart.

Not all Love Stories look like Disney

Over the holiday break my husband dropped our kids off with my parents so they could all spend some time together. I know. I'm pretty lucky that my parents are willing and able to do this. I think my kids are pretty lucky too. Anyways! My husband came back from his trip with this photo in hand from my Dad:

I present you my parents wedding day on the little island of Samoa. *Sigh* L'Amore! Not. So. Fast. There won't be any steamy windows in this love story - remember? There's no windows in this fale!

Mum was 23. Dad was 31. Mum only knew her tiny island of Samoa and lived in the poorest village called Lauli'i. Dad was a Canadian tourist travelling from country to country, working as he went, experiencing new people and places. On a stop off in Samoa, he met my Mum. They have one short date and began writing each other - Dad went to work and live in New Zealand at this time. Short story even shorter, Dad asks my Mum to marry him through one of his letters to her and he arrives in Samoa a few days before the wedding. They get married and he takes her to New Zealand to have babies I mean, to start a new life together. Two strangers. Now married. You've heard of arranged marriages, right? This is kind of the same thing - except THEY arranged it!!

To say the least, their "honeymoon" was filled with more "howling at the moon" than "honey". 'Howling' is probably the perfect description as Mum knew very little English and Dad knew even less Samoan. It was a pretty colourful first year of marriage and let's be real...many years after that. Having said this, my Mum always told us kids that Dad was a good provider. Before she arrived with him in New Zealand, he had a house pretty well set-up and she always had food to eat.

Just a week before my kids went to visit their grandparents, my parents celebrated their 43rd wedding anniversary. Their marriage never looked like a steamy romance. Thinking back through the years, their Love looked a lot like this:

Working hard together

Back Rubs

Cooking food for each other or the family

Gardening together

Canning together

Freezing food together

Unwillingly agreeing and being happy afterwards

Caring for four children - right into adulthood

Being there for the four children's school events (sports or music), church events and whatever else was needed

Forgiving one another (most of the time)

Forgetting the times that were not forgiven or rarely bringing them up

Laughing together

Allowing each other to be what they each wanted to be (Mum was a crazy dancer and a highly social person. Dad could barely move on the dance floor and was a highly anti-social person.)

Forgiving each other (yes, I repeated myself because this needed to happen A LOT!)

Going out together to the movies or to eat

Giving each other necessary space

Watching each other's shows - even if they don't like it

Caring for each other

I asked my kids (privately from each other and before reading this post) how they know their Nana and Grandper love each other. Here's what they said,

I remember them kissing - about once a year. On their Anniversary.

Bummer. Now that I'm done writing this blog post, I'm thinking I should've waited for Valentines Day to post it. Oh well! My Mum never grew up with Valentine's Day and when she learned about it, she would say to my Dad, "Valentines Day should be EVERY day!!" So, Happy 43rd Anniversary Mum & Dad and Happy Valentines Day!

Love,

daisy

My Fale - Intro.

It has been an especially frigid winter here in Ontario, Canada (I can now say that I know what it feels like in the ARCTIC AIR which equals minus 21 degrees Celsius with a windchill feeling like minus 40!). However, I'm still inclined to open the windows in my house, every now and then, for some #FreshAir. I get this from my Mother who grew up on an Island in the South Pacific called Samoa. Her home was a hut called a fale (pronounced fah-leh). Her fale was constructed by her Father and brothers of local wood (she forgets the name) with a sugarcane-leaf roof made by her Mother with help from my Mum, some of her sisters and probably even some other villagers.

The roof is an upside down bowl-shaped structure and is held up by strong pillars/columns. The floor had a top layer of pebbles with lower layers of sand, coral and lava. The pebbles were covered by handmade native Samoan mats made from a long leafed plant (she forgets the name). That's basically it! I'm not leaving out much here. No walls. No doors. No windows. In fact, if my Mum was asked to draw her home when she was a little girl, it would probably look something like this: (drawings provided by my children - Mum's grandchildren - with photo inspiration from here.)

My Mum has fond memories of her fale. "I like the pebbles. They're very comfortable.", she tells me. Mostly, she liked having no windows and walls. #FreshAir All. The. Time. Mum hated stuffy air. Windows were opened in my childhood Canadian home all year round. Sunny, snowy, rainy, windy (she LOVED the windy days!!). I do believe they were shut tight during a tornado - probably by my Dad. To this day, Mum can't understand how people survive without opening their windows. I have now inherited this need for #FreshAir and have a tolerant husband that allows me to pass on this tradition to our children. The beauty of this fale is how it connects to the people. Wikipedia got it absolutely right when they made the connection between the Samoan fale and the Samoan people,

"The architecture of Samoa is characterised by openness, with the design mirroring the culture and life of the Samoan people who inhabit the Samoa Islands.[1] Architectural concepts are incorporated into Samoan proverbs, oratory and metaphors, as well as linking to other art forms in Samoa, such as boat building and tattooing. The spaces outside and inside of traditional Samoan architecture are part of cultural form, ceremony and ritual."

You can absolutely conclude that the Samoans hid very little. Living was also not limited to their fale. I know my Mum slept, ate some of her meals and had family meetings in her fale but she wasn't always there. She also lived on the Island. The Island was as much of her home as her fale was.

My modern Fale, this blog, I hope to be a place that reflects my modern home. I live in Waterloo, Ontario with an apartment in Toronto, ON. I grew up in London, ON but my roots and family extend across the oceans from Poland to New Zealand (my birthplace) to Samoa. Add to the mix is my marriage to an Acadian man whose roots and family touch Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island, New Brunswick, Québec and British Columbia, Canada, California, USA and back through the years and over the Atlantic to England and France.

In true Samoan style, there will be food. There will be stories. There will be laughter. There will be food. There will be music. There will be dancing. There will be food. There will be adventure. There may even be some gossip and did I mention there will be food? So, pull up a mat, relax, grab a cuppa Koko, breath in the #FreshAir and stay a while. All are welcome in My Fale.

daisy