Postings Catch up

As I go through my day I always seem to find things that I would like to blog about.
I take the necessary photos and always have some witty comment in my head to attach to said photo.
Lately I can't really find the time to do all the ideas I have to post about and generally speaking my witty comments fall into some blank minded abyss, or they are seriously suggestive, when it comes to doing the writing.

Today I have found the time and have so many random posts back logged I decided to make it a messy post and do them all together.
Sorry, as I know these really hold no true value to anybody but myself.
I do thank you for following the ramblings of this wild woman.


This is one of the new garden doors that J has been working on for me.
I drew the picture and he spent some serious time cutting out the details.
Can you see the 2 ravens, it is a bit of a bad photo angle.
I plan to paint it but thought I would wait and do both doors at one time.
The other door is half way done.
I feel so loved and will think of my sweetheart every time I go into the garden.


The strawberry trough filled with this years plants.
One year we plan to encase the whole garden area in these raised beds post to post.

Mulching the blueberries and they are looking like they will produce tonnes this year.
I am so tired of all the money we spend on berries but blueberries are one that we use most often so I am hoping to be self sufficient in about 3 years with these bushes.
That's the plan anyways.


We are able to get our years supply from our raspberries.
The other day we strung new posts and wire and transplanted a bunch of the wayward bushes back into nice neat little row.
That should last for about a year.


The game is on.
Weeds 25439 - me 206.
Not looking so good.


Our sneaky miss catching some rays on a pillow in the school room.
Somehow she can sneak her way in and is pretty pleased with herself.

No comment, just a cute picture of the pooches.

Sandbox volcanoes.

One way to spend a morning in the yard and do some science as well.

Little miss E hammered her finger and ouch!!

This was the first day.

Today there is a huge blood blister underneath and it is killing her.

I made the decision to take her to the clinic to relieve the pressure.

I felt like a monster when she bucked up and held still, the doctor bore a hole with the hot poker needle and ...... nothing came out.

E was so mad and it only hurt her more.

So to add insult to injury, she now has a hole in her nail that we have to stave from infection while we wait for her nail to fall off.

It looks so gross now, but I will spare you the photo.

Onto sweeter things.

I have always waited for this day and it is finally happening.

The girls all snuggled into bed and K reading to her little sis.

It melts my heart.

Hair and Horses ( I was at a bit of a loss for a name for this post)

The girls have been so fun of beans lately that it seems not a moment goes by that they aren't up to something.
I rounded the corner into the bathroom last night and saw this cute sight.
I laughed so hard.

And K is up to her hair adventures again this week.
This is the 4th hair cut in 3 months.
She really wants a pixie cut but that is what I am going for, so the race is on.
She comes across the hair thing quite innocently.
I have always been a bit of a hair rebel.


Our beautiful neighbour has 5 norweigian fiorde horses.
She is wonderful and teaches the girls great riding skills.

I am not much of a rider myself but am so happy to be able to have the girls learn.

Piles of......

Seems to be many piles around here.
Piles of flowers and garden goodness growing everywhere.
Yeah!!


Piles for the garage sale I am slowly organizing for.

Piles of books to read and even though we read at least 1 hour every night it's never enough time for them all.

Piles of school work that we are trying to finish up.

The end of the year is so close we can taste it.

I am so proud of K for all her hard work this year.

And the inevitable pile of unfolded laundry that is currently haunting me.

I used to never be able to let it sit unfolded.

I scarified sleep to get the job done many a nights.

Lately I am just impressed that it got cleaned and that I don't really care that it is unfolded.

Am I relaxing of getting lazy in my old age?

Either way I like it.

She's Been Slimmed

K spent an hour playing with a banana slug and trying her hardest to gross out her sister and the neighbour boys.
She never managed to scare them but they were all defiantly grossed out at the amount of slime she has on her fingers.
So that turned into a whole other game.
I silently thought that the slug got the worst of it but once I saw K's hands I realized that was not the case.
We were in for a 20 minute cleaning ordeal.

This is what we found out today:
1. Slugs are slimy and use this as a defense, so the more you handle them the more you get slimmed
2. Water only exacerbates the situation as it creates a reaction and makes the slime worse.
3. Butter or mayo, which I often resort to for sap in the hair or on the hands, does not work at all
4. Finally in desperation I found out online that Borax is the only solution
5. After 5 minutes of dry scrubbing, we now know that Borax really does work


Now whenever the kids decide to man-handle those slimy critters I will not fret.

Hands Full of Critters

Snacks in the sand is a favorite part of theis time of year.
Climbing all the logs and debris that has washed up duringthe winter stroms changin gthe beach landscape from year to year.

April is definatley here when all you can find in bloom is the same 3 things, daffodils, crocuses, and tulips.
But no less wonderful to enjoy.

I had to make Molly another new coat.
This one a bit more feminine.
I wish Lucy would stop eating them so I would only have to make one a year or so.
None the less I have gotten super quick at making them and I love the way Molly prances when she gets a new one.

I have really noticed more so in these years then in the earlier ones, that girls are so much different than boys.
And vice versa.
But my ladies are really tomboy"ish" so I feel I have the best of both worlds.
As summer creeps ever closer the bugs, insects and birds are coming out of hiding and the girls are thrilled to nits with all the action.
They have no qualms about handling any such critters except they both have a serious aversion to spiders.
I am not sure where that came form but dad, Nana and uncle are petrified of snakes.
This makes for some serious fun for our girls at times, cruel but fun.

E had this friend for a whole afternoon.
I tried to explain about the physics of flight and the necessity for moths to have their wing dust.
E was so careful and gentle.
She sang to it, gave it pushes on the swing, ate a picnic with it on her finger and shared her whole world with her mothy moff.
Life had another lesson as she realized to her sheer terror that moths do not play with chickens very well.
So bye bye moth and after a few hugs and explanations we were onto the next thing.

Ladybugs and cricket are a definite sign of the season.
We have hummingbird everywhere but I am never quick enough to get my camera and if I am not good enough to get a descent picture.
Maybe I will have to set up the tripod and stake out the feeders.

Now as the days are getting longer and the sun is actually warm, dare I even say hot it means full days in the yard and dinner dates at the beach.

Night and Day..Our Way

Way down a long, narrow, tree covered path behind our garden is a special place J built for the kids.
A little playhouse complete with door, window and skylight.
Although I have always envisioned a rustic cottage style playhouse made from odds and ends, scraps and great finds, J's interpretation was a bit more go big or go home.
He succeeded.
It is a fabulous space that I know will get years of use.
The girls are amazed.
I know that as a child I would have swooned over such a thing, a place all for myself.

Last night K held J to his promise that when it was built they could sleep in it.
It's not painted, doesn't have it's insulated walls, flooring or loft quite yet but non the less it is done enough for this purpose.,
They had a cozy sleep cuddled up each in their sleeping bags and a rather cold evening wasn't enough to detour K.
She is so lucky to have a daddy that does such things.
They had a blast.

The cat was even allowed to spend the night cuddling up.

She thought life doesn't get any better.
She's right.

The sun was up and they slept great but they were hesitant to get out of bed because they could see their breathe.

My rustic outdoors man living large with a mattress, radio and all the camping necessities.
Camping sure does change once you have kids.

The rest of the day was perfect.

Breakfast with Nana and Papa,. a walk around the air park and another great day in the yard.

We bought a whole bunch of new fruit trees and shrubs today.

I finally got a peach!!

My master plan of having a Butchard Gardens type yard by the time I am 50 is well on it's way.

I even got a new Gunnera.

I had two small ones before but the front end loader was conveniently park on them for a winter and they never recovered.

Here's to a restart.

I think the girls were a bit over zealous today as the sun shone bright.

It was relatively hot, but not that hot.

All keen and eager they managed to get the kiddie pool filled, towels out and bathing suits on.

I preferred to stay dressed and plant away.

I had to share this cute picture of our little miss muffet.

Yet another day in paradise.

Saturday!! A Sunny Family in the Garden Day

Signs of spring everywhere.
Quite refreshing to see and now so much to do.
We have been out in the yard all winter and the chore list isn't too bad, but still the push is on.

I hit the annual plant sale down the road this morning and went a bit hog wild.
I got there early and scoped out what I wanted.

Last year I experienced the extreme low some plant vultures will go to when someone took plants from right under my feet, literally.
Apparently my standing in line to pay with 10 pots...but not holding the plants in my arms, does not qualify them as mine.
I had the kids with me so I held in my true words and taught the kids a lesson in .....well peoples behaviours or lack there of.
This year I went alone and was ready to rumble.

Luckily I didn't have to stand up to anyone and I walked away with 2 wheelbarrows filled to the brim with everything I wanted and so much more.

$59 for all these.
Maybe doesn't look like much but I got 8 peonies and many other great finds.

I feel like a won the lottery.
Just look at these peonies!!

I even brought home a special little friend.

We spent the entire day in the yard and J is still out there catching the last moments of light setting up a sleep over for K and him in the new playhouse.

I opted to stay inside, (in my warm bed) you know just in case someone need to come in later.

It was wonderful we were invited for dinner at our neighbours so I spent my time today enjoying the yard and kids and planting all my new goodies.

K found some lovely spring sprigs and made this cute bouquet to bring to our hosts this evening.

My amazing hubby made me 8 huge garden boxes and has a couple more on slate for the morning.

It going to take quite a few yards to fill up these boxes.

I need the space this year with all that i planted in the greenhouse.

If the weather co-operates, the garden should be bursting at the seams this year.

My man in action.

Another sign of spring........flip flops and tank tops.

Here's hoping for another sunny yard day tomorrow.

Muay Thai

There once was a time when K would do anything, be dropped off anywhere have no fears, reservations or concerns.
That all changed the second week of grade 1 and we have been struggling with her confidence, anxiety and trust levels since.

Over the past 7 months she has gotten what i would consider 90% better/or back to normal and she is happy and wonderful in every other way.

We recently joined her up for Muay Thai and she has sprouted out of her shell and has now allowed me to even drop her off.
Just like that, 100%.
This is so huge for her and us.
Caught off guard, I actually wept for a moment when she told me to leave.
I didn't realize till that moment how hard it really has all been on me.
It has been quite confining as everything had to change to compensate.
You do whatever you need to do, always, but that doesn't mean it is easy.

Muay Thai has given her so much courage and confidence, and she has regained her trust in others and maybe in me as well.
The instructors and class mates have all been super friendly and encouraging for her and I know that has also been huge.
It is such a positive atmosphere and is run by a wonderful family who is always involved and there to greet you with warm smiles.


I am super excited for K to advance over the years and to become a strong, healthy and physically capable girl, able to handle herself through life.

E is just busting at the seams to join but she has another 2 years.
This is right up her alley.
Once she is in I am joining as well, Fight Girls sounds pretty awesome.
I can see us spending a lot of time there.

Bonus!! They have a RAW cafe in the building, so you can guess where I am during K's classes.,

Finding the Sun,.... Moments at a Time

In the brief moment of sunshine I grabbed the camera and headed around the yard for a mini photo session.
I got side tracked while in the greenhouse, which always inevitably happens and then the sun was gone.
Replaced by clouds that actually later become snow.
Really snow again?
It wasn't anything to fluster about, gone before it even landed but the chill stuck around the rest of the day.

Tomorrow we have a big yard day planned.
Planned is the key word here, but I really need my garden doors put up and J bought me all these fine 2x10's to make more garden beds.
J gave the rototiller it's annual overhaul and I am ready to get it into the new garden patch.


The greenhouse is starting to really sprout up and I am so excited to see all the little plants making their way into my world.
I do not know how people garden without a greenhouse.
I know I sure couldn't.
I spend hours in there, radio on and kids running around the yard, this makes for one happy mama.

Hello kale, nice to see you.

Plant sale in the morning, I am so excited to see what goodies I can find.