What A Week

Time has escaped me yet again and I have noticed it has been more than a week since my last post.
It has been a whirlwind of fun, friends, summer time adventures, good food and a bit of family turmoil thrown in for good measure.
In the throws of packing for our holiday, hosting our first WOOFER ( http://wwoof.ca/user/register/Host ) and getting the house/ animals ready for the house sitters I feel I have somehow been on autopilot but managing to get everything and then some accomplished.
At this moment I feel as ready as I'll ever be and we are ready to fly.
Oddly there seems to be just as much preparation for 10 days away as there would be for a months holiday.
Regardless we are super pumped to be heading to Las Vegas for a family get away.
I know what you are thinking....Las Vegas in the summer!!??
But it is our 10Th anniversary and we are going to celebrate in style and maybe even renew our vows in a tacky touristy Chapel of Love with a faux Elvis as our main man.
Why not?
You only live once.

Here is a photo of Carlo our woofer and now I can say our friend.
He did some great work, even in all this heat.

We headed up Mt. Washington the other day and had an amazing walk around.
The Whiskey Jacks were in love with the Goldfish crackers we were giving them.
Not too great for them I am sure.


Food is definitely on my mind these days as we are about to head into unknown territory for me.
How will I eat in Las Vegas?
Guess we will soon find out.


So this is a summer holiday goodbye for now.
Hope you all enjoy the nest two weeks, until I check in again and share our Vegas adventures.
Lots of love.

Lavender

Being a daughter of a gardener was not a great thrill for me.

My father never shared his love or secrets of gardening so I never got the point of his desire of doing it.

I know he worked intensely hard and lived for what he did.

I used to love how he smelled after a long day of mowing grass and playing in the dirt.

He never earned much, just enough to scrap by really.

At a young age I couldn't understand why he didn't strive for more.

I have come to realize he had all he needed.

I have grown to realize this feeling was more about him then his job per say.

It wasn't enviable, as a lonely youth filled with angst, when asked "and what does your father do?" to say a gardener.

I would avoid the subject altogether if I could.

I never had much respect for him in this regard but I now know that stems from many other things.

Because of all that I never really gave much thought to gardening as I grew up.

I actually stayed quite clear of it for many years.

But it called me, it called loudly as the years passed, and as I learned more I craved for more.

Now that I am in my mid 30's and have acquired many life lessons and skills I am proud to be a gardener, proud to learn and teach, eat and love every bit of it.

Sadly it wasn't until today that I even thought about my father as a gardener and all those feelings I once had.

It wasn't until I gathered a bunch of lavender sprigs and placed them in a vase to adorn the dining room table, did I even remember any of it.

The smell of it transported me into memories I had chosen to forget.

My father has been long gone from my life for years, but today I had a connection with him, one I have never had before.

I think I understand why he was a gardener, hands in the dirt, the one with the earth sort of feeling one gets while in the garden is a recspit from the world.

A garden is a reflection of ones self as you pour hours of labour and love into it and it rewards you with a bounty of goodness to eat and share.

It is a sensory heaven for sight, touch ,taste and smell.

One can contemplate many things in a garden and today I thought about a man I once knew, a man who used to be my father, a man I no longer know.

Ironically it is my garden that has brought me closer to him in a small way and comfortable to say good bye and to reconcile my youthful disdain for him.

All this from a bunch of freshly picked lavender tells me that herbs and the earth really can help one to heal.

Every Day Learning

We barely got out of bed, I had breakfast already packed and we were off.
A relaxing Sunday morning at the beach led to 3 1/2 hours of hanging out, the girls and I, playing house.

The view was lovely and I had the luxury of sitting, absorbing the sunshine into the core of my being.


The tide came in and brought with it more adventures as we built sandcastles and such, letting the water reak havoc on our creations.

Driftwood physics lesson.

Botany 101.

Flower arranging Au Natural.

Sea shore jewelery.

I found it worked out really great to find shells with holes in them, from the urchins and seagulls, and let the girls string them onto a ribbon to adorn themselves in beachy style.

Here's a simple idea that the girls love to do every summer.

I make ice cubes with food colouring and freeze them into frozen drawing fun.

I love the colours.

Here is My Day!!

Another beautiful sunny day and we enjoyed every minute of it.
We hit the farmers market and the grocery first thing this morning.
The rest of the day was spent in the yard and catching up on chores.

I have a quirk about not filling the dehydrator completely (kind of like the washer and dryer) so I try out new snacks and such to fill in the gaps.
Today I am trying spicy Brazil nuts, crispy citrus peels, macaroons, raspberries, tomatoes, Thai spiced peppers and to fill it up while making a batch of pizza flat bread.

MMMM!!! Good eats coming up tomorrow.

With friend over to play and all the kids in the pool, the sound of summer was loud in the air.

Now here is my GRRRR!!!! of the day.

When I tried to put the umbrella into the table, SMASH!!
A really nice mess of splinters of glass on the front lawn.

What a drag.
So what do I do?
Cannot vacuum it, wipe it, or use any sort of cleaning tool.
It is a straight up, hands on, pick up piece by piece, sort of job.
A job that took over an hour and now I am left with grass littered with tiny slivers of glass.
I guess I will have to dig out the grass and soil and replace with new lawn.
So much for a nice relaxing dinner Al fresco.

At least the lemonade was delicious with its mint and pansy ice.

Do you remember a while back when we gathered the frog eggs?
Here is an update....

I tried to take pictures along the way.

Here one is with a long tail and small legs.

The legs get longer, the tail slowly shrinks away and it looks like a frog.

Then a couple of weeks later emerges these sweet little froggies.

We ended up with about 6 or so and the kids have had a great adventure raising them.


Soon we will put them back into the pond they came from and say a thank you for letting us learn from them.

Evening Tubing Down the River

Psyched up and ready to go!!

First tubing, well actually dingy, trip of the summer.
I was hesitant as this river is notorious for its rapids and it ability to strand people on its banks and rocks, but all went well and they had SOOO much fun.

Down the Puntledge River after dinner is the perfect setting for a wild ride.

Then to top it off a lovely little pizza snack at the park at the end of the ride.

What summers all about around these parts.

I remember doing the exact same thing, many times, many years ago.

Now here we are doing it with our kids and hopefully one day they will do it with theirs as well.

Dawn of a New Era in this Household

I am so excited.
I have wanted one for years and have done more than my share of research into them.
I have struggled with the financial aspect but after much debate figured it is most definitely a sound purchase.
So today I drove the 2 hours to get my blender, a Vitamix, from Costco for a steal of a price compared to other places.
Once a year they come to Costco and this is the week.
I have been waiting almost 8 months for them to be here, now the wait is over.
My life will never be the same.

http://www.vitamix.com/index_int.asp

Already used 3 times in two hours after I got home, Yes they are so worth it in every way.

The Zen of Cleaning the Crawlspace

Our house is super tiny, especially for a growing family of four.
At 900 square feet we have learned to be frugal with our possessions making each piece count and how to utilize vertical space.
There are days ,when it feels like we are bursting at the seams, that I simply shove any extras into the crawlspace.
Out of sight..out of mind sort of thing.
This is the reason why it has become full to the point of scary.
we have been planning (for a few years now) to gut out the crawlspace to clean, re-organize and purge.

What a task it has turned out to be.


The stairs down to the little door in the depths of the house....
lead to this mass eruption of stuff.
And that is all it is stuff.

Although all in Rubbermaid's and labeled and in proper sections so to speak there was too much stuff.

Consumer mayhem at its best.

Baby things, clothes, childhood treasures, beds, dressers, TVs, VHS movies, LP's.

Photos, my wedding dress, all the seasonal decorations....so much stuff.

Ignored and never used, in other words pretty much useless, I decided we needed to purge.

No small feat I tell you.

We brought 2 trips to the dump and the rest to friends and the thrifts stores.

It is really hard getting rid of things in larges amounts.

And still my yard is littered with reminance of the cleanse.

I found it was also hard mentally to sort and dispose of these things.

I had trouble letting go of somethings, like 20 year old pants!!??

I had to learn how to get past some things and work through it to feel comfortable.

Why was I holding onto these pants?

What was it doing for me?

I can appreciate a kids affection and attachment for odd things.

I sort of understand what those people on the show Hoarders go through.

I can see how it can be a disease and how emotionally debilitating it would be to have people go through and strip you of your stuff, your past, your memories, the stuff you have accumulated in your life that sort of defines you as a person.

I can say I have been cleanse of the things that have held me back.

I ridded my mental space as well as my physical and I feel refreshed.

I was re-acquainted with beautiful memories as I showed my girls my wedding dress, stumbled upon old post cards and pictures.

I was able to unite all those odd boxes and bags of baby clothes that I have been saving of the girls so that one day I may make a quilt for them.

It was such a rewarding experience even though it was gruelling work that spanned 4 days.

We even changed the hot water tank and washed and bleached the crawlspace which has allowed the house to loose that odd odour that emanated from the space below.

I have a promise to not shove it full again by not buying so much stuff.

It was an epiphany for us.

One I hope carries over for the years to come.

It Doesn't Look Like a Very Interesting Post Mom!

According to K, whom was looking over my shoulder as she was delaying going to bed, this post looks boring.

Well I am sorry to say that it just may be that, but its what I have to share for today.
So much has been going on around here I feel as though we are in a tornado.

I will catch up on that another time.
I have decided to focus on the fun stuff and not share the "boring-er" stuff.
So here is the fun we had this weekend.

J took the girls and I up to his job site and we got to see the island from a vantage point many people will never have the chance to do.
It is spectacular to be able to see so far all around you especially with this gorgeous weather.


Hunting for newts wasn't all that prosperous but still enjoyable.

E enjoying the simple things in life.....rocks.

It has been a week since my last update so feel that I can safely post about the kitties without feeling I have over done the subject......

Eyes are opened and they are scooting around all over the place.

Their personalities are getting more defined and all have been spoken for at this point.

Another trip to the Trent River.

Any water source is a blessing these days.

Our little pool has been super awesome for the girls to just lay in all day but it is nice to get away from the house, even if it is to another water hole.

And to top off the week,

Since J and his dad won't get the chance to go to the family fishing grounds this year, we paid to get a delivery of sockeye instead.

Now the freezers are full of our years supply of fish.

Sushi anyone???

Thumbs Up To A Perfect Summer

It is hard to post when it is so darn hot.

But do not get me wrong, that is in no way meant as a complaint, simply a reason.

While we melt in the night the last thing on my mind is sitting at the computer.

I think about it and have many posts written in my mind...and as always they sound so smart and witty but I know they will fall short once I do get the chance to catch up, on a cool evening and type them out.

AHHH!! At least I try I guess.

I wish you could read my mind and laugh and enjoy as I do.

Till then enjoy the days of summer.

What Summer is All About

Building memories that will forever live in our hearts.

Little Birds

Way up high in the nook above our front porch is a nest.
Built months ago we have been waiting and listening to the action for quite some time.
I am uncertain what kind of bird, I assume it is a sparrow of some kind.
I should just look it up in one of our many books but haven't.
Instead I have been enjoying the racket they make and grungingly cleaning the mass amounts of poop and hay and such that covers my front door step.

Today I grabbed my long lense and sat for about 15 minutes, watching the mama get food for her babies.
The peeps and chirps of the chicks, as they longingly watching for mama, is irresistable to listen to and now fun to watch as they have immerged from the nest to roost on the ledge.

Mama wasn't to keen on me watyching them so I left.
But not without some fun pictures.
The photos are great for the girls to be able to see what is going on up there without interupting them much more.

I will be sad when they leave but happy to have a clean entrance again.