Oops

Ok, so my first almost year of a blog has not been the success that I was hoping it would be. I am a chronic starter and not finisher, this is apparent when you walk into my "craft room". There are many partially finished projects laying around. But I am feeling inspired and motivated. I am trying to leave my perfectionist ways behind in exchange for some completed projects.
At the top of my list right now, Christmas Presents!

1. Scarf for Grandpa - just needs to be "finished"
2. Scarf for Grampie - about an inch completed
3. Birdhouse for Grandpa - gourd dried out, needs protecting and hanger
4. I think that's all I can reveal :)

Now with any luck photos will follow another time.

Goings on

It's apparently been about a month since my last post. So what have I been up to? Just living, getting by, and doing a few things.
A couple of weeks ago Ren and I went to Toronto for the weekend. We took the train, I love the train. Just hop on, sit back, and RELAX. For us it's well worth the extra bit of money to NOT drive in Toronto. I am comfortable using the subway and make sure that our plans and lodging are always subway accessible. On the Saturday we went to the AGO (Art Gallery of Ontario), it's been recently renovated and is a pretty impressive building. It's full of really great curves. I enjoy wandering and looking at art, but have to admit that it isn't as tactile an experience as I would like. I find myself getting sidetracked by repressing the urge to run my hand over the peices, particularly the great oils, you know the ones that were obviously done with a pallet knife.
That night we lucked in on one of the best experiences we have had together. We were fortunate enough during the afternoon to see a flyer on a wall for a perfomance by a group that we enjoy. Big Rude Jake were performing that night at a place called Hugh's Room. I'm so glad that we went. This place is great! You call ahead, make your reservations for dinner and a show, you arrive, get your table and sit your butt there for the rest of the night. Choose your incredible diner from the menu, have the courses ordered and delivered at your own pace (true dinning), watch some great live music, and that's it. No stress about getting there in time to have a clear view of the stage. No running back and forth to the bar all night, also loosing your view of the stage. And no wolfing down your food at one restaurant in order to make it to the show on time.
On Sunday, I took a course. I love taking courses, it is great to be around other massage therapists. It rejuvinates me and my practice. This course was about using massage as an adjunct treatment for Anxiety disorders. It was the first seminar in a three-part series. The next seminars are on depression and sleep disorders. The research is so impressive. I can't wait to take the other courses so I can have a better grasp of all the conditions. It's so difficult to separate them from each other.

About a month ago I also took my first yarn spinning course. One of these days, with LOTS of practice I might make a decent yarn. I have to say that a three hour course is not enough time to get a good grasp on spinning. I quite enjoy the process though.

This post has gotten long enough for now. Another day I'll post some pics of my attempted yarn. Maybe I'll have something made out of it by then.

It's a start

Today I'm just going to record for posterity a few of the changes that I've made in my house so far. These are the things that will help me work towards a life that is healthier, calmer, and that gives me more control over what I'm exposing my family to.

#1- Making my own laundry soap. I have a wonderful glass jar that now lives on my dryer that is full of laundry soap I made myself. It works out to be much less expensive, is not full of weird chemicals, works just as well as anything else I've ever used, and I'm pretty sure is much better for our(in it's last years) septic system.
The recipe is one part Borax, one part washing soda, and one part grated soap(I use the unscented natural laundry bar from the bulk food store). Mix it all together and add 1Tbsp(seriously!!!) to each wash.

#2- Soap-free Bathing. Now before you get all worked up about that being gross hear me out. I still bathe, I am still "clean", I do not look greasy or smell funny. Well I do sort of smell funny but that's my patchouli fragrance, it's on purpose.
I started doing this because I read about it on 1 Green Generation and it made sense to me. I continued to do it when my seasonal scalp issues disappeared. I was completely sold.
I "wash" my body by dry body brushing. I use a natural bristle body brush to exfoliate my entire body. This also helps improve skin texture, blood pressure, the immune system, even digestion.
I "wash" my hair using baking soda mixed with water. When my scalp is bothering me I make a paste out of the baking soda, when my scalp is feeling good I use a 2 parts baking soda to 4 parts water mixture that I keep in a squirt bottle in the shower. I put the mixture on my hair and rub it into my scalp with circular movements. Then I rinse it out with water. Then I rinse it again with a diluted apple cider vinegar that is in another squirt bottle with cinnamon sticks. It makes my hair smell like apple pie :) Then I rinse my hair with water again and I'm all done.
I like the way my hair feels, and I like that I know exactly what I'm exposing my skin to.

I think for today that's a good start on the changes I'm making. I'll continue to add things as I need ideas for posts.

Happy New Year! What changes will you make?

Happy New Year to everyone. There's been so much change going on in our household since the beginning of the school year that none of us have truely settled into a routine. I have decided to take my New Year's Resolutions as an opportunity to re-work our lifestyle. This will be the first step in creating the laid-back, smooth running, and most importantly HAPPY household that I think we all desire.
SO more for my own interests than the interest that anyone else has for me I am going to lay out my desired changes and how I'm going to implement them.
The first thing is that since we are away from the homefront at the moment no changes will begin until January 6th, this will be MY New Year.

#1 More Quality Time with The Boys

The boys are GREAT when they are being paid attention to, not so much when ignored. Doesn't take a genius to figure this one out, just takes someone that's organized enough to not have 3 million other things that need to be done. So from now on I will be more willing to put in the effort of doing things with them. Monday morning- Story time at the Library, Wednesday morning- Drop in playtime at the youth centre, Thursday morning- free skating at the community centre. Mixed in for good measure will be daily "homework" and some craft time.

#2 More Organized House

I think for this one I am going to return to the FLYLADY system. THis is something that I have tried half-heartedly in the past. It makes sense to me, I just couldn't bring myself to actually do the work. Well enough is enough, I have more than one 15 minute block of time each day! I just need to get off my lazy butt and do it!

#3 Get Healthy

I know, I know, who doesn't say this one EVERY year. This one needs to happen for me. and the others in our household. Last year Ren decided to make a change to a vegetarian diet for his New Year resolution, which he has stuck to through Easter, and Thanksgiving, and Christmas even. I really am very proud of him, and happy for the change and sacrifices he has made. That said we have been lazy vegetarians. This year I plan to step up our veggie intake, this will be a big part of my meal planning.
There is a gym in our new village and I've got the application papers. They will be filled out and hopefully I will be working out within the next 2 weeks. My goal is 3-4 hour long workouts per week. On Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, and one weekend day I will go to the gym. During the weekdays as soon as the boys jump on the bus, I'll head to the gym.
I am also getting rid of a few bad habits. NO MORE POP!!! Water, juice, or tea for me. I'm also reducing my tea consumption. I drink Tazo chai tea lattes with soy milk, just like at Starbucks. Really yummy, and as far as vices go there are many that are much worse. That said they are high in calories, and have enough caffeine in them to cause headaches when I miss one in the morning. So, by the end of January I will be down to one small one per day. I can handle that.

#4 Live Simply

This is something that I have been wanting to work on for years. I'm an old soul in a modern world and I'm fumbling around trying to get it right. Hopefully this will help settle my core. I'll be taking babysteps with this one. First I want to menu plan, and stick to it this time. I am also going to set up a great garden this spring, which with any luck won't get away on me. From this garden I will be preserving as much as I can. I'm also making a change in the garbage leaving our home. By the end of the school year we will be a 1 can family. I know it still sounds like a lot for many of you, but for us it's an improvement. And lastly and maybe most importantly, I want to shut off the electronics more. Less TV, and less computer sucking up my time.

For now I think that this is probably quite a lot to work on for now. As I get some of this stuff down pat I'll add new things to my list. I'm hoping that my resloutions next year will involve things that are much more entertaining for my household.

Happy New Year to you all, best wishes for things to come.

O Christmas Tree

I know that Christmas is over already, but since I didn't have time to put this stuff up earlier I thought I'd do it now.
On the 14th we all bundled up and headed out to get a tree. It was a great morning, not too cold, no wind, and enough snow that it felt festive. Later that day we got a bunch of freezing rain that made it difficult, but not impossible, to get into the city for my sister's birthday party.
I think this is probably the first year that our boys will remember going to find a tree. The past 2 years we have just had an artificial tree, which is quite nice for what it is, but it isn't a REAL tree. The years before that when we were in London we were fortunate to have a field full of trees right in Ren's parent's backyard to pick from.
This year we finally have our own place and we wanted a really real tree, that we went out as a family and chose together, and cut down, and dragged home. And boy did we luck in. Just a couple towns over, in North Gower, is a great tree farm Thomas Tree Farm. It's got just about everything that you could want in a Christmas tree farm, woods to walk through, a playground to entertain the kids, a wagon ride out to the tree fields, a place on the wagon to bring the tree back once it's been cut, cookies and hot chocolate around a fire once you've come back from the field, and a shaker and bailer to make getting your tree home even easier.

So here's some pics of our tree finding expedition

Daddy getting ready to cut the tree that we finally picked. We went a little late in the season so as you can see the choice wasn't as difficult as it could have been.

Ash getting his turn with the saw.

Eli also trying his hand with the saw.

In the end Daddy is left to finish the job.

And what a good job he did!

Ash likes to show everyone how strong he is.
He did actually drag the tree all the way through the field all by himself.

The very nice truck in the playground, kept the boys amused while Daddy and Julie put the tree on the real truck.

The cool shaker machine! A vibrating base that shakes the bejeepers and all the loose needles out of the tree.

The tree! Almost tied to the truck. And we didn't even loose it on the drive home.

Our little tree, all decorated, and full of gifts, on Christmas day.

Our first tree in our new home. It wasn't big, but I think it was pretty, and it was everything that we needed it to be.

Thoughts and Plans

It's been a week of planning and thinking for me. As I approach Christmas every year I struggle with the ideas of what I would like to do for gifts and the reality of the actual time available. I dream of a homemade Yule/Christmas. Unfortunately I haven't quite gotten that down pat yet. This year I am struggling with this more than usual. Since moving to a new house in October I have also started working again. This is taking up a bit more of my time, particularly my evenings. And since we have a new house we have volunteered to hold family Christmas. This is something that I have been waiting for for many years and I'm glad that I get to do it. It is adding a bit of stress though because now I want the house to be perfect. I know that perfect is unachievable but I can try, right? So for the start we are painting the livingroom and diningroom. Brown and Red no less. I'm also trying to get rid of enough toys that they can be stored in the boys bedroom and not out in the familyroom. I'm also making a bunch of gifts, and baking.
Ok, looks like this needs to take the form of a list. Here is what I hope to accomplish before Yule;

Paint the living room and dining room
Crochet afghan for grandmother
Make tea cozy for grandparents
Make aprons for the boys
Make Mom's gift
Put up the tree
Get the fireplace working
Remove toys from the family room
Do all my baking
Sew gift bags


How about that, it doesn't actually look all that scarey. There's a first for everything :)

Will keep you posted with updates.

A snowy November day must mean it's time to make Applesauce

Just like a lot of people now I've been wanting to have more input on what my family is eating. I have very little experience with canning, and also don't have the equipment needed to do it properly. I will hopefully be acquiring these items in the near future, Christmas perhaps? So, my first attempt at making my own "preserves" was applesauce, which has been frozen for storage.
I decided Sunday that applesauce making was the plan of the day. Only had the slight problem that I didn't actually "have" any apples. Other slight problem, it's November in the Ottawa Valley, and literally snowing. Turns out that was not a problem, I knew that the orchard outside of Manotick had been open earlier in the week and as luck would have it still was open. So I jumped out of the truck, as much as one with 2 boys under 6 in tow is able to, and purchased a large basket of Empire, and a medium basket of Macs. 35 pounds all together, about the same weight as my 4 year old.

this is what 20 pounds of apples looks like, we had 35 before the applesauce

I unfortunately decided part way through the applesauce making to start this blog, hence, no pictures of the full amount of apples.

So, next on to peeling and coring all those apples. I do get to sort of cheat here since I have one of those wonderful old-fashioned apple machines. And even better, the boys love using it. All I have to do is put the apples on and take the cores off.

A(the eldest son), helping use the cool machine

Once the apples were all peeled they were all sliced in half and put into a pot with a little bit of water and cooked until they were mush.

Early in the cooking

Starting to get mushy, not quite there though

Looks good to me, we like it a little chunky

Sitting to cool before dividing it into containers

When it was all done we got 8 full cups of applesauce. It really isn't all that much considering how quickly my youngest goes through it, but we do still have 20lbs of apples left. I think the whole process took about 1 hour, and really on a lazy Sunday afternoon we didn't have anything better to do.

My family has now requested apple crumbles(my specialty), and some pies. We'll see how that works out for them. :P