Christmas

I can't believe tomorrow we will be doing the annual "Wow, it's New Year's Eve... what should we do? Where should we go? Can we just stay home??" We always leave the planning of this ridiculously over-rated evening until the very last second. My vote is to stay home, invite a couple of friends who have also not made plans yet, eat lots, drink lots and play a rousing game of Clue.

We've had a busy Christmas, and today is the first day where we have no agenda. We're all in our PJ's, I'm drinking a pot of coffee and making a grocery list of much-needed stuff.





Mom and Dad came for Christmas this year, which was great. They've done it once before, when Cameron was 5 months old. We didn't really do much while they were here, but I'm hoping that's what they wanted to do? The weather was terrible... rainy, windy...typical. But they wandered through Sidney, checking out the Thrift Stores and the used book stores, we took them to the Chinese food buffet, and looked at the beautiful Christmas lights at Butchart Gardens in monsoon weather. The kids loved the carousel ride... and my dad loved hearing "Time to go home."

My mom and I played countless games of Scrabble and I taught her, Rodger and Simon the game of "Clue" which our family got for Christmas. And of course we ate alot. A perfectly relaxing Christmas.

Caramels

After reading my sister's post today about making homemade caramel, I started to think about Christmas memories from my childhood. Every year, I remember our family receiving the most fabulous gift from our sweet neighbor, Mrs. Barton... homemade caramel individually wrapped in tin foil. Oh my word, that was the BEST caramel I have ever tasted, and to this day I have yet to find anything that comes close to that magical taste. Each time we were allowed a caramel, my brothers and sisters carefully picked through the batch of pieces, making sure that we got the biggest, fattest one that was available. They didn't last long in our house. I'm sure my mom's memory of the caramels is slightly different... I'm pretty sure all she remembers is the horrendously messy kitchen where these delectable treats came from and was amazed we didn't have tummy issues when we ate something that was created in that home. Sigh... I miss those caramels!

Maybe I'll try that recipe my sister used and see how they measure up. Nah... why bother? They won't.

Bah Hum Bug

Ruby's supposedly having a nap right now but I can hear her door opening and closing. That's fine, she can wait a few more minutes while I have a cup of coffee and rant for a bit. it's been a frustrating time for me lately and I think yesterday was the "final straw" kind of day... today I'm slowly easing out of my stress but it's still there. It's hard to put into words exactly why I feel so stressed, anxious and frustrated these days.

But take yesterday for example.... there was a serious monsoon going on outside and inside the house as well. Yup, we've got a leak in the roof and now when it rains hard, it drips quite rapidly straight into the house by the front door. Nice. Does anyone have $12K kicking around for us?? Obviously this is a stressful situation because we don't have the money to fix our roof right now, not to mention you can't fix a roof during monsoon season. So out come the towels and a heater to try to save the hardwood floor from ruin. It's going to be a long winter. Rain, rain... go away!!!

Add to the frustration: Sunday School and the upcoming Christmas programs. it's amazing to me how in the dark I am when it comes to the program and what is expected of me and the kids... and I also had no clue that I am not part of the decision-making process, I am just told what to do. But I wasn't actually aware of this fact until yesterday when I tried to make a decision on behalf of Sunday School. Again, final straw for me. I'm done. By the end of June, I will have put in 3 years and it's time for someone else to take on the challenge. Let someone else "live and breath it" for awhile. I long for the day when I can just show up for church and be spiritually fed again... what a concept. Or better yet, if I want to skip out one Sunday I CAN! I cannot wait.

Then there's the upcoming Grade 1 sleepover next Thursday night... yes, a school night! Seriously?? Excuse me, but according to my calendar it's an instructional day on Friday and it's supposed to be "business as usual." The teachers are encouraging parents to pick up their child at 8:30 am Friday morning because they will be very tired. So I guess Cameron will be one of the only kids in his class on Friday morning. Oh, I'm sure he won't even notice or feel left out when all his buddies pass him in the doorway with their jammies on, waving "nighty night", as Cameron heads into school for a regular school day. Yesterday my letter to the Principal was met with "I understand your perspective on all of this, but too bad." And here I thought school was for learning?? Maybe I'm just old-school that way. Silly me.

Rodger's dealing with a parking ticket that I got a couple of weeks ago, while dropping the family off at the ferry terminal. we pulled into the drop-off zone, got 3 carseats, various baggage and 3 kids out of the car, and then proceeded to a large lineup of people at the walk-on terminal. After several minutes we finally paid for our tickets, then spent a few more minutes checking in their baggage & car seats (which had to be put into plastic bags and tied up.) By the time I headed back to the drop-off zone where the car was parked, I had a $59 ticket on my windshield because I "left the car unattended for more than 3 minutes". Oh my word. I can't even go on any more about this because just thinking about it makes my blood boil. So yeah, add that to Rodger's list of things to deal with.

Tomorrow's going to be a better day. We're going to chop down a tree at the Christmas Tree farm, then try to have fun while we decorate it. Then on Sunday we're spending a big chunk of time practicing our songs with Sunday School. Then we're working on a combined craft with all of the kids, followed by hot chocolate and treats. I can feel the Sunday headache coming on already.

I'm looking forward to Sunday afternoon, when I will be taking a very long nap. Because I deserve it. Wah.

My Play Date

This morning was a rare treat... I had a 2 hour play date with a fellow stampin' addict while Rodger took Ruby skating with the Grade 1 class. It was such fun!

Mi Ran and I swapped Christmas card workshop cards today... we each had extra card "kits" so it was super easy to put together. And it's always interesting to me how everyone can have such completely different ideas, or styles.

So everything turned out great except for the fact that she thought I was a Big Shot - I mean, she thought I owned a Big Shot! So I wasn't able to finish 2 of the cards which required embossing. (Doesn't this wreath card look awesome?) But lucky for me, I have a friend with Big Shot toys, so I'm sure "she" will let me use her machine to finish the cards next week sometime, if I walk in the door bearing treats or a meal! :-)

Chaotic Creativity

It's always amazing to me that I can actually get anything accomplished in such a mess... but I do! And I'm also amazed when I see my crafty friends' organized craft spaces, and that they seem to have the time and patience to put things away as they use them. I can't work that way when I'm stamping... I need everything out and within arms reach at all times. Maybe it's because I have no plan when I start, and they do?? And somehow I (mostly) know where everything is.




Today I'm working on my Christmas Card workshop cards, and this is what I've come up with:



I may tweak them a bit but I think they're okay... what do you think? Comments? I have a couple of "virgin" stampers coming, as well as experienced ones so it's always a challenge to come up with cards that cater to everyone. I'm excited about Thursday night - it's been a long time since I've had a Card Night here and I've missed playing with my friends!! Better go out and get a big bag of Ju Jubes for the party - they're a staple for these kinds of nights!

In memory of a beautiful girl

We had just moved to Deep Cove, and Simon was just 7 months old. We were in need of a babysitter and one day I noticed an ad at the Deep Cove store, from a young girl who lived just down the road... "I love kids and I want to be your babysitter!" it read. I was nervous leaving my baby but I took a chance on Megan, who was a shy, very sweet young teenager. That was the beginning of an 8 year babysitting relationship, and during that time our family grew and so did Megan... into a beautiful, confident young woman. She still enjoyed babysitting even though she had a job at Safeway and went to college. We haven't needed her much over the past few years, as we don't go out much. But the kids would always want to stop in at Safeway, to the meat counter and say HI to Megan. She joined me for Card-making nights and sometimes brought her friends, grandma or mom. A lovely girl.

Today I bumped into Megan's mom while Ruby and I were going for a walk. I cheerfully said "hello" and asked how she was doing... tears welled up in her eyes as she told me that one morning, 2 months ago, Megan never woke up. She had died in her sleep and they don't even know why... they say perhaps it was similar to SIDS for adults. Her heart just simply stopped, at 22 years of age.

I am so very sad today. And when I tell the boys after school, they will be too. We will miss you Megan.

Halloween

Halloween cannot start before we take our annual trip to the Pumpkin Patch. The weather was terrible so I was worried that a) we would never find a time to go when it wasn't raining, and 2) once we got there, would all the pumpkins be rotting in the field?? Well, I managed to find a time right after school one day to get them to the patch before it rained again, and even though some of the pumpkins were gross, there were still plenty of nice ones to choose from.

Cameron insisted on finding the biggest one he could. Isn't there a rule out there that says "if you can't carry it, you can't take it?" I somehow forgot about that rule, or maybe I was flustered by the constant whining, so I gave in and lugged the pumpkin to the wagon for him, getting my coat muddy in the process. Simon found a nice medium one, Ruby found a perfectly round little one, and we got a few assorted fun ones to look at and/or eat.


I left the photo-taking in Rodger's hands on Halloween, so we have 2 dark photos where you can hardly see what their costumes are! Oh well. Simon is a wizard, Cameron is a bat and Ruby is a ladybug.

We trick-or-treated with the neighbor kids behind us, and had a great time!! We managed to hit about 15 houses, which is alot given the distance between each house around here! And since there are very few kids in our neck of the woods, our kids benefited greatly with huge handfuls from each home. Ruby even ended up with more than the boys because she chatted and charmed each neighbor... as she loudly announced "I'm a ladybug!" and "I have 2 lollipops already" and on it went. After a leisure hour we headed to the bonfire and fireworks at the fire hall.

Halloween seemed to last from Friday to Sunday this year. It was a fun evening but I'm sure glad it's over for another year!

This and that for October

I don't know what I've been up to for the past couple of weeks, but apparently I was busy enough NOT to post anything. Let's see if I can remember some stuff...

Cameron's Grade 1 class is finally on the mend after having a lousy beginning. Long story short: his new teacher (who was also new to Deep Cove) ended up being sick all of September, except for maybe 5 days? As a result, he had a different teacher literally every day for the first month, which caused alot of anxiety with some of the kids and parents. (Cameron was fine, I was not!) So anyway, after 5 weeks of craziness, sick teacher when on leave of absence (no reason given) and we now have a lovely new teacher who is working out just great so far! I cannot wait for parent-teacher interviews next week though, it should be interesting. Other Cameron news: He lost his first 2 teeth within a few days of each other. Very exciting indeed, and I just love his goofy little smile!

(Yes, I do have 2 other kiddos: Simon and Ruby are fine! Nothing earth-shattering to report, which is good! :-) )

I hosted a Jolica Jewellery party and just received the order yesterday. Awesome, fairly traded jewellery, handbags, scarvs.... I love everything about this company's products and what they stand for. If you're interested, check out their website! http://www.jolica.com/

Neil, Shihgee, Jade and Sonja came to visit last weekend! We had a fantastic time together... filled with lots of good eating, drinking, playing and just hanging out! Wonton soup, beachcombing, Scrabble, wine, caramel apples, thrift stores, chips, pasta, playing with goats.... all in all, a fun-filled weekend! I hope they don't wait another 2 years to visit!

This digital scrapbooking design customized with Smilebox

Mood Swings

It's amazing how getting a parcel in the mail can significantly alter one's mood!

Today I was feeling a little bummed because I'm suffering from a bit of buyer's remorse... or maybe it's more that I set myself up for high expectations and it didn't work out the way I planned? I don't know.

I finally got a new pair of glasses after wanting a new pair for years. My old ones are 9 years old, super boring and chipped. I didn't want to go boring this time, I wanted some funkiness in my life without breaking the bank or getting tired of them in 3 years. So, long story short: I tried on 100's of glasses before I finally chose the winner... but really, there were only 3 pairs to ultimately choose from because my face is "wonky". Anyways, I get my new glasses, bring them home and decide they are BORING! I went the safe, conservative route again. And I'm disappointed.

I can't see the difference...



Can you see the difference??



So.... on to the mood swing! :-)


I put Ruby down for her nap and decided to go for a long power walk in the rain. On my way home I stopped at the mailbox.... my JELLY ROLL HAS ARRIVED!!! And I love the colours, fabrics and patterns. I can't wait to get started on Cameron's quilt!

I guess I should look at the bright side of all of this... at least I'll be able to see more clearly while I quilt.

Just post it...

I just checked, and I have 3 "draft" posts, waiting to be finished. Why can't I just get them done and move on?? Maybe I keep thinking I have more to say, or a better way to say it, or have pictures to add to the story.... any one of those could be the answer to my procrastination.

So my mom said "just post something"... so here is what I'm doing today, or at least what I'm thinking about these days!

In a few minutes Ruby and I are going to Gramma Jan's house to exercise on her Wii Fit and I'm totally excited about it! There are so many possibilities... yoga, strength training, aerobics, sports....

(oops... have to wipe a bumm.... maybe another reason for the lack of posts???)

Anyway, after that I have to bake some bread and get dinner in the crockpot. I'm going to try a new Weight Watchers chicken recipe - I'll let you know how it turns out.

Speaking of weight watchers, I've starting going back to the meetings as I have a friend who recently joined and is all gung-ho about the program. I am back to being a paying customer because I'm way over my goal weight. Let's just say it was a good summer, with lots of happy hours, cheetos, no exercise, camping food, etc, etc. I am officially busted out of my clothes so I better get back on track because a) I cannot afford to pay WW every week and 2) I certainly cannot afford to buy a BIGGER wardrobe! Augh... why does this have to be such a difficulty in my life? Why can't I be like Rodger and only eat to survive??

I'm madly working on my scrappy lap quilt which I am dying to get done! I'm so tired of looking at those flannel, plaid fabrics!! They have been used in our winter queen-size quilt, a wall-hanging, 5 Christmas stockings, and now the lap quilt... like I said, I'm anxious to be done with those fabrics so I can eagerly await my JELLY ROLL!! I ordered it online and I have no idea how long it takes to be shipped from the U.S., but I hope it's soon because I want to start on the boys' quilts this Fall.

Tonight Simon is going to Cadets and he's so excited!! I think he's the most excited about going to bed late every second Wednesday night, to be honest! It's his 3rd year and unfortunately Cameron still has to wait one more year - poor guy.

Well, I'm out of time because it's time for Wii Fit! And I promise to hit "post" this time!

Off to School

Wow... I cannot believe it's time to send the kids to school today. Summer is officially over, with a BANG... a wet, soggy, bang. No gradual entry into Fall. Yuck.

However, I am trying to find the excitement, because the boys are. Cameron is the most excited about eating lunch at school and having big recess... that's what it's all about for a First Grader after all! Simon is looking forward to being with friends again and is anxious to know who will be in his class this year. Having said that, he doesn't really care that much, because at this point in his Grade 3 life, he doesn't have only 1 buddy that he "needs" to be with... he just enjoys playing with any kid who will pick up a hockey stick or soccer ball and join in the game!

It's going to be an interesting year, with having Ruby all to myself during the day. She's going to really miss her buddies but I'm hoping she'll also enjoy some time to herself, with no sharing of toys! There may be the odd occasion when I may have to actually entertain her though.... yikes. I don't do that.

Signs of Fall

I have to admit, I really, really don't like September. September means the end of glorious, relaxing Summer days with no agendas or filled up calendars... with "Happy Hour(s)" in the backyard, camping with friends, day-trips to the lake or at the beach, and warm summer evenings. And SUNSHINE!

And September means school... when my drill sergeant nature really shines and kicks into highgear. Augh. I have never been, and never will be, a morning person. Ask anyone who knows me well, and they will wholeheartedly agree.

Random Thoughts for the Day:

- It's raining on the last day of Summer vacation... how lame is that?
- Cranking up the tent trailer, one last time for the season, to clean it up and get it ready for a long winter.... heartbreaking.
- Our Cable was cut off for the Summer and I was the only one who missed it.
- My mind is reeling with the project possibilities for the Fall. Finish my patchy lap quilt, start a quilt for the boys, knit something cool?
- Our family played thousands of games of UNO this Summer, Simon knows how to shuffle cards like a pro (look out Vegas), and Cameron learned to snap his fingers.

Wow, these really are random thoughts. Anyway, I just wanted to jot these down before I forget the little things in life.

a week of camping

We just got back from a week of camping... a few days in Coombs with friends and a few days in Bamfield. The two mini holidays couldn't have been more different!

In Coombs we camped with a group of people - our friends Ian and Melissa invited us to join them and Melissa's family for a few days at Coombs Country Campground so we decided to take them up on their offer. And an added bonus was that Jeremy and Holly were planning to camp on the island so they joined us too! We had such a great time with everyone... it was HOT and the kids had so much fun playing in the man-made lake and the swimming pool. We also played lots of games, hung out at the Coombs market and even checked out the sand sculptures in Parksville. We managed to pack in alot in 3 days.

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We left Coombs for a very different adventure, to Bamfield. From Port Alberni, it was a 2 1/2 hour drive on a bumpy logging road going an average of 40 kms. Long to say the least, but we knew it would be worth it. When we arrived in Bamfield it was foggy and COLD, which was a drastic change from Coombs. The Murrays were overlapping with our trip by one night so we got to hang out with them for awhile before they left the next morning. We would've stayed in Bamfield for at least 3 nights but the extremely loud partyers on either side of us drove us away after only 2 nights. Very disappointing, to say the least! Other than that, we had an awesome time hanging out on the beach, sitting by the campfire (apparently the fire ban rule doesn't apply on native land or on the fog belt?) and exploring the town of Bamfield. We left Pachena Bay on Saturday at 5 pm, and made it home just before midnight.... stinky, tired and happy to be home. We will go back someday, but not for awhile... I have to forget about the parties first and then we'll try again.

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Happy 6th Birthday to my sweet Cameron!

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Childless

It's been 5 days without kids, and 10 without a husband... and I had plans during this time. Big plans.

But the thing is, I'm totally lost and unmotivated to accomplish my "To Do" list. And when I decide I'm going to relax and forget about my chores, I can't sit down for longer than 5 minutes at a time. Having an empty house is just too strange, too foreign.

However, when I look around my house, I do notice that: my pantry is neat & tidy and I can find my food; my windows are clean and the sunshine is streaming into the kitchen as I type; the floors are gleaming; the toys are in their bins; the livingroom is spotless and I even dusted for a change; my scrapbook table is in complete "creative" chaos..... so maybe I have done a few things after all.

They just weren't on the "list".... except for the scrapbooking!

I'm so ready to have my family back tomorrow.

Creation Calls -- are you listening?

I was listening to one of my Brian Doerksen CD's this morning, as I was doing my mundane chores (laundry-folding, crock-pot cooking, sweeping the kitchen floor... those kinds of everything things)... anyway, when this song came on, I just stopped what I was doing, sat down and closed my eyes. This song never fails to move me... on a normal day I get goosebumps. On a more hormonal day, I break down and actually weep. (FYI, today is normal! :-) Anyway, I found the song on UTube and thought I'd share it. Will it move you? Are YOU listening? God bless you today in a very special way.

Stuff that goes on around here lately

First of all, I would like to dedicate this blog posting to my good friend, SUNSHINE!!

You are my sunshine, My only sunshine
You make me happy when skies are gray
You'll never know dear, how much I love you
Please don't take my sunshine away....

Maybe if I serenade that hottie in the sky, she'll stick around for a bit...

Today was sunny! We were outside all day, doing various sunshine-y things, other than the brief grilled cheese lunch in front of the TV while watching the World Cup, and I had some Sunday School homework to do (but is it really homework when the Circut is involved?? :-) We even managed a lovely long walk to visit orphaned garden gnomes in the forest with Brooke, Dina and Boo.



Rodger's been working on a shed re-build for the past couple of weeks. We acquired it from the Lobb's, but it needed to be disassembled in order to get it home. Anyway, we're excited about having a home for our bikes and assorted outside junk, and the Lobb's are excited about their bigger, grander (mammoth) structure they've got going on in their back yard! The next step is to put the roof back on... if we could just get 6 people over here to lift the sucker up.

My garden is coming along. I keep adding more pots at the front of the garage and I'm starting to ignore the weed-patch at the back of the house. Sure, there's a few things growing alright back there, but nothing compared to my SFG boxes & pots on the driveway. And now that the sun's out, I am hoping my veggies will really take off!




And here's a photo of the arbour that Rodger built a couple of months ago. We used to have a funky one made out of twigs and branches, but during a windstorm this past winter it was destroyed. This new one is solid and I don't think a windstorm will take it down! Next Summer I will plant another vine-y plant of some kind, to fill it out more.



Our girls are doing great - I just love the black ones! The colouring on them is so pretty... but is one of them a "He"?? "She" is significantly bigger than the rest and the comb is much larger too. I guess I should read up on chickens & roosters one of these days, but in the meantime I just enjoy watching them. And I cannot wait for the eggs...




One more picture... for those of you who never use our front door! This is what the entranceway looks like these days - it's actually quite tidy and the pots are looking good. They will look even better when the geraniums, fuschias and nasturtiums start to bloom.




It was a good day. Thank you God for the gift of sunshine.

Serious lack of Vitamin D

I've had a few bad mom days lately... and I'm going to blame it on 2 things: 1) Rain, and 2) more rain.

Rain, rain.... GO AWAY!!! Seriously - enough already!!

Yes, I would like some cheese with my wine... er... whine.

The sun made a very brief appearance this afternoon and I ran out the door to catch it before it disappeared behind a nasty black cloud again. I think I even knocked one of my kids out of my way in the process.

So anyway, I finally planted the kids' tomato plants in their appropriate pots, as well as a pot of carrots and potatoes. I also replante4d more radishes, spinach and lettuce. I'm a newbie gardener so I wasn't sure what to do with my spinach... it was quite leggy and already starting to go to seed, even though I was only able to pick half a bowl of spinach so far. I decided that it was because of the lack of sunshine? So I pulled it out and replanted it - and we'll see what happens.

Today Ruby and I went to Friendship Community Church so I could attend a Beth Moore video series with another Kindergarten mom. It's sort of like our Coffee Break, and since I haven't been able to go to our bible study on Wednesdays this year, I thought I would give this a try. It's a 4 week series and so far it's quite interesting. Ruby enjoyed playing the nursery with her two buddies, and was babysat by a home-schooled teenager for an hour. It worked out great, and it was a nice break for me.

Tonight I need to work on some Sunday School stuff, so I will stop procrastinating and get to work! But first, I'll make myself some tea, put on some long pants and socks... because it's Winter!

Enough whining. Actually, I feel much better now. Writing is good therapy... I think my mom taught me that.

A visit from the Cherybas

I can't believe it's the end of the month already... where did May go?? Although, I guess if I had to backtrack and look at the calendar, it's been a busy month. And time certainly flies when you're busy! 2 birthdays, a wedding in Kelowna, a visit from the Cherybas.. and add in there the daily stuff of pick-ups, drop-offs, laundry, Sunday School responsibilities, a new-found obsession (more on that later)... well, like I said, it's been a busy one.

Lisa and I have been friends since 1991, which according to our calculations turns out to be a significant amount of time. It all started when we became roommates, out of necessity, when the company we were working for (Rogers Video) relocated their office from Calgary to Richmond. There was no way either of us could afford to live on our own there so we decided to pool our (very) meager wages and bunk together, without really knowing each other. During those 11 months of living together we became very close and we've been friends ever since! And lucky for us, our families get along too! Whew! :-)

Beachcombing at our local beach:



Tie Dying fab-u-lous t-shirts with the kids:





Seriously! Don't they look awesome?? I am so obsessed with Tie Dying now... it's great fun!! I've dyed every crappy t-shirt I own, and a few of Ruby's too. So be warned... if you're walking past me in a 100% cotton frock of any kind, watch out! I'll snatch it from you and dye it into an amazing masterpiece...

And check out this baby:



(Mom, I can hear your heart beating faster from here... can't wait to play it with you! There's Quad word scores... oh my!) We played many games while Lisa and Matt were here - she said I can babysit the game for her. Yippee... isn't Lisa the greatest?

Other fun moments: tasting our first deep-fried chocolate Mars bar; Ocean Discovery Centre; swimming at the local pool, root beer floats, making pizzas, watching many Wallace and Grommet movies, Happy Hours and chip eating, Katie sharing her DS with the boys, and just hanging out together! Sigh... it was a good week. I'm tired.

Simon is 8!

I made a Smilebox for Simon's friends, to thank them for coming to his birthday party yesterday... I figured I would try to post it here so you can see it too!

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Growth

Everything's growing around here... the kids, baby chicks, the garden, Sally's udders (hee hee), my waistline... but we won't talk about that!

The chicks have officially moved into the coop and are also officially "un-cute" as far as chickens are concerned. No longer fuzzy and cuddly, but they are showing some nice colours, especially the black ones. And we're eager for the day in August (?) when we receive our first egg-licious gifts from the girls.



My garden is doing great, now that it's warmed up and the rain has ceased (for now). The new "square foot gardening" (SFG) boxes are looking fantastic, and I'm sure there's 2 reasons for it: the special Mel's mix soil that I'm using, and the location on the driveway. It really gets the most sun and it's nice and warm there. Cameron also planted some butternut squash and gourds in 2 pots, which will climb up a trellis on the garage. And each of the kids has their own tomato plant in separate pots, which they promised me they would look after. The new 1X4 box has just been planted with green onions, lettuce, bok choy and basil.



The other existing beds at the back of the yard are definitely lush and green... with WEEDS!! But I refuse to be discouraged and will just keep at it, planting 1 square at a time. I must say that using the SFG method makes it easier to weed and therefore less daunting because (1) I can weed each square as I need to, ignoring the rest of the garden (why weed the entire box when I know there's no seeds planted in a particular square?). And (2) I know where my plants are supposed to be so I can weed around them easier within that square. For instance, if I'm trying to locate my lettuce in a square, I know that I have planted 4 holes with a small pinch of seeds in each... the rest is weeds. It's way easier for me.

Here is my lettuce - 2 of them did not come up, so I planted 2 more holes yesterday:




And here's some spinach:



Notice the weed-infested squares surrounding my planted squares.... Ruby squealed "Wow, mom!! Look at all your spinach!!" I wish.

Anyway, it's a work in progress thing! But I'm still excited about my veggies and that's the first time that's happened.

Speaking of work in progress, today has been a busy day of re-organizing and tossing out toys and clothes. So naturally, the house looks like a bomb went off right now - bins, garbage bags, Thrift Store boxes.... what a mess. But by tonight the house will be worthy of unexpected visitors, should anyone pop by tomorrow. Like that ever happens! Unfortunately.

Time to breath

It's been a busy 7 days. Full of birthday parties, family get-togethers, way too much baking, packing, cleaning, travelling, WEDDING, more family, livestock issues, school dance performances, gardening... Whew! I'm so glad tomorrow is Friday.



Last Thursday Ruby turned 3!! I can't get over how big she is... and how gorgeous!! (Some people have mentioned she looks like me... I'm just sayin'!) Anyway, Ruby insisted on wearing her Disneyland baseball hat as her official party hat... and why not? We had a typical Talstra party the day before, with a million kids running around the yard, a huge bowl of cheetos and cupcakes! On her actual birthday we headed to Surrey and spent a lovely, chaotic evening with the Talstra's, including a pizza dinner.


Then we were off, bright and early on Friday, to Kelowna for Jeremy and Holly's wedding. We saw most of my side of the family, with the exception of Brian and Irene and families. It was great to spend time with each other, and the kids had much-needed bonding time with their cousins.

We had a weiner roast:



Played at the park in Peachland:



Looked at "vintage" hockey & baseball cards with big cousin Alex:


Played with blinkin' Lincoln Logs, and just lazed around, enjoying each other's company:



And of course an awesome wedding to attend, which is why we were all there. I can't believe I have a nephew who is married now! Ruby was a flower girl for her big cousin's wedding... she looked adorable but, sadly, she won't be in any photos with the rest of the wedding party. She absolutely refused to have her picture taken. I begged, pleaded, bribed, threatened... nothing worked. But when it came time for the ceremony, she was the only little one who managed to walk down the aisle without a scene... an award winning performance from my princess, which was met with a big bag of Ju Jubes for a job well done.



The ferries were crazy busy on Monday afternoon and when we arrived at 1:45 p.m., we found out that the 3 pm sailing was full and the 5 pm was already 60% full! Nuts! So I walked on the 3 pm ferry with the kids, and left Rodger to sit with the car until the next sailing.... I'm not sure who got the better deal?? I was with the kids but managed to knit while they played and watched TV on the ferry. And we were fed a scrumptious chicken dinner at Dina's out of the deal. Rodger had lukewarm water to drink, a banana, plenty of time to nap and read a book. Mmmmm....I think it's a toss-up.

So our lovely goat Sally is growing some enormously ugly udders and it's been freaking us out a bit. We spent 2 days doing some research on=line and talking to/emailing Vets. So we've come to the conclusion (for now) that Sally is either going through a false pregnancy or is just very hormonal, and the udders will decrease in size "eventually." Very strange indeed. Life is not boring, that's for sure.

The baby chicks are no longer babies but they are afraid to come out of their box and join the rest of the crew. Probably because one of our older hens has been seen chasing the young ones around. Chickens are mean. Why can't they just get along? Off with their heads, I say! I need Rodger to don his lumberjack "man shirt" and do just that.... to the 3 older ones who give us crappy eggs.

I went to a lovely woman's home last night, and she lives right smack downtown Victoria. I mean, walking distance to everything including the Inner Harbour and a few blocks to the Legislative buildings. She's a true Urban-ite. As I was peaking into her little (tiny) backyard garden oasis, I casually said "hey, we should do a house swap... you come live in the country for awhile and we'll come do the city thing." Now that I think about it, I really don't know if she can deal with all the livestock drama we've got going on these days. It was a nice thought.

Time to start up a super cheap batch of wine from Costco. If I was doing the house swap thing, I would just walk across the street to the James Bay Inn and order myself a big goblet of cheap wine. But I'm a Country girl now... and loving it.

Most of the time.