Kiwi's Odyssey

Ode to Number 5

2011-02-11T07:24:00.001-08:00

I'm off to the murder house for the extraction of number 5. It's a sad and stressful day as I say my farewell to number 5. She's been with me since she broke thru - for over 40 years - closer to 50! And what an amazing service she has given me. She's had 2 root canals and because she was so special - she even wore a crown. Does that make her a princess???? She was my second root canal while I was at university and back then cost me $240 ... a large sum for a stuggling student.

So at precisely 11.15 this morning I bid my feared and painful goodbye. And she's not just any extraction - no! You see for most of last year she had been broken and lost her crown ... so she exists purely as a root.

Hence the fear and trepidation as I imagine how number 5 is going to be extracted when she is unable to be gripped with plyers .... as for an implant ... well, that depends on the price - but my husband says he loves me with or without the tooth. (translation - I can think of better ways to spend $5000) ;)

Can I run my long run tomorrow? How long will she take to heal? Farewell number 5! I have appreciated your loyality over the years. You have been a wonderful friend.

Jock Strap!

2010-06-21T19:08:00.000-07:00

Tonight we had a rather unexpected surprise at Karate ... somehow I didn't get the memo, but thankful to happen to have my camera in my handbag!

It turned out that it was Cody's graduation. He performed with his classmates, broke a wooden board in 2 with his bare hands and was presented with the highest 'Ranger' honour of a solid Gold Belt. This means he is now ready to commence his Leadership training in the young adult classes as of next week. He also now wears a new fancy smancy uniform!!! He's very self impressed and full of self accomplishment! At this same time I needed to purchase his protective gear ...

Yes, we (meaning Cody) had to 'inspect' in detail every item before we left the building ... it was so funny to watch - but my favourite was when he got to the Jock Strap ... 'mum, why to I have to wear one of these? (holding up a jock strap and using his normal speaks - aka loud) ... So quietly I tell him ... it's to protect your 'privates' (trying to keep anatomy talk to a minimum) You see, I've never tried to hide or give cute names to his body parts - he's always called a spade a spade, and today evidently was going to be like every other day ....

Cody: what does it do? How does it work? Why would anyone try to hurt my penis? As the body parts started to flow naturally from his mouth, the smiling and interested spectators started leaving like I had the plague .... evidently my answers did not satisfy him ...

And his questions didn't stop. Started again in the grocery store, and library ... and all the time in his 'quiet' voice! (Being scarcastic there!).

We got home and he was beside himself to inspect them further .... mum, he said, they look like undies! With pieces missing ...

Now, I myself having never seen a pair up close, intriged as much as he, and dying inside laughing whilst pretending all the time to be knowledgeable, slowly figuring how to put the piece in, you know, the hard bit, and then getting him try them on. If only I could have captured the look of male reverence as he proudly displayed his new acquisition. So I got a wooden spoon and proceeded to hit it. Big smile on his face. Mamma, it doesn't hurt!!! NOW he gets it!

I still haven't been able to explain well enough to satisfy his curiosity as to why girls don't use one ... Cody's logic dictates that girls have 'privates' too ... make sense to me ... ???

Anyways, proud of my little ones accomplishments and he looks like he's ready to take on the world! Yea for all the Jock Straps out there!

'When You Thought I Wasn't Looking' - unknown author

2010-06-17T17:57:00.000-07:00

Found this poem in Cody's Karate's monthly newsletter. Makes me stop and think about how my words and actions should always be setting a positive example ....

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you hang my first painting on the refrigerator, and I immediately wanted to paint another one.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you feed a stray cat, and I learned that it was good to be kind to animals.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make my favourite cake for me, and I learned that the little things can be the special things in life.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I heard you say a prayer, and I knew that there is a God I could always talk to, and I learned to trust in him.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you make a meal and take it to a friend who was sick, and I learned that we all have to help take care of each other.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you give of your time and money to help people who had nothing, and I learned that those who have something should give to those who don't.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw you take care of our house and everyone in it, and I learned we have to take care of what we are given.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw how you handled your responsibilities, even when you didn't feel good, and I learned that I would have to be responsible when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I saw tears come from your eyes, and I learned that sometimes things hurt, but it's all right to cry.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I say that you cared, and I wanted to be Everything that I could be.

When you though I wasn't looking, I learned most of life's lessons that I need to know to be a good and productive person when I grow up.

When you thought I wasn't looking, I looked at you and wanted to say, 'Thanks for all the things I saw when you thought I wasn't looking.'

The Birth of a Marathon Runner!

2010-06-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

I'm going to run a marathon! There ... I said it! And yes my friends are looking sideways at me - but that's ok!

Why you ask? How on earth did you get to that?

Well, while we were in London, England, the London Marathon took place - and it ran right by our hotel, so we were smack bang in the middle of it! We went out and cheered for about 5 hours - I lost my voice ... absolutely did not think it would be very interesting ... instead had a ball of a time!!

Cody turns to Daddy and says, 'Daddy, why don't you run in the Marathon so we can cheer you on?' Daddy replies ... 'oohhhh, Daddy couldn't do that, but Mummy can!' ... so there you have it ...

So, I ask you, why not? Yes, I'm starting out a little later in life, but some of those runners were in their 80's and I'm guessing they started somewhere!!! For those of you who know me, I'm very determined once I commit to a task. I'm not planning to WIN the marathon - although stranger things have happened - just to be in one and finish the line .... no pressure, running and walking when needing to!

I'm slow ... in fact you most likely can walk faster than I can run ... that's ok. I'm there for me, not to race.

There really are LOTS of benefits as I see it. They include:

Great roll model for my son
Getting fit
Losing some flab - I hope
Gaining energy
Acomplishing goals

Here's the downside as I see it:

Finding the time to fit the excercise in
Injuries
Paying to run in races (what's with that????)
Wear and tear on my body

So what have I done so far? I started on the treadmill and eliptical while I was in London - walking of course! Then slowing introducing the running. 20 mins on each. Once I got home I dusted off the treadmill and have been using that to build up.

When I started I ran at a 4 miles per hour pace to find my groove ... which by the way took 6 weeks of making myself so it. Once I found my groove, running became addictive. What I mean by finding my groove is when you push a tad and can keep on running without having to stop for a walk. My visual motivation that I watch on the treadmill is:

Distance
Calories burned

I'm not killing myself and constantly monitor my heart rate so as to manage my running. After I returned from Europe, I went for my first 5k run with a friend and we had a blast!!! She left in the dust and did a fabulous job! I think I did good to ... well, for me I did and I was running ... and I crossed the finish line ... more amazingly, I wasn't last!!!

I ran my first 5 k in 46 minutes and I didn't kill myself. I did however get a sore knee so now I'm on joint vitamins to help with the fluids in the knee. That was the first time off the treadmill so it was a little rougher on my body.

I still have a lot to learn - but I'm going to do it! It may take me a while to build up, but that's ok too. My hubby has helped me get decked with 'real shoes', some clothes and most exciting was my generation 2 ishuffle!!! Wouldn't mind the garmin type watch, but that can wait!!! So, I look the part!

My friend was very encouraging before my first 5k when she told me that I have a ready won. Standing at the start line when 99.9% of the worlds population wasn't ... all I had to do was finish the race.

So, that's it in a nutshell. I'm going to run a marathon!

Thought Provoking ....

2010-06-14T05:15:00.000-07:00

Nobody can go back and start a new beginning, but anyone can start today and make a new ending.
- Maria Robinson

Ur ine Paris!

2010-04-23T14:37:00.000-07:00

Last week-end this time we were on our way by Eurostar to Paris, France ... thankful that we had decided to go via the chunnel as opposed to flying ... nature decided to play havoc with the volcano that I can't pronounce!

The first week in London was full on! Our first week end on arrival we went to Hamleys - just off the Oxford Cirus tube stop ... this was one of Cody's 'must do' ... he ran in arms wide open and left dejected and near tears ... 17 pounds for a transformer (not electrical) ... which he could get at home for $10-$12 USD ... so we next went to PJ's 'toy shop' - the ferrari dealership across the road - again, he ran in with arms wide open and left dejeted and wishing he had a job that paid more ... I thought, oh look at that nice mug - 40 pounds!!! So I gently put the mug down, told the lady associate that she should never let the gentleman associate (who was singing out of tune next to her) to enter American Idol ... and quietly left everyone laughing!

Luckily we went into the National Geographic Shop for a nosey to find a treat!!!! They had the Animalman.com show live there ... we had missed some of it, but it was entertaining and right up Cody's list of things he loves most! There was reptiles, insects, mamals - just amazing - even a skunk! She was adorable and affectionate (yes, we all got to pat her ... and yes, she had her scent package in tact).

We went to Piccadilly Circus, Trafalgar Square and the National Art Gallery and we fortunate to view some of Van Gohs work (Sunflowers and Wheat fields were on display - some of his more recognisable work). That was Sunday. With PJ off to work the next day, Cody and me hit the road for the next few days. We went to the ZSL London Zoo, London Sea Life Aquarium, Westminster Abbey, Vitoria Tower Gardens (to feed the pigeons), Big Ben, Parliament Square and buildings, the Wellington Arch, Buckingham Palace - we watched the changing of the guards (with 2000+ others), a wonderful walk through the St James Park (feeding the pigeons, ducks - I even got to hand feed the squirrels!), Museum of Natural Science, Sciene Museum, the Royal Air Force Museum (which turned out to be absolutely fabulous) and a wonderful visit with a friend who just happened to be visiting London the same week!

Then Paris. Because of the volcanic erruption, the train was packed - and the station was crazy with 'campers' trying to get a seat on any train out of London. But the trip was awesome! The countryside was picture perfect and it made me want to get out and go visit all these places! So I had high hopes for Paris going in. We packed extremely light - 2 small carry ons - as we planned on using the subway as the travel books had said - ' easy to use and great to get around'.   The first sign we see is - beware of pick pockets! So now we are 'on guard' and then the smell hit us - the smell of urine. Not a 2 year 'opps' kinda smell, but a full on, in your face - I peed and I'm proud of it kinda smell ... Cody was ready to go back on the train! The 'easy to use and great to get around' was proving to be a little more of a challenge!! But glad to say we arrived ready safetly to our hotel and ready for the next 2 days ....

Our hotel was close to the Arc de Triomphe. We decided to find a grocery store, so I asked a gentleman if he could help us - yes, he said. He said the lobsters were that way and pointed ... so we thanked him kindly and proceeded not any closer than we were before ... laughing of course! We walked down the Avenue de Champs onto the Elysees to the Plae de la Concorde. Followed by the Jardin Des Tuileries until we reached the Musee de Louve. What an awesome museum!!!! That in itself could take a week!!!! In particular, we wanted to see the Mona Lisa, which we did, along with fabulous works of art and sculptures. I definately could go back and spend more time in the Louve. We continued down th St Eustache Forum de Halles and into the Centre Pompidou Beauborg.   The place was insane with people! Crazy insane!

After lunch on the sidewalk we went over to Notre-Dame via the Palais de Justice. Notre-Dame was amazing. Our feet were 'smoking', so we took the subway over to the last item on the Saturday adgenda - the Eiffel Tower. We went all the way to the top - the wait was long, the child petrified, but came with PJ and myself (hanging on for dear life - loudly asking - what if someone is undoing all the bolts????) How can this be safe???? I think he would have kissed the ground if he knew he could upon coming back down! That being said, the Eiffel Tower was what most impressed him!

Everywhere we went there were combat dressed men with ooseys - I'm guessing police???? It's kinda unnerving with them holding on to them ready to spring into action ...

Sunday we set out to finish our 'to do' list. We started with the Jargin des Plantes where we went to the Musee National D'Histore Naturelle, the Pantheon followed by the Palis du Luxembourg and into the Jardin du Lxembourg. Cody was starting to tire so we headed back to the Parc du Champ de maps by the Eiffel Tower. The closest description that I can tell you about the people was that it was a people sea - a people sardine canned together sea - I've never seen anything like it ever before! Ever!

It was time to say 'goodbye' to Paris and head on back to London. Cody was glad. He came to the conlusion, too many people smoked in Paris and it was toxic. We were back at the hotel at 12.30 that night glad to hit the pillow! Poor hubby had to turn around and go to work bright and chirpy the next day! As for the city of Love? Not this time ... I was with the men I love, but it really is a jackel and hyde city ... I would say London is more a city of Love than Paris ... go figure!

Now with an exhausted child, we have taken things a  little slower. We decided to take some further out lines and go shopping. So we've ended up in Lewisham, Beckton, and Gallions Reach. Interesting finds have been ASDA (Wal-Mart - but very different!), Smyths (toy store), pound store (and 99P stores), Tesco, and TK MAXX (know as TJ MAXX where we live.

Once a little more alive, we ventured to LegoLand in Windsor. Even got to see the Queens Palace there from the train and bus windows! I know she doesn't do the cleaning - and it would be insane for just one person to live in that mammoth space! Cody had a wonderful day. We stayed until the park closed. If he could, he would have stayed there days. He even got his LegoLand drivers license!

We then ventured to the other side of the city to the Kew Gardens. It was a little more relaxing. We again brought enough bread to feed the ducks and swans!   We enjoyed the walkway in the treetops, and Cody love going on the flying-fox. And as if all that walking isn't enough, there is a gym (dear I say that word?) in the hotel that Cody keeps dragging me down to! I have now been officially introduced to an elliptical!

Well, that's it for now! The crocs are going strong and evidently by themselves say 'tourist!' We have been having a wonderful time and now are starting on the 2nd half of our trip. 7 more days in London ... followed by 5 days in Rome, Italy ... should the volcano (which I can't pronounce) be favourable with it's ash vomit!

And for a little chuckle, I was asked what part of America I was from because of my American accent! Ha Ha!!! So cheers from here ... and wishing you all a wonderful weekend!

Arriving in the UK!

2010-04-10T13:42:00.000-07:00

We arrived safe and sound! Deprived of sleep ... determined to continue without sleep until tonight ...

Firstly, the people speak funny ... I know, I know, the pot calling the kettle black ... but they do! But comfortingly so, in an odd sort of way. More like an old pair of compfy slippers ...

The Marriot - well lets just say - I'm drinking a very nice complimentary glass of wine from them as I type, with an apology note attached ... there's always a story!!!   Beware, spelling may deteriorate!

Taxi from airport hysterical - probably more so with all of 3 hours sleep in a 48 hour period! I have yet to see all the horse and carriages, but we drove on both a single and double carriageway! Don't you love it when your taxi driver (with GPS) gets lost????

Child very, very well behaved - 5 hours sleep in the same 48 hour period ... until that same 5 hours was over ... oh well ... tomorrow's a new day.

Husband looking very fresh after his business class flight - have you seen those funky fold out beds they have in British Airways for business class? They rub it in, because as you board and go to find your seat, you have to go through all the 'happy' people getting ready for bed! Oh well, it's probably more interesting travelling in the cheap seats ... I never fail to have a chuckle AFTER the fight! I'm wondering what the poor French gentleman is thinking ... hmmmm ....

NO CROCS ... except the pair I was wearing! My husband graciously pointed out that it was very obvious that we were 'visitors' ... seriously, not one pair of crocs either on the plane or anywhere to be seen in the Canary Wharf area.

Now I know you've all heard of 'mumbles' - ladies???? Need I say more??? Well, they now have mumbles for men! They're everywhere disguised as men's suits! I'm dying laughing ... really, a variant legging for men! Don't know if this particlular fashion trend will cross the pond, but I think my hubby would like to participate!!!!! All in the name of 'fashion'!

Eating is very, very expensive! That may be one of the reasons Twiggy stayed so skinny all these years!   And the packaging is miniture!    I went to 3 different grocery stores today closeby to the hotel. I dropped an easy 30 pounds (dollars, not weight - but that would have been preferable to drop!) and I'm still wondering what exactly I got for it???? Not a lot! I purchased a 'gallon' of milk in a 'pint' container the same look - only cute and cubby, at the same price. The hens here must be the reason for the Queen's wealth, as I'm convinced that 'organic' is code for 'golden' ...

The place is wonderfully diverse and the people are very enjoyable to watch. I'm looking forward to tomorrow - going to the 7 or 8 story toy shop aand taking the tourist bus around London sight seeing ...

Now, I'm not sure when I'll next be able to get online - it's not a free service - rather and additional 80 pounds per week ... so hubby 'splurred' for a one day event! But I promise to continue to enjoy myself thoroughly,   show Cody a wonderfu memory of a fabulous place, cook as am able, walk alot, and spend time with my family!

Tar rar for now!

Wordless Wednesday on Thursday! 8th April 2010

2010-04-08T18:38:00.000-07:00

So here is my first 'Wordless Wednesday'! I know it's not Wednesday, but really that about sums it up! I've been a tad busy with the kitchen reno, teaching school, socializing, karate mum, Easter bunny, getting ready to fly to the UK tomorrow ... so I figured, pictures may best describe a little of my world!

So here is a sample of my seeds on the left - viable and now 50 plants to be planted tomorrow before I hope on the plane - and on the right - the dead and dying! Decided next year none of this premade nonsense - its just cups and containers for me! Took me a long time to transplant into these cups!

The seeds were looking sickly and needed more light - so rather than spend a bomb for more grow lights, I used alluminum to cover the lights and wouldn't you know it - they loved it!

Then don't for the kitchen ... while hubby was in the UK on business, we had rain, and rain, and then more rain ... so I became a human sump pump with my wet vac - around the clock - trying to hold the water at bay in the basement ... I did win this round!

So here's 'date night'! I spent my time priming the ceiling and walls - all ready to paint ...

Painting done! Frustrating trip to IKEA for the cabinets. A weekend 'dryfitting' the cabinets and hanging the cabinets. 80% of the cabinets built. And now it waits ... not sure for how long ...

Now back to laundry, packing, and all those wonderful other things that need to be done. Not sure when I'll get back to you, but will try! And to my facebook friends, I'll try to update when I'm in a wireless site! My first 'Wordless Wednesday' - on Thursday - with words!

Me and my pitchfork!

2010-03-27T17:19:00.000-07:00

OK Dan and Granny! I'm in ... I love my pitchfork ... and it's used everyday in the garden! But alas, not for gardening! You see my pitchfork is a baby bird maker ... and each and every year I 'hatch' at least one nestful of babies ... wrens, chicadees, and even a batch of meadow mice!

I enjoy it daily as it sits outside my kitchen window and brings me alot of pleasure as I watch my 'reality show'! Move over Mark Burnett!

Now as for the shoes - goodness only knows what's been collected on there! Today proved to be another day for gumboots. Even found a little mouse with my son which we fed acorns and water before gently sending her on her way home to her family ...

So Dan, not as handsome as you look (alot like Paul Newman on his cookies I'd like to say), and Granny, definately not the Sultry Madonna glamour shot on your blog either ... but at least I can say ... you showed me yours, and I showed you mine!

My Husband thinks I'm a Wack Job!

2010-03-26T19:20:00.000-07:00

Ha Ha! I probably am ... what is 'normal' anyways ... ???

What I can say is .... I LOVE my new solar powered lights that I now have in my Vegetable garden!!! LOVE them - all 8 of them ... they are in fake rocks ... got them on clearance from Costcos for next to nothing last year ...

As I was lovingly installing them last weekend he wanted to know why on earth I would want solar power lights in my vege garden. He doesn't get it ... but as I look out my window at night, my vege patch is lit up like the stars! And only what I can call 'gardeners joy' - fills my heart when I see them.

You can see one of them by his feet in the photo above as he was helping me build the hoop house ... next to a kale plant that survived the harsh winter ... and in the photo below you can see them at the back of one of the beds ...

Interestingly enough, and fortunately for me, he loves me in spite of me ... and graciously rearranged the solar power lights so that they function better to meet my vege gardens layout. And also has it set up so that once I have the hoop house being utilized for my Winter harvest, I'll have 2 lights inside so I can see what I'm doing!

But he would like to know (and I really don't know if he does) "what kind of person puts Solar Power lights in their vegetable garden?"

Seriously challenged!

2010-03-25T06:43:00.000-07:00

When it comes to electronics, I'm seriously challenged!! Take the new video camera my hubby just got me. It's so pretty ... small, going to be great on our trip to Europe ... but I gave it a 'try' yesterday and after uploading (not me, hubby) it turned out to be a disaster!

No surprise really ... but it was rather hilarious! Needless to say, I don't have much time to figure it out. And it doesn't help when my 7 year old, who hasn't seen it either, picks it up and shows me what to do! So what I'm hearing is: 'no mama, you do it like this!'

Shameful really when you think about it! The only reason I can load pictures on my blog is if I take them on my iphone - and even then my friend had to show me an 'easy' way to do that!!! As for using the computer, well ... that's entirely another comic show!

So I'm thinking, wouldn't it be great if I could 'show' you some video of our travels? I don't know how, but I know it has to be possible ...

It would look like this ... we're off to London to see the Queen ... OOOOPPPPPSSS ... that was surposed to be a picture of her face! Disgraceful!

Anyways, that's the plan ... but I still may have to depend on my trusty iphone ... tried and true ... either way, I'll get some pics to you!

Why the tats? (Topic: Miscarriages)

2010-03-23T11:15:00.000-07:00

I put the topic: Why the tattoos? (Miscarriages) so that you can choose to read on, or if this topic is too squirmish for you, no worries, best to stop here ... :)

I get this question a bit. The easiliest answer is because I like them! They have meaning for me. Tatoos that is! I'd have to, as I get to live with them. Really when it all boils down to it, it's got nothing to do with anybody else. I know that many of the folks I know just don't get it but that's ok! My tattoos actually have been a major part of a healing process in my life. Tattoos are healing you say - read on and you'll see tattoos have the power to heal!

You see, I'm a member of the 'Infertility group'. For me - 10 years of drugs, hormones, injections etc - even IVF cycles, 6 pregnancies - and one miricle. Cody was #3. Every cycle offered the chance of hope - life was like a roller coaster. Once you buckle in the infertility seat, get ready for the ride of your life! You really no longer 'own' your body, you're at the descretion of science, doctors and nurses. If they say jump, you say 'how high' and proceed to do everything requested of you ... and then some! Like standing on your head, taking your temperature daily, eating certain kinds of foods, driving warm 'swimmers' to the clinic snuggled warmly in your bra, having injections and then more injections followed by pills and blood tests and dyes, etc, etc ... a full body invasion of whatever you hope will work!!! Goodness only knows what all the side-effects of the medications will bring, but desperate people often use desperate measures! All in the hopes of starting/or growing your family.

And hope is all that it is, as there are no guarantees!

I'm classified as a 'habitual aborter'. Meaning that for whatever reason, my body doesn't seem to work the way it should and when I get pregnant, which isn't that often, and then my body rejects the baby. And even though both hubby and myself have been studied from head to toe, there is no reason that can be found for my bodies behaviour. After some of the fetal autopses, they have found genetic errors, and the genetic councellors have told us that it's like getting struck by lightening - repeatedly - just plain bad luck!!!

Let me take the time to clarify here - there is no term 'miscarriage' used in medical circles - they are all called abortions. And even when you insist that this is NOT AN ABORTION, they look pitifully at you and say 'abortion'. So whether your loss is filled with longing for the child you are never going to have, or a chosen path, you are still called an aborter.

Me, I'm the sucker who never gave up! I used every cycle available to me. They did discover that I had endimetriosis, and I had regular surgerys to address the growths and leasons. But I never gave up ... so much so that in my mid 40's my IVF specialist sat me down and told me - no more - I was too old! And that was that! I didn't feel old, but, I could live with the fact that I had done my absolute best. I would never be able to question my committment to having a family.

Going through a miscarriage is indeed one of life's cruel and inhumane experiences for a woman (I can't speak for a woman who is choosing to abort, but I'm assuming it just isn't cut and dry - it never is!!!), but it is a very dark period of lonliness in a woman's life. I say lonliness as the husband hasn't the life connection that a woman has, and does not feel the loss in such a devistating mannor. There's a lot of self examination - and not in a very healthy way!!!

Hint here for the husband/man/father: don't try to talk her through the grief, allow her to go through the grieving process. The best thing you can do is to hold her and just let her cry. Acknowledge that this is a loss, no different than the loss of any other family member. It is real to her. And always will be. She will cry - a lot! It's ok! She is entitled to her feelings!!

Pregnancy is supposed to be one of lifes treasured times for a woman, but miscarriages have a way of stealing that treasured time away from a woman. Pregnancy becomes a time of fear! And subsequent pregnancies are increasingly hard to enjoy with mutiply miscarriages.

There are many well intentioned folks who try to 'justify' the loss by saying things like: it was meant to be dear, it's natures way of taking care of things, oh well, try again!, be greatful you already have a wonderful child, etc, etc, etc ... but those kind words make it hard. Truely folks, there's a lot more to be said with a simple and honest hug!

I think one of lifes sad evolutions is that we as women don't talk about the topic nearly as much as we need to. Have you had this conversation willingly with anyone lately? And as I'm not a man, I can only assume it's all methodical, logical and has no emotional content if ever discussed? ??? I'm only guessing here ... but have an idea as I have heard the family conversations my hubby has had about the topic.

It is a fact of life that there are many women who have miscarriages - yet because of the personal nature of the emotions felt, we don't share as we need to. I believe a woman needs to know she is entitled to feel the way she feels and that she doesn't need to feel isolated. Life does suck and sometimes bad things do happen to good people. It's ok to feel the way she feels!!! Don't push her to move on until she has come to acceptance.

Anyways, back to the tats. I've got tatoos that are visible, and others that are not ... and we'll just leave it at that! Mostly my tatoos are of forget-me-nots. I've used a wonderful Tattoo artist - Greg from a Way Cool Tatoos in Oakville, Ontario. He's absolutely fabulous with matching skin colour to your skin tones, and I enjoy his work so much, that about half the work he has done on my body is freehand - yes, I loved his work that much!

When I was going through the miscarriages - it hit me that I was really the only one who was able to truely remember each child within me and I wanted to make sure that their short time (some a lot longer) remained important, and that they each one were very special and that their time with me counted! I wanted to celebrate their lives ... I chose to do so through the art of tatoos. So I have tatoos on different parts on my body - each reminding me of the special life that shared life with me - even though their time was short - in the form of 'forget-me-nots' - and I don't forget!

Time has a way of helping with the healing of loss, but I will never, ever forget!

"Least I forget"

A weekend made for gardening!

2010-03-22T08:08:00.000-07:00

I bet you're thinking we worked on the kitchen ... AGAIN! But alas, no!!!!

Firstly we installed 2 new loos. Hubby did most of the work, I was the assistant and kept him company. The new loos are white, high efficiency duel flush - nice, but don't match the 70's pink, grey and beige interior - translation - once the kitchen is finished, I have more major projects!!! And if you would like an explaination on the duel flush, my son will tell you "the half moon is for pee and the full moon is for poop" ...

After installing 2 new loos in the bathrooms, we took all our efforts outside and made the most of this spazzy weather. An acre of land keeps us very busy ... Cody and Pierre detached the lawn with the help of Bumblebee - our ride on lawn mower, and then picked up the loose dry lawn matter. After detaching they spread iron to natually help with the growth of the lawn,

We raked up lots of leftover leaves from the fall. I finished cleaning up all the vege beds and the surrounding areas. Cody was excited to see the snow peas starting to come through the soil.

I have yet to start tidying up the perennial garden beds. That's going to be doosy in itself!

Hubby was a great help building the hoop house! This year I plan on a year round harvest, so I'm very excited to see how this is all going to work!

The hoop house is made out of electrical piping as it withstands the temperatures better than the pretty white pvc. The frame is attached with pipe clips to the existing bed and then held together with electrical ties.

I'm still looking for clips to hold the plastic on with, but I'm sure I'll find something before too long! I felt like Goldy Locks at Lowes - that ones too big, that ones too small!

Then I made up a potatoe growing frame. I found some offcuts, measured them - 24 inches and screwed them together to make 2 layers.

Found some left over weed mat and stapled it to the bottom of one. Placed them by my beds and filled both of them up with the remaining 'good compost' dirt! One to grow potatoes in and one to add when the potatoes get higher. I'll temporarily put some flowers in until the potatoes are ready.

I cut cardboard boxes(12 inches wide) to make better walkways in the vege gardens (waiting to build the kitchen cabinets so I'll have the cardboard for the rest of the garden).

I made boxes to go around the bases of the birdhouses for planting climbers in (still have 2 more to make), filled up the bird feeders, cleaned up the birdbaths and moved the soil accordingly ...

The great thing about the weekend was being able to enjoy all our meals outside in the warmth of the day! I just wished I had more hours in each day! The body feels tired, yet very good!

Happy Saint Patricks Day!

2010-03-17T05:17:00.000-07:00

Irish Stew tonight folks!

I can can! Depression Stock!

2010-03-16T08:08:00.000-07:00

Tis a funny thing. I grew up in a family who preserved to the hilt. All the cupboards were full with jams and fruits to tide us over through the winter months in New Zealand. My Grandma was the champion of preserving ... not the 'new, improved, safe methods' now preached ... but the good old fashioned germy method - which surprisingly enough, I lived through ... pleasantly so!

Now I'm trying to provide nuitricious, healthy foods for my own family, and I seem to have come full circle! Only for some unknow reason, canning scares me ... but for some absolutely bizzaire reason I did it last night! You seen I had no intention of it ... even after I had put Cody to bed last night ... it was one of those, if I don't try, I'll never succeed moments in life ... instead I had set out to make stock as I was all out. I'm pretty chuffed with myself that I figured that out last year! But I really want to utilize my vege garden to it's fullest this year, and I won't be able to unless I figure out how to use that pressure cooker!!!

So I started yesterday by making 'Depression Stock' ... that's my name for it because I feel like this is what life was like then ... and I didn't follow a receipe ... so here's my own one:

Save your good cut offs when you are chopping veges for dishes and store them in a bag/container in freezer until you are needing to make stock ... like this:

I also used some chicken bones that I had previously made stock with and froze them for a second time around.

Toss them in a large pot and add plenty of water ... after a day of simmering I made 22 cups of stock, so I'm done for a while! I didn't know really what to add, so I added 2 bay leaves, 10 peppercorns, 1/2 teaspoon of tyme, and 4 fresh sprigs of parsley that I have kept inside all winter ... it looked like this when I started:

I got it up to a nice boil for a tad bit - say 1/2 an hour, then dropped the heat to simmer for the next 4 hours, turned the heat off, left it on the element, and let it cool ... notice how I don't do too much ... you see I'm actually quite busy, and if it's going to take a lot of time in my house, it just isn't going to happen!!!

At the end of it I use a colliander and pour the liquid gold into another container so I don't have to do any of the skimming and 'mothering' throughout the cooking process! And this is what liquid gold looks like:

The smell was to die for, and the stock looks like it's full of nutrients!!!

So now I'm thinking ... wouldn't it be great if I could can it instead of taking up my freezer space???? No thawing in advance when I'm in a hurry to whip something up for dinner???? So I went into the basement and dragged up the canning equipment ... thinking, what's the worst that could happen ... really, what's the worst? Well, I could screw it up, all the bottles could break, it could taste narley, or I could poisen my family and myself ...

So I found 4 lonely empty jars, cleaned them up, got the seals soaking, and bobs-your-uncle, there they are sitting in the pressure canner ready to pressure can!!! (This looks like a pressure cooker, and is a pressure cooker, but it is also a pressure canner - yes, I do know there is a difference ... I didn't a year ago ... but this is a duel featured pressure pot).

I googled the instructions as I went, and waited ... and waited ... and waited ...

And wouldn't you know it, I have 4 beautiful jars full of liquid gold sitting on my counter still cooling!

So my verdict is, that this could be useful. That it takes time. I would need a bigger pressure canner to make the process worth my time and efforts. I didn't break the jars. The seals have sealed!!! And I can can!!!

Hurry up and wait!

2010-03-15T06:59:00.000-07:00

That's what it feels like! We're in 'limbo' with the kitchen renovation. This weekend we once again made our deadline. The pole is resized to perfection - thus making my husband a very happy chappy!

The window is ready to go - bar one more application of corking ... The walls 100% and that miserable popcorn ceiling is completly off ready for the 'professionals' to come and mud, sand, plaster ... so we're waiting.

You'd never guess just how hard it is to get good help at an affordable price. I can tell you the folks in the mudding business definately aren't going through a depression! I can also tell you they are in no particular hurry for business either ... if you need mudding, plan months in advance ....

Here we have the tools to complete the job ... and here we have the popcorn! Popcorn anyone? Unsalted!

Couldn't we do this ourselves? You ask - well yes, we could, however, 2 major factors come into play. Firstly - this is one really messy, dusty job, combined that with asthma - not good! Secondly - the ceiling is so large and we're not so confident that we can get the perfect look we are wanting. I for one don't want to be doing and redoing the ceiling until it is perfect!!!!

Never fear, we have plenty of other projects to keep us busy in the mean time!

Business Trip!

2010-03-08T05:50:00.000-08:00

One of my favourite tidbits of 'work speaks' when my hubby comes home are the words ... work is sending me to ??????? Translation ... we're going on a fieldtrip! We thought we were going to Korea this year, but were pleasantly surprised with a trip to the UK instead!

So this last couple of weeks I've been trying to fit in making a 3 week itinary fieldtrip to London, England! It's quite one thing to plan a tip away when it's just yourselves, but to keep a 7 year old happy is quite another! Needless to say, Legoland is one of our trips highlights planned ... as is the zoo!

The other piece of the puzzle is how to travel on a shoestring! Obviously hubby is very well taken care of - hotel, taxis, business class flights, food delic and much more - but Cody and me, well, we're the luggage handlers ... sandwiches, public transportation, economy flights, lots of parks - you get the picture! But worth every effort and wouldn't change the opportunity for anything!

We're also thinking of going to Paris for one of the week-ends - taking the chunnel - yeah! And coming back via Rome ...

With the kitchen still in the middle of reno (over the hump now and see the light at the end of the tunnel), spring gardening in tow, school in full session ... well, it's going to be a crazy month!!!

Hoist away!

2010-03-04T05:46:00.000-08:00

Interestingly enough, we moved from 'shell' to 'room' status last weekend ... sadly enough, we're still recovering!

This last week-end however, we had a 'secret weapon' - our friend - Greg Rushton! Thank you Mr Greg! Mr Greg came and assisted us with putting up the ceiling and the walls on Sunday! His help made the difference of the ceiling fully up, or just still in the process!!!!

On Friday morning, we had the 12 foot ceiling boards delivered - they arrived before 7 am (image the door bell ringing and everyone - except Cody - in bed ... trying to get a sleepin ... it did give us a great start for the rest of the day!!!). Pierre had taken another vacation day to expedite the process. Cody had 2 karate graduation ceremonies, so that took up Friday evening and Saturday morning - and just to make the mix more interesting, my Mum was here for the week from Canada ...

Don't forget Smoko break!!! Just how you want the house to look when you have company over!

Then that same evening, Pierre went and rented the 'drywall ceiling lift helper ' for lack of the right tool term ... it looks like this ...

You can see Greg hard at work! Doesn't he make it look easy???? That rented tool from Home Depot was awesome! Those 12 ft sheetrock boards are very fragile and can break just like that! So once the sheetrock was loaded, there was no more holding, and it made the job much quicker and smoother! Definately worth the rental!!!

You can see Greg putting in supports. These supports are going to hold the cabinets in place.

So it's about 9 pm now and we're putting the kitchen back so that we can function until the next week-end! Our bodies ach! My arms are still sore ... the house still is covered with layers of dust - cleaning continues to be a nightmare ... laundry keeps mounting - it's at K1 proportions!!!!

So this weekend we're planning on tweeking some stuff, revisiting the window, completing the 'shell' by finishing the walls, removing the remaining popcorn off the rest of the ceiling (blugh!!!!) - and as we have a contemporary home, that means alot of popcorn - in time for the plaster to come and give our kitchen a pretty 'skin'. There, that should keep us busy! But will we complete everything we need to do ?????? I guess we'll have to wait and see ....

Going into this week-end!

2010-02-25T19:32:00.000-08:00

One of the things that I love to see is my son being involved in our ongoing projects. Poor kid just thinks this is what all families do ... but I can't get enough of watching him work with his dad!

I just love this picture! Recently we were winterizing our windows. Pulling them out and putting insulation around and in the frames. This actually not only insulated the windows, but also has reduced the noise from outside ... anyways, in this picture, Cody is actually supervising!

This past week-end, the boys built the sink counter together!

Anyways, it was just awesome to see them work together and have fun! This past week-end PJ took vacation days so we worked Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday .... then the evenings during the week ... tonight we're chilaxing! Ready for another full week-end.

We pulled down the remaining walls, pulled off the popcorn ceiling, put up the new sink bench and sink with the temporary plumbing, and took down the ceiling.

I must mention that I really, really, really dislike taking popcorn off the popcorn ceilings. Why would I do that? you ask ... well, we needed to find the screws holding the sheetrock up - so the popcorn must come down. Sad to say, my hubby would like the entire house free of popcorn ceilings!!! It is a brain dead job - spray with water, wait 3 minutes and scrap with a texture scraper.

Sooooo glad to have the reverse osmosis back! Didn't know just how much I would miss it! I use it for cooking, cleaning the veges, drinking ... and the taste is the best!

Here's what we're looking like as we go into this week-end ...

No walls and no ceiling ... National Lumber will be delivering our load tomorrow! We have a little more to do before we are ready for the sheetrock to go up, but we're aiming for having a ceiling and walls by the end of the week-end! We also need to rent a couple of tools from Home Depot to hoist the sheetrock up to the ceiling!

We're very lucky to have a good friend come over to help put the sheetrock up (yeah and thank you). So with an extra hand, it might actually happen!

So, it's time for some shut eye ... ready for another do-it-yourself day tomorrow!

Spring is in the house!

2010-02-16T08:04:00.000-08:00

I actually wanted to say 'I have a baby' ... but that would have caused confusion! But I really do ...

I have been watching the sucess of others and their seeds (planted somewhat around the same time) and feeling a little dejected as theirs have all grown profusely and I'm still looking at dirt!!!

Well folks, not this morning ... this morning I have a little baby sweet marjoram peeking it's pretty little head out! And I'm extatic!

So there you have it ... barely visiable (evidently not visable in the photos!) Not only did Cody and myself discover one little sprout, but 3 ladybugs ... protector of the newborn sprout! You can see one on the above photo of the sticks on the upper left hand side.

I do try to keep spring during winter by bringing in and potting some my herbs over this time. So I always have some fresh herbs to cook with should I so feel inclined!

This year I'm even trying to maintain some tropical plants in the house! Thanks to the water globes, I'm having some success!

So there you have it. In the mids of it snowing outside, a tiny bit of green brings spring inside! And a smile to my dial!

We did it!

2010-02-14T16:33:00.000-08:00

We finished the floor, with a couple of hours to spare! I left off actually laying the floor. Our goal for getting the floor laid was Tuesday night, followed by the renting, sanding, and staining of the hardwood floors on Wednesday night.

To achieve this goal we had to do some crazy hours and have been left exhausted!!! We filled the woods natural gaps, then off to Home Depot to rent a sander.

We didn't know how to use the sander, so the guys at Home Depot gave us a 5 second demonstration. As it turns out, Pierre took full control of the sander and I was quality control!

The sandering was to even the new hardwood with the old and create a smooth surface for staining. The big sander worked fine, but we still needed the small hand sander to finese the smaller and more intricate areas.

Once the floor was sanded we had to stain the natural oak so that the old and new woods would blend nicey together.

This is when it truely got insane! We were ready for the polyurathane. 3 coats. I made yet another trip to Home Depot to see if I could find a poly that had a more yellow hint to match the already oxidized floor, but to no avail. So we had no option but to use what was available and realize that it was going to take some time for the blend to become uniform. I'm guessing a year or so ... but that's just a guess!

Now we had 6 hours to apply between each coat. If we were any shorter, the varnish wouldn't cure, and if we took any longer, we would need to sand ... so in order to expedite the process and drop our workload - we sanded at 8.30 pm Thursday night. That was the first coat. It doesn't take much math to add 6 hours, and realize that we were in for a 2.30 am wake up call!!! Yip, 2.30 am. We timed the application and knew that it was going to take about an hour for the application, but there you have it, the second coat was on!

Yes folks, that AM on the upper left side!

So now we had the final coat scheduled for 9.30 am. Back for some much needed shuteye!!! 9.30 came and the final coat was applied. Poor Molly wasn't released from the TV room until the 3rd coat was fairly dry. Then at about 4 pm, we hoped in the car and started on our journey to New Jersey for the week-end! We'll be back to a dry floor tomorrow, ready to fix the plumbing with the new placement of the pipe holes, and the oven/stove so that we have SOME ability to cook and wash for the following week ...

So, we did it! We are both exhausted, but we did it!

That being said, we have a l-o-n-g way to go!

Progress with the Kitchen Reno!

2010-02-11T07:27:00.000-08:00

After the walls came down and we then had to begin the process on the other side of the kitchen! So once again I built a shelving unit to house the remaining 'important' stuff from the kitchen, and box the rest unit the cabinets are up and ready. (Yes, that's a http://www.luckyvitamin.com/ box you see ... )

By this time we knew the pressure was on to expedite the project, so I did as much as I could during the day. Our goal was to have the entire kitchen floor laid with hardwood, sanded, conditioned, stained, and glossed. To make it a little more interesting, we decided to hardwood the entire floor, not just to where the cabinet baseboard ends ... so that translates to EVERYTHING being movable - including the plumbing! Yes, wall to wall hardwood floors!

We began to lift the existing hardwood with a crowbar (by the way, heads and crowbars don't mix), where the hardwood had met a wall. This meant pulling the floor back in staggers - right up to the foyer. We managed to save 95% of the existing hardwood which we would be reusing back into the kitchen floor.

During the week we started taking off the top cabinets, and then by the Saturday, we finished up with the lower cabinets ... with the exception of the sink unit and sink. The old cabinets were picked up by the freecyclers yet again! Our dishwasher is in the garage, our reverse osmosis is in the basement (miss that terribly), and the garbage disposal unit is sitting in it's hole unusuable. PJ did find that whenever the plumbers roughed in the house, they made the PVC pipes run uphill to get the water outside ...

In the week-end we began retrofitting the hardwoods - old and new. With a lot of patience and TLC, we managed to get into our funk. We managed to get started and worked up until we needed to move the kitchen sink. With visits to Lowes, Home Depot, IKEA and Costcos, we actually didn't get as much done as we would have liked, so that meant evening work needed to become intensive.

Each night this week we have been working into the wee hours in order to lay the floor by Wednesday night .... chipping away at the stock of hardwood and laying it piece by piece. Cody miraculously has slept through most of the noise????? Some days I have been without running water - even without a stove/oven ... you tend not to realize how fortunate we are until something so basic is taken away ...

Above is the IKEA cabinet. This is the corner unit. I built it so that we could use it for making sure we were spacing correctly and for placement of the new vent and plumbing wholes. I even got to pull the new kitchen sink out - sexy!!!!

How is the kitchen floor looking? Are we on target? Will we accomlish our goal? Are we tired campers? What is the next step? Stay tuned folks ...

Trying to finish the vege grower ...

2010-02-03T17:37:00.000-08:00

So I'm trying to finish off the vege seed grower ... finding the time has been a challenge! However, I did get to do some more today ... here's how that went!

Getting my stuff together.

Measured the chain, used plyers to create hooks on either side of the chain for easier light mobility.

Drilled holes in the shelves with smallest drill bit I could find - measured to fit the grow light fixture. Screwed in the small screw hooks.

Drill small holes (same drill bit as above) in the light fixture and screw in hooks.

Putting the light fixture up with the chains.

Shelves are almost ready for some action. Still have to plug into a strip and set up the timer.

So I jumped ahead!!!! Here's the exciting part ... and the scarey part!

I purchased some seed growers - but really don't know what size is for what. So I got 3 different sizes and figured it's got to work somehow! I planted Eggplants, Peppers, and some herbs ... trying my hand at documenting them ... and decided to use the bigger grow squares. Now this is where I ran across an unsuspected hick up ... watering them!!! I see there's a tray underneath, and they say to used warm water ... so up to the kitchen I go ... fill her up ... and then - OOOOHHHHHHHHhhhhhh. How on earth am I going to get these flimsy plastic growers all the way down 2 levels to the basement???????

So out I go and find some plywood and mark it out into 24 inch pieces (worked out exactly - but not planned that way) used the circular saw and made a plywood 'tray' for each shelf! So now I can move these flimsy grow containers if needed. I have half a mind to get some cheap handles and that way they actually look and function more like real trays ... we'll see! I might find some recycled ones yet!

So there you have it in a nut shell! Almost there! I did spray with a plastic sprayer from the top also ... guess we'll see tomorrow how the water has absorbed!

I didn't get to half my seeds and worry that I'm either over growing or undergrowing ... guess that's all part of learning! Happy seed starting!

The walls are down! And the House is still standing!

2010-01-31T18:16:00.000-08:00

So as it turned out, Cody and myself have been sick over this week-end starting Friday. So I had a choice, use this downtime to potter or to demolish the kitchen walls! If you know me at all, you know that there really wasn't a choice as I really wanted the wall to come down!!!

Cody has asthma so demolishing would cause too much dust and caios which in turn would cause breathing problems, so it is really was a week-end of deconstruction.

Pierre worked from home on Friday. No, really, he actually works - in the middle of our household happenings, he actually gets a lot done. He successfully ignores us, and visa versa! So here's how my Friday went ... I woke up to this - the kitchen wall inquestion ...

I first had to get all the screws out. I was definately in a quandry as to the best way to find them through the plaster and paint. Without giving it a thought Cody pipes up and says - I know mum, that's easy! Just use a magnet to find them ... out of the mouths of babes! Sure enough ...

The magnet worked! And I was able to clear the sheetrock of the screws that held it to the wall. Next out with the tools .... hahahahhhaaaaa

There's me after clearing all the tiles off the wall, taking the screws out, and now cutting the sheetrock into manageable pieces. Here's the wall looking from the other side.

After some time, alot of work, and a nice hot cup of tea ...

By this time my husband was finding it very difficult not to try to 'supervise' me and was getting slowly drawn in to the project. I kept sending him away! It was all me baby!! I felt very invigarated doing this part of the project by myself - it really gave us a headstart into the week-end!

Next was dealing with the electrical and deconstructing the frame. Seemed like I ended up using manual tools alot!!! This time a haxesaw to cut through the nails at the top of the studs then I was able to pull them out with my hands ...

There's hubby hard at work - his work day drawing to a close! To make a long, but very exciting day short ... here's what it looked like!

Then began the clean up. PJ had finished work by now and was taking care of the electrical and was snooping in the ceiling which lead to another finding! The smaller wall was NOT load bearing! So do we keep the wall, or do we get rid of it???? I was 100% out of here ... but Pierre was aprehensive ... so we slept on it. But in the mean time, I had cleaned all around it in preparation for deconstructing in the morning!!!!!!

There's the wall in question ... and here's a picture of Saturday's deconstruction!!!!

TA DA ...

So there you have it - you can see where the wall was by the outline of the hardwood floor to the right. On the subfloor was additional plywood to lift the tile to the left. I must say I just absolutely love it. It's turned our level into one big humungus room with a fireplace in the middle ... It is wicked cool and I'm just loving it ... we have a long ways to go yet ...

The white columns are both load bearing and suit the architecture.

So today, Sunday we thought would be a piece of cake - that was our first mistake!!! As we are going to hardwood the kitchen, we have to take the plywood off the floor ... what a day it has proved to be!!!!!!

Really not alot to show for it - but it involved a lot of work ... and I did end up with a nail in my hand ... tut, tut!

Boring stuff! But it's the boring, teadious stuff that makes the job great! And well worth the doing ... so here's where we left it tonight ...

There's scuba washing the floors, getting all the nasty fine dust off so that Cody can play tomorrow!

We freecycled the cabinets - they were in good shape and a family will be using them to replace their kitchen cabinets. So next I need to pack the other cupbords, set up the other shelves, and then we're ready to take the remaining cabinets down ... so that's next weekend folks!

Tomorrow will be back to school, plant some vege seeds, and trying to get my to-do list caught up ... and hopefully to fit in a nice hot cup of tea! Hopefully I'll get my voice back!

My Vegetable Garden Mentor

2010-01-28T11:58:00.000-08:00

One of my recent interests in life is Vegetable Gardening. I still consider myself just a newbie - so I call myself the Virgin Vegetable Gardener. And I have a 'mentor' whom I have been so fortunate to have found on this journey! My mentor didn't ask for the job 'mentor', it just happened that way. I don't even know if she realises that she is one! I call her the Vegetable Guru! I adore her!

She's been vege gardening about 3 years longer than me, but oh my, if only I had her greenthumb! Really it's more than a greenthumb, it's her amazing ability to 'work' the year with her knowledge and preserving of food and her passion for creating something out of nothing. She amazes me. I want to make her proud of her 'protege'. She does everything herself while all the time continuing to read, learn, try and upskill herself - a true pioneer woman whom I deeply admire and respect! The Vege Guru is a true inspiration.

She's been there for me for 2 1/2 years now - translated means, I've hounded her with questions for 2 1/2 years now - and she has graciously taken the time to help me as I have needed it. So by default, she's my mentor! And it's not just me, she's on a quest for self sufficiency and sharing her skill base so that others can do the same.

I don't know if I'll ever achieve what she has accomplished (I doubt many would). But in spite of her busy schedule, she continues to encourage and support me to better myself. They say that imitation is the highest form of flattery ...

This year I'm aspiring to grow my own seedlings into vege plants and if I can get my head around it, start canning and preserving - but for some reason, I have a major block! I'm very unsure about myself and abilities when it comes to the vege garden, seed saving, canning, preserving, growing and harvesting, but push ahead because my mentor and friend continues to encourage and believe in me. I've even expanded the garden ...

So, I just wanted to say that I am very blessed to have my mentor and appreciate her. I hope that as I stuggle forward that I also can become a champion for self sufficiency and be a mentor, encourager, and believer in someone else who needs it!

Thank you Vegetable Guru for being you! I am very fortunate to have you in my life!

Kitchen Reno!

2010-01-25T17:44:00.000-08:00

It's been 2 week-ends now and we've started renovating the kitchen. And by renovating, I really mean renovating! So far as to take down a wall between the dinning room and the kitchen.

Who? Meet the team: little old me, my husband and my 7 year old son. You may think that a 7 year old might not be a help, but Cody has been involved in our home improvement projects since he was able to talk and hold a tool. In the past, his presence has slowed the job down, but our perserverence and time spent showing and allowing him to participate is starting to paid off - and we are really seeing his skills improving. That being said, we monitor him very closely!!!! But, he works and really enjoys it! His favourite part of the job is the demolition!!! He has a full set of safety wear (important!!!!), and is well versed with most tools.

We are replacing all the cabinets, moving the refridgerator, kitchen sink, stove and range hood/microwave with ventilation, diswasher and demolishing an entire wall, re doing some plumbing, hardwood flooring and installation.

Not too shabby for do-it-yourselfers! Last week-end we lifted up the tiles. We plan on recycling these tiles to another floor, so each tile was lovingly lifted slowly and painfully! Each tile was 'scraped' using a chysal and hammer to remove the mortar. Each tile took approximately 1 hour to lift ... but we are left with tiles to redo another floor alongside our sore aching backs! We never finished the floor!

This week-end we completed the floor and started packing. Sorting through the 'necessities' was no fun, nor was the packing! We put up a temporary shelving unit so that is now holding the important stuff. Interesting to see what I call important!

Once the upper and lower cabinets were emptied - just the cabinets on the side of the kitchen attached to the wall that is coming down - we spent the rest of the day undo electrical outlets, strip lighting, removing both upper and lower cabinets as well as the bench. Hubby kindly cut me 12 inches off the large bench so that I have a little ledge to put some dirty dishes.

We're ahead of schedule. I can't often say that - typically we underestimate the job! So I will say it while I have the opportunity!!!

So presently I have half a kitchen, a sore body, but a great enthusiasm to get the wall down! Hubby took the time to ensure that this is not a load bearing wall, but even that being said, we've agreed to dissect the wall in pieces rather than take a sledge hammer and crowbar to it. We don't know all the electrical layout, so we plan on taking it slow and safe!

Once the wall is down, the easy part is over. Then we put our plumbing hats on. So that's where we're at! Hopefully my next blog will read 'the wall is gone'!!!! And the house is still standing! Take care ...

Baby Seed Hatcher! AKA Growing Shelves!

2010-01-20T16:54:00.000-08:00

I'm so excited! I know it's crazy, but I have Spring in my heart! I think this is in part because my seeds are ordered and I'm reading a wonderful gardening book that a friend gave me for my Birthday!!!

Lets first start with the seeds. Well thanks to the Vege Guru, we decided to split costs, seeds and got together to have a vege garden discussion. I think I learned a TON from that chin wag!!!! Thank you Vege Guru! You are a true inspiration!!! So now I am in the process of building an indoor Seed grower in order to be a good and wise steward of those baby seeds - planning on getting a head start again this year!!!!

So I read up on 'how to' do it yourself as the pre-made growing shelves are jolly expensive!!!! $70 for one small light strip!!!! And that's NOT a grow light!!! So for a nonimal cost, I have planned my own and gone ahead and am presently building it.

Ace Hardware have a Gorilla Rack on sale $29 in their flyer this week, so that is my rack to hold the seedlings. The dimentions are: 72"H x 34"W x 14"D. There are 5 shelves, which translates into 4 seed growing areas. Each shelf is topped with wood, so I have yet to attach my grow lights - from Wal-Mart. 24" strips at $10 per strip = $40 of lights. A bargin if I say so myself! I'm pretty chuffed with my economical buy! You can use florescent lighting if you wanted to make it cheaper. $2 cheaper per light at Wal-Mart.

I have yet to 'cover' the wood with some sort of laminated protection from water should it spill, and I still have a concern ... is the lighting sufficient to grow the seeds? Or would 2 strips be better per shelf?

That being said, it's coming along nicely! I guess time will tell! My plan is to start planting the seeds early February. When I get some photos up and running, I'll post them so you have a look too.

Spring isn't sprung,
The garden isn't riz,
All the vege gardeners,
Spring fever iz!

Happy baby seed hatching! Love, the Vegetable Garden Virgin!

Kiwi's Southwestern Dish

2010-01-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

I posted the picture on facebood of a dish I was cooking a few weeks ago and got a surprising lot of requests for the receipe! Well, as promised, here it is.

Before I type it out, I have to tell you that I really don't follow rules in cooking, so this dish actually can be used in multiple dishes. If you prepare the base the way that suits you best, you can serve it with rice, pasta, on top of hotdogs, etc. This actually can be cooked with meat or made as a vegetarian dish, without meat - which tastes really yummy too!

As I made it on facebook, it was in this form of receipe:

1 1lb minced beef (ground beef as some of my friends call it) OPTIONAL
1 Tbsp Grapeseed oil (my choice, but you can use what you like)
1 onion, chopped
1 bell pepper
2 cloves of garlic chopped, or 2 garlic cubes presized and in the freezer, or one tsp crushed garlic in a jar in the fridge
2 tablespoons chilie powder (less if this seems to 'flavourful' for your tastebuds)
1 tsp ground cumin
1 (28 oz) canned diced tomatoes with their juice
1 (15 oz) can of chickpeas
1 package of frozen veges (I used corn in the receipe in the facebook picture) - best to thaw if you have the time - no worries if you don't
Salt to taste
A little immagination

Options:
- Cook pasta (12 oz package) - which you can add in the dish as serve as a Southwestern Pasta dish
- Cook rice so you can place the dish directly on the side of the rice or on top (my family loves this option best)
- or over hot dogs like a chillie dog, but with a flavourful twist

Cooking Instructions:
First, use your immagination. This is a very versitile receipe and I'm sure you have some great ideas to make it your own!

If using meat, brown and keep to the side until ready to add to the dish.
Heat oil in a large skillet .
Saute onion until slightly translucent on medium/high.
Add the green pepper, garlic, chili powder, and cumin. Stir until mixed nicely. Don't let burn.
If you are using meat, now is the time to add back to the dish and stir well.
Add salt to taste - I use about a tbsp
Add tomatoes, chickpeas and thawed package of frozen veges.
Reduce heat to low and simmer 15 - 20 minutes.

Just don't forget to make either the rice or pasta while the dish is simmering!!!

I usually double the ingredients and freeze - then I have a couple of extra meals handy on the side for when I need to whip up something fast!

It takes about 10 mins to prepare, 20 minutes to cook so 30 mins isn't too bad for a yummy meal!

Enjoy and let me know what other ideas you come up with!

P.S. Spellcheck seems to have disappeared from the blog site ... pardon my errors!

Christmas Letter

2009-12-10T06:24:00.000-08:00

Well, it's cuppa tea time! Go on, get a nice cuppa and then we'll chat!

Merry Christmas! Typically I write this letter every year, and have done now for many years - only this year will start my new format - my Christmas Letter will no longer be 'formal', it will be my blog. This way, I don't have the additional pressure to write a 'special' Christmas Letter to you all, but rather you can keep with with our families antics and we move along throughout the year! So welcome to my blogsite. You can 'bookmark' it if you like, or you can received my updates 'hot off the press' by requesting it ... just don't ask me how!!!

I'm not the world's most technologically savy person, but I can type! My ideal is to blog with photos, however, I'm still 'challenged' to get the photo from the camera to the blog .... work in progress ...

This year has zipped by. We kicked off the New Year in India with Pierre's family and we'll be ending this year with family and friends at our home for Christmas! Warm memories ...

Cody is now eating us out of house and home - he must have hollow legs ... and growing taller everyday it seems! He has a new passion in life - Karate. And, he's actually picking it up fast and is good at it. I enjoying watching him in class. His Karate School is very, very good. In fact his Karate teacher's husband has just last month returned with a gold medal from the Karate International Championship held in Italy. December 23rd is Cody's first Graduation at the school and he will be receiving his first Ranger Yellow belt. He's just as thrilled that his Amma will be coming especially to watch this 'mile stone' in his life!!!

Cody's year has been filled with school, friends, family, travel and lots of belly laughs! Love the belly laughs! We're still homeschooling and it works great with our family life.

Pierre is also doing well. He's truly been 'Bob the Builder' this year! Seems that most weekends are filled with projects around the home (money pit as he calls it!) We plan on redoing the kitchen early 2010 and maybe an addition out the back as well. That should be fun! As for work, the 'freeze' is slowly coming off for State Street, so we are hoping to see his promotion come this year. He's a saint really as he puts up with me and Cody. I like to say 'at least we keep your life interesting' :)

As for me. I'm also doing well. I feel blessed and stressed at the same time! Life is full. Our friends here are just the best and I am so thankful for each and every one of them. Schooling Cody is a large part of my day, but the school district here is supportive and I know that if I needed any assistance they would be there to help me too. So far that just hasn't been necessary as our homeschooling support system is phenomenal and once again, I feel very thankful and blessed!

Molly is loving being an only cat. She's a strange one and now is the apple of Cody's eye and (as I said before - strange) visa versa!!!! Who knew there was a loving friendly cat in there! Her fear threshold has changed dramatically and she is now the main resident in our home.

As for the rest, let me see. The veggie garden produced well this year. I still suck, but am learning and we are eating alot produce that we produce. This year I need to work more on harvesting and preserving .... we expanded greatly, so we're good to go for next year. The pool has been upgraded, so as our newly found 'fish' has a new swimming confidence and experience, it's going to work great! Look out Uncle Stewart - he's ready for you this time!!!!

Well that's it in a nutshell ... I'm only half way through my cuppa, but like I said, this blog site is mine and this is where you'll be able to keep up with me best. (That and facebook!) So farewell annual 'Christmas Letter' and welcome blog site!

From my family to yours, wishing you all a wonderfully special Christmas and all the best in the coming New Year!!!

Kiwi, Pierre and Cody

It's been a while!

2009-09-02T13:07:00.000-07:00

Time is one of those commodities that I don't seem to have enough of - especially at certain times of the year. Evidently, this has been one of those times!!! That should also mean that I've got lots of juicy life's happenings to share with you ... but I seem to be drawing a blank. Brain worm I do believe that is called.

I see that my last post was in June - 2 months ago by my calculations. So what have we been up to?

July was very important to me. My brother whom I hadn't seen in the last 7 years came and stayed with us for 3 weeks.

It really is the first time I haven't tried to be the perfect hostess - I think it has something to do with age, maybe premenopause, or both. Normally I do it all. This time there were choices to be made - either have exotic yummy meals and hang around home while being waited on, or go shop and see the world. My brother Stewart chose the later - yeah! Waiting on folks isn't my thing, and apparently, I can't do what I used to in that area!

It was a whirlwind! We crammed 7 years into 3 weeks ... I think he had to go back to Australia to have a holiday from his holiday :) It's funny as it seemed like forever until he got here and then in the blink of an eye, he was gone again!

The first week-end he was here we went with good friends to Boston's North End - Little Italy, and followed some of the Freedom trail into town. I tried Boston Bibb - inside joke! And Stewart purchased Crocs for his souvenir. Sunday was the first 'shop' day - we kicked it off at the outlets. When Stew arrived he was wearing the same clothes we had shopped for 7 years ago ... only they were the worse for wear. Stew brought them over so I could find recycle them. I assured him that they were way past recycling!!! Monday saw us shopping at Costcos - this time shopping for eye glasses, very much needed eye glasses - 7 years is a long time to be wearing the same glasses ... and oh, it's a good thing they were titanium or they would never have survived!!! They were an interesting shape to say the least!!!

We saw a Book Report movie followed a hot delicious baked potato bar at a good friends for lunch followed by a 'playdate' and berry picking. We picked blueberries at another good friends - and it was the first time Stew ate freshly picked Blueberries! The berries are in my freezer waiting to be 'processed'.

We took Stewart to Nature Club and it was my turn to teach it. We went to Houghton's Pond, made bamboo fishing rods and attempted to fish. It's a good thing none of the kids managed to 'hook' themselves! The next day we enjoyed the day at Demarest Lloyd Beach .... my brother informed me he had already had his 'birth control' for a while. I'm sure it was quite a shock for him to be thrust into the world of 'playdates' and children without volume controls.

The following week we flew to Buffalo, NY to meet up with mum and spend a couple of days together with her. Coming home we went straight into preparing for Cody's, Fun in the Sun - Return of the Waterslide , birthday party. I think we went through close to 4 crates of booze and had lots of fun! We love spending time with our friends.

Then the last week we went to Plymouth to see where the Pilgrims first landed, Six Flaggs, another Book Report Movie followed by a wonderful birthday surprise at my good friends house. Ice cream cake, baked potato bar and lots of fun!!!! You see it was Stewart's birthday that day. And he was absolutely chuffed with his surprise celebration.

With not much time remaining, we still had the Rodger Williams Zoo to fit it! The Zoo is an awesome place to visit, but when you have a new camera, it's just one photo opportunity after another - he had to go back with something in that camera!!!

Friday saw the end of the visit :( So now we have memories and photos to help remember our time together ... now, also from this visit, a fish was born! Oh yes, during Stew's stay, he and Cody swam a lot in our pool ... I don't believe he realizes how profound an impact he had on Cody, but swimming was one area which motivated Cody to improve in. After Stew left Cody has been in the pool preparing for Uncle Stew's next visit (????????) . He's gone from now being able to put his head under water to not getting his head out of the water! He's a fish!!! And actually has taught himself how to swim. He's got areas for improvement, but truly an amazing transformation! I'm very proud of his personal growth.

August saw us commencing Homeschooling. As Cody is now 2nd Grade, the work load has increased considerably and as such takes us a lot more time to fit it all in. I managed to send in my Letter of Intent on time. Funny thing about that. I was on target to sending it in to the Public School Superintendent, until I got a letter stating that the deadline was September 1st. So I took the extra month - and got it in August 31st - one day to spare!

Our second week of Homeshooling turned out to be a treat! We had a weeks field trip to Washington D.C. We met up with Pierre's sister and her family there. Cody was able to spend time with his Cousin and we got to help celebrate Pierre's brother-in-laws birthday. There just wasn't enough time to get around and see all that we wanted to see! What we did see turned out to be rather ambitious!

So this last month - August - we've been getting back into our school grove, enjoying the weather, swimming, fitting in trips to the beach and plenty of ice-cream treats! As for September, we'll be busy again. This time in New Jersey/New York and then off to Canada ...

More adventures on the way!

Kiwi's 'Job Description' - NO VACANCY!

2009-06-25T05:30:00.000-07:00

The following is my job description. Please note that the following list is by no means the extent of my 'to dos' and neither do I do them all at once. Please note these functions may be performed in any given 24 hour period 7 days a week. No 'vacation', no 'sick days', no salary. This position is not available.

I would also like to mention that I LOVE my job. It's untold harder than any other position I have held. I wouldn't give it up. I am so privileged to have a husband who supports me in this role and has given me the greatest gift ever - spending time with my son.

Chef
Baker
Grocery shopper/Budget manager
Taxi Driver
Wife
Lover
Friend
Mother
Daughter
Sister
Daughter in Law
Sister in Law
School Teacher
Educational Administrator
Child Physiologist
Project Manager/Labourer
Doctor
Care Giver
House cleaner
Landscaper
Lawnmower
Snow Shoveller
Painter
Decorator Floor Layer
Laundromat
Vet
Nutritionist
Seamstress
Toilet Trainer/Bum wiper
Provider of guidance: incl: manners, spiritual matters, values, disciplining/training (consistency)
Fashion merchandiser
Co-Interior designer
Chiropractor
Hair Dresser
Caterer/Co-coordinator/Host
Therapist
Gardener

I plan on updating this list as more roles come to mind. (If you think of anything I've ommitted, please let me know). And, I'd love to see what your 'Job Descriptions' looks like if you feel like sharing!

I'm definately not on top of things and I do get overwhelmed/stressed. But it is kinda nice to sit back and look at my list and say to myself - 'not too shabby girl!, not too shabby?'

Making Good Choices by Dontay Hall

2009-06-25T05:15:00.000-07:00

We all have choices, you and I.
One is to laugh, and one is to cry.
One is to be wrong, one is to be right.
One is to be peaceable, one is to fight.
One is to love, one is to hate.
One is to be early, one is to be late.
One is to be truthful, one is to lie.
One is to fail, one is to try.
One is to quit, or to follow things through.
The final choice is up to you.

I do like projects!!!

2009-06-24T06:11:00.000-07:00

Recently while on vacation in Canada, my friend L face booked me a question which made me stop and think. Her question was ... 'are you there as a hired hand? Or do you just love to do projects?' You see I had gone to Canada not only to visit my mum, but to work through her 'to do' list of jobs she physically is unable to do.

When I think back, I've been doing 'projects' ever since I can recall. Everything from wall papering, to building hen houses/calf houses, helping with the gardening, welding alongside my uncle, preserving with my Grandma, raising and looking after calves, cows, sheep, goats, hens, mowing the lawns , etc ... well before 10 years of age. We didn't have much money, so, as necessity is the mother of all inventions as the saying goes, we always, always, did it ourselves - or lived without.

Back then my Uncle Des was one bright cookie - he had even built his own bass guitar, and speed boat in his earlier years - seems he always thought outside the box, and then my mum was always a 'crafty' woman. She was a seamstress among many other things and could (still can and does) make paper 'talk', bake up anything yummy (notice I said bake, not cook .... ) and again, had/has the ability to think outside the box. [My grandma did the cooking and cleaning in our extended family.]

I have to stop here and interject my own blog to say, that never in all those years did I hear them complain or whine about what they didn't have. They either made it happen or were thankful for what they had. And in spite of what we didn't have, they were a wonderful example in giving. They always gave. They gave when they had 'it' and they gave when they didn't ... there was love and love was there.

So, I grew up with great examples of project work and a true work ethic. I learned that working hard was important and I was always left with a great deal of satisfaction from what I had accomplished and invigorated from a hard days work!

That being said, I don't always like what I do, I don't always want to do it, and I don't always like the outcome ... but mostly I am left with satisfaction. I find that when you do it yourself you are able to use up more of what you have lying around, get better attention to detail than if you hired someone, save the high costing of hiring someone else - big time, which means able to get more done.

So, what types of things do we spend our time doing? Everything from installing fans, plumbing, replacing the forced air furnace (my husband was offered a job on the spot for his work there), hardwood flooring, tiling, painting, car maintenance, fence building, gardening, installing roof fans, replacing windows, etc, etc ... and then of course is regular maintenance of our home. Last Christmas my gift was a Ryoby power tool set - sweet!

Upcoming projects include but not limited to - tiling the lower level, taking out a kitchen wall and redoing the cabinets, hard wooding the floor - basically gutting and remodeling the kitchen. Putting hardwood in the master bedroom and 2 other bedrooms, building an outside shed for the lawnmower, remodeling the master bathroom ... just a few things that come to mind. Some of these are pretty pricey, so we'll be slowly working through the list!

So after some serious thought to my friends question, the truth is that I mostly enjoy it - not always, but mostly. I don't enjoy the balancing of other jobs like cleaning and cooking when I'm doing a project as everything else falls apart ... but yes, I do enjoy it ... not so sure about the maintenance though ;P

What day is it anyway????

2009-06-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

Each day for breakfast we start with Organic eggs (from my friends Moonsong farm - yum!) and Turkey bacon with a nice homemade cafe late. We drink raw milk and try very hard to eat a nutritious organic diet. My son loves his bacon.

This Tuesday morning was no different until Cody looked at my plate and must have noticed that my plate was short my share of bacon this morning as indeed it was. To my surprise my son reached over to my plate with a share of his portion. I was dumbfounded!!! I asked him 'why?' ... his response was my performance appraisal ... because you are a good mum today and everyday. Priceless! It was refreshing to get a positive appraisal.

I think that ongoing performance appraisals are important as they help us measure what we have done and where we plan on going. This wonderful moment quickly passed as we taxied PJ to the train, did school, ran errands, met friends to go see the 'UP' movie in 3D and before I knew it my mind was living my Wednesday schedule. And I was racing to get home, cook dinner, go to the train to pick up PJ and pick up my milk and eggs from a friend on the way ...

Of course one must make sure that the milk and eggs have been delivered and that my mini co-op buddies are there for either the pick up/drop off - refrigerated goods ... so I phoned my friend L to see if I could stop by on the way and do my pick up. I left a message and then closer to the time, left another ... cell too ... it was getting close and I was going to let it go until Thursday - and then the light bulb came on ... how can tomorrow be Thursday when today is only Tuesday and how on earth did my days blend????

So I emailed my friend L and apologized for my brain fart and that I was a dork and that I was working on tomorrows schedule ... and I got this wonderfully gracious response:

dork = busy, devoted homeschooling Mom
knowing the day of the week is overrated!

Thanks L for your wonderful perspective :) I just love that definition!

Another really great thing today is that my friend H is doing Canning classes which I'm very excited about (Yeah H!!!) Will let you know about that when it happens ...

So that's my 'days' today. Not sure what tomorrow will bring, but glad to say, never a dull day!!!

Expansion of the Vege garden ...

2009-06-22T05:23:00.000-07:00

One of my favourite things is to garden. There's no other feeling like it in the world. The toil with the earth, the feel of invigoration of the manual labour and the return of that labour in the form of fruits, veges and flowers. Yet it never seems to end, just cycle.

Then when I have so much to do that it would be full time, I go ahead and EXPAND again ... yes, the rain is a wonderful time to get gardening done!!!

This week-end PJ and myself expanded one of the vege gardens from 4 x 16 to 12 x 16, 98% complete - I just have to find more stones around the property for pathways ... and then plant/transplant. Planted a bunch of perennials (Lowes clearance racks). We built and installed an arbour from which I plan on having honeysuckle and passion fruit vines on either side. And also we added another 3 weedstrips/mulch next to the house - still have a ways to go with that.

It's been much easier with hubby's help! This week's plan includes more of the same as well as putting up the swimming pool on Saturday. We're waiting for the salt water filter to arrive at Wal-Mart. Excited about that!!!

So that's it for now. Back to the weeks routine of school, cooking, playdates, gardening, etc ... and before I go I just want my friend K to know how proud I am of her. She is now officially a Registered Nurse. Congratulations!

Have a wonderful week!

Diet and Vacation don't mix!!

2009-06-16T05:02:00.000-07:00

I was going to put ' Diet, excercise and Vacation don't mix' - but that was just too funny!!!!

For me the word vacation invokes grandures of - bikinis, beaches, catamarans, exotic locations, interesting peoples, delicious foods, clubing, living on a whim, and I could go on ... this was my world b.c. (before child).

Vacation to me now is cooking, cleaning, taxi-driving, laundry, cleaning up the vomit from my travel sick child, and early nights in (also mum's fix-it list when I'm with her). The 'glamour' part is a different scenery, beach if I'm with mum, shopping, and fitting a few activities that make vacation fun for Cody. Not that much different to being at home when I think of it!

Only when at mum's, there is no weight loss program in the world that you can stick too - not even starvation :) So here lies my dilemma. I fell off the weight maintenance wagon in lieu of a great vacation ... and with the flight home tomorrow ... the guilt is starting to flow my way! 2 weeks of piglet going to show once I step on the scales Thursday morning ... do you think my hubby will notice the difference?

Thursday I dust off the iphone and start with the 'Lose It' application once again, eat nutritious and healthy foods once again, and hopefully see a reduction in the numbers on the scale .... p-l-e-a-s-e ... once again.

As for exercise - that's a whole different kettle of fish! Will venture on that topic another day. I like to put excercise in the catagory - you can be healthy and not be fit, you can be fit and not be healthy - needless to say I like the first part :P

For all you folks who have a fast metabolism, good for you and this post won't mean a thing to you. For the rest of us who struggle with their weight, thanks for your empathy!

'Gramma B' - Delicious Bread Recipe

2009-06-12T18:40:00.001-07:00

Gramma B - Oh, Gramma B, Where to begin with Gramma B!!!

Gramma B is at 93 years of age, one of natures most amazing and formidable forces!!! One of those woman who live in the moment and touches the lives of everyone she meets. She just knows - her years of experience are truly motivating. As she enters a room her presence is felt. Gramma B is in the 'priceless' category ... we love you Gramma B!!!!

Talk about a 'green thumb'! If Gramma B wants a plant, she grows it herself. In fact, always more than one as Gramma B also knows that if she likes it, chances are there will be others that she can share with. And don't think it can't be done because - like everything else in life - Gramma B will show you it can!

Gramma B plans on being on this earth at least until she's 100 years of age. With her determination, courage, enthusiasm for life, as well as the lives she reaches out and touches, I would love for Gramma B to be around for another 100 years!

Now, Wednesdays are 'bread making day' for Gramma B. Each and every week she bakes bread for those she cares for and is her very special way of letting someone know that she appreciates them. If you happen to be one of the lucky ones to know and Gramma B, she'll even ask you whether you would like white or wheat! You can't say no because it's not an option. And if it's your birthday, Gramma B gives bread.

Even Cody just can't get enough of Gramma B's bread. She makes him special miniature loaves that light up his face and last a day at most! Cody knows that Wednesday's are Gramma B's bread day!!! If you happen along on a Wednesday afternoon, just remember, that you might be volunteered for 'bread delivery duty'. Quite and honour to be on 'bread delivery duty', but be warned, it's going to take a few hours to do the rounds!!!!!

Now Gramma B was very gracious to share her recipe with me and I would love to have her recipe on this blog as one of Gramma B's many legacies. She did tell me that the secret to her delicious bread is the potato flakes. She uses a brand (she swears by) called Natural Mash by Paradise Valley.

Gramma B's Bread recipe as follows (makes 2 loaves):

In a small bowl:
1 tsp sugar
1/2 cup warm water
1 Tablespoon yeast
Stir and let rise

In a larger bowl:
1/3 cup sugar (white)
1/4 cup powdered milk
1/4 cup oil
2 Tablespoons salt
2 Tablespoons potato flakes
1 teaspoon lemon juice
2 cups warm water

Mix together well and add 3 cups flour when well mixed add yeast mixture and continue mixing. Add 3 more cups (all purpose) flour.

Keep mixing and kneading (heal of your palms only) it no longer adheres to your hands.

Cover and let rise until double in bulk. Knead again and shape into 2 loaves. Let rise again about 40 minutes.

Put in oven preheated at 375* and bake approximately 40 minutes.

***For a wheat bread replace 2 of the white flour with whole wheat flour.

Enjoy!

The fish that got away .... NOT!!!

2009-06-09T17:35:00.000-07:00

As I write this, I'm still amazed at the strangest fishing experience I've ever had.

Today I was to install a beautiful new white Moen faucet in my mum's kitchen, but as I cannot find the water tap to turn off the water, I have to wait to install it later this week. So, instead Cody and myself went down to the lake (Mum lives on Lake Erie) decked out and carrying equipment to dig (his new gardening tools), stones to throw - not that we need them as there are plenty on the beach, bags to hold the sea glass - evidently lots of beer drinking in and around the lake make for a lot of sea glass - pretty much everything, except the fishing rods and equipment!!!

Cody's fishing experiences to date have been very frustrating for him with the exception of fishing on the iphone. So he was determined that he wasn't flying home from his Amma's until he had caught a big fish.

So, after building a moat around a rock, playing battleships, skipping stones and saving Gypsy Moth Caterpillars that were heading for immersion, we were looking for sea glass. Cody was following behind me when he let out a frightening scream and nearly jumped out of his skin as a giant fish found him!!!

It was over 2 feet long and I'm guessing with a 10 inch waist. I have no clue what type of fish it was, but it was big!!! The fish was scared, and Cody wanted to make sure that we go him back into the water as he had somehow beached himself. I could have scooped him up and carried him up for dinner ... instead I quickly found a strong stick and gently moved him into a little more water as he was gasping for air ... it was a battle to save him as he was so heavy. Fortunately I managed to get him out enough in the water that when the next wave came he finally could get his body erect and swim away. Cody was thrilled the giant fish was saved.

What are the odds that we would catch a fish without fishing? How bizarre is that? And what are the odds that the fish would luck out beaching next to the only people on the beach that the eye could see? And then, what are the odds that the fish found people who would care enough to get him back safely in the water?

.... so if Cody tells you he can catch a fish without a rod, he did. And if he tells you that the fish can pick you, they do. And if he tells you about the giant fish that got away - it didn't - it needed our help!!!!

And as for Cody and me, well ,we did the right thing.

Go Fish Guys!

2009-06-08T04:56:00.000-07:00

We're in Canada ... visiting my Mum at TripleC. So far, what a ride. The whole plane thing went smoothly this time (I know, we still have to get back, so don't talk tooooo soon!), but strangely enough, this time it was the Canadian Immigration that was rude!

My son has been wanting to see his favourite group - Go Fish - in concert and Grand Island, NY was the closest venue at the time. So we decided to visit Mum and go to the concert!

Go Fish is a trio of guys that sing kids music - but not how you would expect kids music to be sung! There music is a mixture of your normal kids song not sung normally and Sunday School songs. (Which I was expelled from when I was a kid :P )

It's music that doesn't drive me nuts, is funky, great to listen to, and is fun! Here's a song for all the 'Mommies' - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Wkc9-SvqfDM . Their music is only available online www.gofishguys.com or at their concerts ...

I will post photos when I get back to USA and have hubby's help. The concert was so much fun! Cody had a full aerobic workout! Because we had travelled so far to the concert, they gave us a backstage pass to meet the Go Fish guys. NICE guys! My mum was the oldest 'kid' there! Cody and myself both have kids T-Shirts to help us remember the concert. Anyways, I've checked their concert schedule again and it looks like there is a concert in CT some time in October that we might go to.

Our Fishing experience has had it's moments. We started with two fishing rods and are now down to one - again, will need hubby's help to get us back to two rods again! Cody is frustrated that the fish aren't all lined up to jump on the fishing hook ... but we have caught some fresh water weed on the line!!! Maybe this week our fishers luck will change! I think fishing on the iphone definately set up some false expectations!!!

We've shopped. A lot. Mum's been lavishing on Cody as is usual ... played mini golf, riding the golf cart, eating wonderfully fresh home made bread made specially for us, catching bugs and insects, working on my 'list to do' for mum - have a kitchen tap to install either today or tomorrow, playing Frisbee, watching a baby raccoon down at the lake, spending time on the beach collecting sea glass (can you call it sea glass if it's from the Lake?), and any other things. Today we'll be going to Waterloo to get the car fixed as the engine light is on. Hoping it's covered by the warranty.

So that's it in a nutshell. We're not doing a lot of any one thing, rather a lot of everything. As with all holidays, they seem to take ages to arrive and then once they come they seem to go too fast! So off I go to enjoy my day! Hope you enjoy your day too ...

Vege Garden ...

2009-05-28T08:12:00.000-07:00

Well I'll tell you up front, I suck at vege gardening and am known amongst my vege guru friends as the 'virgin vegetable gardener' ...

It's a funny thing to think that I grew up in a family who vege gardened and that vege garden provided us with much sustenance and yet, I know nothing about the intricacies of vege gardening. I'm hoping it's 'in the genes!'

So last year I started late and my vege garden surcame to the sunflowers (from the bird feeder) and weeds. My successes were peas, and tomatoes. Now before you think I'm blowing my own horn, I DID NOT plant the tomatoes ... they were in my compost and just came up! I also grew some plants from seed which came up this year - green onions - so mum transplanted those for me. But I am thankful to those tomato plants as they have spurd me on to read, build, and get bigger :) - the vege garden that is!

I like to be creative - like growing potatoes in a trash bag, using the many rocks around the property for walkways, and recycling plant/tree pots into mini herb gardens and potted veges. My friend H. put me onto Patti Moreno who is a pioneer of urban sustainable gardening, so I do snoop her website and hope to get to see her place one of these days. (She is on the Farmers Almanac gardening cable show - although we only have basic cable and so don't get to see that show).

So this year I have the original vege garden (a perennial garden that I had to move), 2 vege boxes, and a lot of pots! I'm working on some of the 'Square foot Gardening' methods in Mel Bartholomews book. So far so good! My mum gave me the kick off with actual plants, helping me build some trellises, and getting the pea seeds in the ground. Such a boost to see something already in the ground, that I just kept on going. Now I know there is such a thing as 'planting times' - but as a virgin vege gardener, I'm not there yet, I'm still on a whim and trial basis - that's why the plants were good.

Where I'd like to be is with a vege garden that really helps with cutting food costs down, saving my own seeds, canning my own foods, cold frames and storage, while crossing over to a pure 'organic/heirloom' vege garden! So I'm starting to see what books are out there to help me upskill in these areas.

I will be adding some up to date gardening photos as my garden progresses. In fact I just walked the garden and realized that I'm needing to plant more lettuce seeds and bush bean seeds in the next day or two, in order to rotate the crops and keep the veges coming all season long. So there you have it! Lets just hope that I learned from last year and can keep up with it all!!!

The Virgin Vegetable Gardener

No Difference by Shel Silverstein

2009-05-27T05:08:00.000-07:00

Here's a great poem that we had at school yesterday. I thought I'd share it as it speaks to how even though we are all different, we are all the same.

Small as a peanut,
Big as a giant,
We're all the same size
When we turn off the light.

Rich as a sultan,
Poor as a mite,
We're all worth the same
When we turn off the light.

Red, black or orange,
Yellow or white,
We all look the same
When we turn off the light.

So maybe the way
To make everything right
Is for God to just reach out
And turn off the light!

Memorial Day Week-end ...

2009-05-26T06:11:00.001-07:00

Well, before I start, I just wanted to say a very big thank-you to those individuals and families that have fought so that we can live in a free land - I appreciate that for many the sacrifice was great. And the families who struggled while their loved ones/ones were away, thank-you too.

We were supposed to be in New Jersey this week-end and this week helping hardwood floor our friends hallway and stairs. But their sons operation was moved forward so we'll be rescheduling the week to NJ. Instead we trenched. Last week-end and this week-end we've been adding to the sprinkler system. PJ kindly reconfigured the sprinkler so that my vege garden gets it's own TLC, and now we're adding a new line for the lawn also. It's taken longer than we had hoped and it didn't help that I used my favourite pick-axe, which is great for trenching, and broke 2 existing pipes ... ooopppps!! So that delayed us, as we had to repair those pipes also. It looks like another week-end will see the job completed.

Memorial Day itself we had some friends over. The kids got to have their extended playdate, and the parents got to relax and hang. Cody calls them his 'squishy friends' and they play very well together. The food was great, the relaxation was enjoyed by all, the smores delicious (I didn't have one), and the company awesome! Thank you squishy friends!

As for friends, I am constantly thankful for the amazing friends I have bee so blessed to have in my life! It's not like the ones at work who are there because they are there and work where you work, it's the kind that choose to be with you and have similar interests. And it doesn't just stop with the kids, many are friendships which involve the families.

I definitely value the friendships I have with the mum's. The kind of friendships where you know you can just pick up the phone and call for help, knowing that you have a network of support ... and visa versa!!! The topics for conversation are wide open! We discuss everything from schooling, parenting, food, toxins, gardening, politics, fertility - you name it! The information I learn is amazing, and they constantly help me challenge the way I look at life and approach it!

That's it for now ... off to solar dry my clothes, cook food, clean up from the party and the list goes on ... and thanks to those out there who are my friends! You are very special to me and I just am very thankful each day that you are you and that you are in my life! Thank you ... Kiwi

The month of May!

2009-05-23T16:52:00.000-07:00

Since I'm just a beginner at this whole blog thing, I'm thinking I'll start with a snap shot of May. The obvious milestone was that Cody turned 7 years old. Where the heck did the time go? I'm so thankful that I get to spend my days with him and enjoy his company! I wouldn't trade that for anything in the world. I am blessed and very thankful to hubby for his support and his great gift to me.

We're still waiting to hear from DSS to see if we are a match. Even thought we are waiting for our daughter, we are continuing on making the most of each day. It seems silly to put life on 'hold' when we could miss out on so much!!!!

It's been enjoyable having our hummers back - I do miss them when they go away south in the fall. And they talk to me at my kitchen window telling me all about their journey. Amazing little creatures! I still look out my kitchen window in absolute awe of them! And as go and come each year back to me, we actually have quite the friendship going on.

I didn't enjoy having my second molar out - ouch! Still in a lot of pain and it's been over a week since the torid event. Now what to do????? I have only 3 months in which to make up my mind. Implant or no implant - that is the question!

Pierre's been helping alot in the garden. We're going to expand the vege boxes later this year in preparation for next year. We've installed some new sprinklers that take great care of watering my veges, and also we're in the process of moving around some other sprinkler heads to maximize the watering of my fruit trees and other perennials around the edge of the lawn. I'm very lucky to have my own 'handy manny'!

We've been very busy with Homeschooling as normal. We are so blessed to have such a wonder ful group of friends! I'll blog another day about those special friendships, but needless to say, we enjoy meeting with our friends and playdates. The Nature Club went to Houghton's Pond this month. J taught the kids about tracking animals, identifying tracks, and how to walk appropriately around wildlife ... which Cody has been perfecting in the grocery store! With the weather being so accomodating this month, we've been able to get outside and get lots of work done and a lot of play in. Again, notice I said outside, the inside is desperately in need of some cleaning ... which I must do before tomorrow as we are having some friends over for Memorial Day for a BBQ and playdate.

This month has also been intensive in the garden - more vege than perennial, but in either case, the weeds don't care and seem to come up everywhere!!!

that's it for me and this blog ... hope it was a good kick off. The countdown is on before Cody and me head off for 2 weeks in Canada. Cody's wanting this computer for the Lego instructions for the Power Miners ... take care and will blog soon ... back to the sprinkler trenching ...

Kiwi

Can you believe it! I started my own blog!

2009-05-20T07:10:00.000-07:00

I'm feeling quite chuffed with myself ... I actually did it! Started my own blog that is! I'm not sure where it's going or why I'm doing it, but I'll figure it out as I go!

I'm thinking that if you're interested in what I'm up to, then you'll 'check in' and see what we're all up to.

You'll be able to follow our homeshooling adventures, travel escapades, and generally our lifes adventures ... hence the name Kiwi's Odyssey ... since that's what I drive :)

So welcome aboard for the ride. I don't know where it's going, but it should be interesting and fun!