DIGGIN IT SUNDAY * 03/04/12

I love Sundays.  We start the morning off with a big family breakfast, and then everyone gets a chance to "get stuff done" around the house while Jude sleeps.  More often than not, this means Scott and Faegan are outside building or doing other chores, and I am inside, cleaning house, cooking, sewing, or just having some alone time in the house picking my nose.

Scott and Faegan were outside all day making an honest to goodness, real, functioning cold frame.  Last year we sort of built one into our garden, but it kind of sucked.  After reading the awesome book The Year Round Vegetable Gardener by Nikki Jabour, which was written by a local gardener, we were inspired to get serious and think about a structure that could help feed us all year long.  I am crazy excited about the idea of growing greens at times of the year when you least expect it.  Like in the middle of winter, and well,  right now for instance.  Especially after I just spent $5 on a tiny bag of fresh spinach at the market this weekend which made one salad for supper tonight  Now all we need is a year round indoor location for our grow lights.......

What's this?  Forsythia in March?  Mais oui!  Ok, so I cheated and forced some branches indoors last week.  It is so nice to see flowers blooming at this time of year when it feels like winter will n e v e r end...........sigh.   But it is ending, I can feel it in my bones and see signs of spring everywhere.

I can't leave this diggin it sunday without mentioning how much I loved Faegan's imaginative play this week.  As I was putting Jude down for a nap I heard his little feet running back and forth downstairs.  When I came down he has this beautiful spread laid out on the coffee table.  He said it was a birthday feast for me (hmm, it's not my birthday, but I can pretend it is....)

DIGGIN IT SUNDAY * 02/19/12

     From the looks of my internet addiction and book pile, I've decided I am an information junkie.  Some days it seems like just too much and I get overwhelmed, and then other days I thrive on all the new ideas coming my way.  So I guess you could say learning has become a built of a guilty pleasure which seems kind of weird to say.  

Anyway, at this moment I am really digging the huge pile of books I am reading, all at once.  Maybe that's the problem, perhaps tackling just one at a time would be more relaxing!

     This year has been so amazing, and so challenging on many levels.  The growth of our family has led to us growing so much as people, parents, siblings, partners and humans.  It was really nice to spend Valentine's Day focusing on the love we have for one another, despite the often craziness of it all. 

 Faegan and I spent the morning making "grain-free" brownies for Scott.  We omitted the chocolate chips and added vanilla extract.  I neither had the ingredients or time to make ice cream so we splurged and made a trip to the market to buy vanilla and chocolate coconut milk ice cream to use as fillings. 

 I was very excited to finally use the heart-shaped ice cream sandwich mold that has been lurking in my kitchen drawer for a couple of years.  I didn't bother telling Scott the brownies were grain-free, because he isn't really on board with the whole no grain thing, so why ruin his idea of a perfect dessert?  He didn't even notice!     

The Sewer's Tool Belt Scott gave me as a Valentine's gift got put to good use this morning as I began work on the Baby Shower gifts for my sister.  He is so great at picking out thoughtful gifts.  

This little gem was made by a local artisan from organic cotton canvas.  My favorite feature is the pin cushion because whenever I sew my pin magnet is never where I need it!  

     Speaking of sewing, I am pretty pleased with the Fabric Beach Ball I made for Jude's first birthday present.  I got to raid my new stash of organic fabric while also using some preloved material I had hanging around to make it.  

It is a wonderful paradox...it feels like we welcomed him into our arms just yesterday while at the same time feeling like it has been a long haul.

 Loving my little boo baa (baby boy) so much!  Loving being able to sew for him too!

     The multiple personality weather lately has been lovingly unpredictable.  One day I am hanging laundry out to dry in the sun, the next we have a winter wonderland.

Hanging the laundry gave me a chance to hang out with our baby goat Nola.  

She is super lonely these days because her momma is on a vacation with her boyfriend, and will hopefully come home pregnant.  Poor thing, she cries all day long.  Hang in there little one, momma will be home soon!

DIGGIN IT SUNDAYS* 9/09/11

As much as I have been loving the cooler temperatures we've been experiencing lately, today's warm sun made a most beautiful sunset, complete with my loving family around me.  Something about the light made the eyes of my baby and husband so vibrant and well, blue.  I had to take a picture, and as I did I thought to myself, wow, I am so digging my man right now.......lol.  

We were outside with the kids filling the bird feeders with the seeds Scott harvested from his very own sunflowers.  One of the saddest things I have chosen to do is to stop purchasing bird seed because it comes packaged in plastic bags.  So it was with great delight that I filled the feeders tonight with seeds that came direct from the garden.  So of course, I had daydreams of growing fields of sunflowers......

This week I have also really been loving roasted vegetables.  I know, I know, they are so 90's, and so overdone.  But when you only eat tomatoes, eggplant, peppers, and zucchini when they are in season they become a rare delicacy.  We've been eating roasted veg in everything from pasta, panzerottis and quiche.

 The last leaves of lettuce in the garden have been tasting awesome dressed in this Maple Soy Vinagrette from Recipes from the Root Cellar.  I know I keep mentioning this cookbook, but that is because I am really diggin it.

MAPLE SOY VINAIGRETTE

2 Tbsp organic balsamic vinegar

2 Tbsp local maple syrup

2 Tbsp organic tamari

2 cloves organic garlic

1 1/2 inch piece of organic ginger

3 Tbsp organic e.v olive oil

Method: Blend and enjoy.

One of my greatest pleasures in being a mother is revisiting the wonderful world of childhood with my son.    I love sharing songs, stories, games and toys from my own childhood, as well as introducing both of us to new and exciting things.  Being a child of the 80's I myself was totally immersed in television and plastic culture, so it is fun exploring a whole new world that doesn't include these things.  Each day is an adventure into story, fantasy, nature and parenting.  I am learning so much about myself as a person as I strive to be a loving parent and person, the likes of which I would want my child to model.  No doubt, this is a very challenging process, but at moments like this one right now I am so diggin being a mom.  I am really loving awakening creativity within myself, and enjoying the creativity of others.

  Right  now I am reading The Compete Hans Christian Andersen Fairy Tales and can't wait until Faegan is a bit older to share the tales with him.  But for now I am just relishing the rich imagery and fantasy of it all.....

DIGGIN IT SUNDAYS * 10/02/11

To say that I am diggin my Gong is an understatement.  I am blown away and am in awe of my Gong.  I am blessed to share the practice of Kundalini Yoga every Saturday afternoon with some beautiful people at All Yoga in Dartmouth.  To celebrate, I carted my Gong over to the studio and it is now the Gong-in-Residence, which I use when I teach to immerse the group in it's healing sounds which moves us beyond the boundaries of our minds.  Wow, or as we like to say in Kundalini Yoga, Wahe Guru! 

     For all you mothers out there, you know how important it is to nurture your children.  I hope you also know how important it is to nurture yourself too.  I often forget this, especially with a young infant to care for, as well as a three and a half year old, a husband, goats, chickens, turkeys, and a household to manage.  Anyway, I've committed to putting a little more effort in doing things that recharge my batteries so I can be a healthier, happier me.  This includes booking a healing massage once a month, which I've done twice thus far.  What a beautiful thing a massage is.  Afterwards I feel so light and well, content.  As I am driving home I look at people in their cars and on the street and I think to myself, "wow, if everyone had a massage, we could all feel this good and the world would be a very different place."  It is such a simple thing, but such a huge thing at the same time.  So I am definitely digging the massages. 

     In addition to the lovely massage sessions, I also do simple things like give myself home spa treatments.  Most of the time I don't put any effort in how I look, and never put anything on my face except shea butter and olive oil when I get out of the shower.  A couple of weeks ago I took the extra few minutes to prepare myself a nice natural cleanser based on the formulation I made for my former company Anointment.  I then slather my face in Tangled Gardens Rose Petal Honey to act as a "mask".  The final touches include some Anointment Rose Toner, and then a moisturizing dose of olive oil and shea butter.  

When I have lots of time this whole thing routine also includes a sugar or salt body scrub session and an herbal face steam.  I am definitely digging the self pampering.  Don't get me wrong though, the pampering isn't all easy peasy.  Oh no, I am a Kundalini Yogi after all, so I start the day off with those cold showers I mentioned in my last post, and then a few minutes of heavy duty Kundalini wake up exercises.  It's all about balance, ya know?

DIGGIN IT SUNDAYS * 9/25/11

It took me a little bit longer to remember all the things that I am diggin this week, but once I got started I realized how many things there were to be happy about...

Loving that my hair is now long enough to tie back into little knots instead of using hairbands to keep my hair out of my face.  Good thing too because the hair band look really wasn't working for me.  I was all set to get my usual hair cut when I came across this article.  The information presented in the article is very similar to the yogic technology Yogi Bhajan always talked about and so I decided that now is the time to grow my hair again.  I need all the intuition I can get.  I guess teaching Kundalini Yoga again has got me back into the yogic groove because I've started to take cold showers in the morning.  As hard as they are to do, I am really diggin them.

     The hair looks especially lovely with my new knit poncho that I found at the Salvation Army a while back.  It is from a company in New Zealand called Waimate, located in, Waimate of course!.  It is a lovely soft knit made with Possum and Merino fibres and is incredibly cozy and warm.  It is the perfect coverup for the Autumn, and I really enjoyed wearing it to the Farmer's Market yesterday because it was warm and it kept the rain from soaking through.  What more can you ask for $2.99!  Love it.

I was delighted to discover a new source for toilet paper that isn't wrapped in plastic packaging.  I made a trip to the wholesale store just behind the Walmart at the Halifax Shopping Centre the other day and came across a Cascades product that is made from recycled paper and is individually wrapped in paper.  The best part is that they sell for about $.75/roll versus the $2.25 that Planet Organic sells Seventh Generation ones for.  So I stocked up and bought a case.  Love it.

Stocking up on Halloween treats was really easy this year now that Shopper's Drug Mart offers their Nativa Organics brand of sea salted potato chips in small Halloween sized servings.  How exciting is that.  I guess I don't need to tell you that I bought a case.  Now we just have to make sure we don't eat them before the 31st......

I'm also pretty excited about the new boots my mom and dad bought Faegan for Christmas this year.  I know it's a little early for Christmas presents but better to give the gift when he can really get a use out of them instead of waiting until winter is half over.  We just discovered Bogs boots and at first I wasn't so sure if we should 1) spend that much money on boots for kids with fast growing feet 2) buy more made in china crap 3) buy more stuff period that will just end up in a landfill 4) bypass my general pledge to buy used goods.  But after reading this post I decided to go for it.  I think the ultimate reason was because they aren't made from plastic.  Lucky boy.  Oh, and my mom, the wonder shopper even found a pair for me at Winners for $70.  They're on their way to me in the mail as we speak.  Thanks mom!

 

What's this?  More tomatoes?  Oh yes, many more tomatoes have arrived thanks to "my source" at the market.  These were a completely unexpected surprise when I arrived to shop yesterday.  I happily brought them home and set to work making MORE salsa.  This time around I added more chiles because Scott likes it hot.  Hey, that rhymes.

Alright everyone, so that's it for this week's installment of Diggin it Sundays.  I am now going to officially CLOSE the Keeping it Real Book Giveaway contest and sift through the entries and pick a winner!  Woo hoo!  Catch you later.....

DIGGIN IT SUNDAY

Late summer is one of my favorite times of year.  The sun is still hot, but the cooler temperatures make me actually want the sun shining on me, instead of making me run for cover (oh the woes of being pale skinned).  There is also the pleasant discovery that the mosquitoes have died down a bit.  I can still hang up loads of laundry to dry in the sun, which is good because nothing pleases me quite so much as seeing laundry on the line.  So as you can see, I am diggin this time of year.

Some other tantalizing treasures from this week include:

* Many thanks to Nicole over at One Hook Wonder for organizing a nature table craft swap.  Last night I completed 13 Leaf Spirits to contribute to the group trade.  I found the idea for these charming wool felt dolls at Twig and Toadstool.  Eventually, Nicole will mail back to me 13 different items for our Nature Table.  Can't wait!

* Really enjoying a hot cup of Egyptian Licorice tea from Yogi Teas.  The Yogi Bhajan quote for today was "Listening provides comfort to others."  Just what I needed to hear right now.

* My new snack love is toasted rye sourdough smothered in almond butter and topped with ripe peaches.

*  Other new snack love is trail mix made with coconut.  When you get a mouthful of coconut, chocolate chips, raisins, and almonds, you think you're eating a chocolate bar.

 * Counting down the last days of summer as we watch the flowers follow the sun's journey across the sky.

* We've been enjoying some magical moments in the forest next to our house.  It is hard to capture the tranquility and peace of this place in pictures.  There are so many big mushrooms growing there amongst the moss and ferns.

Now I'm off to do some major fall cleanup in this house.  Enjoy the sun!

DIGGIN IT SUNDAY

There are so many things I am diggin this Sunday.  I don't even know where to start!  As I write this I am looking out my window and it is a beautiful sunny morning.  I am definitely loving that.  Early, early this morning Jude woke up from a slumber to nurse.  As I groggily tended to my suckling babe I could hear an owl who, who, whooing outside my bedroom window.  In my foggy, sleepy state I remember thinking to myself "I must remember to add that to my diggin it Sunday post."  

One of the best things I decided to do this week was organize and rethink my daily rhythm with the children.  I really needed some help, so I did a little Googling and found Little Acorn Leaning childcare guides.  This is what I have been dreaming about for so long, and to find it all prepackaged for me and ready to go was unbelievable!  For the past year or so, my relationship with my eldest has changed due to the pregnancy and birth of Jude.  He has had to share mommy, and mommy has had to learn how to juggle two children which has been difficult at times.  Having organized activities and a set schedule has really helped us to make the most of our time together when Jude is napping and awake.  

The table and benches Scott built a couple of years ago for Faegan are really coming in handy now.  We set them up in the kitchen and dug up some other goodies from our basement to complete the space.  I always knew that chalkboard and cork board would come in handy one day!  I guess there is something to be said for being a bit of a pack rat.  We keep some basic art supplies handy on the table like pencils, crayons, scissors and glue.  I made a couple of impromptu Waldorf style painting boards out of scraps from Scott's wood shop which seem to be working well so far.  It's all so exciting!

I've become enamored with baskets!  I've discovered that you can never have too many around the house.  I have scored some great ones at thrift stores and I love using them for everything.

Like storing children's toys in the living/play room.

For storing puppet friends

The basket I take with me to the Farmer's Market to hold the precious goods like tomatoes and soft fruit.  They also store my shopping bags.

These are my garden baskets.

My fruit basket that lives on my kitchen counter.

One of many laundry baskets.

Faegan's kid-sized laundry hamper.

Office supplies.

A couple of weeks ago I made a trip to my local Salvation Army thrift store and came home with some really great finds.  Today I am wearing the cutest sweater from that "big score" shopping day and have tried to photograph myself wearing it so you can see what I mean.

It's really hard to photograph the back of a sweater when you are wearing it.  But trust me, the hoodie is cute.

It is probably pretty obvious to state, but I am loving the fall produce available right now in my garden and at the Farmer's Market.  I am very pleased that baby Jude is starting his culinary journey at this perfect time of year.  Lately he has been munching on blueberries, cantaloupe, pears and peaches.  It is so nice to have fresh, raw, local foods to offer him. 

 

The bean plants in the garden are still producing and I really needed a new recipe to delight my taste buds with.  A quick peek into my Everyday Food mag library and I discovered this awesome recipe for Sauteed Green Beans and Red Onion.  A definite keeper....

Just wanted to remind everyone again about the great Keeping it Real Book Give Away going on now until the end of the month.  I recently added some great children's books to the store so be sure to check them out.  Don't forget to tell your friends too!