ART Day

In a bold attempt to keep my kids' brains from shrinking over summer holidays, I have done a few things....

#1 I encourage reading independently and practicing math skills in everyday life (telling time and counting coins, etc).

#2 From now until the 2nd week of August they are going to a one hour tutor lesson per week (and she assigns some homework).

#3 My talented mother in law has graciously agreed to do an ART LESSON bright and early Thursday morning! This is the most exciting thing of all to me. I get to see my MIL (whom I adore) and we get to DRAW TOGETHER which we haven't done since college -- yes we took art school at the same time, very coincidental.

The first lesson was seeing light and dark without lines... so we took a fruit and drew it without drawing the outline... we blocked out the dark places and erased the light places in charcoal until it looked round in space... it was very liberating and took some stretching of my brain to ignore the shape I thought I saw and actually put down what was really in front of me. Surprisingly difficult!

The second lesson was to take that black and white drawing and apply colour! It was even harder than the first lesson! An apple or tomato is red, right? A shadow is grey... right? WRONG!!! Putting colour what you thought you were seeing and then realizing that's not the real colour was very humbling.... and the more layers and colours that were used, the more free and better it started to look! WOW, it was a meditation for the senses that I highly recommend.

Cami (he is 8) took a light hearted abstract approach to it and had a really fine time drawing his "space tomato". Next to that, Stevie took it VERY seriously and was paralyzed with the fear of putting the wrong colours down.... we encouraged him mightily that it was a free exercise and there was no right or wrong, no grade, just a chance to learn from the experiment! So he took a timid stroke (and hated it) So we encouraged him to pick more colours and really LOOK at the apple to decide whether it should be in a lighter spot or darker spot on the apple, and just ignore the "real" colours.... well that did it and he started choosing all sorts of colours, and finally it "popped"! He really got something from that lesson, and I am so proud of that!

My mother-in-law had forgotten her original charcoal drawing so she had to start with a just-colour picture.... but she had fun too!

More SOLD stuff

Check out this HUGE assortment of Fisher Price GEOTRAX!

A couple months ago I decided the boys were too old to play with them, and had more age-appropriate things that they preferred.... so I took them out of the laundryroom and put them in my office. I dragged them to my sister's garage sale, and the right customer did not appear to scoop them up so back to my office they came to languish in the piles of stuff.

Well I actually got up the energy to clear a space on the floor and take pictures and post the items on an online classified! And sure enough less than 24 hours they were SOLD! Hooray! A happy mom got all this good quality toys at a kick-butt price and I got a little cash for my efforts and more SPACE reclaimed!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Win-Win.

(happy joy)

Treadmill

Nobody answered my decluttering dilemma about the treadmill....

"I have a treadmill, my mom sold it to me for a fraction of what she paid. It's a really good one! It's BURIED 90% of the time (in the laundryroom) so even when I want to use it, I can't access it!!! My sister has that new big house with a "spare room" and she wanted to make it an exercise area.... she said she would store my treadmill for me and I could use it anytime. I should take her up on it. I still like the thing, I love the idea of it being in my home to use anytime.... but in the year or so I've had it, I have only had access to it maybe 30 days in total.... sad but true. I was hoping the desire to use it would motivate me enough to get that black hole of a space sorted, no such luck."

Do you think I should give it one more chance (because I really WANT to use it)? Or do you think I should let me sister "store" it in her big house for a while (and maybe get to use it there)??

Wild berry delight!

I enjoy nibbling on wild plants, always have. Not obsessed about living off the land, exactly, but I like to know what culinary opportunities are around me!

Before the latest heat wave, I dragged my whole family out for a little walk (and remembered to take buckets this time). The berries are crazy this year, so why not?

We managed to get quite a bit of thimbleberries, some tiny sour bramble berries and a few, late salmon berries:

mmmmm.... doesn't it just make your mouth water looking at them? The kids ate more than they saved, and both boys tripped on the rough terrain and dumped their buckets at least once each. Still we managed to get enough to do something different! (Thimble berries are a mushy berry and do not keep well, so I had to think fast).

I made tarts! I found a blackberry tart filling recipe and modified it slightly..... mmmmmmm they smelled so good!

Just the thing for a summer evening dessert! Warm berry tarts and french vanilla icecream!!!!!!

It was unanimous, thimbleberry tarts are delicious (kind of like raspberries in flavour).

That was easy!

Well, one of the FORDs is gone. Within 16 hours of posting the ad, I had cash in hand.... don't you love on line classifieds?!

(I think maybe we sold it too cheap, there were lots of email responses within hours of the ad being up. Ah well, we got a fair deal on our new FORD, so it's good to pass that good feeling along!)

IKEA is good fun

I got back from a shopping adventure with my sister Thursday night tired and happy.

I'm glad she forced me to go.... it seemed like it was going to be a real pain with 4 kids and a pickup truck all loaded onto a ferry there and back (and the mayhem to travelling and shopping in between) but it was actually okay, maybe even fun!

7:30 am Sis arrives with her 2 kids and transplants 2 boosters from her car to my truck.

8:15 am we get on the ferry with room to spare and we eat breakfast on board and "hit the deck" for running time.It was nice and windy and refreshing on deck!

11:30 We got to IKEA without too much traffic, and checked the small ones into "Smaland" supervised play area.... unfortunately Steve was about 4 inches too tall to participate, so he had to come shopping with the moms (bummer, dude). It worked out GREAT for him in the end, because he saw a bed that he totally loved (and was on for a really excellent price), and a fold away work station, and a small task-light and a summer-weight quilt.... and then there was the pillbug stuffy, popular with the whole gang:

They have this terrific zipper mouth that opened up big enough to stick their heads in! What fun that is !!!! We had the excellent kid's plate at the store cafeteria (mmmmmm, swedish meatballs and gravy with a bottomless glass of lindenberry juice) SO cheap and kid friendly!

We got out of there heavily laden with all sorts of treasures, and a frozen yogurt cone in everyone's hand, it was a successful adventure for all concerned.

3:30 We gum-booted it back to the ferry a full 1 and a half hours before the boat's sceduled departure, but we were warned as we paid for the ticket that we MAY not get on it!

So on top of the 1 1/2 hour wait, we had to anticipate the idea of another 2 hours in the summer heat of the parking lot, with 4 kids and 2 grown-ups crammed into the cab of a pick-up truck and a box full of new merchandise. Holy crap it was HOT! But we had lots of snacks and drinks on board, threw a new quilt over the windows to provide shade, left the doors flung wide and let the wee ones entertain themselves with the new pill-bugs....

5:45 When the boat came, we were crossing our fingers and toes and whispering prayers under our breathe as they loaded, and someone must have been paying attention because we were the 3rd to last car to make it on!!!! WOOHOO!!!!! SO we got on the boat on the sailing we aimed for and were very relieved at that!

8:30 Home before dark!

(The entire next day I spent 6 hours emptying Steve's room, dissasembling his old bed, assembling the new bed and workstation, and loading the toys back in --- MUCH tidier!!!!)

Declutteritis

I seem to have a cramp in my declutterer.

Every morning as I sip my coffee, sorting my thoughts for the day, I check out my favourite inspiration blogs..... these are of course after I have seen if my friends have posted anything (ya right).....

Gail Vaz-Oxlade's financial common sense blog always gives me a terrific boost.

Unclutterer is the best for a quick poke in the right direction.

If I have more time, and need extra help, zen habits, happiness project, peter walsh, mind the beginner, simple dollar, plonkee, green panda, ikea hacker and many many more as they either give advice, motivate or just share their trek through the mire of frugality, finances, clutter and the quest for inner and outer balance.

If I feel just stuck and need to DO something good NOW, then I head straight for flylady: Kelly's Missions 15 minutes of a chore that makes a difference in my surroundings -- I can do that!

Between the endless supply of great encouragement on the web and the nice books I have, you would think my house would be a frugal minimalist's zen palace! LOL!!!!

My ambition and my reality are markedly different...... I think I may have a wicked case of declutteritis.

For one thing, I think "I will pare down my books RUTHLESSLY until they all fit comfortably in the shelves!" Then I go to the office and I see that unless I get rid of some books that I use, and books that I love, then I can't pare them down that far..... at least it's not as simple as I had hoped.

Another thing (excuses, excuses) I am wanting to purge some stuff from storage..... meaning my laundryroom.... but there is someone using that as their bedroom right now. I can't climb over his bed to yank down bins and boxes!

Here is a biggy with that room... I have a treadmill, my mom sold it to me for a fraction of what she paid. It's a really good one! It's BURIED 90% of the time (in the laundryroom) so even when I want to use it, I can't access it!!! My sister has that new big house with a "spare room" and she wanted to make it an exercise area.... she said she would store my treadmill for me and I could use it anytime. I should take her up on it. I still like the thing, I love the idea of it being in my home to use anytime.... but in the year or so I've had it, I have only had access to it maybe 30 days in total.... sad but true. I was hoping the desire to use it would motivate me enough to get that black hole of a space sorted, no such luck.

On the bright side, I am making progress in other areas..... my closet is the model of efficiency, I love everything in it, and everything fits! The living/diningroom is never more that 2 minutes away from presentable thanks to needing a "calm room" for me and my husband. No toys allowed to linger in there, no TV, not much STUFF around in there.

I have given up on the boys' rooms, and I think that's fine.... it's not my space, its not my things. Basically, for safety reasons, they must have a clear path from bed to door at all times, and I have told them if we can vacuum the whole floor and close the closet and dressers, then it is clean. And we only enforce a "clean" about once a month.

This space that I live and work in MUST be a little better than this..... I must open my eyes a little wider, breathe a little deeper and let go of some more stuff.... these things I know, and I keep reading the blogs and letting out the stuff one bag at a time.

(more to come on this subject later)

This and That

Where to begin....


Whave houseguests right now, but they always have something on the go, so they aren't too much trouble at all! Even their dog is getting along fine in our house, and Max is liking the playmate.

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My sister got a trampoline..... Oh yes, I tried it, and it was VERY FUN!!!!! Especially with the enclosure, I've never tried one with the enclosure before.... less scary for sure!

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I hosted my sister's birthday BBQ on Friday, and we had the tent out in the yard to try to entertain the multitude of children... next morning, my CAT thought it was the "cat's meow" of a place to snooze....


zoom-in....************************

Friday was just ONE of the BBQs we attended. Saturday we had to go out to Coombs to a work BBQ, but it was worth the drive! The property was truly wonderful, the 4 kids piled into the hot tub, the dogs romped in the yard and the grown ups enjoyed the shade of the patio. After we had all feasted on the food cooked on an open fire pit (so yummy that way), we went for a walk in the trails near the house and found TONS of berries to nibble. We came back and toasted marshmallows, and chilled out to almost dark. We each got a frozen, wild salmon as a parting gift which was AWESOME!

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Also the search is finally over for a truck!!!! You are not seeing double, we got ANOTHER green Ford. So right now we have 2 Ford trucks and 2 VW Golfs -- all old!

This new one has FOUR doors and FOUR WHEEL DRIVE and is a diesel engine -- it is several inches taller and almost 2 fett longer than the old one. I like how everything is familiar and "worn-in" inside the cab. Best of all the price was right, T just has some tinkering to do on it.

We will be selling the extended cab 2 wheel drive 1/2 ton Ford soon....

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Yesterday I did some running around while T and his brother went out for a big dirtbike ride. Then T took our boys out to a skate bowl to do some tricks on their bikes while I stayed home to relax and make a nice dinner. Afterwards we all piled into the car to the local pool and had a great time there (I even went down the waterslide a few times!).

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My garden has been bountiful beyond my expectations! We have been munching on herbs, raspberries and strawberries for some time now. The radishes are long done. And now the vegetables have been harvestable!!!! Oh joy of joys! Fresh garden peas, crisp yellow beans, green zuchini, beet greens and even a couple fingerling carrots..... so gooooooooood!

Happy happy me! I squeal with glee and personally thank the plants everytime I see something ready to pick.

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It's been a good Summer so far, full of mini adventures.

Viva Italia!

I finally did it!!!!

I organized myself to upload almost 300 photos to get them printed. It was my goal for yesterday and it consumed nearly 8 hours of my day (and night), sorting, selecting, and uploading the precous images from my trip to Italy with 3 of my dearest friends.... How long ago was that now? 2 years?

The site that I uploaded all those photos to had them all printed by noon, and they were a deal at 12 cents per print! Last year, my sister gave me a beautiful leather-bound book with archive paper that was made in Venice, so I will be doing the travel journal in it. The plan is to put in the pictures and hand-write the memories of the trip.... (I think I may need my friend's help a bit, I can't remember it all BUT I know Spider took copious notes, so I'm safe)!!!

Oh pretty pretty trip, Italy gave me beautiful antiquities to see...... sigh.

(This picture was taken on the lush, fairytale, garden island of Isola Bella)

No more facebook for me

Well, I deactivated my facebook account. It was terribly useless for me!

And even worse it helped someone from my past make contact, someone I truly don't care to re-meet.

And there are the people I was HOPING to re-meet that are silent or not there, so what's the point?!

Amazing easy to kill the facebook persona. May it rest in peace (or is that rest in past?)

Grand Dreams!

I just can't help myself.... it's an addiction I can't seem to give up.....HOUSE HUNTING.

Here I am less than a decade away from being mortgage free (at a comfortable pace), and I can't keep my roaming mind from considering the other options.

Acreage. Detached Shop. Rural Life.

I know my hubby would be happier with the room to make noise out in a shop. The kids would love to be able to make tree forts and trails out in the "back 40" and the dog would be calmer without the tight neighbourhood leash restrictions.

Maybe I am just not quite ready to "give up" on the dream. So every time I see a for sale sign out in the middle of nowhere on the way back from one of our exploration adventures, I am back on MLS searching for the property and doing the mental math.

That's what we did for Canada Day, we drove off to the edge of civilization and kept driving until our old 2 wheel drive 1/2 ton could go no further. I love it out there.

I know of course the reality would be way more annoying: taxi-ing the kids to things, getting groceries, the fuel prices, insurance, water and septic issues, all would be more hassle and expense. AND to buy a comparable home on more land (no matter how far away) is more money. And I am pretty darned cheap (as is T).

So I keep looking, and try to keep it real.

It's a dream, a happy pastoral dream of life in the woods.