There is a theme in my work right now.... water.
An algae food suppliment branding, a fishing lodge brochure, a custom boat builder logo, a hot tub store advertising campaign... It is appropriate because when it rains it pours in my business -- and right now it's torrential! I have to admit this deluge of work is a welcome change from the recent work-drought.
I'm going to be only checking in sporatically for the next little while. I still love you all.
9.16.2011
Murf
[ "murf" is the noise my cat makes when she's been interrupted at her nap. ]
The belt tightening has been going with mixed results. My mom and sister took me out to lunch (great), but then they also took me to a home-improvement place to shop for my sister's kitchen sink... however there was a clearance table that had a nice front door lock set (ours is functional but very thrashed) for 1/2 price. Even better the brushed nickel one that I preferred was also on clearance, but the display model was the last one... I waited 15 minutes for them to take it down and saved half off again. For $32 I got a really beautiful entry door lock set. Did I NEED it - absolutely not. Did I want it - yes. Was it a great price - you bet your sweet bippy it was... So I got some "house jewelry". Not clutter perse.
I don't regret buying it, but I do feel bad about spending even that small amount on an unplanned thing.
Otherwise pantry shopping has been a smashing success! I have spent next to nothing on groceries these past few days. Other than the fresh, perishable things that my garden is not providing, I have been putting together some great meals right from my own cupboards and freezer. We aren't getting weird at all yet! Boullinaise sauce from scratch, Chicken & bacon in Vodka Sauce, Tom Yum soup stuffed with veggies on farkay noodles, classic spaghetti meat sauce with garlic bread, roast chicken and spaghetti squash.... oh and there is lots more where that came from!
School is off to a great start with the boys (what a relief) ... 2 weeks down!
Steve made this AWESOME plant cell model out of green jello. The golgi apperatus was folded blue licorish, the chloroplasts were green scoth mints, the rough endoplasmic reticulum were cut straws standing on end, the vacoule was a little ziplock bag, the lysosomes were craisins and the nucleus was a plum... super-cute idea that he came up with on his own. It looked great with the little toothpick flag labels. I gave him a ride to school to protect his masterpiece from highschool bus ride mischief. (I wish I had remembered to take a picture). The best part was, after he got his grade, he and his buddies ATE it! That was so much better than trying to "keep" a paper mache model or something like that. No leftovers to clutter up the house. The whole thing cost about $5 worth of food, and he got it done in time too!
Another thing. I waged war on iTunes the last couple afternoons while waiting for clients to get me changes on things.... and I think I may have won! I went through every folder on my computer that was hiding music and consolidated it all into one massive folder on my external drive. I removed duplicates and back ups of my back ups and then went into itunes and deleted my library and started from scratch. Then I spent another couple hours selecting what I wanted on my ipod and finally synced. YAY! It fits! And I only cursed and swore a little bit because I expected it to be long and painful before I got going. Any onf you veteran i-folks are laughing at me right now, but this is a MAJOR thing for me. It's good to have that finally done... like going to the dentist.
The belt tightening has been going with mixed results. My mom and sister took me out to lunch (great), but then they also took me to a home-improvement place to shop for my sister's kitchen sink... however there was a clearance table that had a nice front door lock set (ours is functional but very thrashed) for 1/2 price. Even better the brushed nickel one that I preferred was also on clearance, but the display model was the last one... I waited 15 minutes for them to take it down and saved half off again. For $32 I got a really beautiful entry door lock set. Did I NEED it - absolutely not. Did I want it - yes. Was it a great price - you bet your sweet bippy it was... So I got some "house jewelry". Not clutter perse.
I don't regret buying it, but I do feel bad about spending even that small amount on an unplanned thing.
Otherwise pantry shopping has been a smashing success! I have spent next to nothing on groceries these past few days. Other than the fresh, perishable things that my garden is not providing, I have been putting together some great meals right from my own cupboards and freezer. We aren't getting weird at all yet! Boullinaise sauce from scratch, Chicken & bacon in Vodka Sauce, Tom Yum soup stuffed with veggies on farkay noodles, classic spaghetti meat sauce with garlic bread, roast chicken and spaghetti squash.... oh and there is lots more where that came from!
School is off to a great start with the boys (what a relief) ... 2 weeks down!
Steve made this AWESOME plant cell model out of green jello. The golgi apperatus was folded blue licorish, the chloroplasts were green scoth mints, the rough endoplasmic reticulum were cut straws standing on end, the vacoule was a little ziplock bag, the lysosomes were craisins and the nucleus was a plum... super-cute idea that he came up with on his own. It looked great with the little toothpick flag labels. I gave him a ride to school to protect his masterpiece from highschool bus ride mischief. (I wish I had remembered to take a picture). The best part was, after he got his grade, he and his buddies ATE it! That was so much better than trying to "keep" a paper mache model or something like that. No leftovers to clutter up the house. The whole thing cost about $5 worth of food, and he got it done in time too!
Another thing. I waged war on iTunes the last couple afternoons while waiting for clients to get me changes on things.... and I think I may have won! I went through every folder on my computer that was hiding music and consolidated it all into one massive folder on my external drive. I removed duplicates and back ups of my back ups and then went into itunes and deleted my library and started from scratch. Then I spent another couple hours selecting what I wanted on my ipod and finally synced. YAY! It fits! And I only cursed and swore a little bit because I expected it to be long and painful before I got going. Any onf you veteran i-folks are laughing at me right now, but this is a MAJOR thing for me. It's good to have that finally done... like going to the dentist.
9.09.2011
Belt Tightening Time!
Confession: The Slow spring for my income has finally caught up with me.
I am now Miss Frugal-Supreme until the Fall Graphics contracts begin (I have just confirmed 2 annual bread and butter October jobs back for another year)
The thing is I am kind of panicking.... I'm already pretty darned frugal!
No cable, ubber-cheap cellphone (that we all 4 share for emergencies), fairly local camping is our vacation of choice (and we pick low cost sites), we eat vegetarian several dinners a week, I grow as many veggies as I can fit in my little plot, I line dry the laundry, no car payments and T does all mechanic-ing here at home, we accept hand me downs for the kids and myself for clothes, I buy discount-near-expiry meat to freeze, no air conditioners, no booze, very little restaurant patronage (and then it's for lunch not dinner), no consumer debt to pay down, no student loans... where else can I cut? Where else can I scrimp while still feeding my growing family decently, and keeping house and home and body and soul together?
Seriously! I need tips and I need them fast for the next little while.
There are 2 options... find a way to trim expenses or find a way to boost income.
Two mom's at Steve's highschool suggested I tutor Math on the side. But I already have my side jobs... could I make the time I wonder?
Maybe I should flog my business harder? Now that school is back in I could do that more easily... but there is the immediate problem of cashflow to deal with there is the gap between NOW and the client building, new work and invoice payments received, y'know? AND I know October will see me SWAMPED already, so why pile more on and alienate my family?
Back to ideas for cutting costs.... anybody?
For the first time, I am SLIGHTLY relieved we didn't get the other house because moving costs money. Period.
I need to calm down, face my fears and find a solution PRONTO
I am now Miss Frugal-Supreme until the Fall Graphics contracts begin (I have just confirmed 2 annual bread and butter October jobs back for another year)
The thing is I am kind of panicking.... I'm already pretty darned frugal!
No cable, ubber-cheap cellphone (that we all 4 share for emergencies), fairly local camping is our vacation of choice (and we pick low cost sites), we eat vegetarian several dinners a week, I grow as many veggies as I can fit in my little plot, I line dry the laundry, no car payments and T does all mechanic-ing here at home, we accept hand me downs for the kids and myself for clothes, I buy discount-near-expiry meat to freeze, no air conditioners, no booze, very little restaurant patronage (and then it's for lunch not dinner), no consumer debt to pay down, no student loans... where else can I cut? Where else can I scrimp while still feeding my growing family decently, and keeping house and home and body and soul together?
Seriously! I need tips and I need them fast for the next little while.
There are 2 options... find a way to trim expenses or find a way to boost income.
Two mom's at Steve's highschool suggested I tutor Math on the side. But I already have my side jobs... could I make the time I wonder?
Maybe I should flog my business harder? Now that school is back in I could do that more easily... but there is the immediate problem of cashflow to deal with there is the gap between NOW and the client building, new work and invoice payments received, y'know? AND I know October will see me SWAMPED already, so why pile more on and alienate my family?
Back to ideas for cutting costs.... anybody?
For the first time, I am SLIGHTLY relieved we didn't get the other house because moving costs money. Period.
I need to calm down, face my fears and find a solution PRONTO
9.03.2011
Camping Bliss Still
*** August 31st would have been moving day if we had got the other house, I am a little sad still but life moves on... ***
Of course there was time spent chasing local foods. Though my boys got skunked fishing (close calls but nothing brought in), another camper shared his catch with us one day. That evening we had fresh, campfire-smoked trout served with wild onions (from a nearby beach) and chantrelle mushrooms that I had found that afternoon in the woods. Salal, Saskatoon, Thimble, Huckleberry, Brambleberry sauce on yogurt for dessert! Yummy, indigenous, extremely local goodness!!!!
There were beautiful sunsets.
There was a campfire every night with marshmallows, hot cocoa and even popcorn. There was good conversation around the flames and then when things were super-quiet we would go down to our little beach and look at the mind-blowing amount of stars (that we can't see within our city limits due to light pollution).
There were misty mornings and windy afternoons, long walks in the deep forest and fantastic wildlife.
There were NOT any noisy people, sibling squabbles, pesky mosquitos (though I did get a few wasp stings out in the woods when we accidentally disturbed a nest in the woods) nor electric devices demanding attention.
It was wonderful... really really wonderful.
This time, with the trailer I wasn't prepared to leave when it was time to go... sniff sniff.... till we meet again Nixon Creek!
We went CAMPING!
Our trailer (which we have affectionately named "Alice" after her former care giver) was dragged down an hour of terribly undignified logging roads to spend 5 nights in my favourite spot on the planet -- Nixon Creek in the heart of central Vancouver Island.
Our trailer (which we have affectionately named "Alice" after her former care giver) was dragged down an hour of terribly undignified logging roads to spend 5 nights in my favourite spot on the planet -- Nixon Creek in the heart of central Vancouver Island.
I went in 2007
And again in 2007
And 2008
And again in 2008
But that makes it 3 years since we last saw thins beautiful place -- It's been too long! I missed the gravel shore and deep forest, my heart has BONDED with that place.
 |
| our spot |
 |
| our spot from another angle |
 |
| my favourite place; on our little private beach |
 |
| Cam's favourite sunny spot |
 |
| Cam's favourite shady spot |
 |
| Steve's favourite thing to do |
 |
| The boy's spent a lot of time chasing fish... |
 |
| Max's over-looking the lake most of the time |
Of course there was time spent chasing local foods. Though my boys got skunked fishing (close calls but nothing brought in), another camper shared his catch with us one day. That evening we had fresh, campfire-smoked trout served with wild onions (from a nearby beach) and chantrelle mushrooms that I had found that afternoon in the woods. Salal, Saskatoon, Thimble, Huckleberry, Brambleberry sauce on yogurt for dessert! Yummy, indigenous, extremely local goodness!!!!
There were beautiful sunsets.
There was a campfire every night with marshmallows, hot cocoa and even popcorn. There was good conversation around the flames and then when things were super-quiet we would go down to our little beach and look at the mind-blowing amount of stars (that we can't see within our city limits due to light pollution).
There were misty mornings and windy afternoons, long walks in the deep forest and fantastic wildlife.
There were NOT any noisy people, sibling squabbles, pesky mosquitos (though I did get a few wasp stings out in the woods when we accidentally disturbed a nest in the woods) nor electric devices demanding attention.
It was wonderful... really really wonderful.
This time, with the trailer I wasn't prepared to leave when it was time to go... sniff sniff.... till we meet again Nixon Creek!
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