Coming Soon

This time last year I was musing on my son's first year of life.  I was thinking of all the moments and memories that combine to make him the little person that he is, and that define our relationship.

 

While I always think on him and his little life, this time of year brings an even sharper nostalgia. 

 

This coming Monday he will be two. 

 

 



Happy Birthday, dear boy.



 

He is the light in my day.  He is why I do so many of the things I do.  He is the reason why I seemingly smile at nothing throughout the day when I am away from him.  I hate to leave him, and can't wait to get back when I do. 

 

He has made me who I am.  And even though in a few short months after his second birthday, he will become a big brother, he will always be first.  He is the one who MADE me a mother.  He has shown me that I can do so many things.  He has given me confidence in ways he will never know.

 

 

See you soon (but not too soon!), sweet girl.

 

Something I often wonder is if we made the right choice in moving here.  I hope that in this wide open space, our children are free to grow in character with no bounds.  I hope their minds expand and their bodies grow in tune with the earth and their surroundings. 

 

I hope more than I can ever put to words.

 

 

Sparkle

I love this photo. 

Henry loves to walk on the ice - it's flat and easy to maneuvre on and so different from all his other landscapes. 

He leaves the cutest little trails.

Garden Update

The weeds continue to thrive.  Henry and I were out today to try to put a dent in them.  I have found something that will keep him occupied - I pulled the car around, and he sat in the driver's seat playing quite happily for half an hour.  He loves to "drive".

-corn has tassels
-onions are doing whatever they do
-carrots are thriving (we thinned some and enjoyed some baby carrots)
-there is finally some action in the parsnip row
-the artichoke plants are HUGE
-broccoli, cauliflower and Brussels sprouts plants are hanging in there
-pepper plants are taking off
-the few bean plants that came up are making beans!
-flowers on both melon and cucumber plants
-heirloom tomatoes continue to ripen

I'm thrilled by the experience.  Yes, the weeds are frustrating and I spend entirely too much time thinking about them, BUT, I am happy with my garden and every little sprout and every little vegetable that comes from it. 

Home

Henry and I just got back from a little trip south.  We went to stay a night with my friend and her family and to do some shopping, of course.

It was fantastic.  I think it's great for Henry to have different experiences and see different kids and people.  Shopping is great as always.  It's nice to be able to try things on and not just eyeball it on a website and hope for the best when it arrives a week later.

I can't say how incredibly happy I am to be home, though.  We had a somewhat harrowing drive home (my child howled for almost two hours straight), but beyond that I am so glad for the wide open spaces. 

The quiet and calm. 

A sparkling lake.

Our whispering pines.

Home.

Baby Steps

I like gardening, but I don't consider myself a gardener...yet.  I enjoy the results and I think I know a decent amount about plants and they way they grow, but I haven't had enough experience to claim the title of gardener.
Truth be told, I'm rather intimidated by my expanse of land on which I have to plant things.  I had gardens back in Tottenham - a small vegetable patch and a few perennial beds.  In comparison, my beds here are massive, and I certainly have the space to grow pretty much anything my heart desires.

The neglected vegatable garden

Last year we did nothing, and I mean nothing with the garden.  I was still feeling somewhat shell-shocked and with the baby it was difficult to get out and work in the yard.  It was also a brutal  year for bugs. This year my focus is the vegetable garden.  I will let the ornamental beds do what they want, and will keep them tidy and maybe plant a thing or two, but I have no real plans for them this season.

I have to take it one step at a time, and seeing as the vegetable garden will be the most productive, I'm starting there first.  This year will bring it's own trials, I'm sure, but I can't make excuses anymore.  Henry is older now, but he is also just learning to walk, and while amazing to watch, gives us a whole new set of challenges.  I embrace them though, because how else can I move forward?

And so, just as my young son is learning how to walk on his own two small feet, so will I tackle the vegetable garden.  I believe what I will yield will go far beyond simple tomatoes, carrots and peas.  I hope to find something of myself out there among the plants and soil that will sustain us through many seasons to come.

Follow Your Gut

The other night I slipped away for half an hour to go for a walk.  I soon found myself in the field across the road with the intent to "go around the mountain".  I needed this hike, as I have a teething 13 month old at home and was about to lose my damn mind if I didn't get out of the house without the little monkey clinging to me.

Instinct took me in a different direction, though, and I managed to stumble across the beaver pond my husband's father recently told him about.

During the hike, I made my way through two older, long abandoned beaver ponds.

The first is visible from the road, and just has one tiny stream intersecting it.  The stream ran earlier in the month, but it's mostly dried up now - just soggy earth left.

The second old beaver pond is through the woods a little ways.  Walking through the forest I came upon a knee high ridge.  This ridge would have been the old dam.  The field was intersected with many different streams, all seeming to go in different directions and ending in dead ends.  Like a maze.

At the southwest corner of the field I spied where the water was entering the field, flowing over some rocks.  I hiked in that direction and was rewarded with a cool, dark babbling brook.  I continued walking upstream.  The brook is narrow and shallow, with a few deeper pools here and there, filled with rocks.  It's bordered on both sides by a narrow flood plain, and then steep banks.

As I walked on I thought perhaps this would lead me to the beaver pond my husband told me was back here.


I was right.


A short way further up the valley, I came upon the beaver pond.  It was about 6:45 in the evening and the shadows were deep and dark, the sun being so low as to just barely hit the bottom of the valley. 

The photos that I have of this place do not do it justice.  It's bordered all around by high, steep banks.  Vibrant moss grows on rocks and trees.  I felt as if I had stepped into a fairy tale.  In the middle of the pond, an enormous tree has fallen.  The pictures do not accurately show how huge this tree really is - there's nothing I could have put beside it to show scale. 

So entranced was I with my find that I didn't even stop to see if there were signs of recent beaver activity.  I think that the pond has been abandoned though.  Because of the fact that water flows freely from it, and the fact that no animals signs stood out to me, I guess that the beavers that called this pond home have moved on. 

I really want to go back - and soon.  I want to follow the stream farther up and discover it's source.  I want to visit the pond when the light is better and take some great photos.  I want someone to accompany me to stand beside the big tree!

This hike was proof again that my gut tells me everything I need to know - and when I listen, I am richly rewarded.

Baby Muffins Revisited

Since developing this recipe, we've pretty much had a steady stream of these muffins in the house.  Henry loves them, and I can't stop eating them, either. 

I've played around with the recipe a bit and have come up with a delicious (and still healthy!) modification.  Carrot muffins.  I swapped out the applesauce for pureed acorn squash, and the grated apple for grated carrot.  I added a dash of nutmeg. The results are fabulous.

I've also experimented with the egg.  I tried the muffins a few times with a whole egg and was less than impressed with the results.  It seems adding a whole egg makes the muffins stick in the pan even with a liberal greasing and dusting of flour. 


BABY CARROT MUFFINS

1/4 C 2% plain Greek yogurt
1/4 C purred acorn squash
1 large egg yolk
2 tbsp agave nectar
0.5 tsp pure vanilla extract
0.5 tsp baking soda
1 tsp cinnamon
dash nutmeg
1/2 C whole wheat flour
1/4 C milled flax seed
1/2 C grated carrot


Pre-heat oven to 350F.

Line or grease and flour 9 - 12 mini muffin tins.

Combine wet ingredients and wisk until smooth.

Mix dry ingredients and add to wet, stir to combine - do not over mix.

Gently fold in carrots.

Spoon into prepared tins.

Bake at 350F for about 15 minutes, or until tops just begin to brown. Muffins will spring back when touched.

From the Weather Book

March 7
- Sunny
- Warm 8C

March 8
- Dreary
- Rain

March 11
- Mild - but still very icy!

March 12
- Fantastic sunrise
- Mild
- First robin!
- Can see the end of the dock
- Mud everywhere
- Light rain in the evening

March  13
- Rain overnight
- Mild 4C in morning
- Lake covered in standing water

What to do When Your Kid Poops the Tub

Alternate Title -

I Don't Remember Buying Any Lincoln Logs...waaait a minute...

Step 1 - Do not panic. 
This will be your natural inclination because you just saw a giant log of poo float past your kid and last you checked, you still resided in the first world.  Plus, totally losing it will probably instill a lifelong fear of pooping in your child.  That's just bad news for everyone.  You have to pay for that therapy, you know.

Step 2 - Remove child from the water which has now become a bio-hazard.
Wrap the poor little dude in a towel and put him on a bath mat.  This may result in whining and/or crying as he is missing out on precious "ba" time.

Step 3 - Drain the tub.
Do I need to explain why retrieving the poop whilst it is floating is a bad idea?

Step 4 - Call for back up.
Be sure to shout "emergency" and "Lysol" while doing this.  If your husband is anything like mine (love you!) then he needs to hear these things in order to know it's serious and to get a move on.

Step 5 - Poop removal.
That tub is drained by now - let's get that poop out!  But wait.  Your husband wants to take a picture.  Of course he does.  Seriously? Moving on...Bunch 5 - 10 tissues up in your hand and grab the log.  Flush that sucker.

Step 6 - Sanitize.
Use the Lysol to wash everything.  And I mean EVERYTHING.  The entire inside of the tub has been poopified, plus alll the bath toys.  Rinse the tub and toys with very hot water.  Run all the towels and mats that have touched the poopy child down to the laundry room and start the wash.  Give your kid a quick once over with some wipes.

Step 7 - Resume regularly scheduled bath time.
Refill the tub, put the kid in, and scrub him within an inch of his life.

Step 8 - Drink wine.
Again, do I need to explain why this is the next logical step?


This may or may not be based on a true story.

From the Weather Book

February 23
- gorgeous morning
- thick blanket of new snow

February 24
- a whole load of snow - allll day long!

March 1
- in like a lion....

March 3
- windy
- stormy
- snow
- ice
- rain
- tree down
- crazy, crazy weather

March 4
- cold, clear
- Happy Birthday Henry!

March 5
- cold!

March 6
- windy
- milder


Now that Henry's birthday has passed (cry, cry) I'm hoping that I can find more time to write and blog.

Sunday is on the Horizon

This coming Sunday is my son's first birthday and it's all I can think about.  Not because I have so much to do to prepare for it yet, but because I am astonished at how fast the year has passed.

From this -

To this -

And now this -

There was a time when I wasn't sure I wanted to be a mother, and now I can't imagine ever not being a mom.  This is so incredibly cliche, but having Henry completed me.  Not in a way where I feel I couldn't live without him or something (but, really I couldn't), but in a way that he was a missing piece of a puzzle that I didn't know existed.

I felt the same way after I met my husband.  It just fits.

Henry, thank you for choosing me.

A Letter to Winter

Hey Winter -

I've really enjoyed you this year.  More than ever before.  You continue to be beautiful, and for that I am grateful.

I am growing weary however, of ice, of my husband having to plow, and of more grey days than not.  I also think that I may have a slight case of the February blahs.  Totally not your fault, you're still doing a fantastic job.  Snowstorms, frigid temps, sparking snow, impressive icicles.  I'm just putting it out there.

I long for fresh breezes, melting snow, running water washing away winter grit.

While you're still here I'll admire you, enjoy you and feel nostalgic about you (my son was born in a March snowstorm), but consider yourself served. 

 This is your eviction notice.

We are officially waiting for Spring.

From the Weather Book

February 8
-full, bright moon

February 10
- snow

February 11
- cold -21C
- bright morning
- a really gorgeous day

February 15
- snow
- mild

February 16
- rain/snow
- slick roads
- driveway full of ice

February 17
- sun, mild
- walk on the lake

February 18
- colder -10C
- sunny. clear

February 21
- snowy evening

February 22
- mild
- snowy, snowy morning - thick and heavy
- lots of crazy banging outside...hoping snow coming off the roof??  ::paranoia::