OK- On to Serious Business

I want to chat today about Balancing. Not on a beam, but balancing life- not necessarily a schedule, but even finding an emotional balance. It's something I've always struggled with because I like to take on a hundred different things at one time, but rarely can I get any satisfaction from them because I can't focus. (Hence the name of my blog...)

On the way home on the ferry yesterday, I had it all figured out. Get a big chalkboard, make a schedule and lists and stick to it. Then I came home to a house still looking like a birthday party, loads of laundry, unpacking, gardening work... and a teething toddler.

Flash forward to today - 30 degrees weather, a clingy toddler, and all of the above list to try and accomplish. Yikes! Well, I did manage to do the gardening and a load of laundry (although I couldn't bear to put the dryer on), but not much else because I became so overwhelmed I couldn't accomplish anything except a nice visit.

So, I want to know how you balance family and home life (and work as well). What do you do? What are your tips to getting it all done - or do you?

I think that it's going to start with an earlier bedtime, which is going to be a challenge - and getting back in to some great healthy food, then accomplishing more in the mornings will be easier, leaving the rest of the day open to fun activities for Avari, and more productive fun crafts for me in the evening.

Melllltttttinnnnnggggg!

Wow is it ever hot! This is day 3 of our true summer weather and it seems like we have stepped in to Arizona. I'm looking up ways to acclimatize myself because I haven't been known to adapt well to extremes! :P

This weekend went by in a blur - I'm very happy to say that Avari's mouth has healed up and she's nursing like a champ again, so no worries there. Of course, now I realize that is something that I'm going to have to start thinking about. I have no intentions to lead the process, I believe in child-led weaning, so I'll just have to realize that when her body decides it's time, it's time! I had a great time at the wedding on Saturday, the photos Karen took are going to be fantastic, and I am so truly thankful that she lets me crash at her house and get a good night sleep! John made us a fantastic breakfast, I borrowed a slow cooker cookbook, got to work on the sweater and really get in to the book I'm reading, and voila - now I'm home again!

Garden Check:
1/2 of the garden is doing incredible, 1/2 won't take.

Front Yard - The peas are a good 6-7 feet tall now, and there are peas starting to grow, the fava beans are getting large, the bean plants have finally started to wind themselves around the string and are taking off (I guess the soil just needed to warm up). My lilies have opened, the passiflora vine is ready to bloom, I'm waiting on the chamomile flowers to open so I can harvest them, the rose bushes aren't looking hot, but there are some beautiful roses coming in. Even the front rock garden is looking well kept!


Backyard- Well, first the positives. Lettuce is ready to start getting a mixed salad, the celery is beginning to look like celery, broccoli plants are standing tall, the garlic is growing. My back rock garden is starting to grow and fill in, I think it will be so beautiful next year! Slowly, plant by plant, I'm working on the area around the fruit trees. I have a cherry on our cherry tree!!!! Great first harvest. Both the cherry and the peach plum are really growing. We may even get a few raspberries this year on our baby bushes.

Negatives - The cucmbers, zucchini and squash all keep disappearing. I gave up on the carrots after replanting 5 times. This is frustrating me SO much! It seems like the yellow marigolds are doing their job, but the plants around the orange ones aren't making it.

Greenhouse! We have cherry tomatoes and Italian Peppers growing! The others should take off and even my tomatoes I planted last month from seed are getting big, they may even produce, I'm hoping I ddin't wait until too late!

Quite the Day

My mom and I are sitting out on the deck enjoying the beautiful weather, watching the sun sloooowwwly setting over the estuary. There are 2 eagles that have been flying over the farm behind us for the last 30 minutes. Except for the traffic noise, it's pretty peaceful!

Today was a go go go kind of day. Avari had a pretty awful sleep with her poor teeth cutting in and so we were up around 5, but I managed to keep her quite for the other guests until around 7 by finding some episodes of "In the Night Garden" on my computer.

I had my final official Chicks Who Click this morning and it was really fun. I got a better perspective about using space and background and metering. I can't share any photos, because my camera is in the shop getting a tune up, but I will next week when I pick them up. Karen and I also did some super fast shop browsing in Cumberland and I discovered a super yarn store that I have to visit as well as a few other great shops on the main drag -I will be going back!

Avari had her birthday photos this afternoon and Karen was able to get some super cute tutu shots, even through the teething. We also relied heavily on "throwing rocks" to get some happy faces out of the poor thing- but I can't wait to see them.

This evening, we enjoyed out on the deck. Avari still couldn't get more than some applesauce down, but she had fun playing with Dolly who is newly christened as "Carrot". Yes- that's right! She finally got her name. She also got to be Avari's partner for sleeping bunny and row row. I think it's going to be the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Here's my mommy worry of the day. Tonight, with her sore mouth and tongue, she couldn't latch on to breastfeed. She did today, but she'd pop off really quickly. I'm having a bit of a panic, because I'm afraid that she is going to lose the ability to latch and I'm really not ready for that part of our relationship to be over. Especially so suddenly. I truly wanted to be one of the mothers to show a good example and show that it is OK to extended breastfeed and that it isn't odd - since the world wide average is 4.2 years.

Of course, I could be completely over reacting, but she usually always needs that time before bed to unwind and get all sleepy. Well, tonight she tried, couldn't latch and then walked me over to her little travel bed, layed down and went to sleep. (With Carrot of course). She has even stirred once when a sea plane landed, and usually she gets up and wants "Noke". But I asked her if she wanted it, and she just rolled over and went back to sleep.

If this is it, I'm going to be completely devastated. I know that when she is ready to stop, that's when she is ready to move on, but I'm unprepared psychologically to lose that at this time! I guess I need to start some reading, but it's going to be a stressful couple of days while her teeth come in and her tongue heals and I wait to see if we're ever going to have that special bond again.

OK I'm on a Roll

I don't feel that I can relax tonight yet because I've been reading too much about "the number 350" . Everyone who knew me in the past will find this odd, because I used to be the complete opposite of an activist. In fact I was probably an anti-activist activist. I can't do that anymore. Maybe it is because I have grown up, or perhaps because I've created a next generation of my own, but all of this really means something to me now. Does that mean that I am going to go out an march for the Earth? Maybe? But there has to be more I can do everyday. I've looked up a top ten list of things someone can do to lower their carbon emissions and I'm really challenging everyone to read the link above, as well as the article in the post below and really thing about what you can do to help.

1. Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

This is the one major chance that we have done in our family in the past 6 months. I never used to recycle. I would roll my eyes at the extra work. That is, until I moved to Powell River and was faced with having to go out and remember to buy garbage tags for each bag of garbage AND remember which day was garbage day AND pay $2 for every bag to be taken away. Previously in Victoria when we lived in an apartment, we could just throw the bags in the dumpster. Well, all of a sudden, sorting out recycling and doing a compost seemed much easier. We went from probably 3 green bags weekly to now we're lucky if we have one white kitchen bag. We don't buy very much packaged food anymore, we're keeping all of our glass jars to reuse, and we recycle/compost everything that can be.

By recycling half of your household waste, you can save 2,400 pounds of carbon dioxide annually.

2. Use Less Heat and Air Conditioning

Air conditioning isn't a problem because we don't have it. Heat. Well... I like heat. I like being warm. I dislike being cold and our house is cold in the wintertime. I guess a major motivation for next winter will be the cost of heating, since natural gas costs are supposed to go up about $150 yearly for the average household. Sweaters, blankets, warm pajamas... I think a main issue is going to have to be making the house warmer. Our house leaks cold air from every crack. Most of the windows are just a single pane of glass set in a frame with no weather stripping at all. I was looking in to getting yards of wool interlock for the windows to hang to keep the heat in and the cold out. Weather Stripping is something that we should be spending our Climate $100 rebate on because in the long run, it would probably save us more than the $100 put in. This is going to be a huge priority this year.

Setting your thermostat just 2 degrees lower in winter and higher in summer could save about 2,000 pounds of carbon dioxide each year.

3. Change a Lightbulb

OK- this is something I have no excuse for not doing since my father owns a lighting store. He isn't sold on the idea though yet and apparently there are new LED ones coming out this year that are better so I'm holding out for them. My dad just told me a horrifying thought about our motion detector that probably uses up 30% of our total electricity bill. We'll be doing something about that for sure!

Replacing just one 60-watt incandescent light bulb with a CFL will save you $30 over the life of the bulb. CFLs also last 10 times longer than incandescent bulbs, use two-thirds less energy, and give off 70 percent less heat.

4. Drive Less and Drive Smart

Guilty as charged. Although my wonderful new Honda Element is good on gas for it's kind of vehicle, it's obviously not great on gas. Luckily for us, we live in a place that you can't drive more than 10 minutes a day on a typical day. I'd say that I probably on a normal day drive less than 20k (more likely 10k with one trip to town and back). It's just far enough with a toddler though, that we can't walk to get downtown and back without interfering with sleeptimes. This summer I'll be consuming more than usual with my jaunts over to the island. I wonder if ferry travel impacts my carbon footprint. Scary thought since I'll be making about 15 trips over and back.

5. Buy Energy-Efficient Products

We did do this this year! We got a new washer/dryer to replace the 20 year old ones that we have. Next on the list is the dishwasher, though for the amount it gets used...

But energy efficient products spread beyond home appliances. What about all the excess packaging that can't be recycled in home products? Can you avoid buying things packaged in styrofoam? Can you buy used things, or check out your local freecycle to get things second hand?

6. Use Less Hot Water

Right now we are very guilty of this. Avari's diapers get washed on super hot and I'd say they make up about 3 loads a week. Another reason to get very excited about potty training this year!

Set your water heater at 120 degrees to save energy, and wrap it in an insulating blanket if it is more than 5 years old. Buy low-flow showerheads to save hot water and about 350 pounds of carbon dioxide yearly.

7. Use the "Off" Switch

Dum Dum Dum.... OK - if I can make any lifestyle change this year. This will be it. I am very lazy when it comes to turning off switches. Well, not lazy - more like flighty. I just don't think about it. Posting a note at the back door would maybe do it? I have been unplugging my laptop at night, but I've been hearing so much about the amount of energy a turned off plugged in TV uses up. Pretty horrifying. I guess I could start with lights, TV unplugging and computer unplugging.

8. Plant a Tree

I did this!!!!!!!!! Finally something to feel proud about! This year we have planted 3 trees, 3 long life large vines and a whole ton of plants. My yard is breathing very well. Never mind the peach plums, cherries and figs it will provide us with.

A single tree will absorb approximately one ton of carbon dioxide during its lifetime.

9. Get a Report Card from your Utility Company

Although the blog that I got these ideas from says that you can get an energy audit for free, I believe that it costs $150 in BC, but that it opens you up to a huge amount of rebates for making changes in your home. I think that if we reno our house we will do this, but for the time being, we probably can't afford the changes it will take to make a difference.

10. Encourage Others to Conserve

well- that's what I'm doing right now, so I did my part! Don't forget to check out http://www.350.org and the banner on the left to see how you can help. Please share ideas of what you are doing/have done to make your home and life more energy efficient. Now I'm off to find out about the carbon footprint for the ferry...

Inspiration at 350

You've all seen the banner to the left - now here's the reason behind it all. This article explains the dire straights that it has come to to save our planet and his words make more sense than mine ever will. Please visit the link!

http://www.thenation.com/doc/20080526/mckibben

Remember

“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something. And I will not let what I cannot do interfere with what I can do.” Edward Everett Hale - courtesy of the Crunchy Domestic Goddess Mom Blog

Gone and Away

Avari, my mom and I are enjoying a nice evening at the Estuary Bed and Breakfast in Comox tonight. I have my Chicks Who Click Course tomorrow morning with Karen, and then Avari's photos and then I work on Saturday. So Karen has to hang out with me for 2.5 days!

Bed and Breakfasts with kids are always a bit of a worry- especially with an early riser like Avari. It's hard to keep a wide eyed bouncy child quiet at 5AM, so I'm hoping that she has a little sleep in so she doesn't treat the other guests to a gorgeous impromptu sunrise experience.

We've spent 4 weekends at this B&B and it's great! Brenda makes a fabulous breakfast, the view is to die for (as long as you ignore the Walmart sign glowing across the estuary), and at the moment I can hear an eagle calling in the tree outside the window.

Kevin is in charge of my garden at home for the weekend, and everything was just starting to grow. The first peas appeared this morning and the most gorgeous orange and pink lilies are in bloom. Next week we'll be treating ourselves to our own lettuce!

Well, there's nothing like hanging out on a nice bright bed, so I'm going to grab my book and knitting and look for a show online to watch and enjoy the evening now that the monkey has gone to sleep.

Google Books- what have I been missing!

I was searching online for how to make an infusion with chamomile leaves since Avari is teething her eye teeth and the flowers haven't grown yet on my plant.

Well all of a sudden up on the screen came a book, in it's full glory that I could browse on books.google.ca - I felt slightly guilty browsing the book page by page, but then I started to think of it as an online library and all of a sudden my world opened up to new possibilities! Perhaps in my naive world I tend to believe what I read in a book more than what I can find on a website - so voila! The perfect compromise for a frugal person like myself.

Tapping in to creativity

I have discovered a series hole in my ability to be creative. Give me a pattern, a photo, or instructions and I'm all over it.

Stand me in front of bolts of fabric, or just give me an original challenge and I'm lost! Basically I'm a bit of a rip-off artist. Or perhaps I've never given myself the opportunity to be creative. I think there is probably a good psychological reason why I'm unable to create original material, but I haven't figured it out.

So, I've created yet another goal (which reminds me that I need to start tracking my goals on the side of my blog so that I can keep track of them). I'm going to be creative!

I'm scared!

I'm joining the Creativity 350 Campaign (banner link to your left). Basically you're supposed to create something crafty that is significant to the number 350.

???

I will figure it out! I hope.

I'm also struggling this month with my Chicks Who Click photo word. I'm not sure how to take a picture that represents the words. I've taken alot of great photos that I'm pleased with this month however they have nothing to do with Transition or Power . I just can't wrap my head around that one.

Considering that I have to send the photos to the developer by tomorrow afternoon, I'm really, really stuck. Grrrr

I'm growing things!!! FOR REAL!!!

I'm so excited! I just got back from a little walk through of the garden and things are actually producing food - yippee!!!!


There are teeny tiny little peppers growing on my purple italian drying pepper plant they are so cute!!! I also have some little cherry tomatoes, strawberries and fava beans!!! The peas are flowering and they are a towering 6 feet tall. The lettuce is ready to pick, one of the celery plants is growing something that resembles celery.

Wow, wow, wow!!! I have the most beautiful roses growing today as well- I'm in garden heaven and I can't wait to see what it will look like next year!

I'm off to see if I can find a sew along to make Avari clothes for the fall/winter...

Yesterday...

Poor Avari was having a tough day yesterday recovering from too much party junk food, and I'm having some serious mommy guilt about it. Why did I feel the need to supply the kind of food that she doesn't get daily and obviously threw off her internal system. Next year I'm going to do a super healthy but great party. In the meantime, we have enough food left in our house to feed an army- I'm sure Kevin and I will pay for it after the week in the pant button department, but it's sure good in the meanwhile!

On Sunday I baked Amish Friendship bread. Sabrina from the Family Place brought a starter by on June 11th and you let it sit and squish the dough everyday for 10 days only adding more ingredients on day 6. At the end of the 10 days, you split the starter in 4, keep one for next time, hand out the other 3 and then with the remaining, bake 2 loaves of awesome cinnamon bread. So... I have 3 starters here that I'll be trying to give away tomorrow.

I ordered a few books yesterday that were reviewed on the Comox Valley Kids website yesterday. They look incredible and I can't wait to get them (I also hid a little sewing book for myself in there as well sshhhhh...). I always feel very guilty about not buying books locally, but usually when I come across a book I like it is at night, online, and on sale. I really need to start carousing our book store more and gather inspiration from instore. The library I'm trying to embrace. Trying. I am truly a book snob. I don't like reading books that look well read. Of course that makes no sense, but I love new books! So, I tend to stick to the New Book Shelf when I go. I also am having a heck of a time logging in to the library's website, to order books that I want and when I get to the library I seem to have forgotten which books I was interested in, so the library tends to get treated second rate by us.

We got out Environment Rebate checks yesterday. What I want to do with it- Spend the entire $300 on a rocking garden! I'm dreaming Peonies for everywhere! But it will get put to an entirely inappropriate use. Tanks of gas. How does that even make sense??? But we really do want to go to Vancouver, and that will help finance the way.

The sun is on it's way out so it's time to go and do more weeding!

Adventuring....

This afternoon I decided that it would be fun to show Kevin and Avari where we went for our Herbal Nature walk a few weeks back. So, we packed all up to go to Craig Park. Craig park is north of town about 3/4 of the way to Lund. There is a big sign off of the highway and the turn off is the same for the Glenrosa Golf Course. They have a fabulous play area, tennis courts and a ball field. To get to our little adventure, we had to drive down an off road road. I wasn't sure exactly how to get there, so it took 2 tries, but we made it!

I have to admit that I need to take a course on adventuring. I would love to do more, but growing up in the city has left me with no natural sense of naturing. I was leading them down a trail but all of the alarm bells were going off in my mind! Are we on the right trail? What if we aren't? What if we run in to a bear? Or a cougar? How old are those bear tracks? Yikes! I also learned that the just 2 set aren't quite ready to go adventuring on those kind of trails! Avari just wanted down the whole time and we were a bit nervous.

So, this evening, we're going in search of some "break in" trails to help get our feet wet and introduce us to a foreign idea!

Birthday Party Recovery

What a perfect day yesterday! The weather was incredible, and it seemed like the kids all had a blast at the party. I had a book exchange so I got everyone to bring a book with them, the kids decorated their goodie bags and at the end of the night they all got a book to take home with them.

We also did the most fabulous thing for cupcakes. This might be old news for you, but I'd never heard of it before! You bake cupcakes right in ice cream cones, and then it's really easy for the kids to handle. I even stole a few ideas from the Today Party that was run a few months ago at Karen's photo study with Comox Valley Kids. We took extra icing from the birthday cake and divvied it up in to little dixie cups and let the kids decorate their own cupcakes. I also stole the idea of putting out a big roll of paper for the kiddos to decorate and they made a wonderful banner for Avari that I think I'm going to get laminated for her (Kevin says that it will cost 100$ so we have a little bet about that going on). Between that, the balloons, the pinata (which was a huge success). My parents know how to throw one heck of a party - I'm not sure what a party would look like without their help!

We are so lucky to have met so many wonderful families since we have moved here. It's a big adjustment to move from college life right into starting a family in a new town but it seems to be going really well. I don't know what I'd do without all of these great kids (and their moms and dads) that we get to spend time with every week! At 2, Avari has more than a dozen friends that she asks for by name on a daily basis, and I think that is so incredible and I can't wait for her to grow up with them. I think that is the greatest thing about a small town like Powell River. There isn't a heck of a lot going on, so chances are you'll get to see everyone at least every week!

Here are some birthday pictures




Craig and Avari in the sandbox





























For all of the photos, you can check out my flickr set
http://www.flickr.com/photos/11254172@N04/sets/72157605741996322/

Looking across the ocean....

those cirrus clouds are not looking promising! They usually only move in before a low pressure system. Hmmmmmmm. The weather report is still saying 19C and cloudy with no precipitation expected for the next 24 hours. I won't go into what Environment Canada says because- hey, they don't have a TV station, how good could it be right? Right?

The cake is making it's way in to the oven as we speak - The cupcakes. Well half of them made it in to the oven alive! Good thing I had planned to make about triple the amount we needed so we ended up in good shape. I definitely need to get an honourary recipe reader.

I'm also fighting what I believe to be a winning battle with this cold. It really has no chance to take hold with the ammunition I'm using. Here's the list of what I'm taking repeatedly over the day.

Oil of Oregano - every hour. I live for this stuff!
Colloidal Silver - a teaspoon 5X a day and a nose spray
Cold FX- I finished off the bottle last night
Oscillococcinum - I only had one dose left so I took it
Thymuline - Not sure if it will help, but it can't hurt
Dr. Rahim's Immune Booster - 3X daily
Some Sinus Homeopathic stuff - as a preventative
Drosera - as a preventative for the cough
Some Amino Acid thing for sinuses
My mom has also lent me a couple of other stuff she has to take

So really, how could the cold take hold? So far I feel nothing but a little aching in my upper back and a really slightly stuffy nose. I mean serious business here!

Off to make some dips for crackers. Please keep praying for the rain to stay away!

Weather is the name of the game.

We've got the food ideas, the cake ingredients, party favours, birthday dress, the weather...

Wait a minute. The weather!

Now, right now the forecast is almost perfect- 18 and cloudy. Partly Cloudy would be the most desirable, but I definitely won't be picky! Especially with the flooding in the US Midwest, and the tornados and hail they are having, and the droughts in Texas. I'll take mild without rain any day!

With the weather not being very pleasing today, I'm enjoying a bit of a couch break while Avari is napping. What I should be doing is scrubbing up the downstairs, just in case the party has to move inside, but I'm optimistic! Rain isn't allowed on the first day of summer is it? The other thing I should be doing is knitting a little camisole for Avari's dress, just in case it is as cold as it is today. I've been in a bit of a needle funk lately though - I get frustrated because all of the projects I want to spontaneously begin seem to need a needle size that I don't have.



The other thing I'm trying to do is will away all of the sick germs that have been floating through the house all week. I'm usually the first one to come down with something, but I have the feeling since Avari got it and I didn't, she didn't get any immunity from nursing so most likely it's just waiting to appear. The only good thing is that it seems to be just an annoyance kind of cold if anything, neither Kevin or Avari seemed very sick - so hopefully I can fight it off silently over the next couple of days and then be all perky for the big party!!!






here's the birthday dress!

T-3 Days

We're in party mode around here!!!! Praying for good weather, and getting together the goodies. It seems like it would be pretty simple to throw a party, but when you're trying to be healthy and environmentally responsible- apparently that is pretty difficult.

Fun, healthy food for the party as well as some goodies. Making a cake and realizing about food dye in the icing. Icky plastic beach balls for the kids. Even picking up a new propane tank for the barbeque makes me feel a bit self conscious. I think this is going to take me a few years to perfect- not a good project to undertake in 3 days - so I'll make it a future goal to make an awesome, fun, healthy, sustainable party. Maybe in time for birthday # 3.

Oh hooray- our fence is finished! We won't have to worry about little munchkins taking a nosedive off of the edge of a yard (it is a 3-6 foot mini cliff). The fence is the cutest, most wonderful picket fence in the world and I'm already planning on next year's plants to put there. It completes the yard so wonderful. Actually, the entire yard will be so wonderful next year. Raspberries, Cherries, Peach-Plums, Strawberries. I think that I will be sad to leave it when we build our hypothetical farm. (Did I mention that I have picked out a plan?)

It's time to put my baby girl to bed for one of the last times before she's a little girl

Looking ahead to the big 0-2!

We're T-4 days until Avari's 2nd birthday. My baby is going to be an official toddler! It's funny because 2 and a half years ago, I was assuming that I would probably be ready to burst with baby number 2 by now.

Funny how things change! Other than regret for my other favourite unused baby names, I'm pretty content with our three person family. Luckily Kevin feels the same way. Since we're still going through nights of interrupted sleep with the occasional break, it's hard to imagine going back there again for another 2+ years.

Right now we have dreams of our own little farm. A place for us to grow our own food, raise meat and pets. Have a spot for Avari to run wild all day in between schooling sessions. Our own orchard, grape vines.... doesn't that sound incredible! The world is getting to a very scary place as far as food sustainability and availability, and I'd love to create our own little niche in the planet. Granted, we know nothing about farming (and considering that the only thing thriving from my newly planted garden is one zucchini plant and some peas), we have alot to learn! We were very lucky to have gotten in the market at a good time, and we've secured good equity in our house. I'm hoping that the equity we have will be enough to buy us a few acres of land and then we can build a house with the cost of our existing mortgage. The best thing yet is that Kevin agrees with me! *

(* Those who know me know of my weekly new dream/scheme and it's up to Kevin to bring me back to earth)

So, it seems like this might actually be a really down to earth smart idea and we've set a time line of 3.5 years and here's to hoping that the dreams can come to fruition!

Some photos to share

I forgot to add this on my last post- working for Karen also has an even bigger perk- I'm learning so much about how to take better photos. Here are some to share from this month





look at how in focus her eyes are at 2.8f !





























CATCHLIGHTS!!!!!!!!






I went on a nature walk last month and it was wonderful!



























Beautiful morning window light!

I was so proud at how even lighting I got this photo




























Avari wants to wear her tutu everywhere!

Reinventing the Blog

So, it's been 2 months since i've posted- bad on me again! I've been trying to muster up something interesting to write, since I subscribe to a heck of a lot of good blogs. I want to be able to reciprocate with something equally enjoyable, and it just felt like everything was pretty blah di blah.

I think I'm becoming inspired to write not only about my daily life, but to issues that really matter for me. As you can see from my last post in April, I was looking to become a more responsible citizen, and voila - it's been working! My compost is baking away and starting to resemble some gorgeous rich earth and my garden is flourishing (with the exception of the plants I keep having to replace from the beetles and slugs). I should be able to start harvesting some lettuce leaves next week, and the first blossom has appeared on my 5 foot tall pea plants. Even though I don't like to eat tomatoes, I have 24 plants in the greenhouse which will hopefully provide us with tomato sauce and salsa for the winter.

This year's garden is technically a trial run for me, because I've never in my life gardened before. I have been learning a ton, and am ready to stockpile seeds and plan out a good companion garden for next year. I stumbled upon companion gardening this month as I replanted cucumber and corn seedlings for the 3rd time as they were being completely sheared off at the base. Obviously not a fan of pesticides, but desperate to be able to make pickles I went searching for answers.

Companion Gardening! - The act of planting certain plants together that are beneficial and deter bugs. So far, my cucumbers and corn have survived 3 days with the help of marigolds and nasturtiums. Nasturtiums truly have become my own best companion - they have beautiful foliage and you can eat the flowers and they deter bugs from eating the veggies- what can be better than that!

Enough about the garden for now. It's Avari's birthday coming up on the solstice. She is such a doll! I asked her today how old she will be

2! *

(*OK - there may have been a teensy little bit of conditioning there...)

But, what I didn't condition her to do is pick out the letter B on a page and tell me what it was. I fluke I thought, so I have asked her a few more times since and she was bang on each time. So, she knows the letter B - and she's started to sing some of the songs we do at toddler time/

I've been in a bit of a panic this week, because we do many fun things every week, and one by one they are closing down for the summer. The Family Place does stay open though which is a lifesaver for the pair of us!

On the work front. I am having so much fun working for Karen this summer assisting for weddings. Besides being an incredible photographer, she is the most awesome positive person in the world and so much fun to be around! I look forward to the weekends that I get to take the ferry over the island. I wish that we post lived on the same side of the water so that I could work for her permanently! ( I would definitely have better taste in music if we hung out more ).

So, I'm going to promise to blog something very insightful everyday all summer - I promise!!!! I'll share more photos, and hopefully I'll have more crafty stuff to share!