laundry just keeps piling up and don't get me started on the dishes

one of my goals this year was to domesticate. It's going pretty well, the beds get made every day, there's a nutritious meal made most days that will last us for at least an extra day, I'm baking bread, and the bathroom is cleaned weekly with the shower mat thrown into the laundry at the beginning of the week. We have plans for our first garden, actually we have plans for planning our first garden, tomatoes, potatoes and peas(to help feed the soil) for sure with an assortment of herbs and a selection of berries.

I could go on to say that I've embraced the whole housewife lifestyle glorying in the act of taking care of my family but I won't. On a level there is that whole satisfaction but really it's to get me organized in my mind other wise I'm adrift wandering around with no set schedule. If I get the beds made first thing I feel like I've accomplished something, If the coffee grounds make it into the compost bucket (Oh yeah, we started reducing the amount of waste leaving our house too) then I feel like I'm not being lazy, if I can do a load of laundry a day folding and putting away the load for the day before I don't feel so swamped....

but the laundry; Do I even have to say it? It's always there. there is no end to it. There are days when I feel like Sisyphus in a never ending loop of clean the laundry fold the laundry put it away and just when I feel like it's almost over... well will you look at that? the laundry bin has gone and filled itself up again...

As the title of this post so aptly states Don't even get me started on the dishes... In most cases I've already started them and washed and dried a few sinks full. I can't tell you how much I miss having a dishwasher.

boy do I feel better now...

Pull out all the stops

I'm not a fashionista (I've never been sure about that word) I don't wash my face on a daily basis, my hair is often left unbrushed and make up only seems to touch my face on special occasions.

I do colour my hair on a semi regular basis ( I let the roots and the now abundant silver grow in until it's the only thing I see and then out comes the colour); but other than that I'm just not that keen on primping and preening which is kind of a weekness for me and also kind of a strength I suppose. I don't fret too much about how I look and if I break a nail well then I guess it's time to trim them.

Lately with the blues hanging around I've been putting more thought into my personal appearance, I coloured my hair last night (yup the roots were a good 2 inches long) and I've started moisturizing the face and adding a little shadow when we head outside and I bought a new pair of shoes yesterday (they were a cute little pair of bubblegum pink Airwalk Kicks) but they are new shoes and that has got to count for something. I'm sure this new found interest in will start to wane soon enough. It usually does...

A thousand Words

camera's in hand, we set out for a little photography walk.

this is one of mine

Quick update

I was notified this morning that this post has been made a feature blog at garden-planters.com. Must have been all my posts of garden statuary. I just got back from visiting their website and they have some absolutely gorgeous garden things. I'm a little partial to the cast stone fountain.

I do love a good thick fog

We've had a nice blanket of fog here this morning and yesterday we had another. I've mentioned before how much I love the light in a fog.

First BBQ of the year

and all others will be compared and judged by it.

I once thought about becoming a vegetarian, (right after reading Teen Beat or Sassy or one of those other teen magazines where it was Divulged that River Phoenix was a vegan). Then I considered that I wouldn't get to eat Yorkshire pudding and gravy if I was a vegan and also that Jello would be off the list too and at the time I just wasn't ready to give up blue jello even for dreamy River Phoenix. Well the blue jello has long since been left by the wayside (with the Peanut, I'm sure that it will make a comeback any day) but the prime rib and Yorkshire pudding drowning in rich gravy is still on permanent rotation.

So anyway, we went over to our good friends home on Saturday for some live music provided by the men and (as the Peanut so aptly put it) a delicious feast. We had grilled sirloin, pork and apple sausage, baked potatoes, Parmesan garlic bread, fresh green salad and corn on the cob. It was amazing, food and company both. I laughed until my jaw ached, ate until I couldn't possibly eat any more, and then I had some more.

It turned out to be the best antidote to my case of the January blues. Thank you all for your suggestions and support, I plan on making a trip to the beach soon to dig in the sand and watch the waves and maybe chase down a few seagulls. How was your weekend?

I hate to be a Downer

I really really do, so I'm not going to spend time complaining or belly aching. In the interest of staying relatively complaint free I'm just going to state the facts. I'm in the doldrums, I'm feeling blue, overwhelmed and awash in the fuzzy heads.

I've taken steps to detour around what could be a downward spiral. I'm creating on a daily basis. I'm brushing my teeth and applying minimal amounts of makeup I have plans to colour my hair. I'm getting out into the sun shine and making plans for the spring and summer garden. I'm not sure if it's just that time of year or just me so I'm asking for advice.

When you're not feeling rosey pink what do you do to snap out of it?

I only wish we could do more

I haven't written anything about Haiti here up until now, simply because I feel it's been taken care of by the media and other bloggers who have done a fine job of passing on the best information for offering aid.

The husband and I have donated to the Canadian Red Cross. We decided to donate through the Canadian Red Cross because as an eligible organization the Canadian Government will match our donation dollar for dollar (for more details you can visit the Canadian International Development Agency website) in addition, the husband's employer will also match our donation effectively tripling our donation.

A Thousand Words

in this shot, waiting for make believe dinner:
Front l to r: Christmas Puppy, Fire Puppy and Big Boy the Unicorn,
back: Bruce the Giant Sea Turtle and camoflaged by Fire Puppy's white Beluga Whale

Wednesday Word

Midnight clouds; earth walk
orange, white glow glazes sky
and I spy the stars

I fought against it

but the little green mold spores all over the stroller that we've used to transport the Peanut and library books and groceries and art supplies for the last 3.5 years talked me into splurging for a new one to use until sometime next year.

We'd actually been thinking about trading the stroller in for a wagon so that the Peanut; who is getting more and more interested in getting from point A to point B on her own two feet (No thanks, I'm just good with walking) could jump in when those two feet had had enough or when she wanted to stop and have a snack or both (I want to have a snack inside the stroller!). The above mentioned stroller was getting too small the the Peanut; her feet were hanging down below the foot rests and knocking on the snack tray.

So Saturday morning saw us leaving the house all on foot; catching the bus to the mall and picking out a new stroller to haul library books and the weekly grocery run oh yeah, and to push the Peanut to and from library and grocery trips that is when she's not insisting on walking.

The rest of the weekend was taken up with watching the penultimate episode of Dollhouse (it was awesome as expected), cutting some new relief blocks and working on my latest project (I'll let you in on what that is in the next few days) and considering changes that I've made to the 5 question feature. I've expanded the feature but cut back on the frequency of posts. I'm hoping that it will be a change for the better; allowing me to keep it going and also giving me time to keep on with my own things. I've gotten off to a pretty strong start with creating and want to keep the momentum going.

A thousand Words

A baker

Wednesday Word

On Monday we went to the library:

Frog rain boots splashing
up deep brown puddle water
a good day to walk

Yesterday, I mentioned that Jen over at Chasing Domestic Bliss is holding an Art Card Swap to celebrate Imbolc. Head on over to Chasing Domestic Bliss to read more about her exchange you can find out more here. I'm planning my card for the exchange right now!

My best gift and an exchange

I may have mentioned a few times that my family draws names for gift giving during the holidays. This year I got my sister, and as it happened my sister got me. My sister is not much of a shopper and I'll be the first to admit I'm not the easiest person in the world to shop for. Rather than leaving her with my standard "I'll be happy with whatever you get me " line, I had a specific request this year.

I wanted something that I knew I wouldn't get for myself. Also, I wanted to get something that was handmade. So I requested a french butter crock and included the email address of a friend of mine who lives near my parents who is a ceramicist who could probably whip one up with enough notice (keep in mind I made my request a week after Canadian Thanksgiving which is in October). Unfortunately for my friend she didn't get around to contacting her, but a handmade crock from another local potter was located.

It's lovely, the glaze is beautiful, the size is perfect and I put it into service before noon on the 25th.

Giving gifts to those not close by is a tricky concept. With the distance, it's sometimes hard to tell if your gift was appreciated or not. I just wanted to let my dear sister know that I loved it, that it was perfect and I don't know how I lived without it.


In other news Jen over at Chasing Domestic Bliss is holding an Art Card Swap to celebrate Imbolc. What is Imbolc you ask? To quote a quote from Jen's blog:

Imbolc celebrates the first stirring of the seeds, deep within the womb of earth. Just as nature is beginning to waken under its covering of snow, the birds sing again, the seeds to put forth the first tiny shoots, so we can feel ourselves beginning to look ahead, after long months of forced inactivity, to the plans and projects we will work on bringing to fruition in the greening season that is nearly here." -Celebrating the Great Mother by Cait Johnson and Maura D. Shaw

and to further quote Jen:

If you sign up you will receive a mailing address to send an Imbolc Greeting card to some one and you will receive one as well, this is not about being a great artist but about making something small and fun in as little as an hour or you can work on it for weeks. You can paint, collage, draw, take a photograph, use embroidery or even crayons. You can use Brigid as your inspiration or seeds stirring, you can make it very personal or keep it to a theme around an element or symbol that reminds you of this season. The sky is the limit and this is all about sharing and having fun so please join in.

Head on over to Chasing Domestic Bliss to read more about her exchange you can find out more here.

bread

I may have mentioned that I've decided to make my own bread this year. Last week I made my starter and watched and waited and stirred and sniffed and watched and waited some more and all the while worried that it wasn't working. The recipe I'm working from says that the starter should double in size (mine didn't which I attributed to the low temperature in our place due to our plan to conserve heat by lowering the thermostat) but I did get foam and a pleasant sour but still fresh scent and it didn't turn pink, orange or another strange colour so I decided to give it a try and make my first batch of bread today (and by today I mean Saturday)

It's been years since I last baked bread and I'd forgotten a few things. My first attempt at activating the yeast failed, my water wasn't warm enough. The second was warmer and I breathed a huge sigh of relief as the mix started to foam up nicely. We went for groceries yesterday which meant that I was able to stock up on whole grain whole wheat flour so not only did I make my first batch of bread in about ten years but I made my first ever batch of whole grain wheat bread. It took most of the day to make what with the mixing, kneading rising, punching down and shaping and rising and baking and cooling down. We started at 8 and the scent was making mouths water in a completely unflattering drool down the chin kind of way at 1:30.

I made a few sandwiches for my lunch with my bread and I have to say that I'm considering a mid evening sandwich even though I'm still full from dinner. I'm already looking forward to next week when I get to do it all over again.

Thousand Words

IIIIIIIIIIII Love you I Looooovvvvve you

I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you I love you

It fills my heart near to bursting when the Peanut Butter goes into "I love you mode". She'll go on for as long as possible at bedtime, when Daddy is leaving for work or I'm headed off somewhere without her. Well actually I rarely get I love you's on repeat, I get the guilt trip sweet enough to break your heart: "Why are you going? Because I love you" delivered with her biggest eyes and a small pout.

I'm concocting a sourdough starter today, we'll be having fresh bread by the weekend fingers crossed. I've also managed to get our beds made on a daily bases, crawling into a made bed at night has been a nice experience. The trick will be to keep it up on days when we are headed off on play dates and other expiditions and of course on the weekends when one or the other of us is sleeping in, napping or taking some time off to read a little...

Query:

So I'm sitting on the couch with the husband watching TV. This is not a regular eventing activity for us as a couple, husband has lots on the go, music practice, electronics hobby and a recent collaboration we've been working on usually keeps our evenings running on separate tracks with my time being used for daily decompression, working on the odd project, blogging, or watching TV by myself. (this is actually great, I never have to fight for the remote) So Monday night and Heroes is almost like a date night for us.

Getting back to what I started out with. We're watching TV and this beer commercial comes on. I've seen it before, and dismissed it but something about the ad kind of struck me tonight. Well a joke the husband made about the punch line which is something like "Take the best day of your life and put it in your mouth" Husband laughs and makes his joke and I started to think about what constitutes the best day of your life.

So I'm asking you:
Is the best day of your life the one where everything, absolutely everything was perfect, from start to finish

or

is the best day of your life the day when some major milestone happens: the day you graduated highschool/college/Uni, the day you met the person you want to spend the rest of your life with, the day you get married, the day your child is born?

How would you quantify the best day of your life?

I'll be

It happens every year around this time and I've made mention of it before, the whole making plans for a new year and starting something new. I have a short list of about five things I want to do this year and while I plan on writing about these things I just want to spread them out a bit.
One thing that I'm really looking forward to is doing some more baking this year. We visited the downtown library on Sunday and I took some time in the cookbook aisles, grabbing a few books on breads. I'll be making my first loafs this weekend if not sooner. I can taste the fresh from the oven smothered in melting butter now...

Anyone out there make bread themselves? Do you have any useful tips? Want to share a recipe for a nice crusty loaf? I'm open to suggestions especially tried and true tasty ones.

burnt out, and minor ramblings

It's time to get more iron pills, get to bed earlier and eat breakfast. It's hard to believe that a week without the stress of running to this place or that trying to get in as many minutes with family as possible can be as tiring as on with all that running around. Yesterday I had to nap, it wasn't a case of feeling that a little snooze would be nice it was a hammer coming down and knocking me unconscious for 90 minutes for much needed sleep. Thankfully the husband had had his nap just before and was able to feed the Peanut hotdogs for afternoon snack and ensure she wasn't watching inappropriate television. I can feel confident in the hotdog snack having fed her homemade turkey soup chock full of carrots, celery and potatoes for lunch. It's been cold here, cold in the house despite layers of sweaters and fuzzy socks plush 'jamma bottoms and a threatened addition of the fuzzy thermal housecoat, so hot soup was a good call and oh so yummy. I'm so thankful that our christmas dinner care package included some of the bones to make soup. I could eat soup daily in the winter, soup and stews with home made biscuits or bread.

Today we take down the tree and I have high hopes that all talk about what the Peanut wants for christmas will go into storage with the decor. She's still asking for this or that for christmas which is sweet but also tiring. This means that we're going to be arranging the house again. There are big plans afoot for reorganizing, my studio area is going to be shared as the husbands music practice area leaving more room in our bedroom for the boxes of holiday decor that were a little moist from sitting in the garage for ten months. We'll be setting up the new printer/scanner I indulged in and I'll be getting started on some new projects that were just waiting for a printer to get started.

I hope that your New Years Eve celebrations were safe and fun and that you are starting out a new year and decade with plenty ramblings of your own, less burn out than I'm feeling and lots of plans for the next year. I promise more photos in the coming posts.