Bells' Angels

Today we took the whole fam damily down to High Park for the 2009 Bells On Bloor protest event. Not sure how many riders turned up, but a seemingly endless stream of cyclists poured out of the park, taking over Bloor St. on our way down to Queen's Park. Amazingly amidst the chanting, singing, and ringing of bells, Ezra still fell asleep right off the mark.

WHAT DO WE WANT? BIKE LANES!!!
WHERE DO WE WANT 'EM? HERE!!!
WHEN DO WE WANT 'EM? NOW!!!

RING A DING DING AMEN!!!




Here's the view from behind. Guess I should have told C to hike up his pants...

I don't recommend anyone simultaneously film, ring a bell, and steer a bike. Sorry for the wobbly footage.

Biblio-Blues

Summer is the season for juicy paperback novels. You know the kind. The kind you can't bring yourself to pull out on the subway. The bad kind. The totally embarrassing kind. The kind you don't even want to read in front of your husband. Because he is a non-fiction/literature type; a Ralston-Saul-Rohinton Mistry-reading man who can crack walnuts with his enormous brain. He would not be interested in a book that could quite possibly kill brain cells. Unlike myself.

The latest book to strike my fancy is entitled Dead Until Dark by Charlaine Harris, and is the first book in The Southern Vampire Mysteries (yes, the same books that inspired HBO's True Blood). But getting my hands on this one is easier said than done. I can no longer zip into my local Chapters and stock up on some light reading with the leftover Christmas gift cards littering my wallet. Now I only have one place to go. And it's called the public library.

It will be a long time before Sookie Stackhouse and I are reunited. I'm number 44 in the queue. At this rate, I'll be able to author my own fan fiction, entitled Dead Until Your Fines Are Paid For That Damaged Copy Of The Very Hungry Caterpillar". Or something like that.

Lucky Me

I should really buy lottery tickets because I always win free stuff. And the timing couldn't be worse. Carine and I checked out the Spring Handmade market a couple of weeks ago at the Gladstone. I went to get inspiring gift ideas that I could make and sew myself. I didn't expect to win the damn door prize.

So now I have a voucher for a piece of jewelry from Zippan Designs. This tree pendant is so purdy. I can see it dangling before my eyes, temporarily hypnotizing me. But alas, time to snap myself awake and let it go.



So which of you readers would like the voucher? Write me a haiku and I'll choose a lucky friend!

One Month Sum Up

One month down. To be completely honest, it hasn't felt like much of a challenge so far. And strangely enough, I'm kind of disappointed about that. I keep thinking to myself, is this too easy? Should we dream up other sadistic ways of depriving ourselves? But then I remember; like all long distance runners, we're in the zone right now. Right off the mark, we're sailing, we're optimistic, and we've barely broken a sweat. I imagine that in a few months we'll be looking to the sidelines for a cup of water, some Icy Hot, and a bag of frozen peas to soothe the burning holes in our pockets. Apparently it's as painful as a couple of torn hamstrings. OK, so that analogy can only go so far. But you do see my point. To borrow a line from the Carpenters, "We've only just begun".

That said, we have still endured some minor hardships this month, namely giving up paper towel and plastic wrap. Paper towel is just so handy for cleaning toddler messes off the floors and walls--like mashed up pieces of banana, sticky mango wedges, and chewed up pieces of eggplant. Who wants to handle that?

Saran wrap has also been greatly missed, and there are now a million old yogurt containers in the fridge harbouring everything from mystery leftovers to green peppers and onion halves. I have to brace myself every time I open one. Nothing like going for a little leftover lentil soup and finding a piece of moldy tempeh. As for cheese, it now lives in old bread bags and I'm not sure how effective this method is. Suggestions?

C has something else to refer to the Complaint Department but he intends to write an appeal of his own. I'll tip you off: the new Bob Dylan album just came out. What's a fanatic to do?

Update: Thanks to Trudy for loaning us a cheese keeper. These mice sure appreciate it!

Tossed and Found

It is with mixed feelings that I announce the end of my relationship with my beloved Delilah. Sniff sniff. We had some great times together, her and I. I will miss skidding around on her coaster brakes. And doubling my drunk friends on her back. And the cheerful ding dong of her giant bell that made me feel like I was driving the damn Dairy Belle. I will not however, miss Christopher yelling at me to keep up the pace. Or having to drag her 100 lb metal ass up every incline.



I will be moving on to greener pastures (quite literally). Delilah will be replaced by this sweet new bike I found leaning against a tree for someone to adopt. Behold this 70s girly Peugot. With gears. Now I only need to find the perfect name.

Picnic Dress

Summer is upon us and it's time to evaluate the wardrobe situation. We have a couple of weddings/parties coming up so I have to plan ahead. I picked up a couple of used dresses that I thought had some potential. Christopher is not a fan of either dress, and referred to this one as particularly "heinous".

Admittedly, this dress is a bit...dated, for lack of a better word. I have been tossing around the idea of shortening it, and doing away with the whole picnic motif. I can't decide. Let's put it to a vote!

poll by twiigs.com

White Teeth

This morning we officially squeezed the very last pearl of toothpaste out of the tube. Luckily, it took exactly a minute to whip up this easy formula found at Pioneer Thinking.

6 tsp baking soda
1/3 tsp salt
4 tsp vegetable glycerin
15 drops essential oil such as peppermint, wintergreen, or anise.

Mix, brush, and spit!

Update: Hmmm, it's kind of salty when you brush but the minty aftertaste is refreshing. Feels clean and polished too. I guess you can't go wrong with baking soda--same as I use for cleaning my sinks!

Morning Vistas

I am unabashedly a morning person. I cheerfully announced this to my bleary eyed husband this morning as he dragged his ass out the door to work. "Good for you" he grumbled. To which I replied: "No, that's good for you". Even he has to concede that point. Work aside, it's almost always me who gets up with Ezra and gives him an extra hour of zzzzzs.

This morning was glorious, and with the garden underway, Ezra and I now have a new routine. Get up. Eat breakfast. Make coffee. Fill watering can. Spend an hour on the deck with the plants, watching rush hour Go-trains whiz by.

Our garden inventory:

sweet basil
thai basil
cilantro
tarragon
lavender
thyme
oregano
dill
mint
calendula
cherry tomatoes
Roma tomatoes


And here is the view we took in from the back deck, around 7:30 am:

On The Line

Frank's Garden


Later, we hitched up the bike trailer and flew down to High Park for a little exercise. We ran down the big hill, watched the ducks, picked dandelion greens, chased red winged black birds, ate some crisp Fujis, and then Ezra crashed some wedding photos that were being taken by the pond.

Now we're enjoying some quiet time and I will set about washing the dandelion greens for our salad tonight. I would also like to make some Mother's Day cards and gifts to accompany them. I plan to do a potted floral arrangement for my Grandma in one of our pretty Chinese ceramic pots. As for the other moms, my stove will be aflame this evening as I try my hand at mixing up a magical elixir. I never took chemistry in high school so we may be in for a disaster!

In food news, Ezra and I spied some fiddleheads and wild leeks at the Thursday market. Won't be around much this weekend to cook, so next week we'll pick some up for sure! Oooh, and before I forget, I came across a source of bulk olive oil. Dufferin Grove, Thursdays year round. Score!

Critical Mass

Christopher and Ezra took part in the Critical Mass bike ride in celebration of Earth Hour. It made our local paper if you care to check it out. Yes, Ezra's still a boy, don't believe everything you read...

Green Things

My urban garden is in the works. Because we live so close to the train tracks, the quality of our soil is questionable to say the least. Instead, we will plant everything in pots. I prefer a utilitarian garden with herbs and vegetables. I've never been crazy about flowers, unless you can eat them. For this reason I think I'll only grow some French lavender and calendula. They're great for infusions, such as my lavender infused honey. Yum.

Here's the recipe:

1 cup honey
1 Tbsp dried lavender blossoms or 2 Tbsp fresh lavender

1.  Heat honey in a small pot over low heat until it turns to liquid. 

2.  Add lavender and continue to heat gently for 10 minutes. 

3.  Remove from heat and allow the honey to infuse for a few hours. 

4.  Reheat honey to a liquid and strain out the flower blossoms. Enjoy in salad dressings, teas, or homemade creams and lotions.

Now if I can only stop Tom's cats from coming up on the deck and peeing in my pots. Short of poisoning them, what can I do? Was thinking of picking up some citronella oil and making up a spray for the stairs. Or is that just a bug repellent? Thoughts?

WANTED:  Dutch clog(s) to use as planters.  Keep your eyes open at Garage Sales and the Good Will!

Drying Up

I'm running out of everything at the same time. Toothpaste will be first, followed by hair conditioner and moisturizer. I don't know what I will do with my dry, chapped, winter white legs and grey knees which I have kept concealed under knee socks and tights. And now that flip flop season is here, it's also time to unveil the feet, which is perhaps my scariest feature. Hiking in the mountains in the Philippines, we came across a venerable old man in his 90s who had spent his life barefoot working in the rice terraces. My husband was quick to point out that we had the same feet. They're THAT BAD.



As a remedy to this, I have considered bathing in olive oil. But I want to have glowing, hydrated skin. I don't want to be slippery. Instead, I will attempt this homemade concoction that I found here. Try it with me.

Ingredients:
1 ounce calendula infused extra virgin olive oil (or plain olive oil)
1 ounce shea butter
1 ounce mango butter
1/2 ounce avocado oil
1/4 ounce jojoba oil
1/4 ounce beeswax

Blending Procedure:

Melt all ingredients over a low flame in a double boiler until the beeswax is nearly completely melted. Remove from heat.

Stir to melt the rest of the beeswax and to fully incorporate all the ingredients.

Use a handheld mixer to mix the ingredients together at high speed. This will whip up the ingredients, especially the shea and mango butters, and add a bit of air to help promote more of a a whipped texture for the finished product. You can add fragrance and/or essential oil at this time (about 1/2 teaspoon or so should suffice depending on your preference), but I prefer the natural scent of the calendula by itself.

Pour into jars while the mixture is still warm and pourable. Label and enjoy!!

UPDATE: Holy Hannah, does this cream ever STINK. The Shea butter is natural and unrefined but it comes with a big old stinky smell that no amount of essential oil can hide. Overall, good cream (my legs are smooth) but next time I may go with Cocoa butter/mango butter and coconut oil and use the Shea sparingly. Or on my enemies.

Survivor: Bonnet Edition

I don't watch TV very often but I just happened to stumble on this show on TVO tonight. Brilliant. I want to be on a reality show like this. Pick me. Don't they just put our little project to shame. I'm hoping to steal the recipe for boiled pigeon and pudding. Yum.



Description: Five archaeologists and historians take on the challenge of running a farm for a year, as it would have been 400 years ago in the reign of James I. Wearing period clothes and using tools from the time, they kick off the agricultural calendar, using a team of oxen to plough and then sowing the seed by hand. They learn to make bread in a 17th-century style bread oven and cook up a contemporary rustic feast.

Airs on Sundays at 7pm