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

Tis The Season

To be thrifty. Yes, it's that time of year when people drag all their crap out of the house, strap on a fanny pack, and try to earn a weekend's beer money.

The garage sale. A delightful way to spend any Saturday morning. I'm not certain, but it felt like today kicked off the official garage sale season. This morning Ezra and I set out with Carine and Dustin with a list of targets to hit. I didn't have anything specific in mind, I just wanted to get a feel for the whole garage sale scene, learn the etiquette, and attempt some bartering.

From the get-go, it was clear that I am an amateur with a lot to learn. And Ezra wasn't helping any. He made a beeline for the Fischer Price Village (pictured above) and declared "MINE" in a loud voice. I told him we were trying to play it cool, that he had to feign disinterest. To which he responded: "MINE!!!!" Thanks, buddy. Well played.

In the end, we came home with the village and a set of Lincoln Logs. All for 5 bucks. A small price to pay for tantrums averted.

Carine came away empty-handed but Dustin scored some kitschy travel souvenirs from decades past, including a cool little Jamaican doll and a weird Asian backscratcher. Hoping he'll send me a picture to upload.

Next week I will definitely have to bring my camera. It's astounding what people try to sell. I think the best thing we saw on display was a couple's framed wedding photo from the 80s. Hilarious. I should have asked how much but I already knew the answer.

Priceless.

The Post Consumer Project: Game ON

Happy Earth Day, folks.

Here's where the fun begins. As of today, the rules apply. And the rules are as follows: for one year, we will refrain from buying or receiving anything new. This of course applies to non-essentials. We do need to eat. And drink wine. For the exceptions, see the sidebar.

This year-long commitment will be both a challenge and a sacrifice, but we hope to achieve a few things along the way.

Perhaps the most obvious aim of the project is to lessen our environmental footprint. One way to do this is to drastically cut back on the goods we consume. There are too many "things" in this world being manufactured, packaged, shipped and sold to consumers with little consideration for humanity and sustainability. We live on a planet with limited resources. By sharing, trading, foraging, salvaging, rescuing, and scavenging for used goods we will not only redirect these things from the landfill, but also cultivate a relationship and open a dialogue with our neighbours, friends, family, and members of our community. This is a huge step in the right direction.


DIY is also a big part of this project. Cutting off our access to consumer goods will motivate us to get creative, and learn how to do more things for ourselves. We will be learning how to sew, knit, embroider, can, and make our own cosmetics and home remedies from scratch. This is the survival instinct kicking in, and the recognition that we've lost valuable knowledge from our elders that is worth the effort to reclaim.

There is also the hope that through this experience we will undergo a spiritual transformation, or at the very least, an improvement. This project is about making a conscious effort to buy nothing. But maybe one day we will wake up and discover that it isn't a sacrifice at all. That it requires little to no effort. Still, these are habits we are working towards changing. Can we take it one step further? Can we really wake up and see that we have everything we need, and always have. Can the wanting and coveting be quelled? I can only imagine the stillness and peace of mind this can bring. Elusive as it is, it's a goal worth pursuing.

Birthday In Pictures

The hardest part of today was getting Ezra to put on some pants. The easiest part? Indulging every birthday whim...



Malta Park


Grace let's Ezra test drive her bike. But only because it's his birthday.


Culinary Adventures Part 1


Culinary Adventures Part 2


Ride in Dad's car with my cool shades.


Toy Store! (Note: Ezra wasn't really into the gift we had in mind. Instead, he goes bananas for a recycling truck. What's a parent to do?)


Good decision.


Good decison, aerial view.


Not pictured: Culinary Adventures Part 3, a.k.a. Ezra throwing forks at innocent bystanders at Vesuvio's pizzeria.

Happy Birthday Mr. President

OK, so he's more like an impish dictator who orders me around, but for the purpose of a catchy title, I'll call him El Presidente. These days, the operative word of this now two-year-old is "MORE". More Atulfo mango. More dill pickle. More rehearsal cake. Rehearsal cake, you ask? Yes, this is me. Scared to death that the train cake will be a moistless (not a word according to blogger), inedible, and crumby mess. I watched two videos on frosting techniques today. Remind me to get a life.

Anyhoodle, this one's a rambler. I'm halfway into a 2007 bottle of Cab Franc and if you know me, you don't even have to ask from where. And boy oh boy they were right. 2007 really was a magnificent year. Wish I had the discipline to age some bottles in my wine cellar. Heh. That would be the closet.

It's 12 minutes past midnight and I've just finished hanging some hand-sewn streamers and the Japanese chiyogami birthday banner that took me countless hours to make. Not very flashy but warm and charming I'd say. The felt ball garland is on my to-do list and that should jazz it up some.



Thank goodness Ezra's birthday falls just before April 22nd. We can justify buying him a big ol' present, right? Acutally, here is the special gift we've selected: a model of my dream home. Adorable, yes? This will perhaps be the last non-essential shopping we do for the next year. So glad it's this, and not something mundane like oven mitts.

You still here? Yeah, so am I. Just sitting here quietly celebrating two years of momhood. Trying not to grow too misty eyed whilst reliving my 18 hours of labour and every single deliberate breath that pushed my son closer to this world. He belongs to it now, and every day I struggle just to leave him be. Leave him be. Leave him be. This is a kind of mantra. Leave him be. And he will become. What he will be. This is my hope.

Damn, here come the tears.

Happy birthday, sparrow. Love Mama.

Le Chandail

Earlier in the winter, I picked up this little gem at the Value Village 50% off sale. I know what you're thinking. 50% off? Isn't it already cheap as sh-t? Yes, I'm that person. Instead of paying a whopping $2.99 for this sweater, I had to sharpen my elbows and fight throngs of pushy bargain hunters to get it for $1.50.

Hand knitted and adorable as it is, there is just one problem. Ezra won't wear it. He has a particular aversion to THIS SWEATER. Is he embarrassed to wear it? Have the Leafs played that badly this year? Don't answer that.

It finally dawned on me that he is comprehending everything we say. And now I regret reading him this story.

He is so totally a Habs fan now. Merci Roch Carrier. Maintenant j'ai un p'tit Rocket Richard.