Little Joys

One of my favourite dreams every year is that of an abundant garden.  I love flowers and I dream of an English garden - flowers everywhere and all wonderful for cutting so that I can always have some in the house.  That would be fine if I had decent sun in a southern exposure anywhere on our property but given that I am struggling with either east or west exposure and trees on the property (which makes it pretty!), my options are limited.  That being said, I still love doing what I can.

This year, my dream is to do two things - 1. a container herb garden (and I may take a bit of space out back where my dogs go, which does get more sun) and 2. a container flower garden on our south deck (which I'd like to turn into a little oasis off our bedroom).  Who knows whether I will actually accomplish it but the dreams are wonderful and it's fun getting the kids involved in planting the seeds.  Today was the day.

We planted chives, basil, kale, arugula, nasturtiums, four o'clocks, sweet peas, morning glories and parsley.  Here's hoping that they grow.  It is fun trying, anyway.  As you can see, we also got some pansies (which I love), which were very root bound so we got them transplanted.

Another pleasure?  A new recipe for stewing beef that actually tastes great!  Normally, we don't even use it for stew since neither dh or I like it but it comes as part of our farm share.  I have see searching and finally found something that everyone liked (and Pk asked to have it again!)  Here's the recipe (I don't use packaged soup, in Healthy Meals for Less, there is a terrific recipe for homemade onion soup powder that is all natural and I control the salt but you would never know the difference in recipes).  It simmered so when we came in from a cold walk with the dogs, the house smelled amazing!  What a treat.

Little Joys

There are days with our pets that I really think I am crazy.  As I am vacuuming up the tumbleweeds of hair, cleaning up pet vomit or dealing with a dog who id demanding to go out right as I am dealing with a terrible two tantrum, I ponder whether this is just insanity that I think that this is something that I want.  Then, there are days like today when I get to see just how much they enrich our lives and the hours with the vacuum seem worth it.

Last week, we were at our local Christian bookstore (which is my home-away-from-home, I think) and Pk wanted me to buy her something.  Funds were low and so I said no.  Normally, I wouldn't think anything of it but we were getting something for Lb, so I came up with the suggestion that after I got paid on Friday, Pk and I would have a mommy-daughter outing and we would go to the bookstore and her favourite coffee place.

Saturday arrived and we went and watched the amazingly pretentious people torturing the servers with their orders and Pk enjoyed an incredibly overpriced water and rice krispie square and then we headed off to the bookstore.  She wanted to browse but before we got to the books, she wanted to look at the gift section.  Once we arrived at the Willow Tree figurings, I knew I had lost her.  She has her mom's sentimental streak and she loves any figurine that reminders her of her and anyone she loves.  She wanted me to tell her the story of each figure and then, we came to the one of the girl and her cat.  We have a cat, Sadie, who joined us when Pk was 18 months old because Pk loved the cat at her sitter's so much.  Sadie is an aloof but lovely cat but oddly enough, she ADORES Pk.  She sleeps with her every night, spends much of her time in Pk's room and allows herself to be constantly man-handled without biting (and the rest of us would be chomped for sure).  Pk had to have the girl and the cat and she was willing to forego books and even movies for the figurine.  Coming home, all she could talk about what how much the figuring reminded her of our Sadie and how much she loves her cat.

I love the cat, I truly do, but at the end of the day, it's the dogs who bring me the greatest joy.  Chelsea is now almost 12 and I am already trying to prepare myself emotionally for the fact that she won't always be with us.  Just look at Lucie, here below, running with the stick in the field on our walk this afternoon.  Is there anything that captures the joy of life more that a Brittany Spaniel flying through the air?

Definitely, our pets and their love are joys that enrich my life every single day, pet hair and vomit or not!

Little Joys

I don't know whether other families have this but for us, that first hour or so after school before dinner is often horrible.   The kids are cranky, the adults are tired from the day and want a bit of quiet and it feels like there is so much to be done.  It would be so easy to stick the kids in front of the t.v. to get a few minutes of peace.  I'm trying very hard to keep the t.v. off as much as possible and that leaves an hour of unfilled time.

Yesterday was marvellous.  I had ordered this pattern blocks kit from Scholastic (the joys of points from Scholastic for doing book orders!) and I decided to get it out to see what everyone thought.  An hour later, Pk was whining because she wanted to keep playing and I wanted her for some homework and when dinner arrived, Lb threw a tantrum because he didn't want it to be put away.  They talked about shapes, they made the shapes on the tiles and, best of all, they made "Shapeville Parks" using the shapes.  Dh actually came upstairs to see what was going on since it was so quiet.

I think I've been inspired to try an afternoon quiet play time - now, to find a range of toys that are only allowed then and we can spend that time together.  I can't wait!

Little Joys

Little Joys post 5

Little Joys post 4

Finding joy has continued to be a bit of a challenge.  Between a burst pipe in our basement, a strange medication reaction for me and a migrane of the tallest order, I had to look a little bit harder for those bits of joy.  Have you ever found, though, that during the hard times, the little things seem more special?  That was definitely how it went for me!

First of all, no running water has a very long list of hazards.  Not being able to shower being top on that list.  Lucky for us, we happened to be dog sitting for a good friend who was away at a dog show.  Her house just happened to be empty and she just happens to be wonderfully generous.  After a quick email to her, we had access to a wonderful soaker tub with jets (rockets, as Pk loves to call them) and a shower.  Needless to say, we all availed ourselves of the luxuries!

Secondly, we went to ride the local Easter bunny steam train.  We did that with Pk when she was about 2 1/2 (the same age Lb is now) and she was TERRIFIED of the bunny.  The pink hat she is wearing was bought for her by my dad on that outing.  She was determined to show that she was no longer scared and she did a great job (although her eyes were like saucers when the bunny first arrived).  She very proudly announced to me that "it wasn't a real bunny anyway, just a person dressed up."  It was so much fun to do the train again and to see Lb jumping with glee and our lovely niece helping to make it a special day for everyone.

We went back to Dh's sister's house for dinner and had fun.  I had flexed my "pinterest muscles" a bit and made jello eggs (which were surprisingly yummy and got lots of "oohs" and "aahs" and the meal was great.  Pk adored getting to sit on her uncle's motorcycle.

Sadly, it was during dinner that the migrane hit.  One bit of gratitude was that I didn't throw up on the way home!

Happy Easter!

Little Joys, Day 3

Today did not start out as a day for joy.  Lb had a HORRIBLE night and managed to keep both Dh and I up for a good part of the night and then, the water that was slowly trickling in (we assumed it was a leak from spring - it happened last year and while Dh fixed last year's leak beautifully, it seemed like this was coming from a different spot) became more of a gush.  I was not in my happy place so finding the little joys was not an easy task.

Fortunately, I am married to an amazing man who ordered me out to walk the dogs and get some time by myself and immediately, things began to turn around.  I don't know whether everyone finds this but I love dog walking people.  They are so friendly, especially early in the morning on a holiday when we are the only people awake.  People look rough, stumbling around the field gripping coffees for dear life and hoping not to run into anyone who would judge our bedhead.  As usual, I met some lovely, coffee-gripping people and felt my faith in humanity restored someone.  Neither dog rolled in anything nasty or met a skunk either, so it was a good outing all around.

Our church was having an evening drama presentation so we opted to meet up with Dh's parents, sister and her husband and our niece at their church.  It was a great service and amazingly, Lb was really good for most of it (although, at the end, when it was at its most poignant, he did start loudly saying, "Go home, now."  I was hoping that people would think he was talking about Jesus :-)

After the service, it was decided that my niece, M, would come back with us for part of the afternoon.  I have to admit, that ended up being such a joy.  She's a sweetie, first of all and secondly, it always pleases me when we have unexpected company and I can pull it off.  I did not grow up in a home that entertained anyone outside of a few elderly aunts and for the longest time, I found having people here stressful.  I've worked really hard to overcome that because I do want to have a home that is welcoming and especially for the younger crowd, a place where they can come to feel safe and loved and accepted.  We had a great lunch and she helped us with several wonderful Pinterest Easter treats that will be more meaningful for her now at the family dinner tomorrow since she helped put them together.

 She also has a marvelous sense of humour and since it was her birthday earlier in the week, we bought cupcakes.  Unfortunately, it didn't occur to me to get candles but she willingly made due with a number 5.

The best part?  Dancing around the kitchen together to Harry Belafonte.  That's a memory that I will treasure.