A Simple Life...a Fun Life

PK and I went for a backyard waunder...or rather PK took me for a backyard waunder as I doubt I would think to go for a walk between the hedge and the fence but when looked at from a different angle it is actully quite a beautiful stroll.

And then there was the study of the mushrooms....of which we have copious amounts all over our yard at the moment

(thankfully there have been no attempts to eat them).

We also had some music lessons at Strong Start.

Nothing quite like a toy that jingles.

Tofu...so good for you....and tasty too!

Yesterday PK and I had tofu with shitake mushrooms and green beans over brown rice for lunch. I had not eaten tofu in years and thought that it would be fun to try again (plus another mom had mentioned that her son just loved it). With the added bonus of it being soft to chew and a great source of protein I thought little man might benefit by adding to his diet.

So the jury (PK) has decided that tofu is very yummy and worthy of eating every last piece on the plate. Rice on the other hand is still worthy of spitting out and flicking of the plate onto the floor....sigh...First time he has eating more then a piece or two of green beans though so that was a bonus.....and I just LOVED the roasted shitake mushrooms......all in all definately worth repeating.

My Little Pumpkin

It is funny how you can capture a moment that is so sweet in a photo but you may not have noticed it when it was actually occuring as there was movement and talking and rush, rush, rush to get something done. I paused for just a moment with little guy to play with the pumpkin at the front door, snapped a few photos of him and this is the outcome.

Every moment truly is precious.

All in a Days Work

Little man has been hard at work the last couple of days helping out Mommy and Daddy with their chores in the yard. So much so that little man fell asleep at the wheel while cutting the lawn with his Daddy.

He has also been a big help in the garden. Digging up the tomato plants to hang in the garage, transplanting strawberry runners to free up some garden space, planting garlic, harvesting (eating) the raspberries, and bringing in the pumpkins.

Laying claim to 'his' pumpkin.

A Pacific Alphabet

This is a wonderful book to read. Not only is the vocabulary inside full of rhymes but the author has used each letter several times to start words on each page....for example...the letter B starts off "Blue whales make bubbles..."

The illustrations are pieces of art and are also full of the letter you are reading about. There is a page at the back that also lists items by the letter so you can see if you missed any.

This book is great as it can engage all ages. Highly recommended.

Birthday Celebrations

Last weekend was little PK's first birthday. We turned it into a birthday weekend and headed for Rathtrevor Beach.

He seemed quite taken with this ducky, which I believe was due to the fact that he can make it move - such a grown up boy.

There is great fun in the destruction of sandcastles. It took daddy working at super speads to keep ahead of little PK's ability to destroy them with his new outdoor tools.

But the most wonderful thing is wading in the warm water on this beach.

Or maybe it was the taste of his first birthday cake. Nothing tastes so birthday as a DQ icecream cake on a hot sunny day.

Or perhaps it's the nap that comes when you've had a long, busy day surrounded by your extended family and are cuddled into your new jacket and hat that was made with love from your grandmother.

I make this birthday banner from a tutorial I found at Vanilla Joy. I changed it up slightly by using some of the clothes that PK has grown out of that had gotten stained and so weren't really worth keeping but made you kind of sad to throw out. I hope to add to it in the next couple of years as I am sure there will be more clothes that end in the same stained fate!

Chili Lime Baba Ganoush

New recipe, and rediscovered vegetable all in one. I quite enjoyed.


Ingredients:
• 2 medium eggplants
• 3 cloves garlic
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp lime juice
• 1 tsp chili powder
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp cumin

Preparation:
Pierce eggplant and broil until skin in charred.
Allow to cool slightly, then scoop out inside of eggplant, leaving skin behind.
Smoosh eggplant and remaining ingredients until smooth

On the Window Sill

Double fortunes from September 5ths dinner out.

"Moneywise, you are lucky this month"
"You shall soon be rewarded for your endeavors"

Fortune Found

We all have what some might consider strange quirks. I have a lot of them and here is one such example - I keep my Chinese Fortune Cookie Fortunes. You will find them in odd little places around the home - tucked into my daily planner, in my bedside basket, in the console of my car or in my purse or...well you get the picture. So in a bid to clean up my home I have decided to simply post my fortunes here. What a fun way to re-find my fortunes.

"A new chapter in your life is being written"

Creamy Cauliflower Soup

A yummy meal of Cream of Cauliflower Soup and Baking Powder biscuits was consumed by all as our second veggie dinner of the week. We also had a meal of tomato, onion and garlic pizzas with a greek salad on the side. Now off to work on PK's b-day banner.

The Story of Five Shrivelled and Forgotten Potatoes

Once upon a time, in a warm and well used pantry in a land called the Clarke household there lived a potato bin. Now in that potato bin there lived a supply of potatoes and whenever the potatoes moved away new potatoes would quickly arrive to take their place. For some strange reason though a couple, or five to be more precise, of potatoes chose not to leave the bin and there they lived until one day the overseer of the potato bin, Sonja, found them huddled at the back, shrivelled and dehydrated.

I am sorry little potaoes but your time has come, you must leave the potato bin declared Sonja and they were whisked away to meet their end in the compost bin. But for some strange reason on their walk to the compost bin Sonja got distracted by a bare patch of soil in her vegetable garden. Hmmm...she thought.....I guess the worse thing that could happen is that they don't grow and I have wasted this patch of dirt for the year. So the potatoes were saved from the compost bin and they in turn grew and multipled and supplied Sonja and her family with a large bowl (8.5 lbs) of new potatoes on which to feast.

Explore Somewhere New

The challenge - to go somewhere new each week

September 4 - Spectacle Lake Park

Spectacle Lake Park

Today we explored Spectacle Lake Park. I wouldn't reccomend doing the walk around the lake with a stroller - I think I had more upper arm workout then leg but it was a fun trip around the lake. We had a snack on the beach at the end of our walk. A nice natural quiet park.

I don't like graffiti in general but when it's possitive like this I can't help but smile.

Exploring the beach.

Some leftover art from a past visitor.

We then drove home the long way through Cowichan Bay and stopped in at Cowichan Bay Farm for some pasture raised chicken and dropped in at True Grain bakery for a fresh loaf of bread and some stone ground wheat for baking at home.

Garden Goodness

Last night's picks from the garden included sorrel, tomatoes, strawberries, and cucumbers. The sorrel was turned into a yummy pesto for rotini and beans (PK loved it!). Tomatoes eaten in the garden as an appi - PK still working on picking only the ripe ones and the strawberries were put into the freezer for some winter time goodness.

Exercise Everyday

September
1 - Walk to Silver Mine Estate's to return a canning jar
2 - Walk with my niece T (saw a buck and ate some blackberries)
3 - Walk down Peerless, Shinrock, Stein with PK
4 - Walk around the lake at Spectacle Lake park

A Book a Day with PK

My Little Book of Animals
Inside Noah's Ark
Bendon Bear and the Gentle Animals
Big Farm Friends
Who's Hiding on the Farm
Bendon Bear and the Farm Animals
A Pacific Alphabet

32 By 33

I saw this on another blog and thought it was a great idea. A list of things to accomplish by your next birthday - therefore I have 32 things to accomplish by my 33rd birthday (May 17). Obviously I may or may not get them all done but the importance is the act of working towards these goals, of believing in the possibility of accomplishing them and taking action to create them.

So here is the list.

1. Exercise everyday
2. Read PK a book everyday
3. Go on a volunteer vacation
4. Try a new food or retry a forgotten food every month
5. Save $200 every month
6. Have friends over for dinner every month
7. Install a berry patch in my yard
8. Drink more water
9. Go somewhere new each week
10. Get back to pre-pregnancy weight
11. Read Simple Abundance everyday
12. Start a business
13. Plant a vegetable or fruit in garden that I haven't grown before
14. Read a novel of a genre I don't typically read
15. Run a 10K in under 60
16. Eat more fruits & vegetables - less refined foods
17. Read a spiritual passage everyday
18. Finish PK's quilt
19. Take a course
20. Go to Peru
21. Eat 2 vegetarian dinners a week
22. Get back to wedding day weight
23. Volunteer once a month
24. Keep a gratitude journal
25. Create PK's Christmas stocking
26. Install a cut flower garden
27. Complete one craft/sewing project per month
28. Say 'I love you' and 'Thank you' to my husband every day
29. Visit my grandparents more often
30. Go on a date with my husband every month
31. Try 1 new recipe every week
32. Put together Pk's photo album

Camping bliss

Friday through monday was spent at Qualicum. The campsite left something to be desired but thankfully when you are spending time with friends it is easy to forget.

New friends


Fair fun



Sandy sculpting



And for todays news........my little sister is expecting #2....yeah!!!!

The 100-mile diet

So I just finished reading this great book by Alisa Smith & J.B. MacKinnon. They challenged themselves to eat a diet of locally grown (within 100 miles) foods for 1 year. The book itself is a mix of their individual feelings about what was going on in their lives, the foods they ate, the sourcing of the foods, the history of the areas the foods were coming from and much, much more. I found myself totally engrossed in this book and tempted to challenge myself to such an undertaking. But how am I to do this with the way my husband eats and with a 10 month old child.

I think however, that I could perhaps work towards such a goal. Start with buying as much BC produced products and then start to eliminate those that contain out of province items and then gradually to local grown only.

To start I have chosen to cook dinner tonight consisting of salmon caught just off our coast and island grown potatoes and beets. The lettuce and carrots are unfortunately imports as that is what is currently in my fridge. Dessert (if we have any) will be either Island farms icecream (a far cry from the real thing but locally produced) or perhaps some wonderful cookies from True Grains bakery (right here in Cow Bay)...oh and of course the bread if eaten will be from the same wonderful bakery.

Forever and a day.....

Well it has been a long time since I posted anything here. I don't think I realized how busy life would get with a child....and I only have one! This is a very short post with just one pic but it is my way of recommitting to an on-line log of life.



Taken last night of PK with his new pal from Aunty K and Uncle D