A weekend of gardening and eating

You know how sometimes two day weekends are not enough. This past weekend was like that for Dave and I. We have so much work to do in the gardens and around the house that a three day weekend would have been wonderful... but I'm not complaining about my two day weekend.

Friday evening we slowly drove to town for our two week grocery shopping (no, we did'nt shop for two weeks, we go every two weeks). I say ''slowly drove'' because Dave knows how much I hate highways and love to take the scenic route... so he did, just for me.

Above is a picture of the salad I had for lunch today !

Saturday we got up to a nice sunny day (a little on the windy side but still very nice). It was perfect weather to put clothes on the line to air dry - and I did. We had no trouble at all finding something to do outside ALL day Saturday. We had BBQ boneless chicken with a garden salad for supper. But before supper we each enjoyed a nice (well deserved) cold beer and a few little dried caplins (below).

Below - enjoying my cold beer !

Below are hollyhocks that I started from seed. They were promised to a couple of friends.

Sunday was still a very beautiful sunny day but we decided to take it a little more relaxed. In the afternoon we went to a Beatles Tribute concert at the university with another couple then we went out at a restaurant for supper. I had fishcakes and they were yummy (sorry, I did'nt have my camera to take pictures).

Cuteness

Check this out for cuteness...

Farmgirl's blog is very inspiring and informative. Her pictures (especially the cuteness ones) are so, so cute.

Have a good weekend everyone !

Simple Lives

Rhonda over at Down to Earth has put out a little plan for those of us that are interested in writing about our lives and talking about our simple lives. I think everyone has a story and something to share so here goes mine ...

My husband and I try and live life to its fullest - physically, mentally and spiritually (we are not supporters of organized religions). I find my strength and energy from Nature... I am my happiest when outside and in Nature. Our home is as far away from the city as possible. The closest city is 3 hours away (300km). We are so blessed to have our home on 3 acres in the country. We bought our home 30 years ago and we knew we wanted a home that would suit the lifestyle we had chosen - so we got a 200 year old farmhouse. We are so lucky - we live in the woods and we drive less then 5 minutes and we have the beautiful ocean to admire.

In the summer we grow our own organic veggies in raised beds. We compost organic scraps from the kitchen to eventually be used as fertilizer in our gardens. We also have raspberries, rhubarb, blueberries, cherries, a plum tree and a few apple trees. I cook from scratch most of the time, we try and eat very little processed food. I bake bread, make preserves for the winter months and we also make our own red wine (which by the way is very good). I am the only non-meat eater in the house. Cooking and baking make me very, very happy :-)


But most of all we like to call ourselves ''environmentalists''. Before I became an environmentalist I learned how to love Mother Nature then I became aware of the need I had to protect it. No one will protect and respect something they don't love. We are always finding ways to do our little part (remember every little bit helps) so those coming after us will have somewhat of a safe place to live. It's really scary when you seriously think about it.

We recylce, reuse and repurpose (hence my blog title).

In 7 years I will retire from my job at the university. My plan is to have a hobby-farm with chickens, sheeps, pig and a couple of barn cats.

I agree with Rhonda, this is a journey not a destination. My husband and I would'nt want this journey to turn into a destination - we don't want it to end ! This is the life we have chosen for ourselves. For those struggling to make the decision to life a simpler life - start slow, little baby steps. You know, as soon as you start you're living a Simple Life. But remember, you must find joy and pleasure in what you do !


Love to everyone !

A baby always sticks close to mama...

What a wonderful weekend... !


We were so busy working in the gardens that I did'nt have time to think about taking pictures so these beautiful three pictures will give you a taste of the beautiful weather we had over the weekend. The two pictures above were taken Saturday. We had a fire going in the pit as we worked in the gardens, trying to burn some of the many, many, many twigs and branches that we had to pick from around the grounds. I got to put clothes on the line - both days so I did'nt run the dryer at all this weekend.

The picture below is so heart-warming. Dave and I wanted to take a break this afternoon from working in the gardens so we went for a Sunday drive. We passed this sheep farm and there it was, the perfect picture to end a wonderful weekend - this baby was'nt letting his mama out of sight. Isn't that the cutest thing...

With all the gardening I also had time to cook - mostly BBQ. I even went dancing Saturday evening.

Hard to believe the weekend is already over but I'm kinda happy to go back to work tomorrow so I can rest, he, he, he.

Have a wonderful Monday everyone and be well.

Peace

Tonight as the sun was setting my thoughts were on how lucky I am in so many ways that I won't start listing all of them here. The little things make me so happy :

- soft gentle breeze blowing in my face.
- getting dirt under my finger nails as I dig in my gardens.
- hearing the choir of peepers as the evening air gets cooler.
- the trickling sound of leaves moving gently in the breeze.
- watching the sun set on our tiny village.



Good night everyone. Hope everyone is well in your part of the world.

Fleece and Leeks

To stay true and faithful to my blog name I must post my purchases from Frenchy's. This find was one of the best in many months. This piece of high quality polar fleece is the size of a double bedspread and the lady at Frenchy's did'nt know how much to charge me so she said $2.00. WOW ! I paid her and almost ran to the car in case she decided to change her mind. I see the makings of a picnic blanket...

Tonight I put my first seeds in the ground... leeks.

Forecast for Saturday and Sunday - Sunny and Warm !

Dave's cake

(Please excuse the bad quality of the pictures)


I baked Dave's birthday cake last night so it would be all yummy for supper tonight as we celebrated his birthday. We had BBQ boneless chicken breasts, 3 bean cajun rice and steamed veggies. Everyone said the cake was delicious.

I'm happy I decided to bake him a homemade cake... he seemed pleased (which he always is anyways).

Happy Birthday my love

My husband Dave celebrates his birthday today - bonne fête mon amour ! This man has the most gentle soul you've ever seen in a person. He's always looking out for his two kids and myself... always making sure everything and everyone is okay. He celebrates life to its fullest and that's what inspires me to do the same.



This year instead of going out to the bakery and buying him a cake, I baked one last night. I will post pictures tonight - it's a pretty awesome cake.

Award

Grumpy's Honeybunch awarded me the E award! This awesome lady is a new friend I met thru blog-land and I have been reading her blog daily (sometimes twice a day) and I am so quilty of not leaving comments more often. Her blog is wonderful and full of great and delicious recipes. Thank you very much for the award! It's these friendly little gestures that make blogging so fun and interesting.

Perfect

These two pictures pretty much sum-up the type of day I had today... PERFECT ! I love living in the woods and that when I feel like seeing and smelling the ocean I only have to drive 5 minutes and there it is with all its beauty it has to offer.

Hope everyone had a perfect day (or nearly perfect) and that tomorrow brings only joy to you all.

Sunshine yellow and sun tea

Weather wise, this past week - we had gorgeous sunshine every single day except for Thursday. The two pictures below were taken in our gardens Friday late afternoon (a perfect warm Spring day). Seeing all this beautiful weather all week - of course, I made plans for my weekend. Yes, you guessed it, everything on my to do list for the weekend was for outside.

Look at that yummy sunshine yellow...

Got up this morning to rain and wind. I was so disgusted that I did'nt even bother to take pictures. I know, I know, nature needs rain as well as sunshine but I was so convinced that ''it was going to be nice and sunny when I got up Saturday morning'' that it was a let-down to say the least.

As I say ''everything happens for a reason'' and I know I was given this not-so-pleasant-weather this morning in order to force me to CLEAN THE INSIDE OF OUR HOME. Man, who dishes out all the dust anyways ? The dust is still there but I managed to clear and open the bay window (porch), bake some strawberry lemon muffins, BBQ ribs and hot dogs for husband and son and chicken hamburg cheeseburgers for me, dug-up some worms with my brother to go trout fishing and finished this latest embroidery project :

Thank you to the person who invented the purple marker that clears in 30 minutes. It makes it sooooooo easy to trace images on your fabric and not worry about leaving marks.

Do you need sun to make sun tea ?

... after today I would say ''yes'' you need the sun to make a good batch of sun tea. If I compare the sun tea I made today with the batch I made last summer - the one that sat in the bright warm sun for half a day last July was 100% better tasting then the one I made today that sat on the kitchen table with not a ray of sunshine in sight. Was it the tea or was it the sun !

Wishing everyone a good SUN-day tomorrow.

PS : I will be crying for rain come July when our well goes dry and we have to buy water.

A whole lot of this...

... has been going on every evening this week. With Spring's arrival (finally) evening gardening is such a joy and a reward.

How do we know Spring has arrived ? we can hear these in the evening. And yesterday someone told me they saw a bunch of bees. All this kinda gives me a ''Spring'' in my step !

Keep well and enjoy your day tomorrow.

Om Tote

I am still an apprentice (and that's for sure) but I am loving sewing. I can't believe those words just came out of my mouth... me, the one that affirmed last year that I hated sewing but all those wonderful and talented bloggers out there have inspired me to get creative and have fun.

I made this tote tonight. I had cut all the pieces earlier this week so tonight I could concentrate on sewing.

It looks like the Om symbol is smeared but it's not (it's only the bad quality of the picture).

Recent Frenchy's

Had some down time tonight so I dropped in at Frenchy's. Found two wooden hoops for needlework and two books - A Tale for Easter is a children's book by Tasha Tudor (any book by this lady can never be left behind). And the other book Circle of Stones - woman's Journey to Herself seemed interesting. I am sooooooooo behind on my reading...

Cost for everything = $1.40

Iced Coffee

I always have leftover coffee from the morning so tonight instead of pouring the cold coffee down the drain I experimented and made myself an iced coffee. Everything in a blender - this morning's coffee leftovers, 2% milk, coffee cream, 1 tablespoon cane sugar, vanilla, few ice cubes to crush, and voilà - homemade iced coffee. Next time I will put less milk and cream so it won't be as light in color.

It was delicious by the way !

My swap buddy

My shopping tote swap buddy Kim received the shopping tote I made for her. This morning when she told me she did'nt get hers yet I felt bad because I got mine from her yesterday afternoon so now I feel much better that she got hers.

She talks about it here.

Here are a few pictures I took before sending it off to Ontario. As I've mentioned to Kim, this was my first sewing project since high school (and that is many, many years ago but who's counting).



This was my first swap and I enjoyed it A LOT. I will definetely sign-up for more swaps. I think Down to Earth is going to announce another one on the weekend. What I enjoyed most was meeting a new friend like Kim and of course getting free stuff :-) and a beautiful shopping bag.

Shopping Tote

About a month ago I put my name in for a shopping tote swap on Down to Earth. I was matched with Kim (my swap buddy) from Ontario. Since we were matched, Kim and I have exchanged emails and gotten to know each other. She has a very nice and interesting blog. I check her blog daily to see what's new in her life.

On my drive home from work this afternoon I had a feeling that I might have a parcel waiting for me in our mailbox... and I did. Look at the beautiful shopping tote Kim made for me. Kim - you should be getting yours any day now. I love the quilt-like star on the front and it even has pockets inside. That girl has talent and imagination. Thanks Kim, I love it.

And as if the tote wasn't enough, she included treats...

Treats up close... a cute little mesh bag with crystals (I too love crystals Kim), sea shells to add to my collections, a piece of nice fabric that I will be using on a special sewing project and Kim notes in her letter ''I don't know if you love chocolate or not'' - I LIVE FOR CHOCOLATE !!!!! can't wait to sink my teeth in that thick chocolate bar.

Again Kim - thank you very much for everything. I love handmade gifts. I hope we keep in touch even though the swap is over.