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Simple Woman #61

For Today . . . November 2, 2009

Outside my window. . . bare trees, frost on the rooftops and fall is definitely well established.  The high temperature today was +5 with some sun and some cloudy, windy moments.

I am thankful . . . to be safely back home after a month long adventure in Africa.

And I am also thankful . . . to be able to see (most of) our family again.

I am praying . . . for rain to come to Kenya - it is so, so dry there.

I am thinking . . . about putting our house back together again.

I am celebrating . . . brand new hardwood flooring installed by Naomi, Jerry and Darrin!  I am so thankful for their time and energy spent on this project while we were gone.

From the kitchen . . . fresh baked salmon sandwiches on rye with tomatoes and cucumbers (thanks, Heather!).

I am wearing . . . navy cords, a blue striped turtleneck, down filled vest and slippers (what a change from last Monday when it was shorts and sandals!!).

I am reading . . . The Outliers by Malcolm Gladwell - the story of success.

I am hoping . . . to do some subbing this week.

I am hearing . . . CSI New York on the TV.

I am creating . . . files of pictures on the laptop and hard drive from our holidays.

Around the house and yard . . . a living room and kitchen to reorganize and a hardwood floor to finish.

One of my favourite things . . . small packages of Halloween candy, especially red licorice Nibs and M&Ms.  Thanks to Helayna for sharing with Gramma!

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . hopefully some subbing, walls to prepare for painting, lots of laundry to do and cooking to tackle again.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you . . . I raked the leaves at Heather and Jonathan's today and Helayna had a great time riding her bike through the big pile :)

For October

Thank you for your patience with me this month!  I am happy to tell you that I'm on my back home tomorrow - and regular blog posts will resume soon - with an African flavour!!  We've been here for the last 4 weeks and I have lots to share.  See you soon!!

P.S.  It was an elephant's trunk - up close and personal on our safari vehicle!  Details - and more pictures to follow :))

For October

Any guesses??

For October

For October

Pink hibiscus

For October

Early morning sunrise

Taking Time

Just taking time to do some other things for a bit here  - please bear with me!
See you all soon :))

Creating

A few days ago I was in my scrapbook studio searching for a piece of paper I knew I had and in the process I came across this inspiration book that I had created while taking Stacy Julian's "Think Big" class at Big Picture Scrapbooking.

I had forgotten all about creating this little piece and I had so much fun looking through it -

and being inspired all over again!!  I still have lots of pages to fill in the book and I left it out on my table so I can keep working on it.  What little treasure do you have hidden away that you can stumble across and be excited about again?  Go and start looking now!!

Something to Think About

You must go over to In(courage) and read this  today!  Wow - I loved it and hope you do too!!

Have a wonderful day - with Him!

House Redo - part 2

Here's the start of the new floor!

Hallway

Living room

Gratitude Gifts Today

Today I am grateful for these gifts:

- sun rising through the clouds

- early morning phone calls from loved ones - what a great way to start the day!

- hot chocolate mixed with coffee, topped with hazelnut coffee creamer

- slices of cheddar cheese

- the colors of autumn brightening the roadsides

- the curiosity of children

- watching independent projects develop according to interests and talents

- a school library

- hugs - great big ones!!

- developing rapport with students

- a well stocked pharmacy (I know I do take it for granted.)

- a great big spaghetti squash from our garden, baked and served with butter and Parmesan cheese

- eating supper together

- having the garden all put away for winter

- hearing my sister's voice

- my mom and dad

- chocolate covered almonds :))

- running water (Again - something I take for granted.)

- childhood memories of my grandparents

- my brother and his invitation for supper

- nieces and nephews and getting to know them as adults

- my favourite color lingering on in the garden

- fresh herbs

- email

- online scrapbooking classes

- a soft pillow, especially at the end of the day

Simple Woman #60

For Today . . . September 28, 2009

Outside my window. . . summer has completely disappeared!  It was so cold and windy all day.  High of +6 with winds gusting to 70 km/hr - it felt like -15!!

I am thankful . . . for a husband who is working hard to prepare for new flooring.

And I am also thankful . . . for the bounty of food God has provided for us.

I am praying . . . for my Dad, who is fighting another kidney stone.

I am thinking . . . about purging the china cabinet.

I am celebrating . . . an empty garden!

From the kitchen . . . grilled steelhead trout with lemon and herbs served on multigrain toast with fresh tomatoes, cucumbers and green peppers.

I am wearing . . . greenish-brown dress pants, a beige tshirt with orange and brown embroidery and a matching toile print tan shirt jacket.

I am reading . . . The Royal Handmaid by Gilbert Morris, a Christian novel about a group of missionaries whose ship crashed on the way to their mission.

I am hoping . . . that a whole afternoon of grade 5 science experiments goes well tomorrow.

I am hearing . . . CBC News on the TV.

I am creating . . . nothing, actually!

Around the house and yard . . . windows to wash, garbage to haul to the landfill, recycling to take to the bottle depot, and flowerpots to empty.

One of my favourite things . . . taco salad, made at my brother's request for the supper we had with them on Saturday night.

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . 2 days of subbing, winterizing the rest of the yard, watching Meadow at her hockey initiation practice, and taking some garden produce to a friend.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you . . . Helayna loves going for quad rides with Grampa and Silas got in on the action too.  He loved all the buttons!!

Thanks to Heather for taking the pictures :))

The End

of gardening for this year!  I picked the spaghetti and acorn squash -

and the pumpkins.  Helayna and Meadow each took home a great big one too.

And the last 2 boxes of green tomatoes came off because the forecast is for frost at night now.  It really was a bountiful harvest and the growing season was a full two weeks longer than normal for us.  The credit for this garden really belongs to Bob who kept the weeds under control, watered regularly and was so keen about the whole project.  I would not have done all of this on my own!!

 The marigolds and nasturtiums with their brilliant oranges and yellows linger on - they always cheer me up!

House Redo

If you know us, you'll know that we are not into home renovations!  Bob and his dad built our house 31 years ago and it's been a great place to raise our 4 children.  After redoing the shingles a few years ago, we knew the next project would have to be a new floor.  Insert a picture here of our kids nodding their heads vigourously and agreeing wholeheartedly :))   Earlier this spring we bought bamboo hardwood and it's been acclimatizing in the basement.  So - today we started the big project of removing the old carpet in the living room.  The first thing we had to do was find a place for all the furniture to rest.  Some went downstairs and  some went into the garage for now.  In the process, several bags of recycling were generated and a great many cords and a few outdated electronics were sent away.  Then the baseboards came out and the carpet was rolled up and moved out.  The underlay and wood tacking strips, in assorted pieces as we were able to remove them, were hauled to the dump.    Now Bob is fixing the squeaks and screwing down the subfloor.  The kitchen linoleum will also have to go, which is likely an even bigger project but  I am so happy with our progress today!  I'll keep you posted - hopefully it won't be too, too long before we have everything back together.

Happy Birthday, Mom

It's Bob's mom's 83rd birthday today.    She has been such a constant in our lives, always willing to help with anything we need and sharing her baking and garden produce at every visit.  She cares for their home, has a huge garden and entertains often.  Her winters are spent quilting and sewing blankets for great-grandchildren and charities.   She has been an amazing example of how to be a good mother-in-law and I hope that I've gained a little of her wisdom, common sense and faith.

Happy Birthday, Mom K!

Ten on Thursday

1.  It's taken 3 days of steady work but the garden is pretty well empty!  Some pumpkins, spaghetti and acorn squash remain on the vines and the late tomatoes are still green as grass.    Today Heather and Naomi both helped - thank you SO, SO much!!

2.  Big huge thanks to my husband who dug all the potatoes.  That was a big job!

3.  These two have been so much fun this week!!  They were just standing by the toybox, giggling and jabbering away to each other yesterday afternoon.  Thanks to Heather for the picture and to House of 3 for the digital frame, which I remembered how to use :))

 

4.  The great 2009 crop of twisted carrots were quickly processed (thanks to Naomi and her food processor) and many bags of grated carrots are now in the deep freeze, waiting for winter baking and cooking.

5.  We were out in the sandbox by 9:00 a.m. this morning!  Later Meadow came over and together they "baked" strawberry pies.

6.  I had a vaccination in my left arm today and it hurts so much!  I can hardly move my arm!

7.  Do you ever go to your freezer, open the lid and just marvel at all the good food that's tucked away, waiting to be used inside?!   It's a pretty marvelous feeling - trust me!

8.  The bane of my existence these days are the flies!  There are so many of them and they keep finding their way into the house.  We've taken to vacuuming them off the ceiling every evening.  This warm weather is just what they need to stay active and continue to be a nuisance.  Anybody else having this same trouble?

9.  I bought a new swimsuit last week.  It was an "interesting / challenging / shaking my head / knew immediately it was the right one" kind of trip!  It's called a "Miraclesuit" - gotta love any suit with a label like that :))

10.  This little man loves his cars!  He spent a very long time on the patio this morning, going back and forth, back and forth.  He can go really fast and gets pretty impatient when he hits a wall or an obstacle.  He's going to be quite the driver some day!

Creating

When Helayna comes to stay overnight with us, she sleeps in my scrapbook studio aka guest room.  Last night as she was getting ready for bed, I was grabbing a few things to bring out to the kitchen table to work on and she really wanted to scrapbook with Heather and I.  So before she went to bed, she punched and cut and glued and stickered and created something for Meadow!  It was so cute to watch her and Heather talking and creating together.  She loves scissors so she practiced for a bit with them too.

  When she was finally ready for bed Mommy decided she positively must go to bed, the promise was that it would all stay out on the kitchen table and she could create again.   So guess what's front and centre today?!  But we are very busy outside, emptying the garden so the creating is on hold for now.

Hopefully we can do something tonight :))

Simple Woman #59

For Today . . . September 22, 2009

Outside my window. . . a very hot summer day but with golden leaves and combined fields!  It's +28 degrees C and the forecast is for +30 tomorrow.  This is not a typical September at all!!

I am thankful . . . for help with emptying the garden today!

And I am also thankful . . . for such a bounty of fresh produce that we can store up for winter eating.

I am praying . . . for good health and safety in the weeks ahead.

I am thinking . . . about things I can make with all the small and short carrots that we've dug out of the garden.

I am celebrating . . . the great pictures we got yesterday with four of our grandkids.  (We missed you, Samuel!)

From the kitchen . . . "The Thigh Who Loved Me" ( a chicken dish), baked potatoes, sauteed beets, corn on the cob and watermelon. - maybe some more applesauce and a fruit cobbler tonight.

I am wearing . . . blue capris, pink sleeveless tshirt and crocs.

I am reading . . . A Blade of Grass by Lewis DeSoto - still working on this.  It's quite a story!

I am hoping . . . that my visa will be delivered tomorrow!  I know it's in Edmonton now.

I am hearing . . . Helayna chatting as she draws "paths going up the big hills" in a little paper book that we made.  She's using "the very large crayons" and says "the white only dries out".  I love her conversations!

I am creating . . . a mini travel album - actually got a few pieces of paper cut for this!

Around the house and yard . . . beets, carrots and potatoes to pick up from the garden where they were dug out this morning - laundry to change up - and lots of toys scattered around as Helayna, Silas and Heather are visiting with us for a few days!

One of my favourite things . . . sitting outside on the patio on warm evenings as the stars come out.

A few plans for the rest of the week . . . major garden digging, windows to wash, laundry and mending to take care of, lots of playing with grandchidren, a haircut and appointment in the city.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing with you . . . taken by Jonathan as seven of them hiked from Moraine Lake to Lake O'Hara on Saturday.   They crossed a glacier along the 20 km trail and have many stories to share.  Bob has been out on the trails alot this year!!

Gratitude Gifts Today

These things brought me joy today -


- early morning laundry started



- clean shirts hanging ready to go back in the closet



- containers filled with applesauce moved to the freezer



- a letter in the mailbox from our niece



- an appointment to pick up precious documents



- fresh multigrain bread coated in sesame seeds



- bright berries hanging heavy on the branch

- poutine - one of my favourite treats of all time!



- conversation with friends



- visits from our grandchildren



- photo opportunities outdoors in the brightly colored leaves



- 3 generations gathered around the kitchen table at suppertime



- arms wrapped tight to give hugs



- little monkeys jumping on our bed



- Death by Chocolate Zucchini Muffins



- our daughter who cleaned up the kitchen after supper



- the sun shining through colored leaves



- fresh applesauce, still warm, served with cinnamon and cream