Welcome Back Friends!

After very few sightings of our friends the deers (not even in my garden!) all summer long, they are back! Out of the woods to eat as much as they can before winter hits. There have been four or five of them each day, feeding on the berries in the trees at the front of the house. We are thrilled to see them again!

Apparently it is a pretty tasty tree, I don't know what it is but it is popular. When the deer aren't eating out of it, the chickens have flown up for a snack!

(sorry about the blurry photos, camera troubles!)

Skate park...one last time?

There were the lasts with summer; last swim in the lake, last sandcastles, last time at the ice cream shop. Even though there is lots of time in fall still, with the frost on the ground and the temperatures dropping we know there are some lasts happening. The skatepark is one of them. Last week we went to our park with our Thursday friends and this week we also visited a neighbouring park. The kids will miss it over the winter, its a great way for them to burn off tons of energy...but then again so does mounds of snow!

World Food Day

Tommorrow, October 16th is World Food Day, a day to take action and reflect on world food issues, hunger.

At a time when the global economic crisis dominates the news, the world needs to be reminded that not everyone works in offices and factories. The crisis is stalking the small-scale farms and rural areas of the world, where 70 percent of the world's hungry live and work. With an estimated increase of 105 million hungry people in 2009, there are now 1.02 billion malnourished people in the world, meaning that almost one sixth of all humanity is suffering from hunger.

From the World Food Day site

Even during really hard times, Chris and I have never had to watch our kids go hungry, feared our children were malnourished. We have had the privilege to grow some food of our own, not worrying that the government would come along and relocate us or take our land away. We have had the luxury of being able to can fruits and vegetables knowing that we have the option to buy produce that was grown locally and has little to no pesticides. We also know it is not an option to take these things for granted. It also isn't an option to stand by silently while people die of hunger. Children, mothers, fathers, grandparents, friends, die. Donate to food banks, be thankful, write to politicians, volunteer, become educated and empowered to act. We can all do something.

Oxfam has some great resources for World Food Day to use with your family or school. Even a jeopardy game. Over 700,000 Canadians turn to food banks each month. As part of World Food Day, Foodbanks Canada has put Canadian faces to hunger. They have compiled and published stories about individuals who are facing hunger. As a problem that often feels far away, this publication dispells the myths.

The rice game
A Flicker photo group for World Food Day
Make Poverty History Resources

Games for kids based on social justice

Things I am Loving

There are always so many great recipes, writings, crafts, photos, catching my attention in blogland, I thought I would share a few of them.

I had a homeschooling meeting here the other night and needed to whip up a quick and easy snack. I tried maya*made's One Bowl Apple Cake. I used spelt flour instead of all purpose and we were out of nuts altogether and it was still delicious. The kids have since made it on their own. Very Yummy!

I have been loving this music! they do some great covers and original music

I wish I had the knitting confidence to take on this beautiful vest. I have a few people it would look super sweet on. I love it so much I would make one for ME in different colours, perhaps enough for everyday of the week!

This post about Halloween. The emphasis being on the changing of the seasons, the coming of the darkness. This post really resonated with me, the reason we celebrate.

I mentioned making some salves and rose hip syrup. The syrup recipe I used is a combination of a bunch of different ones. The closest is the one my friend Karen used, this recipe for their rose hip syrup. The only difference is we added a two inch piece of peeled ginger while it was cooking, then we mashed it a bit to get out every last bit of juice. The pieces were then strained out. We also added a pinch of cinnamon, cause we like it.

Hi Ho Hi Ho...its off to the woods we go!

Over My Shoulder

Hiking is a family passion. It's our solution to a lot of things, if it is sunshine and we are feeling groovy we go for a hike, if the day is crumbling and we are cranky we go for a hike. Shai is an exceptionally good hiker, he loves to run along the trail, follow the bigger kids off the trail, explore the little crevices, flowers and bugs. He notices things that the rest of us might skip over or not see. Little lady bugs under a leaf, a spider on a log, a piece of fungus or a bit of moss. The pace he sets himself is a bit slower, but finding so many treasures is the reward for all of us.

The sharing of what we discover is one of the things I love about hiking as a family or in a group. Even with 6 pairs of eyes there is still things we miss.

Yesterday we headed out on a trail, an attempt to squash the crankiness that was starting to set in. A very sleepy Shai rode in the backpack carrier until his legs woke up. I have always carried by babies in different carriers, this is an extension of that. Having him close to me means we get to share the hike in a special way. I hear his chatter about what he sees, he puts his hands on my head or face to show me something that excites him.

Oh mama a wood- peck bird, oh i love birds

Oh mama a fungus, a fungus, a fungus, do you love fungus mama? i love fungus

oh mama moss is it soft mama or pickly? moss smells good mama

oh that bark is so nice, a bug mama a bug, i love bugs.

These are the Days

The cold, cold rain (snow at times...although I am in denial) called for us to be in the house, with the fire on, the almond milk heating on the stove beside a second pot of oatmeal. This switch to more indoor time is hard for some of my guys. They don't do well with the weather restricting their time or comfort outside. The layering for warmth doesn't happen joyfully for some. It is interesting because the rhythm of switching the seasons comes naturally for some, and not so smoothly for others.

This transition of spending more time indoors, especially when it is wet and cold has had some perks. From waaaaay in the back of the cupboard we pulled out our craft box. It was similar to unloading a buried treasure box. It was filled with the classics; glitter glue, sequins, pipe cleaners, foam shapes, pom poms, popsicle sticks, feathers. Within in seconds projects were planned and creations were being made. Now that thanksgiving has passed the dinner conversation has turned to crafting and creating for Christmas. We have been making gifts along time, and the reality of how much needs to get done has set in. While no one is feeling panicky we have all begun to prepare. There are a few projects on the go, a list with some possibilities, with maybe a little refining and a little bit of searching for a few more ideas. We make gifts for the kids and each other. There are immediate families with neice and nephew, names picked for the extended family exchange, family friends, gifts from the kids for their friends, the 'community' ie. librarians, rec. centre staff, volunteers kids have connected with, hosting gifts. Phew. It is such an exciting time.
We aren't the only ones creating a list. I will be sharing some of my finds in the next few weeks, but there are lots of great craft lists out there. This is a good place to start. And here. For the kids, and they like here too. These are on the list, and these too.

Morning Has Broken

Once the sun ate up the frost, we packed the snack bag and headed to a trail we enjoy. The scenery was beautiful.

A Special Birthday Boy

My tree climbing, nature loving, creature caring, lego master, who has such a strong sense of right and wrong, understands the strength of his body, tender hearted, cuddly, self motivated to explore so many different passions, costume loving, deep belly laughing, silly humour, embraces the magical world, a gentle soul who has a beautiful spiritual understanding I admire, that is just a window into my Ben. Today, it is his 9th birthday, but he wants us to celebrate 8 again, because who wants to grow older, certainly not him. Happy 8th birthday - what a gift you are!

Ben made his own cake, a layer of skittles in between two layers of white cake, iced with chocolate butter frosting. A third cake had a very elaborate lego creation for a cake topper, an Indian Jones scene. He was thrilled with a viking shield made by dadda, a viking cape and pillow from mama, fishing magazine from Shai, Elias made him a wood axe, Aria got fudge ingredients for him to use and made a finger game. He was thrilled with it all.

Happy Thanksgiving

We invited my side of the family up for thanksgiving, a few people took us up on the invite. The rooms were full, extra tables brought in, food rotating out constantly. It was a potluck weekend with everyone bringing different meals. We cooked and cleaned up together. Enjoyed the beautiful sunshine on Saturday and groaned at the short lived snow on Sunday. There were games of tug of war, running races, eating donuts off a string, a scavenger hunt, ATV rides, a blazing fire complete with a great sing a long.

It was a wonderful shared holiday. Really, the way thanksgiving was meant to be.

Dockside

We took our new painting kits down to the dock at 'our' lake. The colours of the trees where the sun was shining were so golden and radiant. The colours where the sun was hidden by the clouds were so intense and dark. We tried our hand and each side, trying to capture the feel as well as what we saw.

There was a little multi-tasking going on. The kids also brought their fishing rods with them, plunging their hooks in the water and while waiting for a nibble they painted. They make me laugh. For them it made perfect sense. Just like talking on the phone and crocheting or a movie and felting work for me I guess.

The Cupboard

The smells in the house have been (temporarily) shifting from apples and cinnamon to beeswax and lavender. I don't know which I prefer, although totally different types of smells, they are both have such rich, comforting aromas. The new slab of beeswax was picked up at the market so we could get started on stocking the first aid cupboard. Each year we try our hand at making more of our own remedies to have on the shelves. We started with different dried herbs for teas, soaks and poultices, making our way to creams, salves, tinctures and oils. It gives us great satisfaction to grow or gather the ingredients, have them steep or dry over time and then mix them up into their final product. It is a slow and steady process, requiring patience. A process that builds our anticipation.
Shai has very sensitive skin, calendula cream is the most effective way we have found to sooth it. We can easily spend $10 a week on giving him comfort. After planting calendula flowers a few years ago and learning how easy it is to make a salve it made sense for us to make our own. This is the simplest recipe, one we have made successfully for the last few years.

I also steeped some plantain, red clover, mint and lavender. We combined infused plantain oil, beeswax and tea tree oil for skin irritations, rashes, cuts. For achy muscles, colds, congestion we mixed together olive oil, beeswax, comfrey, mint, eucalyptus, and pine. The red clover is for pms (not that I get that!), grape seed oil infused with the red clover can be used on the temples. We also did a jar we called "smells good herbal rub", its a little bit of this and that; lavender, mint, calendula, rosemary, beeswax and a few other things for good measure. We collected rose hips for a syrup chalked full of vitamin C, perfect for warding off colds. It tastes good to boot and I remember making as a child with my mum.

Combined with vitamins, herbal remedies, homeopathics, hot water bottles, some newly made cloth 'band aids' (for my sensitive skin guy), our cupboard if fuller and we feel healthier just knowing it's there!

It is all in the planning

I love our wood stove. The cozy feel, the warmth, the smell, it's all good. Our 9 cords of wood arrived the other day, and so the job of stacking it begins. We have family coming for thanksgiving; an extra 10 hands. I didn't mention the wood in the invite to celebrate thanksgiving up here, being family and all. It's all part of having the holiday in the country.... right?

We love LadyBugs

A very cool video!

Hand Stitched

Years ago (a life time really)when I lived in Guatemala, I became friends with an amazing woman; Irma. We met at a health clinic we were both volunteering at. The language barrier was challenging to our relationship at times, but more often brought us lots of laughter. She was raising her niece and nephew, her sister and brother in law had been killed in the genocide war that was going on. Making ends meet was often a challenge for her, it was a sewing machine and sewing skills that made the financial difference for them. Like many women, She would sew clothing, mostly traditional indigenous tops called huipiles which have beautiful embroidery on them. It was becoming more popular to have the embroidery done with a machine, it showed a sign of wealth to own a top with this style.
Irma created huipiles full of intricate designs, colours and patterns. Simply stunning. But her preference was to sit and hand embroider, even though they were more work. It was with her, over tortillas and beans, broken spanish and tea, that I learnt to embroider. Flowers, all different shapes and sizes. I have a few pieces from this time, the broken stitches, uneven stems, messy backing, yet perfect because of what it reminds of. Friendship, sharing a gift, a home, a meal.
I am still not any better at embroidery. Perfection or even improvement isn't what I strive for when I am embroidering, it's the quiet, the focus on the simple, the creating. I made this window trim while sitting with the kids, sharing with them stories about my friend Irma and what she taught me.
The flowers, they are still my favorite.

My Girl

She has always been the one to venture further away from me. Her comfort level of exploring on her own grew at a quicker pace than mine. This past weekend she joined her brownie troop for a tour of the cranberry marsh. She jumped out of the van, without looking back to hop on the bus to be gone from 8am-4pm. When she returned home, there were stories to be shared, friends to talk about, pride in having shared her lunch with a girl who didn't bring one. It was a good day.

Her personality is much like the outfit she is wearing; loud, colourful, beautiful, an original design by her.

Nature as Art

We lucked out by unknowingly moving to an area full of artists. Our seasonal neighbour happens to be a painter, who has also designed a program for introducing and encouraging art for kids. This afternoon he brought his program, another neighbour (new to us) and her daughter over for the afternoon.
The program draws attention to the connection of nature and art. The art in eARTh, how beauty and art is all around us. His program; called Look See Paint, takes you from just looking at nature to really seeing the detail, the small, the big, the lines, the connection we have. He then gave an inspiring and beautiful talk about individuality, authenticity and expressions being art. We definitely felt more than able to create beauty with our brush. That alone is a gift.
Next we were guided through watercolour, learning some techniques in blending, brush strokes, etc as fundamentals, but still remembering that the art is already within us.
View finders were given to each of the artists to use as a tool to See nature as a canvas. We played with depth and distance. We would have painted outside next, the rain had us back inside unfortunately. The next hour was spent playing with what we saw on paper.
We were not only gifted with a great afternoon, our friend gave each of us a kit for outdoor painting. Monday, if the rain holds off, we are heading to 'our' beach for a painting session.

So Much

Beautiful colours surround me.
Warm cider in my cup. Pumpkin bread on it's way out of the oven.
Many wiggly ones to cuddle.
Someone to plan with. Dream big.
So much to be grateful for.

Leaves

We hosted an afternoon of crafting and playtime at our place today. It was a cold day, mitts and hats were on and off, but the rain held back making it possible for us to be outside. There were three families we have become friends with and a family new to us join us, the kids ranging in age from 1 to 13 years old. The kids enjoying running around the woods, swinging out of the tree and playing endlessly.
The craft was leaf hammering. This has become a bit of a fall tradition for us, which is always nice to share. Everyone went around collecting leaves; colourful maple, vibrant sumac, and a few clover. The leaf is lay down on a piece of wood, over top a piece of material. With a hammer you bang the colour of the leaf out onto the material. The kids brought table clothes, pillow cases,

cloth bags, material to adorn with a little bit of fall. After you have hammered the print of the whole leaf it needs to be soaked in 2 cups of water and either 1 cup of salt or vinegar (either works), rinsed with water and hung to dry. Then you heat set it using an iron.

We chose to decorate napkins for our thanksgiving celebration this year. Elias and I also made a little wall hanging for above our nature table. The crafting and company was wonderful. A leaf felt like it was turning today.