frosty

Oops, we had frost last night and I didn't grab the remaining tomatoes. I think it was a light freeze tho so hopefully some will be salvageable. Hard to believe it's that time of year. The cold moves a few things that were on the back burner to the front - cleaning out the chicken coop, planting garlic, replacing the back door with a storm door, getting wood on the porch, etc.!

We've started making use of our new freezer - I grated and froze a whole bunch of scallop summer squash, along with some squash muffins and bread. Doubling recipes will likely become a new norm in these last months of preparing for baby time.

The car is officially broked so figuring out a new ride is in the works. A real hassle but it was inevitable and I suppose now is good time to deal with it. I'm lucky to have such a knowledgeable and helpful dad and brother not too far away.

Five weeks left of work. Amazing. D's finished painting the little one's room so now what's left is "just" flooring and trim. So close!

make way

New favourite garden flower is a hardy geranium called 'patricia' - a surprisingly large plant this year absolutely covered in long-blooming, dark pink flowers. The rest of the perennial garden is coming along... I think in a couple more years it could be glorious.

D's been working hard on the house whenever time allows - the small bedroom and hallway have been gutted (contents taken away by a dumpster we rented), and D's currently pulling up the old, scuffed parquet flooring. It's a slow, big job, but can already tell it's a worthwhile endeavour, good to get in before baby arrives.

There's also a load of gravel in the driveway (scored from D's work site for $50) and 4 cord of wood coming. Really have to watch the heavy lifting as it's tempting to get to work.

In other preggo news, grocery shopping has become more of a free for all than before, and it's kind of fun. One theme seems to be weird fake cheese eats (nacho cheese, kraft dinner, cheddar flavoured crackers). The nacho cheese and KD were thankfully one-timers, but sticking with the crackers. Am also super into honey nut cheerios. One day last week I ate some pickles chased with icecream and didn't realise till later how cliche I was being. Mmm.

I'm 32 this upcoming Wednesday which feels about right. Time is going quickly now. Funny to not be making time to slow time (meditation). Or physically/mentally prepping for things more... exercise, projects, reading, etc. We lost the internet for a couple days mid-reno and D and I both agreed it was kind of nice. I started reading a Charles De Lint novel mom lent me and it's a much nicer way to spend mental time than surfing the web. Speaking of which... think I'll see what happens next.

one domestic eveninggg

Long day at the office on top of a slow day at the store, home a bit after 5. Husband working late. Pet dogs, sit on porch, breath. Deadhead baskets and pots of porch flowers. Rub belly, smile. Pet dogs again, sit on porch again, breath. Strip bed, throw blankets and pillowcases in the wash, start washing breakfast dishes. Put eggs on to boil, cut up potatoes, put those on to boil. Bring chickens kitchen scraps, clean water, collect eggs. Feed dogs. Pick chives, make potato salad for my hard-working husband and put in fridge. Eat a pickle. Eat some hummus. Eat crackers, drink water. Take butter out of fridge and find a cookie recipe with hopes it'll turn out and be a gift for neighbour's birthday, and excuse to visit. Hang laundry on the line, breath. Make cookies (chewy oatmeal choc chip), bake cookies, smell cookies. Smell lilacs in vase on kitchen table. Call, bribe, chain Luna who seems to wander to the road in the evenings to chase neighbourhood walkers, joggers, rabbits. Wash potato salad and cookie dishes. Yell at barking dogs. Eat cookie... not bad. Drink water, take vitamin, enjoy breeze through windows, singing frogs. Three hours of barefoot, pregnant, domestic bliss. Blog.

febrrruary

Peppermint tea in bed... brought to me by my love, now gone to work. Mo is purring beside me trying to attack my laptop and fingers. -15C this morning but once the sun is shining it should get up to -4. I miss waking at 6am to the sun, but it is getting lighter earlier.

The days are very slow but the months are fast. It's been an easy winter - not a lot of snow, not a lot of intolerably cold temperatures. Sort of a great winter, but I've been keeping warm indoors, skiis and hockey sticks sitting idly on the porch. Oh well. It's gonna be fun to have kids someday, yanking our sleeves to get up off the chair, away from the fireplace, and out the door. Doing stuff is usually more fun than not. Tho hibernation can feel pretty great too.

Am adjusting to a new haircut... always takes awhile to feel like yourself again, but I'm appreciating the lack of knots, the lightness, the change. The hairdresser thought I was 22. I also got shampooed for the first time in 2 years which wasn't nice. Apple cider vinegar rinses have since returned its bounce and shine.

In other news: black garlic, the return of making music, atwood, nail polish, bird feeders, wedding plans, seeds, seeds, and more seeds... for a kick ass 2010 garden.

raw truths

Oh body of mine, why art thou such great reminder of things done, things not done, and things left to do? I suppose we just are what we live and it's not good or bad, but is. Each moment we are ourselves (past, present, future) all in one. I enjoy all three and will continue to learn, love, and nurture.

The path to real healing has begun with the goal being a stronger immune system and a peaceful mind. Good vibes, happiness, health. Already I feel the life force brightening within me. It is hard to describe other than calling it a stronger sense of well-being. The motivation behind it I shall keep vague for now: a biopsy, a diagnosis, a warning. Luck murkied in the realisation of unwellness, but luck no less, and a chance to change.


I've been reading everything I can about the raw food diet and its magic. As much sense as it sounds, there seems to be a lack of science, so yes, magic. (Similar to other things in the world not hyper-defined, yet right). So for the past week+ it's been smoothies and salads and good old fashioned vitamins. Not too extreme, but making sure to get lots of good stuff in. So far I'm doing "raw till dinner" and then dinner is usually a vegan something (cooked). Also, slow stretches, and laughter, and breathing. It's time to feel good and good about feeling.

I bought a 3-tier sprouter (sprouts are so good for you!). I know I will like it because I love to garden. I also love sprouts.

Speaking of garden, I've rented a tiller for the weekend! Extending the garden and really making it real. I'm guessing it'll be about 30x30' plus two raised beds that are each 4x8'. Lots of room to GROW.

our bread n butta

A beautiful week tho cold nights & mornings. Even a frost warning! I crossed-fingers instead of covered to protect my tomatoes that night... it worked. Had fried-green maters the next day.

Although the birthday gift cheese-making kit from hoeger supply left much to be desired, D valiantly pursued the great art de fromage - a simple goat ricotta with salt & basil. Mild, delicious, easy.

Earlier, I had made bread for the first time, following my buddy megz's recipe, and it was super easy and deelish. This will probably become an ongoing weekend thing to do. In fact, the following weekend I made this batch:

Success again with the wholewheat honey oat. Tonight I shall make more bread to take with me when we go north to visit my family... they'll enjoy it.

valentine city

Pretty roses from my valentine. Am a lucky gal. So nice to have flowers in vases in the house... need to plan for ample cut flowers in the garden, tho so many pretty wildflowers around too. I don't know much about the cut-flower industry but curious about cut flower farms in Ontario and local flower shops that stock them.

Got my 2009 grow list somewhat figured out... a few things missing but nothing a seedy saturday can't fix!

Was in the big city this weekend for a band practice and D's band's last gig eva/Ancestors' 7" release. Very enjoyable. Old Toronto friends, head-banging, late night tea. Before that, a homemade mezza at J&N: falafel, stuffed grape leaves, bulgar salad, fried cheese, pita, and maple-walnut pie for dessert. MMM!

Nice things:
1. D's Burmese chickpea mash thing
2. a tow truck driven by nice retired dairy farmer
3. february almost being over
4. rock shows at sneaky dee's
5. norma's orchid collection

well water

Well it is my last day of "detox" and I feel pretty much the same as when I started, except for finding it easier to wake up in the morning. But this could be from my insistence on getting up w/ D at 6.30 instead of falling back asleep till 8 and feeling groggy and awful. I have discovered a few things tho...

1. More water is nice, but 8 glasses a day is ridiculous. I call myth on the 8 glasses of water a day push, thinking its source is most likely the bottled water industry. Aside from the impracticality of having to pee all the time, my lips are still chapped, my face is still the same, my hands are still dry... probably more from wintertime than dehydration. Of course water is nice, but I don't feel the need to push getting a certain prescribed amount.

2. Nettle tea is nice for the bowels. 'Nuff said.

3. Greens+ could be the source of my energy in the morning. I have it before bed and when I wake up. No doubt it does a body good and it might be something I keep up with after the week is up. There was also one night I woke up mid-sleep feeling pure elation and awesomeness.

4. Sugar free is good - I feel less manic and desperate in times of wanting a snack, and eating in general. Was reminded that 'ants on a log' (celery w/ peanutbutter and raisins on top) is much more delicious and satisfying than inhaling a couple of cookies. I did bake with honey twice, and on Saturday had (gasp!) maple syrup. These are sugars, but less refined than yr basic white. It's nice to know they can hold up in baking (applesauce is nice too) so I might use the alternatives more often!

5. No coffee is good - D and I have sort of been treating coffee as a weekend treat and I think I'll continue with that. It winds me up too much, making my mind race, and even sometimes causing a mild depression. Not worth it... tho maybe the odd time.

6. Had a couple headaches this week, and I don't get them that often usually. My back also went out (back spasm!) on Friday. Related? Not sure.

7. Gluten-free pancakes are delicious (brown rice flour). Gluten-free baking probably takes a little more work... made some crumbly muffins. Definitely do-able but I miss the fullness of wheat flour. That said, I will continue trying to eat less of it. Not really sure why - just seems like a fullness your body doesn't always need.

8. I forgot how much I like smoothies.

9. I miss a good glass of wine, but definitely appreciate having it on occasion rather than making it a part of most dinners. Easier on the pocketbook too.

Okay, I think that covers most of the bases. No biggie really, but nice to sort of 'reset' my eating habits and bring some more mindfulness to the idea of nourishing your body's organs and cells and so on.

Also

I forgot time to include my 5 nice things last time. Not this time tho:

1. whiskey snoring
2. a yard of acres and acres of beautiful trees, especially just after a snow fall
3. the smell of cedar kindling
4. when D gets home
5. dressing warm and playing in the snow

detox

Detox diets are, for the most part, bogus. That said, I started one yesterday! Not really following a pre-made plan, tho it's loosely inspired by Ann Louise Gittleman's book (very loosely - her menu plans are all meat and I'm a veggie). But the basic gist is no coffee, no alcohol, no refined sugars, no wheat flours, no processed foods (or rather, overly processed with weird additives/chemicals - practically everything you buy has been to some extent). I'm also cutting out dairy, tho don't eat very much of it anyway and chillin' out on eating so much soy.

When I wake up and before bed, I have a glass of unsweetened cranberry juice w/ 1 tsp greens+, a fibre supplement, and a couple glasses of water. Nettle tea (2 cups) and water (8 glasses total) throughout the day. Breakfast is a good smoothie w/ flax seed oil, hemp protein powder, fruit, juice, rice milk, etc. Lunch and dins are soups, stir fries, quinoa, tempeh, lentil, couscous, bean, etc. concoctions, salads, using nice oils like flax, sesame, grape... actually not too far off from my usual meals, but minus all the mindless snacking and sugar and so on.

The reason I'm doing this is not really to do a super cleanse on my liver, colon, kidneys or whatever, that's where the bogus stuff usually comes in, but to bring awareness to how I eat, stop eating so much sugar, see if wheat affects me (mild alergy?), drink more fluids, and make sure I'm getting enough protein. Will post menu plan for whomever is interested somewhere (wish I could do a "read more" at the end of this, but not sure how). Also worth noting is that I'd rather not lose weight, or feel hungry (!), so portions are the same as how I normally eat.

Oh and hey check out my cute pets in a rare moment of possibly mutual affection:

scentses

Buttery organic coffee with a dash of JP's irish cream. Rosemary taters. Wood piling, musty and spiced, like the hot smokey fires to come. Sweat and grass with a late afternoon rain. Wet dawg.

Cinnamon, nutmeg, and freshly ground cloves: acorn squash muffins just out of the oven (thanks bro for giving me so many I had to search for a use. Squash muffins are delicious! Who knew?). D and I have already downed two each. Swallowed down with a creamy vanilla coconut chardonnay, and he with a bottle of 50.

live to eat

returning from an indulgent feed of the magic that is cora pizza. last night was a queen st. snack of spring rolls and a corona for $15. and all week it's coffee and birthday pecan pie. enjoying rich fast snacks at the office, culinary delights of toronto's many ethnic eateries after work, and feeling so smugly full after each and every meal... but at the same time, recognising that this can only go on for so long! sugary, salty, oily, processed foods make me feel kinda lumpy and gross after awhile and am therefore looking forward to returning home (finally!) to a kitchen that fosters a much slower, cheaper, healthier roster of eats. my palette is craving a bowlful of simple, clean, nutty brown rice with some marinated tofu and steamed veggies. or fresh apple juice and a handful of raw almonds. salads. and cups and cups of herbal tea.

and further still, the farm. where we will drink water straight from the field's deep underground reserves, and feast on garden yields. blend basil pestos and roasted red pepper dips. savor crisp snow peas and juicy red tomatoes grown from seed. bake strawberry breads, and apple cobblers from fruits picked by our own hands. sip on fresh ice teas from the mint-patch alongside the house. just thinking about it makes me feel healthier already!

not to mention bike rides, swimming, and hiking!

settling in

been meaning to write more but've been distracted by the tangible. tho life is slower here, it always feels like there is something to do and the time goes by quickly. in the city it was like shifting gears, always on the go or recovering from being on the go, but here it is an easy and constant pace... a tempo i think i'm most happy at. also enjoying spending time with d and roommates. living with my love is a healthy switch as i'm confronted with smoothing over my rough spots (idiosyncrasies blindly developed while living alone). i laugh, learn, and love daily... it's so nice i can hardly recall why i was so attached to living solo.

highlights of today include buying terracotta and cool little pots from the dollar store and baking some vegan chocolate chip cookies. gearing down. exhibits a and b:



notice am becoming person who snaps pics solely for blog purposes. getting the swing of this.

started michael pollan's "in defense of food" and although i'm only just into chapter two, it's already got me pausing mid-grocery-store-isle, product in hand, thinking. more on this later.

although i mostly do the vegan thing, have been perking ears to the fishermen (usually /fisherwomen too but have yet to see one) of the area. they're everywhere, settled along the shores of georgian bay. on a walk past the harbour last evening, i quizzed a resident fisherperson on the whats and hows (to which i received a "yr not from around here, are ya?"). rainbow trout, bait on a hook. this morning i asked jp's friend for more detail and apparently fish eggs in a sack, sunk with styrofoam is a popular bait. huh! interesting.

i guess dad put rods in our hands as soon as we were able to hold things so fishing warms me like any proud, happy, recurring, life-evolving childhood staple would. plus i'll admit an attraction to the primitive, connecting with nature, catching food from the wild thing. took a small bite of d's salmon the other night. hm, not sure yet. i sort of remember how to clean a fish. and that trip with uncle h and my bro deep in algonquin, along the robatai river... spinners, frying pan, butter.