August Long Weekend

Today is Monday August 13th.
Summer seems to take forever to arrive in this country, but when its here we can't get enough of it.  We have had many pool party days, lots of work in the garden, work around and inside the house and of course some fun little trips!!!  We also took one big trip where the four of us flew to Vancouver Island and stayed in a house in Tofino for a week.  So much fun has been had and I refuse to talk like summer is almost over.  Hope everyone else is making summer memories too.

"Summer afternoon-Summer afternoon.  To me those have always been two of the most beautiful words in the english language." ~Henry James

May Long Weekend.......

It has come and gone.  A greatly anticipated weekend for many different reasons I'm sure.  Heck for different reasons even for me.  We used to always go camping rain, snow or sun, it didn't matter since the good times kept your feet and your cheeks warm.  Now, with two little kids, the rain and snow scare us into staying home.  This year we decide to stay home and the weather was fantastic.  Even though we weren't away camping somewhere we must have spent something like 40 hours outside.  Cody and I both had projects to work on and the boys were in tow playing whatever, wherever.  I started a little DIY project on my garden house.  Its a purchased shed, with a deck outside of it and an old counter top/cabinet/sink sitting on the deck. It's looking pretty run down these days so it will getting a revamping this month and i'll post photos to show the progress.  Other than that I worked on organizing my greenhouse.  We are still getting down to -3 degrees some nights and that's too cold to put a lot on my seedlings in.  For now they all live together very snug in my little hot house.
We've got rain, rain, rain in the forecast but we wont let it stop us.  I'm always happy with myself when I make a point to purchase good gear for all weather types for all of us.  The boys both have full rain suits and we'll be out there rain or shine.

"Some people walk in the rain, other just get wet"
                                                       ~Roger Miller

Sun Tea

Levi and I are working hard to teach Dawson to wear his hat outside :)

Yeeeeeshhhh!!!  Looks worse than I thought!!

Marvelous May

Long time no talkie!!!! With the addition of our second son last year in March life became somewhat of a whirlwind.  I had no idea how different having two kids would be from having one.  We have been busy and loving almost every minute.

Looking back on my earlier posts (from years ago) I talked a lot about the past and it seems like I never caught up to whats happening in real time.  This go around I am going to try and write only currently and hopefully I'll be able to keep it up better.  Thanks so much to those who read and I hope you enjoy being able to see what we are up to here at my little Eden on earth.
Its gardening season and that always gets me smiling.  We have been having a few rather chilly evenings hitting -3 last night and the night before.  I have a pile of seedlings started and am trying to keep them warm.  Last weekend I put 10 rows of potatoes in and that's the earliest I've ever put them in.  Here's hoping the frost was only on the surface. *fingers crossed
Dawson celebrated his first birthday on March 29th and has been walking ever since.  He's starting to sound out a few words such as "Down, Go, Out etc".  He loves music and all musical instruments and was even playing a wooden flute last night.  The things they can do at such a young age amazes me constantly.
Levi will be celebrating his fourth birthday on June 5th.  That was four years ago that I became a Momma?!?!?!  Really?!?!?!  He's a feisty, determined, too smart for his own good kind of a kid and he keeps us on our toes.  He surpasses any expectations I had for him as a big brother.  Some days I could sit and watch the two of them play, argue, interact and love one another for hours and hours.  Someone once told me,  "the greatest gift I ever gave my kids was each other (siblings)" and it feels true.

 The red wig makes its second public appearance!!!  Levi was a pirate for Halloween when he was 18 months old and wore this wig at a party for the entire afternoon and evening. 

 Levi's first attempt at writing his name and age :)  I think he did really well!!!

 Last night I had the vision for my garden.  I am going for straight rows this year.  In the previous years I have made an artistic pattern with the vegetables I've planted, but the wise ones in my life tell me that straight rows means less work.  I am humouring them this year and will give it a test. When I sat down to draw it out on a cereal box, Levi sat on the other side of the box and colored and glued and wrote his name.

 He lights up my life!!!!

Here's the plan!!! We have a 30' x 60' plot and right now almost half of it is potatoes.  Hope that's enough and that I can fit all the rest in too.  Is a bigger plot in my future?

We had a bit of rain the past couple of days so the trees, grass and shrubs are all beautiful green.  The sun is shining today so we are on our way.  Here's to a good day!!!

"Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be"
~Abraham Lincoln

I'm Back!!!

Whamo.......just like that, the summer is over. I began this blog with great enthusiasm and excitement and although I still feel these things for the life I live here, for some reason sitting down and writing about it felt silly. I was thinking to myself, "Is anyone even interested in what I'm doing besides my Mom whom I talk on the phone with almost everyday anyways? Does she really want to hear it all from me and then go on the computer, which is a bit of task in itself for her (no offense Ma) and read about it all over again?" I know she would because that's just the sort of Mom she is, but I didn't want to burden her. Recently though I have had some feedback as to what happened to my blog. Some people actually miss reading it?!?!?! Go figure! So here I am, back on track and ready to report the summer's happenings here at my Eden and I thank those who follow and I still love those who don't.

After reading my last post I consider where I left off was somewhere in June. I finished the marathon with great pride, we celebrated the wonderful birthdays that month and I saw one of my musical idols Tom Petty live in Edmonton. The best part about the Tom Petty concert was that he performed a lot of his old songs from the 90's, which are my faves and you could not tell that he had written and sung them almost 20 years ago. His voice is still crisp and right on key and I loved every minute of it. Music has always held a place in my life and I know I can count on it to bring me up, cool me down, or take me across a rough bump in the road. I am forever grateful to the talented people that can express what they are feeling through song. I often have a wonderful connection with lyrics to certain songs. I love to sing along and get that feeling like the words have been read from the book of my heart and soul. It's soothing to know that people out there go through similar things and feel some of the same emotions you do. One day I would love nothing more than to be able to write and play my own music. I made one step in the right direction this summer by convincing my Mom to let me keep her guitar at my place for awhile. Cody did a little tweaking and put new strings on it and it has turned out to be a beauty. Other than having a guitar you love to play, practice is the second big step in learning the way of it. I've started with a few chords and have practiced the transition between them and using my ear to hear what ones I like together. I am really hoping to keep up with it and make a little progress over the winter. The best part about having guitars around the house at all times is that Levi has a huge interest in music at 2 years old. His latest gig is to go to one of our drawers in the kitchen and take out a turkey baster. He gets to the living room and sits on the floor with his very own small acoustic guitar in his lap. He strums the strings with one hand while holding the turkey baster as a microphone and singing into it with his other hand. He has a few songs he's written, usually about Mama, Dada and Bella (our dog), but his latest is about Monster Trucks. I hope the love of music stays with him forever, there's nothing like it.

The beginning of July we spent back home to celebrate our first anniversary. We spent that weekend back up at Whitetail where we were married. We had our wedding party and their families join us for a weekend on the lake. It was a really fun time and I'm so happy we did that. A few of us stayed into the following week, camped in the campground and the guys got to fish. Cody and his family have been spending a lot of time at this lake since he was a boy and there's something to be said about being able to see the one you love in his element. I know we will continue to spend as much time there as we can in the future and I will always look forward to it.

That takes us to about the middle of July and there's a lot more to our summer than that. It will be nice to get caught up in time so that there wont be so many past tense words. This month of September has been a very reminiscent month and as the trees are turning their beautiful yellows, oranges and reds around me I feel anxious about a season change. There are wonderful things to look forward to in each season and I know this fall will be no different.

Sun is shining. Weather is sweet. Make you wanna move your dancing feet.

--Bob Marley--

June Bug

Today is June 2nd, 2010

For a few different reasons I consider this day one of my most favourite of the year.

Reason number one, my lovely mother's birthday is today and we always show her lots of love. I called her first thing this morning since she is back home in BC and I'm in Whitecourt. Levi and I had the whole thing planned out. We practiced the song while I made him his breakfast and I thought we had it down perfect. So, I make the call and when she answers I start singing Happy Birthday. Levi instead of backing me up has this very confused look on his face during the entire song and he doesn't sing a single note. If I could read what his expression was telling me it would have said "What on earth are you doing? You are the weirdest person I have ever seen!!" I thought it would have been cute for my Ma to hear us singing together, which we happen to do a lot any other day. Instead I fear I ruined her birthday right first thing in the morning with my singing. I hope her expression wasn't telling me the same thing Levi's was. Maybe it was a good thing after all I didn't have to see the look on her face while I sang. Anyways, to try and make up for the mishap I hand the phone to Levi thinking maybe he's got something good to say to his Granny for her birthday. Keep in mind he normally wont even say Hi on the phone, but will hold it to his ear and listen to whatever the other person on the line has to say. He takes the phone in his hand while sitting at the table and the conversation went something like this;

Levi singing: "And a birfinhay Granny to you"

Granny Giggling........

Levi: "I wev you Granny, miss you"

Me: "Ok buddy that's very nice of you, now can Mama have the phone back?"

Levi: "No Mama, me talk Granny to phone"
As he turns his whole body away from me so he can continue. It was the first time he really talked on the phone let alone sang to his Granny on her birthday. Man oh man he just gets sweeter everyday. I think it may have turned out to be one of the best birthday presents I've ever been a part of and I know it was a phone call I will remember forever.

Reason number two this is one of favourite days is its gardening season, Yes!!!!!! I'm not going to start on the garden conversation today because I'm still trying to put all the thoughts together and I really want to explain my gardening obsession from its origin 3 years ago.

The third reason is because its the start of the best month of the year. Some great things have happened in my life in June and I look forward to the June of each year hoping this streak will continue. My two great friends, Geordie and Jen were married in June 2006. It is at their wedding I met my husband Cody. Its a great story that I love to tell and will definitely share one day. Our beautiful boy was born in June 2008, which will obviously go down in my life history as the best June ever. Last June (2009) I participated in my first marathon. I was on a four man team in the very first Fallen Four Memorial Marathon in honor of the four RCMP officers that were shot on duty in Mayethorpe, AB.

This June has only begun and we have some great things to look forward to. Levi turns two this Saturday and his Auntie Anna, cousins Georges, Connor, Harmonie and Savannah are all coming along with Auntie Sara and Nani. They are all making the long 8 and a half hour drive to get here and we are really excited. I will also be running the Marathon again which is this Sunday June 6th only this year I'm doing a half which is 21 km. I have been training for four months and am looking forward to seeing the finish line. Last but not least on June 16th my husband and I are going to see Tom Petty in Edmonton which is a much over due date for us.

Before I know it June will have come and gone, but I'm going to enjoy every minute of it. Hope you all enjoy yours too and if not, there's always July :)

"I wonder what it would be like to live in a world where it was always June"
L.M. Montgomery

May Flowers are getting May Showers

Today is Sunday May 30th.

We woke up this morning to more snow on the ground. It rained the entire day yesterday and in the evening last night I said to Cody, "If it gets two degrees colder this will turn into snow." What's funny is that each week we buy our local newspaper called the Whitecourt Star. We don't have our TV hooked up so we rely on this paper each week to keep us informed. Last weeks front page article was titled "Winters Last Blast" and there was a picture of the snow that had fallen from May long weekend. I wonder how those journalists are feeling about that article this morning as Mother Nature decided for herself, that it would in fact not be the "Last Blast" and the snow will continue to fall. Do you think they would consider running the same article this week? Or maybe this weeks title will be "Whoops, never mind, more snow after all." My advice to our dear local paper would be; Never write about the weather in a definitive way, only mother nature knows what's next and even she seems confused sometimes.

In all the journals I've kept over the years I have always tried to document what the weather is doing. I like to be able to go back on the previous years and see when the first snowfall was or when the first cold blast hit. I remember this week clearly because we are in the week leading up to Levi's birthday (June 5th). I am filled with reminicences of 2 years ago when I was pregnant (due June 17th) and anticipating the birth situation. That year 2008 we had a lot of rain around this time too. I was carrying quite the large belly by this time and I remember being out in the garden with a garbage bag over me planting my seeds in the pouring rain. I had gum boots on, but the soil was so wet it turned into what looked and felt like mud. When I stepped, my boots would get so stuck I had a hard time getting them out to make another step. Sure enough at one point my one boot was completely stuck and I lost my balance and into the mud I fell, pregnant belly, bucket of seeds, garbage bag and all. My boot came right off and I had to step in the mud in my barefoot. All summer long you could still make out where my steps had been by the large holes they left in the mud after it had dried.

This time of the year for me is very weather dependent. It's time to plant the garden but the weather has to be warmer and the danger of freeze has to be over. I've checked every weather resource out there in search of answers to the big question for this time of year, "Will we get frost tonight?" My gut still says yes and that's what I follow most of the time. My husband also says yes and he seems to always be right (ugh). The Whitecourt Star says no, but I already explained that their credibility flew out the window this past week. So all we can do is leave it up to the Mother.

Stay focused Mother Nature!!!! It is spring you know :)

The beginning of the beginning

Today is Friday May 28th, 2010.

I think each time I say the date out loud I am shocked yet again at how fast time is going by. We are almost half way through this year already and it seems like yesterday we were heading into another season of winter. Winters here in Whitecourt are strenuous on the soul. In the past the winters have been long. Some have even started in October and lasted 6 months. They have also been exceptionally cold hitting record lows of -45 degrees celcius with a wind chill factor causing the air to feel like its -55 degrees celcius. Yowza!!!! I know. But, I can honestly say that this past winter was very bearable and I might even say it was enjoyable. We received a heavy snowfall in October that never melted like it usually does. We got some cold weather in December and January but nothing like the previous years. In March the spring weather began and that was pretty much it for winter. Of course, all spring my gut instinct was warning me that one last big snowfall was inevitable. Sure enough this past weekend (May long weekend) we got a nice 6 inches of the white stuff. We all knew it would happen but for some reason that doesn't help us accept it when it arrives. I'm sure that's the last of it (fingers crossed) and we are ready for that warm summer sun.

We live on 10 acres of land west of Whitecourt just off the Alaskan highway. We have a nice small creek that runs right through the middle of the 10 acres and we are surrounded mainly by Poplar and Birch trees. The grass is green, the wildlife is abundant and the sun rises and sun sets over the rolling hills are fabulous. I had never lived anywhere like this before. I was born and raised in Kimberley, B.C. When I was 17 I moved to Lethbridge, A.B. to go to college. What was supposed to be a 2 year stay while I went to school turned into 6 long years, before I finally broke free of the city. From there I lived in Nicaragua, Central America for 3 months. When I left Nicaragua to come back to Canada I wasn't really sure where my life was headed or what I was going to do with myself. I came to Whitecourt to spend time with my boyfriend Cody and try and get some things figured out. The rest is history as they say since Cody and I have now been married for 11 months, we have a 2 year old son Levi and I have now lived here 3 and a half years. I guess you could say that what I figured out was that I love this acreage, the man that came with it and the idea of living a country life.

This new place I am in my life deserves to be documented and my journal is full. I thought this blog idea is worth a try since I love to talk about what's happening around here each day and I think my poor husband's ears hurt after a long day of work and an even longer evening of my babbling. I will babble here and I hope you will enjoy it. This is the beginning of the beginning. Welcome :)

PS

"The secret to a rich life is to have more beginnings than endings."

Dave Weinbaum