four simple goals.

loved ali’s idea of creating Four Simple Goals for the remainder of the year. i especially love her focus on choosing things that will make your life richer & happier on a daily basis.

Here’s mine:

1. making the bed every morning. this is something that is majorly simple yet completely overlooked. the days that i have made the bed i feel calmer and refreshed when i walk into my room vs. the days i don't - i really get a feeling of unorganized and almost panicked. amazing how one little step like this can affect the day to day but i quite honestly feel better about it all if the bed is made. weird, huh?

2. stop, drop and listen. taking a cue from the old stop, drop and roll i have noticed how chores and duties in life have overshadowed the kids and their personal needs. i need to stop, drop and listen to what they have to say and listen to their creativity, give them praise and be more involved. this is important to them and me as well. laundry can wait and dinner can be simple. this is something i have to remember and reinforce - it's important to us all as a family. take time and be present.

3. get on top of things - be more prepared. i give off this air of having it all together. but the truth is i have tons of half finished projects and lots of "i'll get to that later" and a to-do list a mile long. i really need to concentrate on one task, get it done {finally put the finishing touches on my december daily 2008 album!}, feel good about it and then carry on. i keep dabbling in one thing then another and it's complete mayhem! gives me a feeling of un-easiness. also i need to get our taxes organized week by week throughout the year rather than plunking everything in a box, stressing out for one whole week to put it together and get it submitted. time management and task orientation...let see if it happens. fingers crossed.

4. drink more water. completely do-able. completely simple. completely forgotten. this seems that it would be no problem but i find that i will go a whole day without a glass of water. yes i found it more simple at our old house because we had a fridge with a water tap but i have to be more on top of this because i do find i feel better the days i have multiple glasses of water.  and since i am at my heaviest right now i need all the weight loss help i can get!!! haha.

well that's it. my little list to help me get to the end of the year healthily and happily. hopefully getting these down on paper will help me to adopt and stick to them.

do you have any goals for the rest of the year?
happy monday! xoxo

my almost green thumb.

jenny jenny quite contrary how does your garden grow?

quite well actually.

since moving into the house last year i have had a buzz to dive head first into the garden. as i have made some progress i still have miles and miles to go. i have made some wise choices and some mistakes and i can almost see a green hue forming on the outer edge of my thumb - very faint and more of a khaki green, more yellow but desperate to be considered green. i am not a gardener by any means but i can see a garden forming and it tickles my heart. i have made a decision (probably too late in the season) that i would like to fill the back part of the garden with as many perennials as will fit there - my irises and day lilies have grown quite nice there -and possibly scrap annuals all together as i am not a very good weeder - i jump in in the beginning of the season then find other things to occupy my time in the middle and end of summer and forget about the weeding. i would just like it to be full and planty.

also there is a vegetable garden and that is quite special. last year i was amazed and impressed by the bounty i (me!!) was able to produce and this year it doesn't seem to be working so well. the house came with these broken down raised boxes i have just sort of kept them going by propping them up and tilling in new soil when they probably should have all been replaced - but what a job that is!!! my potted vegetable/herbs are thriving though and i think i might add some more pots to the collection for next year and possibly turf the large beds all together - except i have managed a weak collection of strawberries there that someone likes to take nibbles out of.

thyme.

my almost tomatoes

the last surviving strawberries - all others nibbled by, i suspect, the skunk which sprayed gordon.

cherry tomatoes planted from a small six pack.

along the back stone patio there are what seem to be beds that the previous owners filled with rocks and the weeds have made this their home as well. this would be beautiful all dug out and planted - what a job that would be! i think that might go on my next year or possibly autumn list if i can muster up the will and desire. you can see a faint inclination of it behind in the picture of the potted cherry tomatoes - see all those rocks? that's a flower bed.

the left side of the house has a plan all it's own as that is where the winter rink goes and in summer it is thick slabs of uneven concrete that the husband has come up with a clever idea of filling the space with gravel to even it out, decoratively placing flagstone, making our fire pit the middle and wait patiently for the grand gift of a yard lounge set and some muskoka chairs (wink, wink).

the front is a work in progress creating that "curb appeal" but at least the ghetto brick planters are gone and i see a beautiful raised bed in our future. as keeping in the theme of the house i hope to keep the colour scheme in white and red up there and upon hearing that there are red day lilies i am very excited to add them in there for that pop of red. i love the look of long grasses when that's the purpose - not when you are a lazy sack who will not mow! i will keep hanging baskets year after year because they add that something special to the front porch but i am hoping to create a garden that will come back every year and minimize my trips to the nursery. i gaze across the street at the beautiful landscape created there and sometimes get discouraged but then i remember that they have lived there in 29 years, that rome was not built in a day and quite possibly their garden looked like mine years ago. being neglected for years, tackled head on last year, seeing improvement by the next and hopefully will one day match theirs in style & beauty. fingers crossed.

Mama’s Holiday Wish List

1. What is your holiday wish for your family? 
This year I wish for my family that we all revel in the enjoyment of each other. That, yes there may be gifts, but also that we take time to smile, hug and just to enjoy being together.


2. What is your Christmas morning tradition?
Christmas morning is all about stockings. They are opened, inspected and played with. Then the yummy smells from the kitchen waft through the house greeting a symphony of tummy grumbles and lead the happy hunters to a bounty laid out on the table buffet style. With tummies full of gourmet delights and hot brewed coffee we are now armed with the strength and focus to tackle the treasures brought to us by Santa and loved ones.


3. If you could ask Santa for one, completely decadent wish for yourself, what would it be? 
To be whisked away to Europe for a holiday of a lifetime.

4. How do you make the holidays special without spending any money?
Lots of Christmas carols, family time, crafts and baking (although you have to buy the ingredients)

5. What games did you play with your family growing up?
We played lots of board games - the classics - but we always seemed to get one on Christmas and that's what we spent Christmas afternoon doing as a family. I remember one Christmas and a lively game of Life.

6. What holiday tradition have you carried on from your own childhood?
We always got a new set of pajamas for Christmas that we got to open Christmas Eve and I have carried that on with my family.


7. Where would you go for a Christmas-away-from-home trip?
To some where hot (now that we are celebrating in the east - much colder than the west) or to see family.


Wishing a Happy Holiday to you and yours!

xoxo