Liv's Leek Soup

Tuesday is movie day at our house. Our girls don't usually watch T.V. but they do get to feast their eyes on cartoons one day a week. I like to sneak downstairs and enjoy some uninterrupted time sewing or reading. Today I suntanned for a bit and then they had other plans. Ivy found Caillou boring,and after her first show Liv popped into the kitchen and said , "Mom - I want some leek soup. Can I make it?" Oh my Lord! Following a brief stunned silence I stammered, "Yeah sure... of course.... ummm...lets do it!" This is the child who has been asking me daily for ice cream , popsicles, and gum all summer. I could hardly believe my ears! So cook leek soup we did! It was so fun, easy and healthy that I thought I'd pass on the recipe.

Liv cut the two leeks, washed them, and sliced them into tiny slivers.


She then fried them in olive oil and butter in a big pot.


When they were nice and soft she added three cups of water and one cup of chicken broth.

Finally she added a handful of parsley, and a teaspoon each of salt and pepper.

Et Voila! Lovely leek soup! It really was that easy and tasty. Oh...what's that you say... you love my vintage table cloth? Why thank-you for noticing! Just a little something I thrifted this weekend ( for a disgustingly low price ) that I can't get enough of. Hope you are enjoying the last days of summer wherever you are!

Getting messy

It' s been a busy week. I haven't quite stopped my decorating frenzy - I painted another room blue and Liv's a very light pink. The bathroom is next on my agenda, and then the bookshelf, Liv's desk, the windowsills, the kitchen cupboards.... well we'll see how much of this I actually accomplish. I've also been busy reorganizing cupboards, craft supplies, my sewing room, and the kids toys.

I noticed something this week that I found kind of exciting. On Monday I did a major overhaul of the craft cupboard and Liv's desk. In the process I had all of the art supplies strewn all over the kitchen- I mean not a inch of space was unoccupied on the floor or counters. When it could hardly get any messier, my kids went into this intensely creative mode and just started moving from one activity to the next with hardly any involvement from me. They were beading for a while and then they moved onto painting.


When painting had been explored to its fullest they moved onto platicine (hmm ... what is that stuff made of...do I want to know?) and from there they did stamping, and then coloring. It wasn't long before the big bottle of glue was out and wonderful things were being made.


Liv named this boat Diamond and had a great time blowing it around the bathtub with a fan. Derek came home at noon and just looked around in disbelief. We don't often get this messy. I was reminded of a homeschooling article I read a while back in which the author/mother talked about a method she used of inspiring her children to do interesting things which she called "strewing." She leaves all kinds of interesting things lying around and lets her kids get involved with them when and if they choose to. I can see from the fun my kids had this week how this could really inspire some interesting projects. Now if I only had a maid to clean up all the mess...

Swimming

We had the most beautiful evening at the beach last night. We went down to Jade Bay in Kal Park and had the beach to ourselves. It was dusk and a bit cool but the water was beautiful and so clean.

I watched a birthing video this week about women who give birth in the Black Sea - that's right - I said in the Black Sea. The women at this Russian birth camp swim with their babies on their backs from a very early age and these babies are so at home in the water. I mean they were swimming - really swimming at less than a year. I was inspired to try swimming with my girls on my back to see if that would help them feel more comfortable in the water. Liv has always been a little afraid but wants to swim so badly. Ivy has less fear but still hesitates a little. Anyhow - I tried it out and it was so cool! They loved it and I can see how regular practice could teach them to swim pretty fast. They can see my strokes from where they are perched, their legs were kicking with mine, and their bodies were parallel to the surface of the water instead of perpendicular to it like they are in a floaty.

It made me realize how much fear and tension I usually bring into the water with my girls. I usually hold Ivy above the surface and gently dip in careful not to startle her or get water on her face. I know Ivy would be fine in the water, but my handling of her suggests otherwise. I wonder how much of my fear and protectiveness is passed on to her? If I am protective the conclusion she must draw is that she is not safe. If she feels that she is not safe and becomes tense and panicky in the water, she won't be safe. So maybe the key if for me to believe in their natural ability to swim and guide them into it without fear.

In love with blue

I've had this thing for blue lately. It's not a color I usually wear or decorate with but lately I'm drawn to it. I've been finding blues I love everywhere and obsessing about the right shades - seriously spending a lot of time thinking about it. So this weekend I decided to do something about it (or to put it more accurately I decided to get Derek to do something about it). We painted our bedroom in the most peaceful pale blue with a good dose of gray and a touch of green. I LOVE it! It looks awesome with the cobalt blue patchwork quilt I bought in Guatemala ten years ago so I will have to give that quilt the tlc it needs. I guess I'm nesting really early this time. I can't stop thinking about all the decorating I want to have done before the baby comes this winter. Or maybe it's not nesting - maybe I'm much more realistic now about how little time I'll have on my hands next year. I don't want to have unpainted windowsills driving me nuts when I won't be able to do a thing about them.

I remember when I was pregnant with Liv - pondering which hobbies I should take up to keep me entertained on my maternity leave. What a laugh! It seemed like an effort just to put a potato in the oven for my meal - crafting was out of the question. Anyhow - now I know and hopefully being really tied down and depended on won't be so hard this time around.

Look at these lovely things with their Mr. Freezy stained mouths. Scary isn't it? We don't often indulge them in pure junk .... ok maybe more than we should but hopefully not enough to hurt them. I can't imagine a life without the odd slushy or frozen popsicle.

That's all for now - I'm off to finish my new beach bag. You know I used to go to the beach with just a towel... well those days are gone. Now as we head for our favorite spot it looks like we are settlers ready to stake out our new territory. It's ridiculous the amount of stuff we take for a few hours at the beach. So a huge new beach bag was needed and will be done for tonights swim at the beach. Have a happy week everyone. Here's a song I love - I hope you enjoy it.

One of those days

So today started out as one of those nasty, crabby days. You know that kind of day if you have kids. Ivy had had two tantrums before breakfast was even on the table. She burst out crying several times during our meal and then sat on my lap, a teary mess. We were all starting to get out of sorts when Ivy spotted the popcorn maker out of the corner of her eye. "Popcorn mommy." My first reaction was to say "You can have popcorn for your snack later honey"...and then I sat there remembering this post by my favorite blogger Soule Mama (scroll down until you find a post that says "Some Days"). I suddenly realized that I didn't have to sink into a bad mood and try to help Ivy through her difficult day with my usual techniques, but rather I could derail her bad day with fun and indulgence. Sounds kind of weird doesn't it. I think my usual reaction to a bad day is to assume that something is wrong with me or the kids or our life....but I hardly ever assume that it's just one of those days. What would I like to happen to me on a bad day? Well dinner out, breakfast in bed, chocolate, and a nap would help. So to make a long story short, I made the popcorn and everyone cheered up. We followed that by a lovely family bike ride to the library and lunch at our favorite cafe. The girls are resting now and I'm grabbing a little time alone. All's well that end's well.

Fun with Dad

Derek scored big points last weekend. On Friday he agreed to keep the last kitten of the litter that we haven't been able to give away. He actually likes it! Liv was thrilled to bits and named her Bagheera because she looks like the panther from The Jungle Book. She's quite a sweet little kitty and much more mellow than her mama.

On Saturday he made a swing in the Maple tree in front of our neighbor's house (they're very easy going). The swing was swarmed by kids all weekend. We have a great swing set in the back yard, but there is something about a rope swing in a tree ... kids go nuts for them. They are a little less predictable. Derek was Ivy's slave because she's too small to ride it herself - and boy were his abs hurting the next day!

On Sunday he took Liv and Ivy to O'Keefe ranch- a local historical site that also has a petting zoo. They had an awesome time! They started out on a tour of the buildings but it wasn't long before they were looking like this...


Boring boring boring. Clever daddy whisked them out and went looking for fun. They found some wild and adventurous girls that live on the ranch and the day was a huge success from there on. They played in the barn with the kittens, went on a tractor ride around the ranch, stood on the fence and watched the cattle roping and visited the woman who gives wool spinning demonstrations. Not only that they saw a bunch of these....


a few of these....

and at least a couple of these ...

Great fun was had by all (as my mom would say).

And as for me... well I enjoyed a whole day to myself! I went for a walk with my sister to the orchard/coffee shop /playground on the hill behind our house, where we enjoyed interruption free conversation. The rest of the day was spent listening to music and organizing my new sewing space downstairs. If you are a mom who does not get time alone at least once a week ...what are you waiting for?!! I am such a happier person and a better mom when I've had a good chunk of time alone. Oh- and after the kids go to bed does not count - you need time alone when you have energy.

I'm almost through here. I've got a picnic to pack - we're off to the beach tonight with my sister and her family. It's so hot and beautiful this weekend that the beach is the only sensible place to be. I hope you are all doing something fun and summery. I'll leave you with a picture of Ivy enjoying the first corn on the cob of the season at lunch today - yummy!

Well it's definitely been a while since I've done this. Let me tell you why. June was a horrible nasty everything go wrong that could go wrong kind of month. First off - we were all sick all month. I am not exaggerating here! We had some horrible bronchial virus that kept us up coughing night after night and left us exhausted every day. I was starting to think we had the RSV virus or mono - it was that awful. On top of that I had ( and still have - grrrr) nausea every day interspersed with occasional vomiting. Fun fun fun indeed. Should I go on? I could tell you about my last torturous month of babysitting, the difficulties of litter training four kittens at once, Derek's difficult employee, or the rain rain rain rain..... but perhaps I'll stop here. June is done and we are moving into happier more peaceful times.

So now things are calming down; the children are happier, the daddy is happier, the mommy is happier. We've been having fun quite often actually. Last weekend we took part in a bike rally for the Wheels for Change campaign. We decorated bikes, went for a long group ride and ended up at the park for a community pot-luck and some live music. We met new people and enjoyed ourselves more than we had in a while.



This weekend we celebrated the eleventh birthday of this beautiful girl - my niece Maggie.


Maggie is one of my favorite people - it's been so fun watching her grow. This girl is overflowing with life, energy, enthusiasm and creativity.



I keep promising my dad that I will put this bread recipe on my blog. My friend Karen passed it on to me a couple of months ago and I haven't gotten over the wonder of it yet. The crust! The texture of the crumb! If any bread could change your life this would be it. It is easy easy easy! and delicious! I've been making a loaf a day for weeks now and my family can't get enough of it. So if you are sick of yucky supermarket bread and don't feel skilled enough to make artisan style bread give this a try. Let me know what you think if you do...



NO KNEAD ARTISANAL BREAD

This is based on Jim Lahey's (Sullivan St. Bakery New York) no knead
bread.

Yield 1 loaf


Ingredients
3 cups all-purpose flour (or part whole wheat)
1 tbsp kosher salt (or 2 tsp/10mL table salt)
1/2 tsp instant yeast
1 1/2 cups water (plus 1 tbsp/15mL if necessary), at room temp
extra flour, wheat bran, cornmeal or
sesame seeds etc.


Method:
1. In a large bowl combine flour, salt and yeast. Stir in water.
It will be a sticky mess. Cover with plastic wrap. Cover with a
towel. Let sit at room temperature for 18 to 24 hours. Dough should
double and have bubbles on the surface.
2. Flour work surface heavily. Scoop out dough. Shape in rough ball or
pat into a rectangle and fold into thirds. Dust with flour. Cover
lightly with plastic wrap and let sit 15 minutes.
3. Place a clean tea towel on work surface. Rub with flour and
bran or cornmeal or sesame seeds. Either shape dough into a ball
again or fold into thirds if it is a rectangle. Place on tea towel.
Dust top with flour and bran. Fold tea towel over top. Let rise 2
hours.
4. After 1 1/2 hours preheat oven to 450F (225C). Place a medium sized
heavy cast iron pot with a lid (I like Le Cruset) in the oven
1/2 hour.
5. Very gently slide your hand under the tea towel holding the bread.
Carefully flip the bread into the hot pot. Cover and bake ½ hour.
Remove lid and bake 20 to 30 minutes longer until brown. Cool on a
rack. Be careful - pot and bread are hot


All right- that's all for now. I've got plans for a post about birthing in a couple of days - but until then I'll leave you with this.

May days

Well well well, where did this month go? I have been trying to get to the computer to post for weeks now but it hasn't happened. This pregnancy has zapped my energy in a way I don't remember happening with my first two pregnancies. Maybe I just have way more to do and less time to rest. Being pregnant is a good time for me to remember that I have a body that needs looking after. I'm pretty bad for ignoring my bodies signals and staying up way to late or not eating enough (at least not enough food that counts) - but I can't get away with that when I'm pregnant. If I don't eat every two hours I get nausea and if I don't sleep I end up walking around in a daze all day.

So - yes we are having another baby in January sometime. We're all pretty excited and have already started the name debate. You can't start this to early in our house. Both girls were a month old before their birth certificates were finalized because I agonize over names. And it's a good thing too! Here are a few of the rejected names from the last two rounds: Oona, Mercury, Lulu, Odette, and Harriet. Should we be allowed to name our children if we have named pets things like Tickle, Wiggle, French-Toast, and Tiger-Lily? Liv wants to stick with the plant theme and suggested Hedge if it's a boy. I think she was kidding.

Well I'm starting to fade already. Here are my favorite pics from the month of May. That's Miss Ivy's foot in the one above. We had a wonderful Mother's Day afternoon at the park with my mom and my sister and her girls. The girls ignored the play equipment as usual and had all kinds of imaginary adventures among the trees. I had to get a shot of Ivy's beautiful sticky feet. Dirty feet and summer go hand in hand at our house.


This is Liv at the Waldorf school May fair on the first weekend in May. It was a beautiful day surrounded by people who love and respect children. Over three hours I did not hear a single negative or critical word said to a child. It was refreshing - peaceful.


The following Friday was baking day. I tend to bake for a day and then leave it for a couple of weeks until I get inspired again. Right now I am LOVING Martha Stewart's bread recipes. They must be very well tested because they come out really well every time.


Here are my two little monsters devouring a quarter of a loaf in about a quarter of an hour. Seeing them enjoy it like this makes the hours of standing in the kitchen worthwhile.


Here is Liv having her first 3-D book experience with Grandpa. What a thrill!


Last weekend we went on a short hike to our favorite spot - the BX Trail. It winds it's way through a dense forest beside a creek. It's stunning all year and always full on surprises. This time we saw beautiful wildflowers that we had never seen and water striders that make huge shadows on the bottom of puddles.

Ivy was getting sleepy and had a quiet rest on Derek's lap next to a little water-fall. But these two seem to have unlimited energy. This is Liv's cousin Libby. They are inseparable (quite literally when they put their minds to it). Liv has all kinds of plans for their future. They are going to live in their own apartment and travel all over the world and will never have to be apart. They are so lucky to have each other.

New

I guess we shouldn't have been surprised. She had been pregnant for a loooong time and she had to give birth sooner or later. Our little Tiger-Lily gave birth to four little kitties last night in Liv's bed while she was sleeping. I was awoken this morning at seven with a gentle poke on the nose and Liv whispering, "Mom. Tiger-Lily had four babies in my bed." I thought it was a ploy to get me out of bed early so I just rolled over and went back to sleep. An hour later she said very quietly, "Mom, you are going to be so surprised. Tiger-Lily had her kittens in my bed." This time I thought, " She wouldn't say that twice if it wasn't true..." so I jumped up and there they were - so little and fluffy. Tiger-Lily must have crawled under Liv's quilt some time in the night. There was blood and muck all over her sheets and her pj's, but Liv was not the least bit fazed. Tiger-Lily looks exhausted and a bit bedraggled but she's a great little mom. She's been lying there nursing them and purring all morning.

The kittens look just like the fuzzy black tom cat that was prowling and howling around our house for months. Two of them are pure black and two are black with tabby faces. These cats are going to be something else if I'm right about their parentage. Houdini is a fierce and fearless tom and Tiger-Lily is a very wild huntress ( a sparrow a day keeps the doctor away).

Cats aren't the only things being born in our house this week. Liv's sea monkeys finally hatched. We had just about given up hope when I spotted tiny tiny tiny creatures swimming frantically around. Liv has named one Leelee and written a story about it. These little things (they are some sort of shrimp I think) have provided lots of opportunities for learning. I'm always surprised by what my kids actually learn from - and how much learning can go on in a very short period of time when they are motivated to learn by their own passions.


OK - so this one wasn't actually born, but it is new to us and is causing quite a stir amongst the neighborhood kids.


Derek was up almost all night last Saturday working on painting this bike for Liv. Derek and I were crazy about it right away but Liv couldn't quite see the coolness of it. She loves it now that all the kids in the neighborhood want a turn riding it. Liv is not one to care about cool. She reminds me of that quite often. When I say things like , "Oh- that's a cool out-fit Liv." She barks back "I don't care about being cool!" I could go on and on here about the freedom un-schoolers have to do what they want - and be who they are... but this is my free afternoon and my sewing room beckons. Only three more hours until Derek and the girls return...

Good-bye to a neighbor

Our next-door neighbor Gert died on Monday. He'd had several heart attacks this month and was in Victoria having by-pass surgery when one last heart attack took his life. Derek and I were really sad and shocked by the news. We weren't close friends - our contact was limited to over the fence gardening advice (from him to us) and the odd street side conversation about our cats or kids. But he was there. I always knew when he was home - I knew he kept late hours and loved to sit out under his cherry tree. He fed the birds and sat outside sharing chocolates to anyone who entered his yard. He was generous and warm and sought out friendship with his neighbors. He let the rough neighborhood boys take his enormous fir tree as their fort. The nasty tom cat that sprays our front door - he let it in and fed it milk.

Gert died alone in Victoria. He had no one to go with him and stay with him. He had no living family and only a hand-full of close friends. In his will he stipulated that he did not want a funeral. Did he think that no one would want to gather and say good-bye? I'm finding this all really sad. How is it in this over-populated world that someone can die alone - it's not like he was a grumpy old man - his eyes were begging for connection. Are we all to busy for that or are we scared of it? I know I was. But is there anything more important than connection with our fellow human beings? Isn't that what gives life it's richness - makes it all worthwhile? What would our lives look like if relationship really was a priority? I think if it came first a lot of other things in life would fall into peaceful order.

These are the tulips that Gert planted in his garden a couple of years ago. He missed seeing them bloom this year.


Good-bye neighbor. Your presence here will be missed.

Fried

Fried pretty much sums up how I'm feeling tonight. We've had a busy couple of weeks in the yard and today I topped it all off with an all day garage sale that a friend organized as a fund raiser for her daughter's insulin pump. Being tired like this is great. My body is achy and sore but I'm happy and satisfied. Oh - and when I say fried I mean that literally as well - I am soooo sunburnt!

Derek has been working much harder than I have and most nights lately we've been baffing (computer says that's not a word) out on the couch watching Six Feet Under, our new (to us) favorite show. You know you have it bad when you start talking about imaginary people's lives over breakfast. Anyhow - right now Derek is pushing through his weariness to repaint an awesome little retro bike that we found at the garage sale today. He's outside painting it bright red and is going to give it to Liv tomorrow. He's just that kind of dad and his girls are crazy about him. Not many men can wear a sombrero quite as well as this man - don't you agree?



Our weekends are not always this tiring. Last weekend was devoted to play with friends and family and it was great! We went for a couple of hikes - saw a deer skeleton almost completely intact- and quite a few of these little fellows.


The girls are always happy when they are out in nature ( I hate saying that because technically we are nature but the divide between how we live and how the rest of nature functions creates this sense of separateness - I guess I could say that they are happy when they are around trees and grass and water but it doesn't quite work). Anyhow - something changes in them - they are more alive and free and I love seeing them like that. This little square of untamed land is right downtown. Liv often asks if she can go explore it and when I have the energy to lug myself up the steep stairs to the top of the rock - we do. It is so worth it to escape the noise and traffic for just a few minutes and look closely at things like lichen and cacti. You know that feeling of peace you get when you are out in nature ... maybe that is the feeling of being at home. Maybe that is supposed to be our norm - the way we always feel - not just a feeling we have once a year when we go camping.


I'm not quite ready to leave it all and go live in the woods (hear Derek breathing a huge sigh of relief). I really need to be around people. Last Saturday we wandered into town, browsed our favorite shops, hit the library, and finished our day at our favorite coffee shop - where everyone really does know our names. Sometimes we joke that we are trying to see how quickly this certain cafe can take all of our money - but it really is so worth it. We never leave here without seeing a friend and having an interesting/ gossipy conversation. And we will always love this place because it is where we met - sitting on these stools in the window.

I'm really starting to fade here ... my burnt skin is crying out for lotion and my back could use some Ibuprofen. I'll leave you with a pic of Miss Ivy - too sexy for her overalls - on her way home from the cafe last weekend. And now to bed.

Just another manic monday...

We had a house-full of fun this morning. We've been planning a bike celebration for a couple of weeks, but the weather has not been cooperating with us. Our plan was to have all of our friends over for a bike parade but it just didn't quite happen. This morning we went ahead with it anyway and the kids had a great time. There were just a few involved, but they made their bikes beautiful and then rode around on the street together for a while. It's been a bit chilly these last few days - but kids never notice that kind of thing if there is something fun to do.




This masterpiece of spoke weaving on Liv's bike was done by Liv's oldest cousin Maggie. I love seeing older kids and younger kids work together and help each other out. This happens a lot at our homeschooler's playgroup and at the co-op we were attending last winter. There is a natural flow of play between all of the age groups in homeschooling circles. You can see how the older children are learning to consider the needs of others when they look out for the little kids. And not only that... they are experiencing the joy of watching babies and toddlers grow. Last week Maggie was looking after Ivy for a few minutes and they came up with this -


A tea party in the play room for a dinosaur and a sleeping baby (this is Ivy's favorite doll - her name is Sh-Sh).

I believe that Maggie was following orders here - Ivy was directing the play. She watched intently as Maggie served tea to Tiger-Lily, our lazy pregnant cat.
She actually drank her cup of tea but when Ivy went towards her to take the cup she gave her a nasty scratch. Ivy is a slow learner when it comes to the cats. She gets scratched all the time but it doesn't stop her from trying to grab their tails or lie on them like they are pillows.

Which reminds me of a little story... two nights ago I was awoken from a deep sleep by some very primal sounding screams coming from Derek. I sat up - adrenaline pumping - to see if he was ok. He told me that he heard the cat hiss at something outside and then with no warning, she jumped off the window sill and onto Derek. Then she leapt from his chest onto Liv's bunk bed. The next morning I could not believe my eyes! He had several nasty puncture wounds on his chest and a wide scratch on his arm. I wish I could send a recording of Derek's scream to a film studio - it was definitely horror film quality.

Some Thoughts

I only have a few minutes to post - the kids are just about to wake up from their nap. I found a link to this sight on Soule Mama's blog and I loved it. I really like the part about toxic relationships and working with people that you like. I feel like I'm slowly starting to put the pieces of a puzzle together - it's called "How I want to Live." I was going on about this at my empathy circle a few weeks ago, and at the time I felt so helpless and confused. I just knew that I didn't want to make money doing things I hate and that there must be some other way. I suddenly had this urgent feeling in me to find another way to live and a strong gut instinct that there is another way that is not commonly taken. Now ,as if in answer to my desperation, I'm finding all kinds of inspiring information about living in our culture in a different way. It's like I'm coming out of a deep fog, only to find that low and behold there are lots of people already there - ready to help and show a different way.

Easter weekend moments

Well we had an absolutely wonderful and relaxing easter long weekend. It was sunny and warm and we spent lots of time visiting friends and family. It was so good to reconnect with my kids and to see them really happy. It's amazing what a little family time can do. We had an easter egg hunt with my sister's family on Sunday morning. We had Easter dinner with my mom and some of her friends which was lovely as well.

The flowers came out on our neighbor's apricot tree that bends over the fence - a sure sign of spring.


I tried to get a picture of all the bees that were hovering around the blossoms, but they were camera shy. I'm noticing this year how much I love the sound of buzzing bees and the smell of violets on the lawn. Spring is so exciting and refreshing!

On Saturday, while Derek and I relaxed on the couch that is outside under our front window, the girls got busy and washed the van. Here is a pic of Ivy sucking on a cloth that she has probably just washed the wheels with - yuck!


And why do we have a couch under our front window outside? This couch I am refering to was very poorly made, and sitting on it in my living room was seriously affecting my mood. One day last week I could take it no longer...so I picked it up and pushed it out the front door and down the steps onto the patio. Then I foolishly tried to carry up my couch from the family room only to get stuck half-way up the stairs. When Derek came home he just shook his head (he's used to my erratic urge to re-arrange). Anyhow, the couch that was so uncomfortable and hideous inside is actually kind of comfortable and inviting under the tree outside. So much more comfortable then say... a tacky plastic chair or a hard wooden bench. So there it will stay for the time being.

Must go and get dinner on... but I will leave you with some pics of the girls getting their hair done in curlers - a first for them both.