Can It!

This post is long overdue but hey, better late than never. In July I attended a canning workshop at my most favourite organic farm, Everdale. I have taken a bee keeping course there, a soap making course and now I can add canning to my list. I have been canning at home for a few years now but wanted to take the course to pick up a few pointers I might not have already known. This water bath canning course is a pre-requisite for the Pressure Canning workshop they are offering in November so it's a win-win.







During the day we canned Garlic Scapes. I have never tried these before, hadn't even heard of them before and I must admit I am a little scared to try them. They look lovely in the jar though. The process of these is similar to pickles, with raw food going in the jars and then adding a brine.



We also made rhubarb strawberry jam which tasted de-lish during our end of session taste testing, so I can not wait to open the jar I was allowed to take home.







The workshop was exactly what I needed to jump start my canning season and get me back into my canning. I am gearing up to do some tomatoes before we leave on our vacation in a week. I am headed to the States for a writers retreat which we have tacked on a family vacation. I am fairly busy right now with writing critiques and working on my novel. I hadn't accomplished as much canning as I would have liked and I have sadly neglected my garden beds. There is always next year.

Community & Homeschool

There is this prevailing belief that homeschooled children do not partake in community. It is believed that my children and I stay home in our humble bubble with no care of the community that exists outside our walls. This is not true. We are highly active in our community participating in both homeschool events and non-homeschool events. I strive to keep a balance and am assisted along the way by other like-minded homeschool mothers.

By in large, we function as a community. Each mom organizes an event, class or what have you and invites others to join in. We plan things we think our kids would enjoy and benefit from a reduced price since we take the time to organize a group, collect payment, book the event, send out email etc. We take turns. I may only plan one or two events a year but as long as people are stepping up to the plate there is never any shortage of stuff to do. For the most part, this works.

Trouble arises when one mom proclaims that her quoted price for an activity includes a handling fee, a small profit for the organizer. Her time is precious (as is mine) and she can not afford to organize her plethora of activities without receiving some remuneration. On the surface this seems reasonable but I object for many reasons.

As a homeschool community we all partake in some planning and organizing. For example: My kids want to do skydiving, I want them to have a discounted rate so I organize a group of 20 or more, get a percentage off for all of us. Another mom organizes something, we partake without the hassle to organize and so on. We all organize something and the kids get an opportunity to do everything. The community thrives because everyone is doing something and no one is burdened with all the planning.

When one person expects to be paid, it drives the cost up for those activities and more. Why should I offer an activity at my house for free for your kids if you are doing your activities for profit. I know I 'could' ask for payment but I won't because it's not what this community is about.

I expressed my concerns to this mother but I doubt much will be done. As a society we all speak in dollars and cents. Suddenly everything that was once benevolent is tainted. My attempts to keep our homeschooling community healthy is all for naught because someone has decided it is not enough to do it for the kids, she must get paid for it too.

I am afraid "community" has gone the way of the dinosaur. Today the idea of doing things for personal reasons outweighs the need to function as a village thus creating an isolating existence where each person is only in it for themselves. I want to be proven wrong but each day my hopes diminish and I am reminded that personal profit is the new god.

Quiet Time

I am weary of people who always look busy, or those who constantly remind me how busy they are. As a society we tend to equate busy with important, as if being busy meant our lives carry meaning and worth. We see a busy person as productive and assign a value or level of worth to that person. We dismiss those who take on a slower pace. We honk horns at the slow drivers. We cut corners to get the job done faster. We place a greater value on speed and activity than we do on mindfulness and solitude.

The fact that one is constantly moving, creating, accomplishing does little to distinguish them from another slower paced person. Often times this projection of perpetual motion is a play produced for the rest of us. It creates an illusion of importance, a mask of meaning.

My life is busy but I do not mean 'in motion'. My mind is busy and I don't use my outer world and its schedules, organized groups and endless movement to dampen the progress of the mind. When I am alone and remain quiet, my thoughts invade my space. They remind me of uncomfortable things sometimes. Words I have said and now regret. Actions I now wish I could undo. In those quiet hours when my body is still and my lips silent, I am made uncomfortable by the ceaseless internal chatter which dissects my life and the world around me. The choices, good and bad, that I have made become highlighted in my mind. When I try to force myself to think of other things, happier things, I fail. Squelching these patterns of thought gives me a fleeting peace that will once again become disturbed. I may become saddened, worried or regretful and this can be uncomfortable.

For some reason, people avoid things that make them uncomfortable. Society has taught us distraction is okay, that escapism is ideal.

Life can be uncomfortable. This is what separates the strong from the weak. We are strong when we can face our demons, our shadow personalities, and recognize the faults within us. We can hush this part of life with television, media, hundreds of friends on our facebook friends list, but this noise will do nothing to advance our internal selves. The noise detracts from our internal processes and we can become stagnant, unmoved, unchanged. We become inanimate and robotic, living our lives as dictated to us by society as a whole.

But when we clear our calendars and excuse ourselves from the constant barrage of obligation, our lives take on greater meaning. Once we walk the uneasy walk, meet our shadows head on, we become quiet in mind and body. Stress is reduced. Things start to become accomplished and we begin to see a peak in productivity. When we are no longer made numb by screens, noise and chatter that is when we truly become free.

TV Culture

My morning started with a 8 year old boy reduced to tears and clutching his ear. He and his sister have had a doozy of a head cold for the last four days so it didn't surprise me that he had developed an ear infection. I tried drops that we had here at the house but judging from his cries they were not working so off to the walk in clinic we went.

The wait was long, over an hour but for the forty or so chairs that were filled with bodies the wait wasn't so bad. They had their television. A large screen tv was mounted to the wall, locked on a particular channel (not even a Canadian one) and everyone was content to stare up at it for hours on end, not matter what ridiculous day time program was running. I also noticed most of the people were middle aged and younger.

The same was true for the waiting room at the hospital when I went in for my surgery last week. That time I did watch, but who could blame me, my favourite show Road To Avonlea was on. Not as many people paid attention in that waiting room though. The average age must have been over 55 (myself the only exception). I wonder if it's a generational thing. Because anyone in the forties or under would have grown up with television, even raised their own kids with the devise as babysitter.

I love movies, and the odd program and for 4 years we lived without cable preferring to search out certain shows on the internet. Over recent years our rooster of preferred shows kept getting longer and longer. Television stations were adding innumerable programs to their websites allowing us to watch what we wanted, when we wanted and our daily average kept getting higher and higher. When we moved here we caved under the pressure of climbing bandwidth charges from our internet provider and ordered cable.

I try to keep TV watching at bay but admit I am weak. I could do better. In some ways I wish I could go back to four years ago when we ditched cable with defiance and gave the kids a book when they said they were bored. To be honest, I like TV but it concerns me that doctors waiting rooms, restaurants and mini vans are becoming acceptable places for screen time. What happened to the good old game of "I spy" while waiting for the doctor? Or pre-planning and bringing a book? Maybe, just maybe we could also become better at talking to each other, instead of looking up in the corner slack-jawed and bug-eyed.

We are one step closer to turning into that Wall-E movie, cruising around on hovering chairs, illumiinated screens two inches from our faces and a gigantic soda at our side. When will enough be enough?

These Hands

I spend a lot of time working with my hands and this passed weekend was no different. I received 6 cubic yards of top soil to fill my raised garden beds with. That's a lot of shoveling, pulling and dumping. Each section of garden (10 ft by 4 feet) took 6 to 8 trips to fill. Each trip with the wagon took about 15 shovelfuls to prepare and one big push to get the container to spill over into the garden beds. That's 120 shovelfuls for each raised bed, and 1320 shovelfuls for the whole garden.



I received some help from the kids and hubby but I think even they knew, this was my baby. I did the lioness' share. I kept going when my legs begged me to stop. I kept shoveling when the blister formed on my palm. I needed to get this done. I need to plant roots at this house or it will never feel like a home.



I did it. I filled the beds with topsoil to spare and now I can start planting. It feels good to be so 'accomplished'.




This whole time, after the blister formed and I still kept pushing on, I was thinking about my hands and how much they have helped me accomplish. I've held my babies in these hands and showed them they were loved. I've held my husband's hand when he was in a coma and encourage him to come back to us. I've planted tiny seeds and gave them room and water so they could flourish and provide us with food. I have hugged friends in need, and wiped away the tears I cried for those I could not hug. I've touched trees in the forest, pick up someone else' litter and rushed spiders outside.

My hands wash dishes, prepare food, fold laundry and clean floors. My hands help me write this blog and my novel, which are both huge sources of pride for me. My hands hold books and turn pages so that I may learn and grow as a person. Right now I have a cat curled up in my arms with one hand petting her and the other typing away.

I am proud of these hands, each line and future callous, each dry patch and wrinkle. These hands do many things and they are a testament to how much I have truly lived.

On my mind...

I'm joining in on a "On my mind" photo feature hosted by Down to Earth. http://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gif

On my mind this week was my garden. Where to put it, how big to make it, what to grow and how on earth am I going to get everything done? I should have constructed my raised beds last weekend when the weather was gorgeous but we were elbow deep in green paint doing up my son's room (post to come soon). This past week I have been kicking myself for not making my gardens a priority but right now I very much feel like I am being pulled in so many directions.

I need composters and rain barrels and cold frames (oh my!). Slow and steady it will all come together but you know me I am a very impatient type of gal.



The juncos have been making quick work of our yard and sent out a grid pattern search party...what they are searching for I have no idea but it was neat to watch them fan out. In the picture you can see them all around the willow tree.

For What It's Worth

Sometimes a little goal writing is just what the therapist ordered...in this case my Realtor. At least it's what she would order if I told her why I am having such a hard time committing to buying a house. I have been in a period of transition this past summer. A time when everything I thought I knew, cared about and dreamed up started to morph and change and mutate into completely different and highly unexpected things.

A year ago I would have told you very clearly about my dream to homestead, to live completely 100 per cent off the land, with a small herd of sheep, a thousand miles away from everyone and anyone. A year ago I could dream anything I wanted because dreams are just dreams. My reality is completely different.

I have decided to write down my priorities in order of importance so that I may better understand my life path and where I should go from here.

What Matters Most

1. Financial Independence. I want to owe as little money as possible. Neither borrower nor lender be. No credit cards, no loans, only the most minimal borrowing required to secure a solid home investment with the quickest possible payment schedule. This will require some frugal finesse of course but I am up for the challenge.

2. My Passion. I have a passion for creative writing that has taken a backseat for many years. I have dabbled and flirted a bit with the idea of being a writer, a real novelist who actually finishes a book to near perfection and gets it published. There is a fire inside me that truly must be fed. I can not deny this part of me any longer.

3. Natural living. I want to live close the nature. I want to see birds at my windows and flowers in my garden. I want to eat from my backyard, literally and figuratively. I want to eat local when possible and preserve my harvest. I want to learn all I can about cooking with the seasons and extending the growing season.

4. Family and Friends. Realistically family is my absolute number one, without question. However that seems more a of given. I am a woman who is greatly dedicated to my family. Friends however is something I want to encourage more of. I want to have people over. Develop close friendships. I want to create roots in my community and begin to feel like I belong here instead of thinking it's a way station until we get to where we are really headed. This is integral to creating a home.

5. Green Living. I want to lessen my foot print. I want to make environmental choices because it's the right thing to do. I want to consume less, grow more and really examine my needs as opposed to wants.

What Matters Least (...to me anyways)

1. Raising Animals. I no longer desire to keep animals. The benefit of raising animals for meat is greatly outweighed by the cost to house, feed and care for their upkeep. It is far more efficient for me to pay an expert, local farmer for his/her expertise because that is their job, livelihood and most likely their passion.

2. Growing Absolutely Everything. In this day and age, this is not necessary. Technology has made it so that individually we need not toil independently but work collectively. I can trade my skills for money which I can use in turn to pay another person for their skills. This is where self-sufficiency gets taken off my list of goals.

3. Rural Homesteading. I have decided I don't want to homestead in the traditional sense. Urban homesteading, if it really qualifies as that (which I highly doubt) is much more my style whether I live in the country or not, I am not seeking a self sufficient farm.

This process of looking for a house, holding hard and fast to dreams that no longer hold a flame in me, has been very much a learning experience. I have learned that by letting go of certain dreams and moving on towards others is very liberating. Buying a home is a huge step but it's one that I never thought would teach me so much.

Now would someone please tell me which house I should buy so I can get this show on the road? If only it were that easy.

Under the Microscope

If you follow Rhonda's blog at Down to Earth, you would have read her most recent post about taking her as she is. She talked about criticism that often comes when we write blogs. How opening up our homes and hearts to share this journey with others can end up with our hands wrapped. It's happened to me and it can be very jarring.

I have been loosing my stamina lately with this blog and with simple and green living in general. I feel I am under close scrutiny, that my opinions and actions are under close watch by those eager to point out any inconsistencies.

I started the process toward a simpler way of life a few years ago. Since then my ideas have grown and then tapered off a bit depending on certain outcomes and life circumstances. I think given that the process is a journey and not a fixed destination, there is no finishing line and that my goals in homesteading and green living will be in constant flux. However more than once I have I been on the receiving end of reprimands for my seemingly lack luster efforts. Some purists are more than happy to point out my flaws with the way I define homesteading or living an environmentally conscious life. Because of this, more than once have I thought of closing the blog and walking away from the blogging community.

Because I don't have a farm (nor do I see myself obtaining one in the future) I am seen as a wanna be, a pretender, and psuedo homesteader but one that should not be taken seriously. Sometimes I am able to laugh off these comments but other times not so much. We all approach our homes in different ways. We all do our best for the situations we find ourselves in. No one is perfect, nor should we expect them to be.

I try my best but it is discouraging when my best does not seem good enough. When my efforts bring about negative comments instead of encouraging ones. On one hand I am glad to see, after reading Rhonda's post, that I am not alone in feeling somewhat dejected but on the other I am disappointed that those people expecting perfection are so quick to point out where others fall short. It shouldn't be that way. Shouldn't we be ever encouraging and truly supportive of any efforts? I have never claimed to be an expert. I have never said I have it all figured out.

When I decided to live simply, if I had looked at all the changes needed and expected them to be made at once I would never have started this journey. I would have been too discouraged to even begin and what a shame that would have been. Some parts of the journey move fast and furious while others are slow and calculated. Others still are not moving at all. In the end, I need to move at my own pace, changing the things I can while accepting the things I can't.

Age before Beauty

Today is my birthday and I turn 30. It's always interesting when my birthday rolls around. I don't feel 30, at least not in the typical sense. My life is established far beyond that of a typical 30 year old. I have two kids ages 10 and 7. My husband and I have been together for 14 years, that's nearly half my life. As a young family, we've had a crazy life changing crisis and many more mini life altering circumstances since. It's been a wild ride and I'm still looked at as a young 'un, still wet behind the ears.




Many people still treat me like I am a new mom or new wife. Last year when I told a group of moms my age they laughed. "Oh yeah, I'm 29 too," one said as if she didn't believe me. She acted as if I was pretending to be 29, like women do when they don't want to admit their real age. I have never lied about my age. I don't worry about getting older. I embrace it. I find grey hairs, have for a long time. No big deal.

I recently watched a movie called The Countess, a German film about the infamous Elizabeth Bathory who reportedly killed young virgin girls and bathed in their blood. It was in an effort to sustain her youthful beauty. Traumatized by the apparent desertion of her lover for a younger woman, Elizabeth became obsessed with looking young and would do anything to achieve the life long appearance of youth. She was said to have killed up to 600 girls but was only called up on charges for 80 of them. She is an extreme example of the female obsession with youth and beauty, a phenomenon that still continues in this modern age.



Today women go to great lengths to preserve their youthful look. Plastic surgery, Botox and lypo-suction are some of the greater extremes women of the modern age will go to to achieve long lasting youth. As a western culture we are obsessed with the numbers of our age, the laugh lines on our face and the number of grey hairs we have. We obsess over the numbers on the scale, the numbers that indicate the size of our pants and the number of friends on our Facebook account. These obsessions only serve to distract us from our lives, never allowing us to truly live it. We are so obsessed with growing old, we fail to see how truly youthful we are.

I hope I never become so preoccupied with growing old that I forget to live. I hope that the youthful acceptance I have today will remain with me for the rest of my days. As each year passes, may I always see the blessing that new age presents. May I always see the real beauty in being young at heart.

Chicks in the City

I decided to contact the local townships to see what was permissable on certain land with specific zoning. We have been looking at properties in four different townships, all with various sizes from 3/4 of an acre to 33 acres. Obviously the size of our plot with determine the operations we can undertake. Laws seem to vary from township to township without much rhyme or reason.



In one township I was told chickens, even just three or four, are only permissable on land zoned agricultural. Agricultural land around here is hard to find for under $1 million, and that's just slightly out of our price range... okay fine, that's TOTALLY out of our price range! I asked about clothes lines as well, just double checking what I already thought to be law, that townships in Ontario could not regulate whether certain neighbourhoods have clotheslines, apparently I was wrong.

After laughing at me (literally) over my chicken request, the lady on the phone said "clotheslines are a concern for health and safety."

What?!

"The township has valid fears about decapitations."

Excuse me? What did she just say?

"It can happen. That's where the term 'clothes lined' comes from."

You have got to be kidding me!

On to the next, hopefully more sane, township. This township will allow chickens and other agricultural uses on rurally zoned properties over 5 acres or more. Good. Now I am getting some where. How hard can it be to find 5 acres with a house that isn't falling down and/or needing $1 million in renovations?...hard, apparently, really, really hard.

Methinks I shall be getting acquainted with local authorities, and short of begging on hands and knees, I shall have to make them see things my way. Chickens are a wonderful addition to organic gardens by keeping down pests and raising the nutrients in the soil. Not to mention the added bonus of eggs from happy chickens. Lordy, lordy, I really hope I don't have a big fight on my hands because man if I get ticked, feathers are gonna fly!

Any Anne Fans Out There?

I adore Anne of Green Gables, Road to Avonlea and anything related to Lucy Maud Montgomery. For years I have been collecting books, visiting sites and stumbling upon historic places related to one of my heroines. I was fortunate enough to be born in Southern Ontario, a place where L.M. Montgomery herself lived for the majority of her life. Ontario is just rife with places related to her, her books and all movies produced by Kevin Sullivan.

In 2007 my family and I visit Prince Edward Island, our 'Anne Trip' where we took in everything authentically Anne. I felt no guilt while dragging my family around visiting Maud's old haunts and places that inspired her beloved stories.



Much of the movies were not filmed in PEI but were actually filmed in Ontario at various historic sites. The White Sands in a historic restaurant in PEI but usually the shots in the Road to Avonlea series were body doubles, much cheaper than flying actors from Toronto to the site.

This past summer the kids and I have been visiting historic pioneer villages, not only to haunt some sites related to Everything Anne, but also to learn more about our ancestors in the hopes it will inspire me to continue my journey to simplicity.

We live 30 minutes from the Museum which houses the blue school house used in the second Anne movie. This is also the museum I volunteer at while demonstrating spinning. I have no digital pictures of this site so I will have to snag one the next time I am there.

In Toronto there is Black Creek Pioneer Village where a lot of filming for the Avonlea television show took place. We first visited last year but enjoyed it so much we wanted an encore this summer. My daughter is also convinced that part of the American Girl Felicity movie was filmed here. This fact I can not substantiate so I am not sure.

The actual Road to Avonlea main street were just building facades built in a field in Uxbridge, Ontario which were dismantled after taping ceased. L.M. Montgomery lived in Uxbridge before moving to Toronto when her husband retired. Citizens in Uxbridge are still working on a museum commemorating one of their most famous residents.

Maud also lived in Norval, Ontario. I stumbled upon a garden and plaque erected there in her honor while driving through one day. There's a big sign that says Lucy Maud Montgomery Garden, so of course I had to stop and take a stroll through it.

This past week we went to Doon Heritage Crossroads, in Kitchener. Two major scenes were filmed here including one with Rachel Lynd sitting on her porch watching Matthew Cuthbert driving by in a buggy, wear a suit! "He's not going fast enough for a doctor." This is the porch. The house was yellow and white back then.






There is also a scene filmed here for the Anne Sequel movie, where Anne comes out of the Post Office, Gilbert Blythe and her walk through the main part of town and then ride bikes through this covered bridge. It's a lovely scene.






L.M. Montgomery wrote one book, The Blue Castle, set outside Prince Edward Island. It was set in her second most beloved locale, Muskoka only a short drive from here. In the next week or so we plan to visit the Bala Museum with Memories of Lucy Maud Montgomery.

There is another Museum near Hamilton, Ontario that hosted the movie crew. The Westfield Heritage Village has the train station, the Hammond Sawmill and the Hammond's home and stairwell where Anne heard she would be sent back to the orphanage.

There is so much here at my fingertips, I feel blessed to be 'a part of it'. I can visit as often as I like and get a real feel for the places from our not so distant past. I find these historical sites just dripping with history and inspiration. I could go back again and again.

Inner Mean Girl Cleanse

Well, this is exciting! Has there ever been a time your life when the thing you needed most just seemed to drop right into your lap? There was a time when I was freshly living on my own, nearly penniless and desperately needing a pair of pants since all two pairs at home were threadbare. I remember needing pants yet also needing as much of my hard earned money for food. It was a tough decision to make but figured if I spent $8 on a pair of pants at the thrift store I could figure out a cheaper menu for those two weeks until pay day. I found a pair in my size, nearly new, for $8 no less, and took them home. I put them on the next day and put my hands in the pockets to see how they felt and pulled out a folded $20 bill. I was speechless. Like pennies from heaven, this overlooked donation was my blessing. What I needed at that moment fell right into my lap.



Flash forward 12 years later and enter the Inner Mean Girl Cleanse, something I desperately need at this very moment. As a woman, I am terribly hard on myself. I feel like I am fumbling through life, multitasking every minute and yet never accomplishing everything I would like. I berate myself for my faults. I chide my inability to do more. I get down on myself because Jane can do this and Jacklyn can do that. I am constantly comparing myself and putting myself down in the process without even realizing it. I am in open combat with my inner mean girl and never knew the chick existed.

This summer, I have been in a process of reclaiming my life, my health and my center and yet I still struggle daily with all the things that I am 'suppose' to be doing. I tell myself I shouldn't be on the treadmill when the dishes need to be done. I get anxious after buying non-local foods, or realize how much packaging a product had once I get it home. My garden stands weed-filled and neglected while I toil away inside getting ready for another school year. In the end, all the pressures amount to one big giant mass of guilt, aka my mean girl masquerading around reminding me of how much I fall short of my goals.

I need respite but rather than give up gardening, simplicity, homesteading and homeschooling I need to find a way to deal with the guilt, the pressure and the expectations. I need permission to do my best and be happy with that. The only way I am going to accomplish that is by banishing my inner mean girl.

Homemade Yogurt

This summer, I have been trying to concoct my own yogurt without a lot of success. Apparently, the process is tricky and takes some practice. My first batch was laughable, and resembled only slightly thick milk. After some online digging, I found out I was heating my milk too hot and then killing my starter. The next batch, which I only heated to 120 degrees F (instead of 180F like I previously was told), had all the yogurt on the bottom and a thin layer of whey and milk on top. But at least I was seeing progress.

Third times the charm in this case. After two botched batches I finally got it right, even if it is a bit runnier than store bought. Now I feel confident posting it here.

Plain Homemade Yogurt

Wash out two 500 ml glass canning jars. Set aside. Place a full kettle of water on the boil. Doesn't need to be boiling, but near boiling.

You will need:

1 liter (4 cups) of milk
1/4 to 1/2 cup of plain yogurt

Yogurt makes more yogurt, who knew? Make sure you buy yogurt with *live bacterial cultures*. Any milk will do, from skim milk to whole milk or even raw milk.



In a saucepan warm up milk to 120 degrees F. Use a cooking thermometer and keep any eye on the temperature. Remove from heat and let cool slightly. Take about 1/2 cup of warm milk from pan and mix with your yogurt starter. Then add it back to the sauce pan.

Pour the milk/yogurt into the two jars. Place on the lids and put them both into a insulated cooler.



Take your kettle of near-boiling water and pour the water into the cooler, all around the jars. Close lid. This will need to stay for about 8 to 10 hours. You can do more. I was pushing 12 hours incubating before I found success. When time is up place both jars in the fridge. The mixture will thicken as it cools so you won't know if it worked until a few hours later.

Depending how my next few batches go, I may cave and buy a yogurt maker. Yogurt makers regulate the incubating temperature and provides more consistent batches. I wanted to try this version with the mason jars and cooler, using materials I had on hand before I dole out money on yet another kitchen appliance.

Hectic Summer Daze

Summer brings a big to do list. Everything from prep and plant the gardens. Weed. Can. Freeze. Take Kids to Park. Go to Beach. Take Kids to Soccer Practice. Plan Camping Trip. Go to the Drive In... summer has it share of hectic days and lazy days, sometimes a day can be both lazy AND hectic.

As a family we do more in summer. Living in the northern hemisphere means we are not guaranteed a whole lot of summer. There's a radio commercial on all the time that states we have 95 days of summer, and 270 days of winter! That's not entirely true, however after a seemingly long March filled with blizzards and freezing rain we often wonder if spring will ever arrive.


Canada is usually perceived as being this northern tundra way up there. I have heard of southern tourists arriving in the Toronto airport with skis...in JULY!! This maybe an exaggeration but I was once in the United States in August when someone from New York state said to me, "Well, you have snow in your country right now..." Ummm, what?! No...it's August, my dear. You live about 300 miles from me and you can't figure out how our shared climate works. The Canadian border is not some magic line that separates the barren hinterland from the balmy south.

However winters can feel extremely long. I do not do much driving or traveling or much of anything away from the home in winter. Not because I can't but simply because I don't want to. Winter is my calm time. My time in the home where I am warm and toasty.

Summer is my running time. In addition to my gardening and preserving, I make it a point to do many, many day trips with the kids. We are in the park at least once a week, the beach as well. Sometimes both in the same day. I usually spend a lot more time in my car visiting farmer's markets and farm stands, collecting fruit and veggies to put by for the winter. My son's sport is soccer and this year he is on a traveling team. We may not do much in the way of "book work" for homeschooling but there are still homeschool friends to meet up with, play dates to go on and of course the slue of birthday parties and barbecues.



Summer is a wonderful time of year. I enjoy it's hectic days. After a seemingly long winter at home summer is a welcome change of pace. By October I am ready for a reprieve. I like to slow things down. The kids hunker down at the books. I get working on Christmas plans and complete the final touches on the pantry. In the fall I may even find myself in a more creative mood than any other time of year. Each season has it's own pace and style.

Some days in summer I'd like to call "Uncle!". Those are the days when I am pulled in multiple directions and wondering why in the heck do I do this to myself? Why do I need to can 24 jars of tomatoes? Then I remember, I actually don't need to can 24 jars of tomatoes but I want to. Being busy in summer does not mean I am not living simply. My priorities are still in tact. Simplicity does not mean in activity. It means concentrating your time, energy and resources to the things that truly matter to you. Those things will change throughout the year but it doesn't need to change your priorities. It's just the way of the seasons. I will have my rest soon enough.

Book: Plain & Simple, A Woman's Journey to the Amish

This book, Plain and Simple by Sue Bender, has two elements that make it one of my favourites. First: it advocates Simplicity as an enriching lifestyle of choice. Second: it has quilts. 'nough said!

It's a auto-biographical journey of a woman, living and working in California who is suddenly called toward the Amish through their simple patchwork quilts. At first she wants to touch and feel the art, then she wants to learn how to make them before finally she decides she must learn who the artists are behind them.

My life was like a crazy quilt, a pattern I hated. Hundreds of scattered, unrelated, stimulating fragments, each going off in its own direction, creating a lot of frantic energy. There was no overall structure to hold the pieces together. The crazy quilt was a perfect metaphor for my life.

-Sue Bender

This is not a new book. It was released in 1989. It is still very relative. Of course the 80s were a harried time for feminism which out and out scorned homemaking and servitude of any form. Now there seems to be a renaissance of homemaking, and keepers of the home. Sue Bender seemed to be a product of her generation. Pushy and driven to work yet drawn to the home and not understanding why.

I found this book wonderfully written, hugely entertaining and very easy to get lost in. It's a short book, a very quick and simple read. Just what I was looking for.

Culinary Arts of Years Past

I had a wonderful opportunity this weekend to partake in a Historic Cake Baking class, at Fort York. The fort is the original military garrison that helped established what is modern day Toronto. The museum has focused its programs and activities around the period leading up to and during the War of 1812. While attending a homeschool group sleepover a few weekends ago, another homeschool mom and I noticed posting for a class in historic cake baking.



The day was wonderful. Using period recipes we mimicked the process of making baked goods and baking them as they would have been when the fort was active. We made Derby "Short" cakes, Portugal cakes, Lemon cake, Gingerbread cake and Rout cakes. We had cakes baking in the bake oven, over the hearth, and in a special pan with coals on the top and bottom which made a nice, efficient oven.



When we arrived there were two fires blazing, one in the hearth, the other in the bake oven at the side of the main fireplace. I had always thought the bake oven was heated from a fire underneath. When the bricks inside the bake oven turned white, we removed the fire and close the small door to keep the heat in.

One thing we learned is that baking in a historical manner is not an exact science. A cake one day could take an hour to bake, while the same cake another day could take four hours, depending on the temperature of the oven.

Another interesting thing about historic baking is that there was no baking soda or easy way to leaven a cake (leaven is the rising agent). Leavening had to be done with readily available ingredients like eggs. For each recipe the eggs had to be separated (yokes in one bowl, whites in another). Whites were always placed in a round bottom copper bowl. And then both bowls are whipped using a hand whisk. Each bowl needed 15 to 20 minutes of whisking to get the desired consistency. Our arms were exhausted!



The sugar as well would have been cone shaped, and hardened for transport to Upper Canada from far away locales. Cooks were required to use a mortar and pestle to smash the sugar into the form we have readily available today. This was another time consuming and physically taxing task. The nutmeg and ginger as well needed to be hand grated. Everything was measured by weight on a balance scale. And measuring cups were tea cups, a standard teacup being equal to 8 ounces (1 cup).





Historic recipes lack descriptions. It was assumed anyone worth their salt would know their way around a 1812 kitchen. Reading historical recipes can be difficult for a modern cook not knowledgeable in period cooking techniques. Even now historians are experimenting with different techniques and ingredients to piece together the foods that were once the staple of our young nation.




I find it all very fascinating. I know my way around a modern kitchen quite nicely. I rare rely on modern conveniences and electronic helpers but even I had a learning curve in this historic kitchen. It was a wonderful experience.

Simplicity and You

I wanted to write a post a few weeks back about Earth Day. I wanted to give tips and hints, and examples on the types of things I do to keep my foot print small but my enjoyment of life big. Had I written such a post it would have contained pointers on composting, recycling, forgoing bottled water for reusable canteens. I would have written about choosing organic when possible, or walking instead of driving. In essence it would have been very similar to all the other Earth Day posts and articles that spring up this time of year. I doubted my followers would enjoy redundancy from me so I sat on it, and gave further thought to my efforts to be Mean Green World Saving Machine.

The answer to saving the planet can be found in simplicity. Simplicity is the act of doing less to derive more enjoyment from those things that truly matter to you. For example, I choose to make my own laundry soap, bake my own bread and shop at thrift stores so I can have the luxury of staying home, something that truly matters to me. I forgo trendy shops and frequent trips to the mall so that I can find better enjoyment from the few things I do buy. I stay home often on weekends. I read books from the library. I go for walks with the kids. I work in my garden. All these things are enjoyable to me in a way that schleping my kids to daycare so I can go to work, running my kids from here to there or throwing a boxed meal into the oven just isn't.

Earth Day should not be about what you do, it should be about what you don't do. I think if people realized the impact of passive earth awareness they would see a much greater impact than the active strategies being put forth by the media. There have been an abundance of eco-friendly products popping up in the market. While I am glad to see mainstream getting on board I can see it for what it truly is...another way for people to spend money, consume and never change their lifestyle one darn bit. Companies are created to make money and eco-friendly is what is selling right now. The average person needs to understand that the very act of NOT buying is better than buying all those products and bringing them home.

Forget the green cleaners, the toys made from recycled materials and the hemp t-shirt. Unless these things are truly a need, people who buy them are just as bad as the person buying t-shirts made in a sweat shop. As a civilization we need to bring things back to basics.

We need to instill this mantra in our kids:

Use it Up,
Wear it Out,
Make Do,
Do Without

That is the key to saving the planet. That is the key to better fulfillment. Learn what is that makes you truly happy and concentrate on that. By focusing on those truly enjoyable things you won't have a need for the other fillers in your life. Save the planet. Live Simply.

The Blue Castle and Simplicity

Yesterday I finished reading The Blue Castle by Lucy Maud Montgomery. I love Montgomery's work and this one is by far my absolute favourite. I read this book for the first time three years ago when I first began my simplicity journey. I didn't realize it then but the reason why I love this book so much is because it's a representation of the life I would like to live.



Looking over the lake at a large mansion Barney and Valancy have this conversation...

"Would you like a large house like that, Moonlight?" Barney asked once, waving his hand at it. He had taken to calling Valancy Moonlight and she loved it.
"No," said Valacny, who had once dreamed of a mountain castle ten times the size of the rich man's cottage and now pitied the poor inhabitants of palaces. "No, it's too elegant. I would have to carry it with m everywhere I went. On my back like a snail. It would own me, possess me, body and soul. I like a house I can love and cuddle and boss. Just like ours here. I don't envy Hamilton Gossard 'the finest summer residence in Canada.' It is magnificent but it isn't my Blue Castle.

And so Valancy is right. The burdens of a big house and a big life to match are plentiful. A grand house requires money, time and energy. A life oozing possessions is a life of servitude to clean and care for them. A minimalist life is one of freedom to pursue your passions.

If you know a bit about L.M. Montgomery you know that she loved her Prince Edward Island above any other place in the entire world. After she married and left the Island she never did return. While living in Ontario she discovered Muskoka, around here known as Cottage Country where people come up from Southern Ontario and Toronto to spend the summer. She found this section of the world strikingly beautiful as well. So enamored was she that she ventured to set one book outside of PEI and that book was the Blue Castle. Obviously she held the region in very high regard.

This book is a venture in homesteading and self sufficiency. Montgomery's character Valancy retreats from the town and her oppressive clan to find a life of peace and tranquility in the forest she loved. While living "Up Back" Valancy found her Blue Castle living amongst nature; the water, the trees, the rocks and wildlife. She ventured into town when need arose but for the most part she stayed at home with her books, her companion, her cats and the life purposely and deliberately chosen.

I wonder if L.M. Montgomery ever dreamed of such a life. My guess is she probably did, and it is from her own desires to turn her back on modern society (and the burdens she bore from it) that the story "The Blue Castle" was born.

Whole Wheat Raisin Bread

Oh so good and good for you too! Molasses gives it the rich brown colour and adds a taste of downhome cooking.


In a large 4 cup liquid measuring place:

2 1/2 cups of warm water
4 1/2 tsp of yeast

Mix together set aside.

In a large bowl, place:

6 1/2 cups of whole wheat flour
4 tbsp of margarine or butter
1/2 cup of sugar
3 tsp of salt
3 tbsp of molasses
3 tsp of cinnamon (or more if desired!)

Mix together and slowly add water/yeast mixture. Mix in mixer or with hands until dough pulls away from side and forms a round dough in centre of bowl.

Add 1 cup of raisins.



Knead by folding dough and pressing with your palm. Knead until dough is uniform.

Place tea towel over bowl and place in Off Oven with oven light on. Let rise 40 minutes. Knead once again, and rise 30 minutes. Form into loaves and place in greased loaf pan. Allow to rise again. Bake at 350F for 30 to 40 minutes until golden brown, and pulls away from the edge of the loaf pan.

Remove from oven and let cool for 10 minutes before slicing. Enjoy!

The Real Housewives

Here we see the Housewife in her natural habitat, a glass of wine pinched between her long slender fingers showing off her manicured (often fake) nails and blinding rings. We see the attention to detail in her bleach blond choif no doubt straightened and sprayed with an interesting array of toxic fixatives. Housewives in this region are often seen wearing Prada, Gucci and Vuitton, often spending thousands of dollars for petrol-derived fabrics and materials. A rare breed, these women are often associated with a self-centred nature and inability to see beyond the gates of their community of million dollar mansions and lifestyle of leisure. This is a stellar find, ladies and gentlemen, a rare glimpse into the lives of these ellusive creatures.



I don't know why I enjoy watching The Real Housewives of Orange County. I laugh at them. Make fun of their selfish children and get a genuine kick out of their stunned faces when any adversity comes their way. Maybe it's my replacement for gossip. Rather than people in real life bearing the brunt of my scorn, I feel no guilt lavishing judgement on these horrendously self-centred women. Call me crazy but given the fact that they signed up for this gig, a job made from being in the spotlight, something tells me they are just dying for attention, good or bad, ergo I do not have to feel guilty.

When I think about it though, this show can be very depressing as well. Here I am, and many others in the voluntary simplicity movement, are making significant changes in our lifestyles to lesson the burden of over consumption on our planet. We "simple people" are foregoing gigantic houses, room-size closets and oddles of bling in an attempt to make a difference in our world. It's show's like this that really put the spotlight on the sabotoagging efforts of others. It goes back to that old quote:

Live simply that others might simply live.

~Elizabeth Seaton

I am under no illusions though. I realize that my choices do not directly benefit have not's in this world. The meat I do not buy is not sent to starving children. The designer clothes I choose to do without do not end up warming someone in need. I make these simple choices for the bigger picture. By not eating supermarket meat, I am telling farming corporations that I would rather eat grains and legumes. By saying no to diamonds from the Congo I am directly refusing to participate in the strife in that region. By making these choices I am creating an effect. Albeit a relatively small effect however if my choices influence the choices of others (through this blog and the relationships I have in real life) it can have an amazing effect on our world over our lifetime.

There will always be high maintenance people, people who chant "Because I deserve it" in their heads whenever guilt over their consumption strikes them. There will always be gluttonous people who think nothing of the effect their purchasing habits has. I can not stop my beliefs because I meet an adversary. I will not stop these changes because the task seems so impossible. I say let these women have their bling, their vacations, their spray on tans, I want a real life, a true existence whether my efforts matter to them or not.