Where Have We Been??

We've been camping!! Our very first trip of the season :)
We didn't venture to far from home as it was our maiden voyage after ripping our travel trailer completely apart to replace rotten flooring and walls, but it went fabulously. No mishaps or trouble. Everything seems to be in tip top shape *grin*.

A lovely little campsite surrounded by tall trees and oodles of trails to wander.

One of the paths took us right along the river and it was so nice to enjoy the cool shade of the trails. The weather was absolutely beautiful and truly made you appreciate the reprieve from the heat that the forest provides.

My mini explorer :)

We spent 3 whole days exploring, playing, wandering and just plain old relaxing.

I don't know how many little birds nests L found as she wandered around in the bush behind our campsite. This little one was tucked in the hollow on the backside of a rotting stump :)



No eggs in it but perhaps it belonged to our little friend above that seemed to have adopted us as he followed us from stump to stump watching our every move *grin*.

I just love that we are able to spend many hours outdoors year round but in summer we actually get to pick up and move outdoors... unplugged and loving it :) No phones, no tv, no computer or emails to pull you away from more important things like family togetherness. Early nights, good books and deep sleeps. It really can't get any better than that!

Oh and check out my new paper lantern solar lights I picked up for Hubby :) He loves solar lights and I thought these were so cute *grin*. They even twinkle in the dark so it looks like they actually have candles flickering inside of them. So pretty!

I've got more photos of our Father's Day and outing to the Market but I'll have to share that tomorrow as my pillow is calling me :)

~ Rosina

Stenciled T-Shirts for Father's Day

Father's Day is June 20th and a perfect day to celebrate the Super Hero in your family or in our case to celebrate our 'Super Daddy'! *grin*

I'm crazy about stenciling t-shirts and have done quite a few for the kids and a few school ones with our school name on them for when we go on homeschool outings so I thought what would be better than having each of the kids make a special shirt for daddy :)

If you have never made a t-shirt using freezer paper it is super simple and you can even check out a tutorial I did on it back in 2008 that shows you all the steps from start to finish! All you need is a t-shirt, some butcher's paper or freezer paper as it is also called, a craft knife, acrylic paints and a fabric medium to set the paint permanently on the shirt or you can buy fabric paint that is all ready to go.

I did all of the cutting for the youngest two as they aren't ready to wield a sharp blade yet but the painting was all theirs :)

I had ran across quite a few handprint shirts in the past and thought that it would be fun to have one of them stamp their hands on a shirt...

but I wasn't sure how to tie it into the father's day theme besides it just being a cute shirt with his kids' handprints on it *grin*. Then I came up with what I thought was a pretty smart tag line....

Handpicked by:
L

I love it!!! That has got to be the sweetest saying and I know Hubby is just going to love getting it from his little girl :)

My oldest son is totally into camping so he made his camping themed and I set it all up for him on my printshop program so we just had to print it out and he cut and painted :)

They're all outside hanging in the plum tree right now while Hubby is down working on his tugboat. I'm hoping that they completely dry by the time I have to bring them in so that we can heat set them tomorrow and wrap them for Sunday. I'll make sure and show you the finished shirts after we have them finished :)

What are you making for Father's Day gifts this year?

~ Rosina

Coombs Country

Today we took a little trip to Coombs, home of the famous goats on the roof :)
They actually have real live goats that live on the roof of their market! The roof is covered with sod and they graze up there all summer long. The kids get a real kick out of watching them and they sell the most comical sticker warning of falling goat turds! LOL.

I just love perusing their flower market with all of the annuals, herbs, vegetables and more. So colorful :)

Then there is the food portion of the market with it's fresh vegetables, many of which are local from here on the island or the rest of BC.

And oooh the fruit. You could nearly taste the peaches as they smelled so good!

There is so much to catch your eye....

And tempt your pocketbook *grin*.
These quilts were just begging me to take one home :)

Of course after all of that window shopping you work up quite an appetite and you must have lunch at their fabulous restaurant where they have fresh breads, pizzas, sandwiches, and we even had some delicious halibut today.

I made sure to leave room for dessert though!
So many sweets. There are cakes, tarts, cookies, sticky buns, all cream filled or sugar topped. It's calorie laden pure bliss *grin*.

Thank goodness we did a lot of walking at Costco after lunch! Oh my that place is huge and heaven forbid you forget the coffee until you get to the till and have to navigate clear through to the opposite end of the store through the throngs of hungry shoppers clamoring to get free samples.... yes this did happen to us! LOL. One super perk was that I picked up some 100% SKAL certified organic pj's for the kids at a bargain of $12. What a find! I love that more and more organic clothing is becoming available without having to pay an arm and a leg for it. Keep on requesting it everyone. The more we demand it the more options and price savings we will find :)

Hope you all had a lovely afternoon to :)
~ Rosina

Welcome To Our Garden

Remember those cute gumboots we were planting flowers in?
I thought that the perfect place to put them would be to hang them right on our garden gate *grin*. Don't they look super cute there? A perfect flower filled welcome to our vegetable garden and the kids just love seeing them every time we go to water or plant. Plus this way the slugs will never be able to eat the blooms either!

Hubby returned home this morning after 2 weeks away for work and we are overjoyed to have him with us again. So if I'm just a little bit scarce the next couple of days you'll know what has happened to me :)

** Just wanted to add a note and say hello to all of you visiting my blog today :) I've had quite a few emails about how I hung the boots and if they have any drainage so I thought this would be a great place to put some more info in case you would like to know to :)

There are drainage holes in each of the boots so that excess water can escape after watering. I used my husband's power drill and drilled four or five 1/4 inch holes through the soles and then for hanging the boots I drilled another hole on the backside of the boot up at the top and hung them on the fence using those little cup hooks you can get anywhere they sell screws :) If you can't find the little cup hooks you could also use a regular nail and just hammer the end crooked so it turns up a bit on the end to prevent the boot from slipping off. Have fun making some! **

Have a fabulous week everyone!
~ Rosina

Our New Stainless Steel Popsicle Mold

I have been meaning to share about our new popsicle mold with you for a couple of weeks now and I'm so happy to finally have some photos to show you :)

I'm continually purging our household of plastic storage containers, dishes, glasses, and whatever else I can find so you can imagine my excitement when I learned that there was an alternative to the standard plastic popsicle molds! We use ours pretty much year round, even in the winter but I had shelved it after the big BPA blowup hit the fan. I had actually been freezing popsicles in little narrow glasses that I had found at the goodwill but it was a tippy balancing act to maneuver in the freezer *grin*. So hooray for the new mold!

The new stainless steel set comes with 6 individual popsicle molds, lids and a super handy metal stand for setting everything into the freezer. Each lid is equipped with a little silicone ring where you slip your wooden popsicle stick through and it holds it snuggly in place so that it doesn't slip or sink inside the mold as it sets. The lids are also concave shaped inside so they act as handy little drip catchers to when you eat them. This is a really good thing for my 4 year old *grin*.

Now what I really love about this set is that can take out as many of the individual molds as you need and you don't have to run the entire set of popsicles underneath the tap just so you can get 1 loose! Actually we didn't even need to run these ones under any water at all, they just popped right out after being in our hands for a couple of seconds. I can see a whole lot of popsicle goodness in my future and here's a recipe for you :)

Orange Strawberry Yogurt Popsicles

1 cup orange juice
1 cup plain yogurt
1 1/2 cups frozen or fresh strawberries

Whiz it all up in your blender, pour, freeze and enjoy! This recipe filled all 6 of our molds with just a pinch to spare :)

~ Rosina

My Little Farmer

Well actually he's really not so little anymore :)
He's the man of the family while his dad is away at sea and he takes his role and the big shoes that go along with it very seriously.

Oh my goodness he is such a BIG help to his mama!!
This year he has taken to splitting the firewood. I never even had to ask him. I think it may have been the lure of being able to swing the big splitting maul *grin* but whatever it may have been that called him to the firewood heap we now have 8 cords of wood drying in the woodshed :)

Lately he's been by my side in the garden planting the vegetables and weeding. I think next year I may turn the garden over to him and let him make all of the plans for what we will do as he shows so much interest in it and has plenty of ideas for what we should be doing! You know that old saying about 'backseat drivers'? Well I've got myself a big ol' backseat gardener! LOL.

Don't worry though he's enjoying his youth with gusto. Between the fishing, bike riding, tree fort building, camping, swimming, sister teasing and general boyish mischief he's having a really good time :)

Case in point, he's taken to setting booby traps lately and he is dead set on catching mama in one of them but so far I've outsmarted him every time *grin*. Actually it was just my good luck last night as he had rigged up a heap of boxes in the bathroom tied to the door knob just before he and the others went to bed knowing that no one else would go in the bathroom anymore but me. What he didn't count on was little brother making an emergency trip to the bathroom and he was the one that got bombed by the box wall! Haha, foiled his plans again *grin*.

Oh how I love my boys and my pretty little princess girl to :)
~ Rosina

Great Granola ~ Recipe

We love granola!
I don't think any of us can ever quite get enough of it *grin*. I'm forever making it and it is delicious served with a splash of milk, topped with a tablespoon of plain yogurt and some fruit. I found some blueberries in the freezer so that was what we used today but bananas, apples, raisins and more make great tasty toppings for your granola breakfast bowl :)

I had to replenish our supply today and I thought that you might like to have a peak at my recipe and perhaps whip up a lip smacking batch for your family :)

This is for quite a large batch but you can definitely half the recipe!
You will need:

8 cups rolled oats
4 cups barley flakes
2 cups unsweetened coconut
2 cups raw sunflower seeds
2 cups raw chopped nuts (I used almonds & pecans)
1 cup raw sesame seeds

Mix all of the above ingredients, preferably all organic, in a very large bowl.

On the stove top warm:

1/2 cup of raw honey
1/4 cup of olive oil
1/4 cup of sucanat or brown sugar
2 teaspoons cinnamon

Just heat the pot until the honey melts enough to easily mix all of the ingredients into a thick syrupy sauce. It doesn't have to be really hot and this is important because you will probably need to use your hands to mix everything together. I find that using a wooden spoon just doesn't cut it :)

Once you have everything mixed together spread it onto 2 or 3 cookie sheets lined with parchment paper and pop it into an oven that has been pre-heated to 300* Fahrenheit.

Pop one of the trays into the oven and cook for 1o minutes then pull it out and flip all of the granola around on the cookie sheet so that the bottom is now the top and put it back in the oven for another 10 minutes. Keep repeating this for about 30 minutes for each tray or a bit longer if needed until each batch is a nice golden brown :)

Let it cool completely before storing in a large glass jar. I love to use 1 gallon pickle jars and you can usually pick them up for free or less than a buck at any restaurant or diner as they usually buy all of their pickles, mayo & relish in them and they make awesome storage jars in the pantry for rice, noodles, granola, baking supplies or whatever you like. Plus they are a great alternative to plastic!

Have fun making a batch and get creative with the ingredients. If there is something on my list that you absolutely hate sub in something you like. I promise you won't hurt my feelings if you don't like coconut *grin*.

~ Rosina

Mary Mary Quite Contrary....

How does your garden grow?
With silver bells and cockle shells
And pretty maids all in a row.

I thought that I'd share some of the pretty blossoms that are around the yard right now :) I am completely smitten with my poppies! Their coral color and deep purple centers are stunning.

A bee resting inside a rhododendron bloom. I think it must be hiding from the rain shower that just passed :)

Baby apple just starting to form.

A grove of Bachelor Buttons.

Oh my goodness... can you believe the size of the rhododendron bloom? It's huge!

The plums are starting to form up to and I'm dreaming of all the delicious Zwetschgenknödel I'm going to make with them :) Zwetschgenknödel is a deliciously sweet noodle with a plum center and served with bread crumbs toasted with butter and sugar. So delicious and the recipe has been passed down to me from my Omi :) I try to get a bunch of them frozen each summer but they never seem to last long. Gee, I wonder why *grin*.

What's blooming in your yard right now?
~ Rosina

Fishing For A New Door

The boys have been at it again!

Another successful afternoon of fishing at the lake. My dad swears by heading out just before 4pm for the dinner bite... it seems to be working *grin*. K was so excited to share what they caught with me and strung them along the stick to proudly display them for the photo. He claims to have caught the largest one this time :)

We had the chance to head into the city and have lunch with my sister today at her house. It was a beautifully sunny day and we ate on her patio while the kids played badminton and ran around the yard. Just before heading home I stopped off at the re-use store where you can purchase building materials that people donate from houses that are being renovated or torn down. All of the money they make from selling the used building supplies goes to Habitat for Humanity so quite often we will have a browse and see if there is something we need.

I just happen to need a new storm door as the my old one had an unfortunate run in with a disgruntled goat and well long story short he rammed it with his lone horn and left me with no glass or screen :(

So far whenever we've gone looking I can never find one the right size and if there are any they are pretty beat up or missing the framing, but today was my lucky day! They had a newer white one that is all glass with a sliding screen window in the center and all of the framing was intact. The screened part needs replacing but I just happen to have a repair kit already so that can be fixed in a cinch. The downside is that Hubby is still away at work and they wouldn't hold it for me :( I'm a crossing my fingers and toes that it will be there at the end of the week when he should be back home and we can run in with the truck and get it. Oh how I hope it doesn't sell!

~ Rosina

Nosy Cows & Potatoes

Come now... don't be shy! *grin*
My baby just wants to get a closer look at you and perhaps snuffle your pockets for some treats and lick your hand as a light hearted gesture of friendship LOL.

I just love this guy :) We picked him and his brother up last spring as 2 month old bottle babies just starting to be weaned and he is such a sucker for love. Never makes a peep unless you go by and don't pay attention to him and he loves to get a good scratch. Beware though he's a licker teehee.

All three kids headed out first thing this morning to lend a hand with the massive job of hilling the potatoes. I think perhaps someone was a wee bit hungry when they planted this year *grin*. They're growing beautifully though. Very healthy and if all goes as planned we're going to have a bumper crop!

I think they got the majority of the work done before it rained so hard late this afternoon that it soaked you in less than 10 seconds! The kids rather enjoyed the downpour and brought me a lovely fresh batch of grass, dirt and whatever else happened to get stuck to their boots today into the mud room. I swear with all the wet weather we've been having I'm going to start calling it the 'muddy' room! *grin*

No matter how much mud I had to clean today I had this beautiful quote on my mind:


Let us be grateful to people who make us happy, they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom. ~Marcel Proust

Oh how I just love that as my children bring so much joy and laughter to my days :)
~ Rosina