Weekending

Did you remember to spring ahead this morning? I didn't! *grin*

Our day started with my usual lighting of the woodstoves, making sure everyone got breakfast, puttering around the kitchen tidying up, planning for lunch and today I popped on a pot of bones and veggies for chicken soup. Just before we reached lunch which was now past lunch I realized that I was truly running an hour behind. I had joked on my twitter page that I had been living in the past all morning but the truth of it was that I never caught up with the time today!

So I decided that I was not going to set my clocks ahead today since I simply just could not catch up!! That's right I had my own personal time zone for the entire day and tomorrow we'll catch up to the rest of you LOL. I swear sometimes it's a good thing we live in the sticks where we can march to the beat of our own drum *grin*.

We've had quite the run of weather to with sun, rain and snow flurries and sometimes they were happening all at the same time. The temperature in the shade today was just above freezing so the kids had to do a lot of running and jumping to keep warm but when they realized that just wasn't working for them they came up with a new plan to help keep themselves warm....

Chicken warmers!

I bet you didn't know that chickens make great hand warmers *grin*. The kids would run into the pen, pick up the closest chicken, tucking their hands around their warm fluffy bodies and warmed up a bit. Plus the chickens just loved the extra attention :)

In payment for providing warmth for their little hands my youngest two collected pine cones from the mugo pines in our front yard and blades of grass to create a soupy treat for the chickens. You've got to love their imaginations! The chickens weren't to keen on their treat but did pluck out the odd blade of grass for a nibble :)

Before my husband left for work on thursday he had been a busy boy demolishing my old clothesline stand. It had been getting pretty rickety and rotten and he knew that I really wanted a new one so he finally tore it down. I can't wait for my replacement stand. The warmer days are just around the corner and I can't wait to get the laundry out to air dry again. For now though the scrap lumber has been stuffed in the back of our horse trailer so we can haul it down the the bottom of our property for a big bonfire when he returns :)

I've been making a lot of homemade yogurt to. It is sooo good! I just have to remember to make sure I put it on in the evening so it's ready for our granola in the morning :)

How was your weekend?

Hugs,
Rosina

Weekending

It has been a simply beautiful weekend full of bursts of sunshine, squeals of laughter, splashing in the kiddie pool, weeding, planting, crazy flash rain squalls and time playing together :)

There was stick tossing in the raging river...

glimpses of the pair of canada geese that have a nest in our pond...

the calls from our cow as he begged for more clover and handfuls of grass...

major growth spurts in the vegetable garden...

baking sweet strawberry galettes, grinding wheat for pastry and rye breads, cookie mixing, a whole lot of finger licking and lip smacking...

and of course enjoying the fruit of all our work :)

Now you know where we've been hiding *grin*. Our days are just bursting with activity. Some of it chores but there seems to be an awful lot of play LOL.

I was listening to a podcast today about the different stages of a child's development and how important play and imagination are in those precious younger years and it was so reassuring to hear. Sometimes I feel that I am way to easy going and there isn't enough academics to counter balance the free time but I know they are learning everything they need to know and more and I just want them to enjoy every minute of childhood. There will be many days ahead to learn the hard stuff. For now I want them to spend as much time as they can exploring nature, creating things out of found materials, letting their creativity shine and learning gently through our daily routine :)

Ahh to be a child again would be such a treat :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Weekending

I thought I'd share a few snapshots from our weekend :)
It has been a beautiful couple of sunny days which was a lovely change from the rain and weird hail storms we've been having although as I type this I think we are heading back to stormy days by the look of the gray clouds that are sweeping across the blue sky!

The children have been enjoying the first dandelions of the season and making necklaces, bracelets and earrings with them. I can't think of a better way to use them up :)

Under a big oak tree in the backyard we have an old tractor that we use for parts and it is the perfect refuge during a flash rain storm or when it's to hot out :) It makes a pretty good play place to as the steering wheel gets a good workout and all of the knobs and levers are cranked back and forth *grin*.

Of course with three bums and only one rusty old tractor seat it just doesn't accommodate everyone so naturally someone has to ride shotgun on the giant tire *grin*.

Lately my oldest has been using it as a bit of a learning tool as he takes apart bits of the engine at a time to see how things work together. This weekend he freed up the gear box which has been sticking and he was rather pleased that it can now be shifted into first, second and third gears *grin*. It will never run again as it is missing to many parts and seized but how wonderful it is that he can tear it apart and rebuild to his hearts content :)

It wasn't hot enough to dry up all of the puddles but what is a puddle without someone splashing in it :)

Sending warm thoughts to all of you this Sunday afternoon.

Hugs,
Rosina

Taking In The Beauty Surrounding Us

Talk about disbelief this morning! This was the scenery that greeted me when I looked out the kitchen window as I made breakfast. It didn't last long but it has brought below zero temperatures again despite the gorgeous sunshine that graced us today :)

I wanted to treat the kids today so we went down to the little corner store and they got to pick out a little candy and we drove the end of the road where it narrows and stops abruptly...

where the wooden planks and rocky edges join as one with the Johnstone Strait :)

The hues of blue welcomed us and the icy wind whipped around the car but the view was divine. We are so blessed to live only minutes from the ocean. It has to be my favorite place on earth to be :)

So while the kids munched on their treats I enjoyed the weekend edition of the paper...

and they all took turns using the binoculars to look for ships and signs of whales and seals. We had an amazing experience of seeing one of the young bald eagles testing out its hunting skills as it swooped down and attempted to snatch a fish from the ocean's surface! It missed but still very cool :)

Crew boats heading out to the nearby camps had a bit of a bumpy and lumpy trip today as they crashed their way across the strait through the white caps and I was just happy. Oh so happy taking the beauty in around me and listening to the giggles in the backseat :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Happy Weekend Linky Love

The kids and I had a wonderful little getaway at my sister's house this weekend :) We headed off on Saturday morning did some shopping around the city and then met up with my mom and dad at a great little restaurant for my mom's birthday. It was such a nice treat as we very rarely go to a restaurant. We usually pack our lunches and snacks with us to save money :)

Our evening was spent catching up, watching movies, sleeping over, and laughing at each others crazy bedhead in the morning *grin*.

Our little house is still engulfed in snow and traversing our long driveway has been a bit of a challenge with melting slushy snow and hard ice underneath but the sun came out for a bit and the gravel below is starting so show up in some of the tire tracks. Maybe tomorrow it won't take me two tries to get up the hill and out :)

Below are some of my favorite links that I have come across in the last couple of weeks :)

A delicious looking version of a Fig Newton Bar that I want to try

I am in love with the glow of these Dodecahedron Star Lanterns. We're definitely going to be making some of these!

Definitely need to keep my eyes open for an old folding basket so I can recover it like this one for my knitting basket. LOVE the half dresden plate :)

If you haven't seen this Children of the Forest Playset then you really must check it out. So inspiring!

Hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Hugs,
Rosina