Love’em and Juice’em

This week I dusted off my ‘new juicer’ and tried some of my old favourites. 

This is my second juicer.  I purchased it about 3 years ago because my first one, which worked fine, sounded like a chainsaw every time I started it up, so I couldn’t use it while the babes were sleeping.  The new one [...]

Microgreens

I’ve spent the last several days going through my old seeds and deciding what to use and what to toss.  I generally have no trouble germinating seeds that are three or four years old.  I don’t even store them under particularly ’seed-friendly’ conditions, and yet many of them still produce.

Now, that’s fine, of course, if [...]

February 13th – Liberation Day

Today, Christine was liberated from her own mind.  Imagine the freedom!

Happy Birthday, Lisa!

Winter Fun

It is usually a struggle to get a decent rink made in time for Christmas.  We bought a rink kit a few years ago, but without the right kind of weather, it still won’t work.  Some years, winter arrives early with a huge dumping of snow in late November, but it’s often just a lot of [...]

The Fine Print

The choice to reproduce, for those of us fortunate enough to have one, is supported by many terms and conditions.  Most of these are assumed from the get-go:  less sleep, more mess, less control, more chaos, less sex, more cuddling.  The “experts” (many of whom haven’t had children but have written lots of books about [...]

Wombicus squishticum

Our first was born with what some health professionals may have called a “mild deformity”.  He had bruising across one side of his face (fine), a flattened ear (common), and a foot that was bent up to his shin.  Hmmm.  The midwives weren’t concerned; the baby had simply ‘maxed out’ the space given to him in the womb.  Within [...]

Kids

A friend of the family once told me:  Having one is like having none.  Having two is like having twenty.
We have three.

With our first, life didn’t really change much.  Our neighbours gave us this fabulous sling, so we took him everywhere with us.  We took him shopping, we took him to parties, we took him to karate [...]

Throwin the Nasty Out With the Nappy

A word about baby poop.

Like most middle-class North Americans, I was first taught how to change a baby’s diaper using a disposable.  The procedure involved removing the wet or dirty diaper, wiping with disposable wipes, and fastening a new diaper on the fresh clean baby.  The diaper was then folded up tightly into a nice [...]

Home-canned Baby Food

Better late than never.

The best time of year to make baby food is late summer or early fall.  Peaches, followed by apples and pears, reach their peak at this time, and these flavours are always well received.  If you are new to canning, then making baby food is a good way to learn the basics.  [...]

Polytunnel Panic

I was worried that my beautiful greens might take a wee bit of a hit tonight (-2 predicted), so we rigged a temporary mini hoophouse over the garden bed.  It was a very last minute decision – made at about 4pm – and I think we did well.

We happened to have several yards of 3/4 [...]

A Tickle Trunk for Everyone

Growing up, my family always had a Tickle Trunk. It was a big black old-fashioned thing with metal hinges and clasps – both my cousin and I could fit inside it. It had some really interesting costume pieces in it: old wedding veils, a couple of wigs, old shirts, ties, skirts, high heeled shoes, scarfs, [...]

Grow or Decay

I had to shake up the routine today, so I did three things I haven’t done in a long time:

I made a big batch of granola.  It’s different every time, but this time, it’s awesome.

I made a quiche, which turned out to be the most perfect quiche I’ve ever done.  The butter pastry was perfect.  [...]

First Foods

Babies are usually ready to start solid foods by the time they are six months old.  A few babies will thrive on just breastmilk until their ninth month, and others will be eager for new tastes and sensations at five months.  Try to wait as long as possible.  There is no danger in delaying the introduction of [...]

Not Fond of the ‘Recipe Within a Recipe’

I borrowed a cookbook once that promised me quick and easy crockpot recipes using only “five ingredients that everyone has in their pantry.” In one recipe, I needed a can of cream of chicken soup; in another, a jar of bbq sauce; in another, a half of a package of biscuit mix. Needless [...]

Put the Cob Down and Back Away From the Compost

With all of the tomatoes ripening on the counter, it was no surprise to find a few fruit flies flitting around. I detest them. So, in a mild panic, I decided to get every scrap of food off the counter and into the fridge, and I put the kitchen compost outside on the [...]

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