aquarium of the pacific

spring break has passed much.too.quickly.

a new habit

i am very excited to be participating in this space for the month of april. it is one of my favourites in the big old internet. come visit.

habit

really counting.

our trip to the beach should have been reminder enough.

like we needed any more reasons.

and then i looked at the bounty on our table. between our garden and csa box, we are very lucky!




and parrots. i have yet to capture a photo. but they fly over our house every morning and every evening. i still smile every time.

::

i didn't mean to be away so long. a lot has been going on. we planted 200 more shrubs and trees at the girls school. we've added soccer and tennis to violin and all of a sudden our fairly unscheduled family finds itself running on a fairly tight schedule. life is full. but no complaints.

and now spring break. and a long deep breath. and the first real trip to the beach of the season.

i will add a trip to the beach with a group of people i love. my friends and neighbours and people who sometimes i forget how lucky i am to have. i complain a lot about living here*. too much. i forget the good and get bogged down in the bad. i have been thinking about it a lot lately. sometimes it takes the eyes of someone new to a place to remind you of what you have. this lady has me thinking about my first days here. how magical i found it. and how much time i spent at the beach. how lucky we are to live in such a glorious place. i'm thinking about my place here now. about the amazing group of people who look after me and my family on a daily basis. who live around me and with me. who really, i can't imagine life without. how lucky i am to live in such a glorious place.






happy spring!. good pesach! happy easter!
i am counting my many blessings.


*please forgive me next time i complain. i know i will. these halcyon days of 80 degree weather are turning me into a summer lover. i must remember it is only spring!

longer days.

while i miss dawn's arrival before the girls awake, i must admit i do like the lingering days and the long shadows they bring.


read this in the dark this morning: the femivore's dilemma
terrible term - but interesting read.

we ate pancakes.

oh this time change is kicking my ass.

feels like spring around here

it is cool. and breezy. but sunny. and all seem to be happy about it. (including me.)

all three hens are laying again. and my greens are happy and seemingly oblivious to the triple digit temps that will be their demise in another couple of months.

until then...

a problem in the house

our cookie jar. is empty.

and i keep eating my slice of banana bread before the tea is ready.



while our dietary changes slowed down our cookie consumption, the reintroduction of wheat - seemingly without consequence - has returned us to a favourite from this book. mmmmm.

as soon as the loaf is gone. (and that will likely be today.) we are back on the slow road to cookies.

our kitchen

veni

vedi

vici

we purchased our home from its original owner. they had completed a redo sometime in the early 80s - but the kitchen had remained fairly original. complete with slide-out stove-top - which we perhaps foolhardily kicked to the curb. (it no longer worked.) the narrow kitchen upper cabinets had sliding pegboard doors. cool. but filthy. we replaced them with plexi. the counter top was a fab green and pink boomerang. very cool, but again had aged poorly and was replaced with baltic birch and white laminate counter tops. d rebuilt all the wooden cabinet doors and upper cabinetry, replicating them in the dining room. the carpet (!) and original lino underneath were replaced with cork. the 80s light fixtures were replaced with simple globes. the only real footprint change was moving the washing machine out to a newly created laundry room and building a breakfast nook where the dryer, and another door once stood. (details to follow.)

here we grow again

half started in the house in origami pots - half directly sown.

direct
Kale Squire
Baby Mesclun Lettuces "Cut and Come Again"
Japanese Spinach "Oriental Giant"
Nasturtium "Fiesta Blend"
Dill "Bouquet"
Swiss Chard "Red and White Mix"

potted
Pea "Sugar Snap"
Flowering Vine "Purple Hyacinth Bean" (this is actually to cover a trellis by the shed)
Butterfly Snapdragons "Chantilly"
Climbing Nasturtiums "Spitfire"
Container Tomato "Super Bush"
Cantaloupe "Hearts of Gold"

Still looking for a pole bean - and some artichoke plants. (the chooks destroyed our huge one. so sad!) D has also build a larger bed that I plan on using as a cut-flower garden - as dictated by the girls who have a habit of picking every flower they can for the dinner table. I am also going to try more lettuces in an old wine crate as microgreens. (I have been sprouting in a jar but thought I'd try in dirt as I read it is safer.)

I am even more unsure what I am doing this time. I have had no luck with greens in our summer garden. This was to be our winter garden - but I got delayed building a fence to keep the chooks out. We will see what happens. The mesclun is coming in nicely - I just hope it lasts a while.

I am trying to stick to the notion of only growing what we will eat. I find it tricky. All those seed packets thrill me!

How does your garden grow?

::

they made a flag for me to wave.

there are so many things that make me proud to be canadian.

today was one of them.

light

with the rain has come incredible morning skies.
clear and clean and bright.

i had forgotten how much i love the socal light.
(especially without the heat.)

trying to be "better" about posting at jumilla productions. trying!

wall.paper

when we purchased the house there was wallpaper. everywhere. mainly this large blue floral (that you see in the last post as well.) actually, in our bedroom, this was covered by a slightly more contemporary paper with a print of bamboo stalks. that come off easily to reveal more large blue flowers. i arranged a group of landscape painting in the same tones (painting by d while in art school)but we are ready for a change!




some friends love this paper. i don't. perhaps because i have to live with it! the flowers don't want to budge. and frankly i am confident the wall they cover is likely cracked enough to eliminate the idea of painting. d is working on plans for a new bed - and i am looking for paper to cover this.

right now i am thinking:

this was my first love. the grasscloth adds a natural element i really like. but worry about keeping it clean with littles who still like to tumble on our bed.

from twenty2

perhaps this:

from MissPrint

or maybe this - if i can find it:

Orla Kiely wallpaper via Anthropology

i want to keep the quilt. our master bathroom is blue and gray. there needs to be a tie-in.

hmmmmm

sister love

e had her first away-from-home-sleep-over last night. she is 8. and i knew this was coming. she has a dear friend she has known since she was 2 who has come to our house many a time. but e has never wanted to venture away from us for a night. i am sure part of this is tied to our practice of attachment parenting. and the co-sleeping routine we have had. all that started to shift this year with a wish from e to "learn" how to fall asleep on her own. her decision. and i was proud of her for voicing it. it took some time, but by the new year she was falling asleep without having me lie with her. mind you, she still sleeps with her little sister. and i don't see that changing anytime soon.

as i readied the little sister for bed last night - i went to take off the bead necklace around her neck and she stopped me. "e told me not to take it off until we are together again." she told me with big eyes as she crawled into our bed. "ok" i said. and hugged her tightly.

i am so endlessly glad they have each other.


they fought all day today. it is good to be together!

my dad

b. 27 september 1941
d. 17 february 2002

i cannot believe he has been gone 8 yrs.

and then again it sometimes feels as if he has been gone for such a very long time.



this is a picture taken at my grandmother's house in killarney, mb. my dad and his brothers. my brother and i, and one of our cousins. since my dad's passing my grandmother and one of my uncles has also gone. since my dad's passing my brother has married a wonderful woman. and my cousins are now moms to four beautiful children. and i have two girls who remind me every day of my dad. and what joy it is to be a family. he taught me well. he is still teaching me.

i miss you dad.

a place to start.

our living room the weekend we moved in. july, 2001. (that bump i'm resting my breakfast on is our first daughter e.)

we closed on the house in june. but d took a month to get things somewhat ready. carpet torn-up. floors refinished. wallpaper stripped. (sort of.) a deep cleaning.

the milo baughman chair came through d's parents. the wardrobe i purchased when we lived in that warehouse in mid-city that didn't have any closets. it's long gone. (thanks craigslist.) d built the table. the chair i am in he found curbside just before we found the house. he thought it was good omen that homeownership was headed our way, and had it reupholstered as a rocker for the nursery.

it was good omen.


same spot this morning.

s{cowl}

so here is the cowl finished. e was disgusted by my frogging of the entire thing and insisted i begin again. i am not 100% happy with it. it does look very cute on e as she can pull it down and wear it like a mini poncho kinda thang.

we have one of those weekends ahead that you dread well in advance. puts me in a sour mood just thinking about it. it is full. and none of it has anything to do with valentine's day. so it goes. (that sourness doesn't extend to your visit sunday sam! that is the shining light at the end of it all! xo)


my mood has been alleviated with daydreams of building a new space up on the island, and redoing our pool here at home. (and looking at this picture now has me dreaming of new wallpaper for the bedroom.) ahhhhh dreaming.

oh and i am very excited about the olympics. the girls are really into it. i think seeing the activity in vancouver when we were there plays into it all. we have the curling schedule down!

i'm smiling just thinking about it.

happy friday.

in our cookie jar #4

you have likely seen them before.

but if you haven't tried them - don't hesitate. they really are that good! (especially with a cold glass of milk.) we baked them saturday, and this is the last one.


flourless peanut butter cookies

from joy the baker via heather.

and we start all over again

i don't really consider myself a knitter. but i like to have something going that i can do while watching a movie or waiting for someone/something/somewhere. i was so excited to begin this easy pattern for a cowl. rain was in the forecast and i am one who always likes something warm wrapped around my neck. and i had the perfect yarn. two skeins of bulky blue sky alpaca in a wonderful dark blue. (i had picked them up over a year ago in ny.) and so i started the final stretch and began to worry that i wouldn't have enough wool left to cast off. but that didn't stop me. i began to cast off anyway. and it wasn't enough. so i searched the internet and they no longer seem to have that wonderful blue anywhere. so i frogged it. and returned the ball and needles to my bedside.



i had the consultation with the allergist today. turns out wheat didn't set off any real alarms - but yeast, barley, oat, rice, rye, pea, apple, peach, orange, almond, egg yolk and lamb did. sigh. he wants us to begin a elimination diet - including eliminating wheat as it may still be a contributing factor. i am telling myself that it isn't as bad as it sounds. e's reaction hasn't been life-threatening (thank God) but is uncomfortable. it will be about thresholds. (it could have been that wheat pushed her over her threshold - while say oranges are the real culprit - and its elimination put her back below her threshold.) the trick will be ensuring we find a balance so as not to set off any of those alarms. i think it will be good for all of us.

and its raining. which makes me happy. happy weekend!

in our cookie jar #3

based on ina garten's homemade granola bars from barefoot contessa back to basics

K: "These are the best cookies ever. They are crunchy. They are chewy. They are really that good."

2 cups oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 cup coconut flakes
1/2 cup pecan pieces
1/2 cup flax seed meal
3 T unsalted butter
2/3 cup honey
1/4 cup light brown sugar, lightly packed
1 1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp sea salt
1/2 cup dried cherries
1/2 cup chocolate chips

place oats, almonds, coconut and pecan pieces on a cookie sheet and toast in 350 oven (about 10 minutes)

place toasted mixture in a large bowl and add flax seed meal

reduce oven temp to 300

heat butter, honey, sugar, vanilla and salt on the stove. bring to a boil and cook for one minute. pour over toasted oats mixture and stir really well.

scoop mixture into a 8 x 12 " baking dish buttered and lined with parchment paper. wet your fingers and press the mix evenly into the pan.

bake for 25 - 30 minutes. let cool at least 2 hours before cutting.

K: "Wwwwwoila"

These are wheat free - but not necessarily gluten-free as the oats I used may have been processed on the same machinery as wheat. (Certified Gluten-free oats are available - but the one's in our cupboard are from the bulk bins at WF.)

thank you

for your kind words and guidance. it is very much appreciated.



no news yet. we were interviewed, poked and prodded (rather i was interviewed and e was poked...) and will have a consultation again next week to go over the results - and to talk about a plan.

the removal of wheat from our diet though has appeared to make a great difference. the hives have disappeared. so i think my instinct was correct.



and now i am starting to get excited about the new way we will be looking at food. i am really going to try and make more from scratch - and i think in turn that will eliminate a lot of wheat items from our diet. my neighbor and i even threw around the idea this morning of a neighborhood co-op where each particpant provides one homemade item a month. (something like what d's cousin is doing up in the bay area but on a much more local level.) so far i have her down for her amazing black beans, and i can take granola...

we need to work on this!

(all this isn't really new. i started this a couple of years ago in reaction to our trader joe's addiction... i hope to start documenting our food more carefully over there again soon.)

happy friday!

food for thought.

i feel like i have done something terribly wrong. e has been suffering from terrible hives for the last six weeks. at first notice i thought it was spider bites. she had been working in the garden at school. seemed logical. but they didn't go away. they got worse. the pediatrician thought it was a virus. then she began to run a temperature and got a head-cold and that made sense. but the cold went away while the hives didn't. so we visited the doctor again and got a referral to an allergist. which we had to wait for before we could make an appointment. (in the meantime she was having daily doses of antihistamine and colloidal oatmeal baths.) she has to be antihistamine-free for ten days prior to her allergy consult. she was so uncomfortable i started grasping at straws. citrus. gone. no change. wheat. gone. ah-ha moment.

so we have lived the last week gluten-free. and noticed a great improvement - though not complete clearing.

and i have done a lot of reading. on food allergies. and what causes them. and the frightening rate of increase in them. links to too much consumption of the food in question. too much wheat, it seems, in our case. i never would have thought. yes we have pasta weekly. (whole wheat. and often left-overs in the lunchbox.) yes we bake bread. (and eat too much of it on occasion.) i am careful about the processed foods we bring into the house. i try to make as much as i can on my own. i have read all the books and thought i was doing a pretty good job.

this has all sent me into a twirl about what we eat. about what processed food is. (flour is processed...) about the endless gluten-free choices in the shops that seem to me perhaps just another set of processed foods to cause more problems down the road. about the idea of a rotation diet. (this makes so much sense.)

ack!

it could be something else. in any case i will be thinking a bit differently about what we eat - and working harder to do more ourselves.

we visit the allergist tomorrow. will let you know.

a break

the rain has passed - and more isn't due until tuesday.

we decided to escape to the very close to home cabarello canyon - in the santa monica mountains.






we brought along our dear neighbor - who now into her 80s has been hiking these trails for over 40 years. perfect day.

rain rain rain

I am getting very good use of my boots.

and our garden is smiling.







Blue skies ahead - and I am excited to get out there and dig in the dirt.

downpour

we are on "storm watch". i love it. d not so much. for him it involves sandbags and swearwords. for me, it involves shelter for wet chickens, and rainboots on a budget.

i wanted these. but got these at our local hardware store. $17.99. (it only really rains here at most 6 days a year so i couldn't justify the price difference.)



made them look much better with these liners. easy peasy project. (i think i found this via hannah. though i can't find where now.) i used scrap i had around - fleece from a cape project for em, and some cute japanese corduroy.

it is weather. something i crave living down here. i think that is why i like it so much.

and we are in no serious danger. we don't live in an area that is at risk of mudslides. the only real concern is the water that pools around our house. i am grateful. for so much these days.

it is a crazy busy week. if i don't see you - enjoy & stay dry.

new start (12 on 12th)

january 12, 2010
already?! wow.

I love an opportunity to prioritize and dream.
The new year always offers me that.




for 2010:
1. make more (most) of our food from scratch. goodbye trader joe's and all your convenience and hello...
2. farmer's market. i'll visit on thursday mornings. i have been trying to attend sunday's - and we just don't make it. this will be part of my new routine.
3. what i can - i'll grow. i have a stack of seeds on our dining room table - and two bags of compost ready to add to our beds. winter is really the best time to garden in socal.
4. make lemons out of lemonade. inside of grumbling about it being 72 F in january, be thankful for the lettuce we can grow this time of year - and the beautiful lemons on our little lemon tree.
5. continue looking after myself. i so enjoyed my pilates sessions. but it doesn't meet with the new budget (see number 6.) so i'll find another way. quickly!
6. fine tune our budget. and stick to it.
7. paint the house. and install baseboards.
8. record our progress weekly. over here.
9. spend the summer (the whole summer) on the island. (and avoid those triple digit temps that get me down - helping again with number 4.)
10. read the books i have.
11. never let our cookie jar be empty. a cookie makes everyone smile.
12. smile more. i'm going to be 40 this year :)