On the Right Path...

Another happy day here in Nova Scotia...

It is difficult for me to describe how different I feel knowing that I am where I know I should be. I have an inner contentment. Stress is non-existant. Not that my life isn't stressful - I mean, my husband and I are both unemployed and the bank account is very quickly dwindling away to nothing - but I feel good. 

I have been walking a lot lately - feeling the breeze, enjoying the sun and just being with my family. 

I have loads to do - but I have not felt stressed at all. 

For those who have been around me over the past three years you know how strange that is. I have been constantly frazzled - I feel like I have aged at least a decade. But, coming here has been a big sigh of relief. 

I am not oblivious to the challenges that lie ahead but I feel prepared to handle them. I feel like I am on the right path. 

I feel lighter, happier, more optimistic...basically, completely content. It has been awhile since I have felt so good.

The best part is I can feel a change in my family too. I don't know if it because I have changed or because our situation has changed but it is good. (my 8 year old is feeling very proud of his bicep and is loving showing it off - posting it for the world to see will give him great pleasure and I am trying to be a  supportive mom!)

The boys have been LOVING it here. 

They are really enjoying all of our explorations. 

And my girl...is growing up so fast. Life isn't always perfect for her - having three younger brothers is not always a 13 year old girls ideal - but I have less of her hiding away with her iPod and

more joining in on family explorations as I give her more independence - SO hard to do! But, I really am trying to allow her more freedoms and to step back a little more. As I do, I notice small changes. And while the early teen mood swings are still there...

I am seeing more smiles and hearing more laughter...

which makes us all happier. I am so grateful to be able to follow the path I know I need to be on and thankful for everybody who has supported me in my decisions. I am so happy to have these experiences and to be given the opportunity to learn and move forward. I am putting the finishing touches on my next step and am really excited for what is coming up in September!

Hopefully everything works out for all of us here. I do know that we are headed into another very busy year full of changes and new experiences and I can't wait...

Saturday Mornings...

I love Saturdays.

We try to spend our mornings doing something fun as a family and then having a relaxing afternoon.

Today we hit one of our favourite trails for a morning hike...

I love hiking with my family.

This time of year, everything is pretty dry and brown, but the views are always beautiful.

I love exploring the same trails in different seasons and seeing how things change.

I love talking with my kids about what is growing, blooming and surviving.

I love that I get to exercise and spend time with my family at the same time.

The kids particularly enjoy this hike; because, this is where the trail ends...

After hiking for close to two hours a swim in the lake is always a good idea...

With four kids ranging in age from five to twelve and a half it is always difficult to find activities that everybody likes to do. Especially since my oldest is my only daughter and her three younger brothers like to claim the rights of the majority as often as they can. I love that going for a hike is something we can all do together and that makes us all happy... from my youngest child to my oldest...

As I watch my kids having fun together, I find myself wishing that all of my days could be spent with my family...just enjoying each other's company.

Davison's Orchard

Friday morning after dropping off all the kids at school I decided to take my youngest up to the local orchard to play for a bit.

For some reason, I always feel guilty taking him to fun places without the other kids because I don't want them to miss out (and I also know that they will not be happy when they find out what they missed!) I don't know why I feel this way. We had so much fun hanging out together for some "just me and you time".

The weather wasn't great and it was early so we were the only customers there for awhile. Mr. Davison the owner came over to talk to us and when my boy was too shy to share his name, Mr. Davison decided to call him Fred and gave him a free cookie. When Mr. Davison asked if he could offer me a dollar to keep "Fred" - I (of course) declined, but "Fred" said okay... I think he really wanted to live at the orchard, be a farmer and eat cookies all day.

My baby will be five this month. He's growing up so fast. He starts school in September and we have very few days left with just the two of us. I am trying to enjoy our last days like this together.

I have been taking my babies up to the orchard since my oldest was an infant in a stroller. Davison's has   always been one of my favourite places to visit.

Each year it seems to get bigger, busier and a little more touristy. Now when I go it is usually early on a week-day morning when it still feels like a farm and not like an amusement park.

Even though it can get very busy, it is still a working orchard with three generations of the Davison family working together.

That is one of my favourite things about the farm. Generations working together on the family farm: keeping it active, keeping it relevant, working together and giving others the opportunity to get out and see where food is grown. I love that. I want that.

While I am waiting to realize my dream of having my own family farm (that may or may not ever become reality) I am grateful that I have a place to go where I can take my kids and teach them about where our food comes from and where we can spend time with some animals and play outside. 

My baby's approaching birthday has really made me think about how fleeting my time with my kids is and how quickly they are growing. I know I need to take more time to enjoy their smiles and laughter because before I know it they will be grown. But...I don't really want to think about that just yet.

Why I Need to Take my Camera Everywhere

This morning I learned a very important lesson...

MY PHOTO

BEAUTIFUL MAMA DEER

AND HER NEWBORN BABY

Do not go anywhere without my camera. The soon to be 5 year old and I took the back roads home after dropping the kids off at school. Half way home, I had to pull over to the side of the road to watch a mama deer licking what looked to be a very new baby deer. It was the smallest deer I have ever seen...it took a few steps on wobbly legs closer to his mama to have a drink. SO CUTE! And me without my camera... it was a great moment for me and my baby boy who isn't so much of a baby anymore.

Yesterday afternoon our family enjoyed visiting a few local farms for open farm day...

we visited a local asparagus farm where we enjoyed a tasting of grilled asparagus and cream of asparagus soup (the kids all loved it and I think it will be on tonight's dinner menu).

The kids also enjoyed learning how to pick asparagus and eating their pickings raw.

My favourite moment may have been when the farmer pointed out the field of barley and I was able to listen to my 7 and 9 year olds "discuss" how much they loved barley and trying to figure out how many bowls of beef barley soup mom could make with this field. I loved watching their eyes light up at the thought. And I felt a little surge of pride (and a hint of sadness) as the farmer remarked how impressed she was that they would make those kinds of connections as most kids can't anymore...wouldn't it be great if all kids could do that!

At the pasture-raised chicken farm we were able to go for a ride on a horse drawn cart...

and watch chickens scratching around outside just like they did in the "good old days".

We saw how chickens can live and thrive outside with moveable houses and electric fence.

After a long afternoon visiting farms we headed home to play outside and cook up some leftovers...

I purposefully bought and boiled a few extra lobsters because the best kind of leftovers always involves lobster...

I put a pot of water on to boil...tossed in a box of linguine...deshelled and chopped up the extra lobsters and a handful of flat leaf parsley...

I melted some butter in a saucepan and tossed in the lobster and parsley ( I would have added a squeeze of fresh lemon but I was all out of fresh lemons)...

After a couple of minutes when the pasta was done I tossed it with the lobster mix...

pulled the leftover tossed salad out of the fridge and created the fastest, easiest, loved by all, Sunday supper...

have I mentioned yet how much I love week-ends?

First Novels

I am taking an advanced writing course this semester.

Yesterday, I finally sent in the first chapter of my first novel. I have written some short stories, memoir pieces and other small works but this is my first attempt at something big...

I am a little nervous waiting to hear back from my professor.

What I have enjoyed most is sharing my writing experiences with my daughter. When I started writing I was having some difficulties with the creative part. I find that writing creative non-fiction comes pretty easily to me, but fiction is much more difficult. To help me with my creativity I asked my daughter to help me by playing a character sketch game. In our game, we take the first person we see and tell who they are. Name, birthdate, where they live, hobbies, job, family, where they are going...whatever comes to mind. I find it much easier to be creative when I have something concrete to start with. We have come up with some pretty fun stories and we have had a few good laughs on the drive to school.

A few weeks ago I went to a used book sale and picked up an old book for my daughter...

Inside the front cover is an inscription that reads...Love to Gail, From Mum and Dad. For fun the other night I asked my daughter "Who is Gail?". In the past two days, she has written three chapters of "Gail's story". She has three pages of short character sketches for all of Gail's friends and family. She has been researching on the internet to discover what life was like in the 40s and 50s. She knows almost everything about Gail and is writing her story in the first person. Her story is really good. She is only twelve. She has inspired me to write more.

Our conversations have really helped me get to know my characters and I have learned that knowing your characters makes writing fiction just as easy as non-fiction. I'm not sure if my novel will be any good when it is finished, or what grade I will get or if I will ever get published; but, the time I have been spending with my daughter is something that I am so grateful for and will never forget.

Farm days...

I am behind again...but I wanted to share the fun we had on earth day at Pilgrim's Produce Organic Farm.

Our kids favourite booth was Cottontail & Co. selling rabbits "Dead or Alive - Preferably alive!" There was quite a line-up here of kids wanting to hold a bunny...

Even my hubby was tempted to bring one home...maybe next year. Although I am very tempted to purchase a few in the not alive category...very tempted...

The kids also loved the baby chicks from Rosebank Farms - pasture raised poultry.

I was really excited to find a local source for pasture raised chicken! I think I may need to buy another freezer...

The kids loved the animals but couldn't find a way to convince us to bring any home... not that it would take much to convince us...we just need to find a place of our own where we can bring them home to!

I loved seeing the greens...I am SO ready for our local produce season to start!

I was really happy to see the first blossoms of the season...

We loved wandering around the farm...

and enjoying the entertainment offered. We left smiling and a little sad to leave - longing for a farm of our own.

We were cheered up again this week-end with the opening of the local farmer's market and the start of the local asparagus season.

We filled two large bags with delicious local produce which should tide us over until next Saturday.

I need to find more opportunities to visit farms as we are all getting restless and needing a farm fix a little more frequently than usual. But, for this week...daily roasted asparagus is keeping a smile on my face!