NorthWest of 35

If you are now looking back on an age you once thought of as "old", you are not alone. I have to smile at the way I used to feel sad on a birthday, as though that milestone only highlighted my lack of accomplishments. I am now 36 years old and finally, finally, I feel confident enough to embrace my quirks and individuality rather than trying to blend into the background.

When I was a kid I remember hearing adults say they "wouldn't want to go back" to a certain age. I suppose I wouldn't either. There are sure alot of things I wouldn't do over again if I had the chance, but in that hypothetical scenario I might not end up where I am now. I couldn't take that chance.

I'm not sure what really got me past the awkwardness I've always felt: it could be age but I think for me it is having kids. I want my kids to grow up with confidence in themselves, therefore I must have confidence in myself. To show them how to be good men I must articulate myself clearly, be fair, assert myself, show forgiveness and a level head. Those are not the traits of the self-conscious twenty year old I once was. In that sense, I'm glad that I had my boys a little late. I had to grow up so that I could grow them up, so to speak.

This year, on my birthday, I think I will celebrate by thinking of a few accomplishments I'm so proud of: namely my relationship with my Husband and my two wonderful boys. I am enjoying being myself, pursuing what interests me, learning what I want to know, and building a lifestyle that will bring us continued happiness and security. I'm less concerned about what people think and more concerned about what my children will learn from me. My youthful fear of rejection has blossomed into an attitude of acceptance of others. I want others to be themselves so that I might safely be myself and there is no time like the present. To be healthy, to have a healthy family, to have a friend or two that will have your back no matter what hits the fan, that is a fortune to cherish. I suppose breakfast in bed wouldn't hurt anything either ;)

Busy Work

Having a garage sale in a cold garage, with two kids and no other adult around would be tricky if we weren't in a sleepy little town. My system is to leave the garage locked with a sign to "ring bell if door is locked". I can dress the kids to come out while people look around, and put the baby in the stroller if I need to. There's no point hanging around out there though: the snow is still too deep and crusty for playing, the baby wants to crawl, not sit, and there's not a lot of packing I can do. Instead, I'm working in the kitchen and going out to the garage if and when the bell rings.

I hope I'm not alone when it comes to having too many little bags of spices, crammed here and there and closed with clips, rubber bands or tape. My spice cupboard (or the lack thereof) is shamefully messy.

It's also shamefully icky at the bottom of the tin can where I throw store spices.

So while I need to stay close to the attached garage, I'm keeping busy cleaning up the spice cupboard, putting excess into little jars, and packing them away.

In our new house, I made sure that there is a cupboard large enough (hopefully) to accommodate my many spices. Let's hope I maintain my system of storing and organizing them so that the new shelf doesn't look like this in our new home!

How do you store your extra spices?

Garage Sale

Husband has gone home to Newfoundland for a funeral. While he is away I have been busy getting some things ready for a garage sale. What we are selling is good quality but we just don't use much anymore (or fit anymore, but that's another blog!)

I am not sure how it will work, having a garage sale by myself with 2 kids and it is still 0 Celsius all day in the garage. I set up a heater and if we are out there much the crawler will sit in the stroller and the helper can play around the garage and driveway. I think I'll put up signs and have people ring the bell if they want to have a look. No point keeping the kids out there until people arrive to shop!

 I hope that we sell the bigger items quickly so that we can make room to pack up and move out the things that we are keeping. Setting up for a sale is fine, but it takes up most of the garage! I've advertised the sale and individual items on kijiji to help promote our things.

Do you enjoy garage saling, or have you ever had a garage sale?

Packing Up

I've moved many times...I'm one of those people that does a major, later regretted, purge when packing belongings. I wouldn't say I regret most of what has been purged but there are a few notable keepsakes that have been given and sold that I sure wish I had back. I get impatient and illogically start to believe that one more box is just too much.

This time, we are moving from 1400 square feet into 1800 square feet, plus 900 feet of basement. So it is not a matter of downsizing, rather, just gauging what we never use. There is nothing worse than packing a bunch of stuff and later needing something, having to search through boxes, unpack, repack...so I'm not going overboard packing just yet. A few things that I won't be needing are my canning supplies and that last bit of Christmas stuff that is scattered in the garage and cellar. I intend to get that tidied away in the next few days.

We are setting up for a garage sale. There will be an ongoing community garage sale in the month of April so I hope to capitalize on the extra traffic through town. I plan to leave things set up right until we move out--whatever hasn't sold can come with us.

I've also started making lists everyday. I usually have a list of some kind going (ok, ok, it's a notebook. I still have the list of things I was doing the day baby 2 was born. Never got that list finished, but too sentimental to throw it out). But as for my daily lists right now, I've got the non-essential but somehow necessary toiletries packed. Batteries, chargers, light bulbs etc sorted and ready to go (but left in the closets so that when I inevitably need them I can still find them). My helper-dude and I have cleaned the cleaning closet, one freezer, crochet supplies, along with sorting in the garage. Striking things off my lists makes me feel like we are making progress towards our move. Do you write lists? Have you got a system for remembering everything you need to do? 

Walk Before I Run

Like many gardeners out there, I have received some seed catalogues in the mail. Flipping through the pages and admiring the bright colours has my head spinning. Just a picture of a juicy red tomato makes my mouth water!

As I've read here and here, it is wise to live somewhere and observe for a year before going too overboard landscaping. So while I enjoy imagining what some of the beautiful perrenials would look like in our yard, I have to proceed slowly this year and get the structure right.

I've been reading Toby Heminway's Gaia's Garden, along with various other gardening books:

• The Year Round Vegetable Gardener by Niki Jabbour
• New City Gardener by Judith Adam with Tim Saunders
• Landscaping With Stone by Tom Wilhite and Editors of Sunset
• The Back to Basics Handbook by Abigail R. Gehring, editor

I've got some great plans that need installed long before I get to the pretty part: flowers and vegetables. I am itching to get my yard started, but there is alot of planning, measuring and building to be done before I spend much money plants. I think this year we will concentrate on trees, building raised beds and doing our stone walkways and borders. I want to get some perrenials in place, and allow them to get a good start and next year will be a year of filling spaces and picking out the pretty parts.

While we are staying at my parents' I plan to ready some containers that can be moved over when the house arrives. Nothing like a little instant garden! If all goes well I will have alot done when the house gets there, so that it looks less like a sore thumb. A friend has also offered to throw a "perrenial" house warming where all guests bring a plant they have divided in their own yard. What a great way to build some memories!

Friday Favorite: Thingamagig

Well, I don't know what it's called and I've had it so long I can't believe it has made it with me through 5 or 6 moves. I've lost slippers, frying pans and blankets in moves, but this little kitchen gadget has managed to follow me across Saskatchewan and Alberta and back again.



note the metal poker in the foreground...that's the thingamagig

  It's just a metal thing to poke a cake or loaf in the middle to see if it is done. Yes, you can do this with a toothpick (always too short!) or spaghetti (totally a pain to spill a box of spaghetti trying to get just one piece). I don't know how many times I've broken off spaghetti in the banana bread, then had to demolish the middle of the loaf searching for bits of pasta so Husband doesn't hit something crunchy in his snack at work.

It was a sympathy purchase at a Pampered Chef party, probably 12 years ago. In those days I was very uncomfortable attending those parties without purchasing a little something to support the hostess. So I usually bought the cheapest thing available and ended up with some little gadget I would never use. This time, though, I hit a winner. Have you got any inexpensive but handy kitchen tools?

Good Bones

Our Wish House is going to be wonderful. There are many bonuses in it that I will enjoy so much (big wall pantry, study with bay window, covered porch out back). These features will give us the room we need as well as suiting our lifestyle. The big pantry will be such a treat after storing groceries in the boot closet, on the basement stairs, and in a corner cupboard that I almost have to lay down to see the back of. We added the back porch so that we can cook, eat, and entertain overlooking our yard with the benefit of some shade. It is built so that, when the time comes, we can close it in without major renovation. It was important to us that we keep the price as low as possible now while still making smart choices for the future.

Like most people, we have rented before finally buying our first home together. Taking the place "as is" and planning what you will change when you have time and money is much different than trying to get it right the first time. We went to a little extra expense now in hopes of saving money over time: namely, triple pane windows and an upgraded house wrap that ups the R-value of the insulation. Although it cost more, we knew that doing the wrap later would require residing the house, which makes no sense. Rather than going for expensive cosmetic touches, we have invested in the energy efficiency of the home in order to save over time. With that in mind, we are also getting an ICF (insulated concrete form) basement. Please note: links are provided for information only and are not affiliated with or advertising for anyone! Our goal is to get it right now so that we don't have to spend money fixing later on.

The electrical walk through was my first good look at the house. Thank goodness two experienced tradespeople walked me through the process (Husband was away working) as there really is so much to think about. A well-placed switch will be appreciated daily, whereas one in the wrong spot will be a constant source of annoyance (especially considering I made the call where things should go!). I think that everything has been placed practically, conveniently, and that we have ensured we won't need to redo things later at further expense.




foyer, and stairs up to second floor

 I was thrilled to see our house the other day. When Husband gets home we intend to take the boys in for a look. It will be fun to see what progress has been made, and hopefully it will be a warmer day as it was 20 below Celsius when I was there. Here are a few more pictures:




kitchen and dining room

 The cabinets, counter tops, hardware and paint are all finalized! Now to be patient and wait for it to come together!


master bedroom

 Happy Easter weekend, all!