When I begin the weekend, especially in the Spring, I have quite the “To-Do” list. I’m not sure if my husband dreads this list as he knows that there will be only guilty relaxing- as we have things to do Sir!

On my To-Do list this weekend included a few things we got done and a few we didn’t.

I got the buttons sewn on my tiny vest so that it’s ready to ship off for baby. This thing is just about the cutest thing ever!

The top buttons totally don’t match. Somehow I’m hoping that it just doesn’t matter to my friends. These are the friends, after all, who put up their bare Christmas Tree, named it Franken-Pine, and sat on the couch 5 feet away and threw the ornaments at the tree, hoping they’d stick. The tree was incredibly lop-sided and the first time the top star was adjusted, the tree fell on the unsuspecting victim. These are some of my favourite friends!

Another item on the to-do list was seedlings.

This is our potential tomato seedlings. Yup, pots of dirt. Trust me, it will get more exciting. Planting seeds is such an act of faith. It seems like the most unlikely thing to happen. Putting a grain into the dirt, pouring some water over it, and hoping. Somehow, the seeds wants to grow, it knows how to grow, and it grows. I love this small miracle.

After all our hard work, we decided a reward was in order. A picnic. And not just anywhere. Somewhere really special.

Hope your weekend was as productive as mine!

It is my illustrious husband’s birthday today. He is turning 28 on the 27th. Which means that last year was his golden year. I guess I’ll have to remember to ask him how his golden year last year was. I think it was a pretty good year in the fact that he got to learn how to earn the title Mister Mountain Man Supreme.

This morning, though I had to toddle off to work by 9, I woke up super early (like farm early…) and prepared a feast for him. Pancakes (referred to as “man-cakes” around these parts) whipped cream sprinkled with cinnamon sugar and blackberries picked in the heat of August. My friend Dan told me of a fancy hotel he stayed in for his honeymoon where they actually brought a French Press of coffee to his table. He said it was oober classy. So I decided to add the classy back to our life. Yes, that’s right. We actually sat down at the table for a meal. (Usually we eat on our laps in the living room, fending off curious kittens.) and we brought the French Press of Pot of Gold coffee to the table and even ate with a knife and fork!

 It was a lot of meal before 8am!

 Another birthday to celebrate, though technically yesterday, was my friend Shawn’s first child’s first birthday ever. Brynna Isobelle was born yesterday in the evening. Just in time to fill out these newly-knitted booties which were posted today.

After grieving the passing of a friend, it is nice to celebrate some birth for a change. Congratulations Shawn and Emma! And Happy Birthday my love!

Do you have any special birthday memories that you care to share?

After spending a few days off (tiny) island with my “up-island” family, I have taken hibernation to a whole new level. And my thoughts are starting to turn to “What’s next.” Yes, you may all realize that I am not very good at living in the moment.

I am beginning to think about the garden. This is spurred by my frustration at my diet lately. Now, do not misunderstand, I love turkey and stuffing and the works. What I’m having a hard time with is not having a garden to eat out of. I was spoiled this summer and autumn. But we did not plan well (as it was our first garden) and now I am lamenting not having a winter garden full of root veggies, kale and hearty winter beans. I turn my nose up at the imported veggies that the grocery store offers, and then I duck my head and sneak them into my basket. I still need my greens! What a shame! My lack of planning has lined my food with a guilt at buying into our silly food industry that insists on shipping kiwis from New Zealand in the dead of our winter. Or Mexican avocados so we don’t miss out on our winter nachos.

This type of thinking, this eating seasonally is still pretty new to me. Perhaps by next year I’ll know when to plant kale and the root veggies so that I can truly benefit from our mild climate.

Good news though, my dear friend Theresa has long ago put her garden to sleep, but yesterday she bravely tromped out there and uprooted a Christmas Carrot! Could there be anything more delightful than pulling up a bright orange vegetable  from the ground while we peel our imported chinese mandarins.

I might venture out to my stark little garden and see if there are any forgotten veggies.

And then I will scurry back to my warm nook to finish yet another cup of tea and dig into my new book, “Natural Beekeeping.” (Thank you Marc!)

Happy Christmas to you!

There is a flock of sheep on this farm we are caretaking. Somedays we count 4, somedays 6, somedays 11 and yesterday 16. They are geriatric. They have arthritis in their back legs so that they hobble when they run. From far away they look at cotton poofs, like little field clouds with legs. Cumulonimbus Sheep. I have not named them because last year we found a couple of chewed skeletons in the forest. Plus I cannot tell them apart so they would have to go by a communal name.

They go only by “Sheep.” Sheep have always run away from us but because the apples are ripe now, they come closer, looking for crunchy cores, afterthoughts of our nibbling. They are quite funny looking up close. They have rectangle heads, knobbly legs and protruding little lips that explore the apples we toss them. We endear Sheep to ourselves. It helps to look them in the eye so that when we hear them bleeting from our cozy bedroom, we say “Poor sheep” and we can step in their poo without malice.

We have a beautiful flock of deer as well. They are usually regarded as pests on Pender because they have no predators. We had the privilege of watching two sets of fawns learn to jump, lose their spots and still gaze at us wondering, with their ears alert, fluffy and white. We have a beautiful stag with a set of horns, a white muzzle and a white tail which we see more often than anything else. That is, his retreating rear end as he leaves the scene. We just want a good picture Mr Stag. We call the deer with him, his harrem. He is a lucky stag because he has many a looker with him, with big doe eyes, dreamy Mr Stag. Way to go!

Last time we went sailing, last weekend, we saw the retreating backs of black porpoises. It was so exciting. We were sitting in irons (a lull) waiting for us to drift into the wind again and I heard this “Pfhoof” and looked and pointed and jumped a little with a small squeal. (It was only small.) “Porpoises!” They are magnificent creatures.

When we pulled into the dock we met another little family.

Four river otters have taken to nesting in a neighbour’s boat. They are definitely pests, bringing shells into the boat, eating, sleeping and defacating in the boat. But man, are they ever cute when they tussle.

The only other rowdies that need mentioning now are the wiliest rowdies around.

(I think Ramona is posing for this photo)

I love having my own kitty. Better than all the sheep, deer, porpoises and otters.

Oh, and it must be mentioned, Ramona, thought to be a “he” is definitely a “she.” The vet said so!

I watched “Pray the Devil Back to Hell” last night, as a prescreening because I managed to get the movie to the film group on Pender Island. It will be showing September 19th.

This is a very inspiration movie about Liberian women who were tired of the war, they stood up for their rights and the rights of their children, and through a non-violent protest, ended the civil war in Liberia and got a woman voted in a democratic government.

It’s funny because back in June I remember having a discussing with Theresa and Ivan about how a woman is the emotional barometer in a family. A woman has a great influence on the emotional health or “un-health” of her family. Her moods directly affect the rest of the family to a greater extent, I would argue, than the rest of her family members. She has the ability to generate emotional awareness, emotional health, and peace within her family circle. I realize that to generalize is dangerous as the mother is not always the emotional instigator. But excuse my generalization. I think it’s an important responsibility that women must be made aware of.

This movie takes this concept to a whole new level for me. It said as women we have a responsibility not only to our families, but to our communities, to our regions, to our countries. The movie had footage of the rebel soldiers giving their guns to the women protesting for peace. They said “These women are our mothers. We trust their words and respect their pleas for peace.”

Women, we are society’s mothers, daughters, aunts, sisters. What is our responsibility?