Corner of the garden

"I don't want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to scout camp. I want to be there with grass stains on my shoes from mowing Sister Schenk's lawn. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor's children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone's garden. I want to be there with children's sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived."

- Marjorie Pay Hinckley

Homemade playdough

I thought I'd share the playdough recipe I like to use.

Ingredients:
1 cup cold water
1 cup plain flour
2 teaspoons cream of tartar
half a cup salt
1 tablespoon vegetable oil
food colouring

Method:
Place all ingredients in a pot and mix together. Stir constantly over a medium heat to prevent sticking until dough comes away from the sides of the pot. Turn onto a board and allow to cool before kneading. Store in an airtight container.

Bush trimming

The house opposite ours is empty and has been for a couple of years. The whole of last year it bugged me that the huge hydrangea bushes in front were covered with dead flowerheads:





Last summer the bushes bravely tried to bloom but the dead flowerheads prevented a really good show. Eventually I got sick of looking at it and happened to catch one of the owners (who are investors in dispute with regards to turning the house into apartments) and asked him if I could deadhead the bushes. He gave the go-ahead so a few days ago I set to with my secateurs.

Here you can see the bush on the right has been dead-headed but not the one on the left:



And after: what a difference! At least I don't have to look at dead flowers every day and should get a nice show this summer. I plan to take some hydrangea blooms as cut flowers - I've earned it!

Sunlit moss

"Happiness is a place between too little and too much." - Real Simple

Blueberry blossoms

"In all of living have much fun and laughter. Life is to be enjoyed, not just endured."

- Gordon B. Hinckley

Mr Handsome can now see!

Unfortunately short-sightedness runs quite strongly on my side of the family. I got off lightly, only needing glasses in my early twenties. My eyesight deteriorated to -1.25 on each side, then has strengthened again to just -0.5. I don't wear glasses except when driving at night, especially if it's raining.

I asked Daniel recently if he could see the whiteboard at school well enough and he said that it wasn't always very clear. We were walking home from school at the time and as cars approached us on the road next to us I asked him to tell me when he could clearly read the licence plates. It was a slightly later than I could, so I booked him an appointment with an optician.

His eye test revealed that he is indeed slightly short-sighted and he now has glasses for distance - luckily his sight isn't too bad and he doesn't need to wear them constantly. But look how handsome he is in his new specs!

Beautiful music

I wanted to share one of my favourite pieces of music ever. It's by Shaun Paul, who is a composer, teacher and accomplished cellist. Do yourself a big favour and click here, then select track 3, "A Path to Somewhere" and enjoy. It's soothing my soul today. Oh, and that is only the one-minute preview so I guess you'll just have to purchase the CD or download ;o)

How to make a baby

Click here for an adorable video on how to make a baby! (Oh, if only it were that easy.)

Hands and feet after swimming

His wrinkles had wrinkles!

Going green

I found a couple of lists of ways to go green, consolidated them and made bold the things that we are doing, just to see our progress. I plan to keep checking back on the list and adding more green ways into our lives.

1. Plant an herb garden. It’s good to have a reminder around of where our food originates.
2. Switch all your light bulbs to CFLs (or at least switch a few).
3. Create a homemade compost bin. [I've bolded this one because our council collects our compost materials - we don't have the space for our own compost bin. But we are composting so I think it counts]
4. Switch one appliance to an energy efficient model (look for the "energy start" label).
5. Stop using disposable bags - order some reusable bags, or make your own.
6. Buy a reusable water bottle, and stop buying plastic disposable bottles.
7. Wash laundry in cold water instead of hot.
8. Turn off lights when you leave the room.
9. Don’t turn on lights at all for as long as you can - open your curtains and enjoy natural light.
10. Drive the speed limit, and combine all your errands for the week in one trip.
11. Better yet, walk or ride a bike to your errands that are two miles or closer.
12. Support your local economy and shop at your farmer's market.
13. Turn off your computer completely at night.
14. Research whether you can sign up for green power from your utility company.
15. Pay as many bills as possible online.
16. Put a stop to unsolicited mail - sign up to opt out of pre-screened credit card offers.
17. Reuse scrap paper. Print on two sides, or let your kids color on the back side of used paper.
18. Conduct a quick energy audit of your home.
19. Subscribe to good eco blogs.
20. Before buying anything new, first check your local Craigslist or Freecycle. [we also check eBay and our local car boot sales]
21. Support local restaurants that use food derived less than 100 miles away, and learn more about the benefits of eating locally. [we don't really eat out often]
22. Fix leaky faucets.
23. Make your own household cleaners.
24. Line dry your laundry.
25. Watch The Story of Stuff with your kids, and talk about the impact your household trash has on our landfills.
26. Learn with your kids about another country or culture, expanding your knowledge to other sides of the world.
28. Lower the temperature on your hot water heater.
29. Unplug unused chargers and appliances.
30. Repurpose something.
31. Collect rainwater, and use it to water your houseplants and garden.
32. Switch to cloth diapers - or at least do a combination with disposables. [we are done with diapers, woohoo! Although, Noah is still in Pull-Ups at night and I plan to get him out of them soon]
33. Switch to shade-grown coffee with the “Fair Trade" label. [we don't drink coffee]
34. Use a Diva Cup your monthly cycles.
35. Make rags out of old towels and t-shirts, and forego buying paper towels.
36. Use cloth napkins daily instead of paper.
37. Read Animal, Vegetable, Miracle, and open your eyes to the way conventional food is processed.
38. Repurpose glass jars as leftover containers and bulk storage.
39. Five-minute showers - make it a goal for yourself.
40. Donate to - and shop at - thrift stores such as Goodwill. You’ll be recycling perfectly usable items, and you’ll be supporting your local economy.
41. Bring your own reusable coffee travel cups to the coffee shop. [we don't drink coffee]
42. Reuse paper products (like toilet paper rolls) for arts and crafts.
43. Use Bio Bags for your pet’s you know what. [don't have a pet]
44. Use covers or upside down plates when storing food in the fridge instead of plastic wrap.
45. Reuse the plastic containers food comes in (like yogurt) to store your own leftovers.
46. Keep your heat as low as possible (you own blankets, right?)
47. Open a window before turning on the AC. [don't even have AC]
48. Don’t throw away anything before offering on FreeCycle.
49. Use half a dryer sheet. [I've bolded this because we don't even use a drier and we use soap nuts instead of fabric conditioner in the washing machine]
50. Use reusable containers instead of baggies in lunch boxes.
51. Buy bulk.
52. Garden!
53. See trash? Pick it up!
54. Volunteer!
55. Make cloth sandwich bags.
56. Eat more vegetarian meals. [I plan to]
57. Can your own fruits and veggies. [I plan to]
58. Carpool. [Grant walks to work, I don't work outside of the home. We give a local friend a lift to church]
59. Bring your own silverware to work.
60. Use a reusable lunch box.
61. Ditch plastic freezer bags and go with reusable containers. [I do still use plastic Ziploc bags sometimes though]
62. Turn off the water when brushing your teeth.
63. Buy concentrated laundry detergent. [even better, we use soap nuts]
64. Go with a tankless hot water heater.
65. Eat out less.
66. Use used coffee grounds as fertilizer [we don't drink coffee]
67. Place a brick in your toilet take to use less water [Grant installed flushing systems that use less water]
68. Never run your dishwasher if it’s not full.
69. Have cats? Try green kitty litter. [no pets]
70. Bring your own tupperware for leftovers at a restaurant.
71. Freeze leftovers. [or we eat them the next day]
72. Use yogurt and pudding cups for crafts or seedlings.
73. Air dry your dishes [if we catch it in time we switch the dishwasher off and leave the door open so the dishes can dry naturally]
74. Recharge your batteries
75. Dispose of unrechargeable batteries with other hazardous waste
76. Cover your pots when cooking [I've started doing this more, but can do better]
77. Use pressure cookers and steamers
78. Take a shower instead of a bath
79. Use a low flow showerhead
80. Buy smart - a 1.5 liter bottle requires less energy to produce than three 0.5 liter bottles
81. Buy recycled paper products
82. Plant a tree
83. Plant scrubs around your home to help keep your house cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter
84. Buy a programmable thermostat
85. Recycle
86. Stop food waste
87. Ditch the carpet for natural hardwood (sustainably harvested of course) or a natural carpet, like wool [I think our carpet is wool]
88. When painting choose low or no VOC paints and make sure the dyes used in the paint are VOC free
89. Unplug your appliances when not in use
90. Buy recyclable plastic only
91. Fill up your fridge and freezer - use bottles of water to fill up space if needed
92. Instead of drive through, park and go inside to save running the car while ordering
93. Insulate water pipes
94. Insulate your water heater
95. Insulate your roof space
96. Use cold water instead of hot to wash hands etc
97. Buy recycled glass

WOW, we are doing really well!! It's amazing to see how many green habits we have incorporated into our daily lives. I feel so proud of us! We only missed 24 of the 97 items above, and some of those were simply because they weren't applicable (e.g. we don't have pets and don't drink coffee). And we're adding new green habits all the time. I feel all virtuous now. I might throw my shoulder out patting myself on the back.

Swimming

We thoroughly enjoyed the indoor swimming pool at Whitbarrow Village. We swam every day, sometimes more than once, and to our delight Daniel learnt to swim without armbands! We are so proud of him.

On the last day of our holiday the pool was deserted and we were the only ones there. I snapped loads of pictures ... they are blurred, badly composed and have wonky colour balance but you know what? Sometimes you just need to relax and enjoy the moment.

Oh, and if you are wondering why Noah has hot pink armbands it's because when we went to buy some for him (a while ago) that was the only colour they had. We're not hung up on gender stereotyping so we bought them.

Spring lambs

There were woolly sheep and adorable little lambs everywhere surrounding the place where we stayed. We even had to pull over to let a shepherd and his sheep through when we were driving home one day.

Whitbarrow Village

The holiday village where we stayed in the Lake District.



Noah, standing in the doorway of our cottage.

The Lake District

The Lake District is about an hour and a half north of us and is absolutely stunning. It is famous for its lakes and its mountains (or fells) and has miles and miles of incredible dry-stone walling - I've taken a LOT of pictures and you can see the walls absolutely everywhere, winding up the mountainsides and separating fields. I loved the absolutely classic English springtime countryside and thought you might enjoy some shots of that too.