20.2.10

A valentine note

A handmade post-card for the Hub.
Homemade meatballs for me from the Hub.

Four strands of colourful hearts (reclaimed from an old gift bag) hung from our bedroom door.

Everyday is the 14th.

No. 21

Make a point of relaxing with the Hub; number 21 on my 2010 list of goals. I found inspiration in a post by a New Zealand quilt maker to truly enjoy my Saturday morning:

Purchase one magazine - a favourite with decent stories as well as pictures. Walk with a dog/friend (friend only invited if they have their own magazine) to a delightful place such as the one above. Sit in the chair so invitingly available with a large drink and read the whole magazine (read, not flick), from cover to cover, including the recipes. That should take about 2.5 hours. Walk home and get on with the chaos of the weekend.

So, accompanied by my best friend, the Hub, I bought a magazine - Vanity Fair's March issue for me, a windsurfing pub for him - and plopped myself down into an overstuffed leather chair beside the fireplace in a downtown coffee shop. Two hours slipped by. We walked home in brilliant winter sunshine.
(Inspiration found via pia jane bijkerk)

five-month mark


I will never forget this view.

Thinking about spring


This winter sun can't help but make me think of spring.
(Pothole garden via Cup of Jo; Robin's Egg via Etsy)

16.2.10

Small indulgence: Soap



Soap has always been one of my sweet and small indulgences. Ellie over @ Mint reminded me of that today.
(Pictures via Mint)

14.2.10

Tent dinning


Snowboarding at Mt. Holly postponed by one day. I finished Zeitoun, executed a massive grocery shop, chatted with a good friend, watched men's biathlon, and now the Hub is assembling homemade meatballs for dinner.

I am daydreaming that we'll eat them inside a lovely tent like the one made the creative couple from Something's Hiding In There.

13.2.10

Every day is the fourteenth


A V-Day weekend filled with cozy love, warm food, wool socks and a mini-snowboard trip. I heart my friends and family, and of course, the Hub. Not just the fourteenth but everyday.
(Can't remember where I found this hanger of love)

Skate


I've been wanting to skate outdoors all winter but pond rinks have eluded me in Sarnia up until now. A small rectangle cleared on the pond at Canatera Park. 20 minutes in my old white lace-ups, just before the Olympic Opening Ceremonies in Vancouver started.



11.2.10

Canadian Olympic Spirit


The Olympics start tomorrow in Vancouver. Whoot! Whoot! The Hub and I are deciding which sports we'll watch, and I'm thinking of my two friends working out there for the Games.
(Canada buttons via Etsy)

Travel daydreaming: Kangaroo Valley, NSW


Why wasn't Kangaroo Valley on our radar when we were in Australia three years ago? It's only two hours north of Canberra where we visited with one of my old friends. Maybe it will make the Brushcut 40 Adventure List.
(Found at Frolic)


Thinking about planting


February and March are perfect for planning a spring plant; seed catalogues usually get mailed around this time of year. There was so much rain last summer that our balcony green dreams never really sprouted but maybe this year will be different.
(Ceramic herb stakes via Design Sponge)

10.2.10

Momentum

[imagine a great picture here]

I plowed through January despite a run-in with a nasty cold, I turned one year older (and set a laundry list of goals) and I surprised myself with almost daily updates to this electronic space. But February arrived last week and I find myself flopping around. I need to refocus the momentum and celebrate the beauty and the valley. Maybe I'll find some mojo on the hills of Mount Holly this weekend.

5.2.10

It's Friday...First Friday


How is it the first Friday of February already? I'm zonked, and I think it's because I'm still under the weather although my nose is no longer running like a leaky faucet. The Hub and I will step out for a few First Friday events tonight - just to really 'shake it up' Sarnia-styles.

Have a great weekend.
(Mad Men Illustration posted here via Dyna Moe)

3.2.10

A bowl of fibre goodness


Snow started falling at about one yesterday afternoon and didn't stop all night. The streets, roofs, driveways, our balcony, are covered in the wonderful white stuff. To start my morning off, I cooked up a bowl of my winter morning staple: Red River Hot Cereal. It's all flaxy goodness, and I usually add a couple spoonfuls of plain yogurt, a handful of nuts (like walnuts or cashews or pumpkin), a drizzle of good maple syrup and a sprinkle of coconut and cinnamon to the bowl.

My friend Jo, from the George Street Naturopathic Medicine in Waterloo, has a winter morning ritual of porridge. Below is her recipe.

Mix together in a large bowl:

• 4 cups oatmeal
• 2 cups oatbran
• 1 cup ground flaxseed
• 1 cup ground almonds
• 1 cup ground sunflower seeds

Soak 1/3 of a cup overnight in the fridge in milk (rice, almond, soy, goat or cow). No cooking is necessary – just heat before you eat. You can add dried or frozen fruit before soaking. In the morning, heat it up in a pot and add some maple syrup or honey to taste. Store the remaining dry porridge in a container in the fridge and use within 4 weeks.

2.2.10

A bowl of cold-fighting goodness

Good soup draws the chair to it. {Ghanaian proverb}
Feeling much better today, and am hoping that the pot of 'Green soup with sweet potatoes' I am cooking up, will help boost my immune system. Bunches of kale, cloves of garlic, lemon juice, chunks of sweet potato, homemade veggie stock, browned onions and sage. Recipe, by Anna Thomas in her book Love Soup, available here.

1.2.10

Bounce...it's Monday


...but I'm sick {Sigh}. The Hub has taken fantastic care of me, and my birthday weekend was wonderful...but I'm still sick.

A friend in his birthday wish to me suggested I do something 'wild' to celebrate. How about digging a massive hole in the backyard (if I had one) and sinking this trampoline into it? OK, not Vegas-wild, or Paris-wild, but childlike and fun nonetheless.
(Image via black*eiffel)