Summer With a Cherry on Top....Mom's Cherry Squares

A life without love is like a year without summer. ~Swedish Proverb

Spring literally flew by for me with hardly a moment to think, let alone time to reflect and write a blog post. I missed you all though.

I started working at my gardening gig on Earth's day, April 22nd. An appropriate day to start working with plants and helping our customers plan their garden don't you think? 

Here's a shot of the north end of our garden centre

Inside our greenhouse

My favourite place....the veggie section

I was blessed to have some GREAT co-workers who made coming to work FUN!

Another amazing co-worker...making life in the veggie section even better

When you would pay your boss to work, you know you have found the right job....more beautiful co-workers

The garden is the perfect place to transform......here's a butterfly on our marigolds

 

And marvel over endless beauty

So yeah Spring flew by immersed in Kale and Flowers....check out my glasses...more about that later

 When I wasn't working at the garden centre, I was trying hard to be a good mom but gosh is it ever a balancing act. I think the kids kind of like me though, as they gave me some thoughtful Mother's Day gifts in May; handprints, flowers, poems, a gift certificates good for chores like lawn mowing and more. Did I mention that I have great kids?

 The rest of May flew by in a blur, with a 4th birthday party for our twin daughters at the end of the month. The theme was "Bugs and Butterflies" which was a big hit with Kathryn and Victoria.

This butterfly cake was super easy to make...just ask me about it.

Victoria is trying to hit the ladybug pinata I made for the party...now that would have been a blog post unto itself!

After the girl's 4th birthday on May 20th, it was a quick slide into June with a mad dash to plant my own veggie garden. It was quite a challenge keeping it weed free though....I did eventually spend an afternoon and weeded it and promptly put freshly mowed grass clippings around the plants to keep them moist but also weed free. Stay tuned for a more updated picture of the garden in posts to come.

I REALLY like the location of all the plants this year....I did LOTS of research into companion planting this year...note e basil next to the carrots and tomatoes....the onions and marigolds are all around the outside of the garden which hopefully will create a barrier for insects

I was blessed to have my oldest sister visit. I love it as she knows exactly how to help....she always heads straight to my laundry room when she arrives...AND since she is a master at organizing and decluttering, she always brings me hand-me downs.

Ta Da....new hoodie and shoes!!!....don't you just love hand me downs?

My generous sister B with Victoria and Kathryn

  June arrived and flew by in a flurry of piano and voice concerts, a piano exam, soccer games, final school exams, year end parties and beach days and our traditional music school Country Fair. It ended with Will's 6th birthday party at the Science Centre. I can't believe our little guy is 6 years old!

Will's rocket ship birthday cake that I made for him for his Science Centre party

Who knows what his future will be? When asked recently what he wanted to do when he grows up he said, "An engineer and a chef." ....maybe he will be both


Will's actual birthday, June 25th fell on the kid's last day of school. We celebrated the beginning of summer with a slurpee. Yes, our family is healthy, we drink green drinks, eat lots of veggies and stay active, but we all enjoy a slurpee now and then too.

Welcome Summer!

Summer arrived and we headed to Okanagan lake for a week of camping. What a week! We experienced thunder showers, epic high temperatures (39 celsuis...and yes there are people in the world who think Canada is COLD!), in which Katie was sick with heat stroke, most of us came down with swimmer's itch and finally there was a camp fire ban since the temperatures were extreme and our Province is so dry. Boo! as our one of our favourite things each day is to have a crackling fire in the evening in which we can toast our s'mores! So Yummy!

Here are a few pics of the highlights...

Oh Bliss....the water was the perfect temp

 

Will took part in a "learn to fish" program put on at our campground

Happy Campers

Mitchell came out for the first weekend and brought his guitar....he's so talented

Hiking up the beach trail and taking a moment to snap a picture

Harrison went into town each day for a basketball camp so was only with for short amounts of time....but enough time to enjoy the experience of being in the great outdoors and appreciate a real bed.

Grace balancing on the paddle board. She took lessons and is a natural1

  

David and I behind our campsite....see the lake in the background. Gorgeous!

Now you know why I didn't have much time to blog this spring and early summer.  Life has been full of work, milestones memories and wonderful experiences. 

Another highlight, was when the little kids and I picked our first big harvest of cherries from our two trees in our backyard. The trees (a Lapin and a Lambert) were loaded and we even had enough to share with others this year. That is always a nice feeling when you grow food.

I have so many memories when I pick cherries. My first is when I was a teenager living in the Creston Valley, known for its productive fruit trees. I made a nice sum of money picking cherries one summer and got a really good tan...back in the days when a tan was something to be coveted.

Another memory was when I was 25 and my step father had just passed away in April, leaving my mom with a large house and property to maintain. My sisters and brother in laws got together one weekend in June and picked cherries from her mini orchard. I thought I would never look at another cherry again but it was really nice to be able to hand mom a bit of money from the cherry sales at the local farmer's market.

I hope my kids have a few nice cherry picking memories. For many years we picked the cherries hanging over the fence from our neighbour's tree (they gave us permission and they never picked any cherries) We would get enough cherries from our side of the fence to be able to freeze a nice lot of cherries and we always made my mom's cherry square dessert each year. Now that we have our own trees, I hope our little ones create their own memories. 

I am trusting that summer will continue to unfold with grace and ease. Picking cherries and taking the time to make my mom's Cherry Square recipe was a nice start. If you are looking for a lovely, easy cherry dessert this is it. Add a dollop of ice cream or whipping cream and you have something really special to serve your family. Here's one of our family's summer dessert recipes....


My Mom, Ethel's Cherry Square Dessert

Filling Ingredients

5 cups of fresh pitted cherries (this is the only time consuming part of this recipe)
1 cup water
1/2 cup sugar


Put the above ingredients into a medium saucepan. Bring to a boil and then simmer for about 20 to 30 minutes. Mash a bit and then add

a mixture of 1/4 cup cornstarch with a bit of water...enough until you have made a paste.
Add the cornstarch paste to the cherry mixture. Stir it in well.

Simmer a bit more until mixture is clear

Let cool

In a large bowl add:

1-3/4 cup rolled oats
1-1/2 cups all purpose flour...I use 3/4 cup of whole wheat and 3/4 of white flour
1/4 tsp baking soda
1 cup of brown sugar or sweetening ingredient of your choice
 Optional: 1 tsp cinnamon

 Cut  into this mixture,
3/4 cup of cold butter or margarine

Lightly grease an 8x8 baking dish....I used a 9x13 but the squares were not as deep

Press 1/2 of the rolled oat/ flour/butter mixture into the baking dish

Spread cooled cherry filling over the first layer

Press the remainder of the oat/flour/butter mixture on top of the cherry filling

Place in pre-heated oven 375 degrees for 35 minutes

Serve warm with a dollop of whip cream or a scoop of vanilla ice cream or frozen yogurt.

Absolutely great cold too! This dessert doesn't last long around here.

A piece of my mom's cherry square dessert on her "Forget Me Not" china.....love you mom!

I hope this blog post brings you up to date on life around Lakelin Reach (our urban homestead) and your summer also unfolds beautifully. 

Recently my sisters and I visited a lavender farm...more about that in future posts and this was a quote that was in the garden....if I were a tree, I think I would be a cherry tree. 

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Hope is a Feather~Lentil balls and Buttermilk dressing

 

“Hope” is the thing with feathers -

                                ~By Emily Dickinson~

Hope” is the thing with feathers -

That perches in the soul -

And sings the tune without the words -

And never stops - at all -

And sweetest - in the Gale - is heard -

And sore must be the storm -

That could abash the little Bird

That kept so many warm -

I’ve heard it in the chillest land -

And on the strangest Sea -

Yet - never - in Extremity,

It asked a crumb - of me.

   I know it may seem that I have dropped off the face of the earth by my lack of blogging of late but that WOULD NOT  be the case. I am very much alive and well, living fully, experiencing life to the max with no time to even stop to connect with my friends and family.

   At times on my path, life is so intense that I don't even have time to stop and recognize the signs along the way. The signs that guide me on my path and give me the courage to keep going. I have written before about finding feathers and how I believe they are my sign posts that I am on the right path. Lately, I have been seeing them everywhere. They are on the wood floor when I wake in the morning and are in front of me as I move through the day. They keep me going and keeping hope alive in my heart.

    Since I last wrote so much has transpired. We hosted our garage sale which was really successful. We even sold our 6 foot fake pre-lit Christmas tree, which my boys bet wouldn't sell in April...but it did. What we didn't sell, we donated to a few charity groups the following week and now there are only a few loose ends to tie up after our mass spring de-cluttering project. Here are a few pictures from our garage sale.

Grace selling popcorn, cookies and lemonade

Harrison giving me thumbs up on our Earth day garage sale

Just a sampling of things we no longer need....sad to see our little Tykes car go but the little boy that got it was thrilled

David strung up a clothes line onto Harrison's basketball pole/net

Here is monkey and my baby bear in a suitcase I have had since I was small. This is a good sample of something I have been carrying with me through life but it wasn't serving me any longer. A man came along and said the bear was exactly like his baby bear he had had as a child and was so happy to take suitcase and all. Seeing his smile as he picked these old lovies up made me happy.

All in all our Earth Day garage sale was a big hit. Right after the garage sale, David went to pick up our son Mitchell from the University of Victoria, where he has been going to school this year. It was a long weekend for David to help me with the garage sale on Saturday morning and then to drive out and back to the coast over the weekend. It was so good to hug my son and welcome him home after his first year away at University.  Seven of our Eight chicks are back in the nest for summer.

I started working at the Garden Center on Earth day and I have been juggling work, home and family since then. It's tough. I'm trying to make healthy meals for our family while keeping all the balls in the air. We are trying to make so many big changes in our life right now and it stretches me to my limits but the feathers keep me going. They remind me that it's all worth it. We all needs these kind of signs on our path. What are you finding to keep you going?

Before I close this post though, I thought I would include another recipe that we have added to our repertoire of fav, quick vegetarian meals. Since I kind of feel like a juggler with all the activities as balls in the air, how appropriate to share a lentil ball recipe. I threw it together so fast that I didn't even have time to take any photos, although I took a quick photo as I pulled the lentil balls out of the oven.

And another one before I ate leftovers the following day.

 The photo above, is a picture of the left over lentil balls on my pasta for lunch the next day. I also served it with a great salad which I also didn't take a picture of. Everything gets consumed too fast here and well, taking pictures for my blog is not at the top of my list....feeding my family is the priority.

I wanted to give you the dressing recipe I used for our salad though as it was delicious. My mother in law Doreen, used to make the most amazing ranch dressing and I always used to ask her how she made it. She never gave me the exact measurements, probably because she had made it for her family for so long and didn't need to measure it any longer. Anyway, I always was trying to make it and I think I finally have it down. (does this sound right Doreen?)

 So here is my recipe for lentil balls...perfect on top of the pasta of your choice....and Buttermilk/dill dressing for a yummy green salad to accompany your lentil balls.

Hope's Lentil Balls

Ingredients

1 cup of dry lentils (I used green but you could use brown or green and brown)
21/2 cups of water or vegetable broth
3 tbsp of ground flaxseed
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
3  minced garlic cloves
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper diced really fine...although this is opt
1 carrot finely grated
1 celery stalk, finely diced
3/4 cup of oats
1/2 cup of finely ground oats
1 tsp of dried thyme
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 ground chipotle pepper
sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse lentils. In large pot add 2 1/2 cups water with lentils. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In small bowl combine flax seed with 1/3 cup water, set aside for at least 10 minutes, preferably in the refrigerator. This will act as a binder and will thicken nicely upon sitting.

Prepare vegetables. In saute pan heat oil or water over medium heat. Saute garlic, onion, bell pepper, carrots and celery for about 5 minutes. Add spices mixing well to incorporate. Set aside to cool.

 Blend the lentils in a food processor until they form a paste.

Combine sauteed vegetables with the lentils, oats, oat flour and flax, mix well. Taste, adding salt and pepper as needed, or any other herb or spice you might like. Form small balls and place in a baking dish, spray or line with tin foil (sprayed). Cook for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. 

Eat them on top of pasta or on their own. This mixture can also be formed into lentil burgers....or even as a loaf. Make a pot of rice, toss a salad and you have a really quick and healthy meal.

Here's the recipe for Buttermilk/dill dressing that we made for our salad....I love it and may never go back to my Hidden Valley dressing again. I love making food from scratch and cutting down on packaged foods.

As close to Doreen's

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing

Ingredients

1/2 cup sour cream

1/2 cup buttermilk (I just use 1/2 cup of milk and add 2 tbsp lemon juice)

1/4 cup mayonnaise

2 minced garlic cloves

1/2 tsp sea salt

1/4 pepper

1 1/2 tsp of dried dill

1/4 cup freshly chopped chives....starting to bloom in my garden now

2 tsp of lemon juice

Instructions

Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl. This dressing will keep well in the fridge up to 3 or 4 days. Great for dips. My kids were dipping their crazy bread before dinner. 

I don't know what's going on in your life but if you are having a tough time, or life is throwing a lot of challenges your way, I hope you remember that you don't have to hold your head up higher than your heart. I pray that the feathers are abundant for you and when you see them you know you are on the right path. You ARE LOVED!

If you need any musical inspiration before we say goodbye, I've included a really cool song by Jack Johnson called, "Hope"....of course hey

If you can't see the link below since you are using an apple product...click on the hyper link above.

 I love the following quote....the BEST part is actually what comes next......


Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you've imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope 

It's Simple....We Learned It All In Kindergarten

Will contemplating life above the world

As I was helping Will get ready for kindergarten this morning, he was sharing a lot of his wisdom with me. He was telling me about what some of the kids in kindergarten believe regarding where they go after they die. When they have time to talk about such deep stuff in kindergarten, I don't know. He seemed to have a good handle on their thoughts and ideas.

I asked him what he believed and he said, that was easy. After his earth body stops working, he will go back to be part of the Universe with all the stars and planets. He said he was looking forward to flying around the milk-way again. (I didn't even know he knew about the milky-way!) As I was combing his curly hair at the time, he turned his face up towards me and gave me a brilliant smile. In that second, I knew it was simple and he understood it all.

Christmas day 2014...Will had three wishes for Christmas...the first was a telescope...maybe to go home for a bit each night

I was thinking....."maybe I have all the answers too"

                          


Later, this morning as I was catching up on my email and face book messages, I came across a you tube video by my Wild Divine group (an online meditation support group) based on Robert Fulghum's poem called, "We learned it all in kindergarten." I watched the video and was rather stunned at the coincidence of having this conversation with my little 5 year old and then watching and listening to this lovely message. Right away I wanted to share it with you.

I think the part I liked best about the video/poem were the words, "stick together and hold hands." When I think about what I really want to do on my blog it is just that; make connections, inspire, and spread good messages like this one. We do have it all inside of us. It was there WAY before we came to earth but it is reinforced in many ways during our kindergarten year. Why we lose that wisdom I don't know, except I think maybe we wouldn't learn as much on this earth school if we lived our lives constantly remembering this simple message. (although the world would be a better place if we remembered)


Will summed it up casually as he was brushing his teeth. He was all foamed up and through his mouth full of toothpaste I heard it clearly, "it's all about love Mom." Yeah, right kiddo. Of course, it's that simple.

And so as I have been talking all about minimalism lately, I thought this message was probably the MOST important thing to remember...to impart. It's all about love. Love.

                               LOVE 

                 What a simple message!

Will grabbed his backpack and his coat and told me that it's okay that his friends all have their own ideas and thoughts about what happens after they die. We all have our own beliefs and create our own reality, but what REALLY matters is being loving while we are here. 

As I drove my little wise man to kindergarten this morning I thought deeply about his words, his shining smile. I thought if these kinds of ideas were in our world leader's thought process, we would be healing our planet and living in peace.

Then when I saw this video, I knew I had to pass it along, because if each of us remembers what we knew when we came to earth...or even what we learned in Kindergarten, we can change the world sticking together and holding hands.

~We are the ones, we have been waiting for~Alice Walker
                    




Here is the video that I just found by Wild Divine called, "Keep it Simple."  
(Click on the hyper-link above if you can't see the video below)

Based on the poem by Robert Fulghum called, "We learned it all in Kindergarten."

I hope you like it and it inspires you to look inside today, maybe when you are eating your cookies this afternoon, before you take a nap.

Before Will came to earth I used to sit on this rock and meditate. Letting go and trusting that good things were flowing into my life. I had no idea that a wise teacher would be coming in the form of a little boy.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope 

Energy Bars and 4 Quick declutter tips

Welcome!

Spring is here and our de-cluttering project is still in full swing. We have a garage piled with things slated for our upcoming garage sale. If anyone were to drive by when our garage door is open they would think we were hoarders! We still have a few areas to comb through; our camping equipment, my gardening shelves and D's workbench. Hopefully, during our upcoming long Easter weekend, we can complete these tasks and then prepare for our garage sale the next weekend.

We are coming into our busiest season of the year, continuing with the children's year long activities but in the spring we add non-stop soccer, a voice festival, and a piano exam. In addition, our 16 year will be refereeing soccer once again which adds more trips to the playing fields. Also, in a few weeks we will go and collect our University son and bring him home for the summer. Both of our older boys will be working hard throughout the summer at their respective jobs, so we will be doing lots of transportation juggling as well.

And as if that weren't enough, I have agreed to work at the garden center, where I started working last year, which will start at the end of April and go for a few months. I loved it, but juggling our large family commitments is not an easy task. So I thought I would make some energy bars the other day to start gearing up. I've started lifting weights again and the added protein will help me recover faster.

These energy bars went as quickly as it took to make them, so I thought this was something I wanted to share with my blog friends. My older sons aren't crazy about dried fruit in their bars and although my last recipe (I blogged about it last year) called for dried cranberry, (which I personally love) these do not have any fruit, hence they went fast

The next time you have a busy week and  need some quick, nutritious snacks, make a batch and put them in a tin for your special people. Celebrate Spring~

Quick Ready for Spring Energy Bars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 tbsp of protein powder (I used unflavoured whey powder I bought at our local bulk store)
2 tbsp of cocoa
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter (just peanuts)

Directions

Add the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, protein powder and cocoa into a large mixing bowl and combine well.

Kate and Victoria enjoyed mixing all the dry ingredients

Stir in the honey and the peanut butter and mix really well, until it is well combined.

Now for the peanut butter and honey, yummy!

Press into an 8x8 glass baking pan...Layer it first with parchment paper for easy removal

Put it in the fridge to set up...a few hours

Cut into bars, the size of your choice. Eat and get energized

Once cut and put on a plate they flew into my kid's mouths. I was lucky to take a final shot of the end product

And now with that extra energy, you can join me in continuing the de-cluttering process.

Recently, when a friend of mine heard about our move towards minimalism and our big de-cluttering project, she sighed and said, she didn't know where to start. Like me, she is busy with her family and she has years of stuff accumulated from her children. While they are older, she is dealing with lots of childhood memorabilia. I was thinking of what I have learned and thought I would share FOUR quick de-cluttering steps that got me going, even BEFORE I started going drawer by drawer and closet by closet, which may help you if you are feeling overwhelmed and don't know where to start. These are not just steps to build the momentum you need to then move to drawers and closets but a good practice to maintain all the time so things don't get out of hand.

Four Quick steps to assist you towards de-cluttering your home

1. Keep the kitchen sink clean

Further to number 1: Go through your house as you would normally and do a regular clean. Start in the kitchen first and make sure all the dishes are washed, cleaned and put away. Years ago, I found the flylady website, which teaches systematic cleaning and organizing. Although, I'm highly organized already, I didn't need help in that area but as we added more children to our family, it took more time for me to get through my daily cleaning routine and I needed some help.

What flylady recommends is to make sure your kitchen sink is always clean because that is a pivotal place of power in any home. If things are not clean at that station, then the energy just doesn't flow well anywhere. When my kids were babies, sometimes just having a clean sink was my goal. (and getting dressed everyday)

2. Pick Up All Loose Garbage

Further to number 2: As you move through your house, clear out all garbage cans and pick up any loose garbage lying around. I don't know about you but in our house there always seems to be empty bags from stores even though we are consciously moving in the direction of zero waste by not bringing any extra packaging or bags into our house. For instance, before Spring break, Will came home from kindergarten with a plastic bag abundant with art projects from his kindergarten teacher.. These things just migrate into our home and multiply like the dust bunnies under our beds.

Another area that is quick work in filling your recycling bin, is at the kitchen desk (or wherever your family drops things when coming in from outside the home; keys, mail, etc.  Even though, as a society we are moving towards using less paper, it arrives silently and lands on my desk. Flyers advertising various camps and activities for the kids, notices from school that aren't emailed, little things I clip from our local newspaper. Lately,  job ads for my University son. (am I ever becoming my mother!!! She always collected little pieces of information she had found in the newspaper or  magazine for us girls) Anyway, you get the picture. Get it out to the recycling bin and clear up the paper trail in your home. Then try to be mindful about not bringing it home. Keep this landing spot cleared of clutter.

3. Get Rid of Duplicate Household Items

Further to number 3: As you  are putting things in order, look for any items that are duplicates. Recently, I noticed that I have many duplicates of things, not just in my kitchen but in my bathroom. I found a second punch bowl for instance and it was a no brainer to let the second one go into our garage sale pile. (Set up a donation box somewhere in your house and when it's full decide where the contents are going to go)

For a second, my thought process was that one punch bowl could be filled with punch and the other one would look great filled with popcorn, a big snack fav in our house but then I said, "oh Hope, when was the last time you did that?...you need help!" and I let the second one go into the garage sale pile.

As I was blow drying my hair, I realized I had a second curling iron that I must have been keeping in case the first one breaks. I don't even curl my hair and the few times I curl Grace's hair, I certainly don't need two irons. (and really do I need even one?) Don't even ask me about how many cookie sheets and muffin tins I have. These are easy things to clear out as you are putting away your regularly used pieces. This added space in your drawers and cupboards will allow you to put the things you really need away or retrieve easily. Get rid of your duplicates.

4. Remove Any empty Bottles/toiletries in Your Home

Further to number 4: We are notorious for purchasing new shampoo, soap and lotion before we have completed our current bottle. I'd like to share a shampoo recipe with you so you don't have to buy any bottles but that will have to be a future blog. That is ideally the direction to take but if you are like me, we do occasionally buy toiletries at the store and at any given time an array of nearly empty bottles are in our bathroom. Do a clean sweep.(ha) Pull the almost empty bottles out and use the product and then recycle the bottle. (Better yet, fill it with homemade shampoo or lotion and don't buy another....I'll do a blog about making our own toiletries soon) 

I've been really good at clearing out our bathroom but when I did a sweep recently, I was surprised to find an abundance of almost finished products or expired items. (do you have old mascara bottles for instance?) I had been keeping several empty bottles for the kids to play with in the bathtub but really, how many do they need!Actually, none and instead I trade that for old funnels and beach buckets that we use in the summer and can use in the bath. (Also, although they don't play with their little Fisher Price people on a day to day basis, when I let them have them in the tub, all of a sudden they are fun again.)

The kids also went to the dentist recently and received new toothbrushes but instead of throwing out the brushes they have been using since Christmas, I noticed everyone now had two brushes.  Their old, well worn one and their new one. Before both look like the former, I went through and threw out all of the old brushes. Yuck hey! When you have 6 kids, currently in the house, that is a lot of brushes! Get rid of them! Remove your empty bottles and toiletries.         

Well, those are some quick tips for moving things out quickly. It's funny how papers/newspapers, bottles, plastic bags and extra items that are just duplicates of what we already own, come into our home. Well that is life. It's a continuous process of acquiring and letting go but to make our life simpler, start asking yourself, before your purchase, "do I need this item?"

Recently my husband D's coffee grinder went kaput. In the past, we wouldn't have given it a second thought. We would have added buying a new one to our list the next time we were out but instead, he started thinking about how he might grind his beans .We tried our blender and if it were a Vitamix, it might have fit the bill nicely but it's just a regular blender. Great for smoothies but not much else. He was going to try my new food processor and see if it would work but in the meantime. when we were at Costco a week ago, he found a bag of already ground, Seattle's Best coffee, and happily he bought that. He was really happy!          

For now, we have deferred the purchase and the next time my processor is on the counter, we will have to try the last of the beans to see if it will work and hopefully we won't need to purchase a coffee grinder. Except, it does an awesome job at grinding my flax seed, so time will tell but at least we are really conscious about our consumption. The energy it takes to earn the money to buy another coffee grinder and the energy it takes from our earth to make another one for our home, plus having to recycle the one we had...well it's all energy isn't it?

Well that's my blog for today. I'm heading out to enjoy some of the sunshine and assess my garden before the kids come home from school. My sister was saying she has things planted already and she lives just 20 minutes away from us, where winter lasts a bit longer, so I'd better get going if we want any kale, lettuce, arugula, spinach, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beets, onions, sweet peas, etc. 

When we plant our seeds they produce abundantly, as do the visions we have for our lives.

What are you planting in your life?                                       

                                                           

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope