ducky house

may

A little catch up on things and life. I hope you don't mind it in pictures. In fact I hope you don't mind that there are only a few pictures. I seem to roll that way right now. My camera has been left behind at home more times then I would like to admit and I can't actually remember when I last took some decent shots of the kids. Ugh! Thank goodness iPhone is helping me catch bits of my day. 

I was thinking about how busy life feels for me right now. I can't seem to keep up with it or find my rhythym -frankly, it's disconcerting.  I keep hoping and waiting for the second surge of inspiration and energy to hit me and daily I find it evading me. Maybe it's cyclical? or maybe I just need to look at life through new lenses. I don't know the answer. I also don't know why things feel so busy. It's not like I haven't always been running with something or another..., perhaps it's the age of my kids now? I find raising little children taxes your energy in a different way - you are exhausted overall and spend a lot of time doing repetitive tasks, but our outtings were always closer to home and more infrequent. With my older kids, they are more independent but guidance & conversation is huge and we seem to have more groups & outtings that involve driving. Though we've made a lot of effort at keeping those things to a minimum, you know the simple life, there are still a few things that have us leaving the house on a regular basis. Blah, blah, blah, I'm sure y'all know what I am talking about.

In search of a solution, I have made some changes at work recently. I have gone from 80+ hours a month to about half that. This past month has been the first time that I am working reduced hours. The first thing I am noticing on my reduced hours is a sense of relief that has washed over me. I feel like I am able to get a few things done around the house that have me chasing my tail and I feel less stressed overall. My ultimate goal with my new found time will be to start cultivating some blocks of studio time just for making, just because. Ahh, the good life - I can't wait! 

Of course no sooner do I reduce my hours at work then I have to pull semi-full time hours this coming week - a commitment I made pre-work hour reduction. It should be okay though. It's part of my job to be available periodically throughout the year in bulk hours when needed. After my week of chaos I will be back to my shortened hours. yay... and some serious making ~ can't wait!  

Photo details: 

~ my girls primping for a party, even miss lily dog got in on the action courtesy of the twinadoes.

~ at soccer: early season games can be freezing, thank goodness the warmer weather has arrived.

~ my self-love gift for those "making" studio times. 

~ mother's day love, the bunnies finally left me one tulip in my yard. They faithfully eat them all, in four years at this home I have never seen one bloom. 

oh my

Our winter just abruptly ended and I do think my dreams of warmer days have now been realized. It's beautifully mucky & dirty all about and the snow has been melting at lightening speed. Hard to believe we had a tobaggan run in our back yard last week. It's all brown grass, wetness & doggy-do back there today.

Decidedly my favourite part of spring is the awakening... nature, the return of our friends and the daily treks outside by the kids finding new treasures are all a lovely pace from winter's long sleep. When the girls were outside earlier today they happened upon a discarded bird's nest. It probably fell out of the tree, a left over reminder of last year. Amazing how those little mumma bird's make up their nest in anticipation of little birdies, so complete & perfectly suited for their needs.  I feel as though I've been nesting for the past few years - making our home complete & suitable for our needs - and the results, like the birdie nest, are lovely & durable. But I'm ready for a change and just like a mumma bird I am filled with anticipation for a new adventure. Here's hoping I'll be brave enough to follow through.

Happy Friday, xo.

 

in my corner...

...summer is officially here and that means so many, many good things: 

...the weather is giving us beautiful warm days of sunshine sprinkled in with overcast days of shade and even a sprinkling or two of rain.

...our friends have returned and they have brought with them new little ones to love and admire. 

...our school year is ending today and now we turn our attention to some serious outside play - bring it on!

...the garden has been planted and the veggies are growing, the flower pots are blooming and green is always our favourite colour. 

...soccer season has ended for the summer, bike riding is a daily occurrence, we've made one trip to emergency so far and popsicles continue to make an appearance in the grocery cart. 

...I am excited that mr. duckyhouse will officially be on holidays for almost all of July in which we will soak up his goodness with lots of play, beaching, day trips, and yes even some more renovations. 

...I am picking up my camera again after a couple difficult months and realizing that it is through the lens that I am inspired to live a more grateful life. 

...hoping your corner is filled with grateful memories too! 

a new banner

that is screaming "spring" to me. You wouldn't have known if you were here last Saturday. I awoke to this...yeesh.

on the other hand, crazy weather like that doesn't last very long this time of year and it was well on it's way later in the day. but still...I like it when things more like this in April.

I'm signing off for the weekend. Tomorrow is Good Friday and with Easter around the corner I still have to find the Easter baskets for filling. Hope you have a lovely weekend and I'll be back in this space on Monday.

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Happy Easter! 

remix: feed the birds

We revisited an old idea this week that we love making time for: bird feeders. It's a fun activity for both child & mumma (or dadda) and the most basic of tools come from your own recycling bin; from there you can add (to your project) other items on hand such as string, tape, exacto blade - with supervision, etc.... really the possibilities are endless.

I won't go into much instruction, instead you can follow along the with the photos and visit my previous posts for more information and inspiration. 

Abby was my very willing helper this time around and we decided to use a discarded yogurt container and a 2 litre jug of milk. As you can see our design was pretty simple: cut a hole, make a perch for the bird to sit on, fill the feeder and equip it with string for hanging. A little play antics is optional and highly recommended.

    

Don't forget to top up the outdoor feeders that might be empty. 

Next time you are looking for an afternoon activity with the kids raid your recycling bin. It's an easy craft that children enjoy participating in and it goes without saying that the connection to nature is invaluable for all involved.  Have a great weekend! 

the melt

During our break last week, we took a walk around a local park to view the spring melt in action. I always think of spring as my least favourite season because of the messiness. In my brain it should be a cleaner process: winter ends one day, snow melts for a day or two, and we all begin our life outdoors - very tidy and systematic.  Ha! not that way in these parts, it usually takes a month or two for the snow to disappear and during that time the streets are so dirty from all the gravel & sanding that our city does to the winter roads so our cars don't crash into each other. 

But all this got me thinking that the man side of spring and nature side of spring are two different things. On the one hand we have the mess that man creates by necessity and on the other hand nature does spring so beautifully. The snow melts, the water pools and waits to find a place in the ground, our feathered friends return to their summer nesting ground, trees come alive with buds and blooms, days grow longer and the sun grows warmer, while more critters and creatures wake up to show their faces.

;

I can't think of anything in those descriptions that I don't like. In fact I love it all!  Yay, Spring!

happy be-lated fall & halloween

Ready for a little show and tell? I finally sat down at my computer for an extended camera dump & edit of photos.  My main motivation was the rumor that snow is threatening (dismal looking clouds in the sky) which makes taking exterior photos of green things & gardens difficult.  

Smarter girls would have snapped shots of the house during the beautiful warm months when the flowers & trees were in their prime. But I've been too busy fixing things to be smart. 

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I mentioned here that we were doing a little updating on the outside of the house. You know: scraping, painting, building, gardening, etc.   Yeah, there was a whole lot of all the aforementioned.  

The original exterior was in pretty bad cosmetic shape.  The paint was chipping and peeling not to mention an undesirable shade of sticky-note yellow.  There were rotting boards and pillars in need of replacing and the front garden was disastrously placed with dead foliage, heaps of decorative rocks mixed with weeds and grass overgrowth.   

Knowing all that needed to be done, we set about the task: we scraped & sanded, patched & primed, built & painted, dug up and re-built our way to a new digs, complete with new fixtures, decor & my obsessive need for a burnt orange front door! Our original plan was to tackle the outside of the house a few more years down the road but things weren't going to last that long.

Side note: One of our goals working on our 30+ yr. old home has been to provide it with some character (read: cozy) using colour & landscaping, to soften the linear lines & draw ones eyes away from the front load garage - something I'm hoping we have achieved. (And yes, I realized the roof has to go...but that will have to wait a bit longer).  

From old:

{photo retrieved from realtor's website}

to new:

yes, much cozier. Ready for your visit...come on by. 

stuck

continued...

they are suspended in time 

we are hoping for a miracle

waiting...together

hungry

Contrary to a recent post certain caterpillars are always welcome. 

When you plant milkweed you should fully expect a battery of these ferocious looking guys to appear.  After my war with the cabbage butterfly - they won by the way, cabbage and broccoli never did make it to our table - I wasn't sure how I'd feel about seeing any more hungry little creatures.  But planting just because is very different than planting for food and so... 

The milkweed came from our last home, planted to attract the elusive monarch butterfly, it is where she loves to lay her eggs.  The first two summers at this home the milkweed wasn't very happy and didn't do too much in the way of growth.  This year we moved the plant to a warmer side of the house and *bam* it flourished.  I am reminded yet again that gardening is very experimental.  

Since these photos were taken the caterpillars have eaten up my milkweed plant entirely and have crawled off to various locations to take a most beautiful nap.  We check on them daily to see what changes are taking place and with fingers crossed (& a little prayer) we hope to see the glorious unveiling. To be continued...

return

Hello there.  I thought I should return to this little space and begin my re-entry to blog land. The timing is still not quite right on the surface, so many things demand my attention at the moment, but in my heart I know it is time to write again.  

Seasonally the air feels as though summer is passing.  The pool is closed for the season and the cooler nights have set in.  I don't know about you, but I love the coolness of fall at night time, the air conditioner is turned off, windows are open and cool air is chilling our bones while we sleep. Thank goodness for extra warm blankets! 

Season changes aren't the easiest transition for me, but oh how I love fall.  It's an instinctive relationship, I feel myself slowing down and spending just a few more hours indoors each day.  My cooking becomes less grill based - our summer staple - and more slow and savoury.  Two pots of our favourite homemade tomato and basil soup have been started and consumed over the past week.  Next on the agenda: squash.

The leaves are changing colours and the call of the
B-meister to spend evenings by the fire pit with marshmallows, making smores, has begun.  I'm sure it's instinctive for him as well.  Just like his beloved geese, who have returned to our little lake and have begun their nightly chatter in unison. Their return is a reminder that all of nature, in our 4-season area, is getting prepared for those long cold days of white.  But I don't want to get too far ahead of myself, instead let's live in the moment shall we? 

Are you feeling the seasonal shift? How was your summer...or winter depending on where you live?