Local Farms, Awesome Flavours!!

Today is the day I've been waiting for!

K-town is surrounded by many local farms and amazing local produce that we as a family get to experience, and TODAY is an event called "Open Farms" where many of these local farms open up and allow the public to see what goes on!!

We grabbed a brochure in the middle of the summer that highlighted local farms with a brief description and a map that listed all these farms. Check out the Local Flavours website and take a look at the maps for the producers, and also for the outlets which serve local foods.

Looking at all those local farms really got me excited, and I wanted to see ALL of the farms participating in Open Farms, but there's too many for just one day, so we've narrowed it down to 4 that are close enough (and on a semi-direct route) so that we don't wear ourselves out.

The top choices of the day (not the BEST, just the ones that are close to our place and that interest us)

1. Fruition Berry Farm

-in the summer you can pick your own strawberries, raspberries.... and in the fall pick your own pumpkins, go through a corn maze, and go on hay rides!!

2. Waddell Apples

-pick your own apples and pumpkins!!

-great website with fun recipes I want to try for all things APPLE!!

3. Forman Farms

-great variety of local produce including squash, sweet corn, garlic and pumpkins

-they also sell flowers, fall decor, and Christmas greens!

4. Wendy's Country Market

-I'd heard about Wendy's Mobile Market because we order from them at work, but this farm is going to be my favourite trip of all....

-they focus on local, in-season produce, but they also sell meats, artisanal cheeses, maple syrup, baked goods, herbal teas.....and lots more! AND they deliver products through their mobile market (Check out their GIANT order form!!)

TODAY! I'm super excited to get going... but the little man is sleeping, so we have to wait until he wakes up...

Don't you wish you lived in Kingston?

Daybook: Monday August 23

FOR TODAY
Outside my window...

cool night air after a wonderful rainy day.

I am thinking...
I'm so glad tonight that we have only one little monkey... 4 is a lot of monkeys, and a lot of mess...

I am thankful for...

having my little boy back after he spent a week at grandma and grumpa's

From the kitchen...

we had breakfast for supper tonight: yummy whole wheat chocolate chip pancakes and breakfast sausages! And the picky children we fed actually enjoyed the pancakes!! However Hubs and I are starving, so here comes a reheated pizza creation from work...

I am wearing...

comfy jeans and my warm red sweater.

I am creating...

a menu plan that will actually be possible to complete.

I am going...

to bed soon. Midnight shift plus a day full of activities makes one very incoherent mama...

I am reading...

"House Works" by Cynthia Townley Ewer of OrganizedHome.com

I am hoping...

that my hands will start to feel better and the eczema will go away in time for school (which starts in 15 days!!)

I am hearing...

random alien words from a video game called "Spore" that the Hubs is playing.

Around the house...

the fans are going, the baby is sleeping, and the Hubs and I are once again in our own separate screened-in bubbles

One of my favorite things...

Disney movies that have jokes specifically for adults! Looking forward to re-watching "Enchanted"

A few plans for the rest of the week:
Seeing my mama friends on Wednesday...I've missed them for the past few weeks. Also I need to attack the Shaggy Dog that is my head...preferably before I start school.

Here is a picture reflecting what I'm thinking...

I love you little man. Welcome back, and I'm so glad you have a name for me now. it was a long time in coming, but your mama has to smile every time you call my name...

-A.

LOVE Week (Part 2)

I guess our "week" was a bit longer than 7 days, because we continued to celebrate into Saturday, Sunday, and even into Monday... what can I say? I LOVE celebrating with the man ILOVE...

I'll pick up where we left off...

THURSDAY we celebrated the receipt of our anniversary present from my wonderful mother! We LOVE board games and as soon as we got Ticket to Ride home, we broke it open and played 3 times... for dinner we had TV dinners so that we didn't have to do any dishes. LOVE easy suppers and simple nights in!!

FRIDAY we had some wonderful open conversations and really shared what was on our hearts. We also got to walk around the mall and see the pet store. LOVE honesty and cute animals!!

SATURDAY we went treasure hunting at garage sales...and we found some really great treasures!! LOVE other people's junk that becomes treasures!

SUNDAY was the end of our child-free week, and I don't know if we could have taken another day...even after working all night I couldn't sleep because I was counting the hours to baby C coming home...so I LOVE Hubs for cleaning the house, and for letting me "sleep" when really I was awake and waiting...

MONDAY is my official end to LOVE week... because even though it's been more than a week, we make the choice to LOVE every day. Tokens of affection, and little adventures together are wonderful, and today my favourite man brought me some beautiful flowers, but I don't LOVEhim only because he does these things, I LOVE him for who he is and for his heart which he has given me totally and completely...So, my LOVE....for all these things and millions more, I choose you everyday, I thank you for three years of YES, and I LOVE you more and more and more....

LOVE Week (Part 1)

So three years of marriage have gone by already, and I still feel like I'm back there in that moment saying "Yes" every day...

This year, celebrating marriage-day on the actual date that Hubs and I were married was not really possible...We tried to make dinner reservations... then delayed them... and then ended up cancelling them...AND I was sick with a stomach virus... I did end up getting a KILLER summer dress at an unexpected shopping trip that only came about because dinner plans were cancelled, but that's not the point.



The point is the lack of celebrating the big day...SOOO we decided to make it more of a week long celebration, and since this is the week that C has a vacation at Grandma and "Grumpa's" place...(he named himself that...)...This is LOVE week!!!



SATURDAY we started with the celebration of LOVE for two wonderful people. My heart felt like it was trying to explode with happiness for the two of them. I couldn't stop smiling... LOVE weddings!!!



SUNDAY we celebrated LOVE in the anniversary of my aunt and uncle, and also LOVE for my best cousin who is now across the ocean teaching for the third year...LOVE anniversaries and amazing jobs (and family!!!)



MONDAY we celebrated our LOVE for the amazing world God has given us by taking an extra long drive home from Gram's and Grump's place (after raiding their garden of course). Oh, and we celebrated quirky little diners in tiny little towns, and finding cute antique shops in the middle of nowhere!! LOVE great food, great laughs, and great inspiration!!!



TUESDAY we celebrated our LOVE of movies and junk food by doing a snack run to Bulk Barn and then taking in a double feature at the drive-in!! LOVE laughter, sugar, and the drive-in!!!



WEDNESDAY we celebrated LOVING others by helping a friend out. We got to spend a nice evening talking about everything and anything, and just being honest and open. And then instead of buying presents for each other, we were able to buy a gift for this friend that will help her and her kids be able to listen to the amazing Christian broadcasting we have in this area. We absolutely LOVE UCB Canada and K-Love, and being Christ's hands and feet!!



And that's my first half of LOVE week! I'm not sure if we have plans for the rest of the week, but there are many things that I LOVE, and I'm hoping that if I look close enough, I can celebrate those things every day.



What kind of things did you do this week that you LOVE?



A



ps...I already miss C... I LOVE both of my wonderful men...

"C" is for "Corn on the Cob"

C is a fan of corn.

I grew up in a home that was blessed with an abundance of fresh produce in the summer, and in August especially, I got so tired of corn because we would eat it every night!! Now that I'm on my own with my own little family to feed, I am appreciating where food comes from, and it is so beautiful and simple to me to pick food from the garden, peel it, and then eat it...

What is better than warm butter dripping on your chin from a juicy fresh corn cob?

Love.

Hopefully next summer B and I can grow our own!!

~A

looking into the future....

“…remember you are not a stay-at-home mother when you have your own business. You are a mother that works from home. It is impossible to do both.”

So B and I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to be blessed with baby number 2... but we know that until we get rid of the scary evil debt monster, we need to be watching every penny we spend. So there's not a lot of room to plan right now. (But dreaming is free, so I'll keep doing that)

HOWEVER (lots of caps this post...either I'm really tired, or I just want to make a point) I've been looking into mommy bloggers and other online work from home jobs. I'm not expecting it to be easy, and I'm nowhere near launching anything myself, I just found that quotation to be inspiring. If I do eventually start an at-home business, I'm not going to be able to do everything all by myself all of the time, so that quotation puts things into perspective for me.

Happy Civic long weekend everyone!! I'm really hoping that tomorrow after work I'm not too exhausted to make the long trip to visit my extended family at their annual camping trip. I love family!!

~A

PS Once this weekend is over, I have 4.5 weeks until my FINAL year of schooling!! I'm excited to finally get my expensive piece of paper hung up next to the two my wonderful hubby has.

My Link Love

I've been reading Link Loves at Prudent Baby, and I wanted to share some of my favourite links from this past week...

B and I have been trying to downsize our "stuff" and get rid of a lot of the clutter we've been accumulating throughout our marriage (and from before we married) and I've found a bunch of wonderful sites like this one which deals with the journey to get organized and stay that way. Here are ten easy anti-clutter tactics if you find yourself wanting to get organized.

I love making cupcakes and decorating them, and this is a wonderful idea to take cupcake decorating to another level by using special cupcake liners!

Dress up your cupcakes!!

I saw this article on the kLove site this week about a man who live in a 182 square foot home. I love minimalism, and while I cannot say that I am a minimalist (by ANY stretch of the imagination!) I want to be able to use every square foot and live in every part of my home like this man does.

We are not expecting another bundle, but I always love looking at how other people decorate their baby rooms, and here is a site with some really adorable nurseries! Also if you want to create a list of baby names you love, check out this baby name site that saves your preferences and chooses names that are similar for you to enjoy.

I read a post on a friends site last week about writing a letter to your 17-year old self, and this week I found a site where you submit letters to your own body. What would you say to your body if you wrote it a letter?

Another blogger that I love is Sarah London whose amazing crochet work is filled with vibrant colours. I've been looking all over for crochet books and patterns, and finally I've found a crochet-er whose work I adore! (PS is that a word?)

I'm starting to think about the holidays this year. My family chose names of who we're buying gifts for, and so Christmas is on my mind already. On top of that I have a birthday party to plan for my monkey, and also a halloween costume to either buy or make (HELP! I need ideas!!)....well I was clicking around, and I heard about the Jesse tree, and I was ecstatic to find a wonderful new Christmas tradition I'd love to start with my little family!

I hope you enjoy my links! Please send me any that you've found this week that you love!