Friday 28 September 2012

Autumn pictures, part 1

If you were coming in the fall, I'd brush the summer by... - Emily Dickinson














Monday 17 September 2012

Ginger Muffins

"Had I but a penny in the world, thou shouldst have it for gingerbread."- William Shakespeare
  Sweetly, my mom likes to call me from sunny Florida to give the weather report...always warm and always sunny.  She chuckles as she hopes to make me jealous...and usually she succeeds.  But, not in the Autumn....The crisp air, blue skies and colourful scenery... I would not miss... not even for an afternoon on the beach.   As these Canadian days are starting to cool, it is nice to have the wonderful smell of gingerbread baking difting through the house.
Here is the recipe I began the morning with...
In addition, if you, like gingerbread, check out this blog... Mrs. Gingerbread...it is filled with wonderful recipes and interesting historical facts on the origins of gingerbread.

Snappy Ginger Muffins (from Taste of Home magazine)
Ingredients:

  • 1/2 cup canola oil
  • 1/4 cup sugar
  • 1/4 cup packed brown sugar
  • 1 cup molasses
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cups all-purpose flour
  • 1-1/2 teaspoons baking soda
  • 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon
  • 1 teaspoon ground ginger
  • 1/2 teaspoon salt
  • 1 cup water
Directions

  • In a bowl, beat the oil and sugars. Beat in molasses and egg. Combine the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger and salt; stir into molasses mixture alternately with water.
  • Fill greased or paper-lined muffin cups two-thirds full. Bake at 350° for 20-25 minutes or until muffins test done. Cool in pan for 10 minutes before removing to a wire rack. Yield: about 20 standard-size muffins.




Monday 10 September 2012

Coats, Boots, Hats, Oh My!....

I am an optimist.  It does not seem too much use being anything else. - Winston Churchill

My biggest culture shock in moving from Florida to Canada was the amount of clothing one had to put on...and store...and organize by season...
Then the problems only multiplied when I had children.
First, I had to make sure they all had on the proper clothes...socks (sometimes two pairs)....many times several shirts...and pants. Next, came the outerwear...snow pants, hats, gloves, scarfs, jackets....
getting all four of my children suited up usually took longer than the amount of time they would want to spend in the cold winter weather outside.

Now my children are older and do not need help with their mittens...but, I am still trying to find the perfect way to organize all their hats, boots, scarfs, gloves, snow pants, and jackets...
Until yesterday...
Here is my weekend project I wanted to share with you.


I used:
 *  a Wooden Utility shelf (from Jysk)- with Five shelves.
 *  four coat hooks
 *  2 storage boxes

The project took about a hour...
First, I attached the bottom two shelves, and then the very top shelf. (3 shelves used in this step)

Then, I turned one of the remaining shelves at a right angle, to the top, of the lower two shelves.
Securing it, to the back, using screws. The shelf was now made into a seat.

For the last shelf, I attached it at a right angle, to the bottom side, of the top shelf....to create a backing for the hooks...
For the final step, I added the amount of hooks I needed...two across the back....and two on the front....
Giving me a complete shelf for coats w/ space for storage boxes.
Yeah!!!  I am ready winter!!
Total cost for this project was under $40.00....but to me, organization, to help me battle the winter clothing war...makes this project priceless...

If you live in a warm sunny place...and you want to understand the hardships of a Canadian Parent ...click on the following links to some funny children stories by a Canadian Author, Robert Munch:

Thomas's Snowsuit  (The story is read by the Author)
I Have To Go (The story is read by the Author-just a small bit, about getting the snowsuit on and off)

Tuesday 4 September 2012

School Days

Life is either a great adventure, or nothing.  - Helen Keller
From my son's sketch book

I love this time of the year.  I think I like the fall better than the summer.  It is as if my mind begins to wake up again after a long sleep in the hot summer sun...and I begin to function again.
Today was my children's first day of school.  So, I am very excited.  I know, most parents are excited to be sending their kids to school, again, finally...
But, I homeschool.  I am excited to be learning again with my children.  I feel like I have been on a treasure hunt for the past month to find the most captivating things to teach my children. I have scoured the shelves of the local library....widdled my selection down to their top 50 books, organised our school room, bought great art supplies, prepared their notebooks, stocked my freezer with quick homemade meals and sweets, and I am ready to begin.  They are ready to begin...and they are asking to begin.
I think life should be like that...an adventure...where the ordinary or the most simple things always can be turned into the extraordinary.
(P.S. I can't wait to see what tomorrow will bring)