Friday, May 9th, 2008
It took me awhile, but I can finally face the truth. I was born without a green thumb. My thumb is kind of turquoise-coloured. Or maybe periwinkle. But green? No.
That’s why, when I saw this terrarium project I knew it was A Good Kind of Project For Us. It was one we could totally handle. And hopefully, no plants would be murdered in the process. (Sidebar: I just realized we used cacti and succulents and should probably keep the lid off otherwise they will rot. Darnitall. I really wanted something to help illustrate the water cycle.)
ANYWAY.
I really struggled to find a secondhand glass jar with a lid. These are hard to come by. The one we used was from the SallyAnn and cost two dollars.
We already had a bag of dirt, so all we needed were the plants.
The small cacti only cost $1.97 at Home Depot. We bought two of those. The Hens and Chicks (which I love) were part of a larger package which cost nine. I’ll move the extras into our garden.
We did this project outdoors so I wouldn’t have to care about the crumbs of dirt that were inevitably going to cover everything.
First, we filled the jar with pebbles.
Then we mixed a bit of water with the soil to make it damp. (Damp enough to make a ball with it, but not so wet that the water drips out while you’re squeezing.)
Some of us really didn’t care if we got our hands dirty.
And then we put some of the wet soil into the jar.
… and added the plants. The tallest one was put in the middle. One kind of Hen was put on one side, another type of Hen was put on the other.
As it turned out, we bought a few too many plants. Emma re-potted one of the extras. She’s named it Rosie. Rosie lives on her windowsill now.
Here it is, almost finished. I’d like to find a dinosaur or a robot to tuck in the corner, and then it will be perfect.
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
*as imagined by Emma
Pizza, french fries, rat tails, and carrots. Who knew?
(Click to enlarge)
Thursday, May 8th, 2008
PC Blue Menu Light Mayonnaise Type Dressing.
Good lord.
I unsealed the top. I tasted it. It couldn’t be. It was disgusting!
Traditionally, we haven’t been Big Mayo People. It used to takes us ages just to get through one little jar. Mark doesn’t touch the stuff. He doesn’t like a lot of dressing on anything, period. Sometimes I like mayo on a sandwich, and if I do have some it has to be a small small WIPING of mayo, just enough to moisten. But the girls really like it. In fact, ham and mayo is one of Emma’s favourite sandwiches and I often pack it for her lunch.
Anyway, I told Mark about how bad this stuff was. He wondered if it was rotten. But it couldn’t be, right? I mean, it was sealed under the cap.
If you’re looking for a decent mayo, may I recommend the competitor, Hellman’s 1/2 The Fat brand.
*shiver*
Wednesday, May 7th, 2008
I was thrilled to learn about the coming international independent children’s film festival here in Ottawa. I really want to check out a few of the films although I’m not sure how we’re going to squeeze them all in. (Here’s a PDF of the program.) If you can go, please go. These kinds of children’s films aren’t available at your neighbourhood Blockbuster, which is sad, because they should be. Great films should be a part of every kid’s cultural repertoire.When the weather is nasty (like, HALF THE YEAR) Friday nights are Family Movie Night around here. This usually includes pizza too. The girls love it. I love it.
Mark and I are big film buffs, although slightly different kinds of film buffs. I’m the kind who doesn’t remember who directed what or can properly identify the actors. I get too involved in the films. I am always the first to feel the lump in my throat and tears in my eyes, hide my face in a pillow or laugh out loud. Mark knows the big directors. He has been way more films than I have and was a regular at the Bytowne. As a person who works in the television industry I think his appreciation of All Things Cinema goes beyond mine in terms of technical production as well.
Finding good films for kids can be challenging. Let’s begin with Disney Princesses. I have mixed feelings about the Disney princesses. Disney films are gorgeous. Snow White, Cinderella, Sleeping Beauty, they are a sight to behold. They are works of art in their own right. I love fairy tales, and I have a special place in my heart for these films. But on the flip side, I also think there is such a thing as Too Much Princess. Letting your kid watch The Princess Collection (the three I mentioned above plus Jasmine; Ariel; Pochahontas; and Mulan, although the latter is a stretch) can’t be good for their brains and for their social development. Can it? My kids watch movies in an total all-absorbing slackjaw position. I can tell that everything coming out of the television set washes over them and settles into their pores like molasses. And because of this, I’ve always had a secret fear that my girls are going to grow up with a princess complex, happily sitting by and waiting for Prince Charming to ride up on horseback and whisk them away to a life of luxury and bliss.
(Does anyone else find it strange that, upon awakening, Snow White didn’t ask any questions of the guy who just kissed her? No, “who are you,” or “what happened,” or “what day is it,” or “why are those seven little guys standing over there are staring at me?” I mean really!)
I don’t want to read too too much into it. One a more rational level I know it’s just a film. But as I said, there is such a thing as too much.
Other kids movies – and I think I’m safe to say that when I say MOST I mostly mean U.S productions – lean towards the cheap & plenty model and are rather pitiful and predictable in the plot department. I find it pretty annoying, actually. The plots of these can be summarized thusly: (1) There are some fun-loving kids. (2) There is some kind of conflict. (3) The kids have to go up against an adult “bad guy.” It’s kid vs. grown up! (4) And by the end, the kid triumphs over bad guy grown-up and everyone lives happily ever after.
It hasn’t always been the rule, but Family Movie Night usually includes a selection we can all enjoy. I can’t think of all the great films we’ve seen, but some of them include: Horton Hears a Who, Ratatouille, The Incredibles, Wallace & Gromit: The Curse of the Were-Rabbit, Chicken Run (we’re big Nick Park fans), March of the Penguins, and Spirited Away.
Japanese animated films are a wonderful way of exposing your children to a different culture and everything that comes with that (“Mum, is she eating rice for breakfast?”). In these films (well, the ones we’ve seen) the children have a different relationship with their parents and a greater respect for elders. Their worlds are a little more magical, and include sprites and spirits, witches and curses, and there are no anvils falling on unsuspecting heads. A great place to start would be with My Neighbor Totoro, Kiki’s Delivery Service and Whisper of the Heart have all been great.
I think foreign films – fiction or non - give us a valuable opportunity to see what other people are thinking and feeling and give us a good brain scrubbing. And if we want to raise open-minded children we have to make sure their movie diet includes something other than wonderbread Miley Cyrus or the Olsen twins.
What say you?
Tuesday, May 6th, 2008
I’ve been feeling a higher-than-normal level of anxiety about our daily bread.
1) The Healthy Food Challenge. I have never read so many labels in my whole entire life. Corn syrup solids, high-fructose corn syrup and all kinds of hydrogenated oils are disturbing my peace of mind.
2) Related: I have spent so much time at the grocery store it isn’t even funny. Do you know what’s been taking me so long? Picking out new products, reading the labels (see above) and pondering whether or not my family will eat the product I hold in my hands.
3) I biked to the Superstore yesterday (yay!) and forgot my produce bags (boo!)
4) I spent a week going through a mile-high pile of old Canadian Living magazines this past week. I’ve been ever-so-carefully skimming and and exacto-knifing good healthy recipes and filing them away into clear 8 x 10 sleeves in an effort to improve my culinary repertoire. I’m finally done.
5) I have spent more time and energy thinking/prepping/cooking dinners than ever before. It is exhausting.
It hasn’t been in vain, because yesterday, something happened that make it worthwhile:
Click for more…
Monday, May 5th, 2008
… from my favourite time of the year.
Saturday, May 3rd, 2008
So here’s what I found for the Fishbowl Second-hand Show ‘n Tell.
Wasn’t this fun? And once again, I’ve proved something to myself. When I’m shopping for second-hand goods I almost always find things that I’m not really even looking for. ;)
Interestingly enough most of the things I picked up fall under the “household” category.
All of these are from the Value Village on Merivale Road.
I saw this, and immediately realized I desperately needed something to hold my tchotchkes and (finally) get them off the kitchen windowsill. But it needed some work before I’d hang it on the wall:
And here is the “after.” (… After a coat of red paint, and some squares cut out of an old map of Canada):
The rack cost $1.99.
I KNOW MY SQUIRREL SHAKER COLLECTION MAY POSSIBLY OPEN ME UP TO SOME RIDICULE IN THE BLOGGING COMMUNITY but I can live with that. :)
I also found this cute little green dish ($3.99):
… and decided it would make a nice springly centerpiece after I planted some clover seeds in it. See, they’re coming up already!
I also bought a new basket ($3.99). It’s perfect for our dining room, which tends to be a magnet for papers and pencils and homework. We use our dining room table a lot - it’s the only proper work surface in the house. Now when someone (read: THE CHILDREN) are about to set the table they can temporarily sweep homework papers into the basket. (It’s pictured below a lovely retro chair I bought from a local convent. Nun bums were in that chair! Ha ha.)
And I bought the girls a new apron. Because I have a soft spot for aprons. And the pattern on this one happens to be the same as a little tablecloth we have too. And it was only 99 cents. Cute huh? (I know, I should have ironed it before the photo.)
That’s it!
No, well, not quite. I have one more item, but that won’t be ready to show for awhile. (It’s something I’ve bought for a future project!)
Friday, May 2nd, 2008
This post is about two different things with one very tenuous connection holding them together. Bear with me.
First, I am addicted to almond butter - specifically - the smooth PC Blue Menu Just Almonds Almond Butter. Good lord it is it good. I think about it ALL THE TIME. I’ve mentioned it to a few people I know, and the responses have been either (a) have you tried it with honey? or (b) have you tried it smeared on an apple? It all went downhill from there.
How do I love thee, almond butter? Let me count the ways:
- you contain nothing but dry-roasted almonds
- you are high in calcium and vitamin E
- you are are helping lower the “bad” cholesterol in my body
- you are good for my ticker
- you taste really really good on toast. You’re not too sweet, not too salty. YOU ARE PERFECT THE WAY YOU ARE ALMOND BUTTER.
… and Sarah loves you too, a girl who doesn’t really like to eat peanut butter.
See the open-faced toast pictured above? Ya’ll probably think I went to all that trouble to make it for the girls. Well, it actually my afternoon snack yesterday. I decided that I was going to be a little kinder to myself, and eat something pretty on a plate while sitting at the table, instead of hoovering it while standing at the kitchen sink.
It does take a bit of work, but after all is said and done (and in this case, eaten) I always feel that it was worth it. And here’s the other thing: no one is going to cut my apples into happy star shapes for me, so I might as well do it for myself. I don’t feel bad about that part of it, but I do feel good when I do something nice for myself. Don’t you?
So here’s my question(s) for you. (1) Have you tried almond butter and (2) how are you going to be kind to yourself today?
Thursday, May 1st, 2008
What’s on your wishlist?
Do you crave a day at the spa? Breakfast in bed? A lovely dinner? Something shiny? Do tell.
(Me, I have my eye on a couple of things from Lee Valley. Oh, and anything from my Etsy favourites!)
