Tagged by Diane

I just have a few minutes between the kids' French class this morning, and ds#1's ancient history co-op at 12:30 to post this tag from Diane of the always fun and friendly Much of a Muchness blog. I won't pass it along but if anyone does play, please let me know because I'd love to know more about all my cyber-friends. :)

1. What is your occupation? Homeschooling mom…aka teacher, facilitator, chauffeur, housekeeper, baker, etc. Am also a writer.
2. What color are your socks right now? White (yeah, I’m boring; my Siegfried and Roy "white tiger" socks are in the laundry)
3. What are you listening to right now? The sound of silence – not the song either
4. What was the last thing that you ate? Lemon bar (I baked it yesterday)
5. Can you drive a stick shift? Nope
6. If you were a crayon, what color would you be? Red, more crimson than scarlet
7. Last person you spoke to on the phone? Norb, our builder; we’d like him to build a matching shed
8. Do you like the person who sent this to you? Most definitely!
9. Favorite drink? Tea in the winter, lemon water in the summer
10. What is your favorite sport to watch? Tennis (I like hockey too, but haven’t watched that in years)
11. Have you ever dyed your hair? Many years ago for fun
12. Pets? 1 dog, 9 chickens, and a lone goldfish in our water garden
13. Favorite food? Ethnic and seafood
14. Last movie you watched? Stardust (for the kids)
15. Favorite Day of the year? I don’t really have one
16. What do you do to vent anger? I am embarrassed to admit I’m a door slammer
17. What was your favorite toy as a child? Wooden architectural building blocks…the set had the coolest arches and columns
18. What is your favorite, fall or spring? In the mid-west U.S., it’d have to be spring
19. Hugs or kisses? Depends on who’s giving them, but hugs are generally preferred
20. What kind of pie? Lemon meringue, fruit pies, chicken pot pie; I just love pie crusts, period
21. Do you want your friends to email you back? At their leisure unless I have a pressing question and then I appreciate a timely response
22. Who is most likely to respond? If it’s to this tag, then the answer is N/A
23. Who is least likely to respond? Ditto above
24. Living arrangements? Lindal-style home on 27 acres with dh, 2 boys, and the aforementioned pets
25. When was the last time you cried? Just last night…everything reduces me to tears. Egads, I’m a hormonal waterfall
26. What is on the floor of your closet? 3 pairs of dress shoes in boxes, the vacuum attachments caddy, and some light-weight comforters in bags
29. Favorite smell? Fresh laundry warm off the clothesline
30. What inspires you? Beauty in nature and in art or other human creations, and altruistic people
31. What are you afraid of? Heights, crowds, driving
32. Plain, cheese or spicy hamburgers? Any as long as it’s good beef from our friend, Carol, or from another organic farm
33. Favorite car? Not much of a car person, but I do like Subaru Foresters and the Honda CR-V we have now
34. Favorite cat breed? I like the pound cats with no pedigrees ;)
35. Number of keys on your key ring? 4 or 5…can’t remember
36. How many years at your current job? A stay-at-home mom for 12 years, a writer (on and off) for 15. Lousiest paying jobs I’ve ever had, but there are perks.
37. Favorite day of the week? Currently Sundays since that is the one day we have absolutely no obligations
38. How many provinces have you lived in? 1 province (British Columbia, Canada), and 2 states in the U.S.
39. How many countries have you been to? Not as many as Diane, but I think about 16, most in Europe

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

A good man...is not hard to find

It's amazing how a whole day can zoom by with just fussing with the woodstove, baking muffins and bread, doing Spanish lessons with the kids, and checking e-mail. But here we are...after dinner already.

So, who's a good man (besides Charlie Brown)? A certain Mr. Breen. I had the pleasure of doing some freelance data entry work for him in the 2 months between the time I quit my job as a research associate for a psychology professor and giving birth to ds#1. He is not only a super nice fellow, but he is the compassionate brains behind The Hunger Site, and, now, the Free Rice site.

I'd heard about Free Rice from a couple of different sources and thought it a nifty idea for helping those who aren't fortunate enough to always have food at every meal. But, I didn't realize it was the brainchild of John Breen until I read the article in Bloom magazine.

I find it heartening and inspirational that he spends his creative energy thinking up ways to save the world instead of trying to amass gobs of money. I know I can certainly stand to learn something about compassion from him and that the world would be a better place if there were more people like him.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Haircuts, organics, and good food

Haircuts
Ever since the first haircut I gave dh nearly 19 years ago, when I thought we were going to kill each other and you'd hear about us in the evening news, I have been the family barber. It's gotten so easy with dh that I can give him a cut in about 15 minutes or less (helps that there is less to cut these days...haha). With the kids, it's a bit more difficult. I feel like I spend an hour or so saying, "sit up straight" and "don't squirm" ad nauseum. But, they're getting better as they age, and I think all the time of the money we save each year with me cutting their hair. Dh usually helps me trim mine. I go to a hairdresser about once every 4-5 years these days. I plan to grow my hair long again so that I can just tie it back and not fuss with it. My sister thinks I look less severe with the shorter bob that I sport between long hair, but I think I look better with long hair tied back. Not too severe, I don't think...

Organic sheets
I've been trying to switch over the organic bedding a bit at a time. The cost would be prohibitive if I did it all at once. Whenever I find a sale, I try to replace a set. I missed the Lifekind sale this year, but Gaiam is having one right now, so with the addition of a $20 off coupon, I bought a set of flannels for the kids.

I'd bought me and dh a set a short while back, and it is really the cutest thing, and so very warm too:

Good Food
I love weekends not just because we have at least one day where we can sleep in a bit and not have to rush to anywhere, but mainly because dh doesn't have to go to work and can cook up a storm. This weekend, he made ham-lentil soup, pumpkin bisque, and Tom Ga and we made quiche together. He makes the best version of Tom Ga Gai, either vegetarian (without the gai, that is, chicken) or vegan (without fish sauce and gai). I love that soup. I have been known to eat it as breakfast, lunch and dinner in one day.

Our chickens are now upping production, and we've had a record 6 eggs (from 8 chickens) on Thursday. Today we got 5 eggs. Anyway, with that many eggs, we can make quiche. We all love quiche. I love the whole wheat oil crust (the best recipe is in the Good Housekeeping cookbook) as much as the filling. It's not a difficult recipe at all, and I'm always amazed at how crunchy and flakey the crust is even underneath a layer of moist filling.


"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Kewl finds

Domino magazine has a little online feature about eco-friendly finds. These are just a few of the really pretty things I'd love to have!

Log bowls...how cool is this?!


Pretty pillow (left).


(right) Tea towels to display as well as use.

Birds and awards

GBBC
This year's Great Backyard Bird Count went pretty well. We remembered to do it all four days! We had some lovely surprises too: a Northern yellow-shafted flicker, an American tree sparrow, and a fox sparrow. The latter two don't usually hang out near the house, and we were delighted that they decided to make an appearance on the last day of the count.

You Make My Day!

Wonderful Diane (who makes amazing books...go check them out!), of the Much of a Muchness blog, surprised me with a You Make My Day Award yesterday. I'm so honored! But now, according to the rules of the game, I have to choose 5 other blogs to award it to, which makes me squirm because I'd love to award it to all the blogs I visit regularly. If I didn't think they made my day, I wouldn't go there, after all.

"The deal with this award is to pass it on to 5 other people who ‘Make Your Day’
1. Write a post with links to 5 blogs that make your day
2. Acknowledge the post of the award giver
3. Tell the award winners that they’ve won by commenting on their blogs or emailing them."

Ok, I'm going to bend the rules (hey, if the space-time continuum can be bent, so can human-made rules!), and hereby award this to 6 people:
Suzanne
Joanna
Anne-Marie
Abby
Annie
Pica

p.s. to my sister - I've got a personal prize for you when you next visit! ;)

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Offerings for you!

As the flurries swirl around us in mid February, we dream of all our wonderful produce of summer. But, we still have a few things available currently that might tickle your spring fancies:

* mini (3"x4") nature photo notecards, hand-made paper, packet of 6, wrapped with raffia ribbon - $4
* 4"x5" dried flowers notecard, varies with season - $2; discount for more than 1
* dried tomatoes - $2 for 2oz.
* dried bell peppers - $2 for 3oz.
* hot sauce - $3 for 2 oz.
* eggs - $3 per dozen

For the notecards, you can see sample photos at Teresa's website.

Spring fever

As, I believe, the (second half of the) song goes,
"I'm starry-eyed and vaguely discontented,
Like a nightingale without a song to sing.
I know I have spring fever,
But it isn't even spring."

Of course, I've had this for a few months now. I can't decide on a template I like, and I've not had the time, nor the know-how, to do my own logo or template, so I'll have to settle for what feels the most right at the moment, which is still nowhere near perfect.

I had a nice treat in the shower this morning, though. In my previous Product Body purchase, Joanna gave me a sample of a Sparkling Champagne scented Scrubby Wash, which I finally got to this morning. It was delicious! I felt like I was soaking in a bubble bath sipping a glass of bubbly...mmmmm. Made an otherwise mundane Tuesday special!


I was in need of a picker-upper too. It's that time of the month when I get taken back three decades and break out like a teenager. Thank goodness for Enessa clove oil. It honestly does a miraculous job on my boil-like pimples. I got this wonderful cure at Isabella Catalog, which has lots of other cool stuff.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Creative tools

The kids and I are very excited: we have a new (used) pottery wheel! I am really bummed that Sara and her family are moving off to Switzerland, but I'm glad we had the chance to buy her pottery wheel from her. [Sara, I promise to take good care of it! And thanks so much for the throwing table, books, and tools!] It's on the screened-in porch, but it's too cold to use it right now. The high today is supposed to be 28F, and it's a balmy (hah!) 14 degrees currently. I can't use it at all until the humidity is higher because my hands will simply crack doing clay in the winter; no amount of Product Body shea butter could revive them.

On Thursday, the dyes from Bramble Berry arrived...yay! However, one of the containers had leaked en route and it looked like there was a grisly murder inside the bag:

Lots of fun, creative projects in store for me; now I have to find the time to do them all.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

A taste of summer and funny egg

What a weird day weather-wise. First it was flurrying like a blizzard, then the sun came out with a huge patch of blue sky. These two conditions alternated all day long.

The heading doesn't refer to the weather, which is rather nippy with high winds whipping through. Rather, I'm talking about the hummus dh made yesterday. Dh makes the best hummus in town. Casablanca Cafe used to make a really tasty one, but I don't know whether it's because they have new ownership or a new chef, the last time we ate there, their hummus was awful - salty and not garlicky enough.

Dh's hummus (below) has organic garbanzo beans, organic olive oil, and our own organically grown garlic and sun-dried tomatoes, which, I am proud to say, are excellent. The tomatoes, if I close my eyes, puts me on a Carribean island...mmmmm!

The chickens are laying some funny eggs - funny-strange, not funny-haha. The other night, I had to get rid of a shell-less egg from the nest box. And Hypatia laid a teeny-tiny, marble-sized egg. We haven't used it yet, but I wonder if it even has a yolk. Attila the Hen had also laid a marble-sized egg a few weeks ago, and hasn't laid again since.





















"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Inspirations

A blog post from Imagine & Create led to a second post at an open [sketch]book on the topic of what inspired us to follow a creative path.

Here are the favorite books from my early youth. For the art aspect, I loved the Betsy-Tacy books (by Maude Hart Lovelace) that covered the latter half of Betsy's childhood, from about highschool on to her marriage. The illustrator was Vera Neville, and I loved her art because they resembled Gibson Girls drawing, all feminine and flowing. The illustrator for the earlier Betsy-Tacy books was Lois Lenski; those are cute, but not on my favorite list.


This is one cover (sorry...my scanner is still dead and my photo is a bit fuzzy). I got an old library discard but it's dated 1945...love it!



These are 2 images from another book in that series (circa 1952), also a library discard. See how Gibson Girl like those are?

As for what inspired me to write, well, without a doubt, it'd have to be Little Women. We moved to Vancouver when I was in grade 3; that was when I learned English. A year later, in grade 4, I found this book in my parents' stash, and reading it was an epiphany. It cemented my love for my new adopted language.

This is the book that my parents had in the basement:


No publication date is given in the book, but it looks older than dirt...that is, slightly older than I...haha!

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

New Year, New Blog Site

Rather than being constrained by the single-page, but simple editing, site that Yahoo Small Business provides with the purchase of a domain name, or having to write html coding to make a more complex site, we've decided to keep everyone updated on the availability of The Two Tadpole's offerings via a pretty blog at WordPress. 

This way, we hope to make it easier for you to see updates quickly and find things that you will enjoy.

We hope you'll be back often to see our latest produce and products.  Thanks for visiting!

Happy Valentine's Day!

I made these cupcakes to bring to the kids' French class today, but ended up not going since the roads were icy and I told dh to take the 4WD vehicle. So, all the more for our literary co-op tomorrow. Also made some butter cookies using the very tasty recipe on the Organic Valley butter box. Not quite as pretty as these cupcakes, but I think I like them better.

The tablecloth is the cute one I mentioned previously that I got from Williams-Sonoma. You can just make out the rooster and a French word or two.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

I want, I want, I want..

Our bathrooms will never look this chic, but I can dream. Got these images from Kitchen & Bath Ideas.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Sketches

I'm not as good about keeping up the sketching as I should be, but I tried to capture the fleeting images of some birds at our feeders last week.


This is a hairy woodpecker...right before the suet feeder turned and I couldn't see it anymore.


And these are of vatious birds, from cardinals to blue jay to a junco. Hard to do more than a gesture drawing when they won't sit still.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

A little brag

...just 'coz I'm a mom.

Ds#2 first because, due to his mild autism, he is often overshadowed by his older brother and we forget that there are things to brag about him too. Anyway, for the first time ever, he got an answer on Jeopardy (last week) that none of us got - Robert Louis Stevenson. In fact, if I recall correctly, none of the contestants got it from the given clue either.

As for the older kid, I have to preface by saying that we are a family of readers. The dining table is covered by magazines and books. We each have our own stash, and we tend to read during meals (when you homeschool, every other waking moment can be quality family time, so we ignore each other at meals). So, I was clearing away the stashes to put on a new tablecloth (an extremely cute rooster motif one from Williams-Sonoma, I might add), and realized that ds#1 finished 5 magazines - 3 Scientific Americans and 2 U.S. News & World Reports - in the time it took me to finish one. So much for the Evelyn Wood speed reading course I took 23 years ago.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Customer service, etc. etc.

Anne-Marie of the Soaps and the Finer Things in Life blog often talks about the importance of customer service. I have just one extra thought to add to that: an online business should always, always have a general customer service contact e-mail on its website. (I prefer e-mail, but would make a phone call if I have to).

Case in point: The Artist's Magazine website. I had ordered the Artist's Sketchbook 2005 & 2006 CD back on December 24th. The amount was posted to my credit card on December 27th/28th. However, I still have not received this CD. So, I needed to ask their customer service about it. Well, in their website, under the Contact Us link, the only contact forms for them are affiliated with magazine subscriptions for their three magazines, The Artist's Magazine, The Pastel Journal (to with I subscribe, but my question is not about that), and Watercolor Artist. Long story short - I spent probably a total of about 25 minutes on this problem, 15 of which were spent on the phone calling 2 differen numbes because the none of the phone numbers listed are for the purchase of merchandise other than magazines.

To their credit, when I finally talked to a representative, she was able to authorize resending the CD out to me - according to their records, they had shipped it to me on Dec. 27th. I guess a USPS black hole swallowed the first CD. This is why I like to let people know when I've received a pkg from them, and I like it when they let me know likewise because to paraphrase the talented Stephen King, I trust the mail system about as far as I can throw a refrigerator.

To add annoyances to my busy day, Alpina, our little Houdini fowl, escaped twice. Luckily, ds#1 is a chicken-whisperer and helped get her back in both times. The second time, he helped me catch her and clip her flight feathers so she can't escape again...at least not until she grows them back.

Now I gotta go bake cheese scones and molasses cookies, do a Spanish lesson with the kids, review some French to prepare for Wednesday's class, and make Valentines for Thursday's Co-op.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

And speaking of cleaning bathrooms

...always a popular blog topic. Not.

I ran out of my homemade "Soft Scrub" (Karen Logan has the recipe in her book Clean Home, Clean Planet) a month and a half ago, and was too lazy to whip up another batch, so I had been using the Seventh Generation Bathroom Cleaner. It's nice, but I missed my scrub. Finally made a batch last week. It only has 3 ingredients, plus water, but works very well. You mix up baking soda with a liquid soap - I use the Dr. Bronner's Liquid Castille soap, which is incredible stuff - and add water and vinegar to this mixture.

My favorite Dr. Bronner's soap is Peppermint. Not only does it have antibacterial properties, but it smells amazing and refreshing. The liquid castille soap is terrific for general purpose cleaning too. I use the proportions in Annie Berthold-Bond's book, Better Basics for the Home, and make an all-purpose soap-and-water cleaner that I use for everything from the kitchen counters to the toilets.

Anyway, I put the Scrub into an old Hunter's Honey Farm honey bottle which works quite well in dispensing the thick, goopy stuff. Incidentally, the people at Hunter's Honey Farm are the nicest folks. There are other options in town, but I buy my honey and honey products solely from them at the Farmers Market. They have a life-time customer in me (until such time we decide to retire to the Pacific Northwest, I guess).

And one more word about Seventh Generation, I swear by their paper products - toilet paper, facial tissues, paper towels, etc. They have the highest post-consumer content of all the recycled paper products on the market, and yet manage to be soft, for the T.P. and tissues, or quite tough, for paper towels.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Happy Year of the Rat!

(image courtesy of iVillage.com)

A few days late, but I want to wish everyone a Happy Chinese New Year. This is where, as I'd mentioned previously, I'd like to re-start the year. Here's hoping for no more tragedies for my friends, no more lost wallets, art and craft projects that don't flop, and kids who won't make me repeat myself ad nauseum. :)

And I'm off to clean bathrooms!

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Product Body - melt in your hands, not in your mouth

I read about Product Body from the Soap and the Finer Things in Life blog (where else?), and decided to give them a try. I inherited my mom's desert-dry skin and need heavy duty moisturizing for my heels and fingers which tend to crack like egg shells in the winter. I've tried many, many products, and I have to say that Product Body's Whipped Shea Butter and Oh Be-Shea, Baby! cream are two of the most wonderful moisturizers I've ever used.

If you're reading this, Abby, I highly recommend carrying their Mama Bomb Line of products (their other items are equally highly recommended) in your Barefoot Herbs store. :)

Another recommendation is the Savonara soaps I had mentioned previously (also a Soap Queen find). I'm using the Greenstone soap (still available in her Etsy shop) right now and it is really moisturizing too, as is another soap of hers (see photo in the New Soap post) that I've used in the half-bath.

At this rate, maybe my dry skin problem can be a thing of the past.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Dreamin' of Spring

We were very pleased with our Territorial Seeds order. Dh placed an online order on Sunday and it came yesterday (Wednesday). They are in these cute, color-coded packages (see above).

Still waiting for the Johnny's order. Dh placed it the same time as the Territorial order. And, we've still not received a catalogue from them yet. Not sure if it's their fault or the USPS's.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Stormy weather

The chicken area is like a swimming pool, and my internet connection (via satellite) is erratic at best and non-existent at worst, so it's been hard to visit people's blogs or do e-mail.

Still, I am grateful that we weren't in the line of tornados that swept through south of us. It was horrific waking up to the news on NPR that so many people died in Kentucky and Tennessee. Those poor people.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Places to go - been there, done that

The January 2008 issue of the Smithsonian had a feature about "28 Places to See Before You Die", cashing in on the current "# of places/things/etc. to see/do/etc." trend. I noticed, happily, that I have been to at least one place in each of the seven 2-page spreads, featuring four places per "spread" - the above being one of my all-time favorites (that's not my photo; mine dates back to 1986 and I'd have to scan it in but my scanner is currently broken).

I'm pleased I've already visited some of those places because I've actually grown tired of traveling in my old age. Fying freaks me out, and driving isn't that much fun either. Maybe it's having to do far too many 12 hour drives (one way; then there's the return 12 hours usually a week later) to visit my in-laws in the past couple of decades; or maybe I'm getting to be more of a homebody, if that were possible. But, I'm glad I saw those sights in my youth. I have wonderful memories of them to keep me warm in my senior years, as well as many good photos - and a few cheesy souvenirs - to prod my memory if need be.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Guess who's 12?

Yup...ds#1 is finally 12. Can't believe it's been 12 years. On the other hand, I can't believe he's not an adult yet. Some people my age are already grandparents (I wouldn't want that, but just observing how odd that seems).

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)

Oh my goodness...

Can you imagine not paying your employees?? Here's something I got a notice about today: Pay the Kids.

"Human beings, by changing the inner attitudes of their minds, can change the outer aspects of their lives." ~ William James (1842 - 1910)