really, the last post for today!

Always thinking about green. Check out the Green Mommy Guide!

The Creative Family by Amanda Soule giveaway

I bought this book a few weeks ago, and love it. It's an overused word, but it's inspiring. Full of great ideas of projects to do with little ones, and more than that, how to foster creativity in daily family life. Phillip even loves it, and says "Baby!" over and over when he sees it. I love this book, and you can read a fantastic interview with the author and have a chance to win your very own copy over here at Simple Mom. Good luck!

last post for today...

Just wanted to let you know that there's a little giveaway over at my other blog!

1930's marital scale

85 As a 1930s wife, I am Very Superior Take the test!

national geographic, 1936

There were a bazillion National Geographic magazines in our cabin, and I took a peek at this one from 1936. Here are some of the ads which caught my eye.

nigunak

We had such a lovely time over the past few days. We went to Nigunak for two nights, where Adam was taking pictures for their new website. It was stunningly beautiful, quiet, and simply lovely. Nigunak is only accessible by a long boat ride, so it is quite remote. If you like camping, you'll love it there! There are many well-kept trails through the woods, water for swimming, and a daybed in the kitchen for naping on. What more could you ask? Two nights had me so relaxed that I felt as though I had been away for two weeks! Adam and P and I spent a lot of time in these chairs (mostly napping)...
A gorgeous stone fireplace (it was way too hot to light a fire, though.)

There is no electricity there, so these beautiful kerosene lanterns are throughout the camp, and of course the handy containers for new and spent matches. The red one was my favourite.

the menace

We've been having a great time visiting with friends over the past few days, and The Menace was part of our bonfire evening on Saturday.

We're going to be away for a couple of days - have a lovely week!

new do, chickpea spread, and a pic for AF

I look kind of hot (I was melting) and my expression is hilariously stupefied in this pic, but I got a haircut I like. And I think it will get better as the humidity decreases. What's even better is that I swap soap for haircuts. How great is that?
A asked for another picture of the shelves. Here you go!
And this is a yummy new recipe I tried out today. It's chickpea spread from Fresh at Home, although I made so many modifications, I'll give you my version.

1 can chickpeas
1 cup finely grated carrots
a bunch of fresh chives from the garden
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
1 large dill pickle, finely chopped
1 tbsp mayo
1 tbsp mustard
1 tbsp molasses
1 tbsp lemon juice
s&p to taste

Place all ingredients in a bowl and stick blend until it's smooth enough to spread. We ate this spread on pitas filled with mixed greens, broccoli sprouts, red pepper, and cucumber. Phillip loved it, too! It could also be used as a dip with pita bread, crackers, or crispy bread. Delicious!

wordle

a) it's the cutest name ever: wordle
b) you can customize it as you please
c) you can do whatever you want with the results
d) it's free!

You can see the larger version here.

crustless quiche, peas in a pod and handy shelving

First up, the crustless quiche I promised. Adam found the recipe on sparkpeople.com, and the original is here. It's incredibly quick and easy to put together, and delicious!

Magic Crust Quiche:
Throw the following into your blender (or use a bowl and a stick blender)
4 eggs
2 cups milk
1/2 cup flour (I used whole wheat)
and 3 tbs butter

Blend until combined. Add in 1 1/2 cups grated cheese (I used a blend of chedder and parmesan) and pulse to combine. Add in whatever other things you like (I was in a hurry, so I threw in some salsa, which ended up tasting fantastic). Ham, onion, broccoli, tomato - all would be delicious! Pour into ungreased 9 inch pie plate, and bake at 350 for 50 minutes to 1 hour.
The peas are coming! The only problem is that I keep eating them when they're this size. Which makes for tasty peas, makes for fewerr larger peas later on.
And these are some shelves I put up recently in our dining room. I took pieces of driftwood from the beach, added some boring brackets from the hardware store (I couldn't find any pretty ones), and I use them to hold my spices and herbs for soapmaking. In pretty wire-top canning jars, of course.

P just went to sleep, so I'm planning on getting some more East of Eden read. Happy Wednesday!

poppy petals and no tropical storm after all

Well, the tropical storm didn't really hit here after all. At all. In fact, the sun came out this afternoon, and it barely sprinkled all day. I know I should probably be thankful, but I was kind of looking forward to a storm.

crayons for little hands, more poppies, fruit flies, and more

I bought some crayons for Phillip's birthday, and we tried them out this afternoon. He did really well with them, but they just looked too good to not take a nibble. Or two. I'm expecting some interesting diaper changes tomorrow. To make it less tempting to bite them, I decided to unwrap them, and melt them down in silicone muffin tins, so now they're a little less stick-like. I just broke them up, sticking similar colours together (my favourite is the grey / black / white one above). I had the oven on 350 for ten minutes, then turned the oven off and left them in, for maybe another ten minutes or so. Let them cool completely, and you're all set! And here's Phillip's first picture (being held on the fridge by Plato):

These crazy and oh-so-fun poppies are back.
As are the fruit flies. Death toll so far: two. My trap: 1/4 cup cider vinegar in a glass jar, with a piece of paper rolled into a funnel.
And this little poppy seed pod was in the garden. I love its little cap!

"A frontal system over Nova Scotia will continue to give periods of rain tonight. The rain will be at times heavy with thundershowers especially over southwestern sections overnight." Tonight's forecast, as issued by Environment Canada.) A tropical storm, Cristobal, with a ton of rain is on the way. I love the sense of battening the hatches before a storm.

more roses

Have I mentioned that our roses are open? We have so many different ones which are out, but I think these are my favourites.


I bought these sweet clips for a sweet little girl on Etsy from BabyKDesign's shop. So sweet and very well made. And they even stay in this fine hair!

soapy news and a couple of fun new things

I bought this great bag for $5 today. I love summer sales! It's perfect for throwing my wallet, keys, phone, and a book in, and there's lots of room for a couple of diapers, some snacks, and Phillip's water bottle. It's tricky to see through the pattern, but the shape is similar to this beautiful bag which I adore, but couldn't afford. And can you see Phillip in the picture?
Phillip and I went walking downtown today, amongst the Seafest fun, and we stopped at Frenchy's. I found this super-cute summer skirt and a few things for P.

Yipee! My soaps are now available at Yarmouth Natural on Jenkins Street in downtown Yarmouth! They have Spiced Rum Shaving Soap, Happy Carrot Complexion Soap, Simple Simon, and Chai Tea bars in stock, and I have some Chocolate Peppermint and Cherry Almond bars which are curing and will be delivered mid-August.

my dream kitchen

I just came across this kitchen from New Old House via The Inspired Room. This, my friends, is my dream kitchen. Right down to the tulips.

summer miscellany

The pea blossoms are out and beautiful, and some peas are well on their way. It is so satisfying to grow your own food!

I borrowed these two books from Ingrid the other day, and am especially enjoying The Food You Crave. Really, the only thing I don't like about it is the title. The recipes are amazing - simple and delicious and quick, as well as creative and healthy. The pictures are gorgeous, too. I think I just might order a copy for myself.

Speaking of Ingrid, Phillip and I went to Th'Yarc yesterday at lunch time for a bite to eat and two short plays (one of which Ingrid was in). All for $8. P was extremely well behaved, and we had a good time.

After making toothpaste yesterday, I was looking at this funny little assortment of recipes for lotions, scrubs, salves, steams, and other homemade potions for various purposes. Mother-in-law gave this box of recipe cards to me awhile ago, and it's really quite good. There are 50 different cards, with lovely pictures of each recipe on the back of the cards. I think I might try whipping some more up this week. Happy Thursday!

how to make your own toothpaste

Toothpaste is the easy-peasiest thing to make, and you can customize it to your taste! Here's the recipe I used.

3 tbsp baking soda
1 tbsp salt
1.5 tbsp glycerin (available at drugstores)
a few drops peppermint oil
water

Mix the first four ingredients together and add enough water (not much) to make a toothpaste-y consistency. I'm going to store mine in a little glass jar - you could use any type of container. Happy brushing!

Note about the oil: I found these tiny little bottles of peppermint oil at Bulk Barn. They have some natural and some synthetic flavour oils, including everything from watermelon (you guessed it, fake) and cinnamon (which I will try next time) for $1.99.

lilies and peas

"You've made me the happiest man in the whole restaurant."
The peas are doing very well, thanks!
And I found this sweet little pitcher for Ingrid at Value Village last week. I gave it to her tonight, and by golly, I think she likes it!

a seriously cool mobile

-- from spoolsewing - (?)

I love this sweet bird mobile posted on flickr by spoolsewing. She has tons of other gorgeous sewn things, too. Her flickr page is here, her website here, and blog here. A free pattern (for personal use only) for those cute little birds is at the top left of her blog, too!

ahhhhhh...

There was a whole lot of this over the past week or so. That beautiful body of water is the Belleisle Bay in New Brunswick. Such a gorgeous place - I've never wanted a house on the water more. What you can't see in the picture is East of Eden on my lap, and a warm breeze on my face.
We picked strawberries, which was short and very sweet. I love this picture.

While we were away, Phillip started holding our hands to walk. He had never shown interest in this before. We think it's because we weren't walking fast enough for him. Hmm, do you think he might take after me? He also now repeats EVERYTHING that's said. It's painfully cute. He had such a nice time with his Nanny (who just might be forever known as Nan-ooo, since that's what P insists on calling her) and Papa and all of our wonderful friends and family who came over to visit. It was so great to see you all, and the next visit can't come soon enough.

I'll be updating my Etsy shop over the next few days, and listing some of the things I still have on hand after the Wedgeport craft fair last weekend. I'm also excited because I booked spots at two local Christmas craft fairs, one in October and one in November. I'm already getting excited!

glass scrub jars

So much for not posting this week! I was too excited about this find not to mention it. I'm not a fan of plastic in general, although I do recognize its many convenience and sanitary benefits. I've been looking for short, wide glass jars to put scrubs in for ages, and happened upon these ones at the grocery store with Phillip this morning! A plastic one-piece lid would be ideal (I know what I just said, but metal rusts in the shower) but these look great! Now that I look closely at them, I wonder if the coating might resist rust? I'll try it out. I don't yet make scrubs and such to sell, but I do give them as gifts and make them for myself. I might start selling them if people are interested... any local people who might be interested? Just out of curiosity.

wedgeport craft fair

-- from knittinging - (?)

Thanks so much to everyone for coming out to today's craft fair! And a special thanks to Ingrid and Blogless Annie for helping with everything and spending your day with me. For the scoop on today's craft fair, check out my post on my other blog, here. Thanks so much!

We'll be on vacation for a week or so, so there will most likely be little to no posting this week. I'll be back with lots (and an update to my Etsy shop) next week! Happy July!

free soap for blog readers!

Here are some of the sets I've put together for tomorrow's craft fair. And I have a special treat for blog readers! Come on out to the Wedgeport Fire Hall tomorrow between 9:30 and 3-ish, tell me that you read my blog, and you can have two free bars of soap from my Bits and Pieces Basket! This basket is full of end bars (the slices off of either end of a soap log) and soap which just didn’t turn out as perfectly as I had hoped, but is still perfectly useable and lovely. So come on out and get your free soap!