Poem of the Month: Nuance

Nuance

Shadows are there 

fallen, strewn, cast about

this path is not smooth

this path twists

back and forth

your way is not clear through

this path brings thorns

blood dripping a trail behind

one drop for each test endured

ahead is somewhat mottled 

nuances of colour

grey upon shades of grey

stars shine above you

the earth firm below

this path is yours

but you are not alone

this path brings rest and sustenance

this path takes courage

but rewards with truth

simple as it is complex

bringing strength of heart

like the colour when the spring is born...

just a little green.

It finally feels like spring here.  I'm digging the vibrant green all around me.

When it rains...

we go for a walk anyway.  At least that's what I decided today.  This week was a bit quieter for us and mama was starting to go stir crazy.  So despite the cold, wet and downright soggy conditions outside our door we loaded up with chips & some cheese, did some errands and headed to the trail. 

We had many companions on our journey on this dreary day: ducks, seagulls, pigeons, hardcore joggers, another mama with a sleeping stroller babe, some ladies with umbrellas, strange, hovering insects that looked like winter mosquitoes (!?!) and my favorites (other than the boys) lovely birds singing happily away. 
Rain, heck they love the stuff.  It was all happy birdsong out on the marsh by the lake today.  And something in their songs lifted my heart out of the marshy lowlands and into a rejuvenated spirit of it's good to be alive.  The cold does that to me.  It's something about the promise of warmth later that makes me enjoy the chill.

And then there is the beauty of nature.  The colours of spring emerging out of the west coast winter gray. 

Yellows and vibrant peachy pinks are in this spring, nature has a jump on the fashion trends.   And as for the birds I am making them a playlist.  Please leave a comment with your favorite bird song if one comes to mind and I'll share the playlist when I finish it off.  Have a great weekend.  

Family Winter Wellness

We are in the thick of it...that dreaded time of the year when most people are sick with something and we all do our best to avoid joining them if we can.  Last year I wrote a piece for Pagan Pages about family winter wellness and I wanted to re-post some of it here with a few additions that I have discovered over the past year.  Feel free to add any tips in the comments that you use with your family to stay healthy (since we can all use all the help we can get!)

The dark phase of the year often brings with it lower immune systems and colds and flus.    I  have become more aware of preventing illness and remembering these tips I’ve assembled is helpful even though they can be hard to put in to practice at times.  Of course if we do get ill we know that it is a message from our body that slowing down and resting is in order. And speaking of rest...

Sleep
Getting enough sleep is always important but since this is the darker time of the year it seems to be a better time to make that happen for yourself and your kids.   Let your evenings be as calm as possible.  If you can’t make every evening relaxing try and do it at least once a week.  Use candles or dim lighting to keep everyone more introspective.  Have some herbal tea for dessert and read together.  Have blankets on hand for getting cozy under and make sure that bedrooms are refuge-like for everyone.  

Wash those Hands
I know this one is about as basic as you can get but I am constantly amazed by how many people do not wash their hands properly.  The best way to prevent the spreading of illnesses is by washing your hands for at least 20 seconds with regular soap and water.  Many parents have hand sanitizer and wipes in case a sink is not an option before snacks when you are out and about.   You can help encourage your children to wash their hands by making it as fun as possible.  Soaps in fun shapes, colourful towels, and stools to help everyone reach the sink are really helpful.  Singing while washing always helps with my little one.  It will also help you to remember how long they need to wash.  Twinkle, Twinkle Little Star is our favourite standby for hand washing.

Eat immunity boosting foods
Remember to include immune system boosting foods like garlic and ginger in your family’s diet.   We love hummus which  has a healthy dose of garlic, this hot drink recipe looks great (although I would lessen the sugar replacing it with honey or maple syrup and just sweeten to taste)  broths are also great for health; chicken, beef or fish bones boiled down with water.   You can find a recipe here.  Also Mothering has a wonderful article about helping children with the flu that has stuck with me.  So much valuable information!

Colour Therapy
Grey days are hard for everyone but children can have a harder time communicating a feeling of sadness or moodiness that may be brought on by a lack of sunlight exposure.  One way to help that is to have sunny colours around your home for them to feed off of.  A bright wall hanging, throw pillows, making colourful art together and dressing them in sunny coloured clothing for daytime can all help with this often silent problem.

Skin Care
Staying hydrated is key in cold weather just like in the summertime.  Heaters and indoor re-circulated air dry out the skin.  Try using a gentle soap for your young one’s skin and use it sparingly in only the body creases or very dirty areas.  Otherwise use moisturizers and drink lots of fluids to try and keep your skin from drying out or cracking.  Also remember to use sunscreen if out on very bright days with lots of sun reflection.

Fresh Air
Fresh air is good for us and so is natural light.  There may not be much natural light to spare but it is a good practice to get out as much as you can.  The air indoors is never as good for your lungs as that from a brisk walk or an afternoon of outdoor fun.  Opening the windows for even a few minutes can help circulate the stale indoor air.   Light helps keep the winter blues at bay and makes your system function with the natural rhythms of the earth.

four-orange

a little boy turned four around here. 

I would rather like to stop the pace of these years in many ways.  It seems like just yesterday that this and this happened.  This year brought a true understanding of the scope of a Christmas birthday...presents, cakes, parties and repeat.  And this carol singing, Santa loving, big brother is just getting smarter and more himself each day.  Love you Ky.  Happy fourth birthday.

all about orange

My eldest son is quite the guy for opinions and preferences. ( I don't know where he gets that from...) Only being 3 years old is no barrier to his taste in colour.  Red was his first love and it lasted quite a long time.  We had a red potty, red toys, red flowers were popular and of course red trains were the best.  Next there was a brief flirtation with blue and some fondness for "lellow" which remains popular.  But these days at our house it's all about orange.

 Orange paint, crayons and paper are requested.

An orange rose was the inspiration to get mama flowers

And this shirt is what he'd like to be wearing every day.  Cups, plates, pj's the orange ones are most popular.
I want to remember the love of something as simple as a colour.  Despite the fact that it can often make my life slightly more difficult.

Thinking about Kitchens Part 2

The curtain edition.  The jumping off point for my kitchen design fantasies is the fabric that I've chosen for the curtains.  This fabric was purchased for a very special event that happened almost two years ago now. 

Birds have become a very important animal and symbol in my life.  When you live in the city they are the most prevalent wildlife (besides bugs and squirrels).  The nests they build always convey a feeling of coziness and you think of eggs, feathers and the shelter of tree branches.  So with those images in mind I picked this vintage fabric as my jumping off point for my kitchen.  In Part 1 I talked about colours and this fabric has each colour I find inspiring right now.  A deep red, soft blue, some pale green, golden yellow and even a slight pink in the upper bird. 
As for the style I created another Flickr gallery with styles of curtains that appealed to me.  Mostly though I think the photos evoke an energy that I like for different reasons in each kitchen.  I've played around with different ideas for the style.  I love the bistro style:

 brad hood

I've had this style in a previous kitchen.  But it covers up too much window in this case.  The kitchen window looks out from the second floor of our new townhouse and so privacy won't be an issue here.  I want to optimize the light and so I'll keep it simple with two side panels that can be closed if we want a cozy feel but leave the window fully exposed otherwise.  What remains to be seen is if I'll make them the length of the window or let them drape down to the floor.  I'll wait and see how we decide to place shelving or other furniture below the window before I make my final decision on that.  But in that case they would probably be more like this:

  decorology

Decor dreaming is quite fun.  Now I'm off on our weekend adventures.  Happy weekend to you all.

Outdoors with Yellow

Once again that bright colour of summer is catching my eye.   Today we found it in many places on our little outdoor excursion.  It certainly wasn't an epic journey for us, just a simple neighbourhood stroll. 

And to add to the yellow spirit around here I wanted to share this photo from the date that Dave and I went on this weekend.  We saw Broadway's Lion King and it was fantastic.

Happy colour hunting in your neighbourhood!

Thinking about Kitchens Part 1

As the big moving day gets closer my mind is off and running with ideas about the room in which I spend most of my waking hours: the kitchen.  I want it to be efficient, visually interesting, tidy (a girl can hope!) and as much as possible I want to enjoy being in there.  The best thing about my current kitchen is the cabinet space.  There is a lot of space.  More than any kitchen I've ever lived in.  But that is where my kitchen and I end our love affair.  The shape, lighting...oh, you name it, doesn't work.

This is the view as you walk in the door.  There is a built in table which is awkward to get around but eating in here with a ceramic tile floor was preferable to the dining room with a baby/toddler and carpeting.

And since I mentioned the floor...oh, how I detest ceramic tile!  Everything shatters when it falls on ceramic.  And since I am a huge klutz I have broken many jars, plates and glasses.  The shape of the kitchen makes more than one person in here at once difficult to maneuver.  (in the interest of full disclosure I left the kitchen as it looks at least three times a day...lol....)

 I remember being excited about this kitchen when I moved in. I suppose I may miss some aspects of it in the future but thinking about a "dream kitchen" is still a work in progress for me.  I don't have my system down yet.  I still have kinks to work out and welcome ideas in several forms, especially photos.

I created a gallery on Flickr for inspiration and also because I'm trying to discern if I have a style of my own.  I noticed some themes happening in the gallery that I hope to incorporate into my new space. 

christayayaya

I love these colours.  That retro red and blue combo is very prevalent in my palette right now.  I can vary the shades of blue from sea foam to turquoise to blue veil.  The red sits between brick, blood and fire engine.  There is a vintage feel to my style, an eclectic mix and match.

one haute mess

And the other decor trend, if I can call it that since I'm not up on them, that I'm loving right now is the mixture of wood tones with painted furniture pieces.  My mother would cringe a bit on that one but painted furniture can really bring the eclectic boho up a notch.  Not to mention that I become more convinced each day that colour is so important for creating personality in your home.  Too much and it's overwhelming but a few hits here and there can make the room.   And my final kitchen decor requirement is open shelving.  I've had several kitchens with mostly open shelving and while it looks cool it gathers tones of dust.  So I wouldn't advocate complete open shelving but definitely some.   

If you couldn't tell before why my kitchen and I aren't the best of friends the Flickr gallery will probably explain it all.  I'm not much for beige.  The colours I'm looking at for the home in general will be blues, grays, reds and some small hints of green.  At least that's what I'm thinking right now.  But of course that may change when we get into the house.   And I'm not thinking walls right now since the co-op has a colour that they paint all the units and we can change if we wish to but I'll really live in the space through at least one year first to make sure that I understand the light in the place.  The wrong light can turn a paint colour into a disaster pretty fast.  Well, I hope that was mildly interesting.  I'm on a bit of a decorating kick these days.