seeing Beauty everywhere

I picked up a copy of Anastasia (Vladimir Megre) the other day and began re-reading it yesterday... outside, on the deck... in the sunshine, with the birds chirping... and a raccoon sleeping in a tree not too far away. The sounds of nature definitely enhance one's reading experience of the Ringing Cedars series. It's such an easy read and really connects you with Nature on a level you hadn't previously known existed, imo. And now, mid-way through the book, it's simply amazing to me how everything around me is transformed... granted, I have the privilege of being surrounded by the beauty of Nature, and not nearly as many man-made things, but even in the things Man (and I use the term to define human beings, male or female) has built, there is a perfection, even in the half-finished, not completed things. It is a beauty "as it is" and releases me from expectations of perfection. I just love the Ringing Cedars series. I could speak volumes on it, but I won't. ;) If you've read it, I'd love to hear what you thought of it. And if you haven't, um... why not?!

Earth Hour

In the midst of celebrating Earth Hour over here. My daughter's playing piano by candlelight (and LED headlamp)... I'm able to continue getting things done on the 'puter (laptop - YAY!) and the house is alight with candles. I have a *lot* of candles and candleholders. We live rurally, so we're well prepared for power outages. ;) I've just turned the main breaker to the house off, so there's no auxiliary power running. Nothing. We use so little power as it is, it's hard to use less other than turning that breaker right off... it's the things like the fridge, or the few lights we'd normally have on... taking a break from those things. And yes, I do believe that if each of us, in our own way, make an effort to make the Earth a better place to live, that it *will* make a difference. :)

This week we've spent a lot of time preparing for emergencies. Our emergency preparedness kit is *mostly* together. We had nearly everything we needed already, just not all in one place, and not inventoried. It is now. There are only a few little things left - I want to get a small photo album of family members' photos together (I have some, but not all)... it would be a source of comfort for the kids after an emergency, and also practical if you needed to have a photo of a relative if they were missing. Also, a little cash. A set of clothes and shoes for each family member. Important household papers, such as copies of birth certificates, house insurance and life insurance and mortgage and home ownership papers, that kind of thing. And food. Obviously we already have clothes, cash, food, and the necessary papers, but it's a matter of putting it in the *kit*... which is what this week has been about. Just gathering things together.

So far, we have the tent(s), sleeping bags, tarps, cookstove & fuel, cutlery and plates and cups, etc., first aid kit, Swiss Army knife, a bag of entertainment (a novel and a kids' magazine, a pack of uno cards & a regular deck of cards, a couple small notepads, pencil, pen, pencil crayons, sharpener, eraser, that kind of thing), toiletries (tp, toothbrushes & toothpaste, floss, soap, a razor for dh, a small mirror, pads - although I prefer the Diva Cup), dishsoap, towels, kitchen wash cloth & drying towel, a set of camping pots & a camping kettle, a water filtration system, and emergency stuff like windup radio, flashlight, extra batteries, light stick, emergency blankets (those small silver ones), and much more.

We are prepared!! LOL

The circle of Life

Today was a beautiful sunny spring day... It was nice to get outside and feel the warmth of the sun on your face, and just to be in Nature.

This morning, our 'sickie' hen passed away. She's not been well for a couple months, I'd say, but the past week or so, it's been quite acute. Every morning she'd come to me and ask to be put in her own pen, separate from the others. So when I'd be home all day, I'd put her in isolation and she seemed to be faring better in there, although still hadn't been eating much and wasn't laying. But the isolation pen isn't very secure from predators, so each evening I'd put her back in the coop with everyone else. This morning ds let the chickens out and he didn't know to put her in on her own... and by mid-morning, she was near-death when I went out, the others had pecked her so badly. So I held her in my arms and just held her as she passed on about an hour later. I cried. dd cried. I know it's "just a chicken," and death isn't 'the end' (at least, not imo), but still, to see a sentient being pass through life's cycle, in your arms, is a humbling - *very* humbling, and grounding experience.

This afternoon, we went to WildPlay's Monkido Adventure Course. It was... exhilarating! Zip-lines, and an aerial obstacle course for a couple hours in amongst the tall firs and cedars in the forest. dd did the kids' course with dh guiding from below. ds and I did 3 of 4 levels of the adults' course of increasing difficulty. It was pretty amazing. We all had the wits scared out of us at different places, but sometimes doesn't that just bring life down to the very basics? Doesn't it just make you appreciate life a little more when you scare yourself half to death?! Between the morning's and afternoon's events, it was a day to feel grateful for life. A day to honour Life.

Since the afternoon's excitement, it's taken several hours of recounting our adventures to settle down... I'm sure we'll all sleep well tonight! The past couple nights we've had a froggy in our pond outside our living room window. There are few things better than the sound of a frog croaking on a starlit country night when you're drifting off to sleep! Sweet dreams, Kermit!

Grateful for all of life's blessings,
~n~

Spring has Sprung!

This afternoon, spring is officially here! YAY for the Equinox! YAY for the returning sunshine and daylight and *warmth*! YAY for new growth and rebirth and all of that! To mark the return of spring, I shall hang laundry on the clothesline! YES! :D Nothing says spring like clothes on the clothesline, right?!

Yesterday was a beautiful sunny Saturday. We met friends of ours from the sunshine coast in town and the kids played at PlayZone, an indoor play place, and my eldest and my friend and I took a round of mini-golf. Then we went for lunch together. Afterwards, while the car was in for a regular check-up, the kids & I tried to go on the adventure Monkido course at WildPlay, but you have to book in advance (and omg, it's expensive!)... so *maybe* on Wednesday when dad's home, depending on the weather, we'll try it. We hung out at Grammy & Grampa's for an hour and the kids chatted away happily, then home for a nice evening in. Grampa said how nice it was to have our dog over there all day; he'd been doing yardwork and as he has no dogs of his own at the moment, it was nice to have the canine company all afternoon. I'm glad Sophie was able to hang out there; I didn't think she'd have much of a day in the back of the car for hours.

Today there's nothing on the agenda. I see it's going to be sunny again... it's still quite cold, though. But I'm hoping to get outside and move some dirt, maybe plant the 10 emerald cedars I got yesterday ($3.50 each at Thrifty's!) along the front boulevard where I cleared all that broom last month. They're in 1 gall pots and quite small, still. I'll have to protect them from the marauding deer around here until they grow substantially taller, but it'll make a nice living fence/hedge along the boulevard. I haven't decided what to plant in front of them - maybe rosemary, lavender, or heather... or wildflower mix in the ditch. ANYTHING to keep the broom from coming back!!!

I made delicious 'cheezy' kale chips the other night in the dehydrator. I'd picked it fresh from the garden and wow, they're delicious kale chips. mmmm mmmm good. I'm planning on making some raw sushi today or at least some rice paper wraps. I've been making those often lately... they're pretty quick to make: shredded carrot and purple cabbage, alfalfa sprouts, some lettuce, and some avocado wrapped up altogether in a soaked rice paper. Eaten with some sweet thai chili sauce (no, not raw), it's delicious. The rice paper's not raw, either, but all it contains is "rice, water, salt" and it makes a quick wrap.

Our book club's going to read Vladimir Megre's Anastasia for our next book! Okay, I confess, it was my pick and I was *sooooo* excited to discuss it with them. I'm totally looking forward to re-reading it. If you've read it, I'd love to hear what you thought of it, too!

Enjoy your first day of spring! :D

Attitude of Gratitude

This morning dd and I lay in bed, watching the sun streaming across the trees in the backyard. It was BEAUTIFUL. I liked how it danced on the branches, on the needles of the tree, as the branches swayed in the light wind. She liked how it filtered through onto the trunks of other trees, the lightness of the trunk surrounded by the darkness of the forest and branches. We remarked that the trunks must be warm to the touch from the sunlight.

When I went out to let the chickens out, feeling the warmth of the sunshine on my back felt *SO* wonderful! SOOOOOOO good. The chickens are grateful for the sunshine, too; you can tell when they do their 'happy cluck' all around the yard... happy to be outside, happy for the sunshine, happy for some cracked corn. ;) I'm happy we've got chickens. Sure, it's a responsibility, but they're delightful and bring joy to our lives.

I am grateful for the beautiful, fresh kale growing in the garden. I had some in my smoothie the other day, but mostly I just like munching on it when I'm outside.

I am grateful for having two nights in a row out with other friends. Book club on Tuesday (I hadn't even read the book, but insisted on going, and I'm glad I did. Hearing what the others had to say about the book was really interesting.), and then the hs'ing support-or-socialize night last night - which I wouldn't have gone to if a friend hadn't suggested I drop my kids off at her house with her family. Tuesday the kids went to grammy & grampa's, who always invite them over and are exceedingly gracious. So two nights out. What a treat!

I am grateful for getting to sit with a friend I haven't seen in months at aikido on Monday night. Her son is back taking the class, which gives her and I an opportunity to reconnect. I cherish her friendship.

I am grateful for the preparations we've made as a family towards emergency preparedness. It doesn't have to be done all at once, but with communication, it has come together, bit by bit. We were talking about it (the hs'ing mamas) at swimming yesterday and it was good to know others are starting to talk more about getting kits together and so forth. I want to communicate about it, to get prepared, so that what the Japanese are dealing with right now isn't in vain. Their tragedy should be the wake-up for the rest of us to get prepared. Now.

I'm grateful for dh. He's a pillar of support in our life and works tirelessly (actually, he gets quite tired, LOL) so we can have the life we have. From the outside, it might look very gender-stereotypical - the breadwinning father and the stay-at-home mother, but these roles are not as they are because it's expected of us, because of outside social pressures. They are the way they are in our house because they've been discussed, negotiated, and chosen consciously. It just works well for our family.

Today I'm going to donate blood. I haven't donated in at least a year. I'm sure it will go well. It will be interesting to see how my iron levels are (as they test at the very beginning of the donation process).

We'll have to be prompt with piano lessons. Sometimes we arrive 5 mins late and then chit chat at the end, so we end up getting out of there 15 mins past when we're supposed to. But today, dd has her end-of-year figure skating show and we need to be on-time. Both sets of grandparents are coming to watch. I'm very much looking forward to the show! I need to get the videocamera ready to go.

UPDATE: I cancelled piano last-minute as donating blood took a *long* time. My appt was at 2:40 and I wasn't out of there until 4:10, and that was leaving about 10 mins before they like you to leave (they like you to sit and eat cookies for 15 mins after donating but I skedaddled after 5). But donating itself was painless, thanks to nurse Patrick, who's a pro at getting that disgustingly large needle into my deep veins. I have quite a bruise after, but it was a quick donation - under 10 mins with the needle actually in the arm. dd couldn't figure out why we were at a church to donate blood. "Shouldn't you go to the hospital to give blood away?" LOL too funny. Lamenting about the waiting during the screening process, dh said that's why he just won't donate blood. "Who has 2 hrs to sit there except retirees and maybe SAHMs?" And having to make appointments ahead of time, while I realize it's good for Cdn Blood Svcs so they know how many people to expect, discourages people from spontaneously dropping in. Still, as they say, "it's in you to give." Despite having to wait extra-long during screening, I'm glad I went.

raw food bulk order

Over at RawFoodSooke there's a bulk food order going in Monday at noon. Email if you want anything.

In this moment I'm so glad i've been regularly consuming chlorella and spirulina, as well as those super-good-for-you sea 'vegetables', which are all said to aid the body in handling any effects of radiation exposure. Healthy, natural, dietary sources of iodine. More kelp, anyone?!

In Light and Love,
~n~

all's well

just a quick update: all is well here on the very wet coast. nothing much to report, other than many family conversations on natural disaster preparedness. not fear, just getting prepared.

life's a little busy... lots to do these days.

all the best,
~n~

***tsunami alert/warning***

http://www.weather.gov/ptwc/

An 8.9 magnitude earthquake hit off the coast of Japan at around 9:45 p.m. PST, Thursday March 10, 2011 causing serious damage. It has generated a tsunami for the Pacific Ocean areas that is expected to hit the west coast of Vancouver Island and down the Washington-Oregon-California (& Alaskan) coasts between 6:30 & 8 a.m. PST.

A tsunami is not just *one* wave; it is a series of waves that can last several hours, with many minutes (up to 60 mins) between waves. Each individual wave crest can last 5 to 15 mins or more and extensively flood low-lying coastal areas. The first wave to hit may not be the largest. The height is measured from average ocean height, not crest-to-trough height. Also, due to local geological effects, tsunami wave heights can vary dramatically. I was reading on the bulletin for Hawaii that tsunami waves can 'effectively wrap around islands', so even if you're not on the 'direct' side of the incoming waves, there is still a risk.

When no major waves are observed for 2 hrs after the ETA or damaging waves haven't occurred for at least 2 hrs, then authorities can assume the threat has passed.

Even though our house is over 100 ft above sea level (we're about 500m to the beach), there are areas we drive through on our way into town that are directly at sea level. A few years ago, some official, in their infinite wisdom, thought to put up "Tsunami Hazard Zone" signs all along the road out here. You'd see an "Entering Tsunami Hazard Zone" sign, followed by a "Leaving THZ" less than half a km away as the coastal road around here has a lot of climbs and drops in elevation. I think the kids and I counted about 6 hazard zones on our way into town. People living in the designated THZs feared their housing prices would be affected and I'm not sure if that's why, but nearly all of the signs were gone within months of installation. If nothing else, the signs at least got people talking about emergency preparedness, something most of us put aside until it's too late to plan for.

weekend warrior

I'm a weekend warrior of the unconventional type... I'm not sore from a weekend spent exercising, I'm exhausted from travelling. :P We went to the mainland this weekend to look at a townhouse for sale. Travelling, because I'm not used to it, literally knocks my socks off. I'm exHauSteD just getting anywhere. I think it's partly the constant motion of transportation... I don't usually spend 6 hrs en route to anywhere. Also, there's the unfamiliarity of the surroundings (although I can't completely confess to that, being that I went back to where I spent the first 20 yrs of my life)... and the traffic of the city or urban environment. Totally not used to the traffic anymore. And as my son said, the people. Sooooo many more people than in our little community of 400. ha ha ha ha ha I guess it's all about sensory overload. We were only over there for one night, but wow, today I'm just wiped. Last night I was like this, too, shortly after 10 p.m. (highly unusual for me to turn the lights off before midnight).

So the townhouse? Loved it. It's a cohousing complex, meaning a few things - it's focus is on building community between the inhabitants. This is facilitated by underground parking and a pedestrian walkway joining all the homes, allowing for more face-to-face interaction as people walk to and from their cars and the common house. Oh, yes, the common house. Also not a traditional feature in your average townhouse complex. This lovely shared space is fantastic and has so much to offer - shared laundry, a lounge, a guest room, a business office space as well as meeting/board room, aerobics or dance studio with mirrored wall, art studio, woodworking shop, dining hall with stage and community kitchen, indoor play area, teen area, outdoor play areas and trampoline, garden plots and so much more. Loved all of that.

What's not to love? Well, the idea of a smaller home than we're currently living in is a little daunting. It'd mean moving from 2000 sq ft down to about 1150. That's a significant decrease in living space... and while I know *I* could handle it (and probably the kids, really), it's dh who's the packrat. He grew up on 7 acres and then moved to 12. Having 12 acres to yourself is a lot different than sharing 6 with 100 other people! Also, just the interior space. The house he grew up in was 4000 sq ft. Ours, at 2000, is a struggle for him to keep his (ahem) *stuff* contained. He just doesn't believe in 'decluttering'. So that's really a bit of an issue, because I can handle his clutter in *this* house, where he has a separate room where I can toss it if he leaves it lying out. But in 1150 sq ft, I might need some therapy if his *stuff* is going to end up spilling out all over the house.

First things first, though. We need to get our own home ready to sell and on the market. So at the moment, I'm working on a (sadly, rather lengthy) "deficiency list" of things that will need touching up before we're ready to list. I asked dh if we ought to place a self-imposed deadline for that, but the idea didn't meet a very warm reception. lol

When the timing is right, our place will sell and there will be another 4 or ideally 5 br place (1600 sq ft) for sale in this townhouse complex.... that is, *if* dh can't get a job posting over on the island before then, which would be even more ideal.

oh, and the poncho? looks AWESOME and dd *loves* it! *AND* the matching one for her Maplelea doll looks fantastic, too, 'though a tad bit long... and it's not like the doll's going to 'grow into it'. ha ha ha I finished both today... just 5 days. *that's* the kind of craft project I can do!!

i'm a crocheting machine! LOL

poncho, anyone?! phew! dd asked if i would make her a poncho earlier this week, so we went off to buy yarn and next thing you know, i seriously spent about 10 hrs today crocheting a poncho for her. the plan is to make her 18" Maplelea doll a matching poncho (which i'm hoping dd will want to make for the doll herself). they'll both be raspberry with ice pink. so far it looks great (and i'm TOTALLY loving making it for her!), and it reminded me that my paternal grandmother crocheted me one when i was about 7, too, only i haven't a clue what colour(s) it was. i just remember wearing it... vaguely.

so my hands are cramping up after so many hours needling... and i would keep going, (LOL, how's that for OC) except i have to be out the door in about 10 hrs, and i have a lot that i need to do before then. i love that my washing machine has a delay function; i'll wake up to the alarm clock early and the load of laundry will *just* be finished... our dishwasher also has a delay and i often set it to run during the middle of the night.

i had a fantastic tai chi class last night and another one this morning, although i missed the first hour of the continuing class this morning, including the *three* sets they did! bummer! we hardly ever do three sets in a class! I still got 90 mins of tai chi in, as I did the last half hour of continuing as well as teaching an hour immediately afterwards.

In Light,
~n~

God, help me see outside of my self.
Make me worthy of your blessings, and may I serve you for a purpose greater than that of which I can conceive of.

Ya, a lot of navel-gazing going on around here. A lot of wondering aloud about the impact on the family of moving, time spent looking at the things not finished around here and in my life in general, lamenting their incomplete state, rather than appreciating their beauty as it is. *sigh*

And so to get out of this head-space, I'll think about what went *right* today:

I had a lovely time talking with the other mamas while the children swam today. I am very grateful for their companionship and friendship.

I had a wonderful adjustment at the chiropractor after. And a great conversation with him about how we (in western society) assume that 'aging' means losing mobility and flexibility, and yet this doesn't have to be the case at all. Preventative health care is one way of extending our life expectancy, one aspect of self-care and a way of choosing health over disease.

dh came home after a week away. distance sure does make the heart grow fonder. :)

Had a great conversation with my fil about the possibility of moving. he's a wonderful sounding board, and wise, too.

The chickens are all safe and sound (we lost one to a raccoon last week) and they are all behaving very well about going to bed on time. They're very cooperative about going inside at dusk now, and I appreciate this very much, rather than waiting until well after dark before locking them in.

I am very very grateful for my tai chi practice.

I walked through the house the other day with a piece of paper and a pen, and made note of all the possessions I'd willingly release... and there's *lots*! LOL I'll bring my list up in a family meeting, and see if others are also willing to let some of them go. The kids thought I was behaving oddly, taking 'inventory'. ha ha ha

I'm just feeling... really blah today. I want to get things *done* around here but I haven't got the skills/time/money to work on them. I'm trying to be aware of what things I am capable of doing - yesterday I moved five wheelbarrows of dirt (I've learned not to overdo it in my enthusiasm)... today I'm hoping to move a few more.

But before I go do that, I've got some paperworky type things that need to be finished inside, so I'd best stop procrastinating and get them done.

Feeling grateful for a nice warm cup of nettle tea,
~n~