The View from my Hilltop
December 5, 2010 - Passion
Watched Julie and Julia last night. Neat movie. Big fan of Meryl Streep, I think she did a good job as Julia Childs, not so easy to pull that persona off. Never really knew Julia through her cooking shows, I imagine you either loved her or hated her. Have to admire the relationship she had with her husband. Inspiring life too - finding your passion at nearly 40 (I'm nearly 40). I can empathize with Julie too, stuck in a cubicle to pay the bills when you know what your passion is, but you are unable to kindle it. So close, you can visualize the life you want to live, know you'd be happy living it, but unable to get it started. Frustrating - spinning your tires on ice when all you want to do is GO!
Puss (2004-2010) - October 18, 2010
I lost a good friend this weekend. We buried him down the road under some coniferous trees in a spot touched by the morning sun. He loved to lay in the sun. His friend Max watched our procession down the hill. Did he know his friend lay curled up in the plain brown box my husband carried? My little girl cried, I cried, I think even my husband was sad. We didn't say any words as we lay him in a deep hole my husband dug. No words were needed, our tears said it all. We tossed in his favorite treats and his red ball and two purple flowers. My little girl wanted to know if he needed water to drink too.
We shovelled the dirt back over him - to keep him warm and safe we told her. After a few silent moments we turned and made our way sadly back up the road toward home.
You were a good cat Puss. I'll miss your evening visits and your attempts for attention while I lay reading in bed; the way you'd thrust your head under my book looking for that chin rub and how you'd purr so loudly in contentment when I finally gave in.
I'll miss everything about you, I already do.
We shovelled the dirt back over him - to keep him warm and safe we told her. After a few silent moments we turned and made our way sadly back up the road toward home.
You were a good cat Puss. I'll miss your evening visits and your attempts for attention while I lay reading in bed; the way you'd thrust your head under my book looking for that chin rub and how you'd purr so loudly in contentment when I finally gave in.
I'll miss everything about you, I already do.
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| Puss tolerating his friend Max |
Looking at 20 years, no parole - August 10, 2010
Yesterday was a day of mourning for me - it was the official end of a year reigning my own little queendom, a year of freedom (well somewhat... but that's a long story about an even longer road and no car), my one on one year with Baby Breeze - yes, the end of my maternity leave. It's all gone now for the most part. I have returned to life (okay, I won't be melodramatic, it's really only a 20 year sentence) in A CUBICLE. I refuse to say "reality" because life in THE CUBICLE no way resembles how humans were meant to live. Prisoners have more freedom.
I walked into a space the size of my kitchen island, looked out a window that was so covered in murkiness I couldn't see the grimy rooftops below. I breathed in and choked - stale, warm air; I looked around at the dirty carpet and chased crumbs from their hiding spot underneath the monitor.
My neurons were rebelling and refused to fire - a meeting within the first hour! I tried to dredge up program history from the web-infested recesses of my working mind. I tried to focus on the upcoming deadlines, all urgent, all life threatening (my life that is). I couldn't. I didn't want to be there. My mommy brain was waging war with my working brain and it was no contest. I wanted to be outside, walking my baby down the hill, picking wild blackberries, breathing the fresh hilly air - my usual morning routine back home. Heck, I'd rather be changing a corn-infested, highly potent poopy diaper than be there.
My freedom is gone - no more games of chase and tickle with Baby Breeze, no more baking on impulse, catching a few minutes of TV, reading the newest blog postings, pulling a few weeds in the garden. All the spontaneity of life at home is gone.
BUT, I knew I wouldn't be able to face THE CUBICLE and all of its confines five days a week after 13 months at home so I am doing it slowly, no cold turkey for this gal. Home today and tomorrow the mourning starts all over again. On and off like that over the next few weeks until I can bear a full-time return. But all the while I will be planning my escape.
I used my year wisely...I did some soul-searching while the baby napped :) I found out what truly makes me tick and how I can combine my strengths with my interests to break free from THE CUBICLE. It's going to take time but when you are doing 20 years without parole (no more children for us and 20 years until retirement) time is all you have!
I walked into a space the size of my kitchen island, looked out a window that was so covered in murkiness I couldn't see the grimy rooftops below. I breathed in and choked - stale, warm air; I looked around at the dirty carpet and chased crumbs from their hiding spot underneath the monitor.
My neurons were rebelling and refused to fire - a meeting within the first hour! I tried to dredge up program history from the web-infested recesses of my working mind. I tried to focus on the upcoming deadlines, all urgent, all life threatening (my life that is). I couldn't. I didn't want to be there. My mommy brain was waging war with my working brain and it was no contest. I wanted to be outside, walking my baby down the hill, picking wild blackberries, breathing the fresh hilly air - my usual morning routine back home. Heck, I'd rather be changing a corn-infested, highly potent poopy diaper than be there.
My freedom is gone - no more games of chase and tickle with Baby Breeze, no more baking on impulse, catching a few minutes of TV, reading the newest blog postings, pulling a few weeds in the garden. All the spontaneity of life at home is gone.
BUT, I knew I wouldn't be able to face THE CUBICLE and all of its confines five days a week after 13 months at home so I am doing it slowly, no cold turkey for this gal. Home today and tomorrow the mourning starts all over again. On and off like that over the next few weeks until I can bear a full-time return. But all the while I will be planning my escape.
I used my year wisely...I did some soul-searching while the baby napped :) I found out what truly makes me tick and how I can combine my strengths with my interests to break free from THE CUBICLE. It's going to take time but when you are doing 20 years without parole (no more children for us and 20 years until retirement) time is all you have!
The Garden - July 26, 2010
Back when the perennials were just poking their heads through the soil, I vowed to nurture my garden and make good on that vow by posting photos throughout the season (see March 24/2010 post for photos). Hah. Here is the first photo since then and well, at least the plants are bigger than they were then, that's about all I can say. No time to nurture!
Waterlife - July 12, 2010
Did you watch the documentary "Waterlife" last week on the National Geographic channel?
It was eye opening to say the least. Beautiful, chilling and sad all at the same time. Here's just one example of what I learned watching it:
"You fill your prescription at the pharmacy. The pharmacist says 'be sure you don't take it with any of these 10 things'. But those 10 things are ALL in the water".
If you missed it, I really urge you to check out the award winning website - stunning!
http://waterlife.nfb.ca/
For additional information about the documentary, visit:
http://www.ourwaterlife.com/about.html
You'll never look at a glass or bottle of water the same way again.
It was eye opening to say the least. Beautiful, chilling and sad all at the same time. Here's just one example of what I learned watching it:
"You fill your prescription at the pharmacy. The pharmacist says 'be sure you don't take it with any of these 10 things'. But those 10 things are ALL in the water".
If you missed it, I really urge you to check out the award winning website - stunning!
http://waterlife.nfb.ca/
For additional information about the documentary, visit:
http://www.ourwaterlife.com/about.html
You'll never look at a glass or bottle of water the same way again.
Earthquake - June 23, 2010
I just felt my first real earthquake and did not like it one bit (we felt one once before in our first house just to the west of us but it was more of a noise like a truck than anything else)! Typing away here online in my kitchen with baby Breeze finally asleep and what the hell, everything starts rumbling and shaking and it is not stopping! I started to panick - just that out of control feeling of not knowing what is happening was awful. We've had some structural issues with the house and I thought "it's finally happening, the house is falling down". I ran down the hall where the baby was sound asleep, grabbed her, grabbed the phone, ran outside and called my husband. I was hyperventilating and crying like never NEVER before. I felt panicked. You know you are truly alive when you feel like that. My husband calmly told me it was an earthquake and he felt it in the city too. Once I calmed down and I went back inside all I found was one photo tipped over and two pictures on the wall slightly askew. What in God's name was it like for those poor people in Haiti, or Chile, or China? This minor 5.5 quake scared me at my core, what would it be like to experience the devastation those people lived through? I couldn't imagine.
Moths a plenty - June 4, 2010
Having left an exterior light on last night, we woke to find an array of moths resting on the wall of the house this morning:
Beautiful Luna Moth, above.
I still need to identify this rather large moth, above.
Moths are amazing at camoflauge.
Wildlife Death and Disaster - May 27, 2010
Speaking of wildlife death and disaster (see post below from yesterday), the very next night after the hummingbird adventure, Hunter was outside cutting the grass along the roadside when he unfortunately ran over this snake. The picture is blurry but it is the only one I have that doesn't show the grossness of the aftermath (snake vs. lawnmower blade), except for the close up below, which we used to help us identify it:
"Python" came to mind as soon as I saw it and it turns out that it is a constrictor, the only constricting snake in this area - an eastern milk snake. Very saddened that we only got to see it after we'd killed it.
We're now up to having seen four snake species in our neighbourhood: garter, northern watersnake (Hunter found it on the road, it had been hit by a car but still alive, he moved it to safety and only found out after that it is the most aggressive of our snakes - last time I go for a dip in the local lake!), and the tiny redbelly snake.
A Surprise Ending - May 26, 2010
With the girls finally tucked into bed last night, Hunter and I were cooling off on the deck after the heat of the day (+33 in May!). It was a calm and peaceful evening until I spotted Ginger the Cat. She was out in the long grass up to no good as usual.
She had something; something small and fast. A frog, a toad, perhaps a June bug. It was comical to watch at first - flicking it up out of the grass, batting at seemingly thin air. Then, just as quickly, she lost interest and started to walk away, but it moved again, and back she came for round two. Then I heard it or I thought I heard it and it didn't sound like an amphibian or insect, it sounded like a baby bird. I ran down the deck stairs yelling at the cat to get away so by the time I got to the spot Ginger was long gone and I had to search in the long grass to find whatever it was. There was nothing there, must have been a bug after all I thought. Whew. The mosquitoes were voracious last night so I wanted to get inside fast - I was about to walk away when I saw it. A tiny green wing streched upwards, a little black eye, a long beak tucked way down in the long grass.
"Dammit!!" I yelled. "It's one of the hummingbirds!!". I have the utmost respect for these tiny migrants and feel absolutely horrible when one loses it's life because of us. Last summer, one died after flying into our window.
Hunter was watching me the whole time from the deck above. "Is it dead? Pick it up!"
Now I've done my share of dissections as a young zoology student, I've worked at a wildlife rehab centre where birds are brought in after hitting hydro lines, at a denning site where crows have left garter snakes to die after feasting only on their livers, I've helped move a dead and stinky bear, shot and left to rot by some poacher - I've seen wildlife death and destruction, but I couldn't pick up something that may or may not be dead and bleeding. I don't know why, I guess I am afraid of seeing something in pain and causing it more pain, all I know is I couldn't pick it up.
Hunter came down and looked. It was dead.
"It's alive" he said. It wasn't blinking, it wasn't breathing, it looked dead to me.
I went in search of something to put it in. When I came back out, Hunter was sitting crossed legged in the long grass looking at this tiny little bird lying on her side in his hand, the mosquitoes buzzing all around him. Here was this "big guy", a hunter as his pseudonym suggests, someone that could take down a deer or a moose, sitting like a little boy carefully holding this delicate little bird in his big hand, mindless of the mosquitoes attacking from all sides. It was a moment I won't forget.
"I think her wings may be broken, but if we leave her out here all night the bugs will get her". She wasn't moving, I didn't think she had long to live and I didn't want her to spend her last few moments being eaten by ants and other "cleaner uppers".
"Put her out of her misery" I said.
That little bird heard and understood what I said, I am convinced of it, for no sooner were the words out of my mouth did her wings come alive with a buzz that sounded like two bees and she zipped out of my husband's hand and up into the trees as fast as I've seen a hummingbird fly!!
What a moment! We just looked on in awe. A happy ending. Who knew that hummingbirds could play dead?
Strange isn't it? I, who worked at a wildlife rehabilitation centre, so quick to put something out of its misery, yet my husband, a hunter who can take an animal's life, wanting to do what he could to save this tiny little one.
To learn more about these tiny wonders, check out these sites:
http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=71
http://www.hummingbirds.net/
She had something; something small and fast. A frog, a toad, perhaps a June bug. It was comical to watch at first - flicking it up out of the grass, batting at seemingly thin air. Then, just as quickly, she lost interest and started to walk away, but it moved again, and back she came for round two. Then I heard it or I thought I heard it and it didn't sound like an amphibian or insect, it sounded like a baby bird. I ran down the deck stairs yelling at the cat to get away so by the time I got to the spot Ginger was long gone and I had to search in the long grass to find whatever it was. There was nothing there, must have been a bug after all I thought. Whew. The mosquitoes were voracious last night so I wanted to get inside fast - I was about to walk away when I saw it. A tiny green wing streched upwards, a little black eye, a long beak tucked way down in the long grass.
"Dammit!!" I yelled. "It's one of the hummingbirds!!". I have the utmost respect for these tiny migrants and feel absolutely horrible when one loses it's life because of us. Last summer, one died after flying into our window.
Hunter was watching me the whole time from the deck above. "Is it dead? Pick it up!"
Now I've done my share of dissections as a young zoology student, I've worked at a wildlife rehab centre where birds are brought in after hitting hydro lines, at a denning site where crows have left garter snakes to die after feasting only on their livers, I've helped move a dead and stinky bear, shot and left to rot by some poacher - I've seen wildlife death and destruction, but I couldn't pick up something that may or may not be dead and bleeding. I don't know why, I guess I am afraid of seeing something in pain and causing it more pain, all I know is I couldn't pick it up.
Hunter came down and looked. It was dead.
"It's alive" he said. It wasn't blinking, it wasn't breathing, it looked dead to me.
I went in search of something to put it in. When I came back out, Hunter was sitting crossed legged in the long grass looking at this tiny little bird lying on her side in his hand, the mosquitoes buzzing all around him. Here was this "big guy", a hunter as his pseudonym suggests, someone that could take down a deer or a moose, sitting like a little boy carefully holding this delicate little bird in his big hand, mindless of the mosquitoes attacking from all sides. It was a moment I won't forget.
"I think her wings may be broken, but if we leave her out here all night the bugs will get her". She wasn't moving, I didn't think she had long to live and I didn't want her to spend her last few moments being eaten by ants and other "cleaner uppers".
"Put her out of her misery" I said.
That little bird heard and understood what I said, I am convinced of it, for no sooner were the words out of my mouth did her wings come alive with a buzz that sounded like two bees and she zipped out of my husband's hand and up into the trees as fast as I've seen a hummingbird fly!!
What a moment! We just looked on in awe. A happy ending. Who knew that hummingbirds could play dead?
Strange isn't it? I, who worked at a wildlife rehabilitation centre, so quick to put something out of its misery, yet my husband, a hunter who can take an animal's life, wanting to do what he could to save this tiny little one.
To learn more about these tiny wonders, check out these sites:
http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?id=71
http://www.hummingbirds.net/
Just a funny face - May 19, 2010
Tuesday April 27, 2010
Life is busy! Between health issues, basement renovations, life with Baby Breeze - who now not only crawls but can walk pushing a bin or chair at 8 months- and Storm who just turned 4 years and has her first dance recital coming up (which means weekly practice, photo shoots, dress rehearsals, searching stores for leotards and makeup!!), yard and garden work, long-distance learning, not to mention daily household chores and trying to come up with 3 healthy meals a day, I am exhausted! I used to get sooo many things done in one day (before kids), now I have to pick and choose what I do while the baby sleeps - working on my blog right now is at the expense of organizing the hall closet or completing the setup of the office (now that we have walls and a floor). Every day I choose a project and focus on that - laundry, vacuuming, baking, organizing, picking up toys, (where did they all come from? I think some asexual reproduction is going on while I sleep), etc, etc, etc.We still do not have the full use of the basement which we so desperately need - we are awaiting our tile. Once the floor is in we will have much needed closet and storage space which means everything that's laid out in our rec room right now will be put away and we can start using it as a rec room! Hurray, it's only been 3 years! Then we need to focus on the bathrooms. Renovating this house has been one of the slowest processes, how can that be when the world is spinning so fast and everyone, including me, complains how hurried life has become?
Spring is in the air - March 24, 2010
We have had an amazing last few weeks here - an early spring that is especially sweet after the last two winters that seemed unending. The daffodils are poking through as are a few other perennials. We've been sitting on the deck for the last several weeks with temperatures of +5 C and up to +12 C of late! And what does that make me want to do? get out in the garden and spring clean the house. The spring air has bewitched me though and left me feeling stronger than I really am. Can I lift a couch with one hand and vacuum underneath it with the other? of course I can. NOT. It has been one week since I thought I could and even now I dropped the laundry basket like a hot potato after carrying it a few feet down the hall. Nothing like a sharp muscle spasm to remind me to take it easy and now I am back to scuttling about like a hermit crab.
What I wanted to do well over a week ago was post some photos of the garden as the first plants began to poke tentatively through the earth, a celebration of this early and long awaited spring (Baby Breeze's very first spring!) but my back didn't cooperate. Finally this morning I was able to take some pictures. Below are daffodils, irises and one lone poppy (thankfully I raked the day before I hurt myself but as you can see there is a lot more work that needs to be done). I intend to post photos of the garden as itchanges flourishes over the next few months (if it gets the TLC it needs). For a sneak peek of what's ahead see my post from Jan 19th below.
What I wanted to do well over a week ago was post some photos of the garden as the first plants began to poke tentatively through the earth, a celebration of this early and long awaited spring (Baby Breeze's very first spring!) but my back didn't cooperate. Finally this morning I was able to take some pictures. Below are daffodils, irises and one lone poppy (thankfully I raked the day before I hurt myself but as you can see there is a lot more work that needs to be done). I intend to post photos of the garden as it
The Month of Love - February 2010
February is considered Heart Month here by the Heart and Stroke Foundation, I never really thought too much about that until this year. Just before Valentine's Day my husband woke up with chest and (left) arm pain; he's only in his mid-30s.
Heart disease does run in his family - both his father and younger brother have had issues with their hearts, needless to say the warning bells were sounding loudly (or was that just my heart pounding?). He wanted to drive Storm to daycare before getting checked out at the hospital. Ummm, no way Jose, you go directly to the hospital now, do not pass go, do not collect $200! Unfortunately he had to drive himself there. Three hours later I reached him on his cell, he had had an EKG, blood work, and a few other tests. "I'll be home in half an hour" he said, "just waiting for the doc". Somehow I knew I wouldn't be seeing him in 30 minutes. Sure enough, the doc later told him he had had a "cardiac event" and would not let him leave the hospital to return the vehicle to me. We decided to wait until the next day before trying to find a way to get myself to the hospital. He spent the night in the ER and was transferred to one of the city hospitals the next morning for an angiogram. It was a restless night at home (and no doubt for him at the hospital too).
He called me the next morning to say the cardiologist informed him he could drive a truck through his arteries they were so clear. That was the good news, the bad news was the diagnosis of myocarditis - a infection of the heart muscle, most likely from a virus (but parasites and bacteria are also known culprits). He'd would spend the next 3 days in the ER. His heart had suffered some damage from the inflammation caused by his body's immune response to the virus whether this is permanent or not only time will tell. As the second day wore on so did my anxiety until at last I was able to reach someone to take me to the hospital to see him and pick up the vehicle. I told our friend just drop me off at the door (with the girls!) but thankfully he came in with me. No children under 12 allowed in the ER so he waited and watched the kids while I had a quick visit with Hunter. I had a few minutes with him before I had to run back to my children in the waiting room especially once Baby Breeze realized she was being left with someone she had never seen before! A few more back and forths and then, with a heavy heart, I left my husband in the ER to bring the girls home. One of the downsides of living away from family is having no one to back you up in a situation like this.
It has also put things in perspective for me. You can have all the plans in the world, for yourself, your family, your home, and then bam! a sucker punch out of the blue. Our biggest decisions of late have been focused on paint color and flooring type. Suddenly, I found myself thinking about the possibility of having to raise two little girls on my own - how? where? why?? I thought we were in control of our lives but we aren't, we are at the mercy of the unknown, and that scares me.
Heart disease does run in his family - both his father and younger brother have had issues with their hearts, needless to say the warning bells were sounding loudly (or was that just my heart pounding?). He wanted to drive Storm to daycare before getting checked out at the hospital. Ummm, no way Jose, you go directly to the hospital now, do not pass go, do not collect $200! Unfortunately he had to drive himself there. Three hours later I reached him on his cell, he had had an EKG, blood work, and a few other tests. "I'll be home in half an hour" he said, "just waiting for the doc". Somehow I knew I wouldn't be seeing him in 30 minutes. Sure enough, the doc later told him he had had a "cardiac event" and would not let him leave the hospital to return the vehicle to me. We decided to wait until the next day before trying to find a way to get myself to the hospital. He spent the night in the ER and was transferred to one of the city hospitals the next morning for an angiogram. It was a restless night at home (and no doubt for him at the hospital too).
He called me the next morning to say the cardiologist informed him he could drive a truck through his arteries they were so clear. That was the good news, the bad news was the diagnosis of myocarditis - a infection of the heart muscle, most likely from a virus (but parasites and bacteria are also known culprits). He'd would spend the next 3 days in the ER. His heart had suffered some damage from the inflammation caused by his body's immune response to the virus whether this is permanent or not only time will tell. As the second day wore on so did my anxiety until at last I was able to reach someone to take me to the hospital to see him and pick up the vehicle. I told our friend just drop me off at the door (with the girls!) but thankfully he came in with me. No children under 12 allowed in the ER so he waited and watched the kids while I had a quick visit with Hunter. I had a few minutes with him before I had to run back to my children in the waiting room especially once Baby Breeze realized she was being left with someone she had never seen before! A few more back and forths and then, with a heavy heart, I left my husband in the ER to bring the girls home. One of the downsides of living away from family is having no one to back you up in a situation like this.
It has also put things in perspective for me. You can have all the plans in the world, for yourself, your family, your home, and then bam! a sucker punch out of the blue. Our biggest decisions of late have been focused on paint color and flooring type. Suddenly, I found myself thinking about the possibility of having to raise two little girls on my own - how? where? why?? I thought we were in control of our lives but we aren't, we are at the mercy of the unknown, and that scares me.
Grandma's Apron - Jan 20, 2010
I've received handmade aprons from my husband's grandmother as birthday gifts in previous years. Now I admit I don't often use them but I have always appreciated them, there is something very special about a homemade gift and something endearingly old-fashioned about aprons. I never thought too much about the uses of an apron beyond the obvious until I came across Grandma's Apron. Makes me wish I had lived in a simpler time:The principal use of Grandma's apron was to protect the dress underneath, because she only had a few, it was easier to wash aprons than dresses and they used less material, but along with that, it served as a potholder for removing hot pans from the oven.
It was wonderful for drying children's tears, and on occasion was even used for cleaning out dirty ears…
From the chicken coop, the apron was used for carrying eggs, fussy chicks, and sometimes half-hatched eggs to be finished in the warming oven.
When company came, those aprons were ideal hiding places for shy kids.
And when the weather was cold grandma wrapped it around her arms.
Those big old aprons wiped many a perspiring brow, bent over the hot wood stove.
Chips and kindling wood were brought into the kitchen in that apron.
From the garden, it carried all sorts of vegetables.
After the peas had been shelled, it carried out the hulls.
In the fall, the apron was used to bring in apples that had fallen from the trees.
When unexpected company drove up the road, it was surprising how much furniture that old apron could dust in a matter of seconds.
When dinner was ready, Grandma walked out onto the porch, waved her apron, and the men-folk knew it was time to come in from the fields to dinner.
It will be a long time before someone invents something that will replace that 'old-time apron' that served so many purposes.
Grandma used to set her hot baked apple pies on the window sill to cool.
Her granddaughters set theirs on the window sill to thaw.
They would go crazy now trying to figure out how many germs were on that apron.
I never caught anything from an apron…but Love.
(Author Unknown)
(Author Unknown)
Counting the days until spring - Jan 19, 2010
Bananas! - Jan 14, 2010
Chocolate milkshake sans ice cream
Looking for a healthier alternative to an ice cream shake, or just plain out of ice cream? Living on a hilltop in the country I can't run to the corner store when I am short on something so I improvise. A frozen banana and chocolate milk make a delicious chocolate shake and my daughter Storm is none the wiser that it contains no ice cream whatsoever (and I feel great aboout sneaking fruit into her diet - and my husband's - whenever I can)! If you don't have chocolate milk, white milk and chocolate powder/syrup might do it, even plain white milk and a frozen banana for a banana shake might be worth a try, frozen strawberries and white milk sounds pretty yummy too! I used to just throw over-ripe bananas in the compost, now they go straight into the freezer but I've learned the most efficient way is to peel them first and freeze them in a freezer bag.
Looking for a healthier alternative to an ice cream shake, or just plain out of ice cream? Living on a hilltop in the country I can't run to the corner store when I am short on something so I improvise. A frozen banana and chocolate milk make a delicious chocolate shake and my daughter Storm is none the wiser that it contains no ice cream whatsoever (and I feel great aboout sneaking fruit into her diet - and my husband's - whenever I can)! If you don't have chocolate milk, white milk and chocolate powder/syrup might do it, even plain white milk and a frozen banana for a banana shake might be worth a try, frozen strawberries and white milk sounds pretty yummy too! I used to just throw over-ripe bananas in the compost, now they go straight into the freezer but I've learned the most efficient way is to peel them first and freeze them in a freezer bag.
Our Wild Neighbours - Jan 13, 2010
We share our hilltop with some wild neighbours - black bears, raccoons, bats, skunks, deer and a variety of birds. I photographed this barred owl the other morning as he was being harrassed by feeding blue jays. He was back today - the jays and chickadees ignoring him for the most part.
It is wonderful having nature so close but with two dogs and three cats we've had a few encounters I'd sooner forget (a blog topic for another day!).
Poison Control Centre - Wed, Jan 6, 2010
I called the Poison Control Centre for the first time in my life yesterday. Usually my husband gives the baby her Vitamin D drops in the nursery, but last night she was going to sleep as I rocked her in the living room, so he gave them to her there. I left to take her to her crib and I guess my husband left the bottle on the end table and went to do something in the kitchen. A little while later I told my preschooler (Storm) it was bed time, looking back I remember she had her hands over her face and I asked her why she was covering her eyes (she's done this before). No response (and no big deal I thought - boy was I wrong!). I went to look in on the baby again who was crying and indicated to my husband that it was time for Storm to go to bed.
A little while later he came into the nursery looking for her, and then did the rounds - our bedroom, her bedroom, the living room. This was not a good sign, whenever she's hiding somewhere she's up to no good. Suddenly I hear him boom "what are you doing? that's medicine, you're going to get sick"! My stomach lurched, what had I left out - my rolaids? She has been into those before, then it dawned on me, the Vitamin D drops! As I rocked the baby, I assessed the situation - I knew the bottle was only a quarter full and they were baby drops. I was worried but not panicked and then wondered what my husband was doing in response to this - it had become awfully quiet in the living room.
With baby asleep, I wandered into the kitchen to find him searching online for the company that made the Vitamin D drops. There's nothing about overdosing he says. I suggest calling Poison Control but he scoffs and tells me Vitamin D is not poison. I bit my lip to avoid a hasty and ugly response and undeterred I walk over to the phone where I have the number posted. My husband then starts calling out the phone number he's found on the bottle of Vitamin D, okay, I'll play along - it rings through but of course there's no answer after 8 o'clock in the evening! So thus I make the call to Poison Control - I was very impressed with the staff member's cool and collected demeanor. I felt pretty calm and collected myself I have to say, it was afterall a small amount of Vit D, I would have been a basket case had it been bleach or some other household nasty (although I apparently did drink bleach when I was a toddler and survived with no apparent ill effects). She was going to be fine, all we were told to do was to stop her multivitamins for two weeks which contained Vitamin D. Phew! I couldn't help smiling in victory at my husband - not only had I taken control of the situation and made the right call, Storm was going to be fine (my husband has worked in the emergency response field so I guess I have this expectation that he will respond to any and all "emergencies" with level headedness and cool efficiency).
I heard Hunter tell Storm that mummy was on the phone with the hospital to make sure she was going to be okay and not to touch medicine ever again. A little while later, Storm came over to me and said she was sorry she drank her little sister's medicine, she hadn't meant to (hmmmm). She was so sincere and afterall, we* were the ones who'd left it where she could find it. A good wake up call for us though - we are very viligant about keeping medicines, cleaners, etc locked up and out of the way but it only takes one small bout of absentmindedness to undo all that viligance.
(* Okay, it wasn't me who left it out, it was him, and I could have scolded and blamed but I took the high road. No doubt my husband felt bad enough without me harassing him. Tempting though!).
A little while later he came into the nursery looking for her, and then did the rounds - our bedroom, her bedroom, the living room. This was not a good sign, whenever she's hiding somewhere she's up to no good. Suddenly I hear him boom "what are you doing? that's medicine, you're going to get sick"! My stomach lurched, what had I left out - my rolaids? She has been into those before, then it dawned on me, the Vitamin D drops! As I rocked the baby, I assessed the situation - I knew the bottle was only a quarter full and they were baby drops. I was worried but not panicked and then wondered what my husband was doing in response to this - it had become awfully quiet in the living room.
With baby asleep, I wandered into the kitchen to find him searching online for the company that made the Vitamin D drops. There's nothing about overdosing he says. I suggest calling Poison Control but he scoffs and tells me Vitamin D is not poison. I bit my lip to avoid a hasty and ugly response and undeterred I walk over to the phone where I have the number posted. My husband then starts calling out the phone number he's found on the bottle of Vitamin D, okay, I'll play along - it rings through but of course there's no answer after 8 o'clock in the evening! So thus I make the call to Poison Control - I was very impressed with the staff member's cool and collected demeanor. I felt pretty calm and collected myself I have to say, it was afterall a small amount of Vit D, I would have been a basket case had it been bleach or some other household nasty (although I apparently did drink bleach when I was a toddler and survived with no apparent ill effects). She was going to be fine, all we were told to do was to stop her multivitamins for two weeks which contained Vitamin D. Phew! I couldn't help smiling in victory at my husband - not only had I taken control of the situation and made the right call, Storm was going to be fine (my husband has worked in the emergency response field so I guess I have this expectation that he will respond to any and all "emergencies" with level headedness and cool efficiency).
I heard Hunter tell Storm that mummy was on the phone with the hospital to make sure she was going to be okay and not to touch medicine ever again. A little while later, Storm came over to me and said she was sorry she drank her little sister's medicine, she hadn't meant to (hmmmm). She was so sincere and afterall, we* were the ones who'd left it where she could find it. A good wake up call for us though - we are very viligant about keeping medicines, cleaners, etc locked up and out of the way but it only takes one small bout of absentmindedness to undo all that viligance.
(* Okay, it wasn't me who left it out, it was him, and I could have scolded and blamed but I took the high road. No doubt my husband felt bad enough without me harassing him. Tempting though!).
Monday Morning - January 5, 2010
So the baby (Breeze) was more interested in Ginger the Cat this morning than her oatmeal cereal (but not enough to stop her from removing her bib repeatedly) and definitely not more than her sippy cup of water. The result? an unfed sopping wet baby and wasted bowl of cereal. Then my preschooler soaked her head with water (nothing out of the ordinary there) so her bangs stay off her face. I offered her a barrett which she allowed me to put in her hair but it wasn't working, so I tried blow drying her hair to keep it off her face. Not overly successful, back to the "bed head" which is what you and I would call a head band, but somewhere along the line she considered her hair to be too messy and had her first meltdown of the morning.
The husband, Hunter, is back to work after the holidays, the drywall men are here and the furnace man is expected any time now. Just as the baby was nodding off, they arrived, as announced by my dogs to the entire neighbourhood - strike one for the nap. Second try for the nap and that is when the drywall men decided to start their banging ( they're at the point of sanding today so what the heck are they banging anyway?) - strike two.
I am looking forward to tomorrow, after the holidays the baby and I will have the house to ourselves. Drywall men will finally be gone, it's been a few weeks now that they have lived in my basement. My preschooler is back to daycare. The house will be quiet but not clean. With the entire basement cleared for drywalling, we are tripping over toys, coats, boxes, books, tools, you name it, it's up here. I am not complaining though, this is a dream come true for me to finally have the basement renovations underway! More space.... at least until we fill it with all those toys, coats, boxes, books, and tools!
The husband, Hunter, is back to work after the holidays, the drywall men are here and the furnace man is expected any time now. Just as the baby was nodding off, they arrived, as announced by my dogs to the entire neighbourhood - strike one for the nap. Second try for the nap and that is when the drywall men decided to start their banging ( they're at the point of sanding today so what the heck are they banging anyway?) - strike two.
I am looking forward to tomorrow, after the holidays the baby and I will have the house to ourselves. Drywall men will finally be gone, it's been a few weeks now that they have lived in my basement. My preschooler is back to daycare. The house will be quiet but not clean. With the entire basement cleared for drywalling, we are tripping over toys, coats, boxes, books, tools, you name it, it's up here. I am not complaining though, this is a dream come true for me to finally have the basement renovations underway! More space.... at least until we fill it with all those toys, coats, boxes, books, and tools!
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