-the smell and feel of the changing seasons.  (Edmonton had it’s first snow fall the other day and it appears to be sticking around.)

-afternoon naps with a fuzzy puppy

-creating fresh, tasty and freeze-able meals… and then eating them!

-the daily fight over seeds and perches at the bird feeder

-the sound of the clock ticking being the only noise in the house right now

-a clean and cosy (unpacked!) home

-knitting warm woolly things to go with the changing seasons (or at least pretending to knit)

-the sight of some too-long-packed-up artwork finally up on my walls

-sharing a warm shower right before bed

-snuggling with a blanket in the evening with my boys

Gawd!  I could go on and on with the simple, non-monetary/-possession based delights in my life.  What simple things are you most enjoying right now?

Have a lovely weekend!

• a DARK orange chocolate bar!!
• a handmade notebook (which Jarred marvels over each time he goes into my purse)
• a noisy keep-giving birthday card (a complete hoot!), and
• a handmade birthday card for me

And all I could do was smile! Just like the card says. Even after I spilt water, twice, a-l-l over the table trying to take this photo. At least the table got cleaned and I still have chocolate to nibble on. Thank you, Peanut!

(Wouldn’t it be wonderful if all mail came enclosed with chocolate?! Just think of how delightful it would be to open those you-are-past-due notices?)

Finding interesting recipes is not hard to do but working them into the time, ingredients, palate and allergy range I work with is a little tricker and requires a little more searching. For this, I have unpacked every single cookbook I own, raided my mother’s books (Liette, yours are next!) and taken out at least thirty-odd from the library. So far it has been an tasty visual feast that is working its way into our tummies.

However, last night I found myself in front of the stove with a great menu, most of the ingredients and absolutely no idea where I found the recipe! Being a sticky queen, I had cleverly written rough meal plans on sticky notes…. kick-ass salmon, pg 99 with Brussels sprouts (with pine nuts and sundried tomatoes -oo!), pg 216 and salad, pg 98….. and stuck these tasty menus to the stove and fridge. But failed to write on ANY of them which the book the recipe came from. Let’s just say that last night’s supper was a little more of an ‘interesting’ flavour combo than I was expecting.

What do you do to keep your page or to mark that special/oh cool! recipe for later? Stickies? Paper clips? Running lists? Note book?

Book share!

Ultimate Foods for Ultimate Health… and don’t forget the chocolate! by Liz Pearson and Mairlyn Smith.

This is a great book! My sister heard the authors speak at one of her professional conferences and was so impressed that she bought two books. The book outlines how to eat healthy and balanced without bashing you over the head with boring information and then expands that information to meal planning, recipes and other treats. Every recipe we’ve tried is crazy healthy (we don’t tell the boys that!) and deeeelicious!!

However, I AM moving forward!  And trying to move forward in every little bit of my life –which is turning out to be a surprisingly daunting and time-consuming task despite my quiet little life.  But it is obviously time to do this as I am not happy with my life, with who I am, with what I am doing and where I am going (do I even know where that is??).  I DO know that I don’t want to be discovering this and trying to amend these issues when I am 72.

So as time passes, you will see more changes to this blog (isn’t this a hideous layout?), more photos posted and shared, more projects completed…. and more of ME.  The real, who-I-wanna-be me.