Minimalism

A tiny place of peace

/ admin

A month ago we were returning from the west coast, after helping our son Harrison move into his new place. Harrison is starting his fifth year living in Victoria, the capital city of our Province. He’s been enrolled in the University of Victoria’s Gustavson business school. This is a coop program, where you study academically at the University, but then have the opportunity to work for several companies throughout the program to enhance your education. This fall, Harrison secured a wonderful opportunity to work for a large investment company, located in Toronto (he’s working in Victoria, on line due to the pandemic) and next Spring, if all goes well, he will complete his degree.

He’s been doing exceptionally well and has even garnered some scholarship money. The only downside to attending the University of Victoria has been the housing situation. It’s never been great for students, as the University only has enough housing for first year students and this year the demand was so great that they couldn’t even accommodate those request. It’s not like we were ignorant of this fact, since our older children, Alyssa and Mitchell both completed their degrees at U Vic, but you know, you always hope that something will be found.

The first year Harrison lived on campus but by the second year, since U Vic doesn’t have adequate housing, he had to secure something off campus. Fortunately, Harrison made some great friends and he and three other guys rented a house together, where they lived for year two and three. Then in year four, wanting a change, he and his two other roommates, rented a trendy 3 bedroom apartment in the Uptown area of Victoria. That worked well last year but his roommates, both business students, are spending their last year of school learning abroad, so Harrison had to find something else. By this time however, he was really ready to find his own place. Easier said than done, since demand was out weighing inventory and this blew the roof off rental prices. Well, all real estate for that matter!

Victoria is one of the nicest places to live in Canada….this is a picture of the inner harbour

It was literally down to the wire and we were telling Harrison that he could always come home for the fall, since he was working on line anyway, but then he found a place. A perfect place. The fact that the real estate agent hired to rent the suite, had also attended U Vic’s business school, might have swayed things his way as he secured it quickly. It’s always good to have mutual connections!

Harrison’s new, 400 something square foot, one bedroom condo suite is located in a styling building on the edge of downtown Victoria; walking distance to the famous inner harbour and has all the amenities that living in the city brings.

That cool urban lifestyle is attractive in so many ways.

Harrison’s new place to hang his hat, has a unique look

When we agreed to help Harrison move out of his apartment and into his new place, I thought it was going to be two busy days but Harrison had been busy selling unwanted items and decluttering with a vengeance. It’s not that he had tons of things. In fact the fact that he didn’t, made it a lot easier. as he could pick up each item, down to individual math books for instance and say, “do I need this? do I want it?” and then find a home for it. He had also rented a van and started packing some things in it before we arrived on August 30th.

Will, Kate, Tori and David….no whales on our trip over but it’s always fun going through the Active pass and looking at Ocean side cabins
There is something so restorative about being on the ferry to Vancouver Island…always an adventure!

We arrived late afternoon on August 30th, and with the help of our three youngest kids, Will, Kate and Tori, we were able to move Harry out of his apartment and fully pack his van in a matter of hours. Easy, peasy! We were able to pick up dinner and have a lovely evening back in our hotel room. He was officially out of his apartment and everything he owned was in the van or in the back of our mini van. It was a breeze.

The next morning, August 31st, we were up early. Harrison and his Dad went off on several errands; Harrison had to meet with his previous landlord to hand over the keys and have the final walk through of his old place. He had to pick up the keys for his new condo’s elevator, so we could have it exclusively the next morning for his move. Later in the day, he finally got to see his new condo, while picking up the keys from the real estate agent. Up to that point, he had only seen pictures of his place but both he and his Dad were thrilled seeing it for the first time and they returned to the hotel later that day with many stories. The kids and I had stayed in our hotel for most of the day. I took them swimming in the poo,l which we had reserved for our own use, we had read, played games and snacked a bunch.

We had the pool all to ourselves while Harrison and David accomplished moving errands

When David and Harrison returned, we went to do some shopping, (new bedding etc) and to pick up dinner. We did get to bed early though, as we knew the next day would be busy.

We got up early the next morning and put on our running shoes, ready for the big move. Harrison had the elevator and parking spot reserved from 9 to 1 pm and I thought we would really have to hustle to get everything in during those hours. Between the five of us however, we were able to move him into his place in 45 minutes. I kid you not!!! We packed that elevator maybe three, at the outset, four times and were easily up and into his apartment with all of his belongings in NO TIME. The kids were a big help! Once everything was in the suite, David and Harrison put his bed together and the kids and I unpacked all the kitchen items, washed them, and placed them in the perfectly tiny and well appointed kitchen.

By noon, the kitchen was all set up. David and Harrison went out on a few errands; to return the elevator key, and the moving van, etc and the kids and I remained. The only hitch was that the new white sheet set we had bought from Homesense the day before, only had 1 flat sheet it it. Where was the fitted sheet and pillow cases that were supposedly inside? No problem though, as we had a number of things to still obtain and we would return it and find another set, garbage can and cutlery container, to name a few other helpful items to make things feel homier.

This picture is from the advertisement of the building and while it isn’t Harrison’s bathroom configuration….it has the same colours and finishes…small but chic! I loved the flooring which you can’t see here but it’s black and white.

While Harrison and David were gone, I made up his bed with the bedding we had, and the kids being so exhausted, actually all laid down in a row on his bed and fell asleep on the cozy duvet. I was shocked at how fast they all dropped into a deep slumber but the place was so restful that even I wanted to just lay down and dream. I didn’t though. I unpacked a few more boxes and moved the furniture around into a better configuration. Not that Harrison had much, but having less makes it more fun. (Harrison’s girlfriend Dani, had lent him a few pieces that fit in beautifully with the decor of the place…she has incredible taste) When David and Harrison returned a few hours later everything was in place. Other than a few Rubbermaid boxes, which I stacked in the hall, there really was nothing else to do. He could literally just start to live.

…except we needed food.

I couldn’t resist putting baby bear in the middle of the pillows when I found him in one of Harrison’s boxes. He’s had him for 22 years now!

With the thought of food, the little kids woke up and we took off again. We had lunch in the van as we drove to Costco, and then we had a delightful time shopping for food to fill Harrison’s fridge. After living with roommates for several years this was the nicest part for Harrison, as the whole fridge and freezer would be his alone and he could fill it with all the food he wanted. It made me so happy too! In the picture below, his fridge is behind the wall to Harrison’s right and the stacking washing machine and dryer are in the cabinet to his left.

Harrison and David on move in day…..almost everything is unpacked! The ceilings are super high and the feel is an urban loft with exposed pipes etc….the hall wall is concrete. The floors are a dark distressed wood….easy to clean!
Harrison’s first moment to sit in his new digs
The moving crew

Once we returned and filled his fridge and freezer, we took off again for a delightful walk to Victoria’s historic inner harbour. We soaked up the downtown life; watching people, window shopping, and taking in all the sights of Harrison’s new neighbourhood. As the day’s curtain slowly closed, the evening breeze gently flowed in from the ocean. We ended our walk at one of our favourite places to eat in Victoria, “Tacofino.” We ordered up our chosen taco’s and ate them right on the street. On our walk back to Harry’s place I was thinking, “what a cool, hip place to live.” It suits Harrison perfectly.

Will, David, Tori and Kate in front of the infamous Empress Hotel in Victoria’s inner harbour
The sun set as we were down at the inner harbour on this Sept 1st, 2021….it was an exciting and fun day

Returning to Harrison’s building, we all hugged and took a few more pictures, then it was time for us to say goodbye and return to our hotel for our final night’s stay in Victoria. It was the easiest and most fun move I’ve ever experienced. Since then, we have spoken to Harrison many times and each time he marvels over the joy he feels in his new place. While it’s nice to live with other people, there is something to be said for having a place all your own. It’s a place where you can really relax and be at peace.

Harrison has found that in his tiny place.

Well dear blogging friends, family and blog readers, I will close for now as I’m off to bed. It’s late here and as per usual, the only time I feel like I can write is when the house is quiet. I hope this post was somewhat coherent as a result, ha! I’m glad to have shared Harrison’s move with you. While we may not have a small footprint of our own, we can always carefully edit our belongings and surround ourselves with only things we love and use. We can all have a place of peace to call our own.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

The More We Have

/ admin

Merry Christmas!….it’s good to be back.

This year end blog post, is basically centered on the theme of Henry David Thoreau’s quote below.

~”Most of the luxuries and many of the so-called comforts of life are not only not indispensable, but positive hindrances to mankind”~   

It’s timely is it not? After all, the weeks leading up to the holidays are consumer driven, as we purchase the non essentials in life, to bestow on those we love.

 While there were many times I started writing on this theme, and I certainly talked to many people about it throughout the year, it took a recent event to help me find clarity on the subject.

Also, it was a tough year for me. In my often, ummm, can I say depressed state, the last thing I wanted to do was write a non inspiring post. After all, this is suppose to be where you can find hope. She was clearly absent.

 

My best friend T, gave me this ornament years ago…later in this post I will tell you about how T’s visit shifted my perspective at the end of this year

Unwrapping the last days of this year, has allowed me to see the gem of wisdom that 2018 gave me. But first, before I show you how well it glitters, I’d like to travel back over the year, sharing how this unusual year unfolded for me.

Have you ever had one of those years, where almost everything you own, stopped working? Well, if I were to describe 2018, it would be the year of “experiencing possession hell.”

It literally started on New Years Day when David was taking the older kids home after Christmas. While driving over the mountains to the coast, a car flew by our van, and a rock was thrown up, hitting and smashing our sun roof. That was the first incident heralding a difficult year for us. The next item to crash was my computer. 

I had really wanted to join my writing group in January, for what was meant to be a “diving deeper session,” but without my main writing tool, it was impossible to write. I have been limping along using the kid’s desk top computer, (which I’m writing on now) but it’s been agonizing to write in our computer niche, which is basically in the hall between all the children’s bedrooms, a thriving thoroughfare. Not in the least, conducive for writing.

Then all sorts of little things throughout the spring stopped working; our lawn mower and trimmer, David’s coffee maker, our toaster, the microwave to name only a few.

Our new lawnmower, after our old one died

In June, we had a terrible wind and rain storm. I awoke in the dead of night, to hear William whisper urgently, “there is water coming into our house.” When I went to investigate, water was flooding down the stairwell. As it turned out, our sky light had blown off our roof and rain was pouring in, which damaged our wood floors, caused water stains on our drywall, and of course, the sky light was badly scratched. Of course, the roofers, who had just replaced our roof the year before, denied being responsible for “NOT” screwing our sky light down when they laid down the new shingles

This was also the month that we were finally having the air conditioner replaced, although we did know the summer before that this would be on our list. Still, it was a biggie and you know, it’s always such a pain getting contractors to quote and then actually do the job. We had started looking for someone to purchase it from in April and it had taken months to actually have it installed!

After what seemed like forever, the new air conditioner was installed

Finally, cool air was blowing in our house in time for our summer guests to arrive  but then one morning, I woke up and there was no hot water. Yikes! Yes, our hot water tank needed to be replaced.

At this point, I threw up my hands and wondered what was next. What was next, ended up being new tires for our little car, (the back tire literally shredded to bits while I was driving with the kids to what was suppose to be a frugal camping experience, HA!) When we came back from that trip, our pool pump stopped pumping, and then, gee, while we are at it, we might as well replace the solar cover for the pool too, since it was falling apart.

Here is a snap of our little Fit being loaded onto a tow truck trailer after we blew a tire on the way to our camping trip. It was blistering hot as we waited on the side of the road for David to come and collect us in the van.

Well, this went on and on, with one item after another breaking down. Somewhere along the way, we got our two University bound sons off to their respective schools, the van loaded down with various furniture pieces, their Dad had constructed for them throughout the summer. I thought things would let up, as we headed into fall but nope, and in fact, as I write this blog post, David just got the part for our garage door opener, and thankfully, it was the right one. He was able to take the whole thing apart and put the necessary part in himself. It’s handy, to have a handy-man in the house. What would we have done if he was not so, I don’t know. 

What was the worst thing about this whole year you may ask? It was my depression. I was mentally broken. I can’t pin point when it started but with each thing that needed to be replaced or repaired, it took a piece of light out of me. And until recently, I felt disconnected with the world. When I look back at pictures of myself, I seem to be there but trust me, I was living in a fog of sadness.

But as life may have it, something happened to help me see my life in a different light. My dearest friend came for a visit in November. We don’t live close any longer, but thankfully, she still has family in our area and she often takes time to visits me when she does come to our little town. It was so good to see her and we caught up on each other’s lives in a few hours. You know you have a BEST friend when you can pick up exactly where you left off, even though you may not see each other for months.

This is for you T……

When I waved goodbye to her, I realized that she had brought me a huge gift. You see, her mom, and her younger sister, had both been recently diagnosed with cancer within months of each other. Throughout the fall, they had both been dealing with surgery and treatment for their disease. My dear friend was holding everything together for her family.  Somehow, she has been caring for her immediate family, (as well as a family friend who was living with them)  holding down a job, helping her oldest daughter to plan a wedding, spear heading many of her youngest daughter’s grade 12 grad events/fundraisers, while all the time coming up to the Okanagan to offer support and care for her extended family. When T’s navy blue car was finally out of sight, I walked back into my home, sighing deeply. 

Something inside of me shifted.

A little piece of light shone.

When I look at the list of  “THINGS,” that had broken in my life, I realized I was dealing with first world problems. Also, nothing can compare to when you have someone sick in your family.

It was all just stuff. Although it had been a really tough year on our pocket book, somehow David had earned the money to cover our expenses. Also, when I looked at my list; “sun roofs, sky lights, air conditioners, pool pumps,” etc, I realized how blessed we are!!! To even have these things in  life is incredible. What really hit me was, “the more we have, the less focus we have on what is truly important.” Our family, our friends, our community, our world.

And when I look back on some of the highlights from our year, life was full of goodness, even if I was too blind at the time to recognize it. Here are a few moments from our 2018 year.

Early in the spring, David completed our cool attic space, in time for Harrison to return from University. Although he changed the “Relax,” sign to “Carpe Diem.”

 

Harrison home from his first year at University

 

Mitchell came home too for a short visit. The weather was beautiful and it was a nice respite for him after a challenging year of University. Soon he would graduate.

 

The Second String Trio (Will, Kate and Tori) throw a few late spring concerts

 

 

 

 

 

 

Will got a kayak for his 9th birthday and we are all excited for him….can we try it out?

I planted our garden late in the year, but we had abundance, after abundance, even though our Province was covered in smoky skies from all the forest fires.

 

We went to the Island to see Mitchell graduate and had a delightful visit in my sister B.’s guest suite at B and J’s strata complex. The kids love, LOVE their dog Dugan

 

A pod of killer whales were spotted while we were on the ferry..wow!

Then we went to Victoria to attend Mitchell’s graduation from U ViC, proudly holding his new science degree diploma.

Guess what? My oldest had her ten year grad reunion last July. . Here she is visiting with our kitty Ryuuki before she heads off to one of the planned grad reunion events.

And right after Alyssa’s grad reunion, we left on the fateful camping trip, where our car blew a tire. We had to have the car towed to Salmon Arm and then have four new tires installed!

Grace, above in the bright orange shirt, turned 15 last year and this past summer, got a job at the water slides. The kids and I spent several summer days hanging out watching her say, “go…okay, you can go….go, ….no, don’t go…”…you get the idea.

 

In July, we had a memorable family get together at my sister J’s house…the one that lives in the country with an amazing house/property

 

The kids jumped and jumped all summer long…on the trampoline, in the pool, off the wharf at the country club.

 

While the little kids jumped, Harrison and Clark worked hard as landscapers….Clark worked 5 days a week and then on the 6th he worked at the Science Centre….The guys had great tans and amazing muscles by the end of summer…thanks for digging up one of our mugho shrubs boys!

Then before we knew it, Clark was off to U of A, where he had been accepted into their law program. All thumbs up Clark!

And then it was Harrison’s turn…not the best picture but the kids were up super early to say good bye to Harrison. David looks really tired as he just came back from driving to Edmonton, where he dropped Clark off…now he is off to Victoria with Harry….what a crazy summer!

And before we knew it, the kids were back to school and it was clean up time around the yard. Thanks Kate, and thanks chickens. Sadly, we lost one of our chicks this fall…but as I type this, the other three are probably cuddling together under the heat lamp.

 

Another highlight of our year, was when Harrison came home in November for reading week and brought a special person into our lives. It was lovely getting to know D better. Using a coin expression I’ve picked up from when Alyssa was in London, “Don’t they look brilliant!”

Then it was David’s birthday, my birthday, my sister C’s birthday, then Grace’s 16th birthday and finally, just a few days ago, Clark came home on his birthday and we celebrated his birthday too

Amidst all of those birthdays, it was time to decorate for Christmas….

And finally there were concerts, and concerts and concerts…I’m not kidding! Today, was finally the last one…oh that is until Christmas day when the kids will throw us another concert…it’s their gift to us. It’s my favourite one of the year though, as it’s in the comfort of our home.

As I wrap up 2018, I can look at it kindly and say, thank you. It was a year of immense lessons. When so many people in the world are starving, when many families are struggling to give their children a better life, when families are facing major health issues, or losing loved ones, how can I be depressed over our material wealth?

I gave myself a good kick in the pants, pulled up my socks and threw myself into the act of counting my blessings and giving to others. There is so much goodness in my life and this year, I basically slept through it all in a fog of depression. I vow to do better tomorrow, in the days ahead, and in the upcoming year. 

I also want to take more time and reevaluate our material possessions. I read two interesting books this past fall, “Meet the Frugalwoods,” and “You can buy happiness, (and it’s cheap!).” Both books had me really thinking again about material possessions and simplicity. I know for me, when I choose to NOT buy into the consumer driven culture, when I’m creative, when I make things from scratch, etc, I’m more content and happier.

Elizabeth Willard Thames, the Author of Meet the Frugalwoods…a must read if you want simplicity in your life

A good example, is our trip to the mountains once again to cut down our Christmas trees. (BTW, they are under the power lines and would be cut down anyway.) They are beautiful. No, they are not full and huge, like a cultured tree, or a fake one. Instead, they are organic looking, natural and real. Did I mention how delightfully fragrant they are too? Instead of buying a tree stand, David and I put our thinking caps on and filled a large bucket with small round rocks from our yard and filled it with water. Guess what? It works great and didn’t cost a thing.

Along the lines of simple living, I’m knitting our little girl scarves for Christmas and David has been in Santa’s workshop again this year making them a Barbie house. Our oldest daughter is also getting something special from the workshop, but as she often reads my blog, I will refrain from spoiling the surprise.

 

Despite it being Freezing in the garage, David, aka, Santa, built the little girls a doll house for their barbies….in the picture it’s not painted but it is now and it’s very cottagy…is that a word? We have plans to make some furniture and a fireplace with little pea gravel glued on…the top of the doll house comes off so it can turn into a shelf unit when the little girls outgrow Barbie’s.

The point is though, that for me anyway, making things, if we have to have “things,” is more satisfying than earning the money and buying stuff. More stuff that will just break. And you know what brings me the most joy? Doing little things that help others. Although we didn’t have a lot extra in the budget this year, we were able to buy some baking from our school’s girls group, who were using the proceeds to purchase goats for third world families. We gave some gently used toys to our community’s local toy drive, (and a new one too) and all the kids dropped food into our school’s food bank bins. It’s not much, but it makes me smile and realize, I have so much.

So how was your 2018? What did it teach you about your life and how you are living it? Often, it’s the times in our life when we are down on our knees crying, that we learn the most about life. I don’t think we always need to suffer though to learn. We need to open our hearts, open our eyes and realize how blessed we are.

As the year closes, I hope you know that one of my blessings is you. I’m thankful to have a few people who make a cup of tea and come to read my posts.

Christmas is only a few days away and with it comes the season of light, love and  hope. It’s hope that lit my way this year. Now if I can spread a bit of that around, my holiday will really be full of joy. Funny how that works hey?….when you give of yourself, the joy of giving floods back into your life.

What do you want for Christmas?

I hope your holiday is merry and bright and magic fills your heart. I thought I would end this post with one of my fav newer Christmas songs. “When Christmas Comes to Town,” from the Polar Express movie, is played, it WHOOSHES me back to when I was a little girl. A little girl whose father had just died and she was struggling to still believe in the unseen. Was Santa real? Where did her Dad go? I sometimes wonder if this material world is real.

I think it’s just an illusion to get me to look deeper.

Merry Christmas!

and happy New Year! It will undoubtedly be full of new experiences and lessons. (Also, in my case, my daily mantra will be, “All things are working in my life!)

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

(This blog post is dedicated to my dear friend T, her mom, and sister. You are not alone. Your struggles touch the world as we are all connected. “Be well.”) Continue reading →

Hopeful Healing

/ admin

I missed writing my minimalist Monday post yesterday. Partly, due to the fact that our three youngest children were playing with their youth orchestra at a music festival out of town, and partly due to the fact that I’m oh so very sad.

 

Victoria, William and Kathryn, on our way to the Kelowna music festival

The little girls warming up….I can hear them CLEARLY, even though everyone was warming up…that’s a funny thing about being a mom….you can always pick our your child’s voice in the crowd, or in this case…their violin.

 

William warms up intently….he really enjoys playing cello and during the actual performance his head and facial expressions were expressive….way to go Will….you guys got GOLD!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You have heard me say this before; “we are all connected.” And never do we feel it more than when there is a tragedy. When I heard the news about the Humboldt, Saskatchewan, Bronco’s hockey team’s bus crash last Friday, my heart broke; so many lives lost, and so many families changed forever. What I keep thinking about over and over is why. The accident was so bizarre and out of the blue. I mean, if there had been a terrible blizzard, maybe one could wrap their head around it, but there doesn’t seem to be any other reason, other than the bus was at the intersection at the wrong time. As my son Clark said, “what makes these events tragic, is how random they are.”

The YouTube video below by Lorri Brewer illustrates how connected we truly are….

We Are All Connected from Lorri Brewer on Vimeo.

Having been changed forever when my father was killed in a truck accident when I was a young child, I have a clear sense of the magnitude of a family’s loss. And being a parent, whose worst nightmare  would be to lose a child, this accident hits me deeply.

And as if that wasn’t enough horror in our world, there was yet another chemical weapon attack in Syria, where once again, crimes against humanity have occurred.  I’ve been crying deep inside for the victims of this most recent poisoning and all the families effected in the bus/truck accident. How do we go on amidst constant tragedies in the world? How do we support one another?

Here is one way another grieving person (Sylvie Kellington)  chose to help the Bronco’s families with; “A Go Fund Me, :page. We can all help to make a difference.

It felt, so flippant writing about another way to become more minimal and environmentally proactive this week. While those things are important, at least to me, stopping and feeling the pain from loss  seemed more appropriate right now.  Some would say, “oh Lee, stop watching the news shows, or stop reading the news on line.” But if I did that, I’d feel like I was turning my back on people’s pain and grief. As hard as this is on my heart, I want to be impacted by their darkest days. I want to be reminded, that in a blink of an eye, our lives can change. We are all living on this large, spinning planet; gravity holding us to the earth, but in more ways than one are we truly one family. And we need being reminded of that. Because, although we may not be able to avoid horrific, random accidents, we can make a change with regards to how we treat each other, and make a stand on how dictators around the world are acting.

How can we move forward with hope in our hearts and allow healing to occur. How can we change what is happening in our world to our fellow humans?

I ask these questions and seek the answers and thought I would share an article with links that I came across on the net. Since I’m not a psychologist, or a grief counselor, I needed to find ways to process the most recent events and the following article and links inside of it have been beneficial to me. Maybe, you too, would find them helpful. Check out: We humans~How to be More Hopeful, written on Apr 3, 2018  by

It was a timely article for me and highlights eight Ted talk speakers, who are inspiring. I particularly appreciated the writer, Andrew Solomon, who said:

“You need to take the traumas and make them part of who you’ve come to be, and you need to fold the worst events of your life into a narrative of triumph, evincing a better self in response to things that hurt.”

“Grief is like the ocean;

it comes in waves,

ebbing and flowing.

Sometimes the water is

calm, and sometimes it

is overwhelming. All we

can do is learn to swim.”

Vicki Harrison

 

While I would love to crawl under the covers today or to sink deep into a fiction novel, that flies me far away from real life issues,  I am choosing instead to stay connected with others and “listen deeply and intentionally,” as  Dave Isay,  founder of the NYC-based nonprofit StoryCorps suggests, allowing others to share their story of love, wisdom and courage,   to fill me up, instead of depleting me. As he says, “it can sometimes feel like you’re walking on holy ground,” when you listen to these stories.

And if there was ever a time I need that, we ALL need that on this earth, it’s now. It’s when we break open and allow grief to change us, that we return to the NOW, and remember what’s truly important.

“Simply Loving each other”….and maybe that is my minimalist post after all…because nothing is more simple and yet powerful than that!

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings and love from Hope

Minimalist Monday~Letting Go of What Doesn’t Serve You

/ admin

 

 

Welcome to another Minimalist Monday post. In a few short hours, the last Monday of Spring break will be over and everyone will be back to their respective schools/jobs. It was a fabulous break in so many ways. No we didn’t go to Hawaii, or to Mexico, like many of our children’s friend’s families. One family even went to Cuba and Will said another is off to England for a month. WOW! It was wonderful none the less, although we rarely left our subdivision. Sometimes, keeping things quiet, relaxed and simple are the best ways to enjoy a break.

At least in my opinion.

I continued to get more pruning done since I last wrote. David and Clark also accomplished a lot. They took most of the second wooden retaining wall down and hauled it to the land fill. All 800 pounds of it~! Once Harrison’s attic space is complete, (David is working every spare moment on it) we can get going on the second river bed rock wall above the pool. And then we can plant it with herbs, and edible flowers, which is perfect for our pollinators. Check out the plants that pollinators love.

Do you see all that old retaining wood in the middle of the bed…well David and Clark finally cut that up and hauled it away. We are one step closer to the next rock wall being built!

We concluded the Easter Egg hunt in the attic space we are building for Harrison, who will be home from University in three weeks!When it’s finally done we can start working on the rock wall again.

The children practiced their music, their math and their reading everyday in the morning and then spent the rest of the day outside riding bikes, playing in our play ground, or jumping on the trampoline. We even invited a few friends over to play, which was nice for the children to reconnect with their friends, since two weeks is a LONG time when you are six and eight. Grace even had a friend over.

Our Easter Weekend was more minimal than is past years and started out with a good April Fool’s joke–or at least I thought it was one. On Easter Sunday the children burst into our bedroom really early and exclaimed, “it’s snowing!” I laughed sleepily into my pillow, “oh that’s a good one guys.” “No, really mom, it’s snowing!” they all chimed in unison, as they opened our bedroom curtains to show a white out outside our bedroom window.

Saturday had been glorious. Okay, maybe a bit brisk, but the sun was shining and the sky was mostly blue. What had happened? The sky was now heavy with white clouds, and big, fluffy flakes were gently falling, covering the ground in a thick quilt of  more white.  No green was showing. “Ahhhh!” I said, collasping into my pillow and pulling the comforter over my head.

David, laughed and got out of bed to take the kids to the kitchen for Sunday breakfast. Normally, it’s their tradition to make pancakes and waffles with fruit on Saturday and Sunday, but since it was Easter, there were cinnamon buns and everyone was looking forward to that treat. “Do you want anything mom,” they asked as they left my bedroom. “Spring,” I said, and  promptly went back to sleep. I dreamed a weird dream about our neighbours ripping out all their lawn and laying down carpet, upon which they exclaimed , “It’s so easy to keep clean. You just vacuum it!”

I woke up a while later rather groggy, residue from my dream still lingering, and stumbled into the bathroom.  I was shocked to see blue sky. The grass was even green. Had I dreamed it had been snowing a few hours earlier? “Where did the snow go?” I yelled towards the kitchen, in which David replied, “all melted!” That was the strangest Easter morning I have ever experienced in all our years in our little town. Now when we lived in Calgary, Alberta, many years ago, that wouldn’t have been an uncommon occurrence, but not in the Okanagan.  (Do you doubt global warming when you wake up to a blizzard on Easter Sunday in the Okanagan?)

Needless to say,  I flew into action as I didn’t want to waste a moment of this promising day. I had much to do. Get the turkey in the oven, ice the bunny, carrot cake, I had made the night before.  Peel all the vegetables and generally get ready for our Sunday dinner.  Clark and David were hauling the broken down retaining wall out of our yard and into David’s company truck, which he had for the weekend so it was my job to get the scavenger clues distributed for our Easter egg hunt.

No time to waste!

The kids helped me decorate our carrot cake/bunny cake

Ta Da….Bunny 2018

While I took the little kids to their orchestra rehearsal for their upcoming festival, Grace iced the sugar cookies she had made…they were delicious with a hint of almond in the icing, yum!

These sugar cookies turned out perfectly….thank you Grace!

Grace agreed to take the little ones for a walk while I set out the clues around our yard and the day was well on it’s way. As I was moving through the yard, dropping clues among plants and faeries, I was thinking about how great this spring break was for our family. I was also pondering what I wanted to write about for this minimalist Monday and suddenly it came to me. Over spring break we did a few things in the name of minimalism.

 

Grace took the kids for a walk, while I put out all the Easter egg hunt clues…See what a nice day it turned out to be. You would never know it had snowed heavily earlier in the day and everything was white.

Only seven of us around the table this year…small but lovely. Happy Easter!

The first step to moving towards minimalism is: “let go of what doesn’t serve you any longer.” But it’s a constant process. Last summer, at a golf tournament, David won a golf bag and putter. They were both good quality but nothing David needed, nor did our sons, who also play a bit of golf. So one night, David did a bit of sleuthing to see what these items would sell for and then he listed them on Kijiji. Within a day he had two people interested and by day two he had sold the items.

Sold…bag and putter and no longer collecting dust in the garage!

The man that bought them was thrilled with the price and the value and kept saying, “this is just what I have been looking for.” David felt really great about selling the items and knew that they would be put to good use. The money also came in handy, as we were able to help out our two University sons with a bit of money to tide them over until the semester ends.

Win/Win!

Then a few days later the twins invited a friend over for a play date. As it turns out their friend has a little brother. Bonus! I pulled out Will’s old bike with training wheels and the big wheel tricycle that we have  been tripping over and asked the mom if she thought her little guy could use them. She smiled brightly and said she would gladly take them, as they can always use more outdoor toys. I smiled too, as we tucked them into the back of her van.

Will’s little bike with training wheels and the Big Wheel, found a new home!

Walking back to our house with a tiny bit emptier garage, I suddenly felt lighter. I was so inspired by letting go of these items, that I cleaned the whole garage. Once it was done, we could actually find what we were looking for. The rest of spring break was even better, as the little ones could wheel their bikes, scooter and plasma cars, in and out of the garage without bumping into things that they no longer played with.

Win/Win!

And so while we are well along the path towards minimalism, it reminded me that you have to be ever vigilant and get rid of stuff as soon as you recognize it is no longer serving you. Although we did a huge declutter, a few years ago,  I am always combing through drawers and closets to make sure we never get into that space again. It reminded me that it’s so easy to let the bigger stuff stay because it’s not like you can just donate it in a bag to Good Will. And speaking of Good Will, I just saw a CBC, “Marketplace,” show, discussing what happens to all our used clothing. Check it out!

If you think that someone is happily using your donated clothing, think again. I had no idea, but most of the clothes that gets donated, ends up in land fills, either in our country, or abroad. It was shocking. And so, as we make a list of what our children need in the way of new clothing, ’cause they are growing out of everything, I’m going to be a mindful consumer this spring. I will try to purchase fewer items of good quality so we can wash them again and again and they continue to look great. Also, by buying good quality, when you do let them go, the chances of them being used until they are truly worn out is better. People appreciate good quality cotton clothing.

Well, that concludes my thoughts for this Monday. If I don’t post it soon it will be Tuesday…PROBABLY will be, as I’m on the west coast and it’s already April 3rd where my blogging site is located.  Anyway, it’s all good! I hope you enjoyed your break and if you too are moving in the direction of becoming a minimalist, the next time you trip over something in your house, garage, or yard, set it aside and find a home for it. A place that will appreciate it and the side benefit is that you will feel lighter as you move along this journey we call life.

One final thing I want to leave you with is a prayer. Part of taking a minimalist approach this Easter was to remind our children that it’s not about the Easter bunny and getting stuff. While we all enjoy a bit of chocolate, I wanted to teach them why Christians celebrate this holiday. I pulled out a few of my treasured childhood Christian related books,  and we read bible stories. Will, Kate and Tori sat quietly, attentively, listening to the stories of how Easter came to be. Finally we found a lovely sweet prayer at the end of one of the books  that resonated with all of us. I hope you enjoy it as much as our little ones did and I hope you know too, how much you are loved.

God Whispers to us in our hearts:

“Do not fear, I am here

And I love you, my dear,

Close your eyes and sleep tight

For tomorrow will be bright~

All is well, dear child.

Good night.”

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

 

Minimalist Monday~Pruning Fruit Trees and Hair

/ admin

The Price of Anything is the Amount of Life You Exchange For It   

It’s been the wackiest first week of spring break. We thought the nice weather was finally with us, but then out of the blue, it started snowing. Everyone was shocked. Normally by the time that my sister J, blows out her birthday candles on the 19th, Spring is well on its way. By the way, did you know that the first day of spring changes year by year? Huh? That is something I just found out this week. But anyway, whether it’s the 20th or the 21st, someone should tell Mother Nature that the white, cold stuff is persona non grata around here.

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As if the kids hadn’t seen snow all winter, they were excited to see one last snow fall this spring….or will it be?Even our Siamese cat, Ryuuki was rather shocked.

Ryuuki watching the snow fall…again!

On March 17, we celebrated Saint Patrick’s day with some Irish Stew and Irish Soda Bread.

Clark brought me home this tea mug, “Irish Blessing,” when he and Alyssa were in Ireland last year.

And the next day, I dug through my “seeds of hope,” box and quickly potted up a few dozen of my favourite seeds; four different kinds of tomatoes, three kinds of squash, plus pumpkin,  and several varieties of flowers. I am planning to work once again at my gardening gig later this spring, where I can buy beautiful plants, but I find it fulfilling to start some of my plants from seeds. Plus, I find that the plants are stronger and more resilient when they have already grown a season in my garden.

I started a few dozen plants on March 18th, which is about 8 weeks before I’m going to plant them out in my garden

I place the pots in a south facing window and even though we have had some cold early spring days, after one week the tomatoes are up.

Well, that’s a peek into our first week of spring break and now I will get on with my second, “Minimalist Monday, ” topic; “Pruning Fruit Trees and Hair. “

WHAT?

Yes, if you are like my husband David, you are probably wondering what pruning fruit trees and hair have to do with minimalism. When I told him what I was planning to write, he looked at my oddly. But hang in there with me and I will try to tie the two together.

First, if you are visiting my blog for the first time, and the word “homestead, ” drew you here, you may be interested in the subject of pruning fruit trees. I’m all about making or growing what we use and like to eat, so several years ago we started a mini orchard in our back forty. Nine years ago this fall to be exact, as our son Mitchell was still home, (he’s just finishing up his four year degree at University this spring)  he helped us dig the holes we needed for our trees. I’ll never forget the sky growing ominously darker as we were digging the holes for the trees. By the time we were finished planting, we were all drenched from the pounding rain. Mitchell was smiling. He has always loved the rain. I was smiling too, as fall is a good time to plant fruit trees, and I knew they were getting a good watering that first night in their new home.

The other way I remember the age of our fruit trees, is that I’d saved the placenta after our son William had been born in June 2009. The placenta was in our big freezer all summer waiting to be settled somewhere in our yard. Will, if you are wondering where the placenta was planted, check out the picture of you below behind the Spartan Apple tree. Strangely enough, it’s the tree that always produces the BEST fruit.

I knew that all over the world and in different cultures, the placenta was saved and planted or used in a ritual. For instance, for the Navajo Indians in North America, it is customary for them to bury a child’s placenta within the sacred four corners of the tribe’s reservation as a binder to ancestral land and people. The Navajos also bury objects with it to signify the profession they hope the child will pursue

I didn’t follow any particular belief or ritual, but I had waited a long to for William to come to earth and it had been a struggle to conceive him. I wanted the tangible thing that connected us to each other, and also helped him grow inside me, to be placed next to the roots of something that would bear delicious fruit.

Anyway, back to the topic at hand; pruning fruit trees.  When we prune a fruit tree, it helps the tree’s production, growth, appearance and health. And that is where I link minimalism into this subject;  Thinning branches that are diseased or growing inward, preventing light and sunshine into the centre of the tree, is a bit like how I’m trying to create my life. I’m looking at each aspect of my life; the things surrounding me, the people I associate with, the ideas that flow through my mind, and even my hair, are all things that can hinder or help me in creating a rich, inspired life. So this last week, as I stepped back from my fruit tree and decided which branch needed to go, I was also thinking inward about what I wanted to prune in my life to bring more light and sunshine into the centre of my being.

Isn’t it amazing how nature is ALWAYS teaching us?

You can hardly see William behind this Spartan apple tree which needs a good thinning….kind of like how we live our life. Until we let go of stuff, we are unable to clearly see ourselves and what we truly want in our life in order to create our BEST life.

And here it is after the thinning process…although I realize now that with the Birch tree in the background it’s hard to clearly see the branches I have removed. Suffice it to say, the central leader is nicely displayed and the branches that were crossing over and moving inward are removed.

When I finished pruning the last tree, I exhaled. It’s a big job, but time well spent as I know we will all appreciate eating the organically grown fruit later this year.  It’s really satisfying growing your own food and knowing you don’t have to rely on anyone else.

Now we just need some sunshine.

And  that brings me to the hair aspect of my post. “Hair, hair, beautiful hair,”  that song from the Broadway play, “Hair,” is playing over and over in my head, like a CD on  repeat mode, this Minimalism Monday. Just like pruning our fruit trees this week, taking care of our family’s hair took a lot of my time. Well, to be accurate, it takes up a lot of my time every day, since I still have young children, who need help maintaining it.  And as I was analyzing the branches to prune in my orchard, I was also thinking about the changes I have made caring for my hair, and also my family’s hair. The first big step towards change occurred when William was just a baby and we were planting his placenta under that apple tree. We were starting to really think about living more sustain-ably. Suddenly, caring for six heads, seemed overwhelming to me, both in time and financially, and it occurred to me that cutting hair was not rocket science. It was something that clearly I could do myself.  I looked around and realized, I had a houseful of of hair. Curly hair, straight hair, thin hair, thick hair, blonde hair, brown hair, baby hair, well you get the idea. All sorts of hair to learn to cut.

Also, right around the time that our sixth little person was born, I suddenly had no time to book hair appointments, or even take time to drive to them, wait for the stylist, sit in the chair, listening to canned music that unnerved me, and then I felt annoyed having to pay for a cut that I often didn’t even like. David too, was tired of going to his high end stylish and paying a small fortune every 6 weeks and he often came home saying it was too short, or the stylist had kept the top too long. Then there was the expense!

So, I bought a good pair of scissors, an electric trimmer with graduated attachments, a few combs, some clips, a spray water bottle, and started reading up on various style cuts for women, men and children. (Now there are tons of YouTube videos on cutting hair)

 

I went to shop in town called “Sally’s” and bought what I needed to cut hair

But where does minimalism come in you may ask. Well, just like in pruning fruit trees to produce the best fruit, when you have a good hair plan, perhaps a minimalist style and maintenance,  it allows you the luxury of more time and money to live the life you desire. Now, I’m not suggesting that you say  “au revoir,” to a beloved stylist,  but if you are like me, and feel unsettled being in a busy salon where people are chatting away all around you,  scissors are going snip, snip, snip and blow dryers are screaming a whirling noise, not to mention that canned music, then you may want to reconsider how you are managing your hair. If you haven’t gone there yet, just think about cutting your own hair, cutting your partners hair and certainly your children’s hair.

From a minimalist point of view, hair that is either really short or really long is the best way to go in my opinion. While short hair may need more maintenance to keep it short, it frees up your time daily in styling. And long hair doesn’t require as many cuts, and although it may take longer to shampoo and condition, it’s easy to do every day. Wear it down, pull it back into a low pony tail and your done. (And who’s to say that you need to shampoo it at all. Our son, Mitchell, does the “no poo.” He wets his hair when he showers but that’s it. He never shampoos it with chemical rich hair products and he has thick, glossy, healthy hair)

The other plus about cutting your own hair, is that you don’t have to listen to what a professional feels is the right cut for you or get lured into buying hair product that just sits in your bathroom. Usually a stylist wants you to cut your hair short so they can keep you coming back regularly to maintain it. (Okay, I may be cynical here but that’s been my experience)  For instance,  I have had hair dressers say that since my hair is fine and straight, I should wear it no longer than my shoulders. Well, I’m done with that. Right now my hair is moving way past my shoulders and it’s actually starting to get wavy. While many may think it’s not as flattering as my usual bob,  I’m loving it.  It’s now loose and relaxed, like how I want to live.

And as for men, I really dig beards that are so popular now. If I were a man, I would be relieved not to have to shave. Saves time, saves money on razors, shaving cream, and is warm in the winter.  Also, I love men with no hair. I think bald is very attractive in my opinion and environmentally friendly, as it saves on hair product! Now a bald man with a beard….ahhhh! A great combi.

I realize most people have strong opinions about hair and I’m not saying that you need to minimize your hair routine etc to be a minimalist but hey, just think about where you are spending your time and your money. Is that where you want it to go?

Check out my kitchen salon, “Hair by Hope.” Our younger kids have NEVER been to a stylist and personally I think they have great cuts.  William’s hair is blonde, curly and beautiful. Most of the boys in his grade three class have short, I mean buzzed hair, which is fine and probably easy for their parents to do every day, but for William, he looks best with locks and he loves his hair longer too.

Victoria Before

Victoria after…she has wavy hair that looks great in a bob but we are going to grow it out

Victoria after…we pull back the bangs with a clip to keep the hair out of her eyes

 

Kathryn Before

 

Kathryn After, her bangs are grown out

Kathryn After…Could a stylist do any better?

William Before….yes his hair is starting to get crazy

William After…he asked me not to take too much hair off but it’s tamed down now

Kathryn, William, Victoria, AFTER….ready to go and play

Me, cutting Victoria’s hair. When I cut my hair, I flipped it forward and cut it straight across. Then I cut the sides with a bit of layering. It’s a lot longer than it looks in this picture.

Cutting hair is not rocket science!

Grace has thick, long hair and it got this way from me just trimming it regularly. When she used to go to the salon they would take a few inches off every time she went and it never seemed to grow….now it’s growing and looks amazing

Grace After…SMILING.

To finish up my day at the kitchen salon, I did Clark’s hair too

Clark After….he’s got a bit of a beard and mustache starting. This cut will last for about 8 weeks and cost NOTHING~~~

So that’s what has been going on around here this last week. Cutting hair and pruning trees. Oh and meditating.  Are you meditating with me? I hope someone is. I tried to get my family ommming with me but they just looked at me like, “I have better things to do with my time!” That’s okay. I get that. I’ve really enjoyed the daily meditation sessions with Deepak and Oprah. I love when Deepak says as the end of the guided meditation section, ” I’ll mind the time and when it’s time to end, you will hear me ring a soft bell.” Today’s mantra was, “Siddho Hum,” meaning, “I am perfect.” And isn’t that what it’s all about really? When we come from a place of self love, feeling perfect, then we can begin to really live. It’s not really about pruning  fruit trees or cutting hair, it’s about living in the here and now. Mindfulness is the key. Stripping what doesn’t work for us, creates a bit more room for us to find our true nature. The meditation theme has been about shedding weight in all aspects of our life and for me, staying in the present moment, and letting go of my story, is my biggest challenge. Am I alone?

Are you moving in the direction of living an inspired life? If you get frustrated that things aren’t exactly how you would like, just remember we are all in the process. That’s what makes this earthly experience so delightful.  We have choice, and can choose to grow fruit trees in our backyard, grow our hair long, or cut it all off, we can choose to meditate or not. In the big scheme nothing matters. “So hum,” is what I tell my children when they get going in all directions. It means, “I am.” And when you come back to that place, there is peace. There is love. That is where the most inspired life lives.

But on a more earthly subject, I’d love to hear what you think is a minimalist hair cut. What works for you and makes you happy with regards to your hair? And I hope you come back for a visit as we made Sauerkraut recently and I want to share our results with you so, STAY TUNED.

All through writing this post, I was humming this tune…check out this video ’cause if you haven’t lived in the 60’s you may not know it, “Hair” by the Cowsills

Until we connect again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Minimalism Monday~Shedding the Weight

/ admin

 

My dear blogging family,

With spring on our doorstep, I feel light and free; as if I could accomplish anything! It’s also the first Monday of spring break and I have  two, glorious weeks to spend with my youngest  children. The endless days spread out enticingly before us. We have a long list of plans and much to do but first I wanted to start, what I hope will be a regular Monday blog post throughout this spring centered on my favourite topic; Minimalism.

Spring is the perfect time to shed our heavy coats from winter and lighten our load. Spring is a good time to open the windows, release all the stale air, and let go of whatever we have accumulated in the cold, hoarding season. Personally, speaking, I hold onto far more than I normally would, in the belief I may need it someday; especially if winter goes on and on.

I’m ready to do a major spring cleaning with some new, green, homemade cleaning products, we are letting go of our garbage service, (who needs to pay it if you are moving in the direction of a  zero-waste lifestyle?) and letting go also of our cable t.v. service. Yes, we are one of those die hard families still holding onto that archaic service.

Today, my first minimalism topic is meditation. When I’m in a meditative state, I feel light and free, totally weightless, and part of the greater whole. I love that feeling! I don’t know why I don’t meditate more often, but life often gets in the way. (or rather I allow it to) I think we as humans like to suffer. We like to drag all our earthly crap with us daily; whether it be actual material stuff, or a relationship that no longer nurtures us. Perhaps, you have a few pounds on your earth suit that you would like to lose?  Or it may be letting go of the fear that hounds us, when we turn into most media. Seeing images of hate, racism,  misogynistic behavior, greed, I could go on and on, is not good for our well being. And yet, we tune in and let those images and words into our lives, into our homes.

Why?

After meditating, I feel more peaceful. I’m able to shift easier, as life bombards me with often tragic events occurring all  over the world. After being still, I feel kinder to myself, more loving and worthy. I deserve to live my best life ever. When I meditate, I can control what is going on in my mind; in my life. It helps to balance me, keeping me in a state where I can be a gate keeper for only goodness flowing into my life.

And so, I invite you to join me today, in Deepak Chopra and Oprah’s, 21 day meditation challenge. Think of it as the first step in your minimalism journey this spring. If we can let go of just one thing that is not working for us, shedding it from our lives, then we have more energy to be more loving and kind to ourselves and those around us. In that space, we may also be able to let go of even more that isn’t working for us. Seems like a win/win to me.

It starts TODAY so sign up; it’s free. Really! Yes, totally free. I’ve done a number of their meditation challenges and this one really speaks to me, as I want to shed much from my life this spring. It’s a process in which I’m always in the state of but in my opinion, spring is the perfect time to shed what isn’t working for us any longer.

Here’s the link: to Oprah and Deepak, “Shedding the Weight, Mind, Body and Spirit”

The following is an excerpt explaining further what the challenge is about:

Shedding the Weight: Mind, Body and Spirit begins March 19! Together we’ll embark on a boundless meditation journey to shed the burdens that hold us back, so we can start shining from the inside out.

You’ll learn how to:

  1. Release heaviness and toxicity – on every level
  2. Break free from unhealthy habits using the light of your own awareness
  3. Discover what truly nourishes your entire being to bring newfound freshness, inspiration, and joy into your life

If you don’t see this post for a few days, they still allow you to register and you can catch up. I hope you take advantage of this opportunity as it could change your life.

Let’s move on the path of shedding worthless weight together.

Hey and before I close, I want to say Happy Birthday to my sister J!…one of my three incredible, “soul sisters.” She has taught me MUCH, on this journey we call life. J,  I hope your day is FULL of love!

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

More or Less? (Reflections while camping)

/ Lee Reynolds


   
                                                                 
  “Use for yourself little, but give to others much.” —Albert Einstein

 

Isn’t free will an interesting concept? At its core level it can be a freeing experience, empowering even, but here is where the oxymoron lies, for some of us, having limitless choices creates stress and anxiety. I deeply appreciate knowing this is a first world problem and I don’t take this liberty for granted, but more and more, I am choosing less and less.
 I want a simpler way of living.

Our recent camping experience demonstrated that a minimalist approach in life makes me happier. We have been camping for years now and while we always take tents, our van is usually loaded with all sorts of extras that this year I vetoed. This year choosing to take less meant we packed up laser fast. What used to take several days to organize and pack, literally took one afternoon with David and I dividing and conquering the tasks. What took the most time this year was pausing to say, “no.” No to the board games and toys the children never play with, no to the extra pillows and the daily change of clean “ironed” clothes we don’t really need. No to unnecessary toiletries. I didn’t even take a tube of lip gloss!

What made it even easier was a seasonal forecast for dry, hot weather. This summer our Province has experienced a record high amount of forest fires and although that has been really tragic and sad for those who have lost their homes or have been evacuated from their properties for weeks, for those of us outside the fire areas, there has been a lot of smoke to contend with. Often really poor air quality and some days it can be depressing seeing only grey and white in the air when you know blue is just beyond all the smoke. It did make packing for our camping holiday easier, knowing it would continue to be hot; a few swim suits, a pair of shorts, a t shirt, some pj’s and we called it good.

Also, when I packed our food, the option of having S’mores was gone since camp fires were prohibited and I was hoping that our minimalist camping would transfer over to a simpler diet as well. The day before we left I picked green beans from the garden and gathered cucumbers and tomatoes which would all be great with our lunch and dinners and on our way out of town we bought some corn and various fresh fruit for the kids to snack on. I packed some quinoa and rice, some cans of organic lentil soup and the kid’s favourite Annie’s macaroni and cheese in a box which was a real treat and easy for me to prepare.

Thankfully, none of our children are allergic to peanuts, so bringing some peanut butter, jam and bread filled the lunch bill and breakfasts….well, David went crazy when he was at Costco buying supplies and got the kids little boxes of those cereals that they always wanted to try. Thankfully, I packed a bag of old fashion oatmeal with ground flax seed, nuts and dried fruit and after the first morning eating those sugary cereals, several of the children asked for some of my oatmeal on the following mornings.

Having choices is good! The contrast teaches what you don’t and do want in life.
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Another huge benefit was the camp set up which was a breeze. In no time our tents were up, our sleeping bags rolled out, giving us lots of time to swim, play on the beach, float around on the one luxury we did bring; an inflatable boat and when we weren’t at the beach the kids played card games and we all had brought books to read. Each evening when it was cooler we went out for a hike and explored the area.
Our camp was simple and easy
One evening on our way to the nature trail, we strolled through the campground and while Victoria was counting beloved dogs, Kathryn stopped every time a chipmunk crossed our path, and William was looking for just the right walking stick, David and I were rather surprised and shocked to see most of the camp sites filled with large, fancy recreational vehicles with awnings and large bump out rooms, and toys of all kinds littered throughout the camp sites. Some had motor boats on trailers behind their large trucks. It occurred to me then that our choice of camping equipment ran towards the line of simplicity, compared to almost everyone else. Some of the trailers and motor homes were the size or larger of the tiny houses that are so popular now…..and in fact, if we didn’t have 6 children living at home right now,  that would be my FULL TIME residence of choice.
Starting out on our nature trail hike…this is the main road but quickly it veers off into the trees
 I have to say, it was a bit of a culture shock. Instead of listening to the noises of the forest, sounds from T.V’s. and music from stereos drifted out from the campsites. As we walked by one site you could hear the beep of a microwave and smells of spicy butter chicken wafted onto our pathway. As the evening got darker, fire light could be seen flickering through the trees and it occurred to us that many had overcome the camp fire ban by bringing large propane fueled, campfire bowls. As if this wasn’t enough, what really popped my socks were a few campers had strung colourful, LED lights and patio lanterns around their camp site. And another had circled their whole camp site with stick in the ground, solar landscape lighting. You would think they were settling in for the long haul.
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Now, I know this sounds rather judgemental but really it is just an observation on choices. Will I have less or more in my life? What makes me happy? Almost 95% of the campers chose to bring all the comforts of home along with them and we chose to bring the least amount. They obviously wanted the outdoor experience but with the luxuries of home; and we had chosen to experience a bit of a contrast from our day to day life. Also, judging by some of their set ups, I’m sure camping is their regular summer experience, whereas we only occasionally go out into the woods. And who knows, maybe their house at home is not very luxurious. Maybe they live in a very basic home and THIS is their luxury. If that is the case, they are experiencing contrast. Something I noticed as we drove home and through the country side is that there were very modest homes with large recreational vehicles in their side yard. Hmmmmmm! This is their choice in life.

And as long as they are happy…I am too.

Life is endlessly interesting to me!

What did take a tiny bit of joy out of our camping experience though was not waking up to the sounds of the forest, with the morning wind blowing through the trees and the birds chattering away to one another, but to the loud humming of generators being fired up each morning. It broke my peace but gave me another thing to observe and let go.
 One night we had a wonderful outdoor experience as we woke to a rustling noise in our recycling bag, out by our picnic table. I heard it first and thought maybe it was a BEAR! I woke David and he sleepily told me to go out and see. “I’m not going out there,” I said as I passed him the flash light. He grunted and sleepily crawled out of our our low tent. I watched from the door way as he slowly and cautiously walked towards the noise, wearing only his underwear, (I giggle now as it was kind of a funny sight) and then the flash light shone a spot light on a large skunk coming out of the bag and David later told me that it gave him a look that said, “WHAT?” and then waddled away into the forest. David picked up the bag, which was rich with a skunky odor and took it to the recycling bin, which we should have done the night before but we were lazy. Then he washed his hands in the tap by the washrooms and came back under the light of the moon. The kids slept through the whole thing and the next morning listened to the story with regret that they hadn’t seen another wild creature.

Well the whole point of this post is not to bash those who choose a different camping experience (and thank heavens we all want something different in life) but to note the difference in various life choices.The contrast if you will. The bottom line is: did I have a great camping experience with my family? YES! It was amazing. Our best EVER!, especially since it didn’t take a lot of effort to plan or unpack from and it certainly didn’t cost us anything since we had invested in our two tents years ago along with our sleeping bags.

Here’s a glimpse into some of our camping memories:

Sometimes all you need is a log….Kathryn found her’s
Victoria posing for the camera before crashing into the lake….thank heavens the girls are good swimmers this year!
David and Will returning from their long voyage….Will swam in beside the boat…check out how smoky it is…camp fires burning in the interior of our Province but really impacted our air quality
We grabbed a few pool toys before we left home and the kids enjoyed just floating
William and Grace just talking at the camp fire…albeit no camp fires this summer
Grace snaps a photo of us sitting on a log…our nature trail hike
Most teenagers would hate no showers for days but Grace was a good sport about roughing it
The kids were excited about the fungus they found on this tree….reminded them of the fungus we found on the trees on Vancouver Island last summer
Our kids can find ice cream miles away…this floating store rented boats, sold fishing tackle AND ice cream!!!

So now that we are back from holidays I’ve been reflecting on the stuff we surround ourselves with….

Less stuff, more life is my motto!

While we were gone, our older son’s who had to work, held down the fort and cared for our cat and the chickens…Ryuuki our Siamese is so happy that we are home. Watching cats will give you a clue to living the good life….they nap a lot!

Other than having a great camping holiday, the interesting spin off when we returned was recognizing the contrast between a simple outdoor life and returning to a house full of stuff. Upon returning, after a great night’s sleep in my comfy bed, I was tempted to throw myself into a massive declutter project, I resisted. Instead, we are focusing on building a rock wall in our backyard. (I’ll write about that in my next post) Also, I want to just enjoy the beautiful weather and the few weeks I have with the kids at home. We are not a homeschooling family, although we certainly have not taken the summer off and working with our children on their reading, writing, math, music, drawing, painting, and doing summer activities, like tennis and swimming has filled up our days. Grace is currently doing her Bronze Cross course at our recreation center, I’ve been doing yoga classes whenever I have some free time (bringing Grace too) and William starts cello camp next week. Our days are full! All the more reason to surround ourselves with less…

Less time maintaining and cleaning everything, less stress worrying about things breaking and having to replace them (with a family of 8 kids, something is always breaking or falling apart) Less time making choices, and of course that means…less stress in life. More time and energy to do what we love. Also, this year I would really like to make little differences in the community and how can I do that if I’m always cleaning or organizing what we own?

So as soon as the kids are back in school, I’m throwing myself into my decluttering project. 

Besides, it’s  been awhile since I did a thorough cleaning and decluttering job, and well things accumulate even if you are careful with what you are bringing into the house. .
If you are walking a similar path as I, or are interested in letting go of some of your stuff for a richer life, you may be interested in a book that I’ve been reading since returning home.  It’s Joshua Becker’s new book called, “The More of Less” (Finding the life you want under everything you own)

 

It talks about how Joshua got on the minimalist path to begin with, like his first book, but gives more wise advice how to get off the materialist path and back into really living fully
Don’t carry what you don’t need, in your pocket, in your home, in your heart

 

There were certainly more of these little guys everywhere than less….but the little kids were so happy to see them popping up and smiling for the camera

 

 

Before I close I wanted to link Joshua Becker’s Youtube video titled, “The More of Less.” Check it out and maybe like me, once summer fades away, you will join me in moving room to room in your home and make some choices on what you want to surround yourself with.  Isn’t life about living and not accumulating?
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope

Minimalism~Lentil balls~Hope is a Feather

/ Lee Reynolds

“Hope” is the thing with feathers –

~By Emily Dickinson~

Hope” is the thing with feathers –
That perches in the soul –
And sings the tune without the words –
And never stops – at all –

 

And sweetest – in the Gale – is heard –
And sore must be the storm –
That could abash the little Bird
That kept so many warm –

 

I’ve heard it in the chillest land –
And on the strangest Sea –
Yet – never – in Extremity,

It asked a crumb – of me.

Image result for feather

   I know it may seem that I have dropped off the face of the earth by my lack of blogging of late but that WOULD NOT  be the case. I am very much alive and well, living fully, experiencing life to the max with no time to even stop to connect with my friends and family.

   At times on my path, life is so intense that I don’t even have time to stop and recognize the signs along the way. The signs that guide me on my path and give me the courage to keep going. I have written before about finding feathers and how I believe they are my sign posts that I am on the right path. Lately, I have been seeing them everywhere. They are on the wood floor when I wake in the morning and are in front of me as I move through the day. They keep me going and keeping hope alive in my heart.
    Since I last wrote so much has transpired. We hosted our garage sale which was really successful. We even sold our 6 foot fake pre-lit Christmas tree, which my boys bet wouldn’t sell in April…but it did. What we didn’t sell, we donated to a few charity groups the following week and now there are only a few loose ends to tie up after our mass spring de-cluttering project. Here are a few pictures from our garage sale.
Grace selling popcorn, cookies and lemonade

 

Harrison giving me thumbs up on our Earth day garage sale

 

Just a sampling of things we no longer need….sad to see our little Tykes car go but the little boy that got it was thrilled

 

David strung up a clothes line onto Harrison’s basketball pole/net

 

Here is monkey and my baby bear in a suitcase I have had since I was small. This is a good sample of something I have been carrying with me through life but it wasn’t serving me any longer. A man came along and said the bear was exactly like his baby bear he had had as a child and was so happy to take suitcase and all. Seeing his smile as he picked these old lovies up made me happy.

All in all our Earth Day garage sale was a big hit. Right after the garage sale, David went to pick up our son Mitchell from the University of Victoria, where he has been going to school this year. It was a long weekend for David to help me with the garage sale on Saturday morning and then to drive out and back to the coast over the weekend. It was so good to hug my son and welcome him home after his first year away at University.  Seven of our Eight chicks are back in the nest for summer.

I started working at the Garden Center on Earth day and I have been juggling work, home and family since then. It’s tough. I’m trying to make healthy meals for our family while keeping all the balls in the air. We are trying to make so many big changes in our life right now and it stretches me to my limits but the feathers keep me going. They remind me that it’s all worth it. We all needs these kind of signs on our path. What are you finding to keep you going?

Before I close this post though, I thought I would include another recipe that we have added to our repertoire of fav, quick vegetarian meals. Since I kind of feel like a juggler with all the activities as balls in the air, how appropriate to share a lentil ball recipe. I threw it together so fast that I didn’t even have time to take any photos, although I took a quick photo as I pulled the lentil balls out of the oven.

And another one before I ate leftovers the following day.

The photo above, is a picture of the left over lentil balls on my pasta for lunch the next day. I also served it with a great salad which I also didn’t take a picture of. Everything gets consumed too fast here and well, taking pictures for my blog is not at the top of my list….feeding my family is the priority.

I wanted to give you the dressing recipe I used for our salad though as it was delicious. My mother in law Doreen, used to make the most amazing ranch dressing and I always used to ask her how she made it. She never gave me the exact measurements, probably because she had made it for her family for so long and didn’t need to measure it any longer. Anyway, I always was trying to make it and I think I finally have it down. (does this sound right Doreen?)

So here is my recipe for lentil balls…perfect on top of the pasta of your choice….and Buttermilk/dill dressing for a yummy green salad to accompany your lentil balls.

Hope’s Lentil Balls

Ingredients

1 cup of dry lentils (I used green but you could use brown or green and brown)
21/2 cups of water or vegetable broth
3 tbsp of ground flaxseed
1/3 cup water
2 tbsp olive oil
3  minced garlic cloves
1 small onion, finely chopped
1 small red bell pepper diced really fine…although this is opt
1 carrot finely grated
1 celery stalk, finely diced
3/4 cup of oats
1/2 cup of finely ground oats
1 tsp of dried thyme
1/2 tsp of cumin
1/2 tsp of garlic powder
1/4 to 1/2 ground chipotle pepper
sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions

Rinse lentils. In large pot add 2 1/2 cups water with lentils. Bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 40 minutes, stirring occasionally.

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

 

 

 

In small bowl combine flax seed with 1/3 cup water, set aside for at least 10 minutes, preferably in the refrigerator. This will act as a binder and will thicken nicely upon sitting.

 

 

 

Prepare vegetables. In saute pan heat oil or water over medium heat. Saute garlic, onion, bell pepper, carrots and celery for about 5 minutes. Add spices mixing well to incorporate. Set aside to cool.

 

 

 

 Blend the lentils in a food processor until they form a paste.

 

 

 

Combine sauteed vegetables with the lentils, oats, oat flour and flax, mix well. Taste, adding salt and pepper as needed, or any other herb or spice you might like. Form small balls and place in a baking dish, spray or line with tin foil (sprayed). Cook for 30 to 40 minutes at 350 degrees. 
Eat them on top of pasta or on their own. This mixture can also be formed into lentil burgers….or even as a loaf. Make a pot of rice, toss a salad and you have a really quick and healthy meal.

Here’s the recipe for Buttermilk/dill dressing that we made for our salad….I love it and may never go back to my Hidden Valley dressing again. I love making food from scratch and cutting down on packaged foods.

As close to Doreen’s

Buttermilk Ranch Dressing
Ingredients
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup buttermilk (I just use 1/2 cup of milk and add 2 tbsp lemon juice)
1/4 cup mayonnaise
2 minced garlic cloves
1/2 tsp sea salt
1/4 pepper
1 1/2 tsp of dried dill
1/4 cup freshly chopped chives….starting to bloom in my garden now
2 tsp of lemon juice
Instructions
Combine all ingredients in a glass bowl. This dressing will keep well in the fridge up to 3 or 4 days. Great for dips. My kids were dipping their crazy bread before dinner.

I don’t know what’s going on in your life but if you are having a tough time, or life is throwing a lot of challenges your way, I hope you remember that you don’t have to hold your head up higher than your heart. I pray that the feathers are abundant for you and when you see them you know you are on the right path. You ARE LOVED!

If you need any musical inspiration before we say goodbye, I’ve included a really cool song by Jack Johnson called, “Hope”….of course hey

If you can’t see the link below since you are using an apple product…click on the hyper link above.

I love the following quote….the BEST part is actually what comes next……

Go confidently in the direction of your dreams! Live the life you’ve imagined. As you simplify your life, the laws of the universe will be simpler.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope 

Energy Bars and Quick Declutter Tips

/ Lee Reynolds

Welcome!

Spring is here and our de-cluttering project is still in full swing. We have a garage piled with things slated for our upcoming garage sale. If anyone were to drive by when our garage door is open they would think we were hoarders! We still have a few areas to comb through; our camping equipment, my gardening shelves and D’s workbench. Hopefully, during our upcoming long Easter weekend, we can complete these tasks and then prepare for our garage sale the next weekend.

We are coming into our busiest season of the year, continuing with the children’s year long activities but in the spring we add non-stop soccer, a voice festival, and a piano exam. In addition, our 16 year will be refereeing soccer once again which adds more trips to the playing fields. Also, in a few weeks we will go and collect our University son and bring him home for the summer. Both of our older boys will be working hard throughout the summer at their respective jobs, so we will be doing lots of transportation juggling as well.

And as if that weren’t enough, I have agreed to work at the garden center, where I started working last year, which will start at the end of April and go for a few months. I loved it, but juggling our large family commitments is not an easy task. So I thought I would make some energy bars the other day to start gearing up. I’ve started lifting weights again and the added protein will help me recover faster.

These energy bars went as quickly as it took to make them, so I thought this was something I wanted to share with my blog friends. My older sons aren’t crazy about dried fruit in their bars and although my last recipe (I blogged about it last year) called for dried cranberry, (which I personally love) these do not have any fruit, hence they went fast

The next time you have a busy week and  need some quick, nutritious snacks, make a batch and put them in a tin for your special people. Celebrate Spring~

Quick Ready for Spring Energy Bars

Ingredients

1 1/2 cups oats
1/2 cup sunflower seeds
1/2 cup chopped almonds
1/2 cup chopped walnuts
4 tbsp of protein powder (I used unflavoured whey powder I bought at our local bulk store)
2 tbsp of cocoa
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup peanut butter (just peanuts)

Directions

Add the oats, sunflower seeds, almonds, walnuts, protein powder and cocoa into a large mixing bowl and combine well.

Kate and Victoria enjoyed mixing all the dry ingredients


Stir in the honey and the peanut butter and mix really well, until it is well combined.

Now for the peanut butter and honey, yummy!


Press into an 8×8 glass baking pan…Layer it first with parchment paper for easy removal

Put it in the fridge to set up…a few hours

Cut into bars, the size of your choice. Eat and get energized

Once cut and put on a plate they flew into my kid’s mouths. I was lucky to take a final shot of the end product

 

And now with that extra energy, you can join me in continuing the de-cluttering process.
Recently, when a friend of mine heard about our move towards minimalism and our big de-cluttering project, she sighed and said, she didn’t know where to start. Like me, she is busy with her family and she has years of stuff accumulated from her children. While they are older, she is dealing with lots of childhood memorabilia. I was thinking of what I have learned and thought I would share FOUR quick de-cluttering steps that got me going, even BEFORE I started going drawer by drawer and closet by closet, which may help you if you are feeling overwhelmed and don’t know where to start. These are not just steps to build the momentum you need to then move to drawers and closets but a good practice to maintain all the time so things don’t get out of hand.
Four Quick steps to assist you towards de-cluttering your home
1. Keep the kitchen sink clean
Further to number 1: Go through your house as you would normally and do a regular clean. Start in the kitchen first and make sure all the dishes are washed, cleaned and put away. Years ago, I found the flylady website, which teaches systematic cleaning and organizing. Although, I’m highly organized already, I didn’t need help in that area but as we added more children to our family, it took more time for me to get through my daily cleaning routine and I needed some help.
What flylady recommends is to make sure your kitchen sink is always clean because that is a pivotal place of power in any home. If things are not clean at that station, then the energy just doesn’t flow well anywhere. When my kids were babies, sometimes just having a clean sink was my goal. (and getting dressed everyday)
2. Pick Up All Loose Garbage
Further to number 2: As you move through your house, clear out all garbage cans and pick up any loose garbage lying around. I don’t know about you but in our house there always seems to be empty bags from stores even though we are consciously moving in the direction of zero waste by not bringing any extra packaging or bags into our house. For instance, before Spring break, Will came home from kindergarten with a plastic bag abundant with art projects from his kindergarten teacher.. These things just migrate into our home and multiply like the dust bunnies under our beds.
Another area that is quick work in filling your recycling bin, is at the kitchen desk (or wherever your family drops things when coming in from outside the home; keys, mail, etc.  Even though, as a society we are moving towards using less paper, it arrives silently and lands on my desk. Flyers advertising various camps and activities for the kids, notices from school that aren’t emailed, little things I clip from our local newspaper. Lately,  job ads for my University son. (am I ever becoming my mother!!! She always collected little pieces of information she had found in the newspaper or  magazine for us girls) Anyway, you get the picture. Get it out to the recycling bin and clear up the paper trail in your home. Then try to be mindful about not bringing it home. Keep this landing spot cleared of clutter.
3. Get Rid of Duplicate Household Items
Further to number 3: As you  are putting things in order, look for any items that are duplicates. Recently, I noticed that I have many duplicates of things, not just in my kitchen but in my bathroom. I found a second punch bowl for instance and it was a no brainer to let the second one go into our garage sale pile. (Set up a donation box somewhere in your house and when it’s full decide where the contents are going to go)
For a second, my thought process was that one punch bowl could be filled with punch and the other one would look great filled with popcorn, a big snack fav in our house but then I said, “oh Hope, when was the last time you did that?…you need help!” and I let the second one go into the garage sale pile.
As I was blow drying my hair, I realized I had a second curling iron that I must have been keeping in case the first one breaks. I don’t even curl my hair and the few times I curl Grace’s hair, I certainly don’t need two irons. (and really do I need even one?) Don’t even ask me about how many cookie sheets and muffin tins I have. These are easy things to clear out as you are putting away your regularly used pieces. This added space in your drawers and cupboards will allow you to put the things you really need away or retrieve easily. Get rid of your duplicates.
4. Remove Any empty Bottles/toiletries in Your Home
Further to number 4: We are notorious for purchasing new shampoo, soap and lotion before we have completed our current bottle. I’d like to share a shampoo recipe with you so you don’t have to buy any bottles but that will have to be a future blog. That is ideally the direction to take but if you are like me, we do occasionally buy toiletries at the store and at any given time an array of nearly empty bottles are in our bathroom. Do a clean sweep.(ha) Pull the almost empty bottles out and use the product and then recycle the bottle. (Better yet, fill it with homemade shampoo or lotion and don’t buy another….I’ll do a blog about making our own toiletries soon)
I’ve been really good at clearing out our bathroom but when I did a sweep recently, I was surprised to find an abundance of almost finished products or expired items. (do you have old mascara bottles for instance?) I had been keeping several empty bottles for the kids to play with in the bathtub but really, how many do they need!Actually, none and instead I trade that for old funnels and beach buckets that we use in the summer and can use in the bath. (Also, although they don’t play with their little Fisher Price people on a day to day basis, when I let them have them in the tub, all of a sudden they are fun again.)
The kids also went to the dentist recently and received new toothbrushes but instead of throwing out the brushes they have been using since Christmas, I noticed everyone now had two brushes.  Their old, well worn one and their new one. Before both look like the former, I went through and threw out all of the old brushes. Yuck hey! When you have 6 kids, currently in the house, that is a lot of brushes! Get rid of them! Remove your empty bottles and toiletries.         
Well, those are some quick tips for moving things out quickly. It’s funny how papers/newspapers, bottles, plastic bags and extra items that are just duplicates of what we already own, come into our home. Well that is life. It’s a continuous process of acquiring and letting go but to make our life simpler, start asking yourself, before your purchase, “do I need this item?”
Recently my husband D’s coffee grinder went kaput. In the past, we wouldn’t have given it a second thought. We would have added buying a new one to our list the next time we were out but instead, he started thinking about how he might grind his beans .We tried our blender and if it were a Vitamix, it might have fit the bill nicely but it’s just a regular blender. Great for smoothies but not much else. He was going to try my new food processor and see if it would work but in the meantime. when we were at Costco a week ago, he found a bag of already ground, Seattle’s Best coffee, and happily he bought that. He was really happy!          
For now, we have deferred the purchase and the next time my processor is on the counter, we will have to try the last of the beans to see if it will work and hopefully we won’t need to purchase a coffee grinder. Except, it does an awesome job at grinding my flax seed, so time will tell but at least we are really conscious about our consumption. The energy it takes to earn the money to buy another coffee grinder and the energy it takes from our earth to make another one for our home, plus having to recycle the one we had…well it’s all energy isn’t it?
Well that’s my blog for today. I’m heading out to enjoy some of the sunshine and assess my garden before the kids come home from school. My sister was saying she has things planted already and she lives just 20 minutes away from us, where winter lasts a bit longer, so I’d better get going if we want any kale, lettuce, arugula, spinach, carrots, turnips, potatoes, beets, onions, sweet peas, etc.
When we plant our seeds they produce abundantly, as do the visions we have for our lives.
What are you planting in your life?
                                                         
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope

 

Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake~Dimes from Heaven

/ Lee Reynolds

Have you ever found a penny or a dime and felt that it was a sign just for you? If you have read my blog, you know that I have a thing for feathers. At least I used to find feathers all the time when I was on the journey to having our children. Every time I found a feather, and I used to find a lot of them, the feeling in my heart was that my dream would come true. Just hang on and trust. I’m now abundantly blessed with a large family.

This week, I have not been finding feathers…but something totally different and very unexpected. I live in Canada where we have several coins for our  lowest currency.. We have pennies (1 cent) of course but last year the government discontinued them since they were costing too much to produce. However, there are still pennies everywhere. Then we nickles (5 cents), dimes (10 cents), quarters (25 cents) a loonie (one dollar value) and finally, a toonie (2 dollar value).

As I tell you my story, keep in mind that while we have many different kinds of coins in our country, finding them in our home is a rare thing. We aren’t one of families who has loose change just lying around. The kids are always asking for change for fundraisers at school, or a bit of spending money if they are out with friends. I’m also looking for quarters and loonies to park in our downtown core which is all metered parking. Also, in the era of using debit cards, we hardly ever use cash in our day to day transactions, so finding ANY coins is actually rare in our home.

This week though, a very mysterious event has been occurring. I have been finding dimes. Not just one or two but dozen of them!!!

At first, when I would come upon one, I just thought cool, a dime and I’d pop it in jean pocket. But then, it happened again and again. I would be going through a box and at the bottom of the box, I would find a dime. When I moved a piece of furniture, since I’m not just de-cluttering but I’m trying to do some deep cleaning as I go along, I find a dime. Or for instance today, as I was moving my son’s bunk bed in order to vacuum underneath, I found lots of stuff. Several missing socks, some used kleenex, I know, gross, and you guessed it, another dime.

The weirdest moment, was when I was down in our crawl space (where there is NO money) and I was going through our daughter Alyssa’s stored boxes. She is teaching in the U.K. for the next two years but she will be home for 10 days this summer to attend her best friend’s wedding. I know she will not have a lot of time so I thought I would sort through her clothes, wash them all, iron them and pack them away, organized in season so she could find her summer clothes easily. As I was lifting up one of her boxes, I heard something clink on the concrete. As I looked under the box, yep, there was another dime shining in the dim light.

That night after dinner, as everyone was finishing up, I told my family what I had been experiencing. The kids were teasing me but my husband thought it was interesting and asked what I thought it meant. I told him that I thought, just like with my feathers, it was a sign from my angels.

In my heart what I hear is, “Hope, everything is okay, money is coming.”

As the kids filtered out of the kitchen all laughing at how weird their mom was for believing dimes were a sign from heaven, David Googled what dimes mean and guess what he found? Here is the link but basically, I was RIGHT ON. Dimes are signs from heaven that our angels and loved ones who have passed on, support us on our journey and want us to know that they are here for us cheering us on.

Are you interesting in reading more about coins being a way for a spiritual connection? Check out this hyperlink….Finding Dimes and Pennies. It’s amazing!

It gives me shivers thinking about how many dimes I have now found in the last 2 weeks. I have a little silver basket full of them now but here is a picture of a few that I have found over the course of only a few days.

What do you think? It is kind of whoo, whoo!

Last weekend, my sister invited us over for dinner and since it had been her birthday only a few days before, I brought her a chocolate mocha cheesecake to celebrate. Something to put the birthday candles on, something she can wish upon as she blows them out. In her card, I had given her one of my dimes, but in hindsight, I wished I had wrapped a few of the dimes in tin foil and put them in the cheesecake. My mom used to do that with her plum pudding at Christmas time and whoever got a coin got a wish.

I think in the future, I’m going to call my chocolate mocha cheesecake, my angel cheesecake and put some dimes inside. Maybe it can be a fun tradition and memory for my family. We can tell the story of the time mom was getting direct messages from her angels. Maybe it will open my children up to the mysteries of our connection with our loved ones who have passed on and our angels. At least our older children because the younger ones, especially Will, totally get this stuff.

I think my mom is really excited for me as I de-clutter and she wants me to know how happy she is that I am letting go of stuff in favour of a richer life. And at the very least, it will be a fun story to tell as we eat this cheesecake. It has already brought some light and fun into our house as we continued to do more work this morning Harrison yelled out, “Hey mom, I just found a quarter. Guess that’s my coin from the angels.”

Anyway, back to the cheesecake. It worked really well with the dinner J and B made the other night. Thanks J and B for the delicious salmon and scallop dinner. The asparagus, roasted carrots, potatoes and your garlic spread on the french bread was divine. EVERYTHING was so delicious! And J, your  wishes and dreams are already coming true.

I hope you will try out my cheesecake recipe. It’s so easy and tastes like you have slaved away. A perfect light dessert after a spring dinner.

Chocolate Mocha Cheesecake or….Angel Cheesecake recipe

Crust Ingredients

1/2 cup margarine
1-1/2 cups graham cracker crumbs
1/4 cup sugar
1/4 cup cocoa (fryers)


Mix all really well, reserve 1/2 cup for topping and press the rest into 9″ spring form pan

Filling

8 ounce cream cheese
1 can sweetened condensed milk
2/3 cup chocolate syrup
1 tbsp instant coffee (mixed with 1 tsp hot water)
1 cup whipped cream

Beat cream cheese til fluffy, add can of sweetened condensed milk, 2/3 cup chocolate syrup, 1 tbsp of instant coffee in 1 tsp of hot water.
Whip 1 cup of whipping cream and fold into the rest of the filling ingredients.
As you fold in the whipping cream, put a few dimes wrapped in tinfoil for your family to find. Whoever finds a dime can make a wish and put it in their pocket for luck.

Pour into spring form pan and top with remaining crumbs. 
Decorate with pecan pieces…I also used bits of Scor pieces with the remaining crumbs…giving it a slight toffee taste.
Freeze over night.

Pull out 1/2 hour before serving, cut and serve.

If you want to hear more about Dimes and signs from our angels and our loved ones, check out Ada May Brown’s Youtube message.

Keep your heart open. Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope       

Minimalism Journey

/ Lee Reynolds

For the last two weeks I have been swimming through the muck and mire of our worldly possessions. Some days, I felt like I was drowning and other times, as I found my stroke, the waves parted and I could see the white shores of home. As I write this though, I’m finally over the hump and I wanted to share a part of the journey with you. .

The title of this blog came from my daughter, Grace, who along with my son Harrison, has been helping me de-cluttering over Spring Break. They helped me keep the fires burning, so I could climb the mountain of baby and childhood memorabilia. BOXES and boxes of them.

My idea originally, was that each child would have a Rubbermaid box with all their baby keepsakes. You know the outfit they came home the from hospital in, their first stuffed lovie, their favourite blanket, the outfit they wore as they had their first formal portrait, their first shoes, well, you get the picture.

Then there was another Rubbermaid box for their childhood memories. All their certificates, little trophies, awards, ribbons, their report cards, their school pictures. The older children had two full boxes since they are out of both phases now and even have graduation caps and gowns.

When we had just two and three children, the storage required for these boxes wasn’t a big deal but with 8 children now, the boxes of memorabilia is a big deal. Also, and probably a bigger issue was when I went through my own memorabilia box and let go of everything recently, even my wedding dress. It was then, that I realized keeping our past in a box wasn’t necessary.

The memories weren’t in the box. They weren’t in the things stored away. They were and always will be in my heart.

What kind of gift was I giving my children by keeping these things? Also, most of this were things they didn’t even have a memory of themselves.

Keeping the things meant I had to find a place to store the items and then take the time occasionally to sift through the stuff or move it around. In my case, I can’t even count how many times I have moved this stuff as we moved again and again over the years. It took time out of my life to pick it up, pack it away and then move it. Why was I moving around stuff from my past?

That brings me to “Humpty Dumpty.”

Humpty Dumpty was given to my mother as a vase for some flowers she received after my birth.

It’s OLD!

When I got married and we bought our first house my mom gave me Humpty Dumpty. She must have been relieved to say good bye to him. Ever since then, he has been in the vase cupboard in my kitchen. Have I ever used him? No! Does he bring joy to me when I look at him. Ummm, not really.

Part of the reason I kept him all these years was that my mother kept him for 20 something years and I can’t even count how many household moves she experienced to keep him in the family and for some strange reason, I felt like I had to keep the tradition going as well.

As you may know, my mom passed away 3 years ago. When she left, I hung onto many things of her’s and also memories from my childhood were really important to me. I think I have a glimpse into why other people may become hoarders…because they are in a state of grief and can’t let go.

I’m happy to say that is not me. I smiled at Humpty one last time and took him out to the garage where he will go into a pile of things that others may see the value in.  Old crap. He is after all a 1/2 century old and the glaze and paint on him are unique to that time. Maybe someone will love him. He is missing his gloved hand though. Still I have to give him a chance don’t I? Another home…but if no one wants him after the garage sale, I won’t have any problem saying good bye.

It’s time. And with that, I’m over the “hump.” As I realized this, I was telling Grace and Harrison that I had finally gotten over a really important step in the de-cluttering process and Grace looked at me holding Humpty and said, “Mom, you are over the hump!” We all had a good laugh. Maybe she should be writing my blog because I thought that was a good play on words and the perfect title for this blog post.

After that, I pulled up Will’s old high chair from storage, which I had been saving for a someday grand baby. Along with that came the cute pack ‘n play that we bought for the twin’s early days home from the hospital.

And after that, I had the children who were home help me pick the things that were special to them and guess what?

None of them wanted their version of the Humpty Dumpty in their baby boxes. Whew!

Smart kids! I have been reading a lot about moving towards minimalism and it’s not always an easy thing to do when you share a home with other people. What is recommended though is to inspire others by example. It hasn’t taken long, as the kids and even my husband are on board, Well, okay, maybe not my University son, living at home, but hey, he’s right in the middle of mid term exams etc and says he can’t even think about the stuff around him. Fair enough. In the meantime, we are being good examples…and smiling.

After that other memorabilia really flew.

David let go of many of his trophies years ago but we had kept the ones that held the best memories.

This week we snapped a picture of him with the remaining trophies. (he used to play baseball and was also a championship skeet shooter in his late teens) Those memories and aspects of himself are not in the trophies, but inside himself. Also, I think when the kids saw him letting go of these physical recognition awards, they realized, we aren’t those things. We are successful without accolades. Success and happiness are inside of each of us.

After the Humpty insight, I felt lighter and happier. Like how one feels after climbing an long and arduous climb and the view on the other side is breathtaking. If you hadn’t endured the climb, you would have missed out on another amazing experience.

Here is a snap shot of one of the piles in our garage. You don’t even want to see what is in our recycling and garbage pile!

 

Interestingly enough, this is a picture our University son, Clark took when he went for a hike this week. He didn’t have time to de-clutter, but he is balanced enough to know that the hike is what life is really about. …a shot above Kalamalka Lake

So what is your Humpty Dumpty in your life?

When I found this frame with our family picture it kind of said it all.

“Keep fond memories in your heart…for they will last a lifetime.”

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

 

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle…the three R’s

/ Lee Reynolds

Three’s…. a Magic Number!

Three isn’t just a magic number when it comes to children (although, I like the number 8 too) but it’s also the magic number when it comes to the three R’s. The R’s that stand for, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

With earth day only a month away on April 22, 2015, I’m really thinking how important these three little words are for our environment. Ever since I was little, it was always important to me to keep the earth clean but it wasn’t until we added these last three children to the world that I really started to realize the impact each one of us has on our planet. Also, how much of a difference, each of us can do to heal it as well. We are powerful.

I’ve been talking a lot about de-cluttering lately on my blog but I forgot to mention that there is a specific intent with regards to this action. And that brings me to the thought of intention.

Intention is the starting point for any action. If we aren’t clear about where we are going, how we want our lives to look, how in the heck will we ever accomplish our goal. I suppose I’m taking a few steps backwards but after writing an email to my sister this morning, it occurred to me that I hadn’t been clear about sharing the idea that the first tip towards Minimalism, is INTENTION.

You have to decide what you want before you can move forward and it’s the thing that will keep you going on your darkest days. I know this from my years of trying to conceive these last three beautiful children . I knew that if they were to manifest in my life, that I had to become clear on what I wanted. What was most important to me and have laser focus with that regard.

Everything I did in the 5-7 years it took to bring these little people to “being,” moved in the direction of my intended result. And voila…although it wasn’t as easy as ever saying that lovely, easy french word for, TA DA! they are with me at last.

Just as is my desire to make this world a better place. For me to heal my part of the planet by taking care of the earth. Taking care of my family and ensuring they are nourished, loved and raised connected to nature. That is a BIG goal, I know, that is my intention… but the baby steps to get there are to attend to the three R’s.

And that is where reduce comes in this month. I’m reducing our footprint like crazy. Putting anything that we don’t LOVE, and we aren’t USING, out into our garage. I’ve already started to make piles of things that we will sell and anything that doesn’t sell, we will donate. That ensures others can reuse what we deem not necessary in our lives any longer.

The second big pile that is accumulating, is my recycling pile. Things like an old computer keyboard, a computer monitor, glass jars, cardboard boxes that we have been storing things, that we never look at in,….well you get the picture. These items can be recycled and turned into new products for others to enjoy.

These are the steps I’m taking and the long term vision is becoming clearer and clearer as I remove needless belongings from my sight lines. How does one downsize when you have a large family? As I wrote to my sister this morning, you can’t  downsize the kids, although since our family ranges in age from 24 down to 3 year old twins, I can see that in a short amount of time our family will be a lot smaller. Already our oldest is out of the nest and living and working overseas. Our oldest son is on his last legs studying Environmental Science and our third oldest, is starting his out of the nest venture with his first year of University almost under his wings.

In time, we will have a smaller family living under our roof on a day to day basis so there is still time for me to create a simpler family life. Do we need 3000 square feet of space, plus our Hobbit’s hollow (developed crawlspace) any longer? I’m leaning in the direction of No being the answer.  I want our life to have a sustainable back bone, supporting  creativity, where more peace and fulfilment flourishes. I’ve set a goal of completing our de-cluttering project by the end of  March. I know kind of  optimistic of me, but hey, it’s spring break for the next 2 weeks and that means no driving kids everywhere., and gee, maybe do you think they can assist me?  By the time earth day is upon us, I will have accomplished my three R’s with regards to our earthly possessions.

And then WHAT? My intention is to use another R word. The fourth R stands for the word, RENOVATE the Reynolds family. I want to renovate my life. Changing and reworking where we live, how we spend our time, what we eat, who we share our life with and what we think……or not…as that is also my intention.

Do you want a RICHER life too? Do you think the seeds for that are in living with less? Have you joined me on the road to minimalism? Of course, that could look very different to you. It could mean that you are selling your beach house or your second car. It could mean that you are reducing the hours that you are working each week, or even if you are able, dropping down to a one income family. You could be choosing to buy all your kid’s spring and summer clothes at the local thrift shop, instead of at the mall this year, choosing to reuse instead of purchasing new.  There are so many ways that we can live the three R’s to live rich. I hope to talk about that more in the weeks to come as these insights appear.

If you are starting to revamp your life and doing the three R dance, please share in the comments below….or supply any inspiring words to support me on my path.

Before I say goodbye,  I wanted to share this great You tube video that will get you up and dancing. The little girls and I put our “Jack Johnson CD ” this morning (we found it when we were decluttering our CD’s and DVD’s yesterday and we LOVE IT)  as I was airing the laundry out to dry. Did I tell you that my dryer broke down? Yes, again. They don’t make appliances like they used to and I’m ready to chuck my fancy red LG set, except that for 4 months of the year it’s snowy and cold here. Today though, it’s  a nice, breezy, spring day and doing the three R dance feels GOOD!  Knowing that I’m helping the earth just a bit today by letting my clothes air dry makes me happy….and the earth is helping me too. There is lots to dance about isn’t there!

 

If you can’t see the above, click on this hyperlink, Jack Johnson’s The three R song“The 3 R’s”

Three it’s a magic number
Yes it is, it’s a magic number
Because two times three is six
And three times six is eighteen
And the eighteenth letter in the alphabet is R
We’ve got three R’s we’re going to talk about today
We’ve got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
If you’re going to the market to buy some juice
You’ve got to bring your own bags and you learn to reduce your waste
And if your brother or your sister’s got some cool clothes
You could try them on before you buy some more of those
Reuse, we’ve got to learn to reuse
And if the first two R’s don’t work out
And if you’ve got to make some trash
Don’t throw it out
Recycle, we’ve got to learn to recycle,
We’ve got to learn to
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Because three it’s a magic number
Yes it is, it’s a magic number
3, 3, 3
3, 6, 9, 12, 15, 18, 21, 24, 27, 30, 33, 36
33, 30, 27, 24, 21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, and
3, it’s a magic number

And dance around your living room, singing with your kids, your dog, or just grooving on your own two feet.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

Strawberry Mango Smoothie~Keeping it Simple

/ Lee Reynolds



                                                                                                               
Even in the mud and scum of things, something always, always, sings.” ~  ~Ralph Waldo Emerson~

Have you ever noticed that when you are on a certain path all sorts of affirmations meet you at the exact time that you need inspiration.

Well, I have been receiving messages almost daily and not surprisingly, they are ALL directed towards walking a simple path. They are inspiring me to keep going even though some days it feels like I’m moving through mud.

The first one that I received, was during my book club meeting at the end of February. It was early days into starting my path towards a minimalistic life. After a stimulating discussion of Hermann Hesse’s book, “Siddhartha,” I passed around my little green affirmation cards to my sacred sisters. I held mine quietly, not even peeking at the message within, until each of my sisters had had a moment to relay what was on her card and how it spoke to her. When it came my turn to read my card, I was rather stunned at how significant the message was. It read;

“Keep it simple. Simplicity is the key to Brilliance.”

Wow!

Since I had just started the journey, it was like a signal that I was on the right road. I have found in my life, that when I need some direction, the Universe never fails to send me a symbol or sign that I’m on the right road and here it was in a sweet message.

Last week, I was finding it really hard to make time in my day to tackle a specific area to de-clutter. Something always came up or someone needed to be picked up or taken some where, which broke the rhythm in my days. It was difficult enough to get my regular work done, not to mention any de-cluttering projects handled. You know, cleaning the kitchen from breakfast, making the beds, picking up the laundry and throwing loads in the washer, moving it to the dryer and then folding it and putting it back in everyone’s rooms, sigh! seemed to be all that I could manage. Forget, trying to accomplish anything.

Then I remembered the message on my card and I decided that the only way I was going to get anything done was to tackle the smallest projects at a time. And that is what I did. Although, I had basically done most of the kitchen, there was one drawer that I hadn’t touched. It’s the drawer with the most memories for me in the kitchen. It’s the drawer where I keep all of my cookie cutters, my cake decorating items. and my canning accessories.

As I opened the drawer, memories of Christmas’s past flooded my mind, as I recalled making sugar cookies with my mom as a young teen for the first time. She basically gave me the dough and said, “go to town.” That Christmas, I made my first Christmas trees, hearts, candy canes, angels, and oh my, nothing tasted so good as those chewy, soft, sugar cookies with a hint of nutmeg and topped with mint flavoured icing.

As I looked lovingly at the various shaped cutters, I thought of the first Christmas I let my own daughter, Alyssa handle the sugar cookie project. That was a big deal since I had been making them for 30 years without any help. Then there was the time that we invited her friends over for a sugar cookie icing party. Images of those giggling pre-teens with braces and pony tails made me smile. Those same girls would all be turning 25 years old soon. Where had the time gone?

The drawer I had been resisting de-cluttering as it holds so many memories

As I looked at this drawer though, I realized it represented the chaos in my life and if I was ever to create and capture more of these moments, I had to quit holding onto the past and move forward with dreams for the future. I still had Grace, Will, Kathryn and Victoria to make cookie memories with. If I continued to keep the extra clutter in this drawer, it would take precious moments away from me spending time with our younger children. If left alone, this single drawer would suck time from my life, as I dug around looking for the special cookie cutters for any future project. With that thought in mind, I quickly was able to toss more than 50% of the drawers contents.

These are a few things that I got rid of…some I took to the little girl’s preschool for their Playdoh station and their teacher was happy to have a Shamrock cookie cutter to add to this month’s special occasions.

 

Goodbye needless clutter

And here is the drawer now. In the tin to the right are my beloved cookie cutters. Now, it’s a breeze to see exactly what I have and where it is which will enable me more time to gather my sugar cookie cutters and make memories with our kids…and maybe someday, our grandchildren.

Hello new memories

If you are on this minimalism path with me, you may have discovered this already but if not, I’d like to share some de-cluttering wisdom. Start small. If you don’t have a lot of time in your day then break down what you can do in say, 15 minutes. Tackle one drawer at a time, one closet, one counter top. Also, try to start with a spot that doesn’t hold a lot of emotional attachments. Our memories cling to our belongings and the energy lingers heavily which makes it hard to hear the music amongst the mud and scum of things. It’s liberating to clear the space and hear and feel the harmony.

After finishing this last drawer in the kitchen, I moved onto the kid’s craft closet and gee, I wished I had taken a picture of it before I cleared it out. There were games stacked on top of other games. Had our children tried to take something out they would have been seriously hurt if something had fallen on top of them. In addition, when I went to clear out the paint, crayon and felt pen supplies, I realized we had a lot of duplicates and that was wasteful.

Another message that I was walking the right path came when I found a basket of polished rocks hidden in the craft closet. Wrapped around each rock was a little piece of paper. I remembered now taking quotes from the book, “The Alchemist,” by Paulo Coelho and giving a rock to my sacred sisters during the last time I hosted our book club meeting. I decided for fun to unwrap one of the messages and guess what was within?

“It’s the Simple Things in life that are the most extra-ordinary, only wise men are able to understand them.” ~excerpt from Coelho’s book, “The Alchemist.”

I had to sit down after reading this message. I held the rock, rubbing it’s smooth surface and thought about all the guidance I had been receiving with regards to creating a simpler life for myself and our family. I whispered, “thank you God.” I knew that I was on the right path even though little fearful thoughts had been creeping in as I cleared away our stuff. Thankfully, that voice was growing more distant as I grew stronger in my resolve to let go.

So that brings me to another point in this whole process, and that is really the nuts and bolts about clearing out clutter. I really should have addressed it before now but as I was doing this all myself I realized that one needs a place to put all the stuff that you are accumulating. A staging area if you will. Also, it really helps if you pull out everything in your closet, or drawer, whatever you are sorting through, so you can see what you have to work with. It will quickly be apparent what you do or don’t want to keep. Eliminate the easy stuff first.

Then put back only what you use and what you love. The Minimalist guys say that another method is packing up absolutely everything in your home and then pulling only the things you need out of the boxes. After 3 months, or 6 months, whatever you decide is the time frame for you, whatever you haven’t used, you get rid of. That’s too extreme for me and too hard with 6 kids living in our house at the moment. It would be chaos while we were getting ready in the morning for instance.

If you are doing a big de-clutter as I am, (our whole house…all 3000 square feet of it…more if you count our Hobbit’s hollow, aka the crawl space), you probably need a large place to put all the stuff you are parting with. Also, I have read that some minimalists set up boxes labelled, “donate,” “sell,” “not sure,” and “garbage/recycle” but I have found it easiest just to have a garbage bag/recycle bag as I move from place to place. I put all the stuff that doesn’t fit into that category, out to my staging place, which happens to be our garage. It would be most efficient not to have to touch the stuff more than once but in my case, I think whatever we don’t throw out or recycle, will go into a garage sale to be held in April. THE MONTH..of the beginning of garage sales in our little town.

I’ll let our little kids make and sell popcorn and lemonade. I’ll have our older ones help sell our discarded items, and anything left at that point will be donated to our local thrift stores.

In the meantime, I’m (we’re) going to be living amongst this clutter and chaos for at least several more weeks. My husband is out of town this week and I will be trying to make some headway while maintaining our daily family commitments.

I have also enlisted the help of our children. The little ones helped me go through their drawers and the belongings they keep in their bedrooms this weekend. It was very productive and fun as they had a little fashion show and tried on all sorts of clothes. As we made decisions about what fit and what didn’t, what toys were played with and what weren’t beloved any longer, we talked about children all over the world and I reminded them of a saying a very wise man shared with the world,

        “Live Simply So Others May Simply Live,” Gandhi

 

I knew I was planting little seeds of generosity, love and peace as we cleared out their rooms.
Hey, and another wonderful side benefit to this was how fast Will and the little girls were able to pick out their outfit for today. It was easy and pain free. And the best part was that it saved time so we had more time to have some fun.

 

Above are the two drawers the little girls share. Most of their clothes are matching which makes it easier for me to buy and plan their outfits. I stack them one on top of each other so when they pull out one top, they hand their sister the other top. Most of their outfits are the same but they do have some in different colours and they are very definite about who gets what colour. From the time they were really little they had distinct preferences. Kate is the pink girl and Tori is the blue girl. Makes it really simple….and as you know I’m all about that.
I try not to read too much about twin literature and probably dressing them alike will end once they start school but they seem to really enjoy wearing the same style of clothes although Tori really LOVES her leggins and Kate likes the days when she wears jeans. They both love their dresses and skirts. Anyway, like usual, I got sidetracked….the point was that getting the little people involved is helping them to see that less is more in so many ways and by consuming less, we have more resources to help others.
Here’s a picture of Grace helping de-clutter our Playmobile collection. Do we REALLY need 100 pirates and castle people?  Harrison passed by the Den as Grace and I talked about downsizing the people and he remarked that having lots of people was the fun part about playing Playmobile. Hmmmm….do you think he thinks this about our large family too?
It’s these little comments though that makes me pause and wonder what is really fun for our children. Clearly, we have too many toy/people when you have to sort for 5-10 minutes to find your fav pirate/king/queen. The one you really want to play with, that’s too long in my books.
Here’s the quote I wrote on our black board this week. When I got stuck in all the mud and scum, it helped me remember whey I’m doing this.
For the people who are important to me in my life. My children, my husband, my sisters and their families and the friends who I never seem to have even time to have tea with lately, (sorry B…we will get together soon)

And before I close I just wanted to share my Strawberry/Mango Fruit Smoothie Recipe with you. As we de-clutter our lives with our stuff, we need to make sure we are staying energized and remembering that clearing the toxins from our body is just as important. Little steps will take us eventually to the destination of a healthy body and home.

Remembering that while we are on the road to less, we are still living fully. It would be very easy to get caught up in the whole process of de-cluttering, after all who are we kidding, we live on earth and there is all sorts of clutter and chaos here. It’s easy to let even the act of de-cluttering prevent us from living fully.

As long as we don’t lose sight of why we are clearing and reducing the stuff in our life. Let’s continue to consciously clear what isn’t working in our lives and fill the spaces with more beauty, love and peace. That’s my wish for everyone on earth. We are all deserving of this.
Okay, here’s my Smoothie recipe…share a cup with your beloved or take it out in nature and drink it in….. Spring is almost here.
Hope’s Strawberry and Mango Smoothie recipe
 
2 big people servings…or enough for one big person and three little people
 
1/2 grapefruit
1 orange

 

1 banana
10 frozen strawberries
1/2 cup frozen mango or yellow fruit of your choice…pineapples are yummy for instance
1/2 cup of crushed ice cubes
I had mostly fresh fruit but I used frozen mango and pineapple too

 

Here’s the tough part….peel the grapefruit/orange and banana…place in a blender with the other ingredients and blend. Pour into glasses for your beloved and In JOY!
Before I go I wanted to share a book that I have been reading called, “The Simple Living Handbook,” ….discover the joy of a de-cluttered life….by Lorilee Lippincott
It’s a refreshingly simple and delightful book so if you are interesting in moving in this direction, I would highly recommend reading it. It may be the sign or symbol that you are on the right path and she certainly inspired me. Her web site is great too.

Here’s a You tube video interview with Lorilee on the Midway Simplicity show…love this guy. (click on the hyperlink if you can’t see the video below)

As I embark on another week towards minimalism, join me in listening to one of my fav cello pieces. I thought this was an appropriate ending as I started my post with a stunning picture of a woman playing cello amongst the clutter of life.

My son Mitchell plays this piece on his cello, beautifully and EVERY time I hear it, I always think how J.S. Bach was the supreme musical guru in simplicity. Please join me in listening to the “Unaccompanied Bach, prelude in G Major” played my Yo Yo Ma……..love this (click on the hyperlink if you can’t see the video below)

 

The purpose of life is to live it, to taste experience to the utmost, to reach out eagerly and without fear for newer and richer experience.” ~Eleanor Roosevelt~

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope 
 

Matrimonial Cake~’Tis a Gift to Be Simple

/ Lee Reynolds

‘Tis the gift to be simple,
’tis the gift to be free,
’tis the gift to come down
where we ought to be,
and when we find ourselves in the place just right,
’twill be in the valley of love and delight.
When true simplicity is gained
to bow and to bend we shan’t be ashamed,
to turn, turn, will be our delight
till by turning, turning we come round right.

Words: Shaker song, eighteenth century  

  
Hellooo!

I’m emerging from the depths of decluttering, to say Hi and to share a few thoughts. First, de-cluttering is hard. At least, that’s what it feels like as I move room to room, paring down our stuff, while humming the above Shaker song and also continuing to keep all the balls of normal life up in the air. Continuing to be there for our kids; feeding them, keeping them in clean clothes, making sure they are on top of their homework and all the upcoming events that are in line, from a swimming competition this weekend to yet another basketball tournament, an upcoming piano and voice festival and finally a music exam.

Tonight when my 12 year old daughter asked, “Mom, when are you going to change my sheets?…it’s been like 3 weeks!” Well, first it hasn’t been three weeks, two at the most and I replied, “don’t you go to bed clean every night after your nightly bath?” Just saying. It’s hard keeping the train rolling, while taking time to chuck off certain items to lighten our load.

I’m happy to say, that this week I took a car load of “stuff” to our local charity organization and another load to the dump, While 90% of the dump load was garden waste from debris I couldn’t cram into my compost bins, it was still letting go of stuff. Believe me, I had thoughts of hoarding those wonderful bags of leaves and garden waste, etc. but one can only keep so many bags of decomposing debris without neighbours starting to look at your stock pile with wonder. Besides, our district chips up all the garden waste and turns it into mulch, so that trip made me feel okay. Still, there are heaps of things to go through and spring is flying by.  I just came in from outside and noticed that there are little buds on the forsythia tree and that is the first sign of spring in our area.

Image result for forsythia
Spring is here when the forsythia tree next to our House blooms…it will be early this year

Another thing that has been preoccupying my time this week is finishing reading, or rather re-reading the book, “Siddhartha,” by Hermann Hesse. It’s my turn to host our sacred circle book club this month. To be precise tomorrow night.  I have already read this sweet, little classic book that was written decades ago about the life of Siddhartha, aka, Buddha but I wanted to go over it one more time since it was my selection.

I’m so proud that this month, I found an e book AND an audio book on line, so I didn’t have to purchase a new book and then decide what to do with it. Even though this is a great read, it’s one that I don’t think I would want to own and I certainly don’t need another book to sort through. Being frugal, sustainable, and with a minimalistic mindset makes me so thrilled. It’s these little steps I’m taking, that keep me believing it’s possible for us to downsize, enjoying more life with less stuff.

I thought the message from the book was also timely, as the story of Buddha’s life reinforces my minimalistic path and the belief that everything we need to be happy is within us at all times. Part of the suffering we experience on this earth has to do with material possessions, wanting to own them, taking care of them, letting go of them, etc. Why do we put ourselves through that?

When I think about how diverse this blog post already is it makes me laugh. First, I start my post with a picture of a farm house which to me says, “peaceful times.” Anyone that has a tire swing in their yard knows how to enjoy the sweetness of just swinging through life. Then I have the lyrics to the Shaker’s little hymnal, “Tis a Gift to be Simple.” Finally, I bring in thoughts about Buddha. But you know what? All life is tied together. Everything is connected. We have fought wars on this earth because of differences in beliefs, opinions and the ludicrously is, we are all talking the same truth but get caught up in semantics.

But that is a philosophical discussion for another time, however some of the ideas that Buddha presented, is certainly appropriate for my minimalistic mindset towards simplicity. As you know, I’ve been talking about de-cluttering and I have to tell you how my husband and I are approaching the task is totally different. It’s interesting really, since he is a very focused, get one job at a time done person and I am used to multi-tasking. Wars have not been fought thankfully because, we are after all moving in the same direction but we have had to discuss how that is going to look.

For instance, my husband wants to go into a room and get rid all the superfluous items. He feels that would be the most efficient approach. HOWEVER, I want to go into a room and sort through our stuff, while cleaning the items that are to be kept, along with doing any repairs to the room itself. ie; paint inside the cupboards in our family room before putting the toys, CD’s back (although I’m still debating on whether we even need CD’s any longer now that we have our i Pods and download any music we want) but you get the idea.

What we have decided to do for now is divide and conquer.  He has tackled the garage and the den so far and I have done our laundry room and kitchen….well, I’m still working in the kitchen. I was listening to the audio book of Siddhartha while I was cleaning the drawers last night. Did you know you could listen to a piece of classic literature or even learn a whole new language while cleaning and de-cluttering. Amazing!

It can be done!

We are making some headway though and a few thoughts have come to light which I wanted to share with you if you are starting on this journey too. It’s one thing to get down to sifting through the stuff and deciding what is going to be kept, donated, recycled or thrown away…but it’s the stuff with emotions where it really gets hard.

If you have a partner, discuss how de-cluttering looks to them. How do they want to tackle the task and what is the time frame they see as being appropriate for such a feat. You have to set limits and really limits are what minimalism is all about isn’t it? In all aspects of our life, how much stuff you need around you, how many commitments you are willing to take on, how much food you want to eat, how much exercise. Well, it’s all a decision of what feels right for you so that you can maximize your enjoyment of life.

Some compromises may be required.

This takes me back to a story my mom used to lament over. It was a time when my Dad took a load of stuff to the dump without her consideration. There were things he threw out that bothered her for a long time.

One, was a beautiful wicker, antique doll buggy. She loved it and sadly Dad didn’t think of it as special or antique. He just saw it as clutter and old when he took it to the dump. (now since I wasn’t ever able to check that out with my dad that is just an assumption from what my mother relayed to me)

In my childhood memory banks, I recall fondly wearing long dresses and cast off, high heeled shoes and pushing my babies around the yard in this buggy. Maybe, since I was her youngest, holding onto this buggy represented holding onto having babies and young children.

This story touched me so deeply that when our oldest daughter was little, I started looking for a wicker buggy to give her. I finally found one and sewed bedding for the buggy and found the perfect baby doll to put inside. The Christmas that Alyssa was 2 3/4 years old, not only did she receive this new buggy and baby doll, but 5 days before Christmas her new baby brother, Clark arrived. When he was newborn we used to put him in the wicker buggy and push him around.

Here’s the wicker doll buggy that I bought for Alyssa’s Christmas present 22 years ago. She was also a new big sister that Christmas to her baby brother, Clark. We were shocked when we heard, “It’s a Boy.” (in those days they didn’t tell you the gender before birth) and we had to scramble for a bit to find a perfect name for our new son. He carries my maiden name, “Clark”…since my Dad had passed away and had had only daughters. (as if that isn’t enough but in those days carrying a name forward was important…in some cultures it may still be that way.) We thought it would be a tribute to give our first son, my Dad’s surname. ANYWAY….the name we had chosen for our planned second daughter was given to Alyssa’s doll, who is still in the buggy to this day….”Chelsea Anne.”

 

 

Guess what? 22 years later, we still have this buggy…but now I have to decide what to do with it. Do I keep it for Alyssa who has assured me that children are not in her future. She never was the baby doll type of person anyway and although she liked her brother just fine, she really wasn’t impressed with his baby years…or the 6 other siblings that followed afterwards. The little girls are currently playing with the buggy and love to push Chelsea Anne around but there will come a time when we have to decide….”what do we do with the buggy?”

Anyway,  I digress AGAIN, the point is, I now understand why Dad took that old buggy to the dump and I’m sure it wasn’t in the kind of condition that our wicker buggy is currently in. It takes a lot of energy to decide what to do with our belongings, when we do decide to let them go….maybe the dump wasn’t the best place for that old buggy, but Dad didn’t have tons of time to carefully weigh the options and in those days there weren’t the places there are today to recycle and appreciate old things. Everyone in those days had old stuff. He did what he needed to do to create more space in our small home so that we could live a richer life. Thanks Dad for teaching me that lesson by example.

It wasn’t long after this, that my Dad was killed in a truck accident and a year after he passed away, my mom moved us out of our hometown of Hope, leaving my 2 oldest sisters to stay in our home until it sold. (One sister had graduated and had started working at the local bank and the other sister was left to finish high school in the town she had grown up in) I was too young to remember how mom moved us but she had to deal with all our stuff somehow. She remained a bit of a collector all her life, although I won’t say she was a hoarder because she kept everything looking very nice but in some circles, they would say she had problems with letting go of  material things. I think that was quite common when you came from the depression era though. Books were one since she loved to read. Sentimental items were another. Tough stuff.

I know how I view our belongings is shadowed by how my parents dealt with their stuff. With this in mind, I was VERY conscious of how I approached my twin daughters the other day when I asked them to come and look at a basket, over flowing with stuffed animals. I talked to them about how they had so many lovies in the basket that you couldn’t even see them all. We talked about how they didn’t play with most of them and I told them about other children in the world, who didn’t have any lovies at all. I asked them if they felt they could part with any of them. “Which ones are your absolute favourites?” I asked.

Of course, since they are three, four in May, every single lovie was special. I was very careful in helping them choose their favourites. We took time to eliminate the ones they didn’t have a connection with.  I asked them if they thought they could say good bye to the ones that weren’t as special and we could give them to other children to love. They nodded their heads solemnly. We kept the bunnies, since the girls were born in the year of the rabbit (Chinese zodiac) and bunnies happen to not only be a favourite of their’s but I know if my mom were alive, she would have said, “oh keep the bunnies.”

And that brings me to another story from my mother’s childhood. She was a child during the depression but her family was fortunate to live on a farm and they had chickens and rabbits. She loved the bunnies and for a long time, didn’t make the connection that often after having a delicious Sunday dinner of “chicken,” one of her bunnies would coincidentally go missing. I think one of her older brothers finally clued her in…boys!

So we kept the bunnies in the basket but several other non-describt lovies made it to the give a way box. After a final farewell, I moved them quickly out to the garage since I knew if the girls saw them again, they would suddenly feel they would HAVE to sleep with one or all of them that night.

So with another week almost behind me on my minimalism journey, I have a few more tips to share.

Be considerate with your spouse regarding how they are letting go of their possessions. We all have a past and it’s good to be gentle and give others space to let go in their own time. That the truth for them is the same truth for you, but it may just look different. Compromise with compassion. (this from Buddha’s teachings…the compassion part and a reminder that we are all connected….and perfect just as we are)

And if you have children, get them involved and help them to see that letting go isn’t painful but can be enlightening. Can be filled with joy. Hopefully, they can carry some wonderful childhood memories down the road to pass on to their children and it will look like this; People, not things are important. Happiness is within, memories are not in our belongings. They are in our hearts.

Well, I will close but I wanted to share my recipe for Date Squares before I say good night….for yes, it is now evening.

This is  my mom’s recipe. I have tried to make it exactly how she did over the years but it never tastes exactly the same. I don’t know what she did differently…maybe it was just the love she put into each pan. You know how things always taste better when they are made just for you? Maybe it was in the actual tin pan that she cooked her squares in (old, dark and well used) and I use a glass pan? Maybe the quality of ingredients is different but it’s still an amazing recipe.

So Mom and Dad, this is for you. “I’m laying up my treasures in heaven” and all that but until then, I’m making date squares and remembering you both with love.

Ethel’s Date Squares
or what she liked to call her Matrimonial Cake


Ingredients

2 cups rolled oats
2 cups flour…for a great texture use 1/2 white and 1/2 whole wheat
1 cup brown sugar
1 cup butter
1/2 tsp baking soda
1 tsp baking powder
2 tsp cinnamon (this is my addition…my mom didn’t use this)
pinch of salt

Filling
1 pound of dates
2 cups of water
1/2 cup of orange juice….or do what I do and juice a whole orange
pinch of salt
orange rind…about 1 tbsp

Directions

Put all the filling ingredients into a medium saucepan and bring to a rolling boil. Turn down to a simmer for about 20 minutes and then take a potato masher and break the dates so the mixture is smooth and thick. Turn off the heat and let the filling thicken while you are making the bottom and top layer.

In a large bowl, add all the dry ingredients. Add cut up butter (best if the butter is cold) then with a pastry mixer or two knives, continue to cut the butter into the mixture until it’s all well combined.

Press 1/2 of the flour/butter mixture into a 13×9 lightly greased pan. Add and spread all of the filling mixture and finally top it with the other 1/2 of the flour/butter mixture. Pat with a fork.

Bake in an oven 325 degrees if using a glass pan or 350 degrees if using a metal pan. Bake for 30 minutes until the edge is lightly brown.

Let it cool and set and then cut into squares. I usually put 1/2 of these squares into the freezer or they will be gone within the day…..they are really great for book club night meetings too.

For instance, I made this today for my book club meeting and it’s almost gone….but oh so good. If you love dates, I hope you will try this recipe and think of my mom who loved bunnies, babies, books, her family…and my Dad. This coming Saturday, will be the 3rd anniversary since Mom passed away. Another reminder how fleeting this earth journey is, and how stuff just isn’t important.

My mom and Dad and my Dad’s fav squares…..served on my mom’s Forget Me Not china
What do you do with old recipes written out in your mother’s writing? As you can see, I’ve loved this recipe for years but the recipe card is not my mom…she is in my heart and every time I make this recipe she is telling me the story of how much my Dad loved these squares……they are delicious!


So as I leave you, with maybe a recipe to try out, or an inspiration to clear out the clutter in your kitchen, (do you really need five spring form pans, as my dear friend K just mentioned she discovered in her kitchen recently?) maybe you can set up your computer in your kitchen and listen to the audio version of the book, “Siddhartha,” by Hermann Hesse. Here’s the link, if you are interested in listening and remembering that what you think, you become. We all have the seeds of Buddha inside of us. We are all perfect, even as we sit amongst all our stuff. It is a good way to practise the art of letting go gracefully.

I wrote this quote on our chalk board for our Siddhartha meeting tomorrow night….”what we think, we become.”

If you can’t see the link to the Siddhartha audio book below, click this hyperlink.


 Wish you could join me during our sacred circle book club tomorrow night but maybe you can listen to the story and tell me what you think of this classic little book about Buddha’s life.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope

A final youtube video….the song, “Tis a gift to be simple” by Yo Yo Ma and Alison Krause…..love, LOVE the cello and Alison’s voice is beautiful………good night dear blog friends

 

 

Minimalist Journey, TIP 1 & 2, and Spicy Bran Muffins

/ Lee Reynolds

Thanks for popping in as I’m excited to share a few tips I have discovered on my early “moments” towards minimalism. The first one became very apparent to me yesterday when I woke up bleary eyed from a brief four hours of sleep the night before.  (I had been writing my first blog about minimalism and finally posted it at 3 am)

Some people have asked me where I find time to write with our busy life with currently 6 kids in our home and two others that I try to stay connected to outside the home. Well…..

Like anything that is important, I find the time. I love to write and although for most of my life as a mom, I have put my needs at the bottom of the list, over the last decade I have learned that this doesn’t have to be the case.In fact, having this mindset is actually detrimental to our family as I get crabby when my needs haven’t been met. I’ve put myself last for so long however that even a tiny bit of “me time” can fill my bucket to over flowing.

I have found time over the years to go to my yoga classes, take a few evening courses, and even have the occasional long walk all alone.  On days when the kids and house needed more attention, even doing a few yoga poses or sun salutations perked me up. My writing though is something that I really have to make a concerted effort to create time for daily/weekly, in order to release all the ideas and thoughts ready to erupt from my brain.

I paid the price yesterday though when I was surviving, yes that is an appropriate word for yesterday on only four hours of sleep. And like any day around here, it was jam packed and I needed to really be in the game.

Have you ever noticed that when you don’t get enough sleep, nothing seems to go right for you. Life is full of obstacles and shadowed with difficult moments, almost like the fog that clouds your brain. Things that you normally find solutions to in milli-seconds takes minutes, or longer.

Therefore, my TIP # 1 for beginning a minimalist journey is to NOT be minimal with regards to your sleep. This is one area that you need a huge amount. A bit ironic, that on the path to being a minimalist, you NEED something big in your life. But yes, sleep is one of them.

As I whipped through the house while the girls were at preschool and perhaps “whipped” isn’t the best verb to describe the way I cleaned the house yesterday morning, I took a large basket with me so I could gather up things on my path that I knew for SURE we didn’t need any longer. I noticed that my decisions for those things were slower than I believe I could have been, had I been well rested. Plus, my pace was definitely slower than my usual speedy, efficient self.

As a previous, fitness instructor, I have a mind set that my house cleaning can be a form of work out. As I bend down to reach for something, I do a squat, as I travel up the stairs, I run, sometimes taking two steps to really work my legs and give me a burst of cardio. When I’m making beds, I lift the sheets way up high, shaking them to air them out but also working my arms and shoulders. Okay, you get the idea and often people have said to me, after hearing I have 8 kids, “wow, you’re in great shape.” I don’t really know what they expect a mom with many kids to look like, but I often reply with a laugh, “my kids are my personal trainers and having a large family requires more work so that may explain why I may appear fit.”

I digress, the point is, that optimum sleep is paramount, if one is to be an efficient minimalist.

The other thing I also noticed was that I wasn’t eating the best. The morning started with me just grabbing an apple as I headed out the door taking Clark to the University bus, then back home to gather up the others, taking Harrison to high school and then Grace and Will to elementary school (yes, I know not very environmentally conscious/green, all that driving, but Grace was downhill skiing with her class yesterday and she had a lot of gear to take to school) and finally I had to take the little two to preschool. Upon returning home, AT LAST, since I was moving slower than usual, I didn’t stop for a good breakfast but plowed right into the work. Cleaning the kitchen, gathering up laundry, making beds. Yes, not eating… is not the best idea.

Since Will had invited a friend over after school, I made special oatmeal cookies, loaded with trail mix type filling. I also made a large snack plate to be brought out of the fridge when they arrived home later in the day. It had cut up veggies and fruit, some crackers and cheese and of course several of these large cookies on the plate. It was close to 11 am so I raced back to preschool.

After collecting the little girls, we went to the recycling center to drop off all the bottles we had accumulated and then the library where many of the books on minimalism were on on hold for me.  Can I say enough about our library? I LOVE IT!….and although I love books, I can see that as long as I’m close to a library, I can let go of my books.

Here’s what I picked up;

Yeah!.. the book above will be an easy read and down below is a link to one of this author’s youtube videos.

The book above was written by the two guys I wrote about in my last post….although they don’t share the same lifestyle that I have (with a large family) I really like them. They remind me of my nephew, E, who lives in Vancouver in Yale town and enjoys a lovely very urban lifestyle. (he also has a minimalistic approach since he has a studio apartment.


The book above is written by a woman who is a mom like me….I listened to an interview she gave on the web and she had such a down to earth manner that I really resonated with….I’m looking forward to reading her book….

and because I knew that part of my quest for minimalism had to do with my diet, I also picked up these books as well.
  AND

I love Deepak….as you know I participate in all the group meditations that he and Oprah put on….there is one coming up again in March and the focus will be on “success.” Check out the Chopra’s center to sign up.

After lunch (I fed the little girls but didn’t stop to eat) we went to pick up our University son and brought him home as he was going to greet Will and his friend V, after school, while I picked up Harrison from high school, collect Grace and all her ski stuff and then take her to her swim club session. To keep me going, as I was in and out of the house driving kids around, I grabbed a few of the cookies I made and a little bowl of fruit and veggies.

When I finally came home, as I was making dinner, I ate another cookies, okay, maybe two. Then, since I was still starving, I basically inhaled dinner not really “aware” of what was going in my mouth as I chewed and as we all hurriedly talked about  the things each of us had on our plate for the evening.

After dinner as I was cleaning up, I knew I still had a full evening ahead with bathing the little kids, telling stories, working with Will on his reading, checking in with Grace on her homework, tucking in little people, making lunches, you get the picture and since I was running out of steam, I opened the box of chocolates that D had given me for Valentines as I was cleaning up the kitchen….I ate one chocolate and then two and finally three!!!

I said goodbye to Harrison, with a mouthful of chocolate. He was off to play another basketball game and since I had attended the one the night before, I let David see last night’s game. Then after the game, Harrison had asked if he could go to the February Valentine’s dance at school. Thank heavens I didn’t have to get him to those activities but since my number one helper, “my husband” was out for the evening, it was up to me to pick up the slack. So to keep going, my body ate another chocolate as I yelled for Will to start the bath water running.

That brings me to TIP #2 beginning the minimalism journey. After reading everything I just wrote, you probably are thinking tip #2should be ridding ourselves of activities….but no…that will have to be something we consider down the road. In these early days, my tip # 2 is, prepare healthy meals, eat slowly, savour your food and even if you have a busy day like I had yesterday, be mindful of the moments when you are eating.

On this journey, I want minimalism to create fuller, richer moments in every aspect of my life and getting sufficient sleep and eating consciously, with joy for I do love food, these must be the foundation for my life to flourish.

No matter your lifestyle, I would think this would be the base for a good life but in addition to North Americans having a lot of stuff cluttering up their homes, I think it’s safe to say that we as a society don’t get enough sleep. We certainly don’t have the best eating habits. (what do you think?)

After I put the little ones to bed, I quickly performed all the evening chores I needed to do in order to allow our morning to flow smoother. Then exhausted, I went to bed. Even though I was very tired, I started reading the new book I had picked up from the library, “Clutterfree with Kids,” by Joshua Becker. While it was very interesting, by 9:15 my eyes were really heavy. I set the book down, sprayed some lavender mist on my pillow that my sister C had given me, put some peppermint drops from Saje that my other sister B had given to me (because I used to be addicted to Vicks under my nose at bedtime….a story for another day about clearing up our addictions) and I dropped off to a blissful, deep sleep. Oh sweet dreams.

Image result for sweet dreams on a pillow

I woke up this morning refreshed and ready and excited to start a new day. The first thing I did today was take my green powder drink, make some oatmeal/quinoa cereal and I brewed a pot of Mother’s Helper tea from David’s Tea and while I sipped my first cup, I made some bran muffins. The cookie jar is still packed with the cookies I made yesterday but today, I ‘m going to have a good bran muffin as a conscious, well deserved snack before we do the piano and voice lessons, the basketball practise etc. (yes we do have to do something about the activities)

As I write this blog, it’s later in the morning, I’ve done my morning chores and while the girls play with their dollhouse, I thought I would pass on these two tips to you.

      Get enough sleep and eat healthy meals and snacks

Well I’m off to do some deeper cleaning with a large basket under my arm. My intention is to start my deep cleaning with the thought, “do I need this and do I love it?” foremost in my brain. Wish me luck!

Image result for do i need it, do i love itImage result for do i need it, do i love itImage result for do i need it, do i love it

Hey and before I close I thought I would share the bran muffin recipe I have been using for years. It was the first muffin recipe that I ever made as a newly married woman. I hope you like it too and in a way, it’s kind of appropriate for the minimalism path since it clears out your colon REALLY well. Nothing like the feeling of cleaned out inside too right?…okay maybe too much information but hey…..when we start talking about paring down, shouldn’t we also be thinking of what is inside us as well?

Pumpkin Bran Muffin Recipe

Hope’s Minimalism Bran Muffins

11/4 cup of flour….I use 3/4 cup of whole wheat flour and 1/2 cup of white flour
11/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 baking soda
1/4 salt
1 tsp ground cinnamon
1/2 ground nutmeg
1/4 all spice
11/4 cup milk…..almond, rice, cow…whatever you prefer…I like almond
1/4 vegetable oil….or coconut is great too
1/3 cup molasses
1 egg
1/2 raisins
11/2 cup of a bran type cereal……I have used All Bran and that is I believe where I got this recipe years ago….of the cereal box

1. Mix all the dry ingredients together

2. In a large bowl, combine cereal and milk. Let stand 4 minutes or until cereal is softened. Add oil, molasses and egg. Beat well. Stir in raisins.

3. Add flour mixture, stirring just until combined. Portion batter evenly into 12 lightly greased muffin-pan cups.

4. Bake at 400°F about 20 minutes or until the toothpick comes out clean

Image result for bran muffins in a country kitchen

 

These muffins will help keep things moving…..I also like to sprinkle some ground flax on top of the muffins before they go into the oven and that really helps me stay regular.

Oh….and one final tip as it goes with helping things in your colon get flushed out….drink water~as you are working through your stuff. In fact, often during the clean up, you may reach for food as a distraction, but instead, drink a full glass of water, nice and slow and appreciate how far you have already come. Be SIMPLY GRATEFUL.

If you want some more minimalist inspiration, check out this youtube video by Joshua Becker (more joy on owning less) who wrote the book that I’m currently reading, “Clutterfree with Kids”. He has a typical American family with 2 kids and is now a minimalist. (Note: he does talk about his spirituality in the longer video above…click on the hyperlink above to see it. When he references God etc, it may be interesting to watch your reaction. For me…..I think the road to minimalism can create more time for us to contemplate our connection to Source and our soul’s journey….unless you don’t want to that is….as my older son says…..becoming minimalist can allow more time for no reflection at all…..just being)
Well, I’m off to tackle my spice cupboard….what are you working on?
 
Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.
Blessings from Hope

 

Living Large with Minimalism

/ Lee Reynolds

 


‘Drink your tea slowly and reverently, as if it is the axis on which the world earth revolves – slowly, evenly, without rushing toward the future. Live the actual moment.’ ~Thich Nhat Hanh

Last year, in my spare moments, I started to Google simplicity. I visited our local library seeking every book they had on the subject. I’m at a place in my life where many of my friends are starting to downsize because their youngest child/children are leaving the nest and although we are YEARS away from our youngest leaving home, a large part of me wants to shift and seek a richer lifestyle. My heart desires less stuff so we can experience more life.

In my quest, I wanted to be inspired with ideas to create a more meaningful lifestyle to raise our younger children. Although our intention was good while raising our older kids, looking back I see that it was centered on a busy, consumer oriented life. We have achieved the “Canadian/American” dream. We have a large home with a pool, the children attend excellent schools and have all sorts of  enrichment type activities. We want for nothing, and yet, I feel like A LOT is lacking.

For the last several years I knew that the stuff we had accumulated, which was to make life easier and more fun, wasn’t making us any more joy filled. In fact, it caused more stress since things always need to be repaired, cleaned and maintained. In my quest to look for an alternative path, I was amazed to find that many people all over the world are intensely interested in the same sort of thing. It’s like we are all waking up and seeing that we have bought a used bill of goods. More is less.

During my search, I stumbled across people who live in “Tiny Houses.” These are small houses (usually under 300 square ft) that normally wouldn’t meet building standards but since they are built on trailer beds with wheels, they do not fall under normal building codes but rather under vehicle codes. The people who choose this lifestyle usually have one thing in common; they want more life and less stuff.

I love to take virtual tours of these tiny houses and often lay in bed at night dreaming of how much freedom this would create in my life if we had less square footage. Just imagine, it would take probably minutes to wash a few dishes, make a bed or two (there are even small families in these houses) and clean the tiny, closet like bathroom. Just think, it would be hard to lose anything in this size of house! To me this is luxury living. MAYBE it’s not your idea of nirvana, but there is a huge part of me that desires this life style.

The dream goes back to when my Dad converted a back yard shed and turned it into my playhouse. There was a real stove and cupboards for my little dishes and my baby dolls seemed to really love it there too. I would take dirt and leaves and cook amazing meals on my stove. Outside my house was our garden with butterflies flitting around and there were always a cat or two hanging around, begging to curl up in my lap. Now that is heaven to me.

Sigh!

What has propelled me to start thinking seriously about living more simply? Well……

A few things have, let’s say, been accumulating in my home which is causing some discontent and distress. First, the growing pile of singular socks in my laundry room is driving me wild. Do you have this in your house? Where does the other matching sock go? My kids say that my washer must eat them. I think the likely situation is that the sock attaches itself to another piece of clothing, (since I don’t use static fighting fabric sheets…..I just throw in a lavender soaked rag instead) and then gets put away in someones drawer never to be seen again. (And I have to stress here, there are not just a few socks but a huge pile of singular socks waiting for their partner to appear.) And socks are expensive…especially basketball socks, YIKES!

Also, it seems to take longer and longer each morning to put our house in any semblance of order and that is even when I have asked each child to make their bed and bring their laundry to the wash basket. I don’t know if  I’m slowing down but most mornings I feel as if I’m walking through sludge, going room to room straightening things up.

As I sort through my laundry looking for missing socks, I have been pondering my life.

Image result for missing sock pile

I’m sure my niece, N, who is an efficiency expert with her company would say, “Auntie, the problem is with the number of kids you have.” Hmmmm…. I’m just assuming here of course, but I’m sure most people would say, how can you have a simple life with 8 kids? I did try to Google simple living with a large family and you know what I found? Not much.

So it looks like I’m leading the pack or perhaps there are large families out there but they are having so much fun enjoying living simply, that they don’t see the need to reach out and share their secrets. Maybe, living large “with minimalism” is an oxymoron, but my gut says that there really isn’t a huge contradiction here after all. I think it’s one and the same. Living large is what being a minimalist is all about. We want more LIFE. And I guess since I have 8 kids, it is a play on words but I think it’s possible to have a large family and live simply. I’m kind of excited to share this journey with you…..if you are interested in what we are doing that is.

I did find one book on our library’s list that may help me and once it comes in and I have a chance to read it, I will share the contents with you. I can’t wait!

When 2015 began, I knew I was going to continue to move in the direction of being more sustainable, by growing a large garden, using our resources with care, raising children who are earth conscious but I had no idea that only 2 months into the year, I would be thinking of becoming a minimalist.

A few things have shifted my thinking. First, as I meditate more and feel a greater connection to my soul, I feel expansive. I don’t need things or a large home to feel happy any longer. I want more time to just be in THAT space. Also, I want more time just being with those I love.

 

It’s the simple moments that are precious….the girls sitting on the window seat  in awe of another snow day.

Another inspiration is with regards to our oldest daughter Alyssa. If you read my blog, you know she left last August to teach over in the U.K. As I said goodbye to her at the airport, she was pulling two connected suitcases and had a carry on slung over her shoulder.

I helped her wash and iron the clothes she carefully selected, so I know what she packed. A lot of black. Black pants, tights, a few black dresses, a black skirt and then a stack of different shirts to coordinate with all the bottoms. For the next two years these will be her only possessions. What she desires is experiences. Where is she right now? On her school’s break in Paris.

This is all Alyssa is going to have for possessions for the next two years….keep in mind all her career clothes are in these suitcases along with her tablet, her computer, her camera. Could you live out of two suitcases for 2 years? She didn’t even take a book….and she is a book LOVER!

 

Alyssa in her black London Fog coat …she is capturing life in Europe

Then our son Mitchell, who is away at University, came home last week for a part of his reading week. He was here for 6 nights and 5 full days and all he brought with him were one pair of pants, two t-shirts, a plaid shirt, a jean jacket and a comfy pair of jersey type pants that he wore to relax and sleep in. He had a great week visiting with his old school friends, he went up skiing with the family, he went to his little brother’s music class and said hello to his old guitar teacher and he even cheered his 16 year old brother, Harrison on during one of his basketball games.We watched movies together and I made many of his favourite meals and desserts.

 

Mitchell being silly with his little sisters..”making memories”

We had a wonderful week full of fun and made some lasting memories but as he walked up the driveway with only a backpack it occurred to me that my older children have the right idea. They are both living life fully and not encumbered with stuff. Since Mitchell brought only a few items home, there was nothing to maintain and it was a breeze for him to pack again. Mid week, I did throw his clothes in the wash with the rest of the family’s and I think I lost one of his socks too, but other than that there was no effort involved.

Then finally, I was thinking about how I’m about to embark on my yearly, intense spring cleaning session.
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Ask the kids how gruelling it is and they will assure you that they would rather be anywhere else but in our house for spring cleaning. I go room to room, de-clutter, clean what items are left and organize our belongings so that there a place for everything. (you know that saying….)

 

Then I do a deep cleaning in each room. This process normally takes at least a month since my day to day life is usually spent doing our usual maintenance and household upkeep. And finally I perform a space clearing ceremony in our house. I go room to room with some sage/lavender smudge sticks, a feather, a bell, flowers, etc and I bless our home.

Once I have finished with the interior, I take that spring cleaning energy out into the yard. I prune all our shrubs, trees, rake the grass, pick up the debris leftover from winter, sweep all the walkways and driveway. I wash all the windows on the outside of the house and clean our little front yard pond while also setting out our water feature fountain at the front door.

Then I take out all our stored outdoor furniture and set them up; two patio table/umbrella and chair sets, our front yard Adirondack chairs, our red ones for the backyard fire pit, and then I haven’t even started talking about the kids tiny house or the garden/compost (or David opening up our pool and cleaning the hot tub for spring)….I’m exhausted just writing this and I’m sure I forgot a lot………So yeah…..I wish the little house below were MY HOUSE.

Our kids playhouse and playground….what would life be like if this was where we lived?…..some families in the world do live in spaces this small.

Does all this sound familiar to you too? If you have been thinking that you want more life and less stuff too, then we are kindred spirits. Let me share a few really cool Youtube videos that I discovered recently. Maybe you will join me and others around the world in paring down and living more.

It’s not just our stuff, it’s our thoughts, it’s the things we say “yes,” but really want to say, “sorry, no.” It’s the activities we register our children in, creating another generation of people who don’t know how to slow down. It’s even as simple as our breathing. When was the last time you took a really deep, slow breath?…instead of tons of shallow ones?

Well, I’ve been staying up late listening to some really wise people talk about the minimalist movement and I hope they inspire you to start on a new path…if you aren’t already there.

First, I found these two guys, Joshua Fields Millburn & Ryan Nicodemus. They had a really powerful TEDx talk, called, “A Rich life with Less Stuff.” (click on the hyper-link below) They also have a web site called, “TheMinimalist.com.

If you want some inspiration check out this video by The Minimalists, (A Rich life with less stuff)

And another one is with Angela Horn (I love her accent) called, “The less you own, the more you have.” This video REALLY resonated with me as she starts her talk reflecting on clearing out her mother and father’s family home. After my mom passed away 3 years ago this month, I started looking at all of my stuff with a new light and now ask myself, “what do I want to leave my kids to  go through after I’m gone?”

Check out Angela’s videos below or better yet, this hyperlink to the TEDx talk she gave in Capetown……. “Less you own the more you have. In this video she shares the two steps that you need to make towards having more.

1) Clear the clutter
2) Stop buying new stuff

 

Well, enough said. Ha! When I think about minimalism, I want it to relate to EVERY aspect of my life. Not just stuff. I want less thoughts, more love and peace.

Will you join me in the ranks of people all over the world who are ditching the “Dream” and working in the direction of a simpler more fulfilling life? It starts with refusing to bring more stuff into your home, while working slowly through the belongings you do own. While you do, think about this, if this was your last day on earth, how would you want to spend it? With the stuff you own or with the people you love?

Are you in”
Stay tuned as I share some things that we will be doing around our home.

Until we meet again, may you be well, happy and peaceful.

Blessings from Hope