citygirl, countrylife

Sabbitical from alcohol

2008-05-23T07:49:00.000-07:00

In April i read this article in More magazine about social drinking. The writer ( a women) decided to go 30 days without booze.
She talks about mothers who say they need a drink , especially when dealing with teenage children and their problems and also after a hard day at the office. We always find some excuse to drink, at lunch with the girls, at a dinner party, every night at supper.
Its called doing a "thirty" and i'm on day 21.
I did it because, i work hard here , we run businesses from our home, so i need to be on top of things, mentally and physically.
On the internet there are thousands of sites that talk about giving your body a break, by not drinking alcohol even 1 glass every day, you give your liver and kidneys a break from always having to process alcohol.
It is also dehydrating so this is a good break for your skin, a chance to rehydrate and detoxify.
Furthermore I've read that women going through menopause could find some reprieve from symptoms if there is less alcohol to none consumed .

It has been fairly easy, only the first couple days were hard, its the ritual I missed the most at first, the sitting down with wine, discussing the day with partner and what do i drink, i've never been a pop or juice drinker and water gets done right boring all day and all night, but i did find i like tonic and mineral water. I did have a headache on day 4 and 5, but that was it
I haven't missed a social function, I've been down at the local pub a number of times.
I'ts funny the reaction you get from your friends ( all social drinkers) , some are envious all are proud.
I tell them , "you can do it too".

This is how I feel:
I'm sharper
I have a lot more energy
I sleep like a baby every night.
I 'm crazy happy.
More creative ideas.
More organized
more money in my pocket
I'm actually more hyper , I believe the alcohol does relax me.
Coffee is the only thing that comes close to relaxing me and getting me to sit down for more than 5 minutes without moving.

I don't even think about it anymore, Its easier than I thought and I'm getting alot of accomplished.

Lambing time

2008-02-20T07:40:00.000-08:00

Well its lambing time on the farm, we had triplets born on Sunday and twins born on Tuesday.
We need to watch the triplets as usually one is weaker than the rest and needs to be supplmented with a bottle.
The mom with the twins had mastitis last year so has one inoperable teat this year, I hope she can feed both.
What happens to me as i have to look after these lambs as i've lost lambs in the past.
so i become fixated on keeping them alive and i worry about them, this makes me farm bound which is not good for me.
As hubby is busy with a couple jobs nonfarm related and these take him away from the farm , it is all up to me!

Quiz

2008-02-07T07:33:00.000-08:00

who has sold over 500 million records?

elvis

Things I Love

2008-02-06T20:19:00.000-08:00

I caught the last part of Oprah today , about attracting good things.
They talked about making a list of what you love.
Here is my list in no particular order: fleamarkets, going out for dinner, my husband's ethical values, my family, creating, Shara's loyalty, Colin's out going nature, a goodfire, fresh baked bread with butter, When Ron cooks for me, the property, textured fabrics, early morning in the fog, movies that inspire, a letter in the mail, Asian food, a good nap, clean crisp sheets, a nice clean house, bath with my husband, Blundstone boots, a sea of red poppies in the spring, snowboarding, the smell of Rons aftershave, bracelets, good friends, a good back scratch, making people laugh, walking through fall leaves, a massage , a great memory inspiring song, vanilla scent, dancing, feeling valued and understood, my husbands love of people and life, Ron's mind, oprah, the office, waking without an alarm, good emails not forwards, wind chimes in the breeze, fresh berries, great coffee, facials, my caesar salad, museums, eccentric women, painting, drawing, Spain, Montreal, other creative women, all things ornate, smell of an ice rink, getting my hands dirty, random acts of kindness, Peace

Making Wooden Buttons

2008-02-05T14:02:00.002-08:00

this making wooden buttons is challenging, but it gets me out, foraging for different woods in the bush.
Its exciting to see how they come out after cutting, sanding and finishing them.
I'm quite excited about the spalted maple i used last week.
and I've already gone out looking for more, but not with much success.
I know that wooden buttons were the norm in the old days and I bet there are a lot of historical costumes that require wooden buttons.
I saw a great historical photo on flickr of a whole family, including very young children stringing buttons in the living room for about $7 a month.

Making Wooden Buttons

2008-02-05T14:02:00.001-08:00

Farming Vs the The Rat Race

2008-02-03T15:39:00.002-08:00

I've been very focused on making my blog site the best it can be.

I want it to be entertaining , informative, and inspiring for all those creative or restless minds.

As a new farmer who left the rat race 5 years ago , I am overwhelmed with ideas and lessons to be learnt, but embrace it all.

I will never, never look back, it was the best thing that I did . Selling the house in the suburbs and quitting a good government job, opting out of daily commuting 2.5 hours and taking control of my own life.

We bought 7.5 acres 5 years ago on Fulford Harbour that had basically nothing on it but a sheep shed, 90 apple trees and a couple of old travel trailers. I lived in one of the trailers for 1 year while the house was being built and ron and I prepared the land for farming. Preparing for a small farm was hard and exhausing work, but extremely rewarding. We sometimes didn't leave the property for weeks on end. We developed muscles we didn't know we had, and we were driven to make it all it could be and more.

I encourage all who are fed up with the city rat race to consider going into small farming, trading a house on a lot for a place with pastoral and water views, where you can grow your own food, grow a few cash crops, build a guest cottage or family and friends (cause they will be coming, believe me!) and have all kinds of animals, meet and enjoy your neighbors and start having the Best time of your life!! (what are you waiting for , your not getting younger)

And farming will make you younger and healthier.

Living the Good and Rural Life

2008-02-03T15:39:00.001-08:00

Pottery Classes and handmade Wooden Buttons

2008-02-01T16:02:00.000-08:00

Its been a busy week , I've been busy in the studio and Ron has been working on jobs in Vancouver and Salt Spring.

I've been taking a pottery class on Tuesday evenings and I'm having fun.

I'm learning how to throw on the wheel this session.

My first night I did great making a mug and 2 bowls.

Boy do you need strength in hands and forearms to prepare the clay.

I also learnt that you lean your whole body into the throwing.

Well so much for any kind of finger nails, between guitar playing and pottery making they need to be short.

I'm also making wooden buttons for my shop, its been fun trying out the different woods to see what kind of patterning i get.

Ron went out and bought me a drill press as I was drilling the holes by hand, and they were not even.

So now I better get producing making all kinds of wood buttons.

PHOTOGRAPHY ON A CLEAR AND FROSTY MORNING

2008-01-24T13:36:00.000-08:00

It was so beautiful this morning, frost so thick it looked like snow.

The farm animals were pretty impatient this morning, nothing to graze, stomachs growling and very impatient with me, I had to hussle with the hay, water and grain ( all outdoor hoses frozen so I have to carry water from the house to all animals, chickens, ducks, alpaca's and sheep.
After feeding i took the opportunity to take some pictures with my new digital camera , I need to spend some time out and get acquainted with it. I'm not very good at reading manuals , i just experiment and i usually figure it all out.
This camera is a Canon Power Shot SD750 and it has a macro feature and I was surprized at how close I was able to get without it blurring, mind you , you also can't move a muscle which is hard to do.
I got a few good pictures in the garden and out at the pond.I will turn these into some handmade cards for sale at the market.

Sewing a Alpaca Baby Quilt using Alpaca Battings

2008-01-19T22:58:00.000-08:00

This is a baby quilt I sewed for baby Addison. I used an Amy Butler fabric on top and a chenille on the bottom, this is a quilt bag , inside is a quilt made with my Alpaca Batting.

This is a great way to use Alpaca batting as It will be light , soft and oh so warm.

Knitting Cat Toys using wool and catnip.

2008-01-18T11:29:00.001-08:00

Well I finally figured out how to make a bobble.

So I've been making these Mousies cat toys with my scrap wool thats left over from handmade wool that I've been spinning.

I had to change the mouse pattern a bit so to suit my style.

I have a huge catnip plant in my herb garden and I dry a container full each year.

So the mice are filled with catnip, clean sheep wool and a bell.

The first one kept going missing every night as i have two cats that are pretty rambunctious during the night. Then as it was on the floor somewhere the dog picked it up and carried it around with him for awhile before I noticed. I think they smell pretty good to cats and dog.

Well this cat toy can also be called a dog toy too.

A Day of Knitting

2008-01-16T22:20:00.001-08:00

For the last 2 days I've been trying to figure out how to do a boggle.

I'm attempting to make knitted cat toys from a web site

www. Wendyknits.net/mousepat4.htm

I had to learn what a bobble was, these make the ears .

I must have ripped out my knitting about 8 times.

I did pull out my Vogue Knitting book , which is great as it shows all the stitches , and give easy diagrams on step by step instructions.

I'll let you know tomorrow if I was successful with these new cat toys.

Here's a sample of my handspun wool knitted up

2008-01-14T12:40:00.000-08:00

Spinning handspun wool on my Louet Wheel

2008-01-14T12:12:00.000-08:00

Spinning some wool on my Louet wheel . I've started spinning wool again frantically. As most of my handspun wool stock was depleted with the 4 days of craft shows in December, and then I had a woman call me asking me for skeins of alpaca fibre and wool last week, which i was able to send to her.I'm thinking of some new colors I'd like to dye in the next month.I've found a better way to wind my wool skeins into balls without having my husband Ron have to hold it.I've turned one of my stools upside down and put the skein over 3 legs, it works like a dream.I purchased some new bobbins for my Louet spinning wheel, they look a little different then my old bobbins and have 1 more ratio to use ( think its called ratio, the groove for the wool) I like it , I have been able to control spinning better with this smaller ratio.

There is nothing like handspun wool!
draft
10:34:00 AM
by donna crestejo ateah

Grama I am

2007-11-18T21:16:00.000-08:00

Well, I am a new grandmother (new age of course and a very young one at that)
I just adore my new granddaughter "Addison" and I've been home for 1 week and I miss her already.
I kept calling her my girl while i was with my daughter, then I'd remember oh! you are not the mom,,,,,, you are the grandmom.
A little hard to get use to ...grandma.
Heck i still think I'm 30.
I loved feeding, burping, changing and talking to her.
She is so so special.
I love her with all my heart.

2007-11-16T10:58:00.000-08:00

My thoughts on Scrapbooking
I've been looking at a few magazines and lots of blogs on the subject.
I think it is great, and it seems to be a spin off of Mixed Media paintings in the Art World.
I think it can be way more stimulating and interesting with the use of different materials, dimensions finishes and textures.
One thing i note is that because it seems to be all purchased materials, they are all starting to look the same.
A little to clinical ( is that the word i'm looking for??) .

I will try some, using found objects , from my home, my sewing box, my wool basket, my kitchen drawer, my office desk , kids rooms, outside, the computer, etc
I have one piece of art I did about 10 years ago before scrapbooking and it is similar I will post it .
I would love to see some blogs of people doing this type of scrap booking.

Studio images and time well spent their.

2007-11-15T19:13:00.000-08:00

Here is a snapshot of my bulletin board, this helps with creative process and keeps my thoughts for future work in one location .

Here is a drawing with pencil crayon that I'm using to make a set of cards for the craft fair in December. I've manage to make a whole set of fruit cards for sale.

I played a bit of guitar tonight, practicing , Andante, and Scarborough Fair.

Making Wooden Letters

2007-11-15T18:58:00.000-08:00

well here i am with a blog ....

today i spent 3 hours in my studio sanding, cutting, glueing and painting wooden letters for the craft fair on Nov 30, 1 & 2nd.

I watched the time today and it took me 2 hours to sand, cut and glue 17 wooden letters , which happened to be two words, "family" and "Inspiration".

That is 14 minutes per wooden letter, we haven't included the cutting out and painting yet.

I'm working on Ron my husband to cut wooden blocks that can stand on their own to mount my words to, this way they can go on a desk, mantle, etc.

I guess i'll have to talk real nice or.... go out the the wood pile myself and take my pieces to the chop saw and do it myselft.... wouldn't be the first time!! :)

So far i have the following words made into wooden letters.

family, love, friends, sisters, mom, dad, cherish, baby, inspiration, joy, home, carpe diem, life.

All these wood letters will be sold at the craft Market in December.

it's start

2007-11-15T18:57:00.000-08:00