And so it begins…

The seed catalogues are arriving, and my excitement and anticipation are growing. I want to buy all the things, the flowers, the veggies and even the fruit! I must pull myself back, hold and evaluate what grew well and what didn’t and why.

Let’s start with the wins. The tomatoes, kale, carrots, sunchokes and peppers were the bombs! Why were these so good? I chose the right spot and amended the soil with compost and manure, added minerals and covered with chopped straw to hold the moisture.

The peas, cauliflower, beets, cabbage and beans, not so much. I did get a yield, it was small, and they weren’t as large as I had hoped. These were not as plentiful or as large because I did not do the things mentioned above. I thought the soil was still good enough from the last years’ amendments, so I got lazy and just planted. I also had a couple of weeks where I was just completely overwhelmed when my mother passed away, and I just didn’t water the beds as much as I should have. I didn’t cover the beds with chopped straw either to hold the moisture, lesson learned.

One thing I did choose to do that blessed me every day was I decided to plant flowerbeds in the vegetable garden. This one choice made my days a little brighter and allowed me to smile because I was able to stop and watch the bees we house on the property, buzzing from flower to flower.

I have been watching YouTube and reading to learn what I can change to do better this year on those crops. I have learned a few things that I will use to tweak how I grow this year. I initially thought that I would just give up on growing those things, but I have since changed my mind and will instead relocate them and set up a gravity-fed watering system. We are also increasing our composting this year, we just have not taken it seriously enough and always come up short of what we need, not this year!

So what are we going to grow this year? Well, I figure we will continue with beans, carrots, tomatoes, peppers (sweet and hot), peas, lettuce, zucchini, spinach, onions, cabbage, and cucumber. We will be adding potatoes, squash, pumpkin, swiss chard, broccoli and grains (wheat and oats). In the orchard, we will be adding more herbs, flowers and comfrey to bring in more beneficial insects.

We will be fencing our chickens for the first time ever to tear up some sod to create a rotating pastured pen for them. We used to free-range them, but it isn’t working in our best interest, more on that later.

I will be starting an organic spray cycle to the orchard to deal with many of the ongoing issues that have severely impacted our fruit yields. Again, I had been overwhelmed because of not planning to be very successful in the orchard. We are looking forward to an abundant crop of apples, Asian pears, plums, pears, cherries as well as berries this year.

I look forward to sharing the varieties that I decide to grow and the plan once it is done! My question to you is, what if anything has this inspired you to grow?

Ease, Joy and Prosperity,

Wanda

Frost has entered the garden gate. It’s on the tree’s, the berries. the flowers and the leaves. It has touched every surface and I can feel its kiss on the air. Oh, how magical the sparkle and shine and how pretty everything is.

It won’t last long, it’s not ready to stay but we have seen a glimpse of what will come. The dragonflies, butterflies, bees and bugs will soon be gone from the garden. The leaves have turned from green to oranges, yellows and reds. They are falling like a blanket on the ground and when I walk around they rustle and crunch beneath my feet.

The garden is done for this year, I have harvested all but the kale because it is one of the few things that like to be kissed by the frost.

Should I be happy or should I be sad? It is always so confusing. The garden has been so productive and I was blessed with so much abundance, yet I am sad to see it go. I have made jams, jellies, sauces, salsa and relish. I have chopped, stewed, frozen and canned. I am so grateful for being able to do all of this while being surrounded by beauty.

My heart is full and so is my pantry. I guess my last task is to remove all the spent plants and prep the gardens because before you know it there will be a blanket of white and it will be time for the gardens to rest.

Ease, Joy and Abundance – Wanda

 

The walk from the house down the path that leads to the garden gate is not very long, it takes but a few minutes. Some mornings it is hurried and others, a slow leisurely stroll past the garden with the large white hydrangea blossoms taking time to stop to see the myriad of floral and fauna.

You don’t really notice it until you pass those big white balls of the Annabell hydrangea and the galvanized bucket hose post that Kerry made to extend the reach of the garden hose and to reduce the damage I was inflicting on the hostas. However walking down the stone path and rounding the corner you see it, the garden gate that Kerry built to keep the chickens and ducks safe and restricted to the back yard.

The gate,  that is the divide, the entrance and the magical gateway to the other side, the pause and marker of where the breath of relaxation begins. This gate made with love, from salvaged cedar rails, draped with morning glory vines and bird feeders await your entrance.

A pause, a breath and then with a flip of the wooden latch it opens up to expose the many flower gardens, berry patches, veggie gardens and buildings that support the dreams, that have created the life, that loves building here.

It’s almost as though time stands still here once you step through the gate. The dragonflies dance from the pond to the plants and welcome the butterflies, birds and the bee’s in the dance of creation that only exists in the gardens. At any given moment one could visit you with a flutter or a buzz before landing on a flower petal. So sweet is the sight of a fuzzy little butt buried deep in a flower blossom or the gentile flutter of butterfly wings floating by on the wind. Life is good here in the garden, surrounded by all this beauty and its blessings.

Joy, Love & Abundance, Wanda

Well… May has turned to June and we have seen lots of June bugs, but that isn’t all that is happening here.

We have fruit and berries popping and the veggies are planted. So many colourful blooms and the fragrance of lilacs wafts through the air. I have planted many kinds of potatoes this year, which is a new experience for me. I have also started my very own sweet potato slips as well, so excited to see how well they grow this summer!

We have not found “the” house in Nova Scotia yet, but we are looking and planning on making a return trip at the end of the June/ beginning of July. I have to admit that I am finding that patience is not one of my strongest qualities and I am getting a little frustrated. I know what I want and what I want to spend, as well as I know where I am willing to compromise on what I want, but it hasn’t shown up yet.

Our house here is causing me a little stress in that it is torn apart while I try to sort and purge what I don’t need to take with us, not the easiest thing when you don’t know what you will need. We have taken to doing the outside work as a way to feel as though we have some control of our environment and it is helping a little.

Speaking of gardens, I was able to go to my favorite Hosta sale and I purchased 18 new Hosta’s. I love what they offer to a garden, quite a bang for the buck. Did you know that some varieties are edible? I will post more about that in my next blog post and maybe a few other edibles to forage for this season. Until then…

Joy, Love & Awareness,

Wanda

Well, we enjoyed having our daughter, son-in-law and our grandkids over for an early Easter supper today. Typical of me these days we had great food served on paper plates and bowls from Christmas. No, I am not lazy I am just trying to use up many of the items hanging around the house before we move.

Now I know I said I was set on a property and I still love it, however, Kerry doesn’t feel the same way I do, unfortunately. 😦 He is not sure of the area and the work rewired there. So, I have been feverishly looking for other properties in Nova Scotia.

We have found one that is move in ready, that checks all of our boxes except the asking price is $99,000 over what we wanted to spend and there is no high-speed internet so for me it is a no go. The second property is a fixer-upper. It has the buildings and land that i would like, but again Kerry is concerned with the amount of work required to get it where we would like it to be. I will continue the search!

Love, Joy and Awareness, Wanda

 

 

 

 

January 2017 has been an interesting month, so far I have bounced back and forth between staying at our current house and moving at least a half dozen times. We began the year looking at ways to make more money and then I thought why do we have to earn more money? We could instead become more aware of our money and how we use it. We could spend less and assess where we could do better at keeping more of our money. I mean do we really need to eat out once a week and if not then certainly do not need to do it multiple times a week!

I began the arduous task of looking through our banking transactions to find out where else we could reduce unnecessary spending. I was shocked and disgusted with what I found! We had been hemorrhaging money, to the tune of another mortgage payment. Sitting looking at the screen of my computer I felt sick, a deep knot in my stomach developed and I soon had to decide what our next step would be.

Do we really need a house this big? The bills keep going up and the mortgage is slow to go down. Is it adding to the quality of our lives or is it adding more stress? It was time to have a sit down with the hubby to discuss it. That discussion really didn’t lead anywhere right away, so I decided to go online and see what was available for sale should we decide to move and reduce our mortgage. My search of Ontario was not bringing up anything that seemed to satisfy our wants and my needs. I then expanded our search to B.C., New Brunswick, and Nova Scotia and although I loved the idea of B.C. it was too expensive. I was pleasantly surprised to find many good properties out East and one in particular, that was very intriguing.it is a big decision and one that would affect every aspect of our lives.

What to do? It is a big decision and one that would affect every aspect of our lives. Would Kerry quit his job? Would Adam want to come with us? Would Kery and I be able to live apart if he stayed behind to keep some money coming in until we got situated? So many questions and even more unforeseen factors at play. I was excited about the property, about the area, about the new opportunities, but I could feel Kerry’s nerves building and his fear of change and uncertainty. What should I do? I called the agent and had a discussion about all of our questions.

My nerves have settled down some and now we need to take the next logical step which is to go see the property in person. Cheap airfares and car rental found, now to look at our work schedules to see when to book it. Can we do this, should we do it, does it make sense?

We would be mortgage free, however, without jobs, we would be strapped unless Kerry stayed somewhere in Ontario and kept working for a few months. I guess we will just have to put it out there and see what gets created. Meanwhile, I will continue to teach classes and learn the skills that will be required and crunch the numbers.

Joy, Love & Awareness,

Wanda

 

 

 

A blanket of white snow now covers the ground and I am peaceful. Tucked away warm and brimming with creative possibilities, I have begun the process of self-evaluation. Like sugar plum fairies the ideas of all things possible dance through my head. What else is possible in my life that I am not even aware of and who would I be if I followed what was light for me?

Interesting, at some point in our lives we were taught to be serious and life isn’t supposed to be fun and I bought that hook, line, and sinker! Crazy!! I am in the process of changing those beliefs for myself and everyone I meet. Life is to be enjoyed, our “job” is to find out what that is for us individually. My new way of being is this if it makes me smile I do it, I experience it and I share it! Seems simple enough right,?

Well, it is a terribly hard concept for many people to wrap their heads around in our current society. You see the people I have talked with say things like, “I don’t have the luxury of choosing something fun to do for work.” or “Easy for you to do your husband pays the bills.” or even “It doesn’t work like that in the real world.”. Those are all interesting points of view and I understand how you feel, you see I felt the same way at one time. Now I know that everything in life is set in motion by the choices we make and can, therefore be changed by choice as well!

One of the choices I have made is to learn new ways to manage my life, my money and the “stress” of living in our modern day society. I regularly take self-improvement courses and learn and test new ways of being and relating to others. I make it a daily practice not to judge others for their choices, whether I agree with them or not. You see I have also realized that even if I can see that it might not be their best possible choice, it is still their choice to make and the outcome is theirs as well. I have learned that lesson best from my children and as much as I would love to save them the sometimes painful lessons I have had, that’s not my job. My job is, however, to share with them my experience and alternate possibilities and help them see that there is never only one solution to a problem, but many.

I also can relate to receiving those judgments from others about what I choose to do and I have come to understand that those who judge the harshest also have the most judgments of themselves. I used to be so very hurt by their comments, now I listen and let it pass on by like snowflakes on the wind. It is my experience that what another person judges you for is a cause of great suffering deep within them, they either feel inadequate or they themselves are that which they have judged you for and project their feelings onto you. Open your heart to them, send them blessings, thank them and move on.

Some days my life seems to be like a snowglobe, unsteady and hard to see where I am going, but I know that if I keep true to my knowing and follow the choices that feel light for me I will always end up in the right place when the snow settles. You see there are only two real choices in this life choose to feel light or don’t.

Joy, Love & Awareness,

Wanda

 

 

 

 

 

With the cold weather came the decision to put the store into hibernation for the winter season. The barn is a wonderful shop space however, it is not insulated and many of our products do not handle the cold well. We had thought about heating it and have even purchased a couple of propane heaters, but in the end, it just was not a sustainable or a satisfactory solution for us.

I honestly was so very sad to have to close the shop. I have taken inventory and some of the vendors have picked up their remaining products. I had a plan for the shop and I was happy to have the few months this summer and fall. I thank everyone who came to visit and those who supported this local, small business.

We will reopen in the spring with many new products and will use this time to refocus our attention on our other business, Valentus. Keep watch as I will be writing a post about in very soon.

Joy, Love & Awareness,

Wanda