To ALL the Mother's out there...

 HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

Spring Equinox

The old saying in like a lion out like a lamb doesn't seem to apply to March this year. At least not in Nova Scotia! Today is the Spring Equinox and we just got 10 cm of heavy wet white stuff mixed with ice pellets and lots of wind. Sounds more like out like a lion to me...

We even got a 1/2 snow day! It is very rare for the University to close, so when it does you know it is bad...

I remember snow days as a kid in Ontario. Unlike here in Nova Scotia where they cancel school at the thought of snow, the only thing cancelled at my school were the buses. This meant that the teachers who could come in would and were paid to essentially babysit the kids that could make it to school. This meant that parents could drop their kids off if they chose but also all the kids that could walk, did. I cannot imagine all of the days off parents have to take in NS just because of school cancellations. Anyhow, snow days consisted of playing outside, board games, card games, music, fun science experiments, indoor gym, reading in the library and even music. Not all the teachers had to be there. Grade levels were combined and activities organized for everyone to have fun. They were the best days because they consisted of having fun with your friends at school ALL DAY and not just at recess. My snow day today consisted of shoveling snow and now posting here! Fun but perhaps not as exciting as building a snow fort and having a snowball fight with the English school across the ditch.

Despite the ugliness outside, there is some true beauty happening inside our house. I bought this orchid the other day because of its stunning colour! Sadly, it is not natural BUT it will have nice white flowers next time it blooms.

 In the mean time I will enjoy their turquoise and dark blue hues. Another of my orchids is putting out flower stalks for the third time in 12 months! I am looking forward to the 20+ blooms it will produce in the next couple of weeks. I also discovered another nice surprise the other day...

One of my cacti was budding! This beautiful orange flower opened yesterday and there is at least one more on the way!

I noticed that the heather on campus is blooming as were the crocuses. I am dreaming of gardening season!
In the mean time, I hope you are all warm and safe and enjoying the spring equinox, inside or outside!

Noche Buena

Noche Buena or Christmas Eve in Mexico...we are preparing for the family gathering tonight. This will inlcude traditional food such as romeritos (dried shrimp with a type of grass and potatoes cooked in a chocolate and chili gravy),bacalao (salted cod with potatoes in a tomato and chili sauce) with the accompanying Canadian stuffed turkey. The gifts are wrapped and ready to be opened. For now we will head to the beach since the party doesn't start until 8 pm!

I hope you all have a very Merry Christmas filled with good food, excellent company and lots of laughter.

Sweetness

This week has been absolutely crazy, with barely a moment to breath. I came home two nights ago to find these on the kitchen table.
Diego's thoughtfulness almost brought me to tears. He is such a sweetheart. They were just what I needed to get me to slow down. Their colour makes me smile, their scent makes me relax and their meaning makes my heart swell.

Spring has arrived!

Happy Spring!

I saw these crocuses displaying their colours 2 weeks ago even before many other plants had even started pushing the soil up!
Diego and I went for a long walk yesterday and although it was a bit nippy in the wind we found the signs of spring all around us.
We made it to the waterfront spring has been underway for a couple of weeks now. As soon as there is enough light (usually early March) the microscopic plants (phytoplankton) that drive the highly productive ocean system here off of Nova Scotia came to life and started multiplying. This is why the water in the photo below is greenish. Normally (now that we have sewage treatment!) the water would be crystal clear in the winter.
Once the phytoplankton get really abundant then the very small animals and larvae of bottom dwellers and fishes called zooplankton "appear" and begin to feed on the phytoplankton and each other! If you look closely at the photo you will see little round balls with two training tails. These are called ctenophores (or sea gooseberry). They are voracious predators and always appear after a week or 2 after the spring bloom starts. Eventually, the phytoplankton get grazed down by the very abundant zooplankton, which then also attract larger predators (krill, larger fishes) then eventually the whales arrive to dine on the feast that Altantic Canada has to offer.
Now that Spring has arrived to both land and sea, it will soon be time for planting in the garden! Above are the first awakenings in our garden. I can wait to have our very first chives!

Crazy Week...with a little Zen at the end.

It has been a bit of a crazy week.On Wednesday we had a pipe burst in the main floor flat AND the lights on our large kitchen fish tank (pictured here) stopped working. Both issues were quite urgent since it was a radiator pipe that broke we had to shut of the heat. We are lucky in that we have lovely tenants and the issue was quickly resolved. We will need to do more on it but not until the spring/summer. The fish tank on the other hand took a lot more work to solve the problem. It was a race against time since the corals need light to live and can only live 2-3 days without it...we had the lights up and running again by the end of the day Thursday, before any serious damage could be done. Lastly, we are waging a war against the mice in our house. We typically get one 2 two every winter but this winter has been especially bad. We have caught 5 so far (2 adults and 3 babies), we think there may be more but aren't sure...and since my allergies are out of control, this weekend will be a deep clean of the whole apartment...closets and everything. This will help to control my allergies but also let us know if they are still around. In the mean time I will leave you with some photos of the flowers that bring me joy everyday, even among all this chaos!
This is bloom from a piece of my great-grandmother's Christmas cactus. I have had it now for 2 years and this is the first time it has bloomed. We had the original in our house for a long time when I was younger but I had forgotten the colour of the flowers.
My friend gave me her 2 orchids before moving back to Venezuela. One has started blooming and reminds me of her every day. I am looking forward to when the other one blooms. Two others from my collection are also blooming and are so bright and cheery, you cannot help but smile.
I love the delicate dots on the one above and the small stripes on the ones below!Have a great weekend! Now I am off to clean!

How could I resist?

Aren't these gorgeous??? I have never seen any with the red centre. I bought them on Remembrance Day and thought the red was a perfect fit. I have 3 more orchids that have flower stalks growing and I never remember which is what colour so I always get a surprise!

Still no package from CSN, even though I check every day...must have been held up at the border but it can't be long now!

Thank You!

I want to say a great big THANKS to my parents!! I got a phone message from a flower shop on Wednesday but because we were watching the Spain vs. Germany game in a sports bar, we got home too late to get the delivery on Wed. So we spent the rest of the evening and the whole day on Thursday trying to figure out who the delivery was from!! After various jokes about a secret lover, the flowers arrived and they were a congratulations on your first house gift from my parents!
My mom sure knows what I love! They are AMAZING!!
Gerbera daisies with 2 different kinds of lilies and they smell AWESOME!!
I will thoroughly enjoy every view and breath while in my kitchen! The lilies have a blueish hue because it is so hot that we have to have the canopy on our fish tank open to keep the hot lights from killing everything! I am wearing my sunglasses as I write! :) So far the temp has not crested 28C in the tank...anything above 30 = meltdown! Let's hope for some cooler weather!

BIG News!

Diego and I bought our House (ie: the one we are currently renting the second floor flat!). We are now the proud owners of a Duplex! Closing day was on June 30th and we had an adequate celebration of bubbly and sushi. Yesterday was Canada Day (Happy 143 Canada!) and we had a small BBQ with friends, with a toast to the new house and some lovely fireworks to top it off. Now the new garden and plants I have put in are not in vain!
New veggie patch in the backyard. I planted eggplant, carrots, parsnips, fennel, snow peas, dill and green onions.
Close up of zucchini and green onions.
Our side of the house garden with a jungle of cherry tomato plants coming back from last year's leftovers! I used the plants as ground cover over the winter and low and behold, they seeded themselves! :)
The radishes also seeded themselves, but bolted early on since we had some hot weather in early June. I will collect the seed heads this time and keep them for a cooler location next year.
There were a few leftover onions that have gotten huge and will be very tasty! I also planted some cilantro which is coming along nicely and some nasturtiums for a colourful and peppery salad treat!
Yesterday was a great day for some sun tea! Citrus mint sweetened with Honey. Refreshing! I will leave you with a couple of photos of our beautiful petunias!
Have a great weekend!

Flowers

I saw these on my walk to work yesterday...They were not freshly planted either! The pansie was the most surprising...I almost missed it, just a slight flash of yellow among the dead leaves.
Diego bought me these beautiful roses a couple of weeks ago...the last two are still hanging on but will likely be hung up to dry today. I love the colour contrast and how the glow when the sun hits them!
This photo should be landscaped and is on my computer but blogger isn't cooperating...

Have a GREAT weekend everyone! :)

Happy Award!

Teresa over at Life Homesteading and Everything gave me this award 11 days ago but have just gotten around to it now... THANKS Teresa!! I am honoured!

The rules to this award are to list 10 things and 10 blogs that make you happy.

Things:

1) Snow days like yesterday! We got 30 cm of snow in the night and the University was closed...a great day to go for a walk, make some soups and work on my thesis... This is the view from out our back door in morning!
2) Cooking! It is so relaxing and rewarding. My body always feels better with a home cooked meal! This is a cream of broccoli soup I made last week...delicious and not a lot of cream!
3) My fish tanks...I already posted about those here and here.

4) My blooming orchids! I took these photos this morning...I love the light that reflects from the snow.
5) My first cup of coffee in the morning.

6) Singing birds when I walk to work.

7) Sunshine streaming in my window in the morning.

8) Swimming. I do this at least twice a week and it is so relaxing and calming. I LOVE being in the water!

9) Practicing Yoga. I am taking this amazing Vinyasa Flow class twice a week and I supplement with some Ashtanga 1-2 times per week. It is so calming and invigorating at the same time. My body and soul thank me every time I do it.

10) Last but definitely not least....being madly in love with Diego even after 7 years!

Blogs that make me happy.

1) Lisa at Eco Yogini. She is always so informative and candid. Her honesty is refreshing! :)

2) Barb at Mammy's Love. Her journey through whatever life throws her way is inspiring!

3) Sherrie at twenty-two pleasant. Her energy level, recipes and craftiness keep me coming back for more. Not to mention her cute little boy P...and Boy #2 on the way! :)

4) Vickie at Frenchy Addict. I strive to have her outlook on life now and keep it as I age. Not to mention she is such a talented knitter!

5) Sarah C at Blooming Where I am. The anecdotes and things to be thankful for really make you be thankful for your life and surroundings!

6) Little House in the Suburbs. SUPER Informative on anything from making your very first vegetable garden to homemade beauty products and cinnamon toast!

7) Cake at Whistling Leaf Blower. I love reading about her adventures and great recipes! Cosmo always makes me smile!

8) Parikha at Sixoneseven. Great recipes, gorgeous knitting ideas and beautiful baby D.

9) Ingrid at Words Starting wiht "P" are Cute. A very talent woman, spinning her own yarn! Any news on the newt?

10) Teresa at Life, Homesteading and Everything. Back at you Teresa! I love your blog...the homeschooling stories, anecdotes, recipes, all keep me fed and laughing!

Don't feel like you have to play along but I wanted to let you all in on a little piece of my happiness! :)