Tag: flowers

#AtoZChallenge | Kindergarten crafts and recreating my daughter’s paper peony flower

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The volume of art projects that my girls brought home in the Kindergarten years was prolific. I saved many of them but couldn’t keep up with the onslaught so ultimately I starting filling a suitcase with the most memorable pieces. I kept one suitcase for each of my girls and continued to add art pieces and other projects throughout their school years. It came in handy when my oldest graduate from Art School. I was able to put together a retrospective of her art work through the years starting in preschool.

Every now and then I’d find a way to incorporate their art projects into our home décor. In preschool my youngest daughter made a handprint wreath that I continue to display at Christmas every year. And, in Kindergarten she came home with a large tissue paper flower.

I displayed it for many years in a large glass water jug filled with loose change. It made the perfect makeshift vase. The paper flower added a little pop of color and happiness. I love a good pop of color. The flower was there so long that when it finally deteriorated and had to be thrown out the jug didn’t look right. Something was missing.

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Summer hiking is finally here as we head up to Carabasset Valley.

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I’ll admit it. The mosquitoes win. They may be small but they are relentless. It’s the reason we rarely hike during the spring. It’s just not worth it.

No matter how many layers of all natural insect repellent I put on, it’s just never enough. I know something more high-test with deet might do a better job but I’m not a fan so instead we mostly avoid the woods during these months. But now that summer is here, we’re heading out to the trails again which is a good thing. I did not move nearly enough this winter and am excited to get back into our hiking routine.

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Looking for free things to do? Here’s a monthly breakdown of free events in Maine for 2019.

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A few years ago, my family and I did the Living Well Spending Zero challenge from Ruth Soukup. As part of the challenge, we spent minimal money for the entire month. No groceries, no entertainment, no take-out. We allowed ourselves a small amount of cash at the start of the month for minor necessities, and activities that had already been planned, but that was it. We ate through the food in our refrigerator and pantry, learned to ration our seltzer, and went to some free events like the Fork Food Lab grand opening.

Overall, we did a great job, or at least until the last day of the month when our cat came down with a UTI, and we had to do an emergency visit to the vet complete with x-rays, anesthesia, and multiple antibiotics, all of which negated most of our savings from our zero spend month. Still it was a fun, creative experiment and one we are about to embark on again.

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Hiking Maine | Gilsland Farm Audubon Center in Falmouth

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Hiking in Maine

So, summer got away from us a little bit. We were so focused on getting our girls ready to leave the nest, that there was little time left over for blogging. On the plus side, I now know all about VISA requirements for Sweden and how to vacuum seal a comforter so it will fit in a suitcase.

Even with all the chaos, we did find a little time here and there to fit in some summer adventures (more coming on those soon) and keep up with our weekly hikes (well, for the most part).

As we approached the drop off date to bring our youngest to college for her Freshman year, we headed out for a later afternoon hike and she decided to join us. Our girls aren’t big on hiking, so it was a nice to have her decide to come along with us for this one.

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P is for Pike’s Original Maine Garden Hod | Practical and beautiful.

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When we bought our home it came with three raised garden beds which of course meant I immediately envisioned summers with endless supplies of fresh herbs, vegetables and wild flowers without truly understanding the time and energy needed to achieve these results. Somehow, even with my lack of gardening skills, we did manage a couple of seasons with a good supply of herbs and wild flowers. We never managed the vegetables beyond a few tomatoes and one or two anemic bean poles.

Even with our limited success, as each new spring approaches I’m ready to dive in again but I’ve accepted that we probably won’t be feeding ourselves anytime soon. So one of my bucket list items for the year was to join a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) and we’re about to check this one off our list. We bought a half-share of the organic vegetable CSA from Frith Farm in Scarborough.

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