Wow, it has been so long since I have posted.  In fact I only just recently started to post on my other blog.  Summer has just been busy this year.  I wish it was long and lazy like it was when I was a child.  I remember times when I was just so incredibly bored!  I think it might be nice to be bored again sometimes!  This summer we redid the siding on our house, so far we only have the back done, but we really need to get the front done too, before the snow flies again.  We don't have a huge section to do at the front though, but it is the money that is hard to come by!

Our veggie garden was just weird this summer.  For the first time in ages, I have had luck with tomatoes.  I have to pick them when they are just starting to turn orange though, as they start to crack if I leave them.  They are all maturing at different times though, not all together, which is fine for us.  Our carrots were weird too.  We used seed tapes, and when we picked them the other day, some were huge, and others were teeny tiny.  Some were just gross, as they had slugs and so on eating them.    The runner beans did not do anything much this year, but the leaves and flowers are pretty.  We got loads of peas.  And our raspberries, oh my goodness, they were huge, and they just kept coming!  I didn't get enough to freeze, as I shared them with friends, made a pie and made muffins.  I just love raspberries.  We have a very tiny garden, so I had to trim the raspberry canes back so they don't over run everything.

We haven't gotten a trip to the beach in yet.  August has been cool, and we have been busy.  My dd has been volunteering at her horseback riding barn, she has been taking lessons since February.  So that was a lot of driving back and forth.  But she loves it so much, and she is so good at it too! I never got to take riding lessons when I was young, and I am just a horse nut, so it is a blessing for me to see her be able to ride and have so much fun. 

Anyway, that is my update for now, but I will be posting more regularly ( I hope!)

I have been wanting to post for so long, but have been too busy to even think straight!  I just hate this busyness.  You know, I love the kind where you are busy, but are having fun and getting something accomplished.  And then there is this, running around like a mad woman, starting things that I don't get finished as I get sidetracked by something else, and generally living in a state of chaos.  As I usually stupidly do, my quiet time with my Lord has been cut out, and I miss Him, and I miss sitting at His feet and learning, and just having a snuggle!!  My dh is MEGA stressed at work.  Last week he discovered that someone who has been involved with his business for a long time was stealing from them, and he got caught on video stealing a computer system. My poor bubbly hubbly has been so sad ever since.  I don't think he will ever get out of this funk he is in.  He is way too overworked and he is very stressed out.  Of course, we often bear the brunt of this, but we are trying to be cheerful!

I have some soap orders to process, and once I can figure out my camera and how to pst here, I will post them on the bubblesandsqueak blog.  I am trying to get my newsletter done, and was hoping to before Valentine's Day, but I am repidly running out of time.  ARGGHH!!!

I just did a training session with a 5th degree black belt sensei ( Renshi) from Virginia.  Wow, that was an interesting class.  I did things that I didn't think I would ever be able to do, and lived to tell the tale!  Now that I am a brown belt I get to do lots of teaching and I love it.  I am learning a new but difficult kata right now, called Passai Sho, but it is coming.  I just came from my sensei's house, and both she and her partner smoke.  I absolutley reek of smoke, in fact, I can hardly stand to smell myself!  I am working on a fundraiser for our dojo ( since we take karate for free, we have to do various methods of fundraising), and will be preparing some soaps.  I would like to do one called KIAI  which is "spirit shout" in Japanese.  I will let you know how that progresses!

As for trying to keep a simple life going, I have come to the conclusion that I really don't have a clue how to do it, and I am hoping it is not an elusive dream.  I so badly want some calmness and contentment in this house.  I do not do well with chaotic living conditions!!   I want to sit down and plan my garden this year, but have had no time.  I would love to do an espalier of apple trees across the backyard, so I am looking into doing that.

At any rate, I must go and jump in the tub and get this smoke off me!!  I will be posting shortly about my garden plans! 

Well, to my amazement, our city allows all sorts of bird life!.. Except that they need to be in cages at all times.  40 feet away from any building.  How we will ever do this, I do not know.  I really want chickens!!  I do have a nice big shed, and I could rig something up behind that, but right now it is the only spot I have for the composts ( and the broken snowblower that was given to us, has never worked, and never will - dh is determined to get it going).  I am not sure of the exact size of our yard, I will have to look it up, but it is smallish, but bigger than some!  Wow, how is that for accuracy??  You know what I really really want??  Ducks!!  Those little tiny white ones, I can't think of their names right now, but they are so cute!  But I will settle for chickens. 

Obviously they will need some sort of shelter.  We have a homemade rabbit hutch out there too, it is made out of my ds's bed ( don't ask, it is hideous, but it works!), so I am sure we can make some sort of chicken chateau out there.  I have visions of us bringing them in at night, it gets pretty darn cold up here in the winter ( except this year, we saw our first robin yesterday!!)  So what do I need to do for shelter and warmth for them?  Also, my brother has chickens and the stench is out of this world!  He is on the outside of town, so people don't notice it, but my neighbours are clean freaks, and I am a bit concerned about this.  Not to mention the avian flu police that will be called if the neighbourhood finds out!!  Obviously, we will not have a rooster, that would just get us lynched and kicked off the street!

So, any advice for this city slicker about chickens in the city?  Wouldn't it be cool to have an emu, wow, I would be the talk of the town! I could just say it was an extra large chicken and you know what?  In this place, they would believe me!!

I am trying to limit my computer time, and have yet to find a good way to get everything done on the computer with my allotted time now!  I will do it eventually!

I wanted to share a find with you!  Actually, my mom found it, and I am not sure if they have these in the US or not ( or outside of Canada) but I just had to tell you all!  At Christmas my mom gave  me this funny box, and it in were two fabric tubes , they looked like tank tops actually.  They are called Natura Clothes, and they are to be used instead of fabric softener sheets.  They are good for up to 500 uses, and they have no chemicals or fragrances.  I have no clue how they work, and I doubted it at first, but they really do work!  I started making my own laundry detergent this week, and so this is a great find for me.  I usually hang my laundry out, but with this yucky weather we have had for over a month now I don't bother making thr trek outdoors!  My mom bought these sheets in a Home Hardware store, and I am so delighted they work!