Hooray for Extra Long Weekends!

This week has flown by, and I'm only now finding the chance to sit down and collect my thoughts about the weekend.  The community market I participated in was a huge success.  It was a wonderful gathering of creative people and we had a great turn out.  So much positive energy!  That being said, it definitely occupied my entire weekend.  I underestimated the amount of time I required to organize, label and price my items.  This pretty much occupied the bulk of Saturday.  One small snag in my plans occurred in the form of the stomach flu!  Muffy woke up early Saturday morning vomiting.  It was really just a mild bug, but he spent the day flopped on the couch, sipping ginger ale and nibbling crackers.  Sunday, the day of the market, was busy with set up, the market itself and clean up.  Although I enjoyed it, I was definitely drained and exhausted when it was all said and done.  I'm an introvert, so being "on" for that long zaps me a bit.  I think I needed this week to just putter a bit and recharge.

Looking ahead to the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend, it is already time to compile my dreamy/practical list!  My long weekend actually begins tomorrow.  I'm dropping the kids off at school on Friday morning and will be sneaking off to my parents' house for a "dreamy" day in the Annapolis Valley -ALL TO MYSELF!  Daddy and the boys are meeting up with me late Saturday afternoon and we will spend the remainder of the weekend visiting, eating...etc.

Dreamy (Where do I begin?)

• Drink tea and read magazines at my parents' quiet house.
• Drink tea and knit at my parents' quiet house.
• Drink tea and just sit at my parents' quiet house (you get the picture).
• Browse the Wolfville shops.
• Visit the wool shop and maybe pick up something for a special project.
• Out for supper with my parent's Friday night.
• A trip to the Wolfville Farmer's Market Saturday morning.  I rarely go here without the kids so it will be a nice chance to really relax and browse and take my time admiring all the vendor offerings.
• Run a 10km race on Sunday morning!  This is my annual "race" I do each year.  Sometimes it is the 1/2 marathon, sometimes just the 10K.  This year my goal is to run as fast as I possibly can to see if I can beat last year's time...wish me luck!  I'm feeling pumped and energetic about it and my "rest/getaway" before hand just might give me a boost.
• Yummy Thanksgiving dinner!  My mom is the best cook and her meals are always amazing.  It is fun (and busy) to get the four cousins together. Four boys between the ages of 6 and 8 makes a lively holiday.
• Just enjoy visiting with everyone.  The weather looks great so there will be lots of time spent outdoors enjoying the fall colors.

Practical:

• Bake two pumpkin pies - my offering for Thanksgiving dinner this year.  I am roasting the pumpkin today and will make them on Saturday in my mom's kitchen.  I use a recipe from Canadian Living that is super yummy!
• Do my produce shopping for the week ahead while I am in the Valley.  I always pack a cooler in the truck for a good load of fresh veggies.

That about sums it up!  Basically, I'm looking forward to some quiet time for myself AND lots of fun and visiting with family.  Happy (Canadian) Thanksgiving!

Dreamy/Practical

Yay, it's Friday!  Time for the Dreamy/Practical list already?  This week really flew by since it was a short school week.  Although we do have a few things in the hopper this weekend, it should be a bit more mellow than last weekend's birthday party.  I am attending the annual Cow Bay Market as a vendor.  I will be selling hand-dyed wool.  This probably falls into both dreamy and practical.

Dreamy:

• Spend some time knitting Chi-Chi's sweater.  It is slow going right now, but I'm in no rush to finish it.  Sometimes the larger projects are more relaxing as I don't get caught up in doing it at fast as I can.
• My Saturday morning trip to the Dartmouth Farmer's Market for fresh veggies and a Mommy Treat.  I enjoy sneaking out of the house on this little solo adventure.   Maybe this week I'll bring home treats for all!
• Homemade Pizza Night on Saturday - I'm taking a break from the kitchen and my husband is making pizza.  This is a tradition I'm hoping to reignite.  I pretty much cook supper 7 days a week, so I've penciled in a night off in our menu plan.  He actually enjoys the pizza making and the boys always like the make-your-own aspect of it.
• Shop at the market on Sunday.  There are going to be some wonderfully creative people selling goods at the market and I'm hoping to drop birthday idea hints for my husband...thinking jewelry and pottery!

Practical:

• First hockey practice of the season - Yay the boys are on the same team this year.  This cuts our rink time in half.  Actually, I will put this on Hubby's practical list and I might just stay home and knit (:
• Prep for the market on Sunday - I need to label my skeins and get everything ready for the display.  I always find pricing difficult when selling to friends and members of the community.  I need to give this some thought and get all my "goods" organized.
• Regular prep for the week ahead, which basically involves my lunch box bulk prep.  I like to get some baking in the freezer each Sunday in order to keep my lunch box treat stash fresh.

Happy Friday!

Dreamy/Practical

Scavenger hunt for the party

 



Backyard beauty

In an attempt to keep up with my new Friday ritual, here’s the Dreamy/Practical list for the upcoming weekend.  Thanks again Mary Beth for the inspiration!  Monday is a PD day for the boys, so this is essentially a long weekend for us.  Muffy’s 7^th birthday is on Monday, so it is going busy/fun.  We are having his “friend” party on Sunday and a family get-together on Monday.  He is so excited, he is literally bursting.  So here's my list....what's on yours?

 

 

Dreamy:

·         Host Muffy’s friend party on Sunday afternoon.  Now that the parents don’t stick around for these things, I actually find them fairly easy to host.  There is less to worry about when you don’t feel like you are entertaining adults too.  The weather forecast looks great, which is a bonus.  The whole party is going to be outside and in our barn.  I’ve got a scavenger hunt planned and my husband always takes the kids on a hike/treasure hunt around the property.  He gets fun and creative with it and the kids always have fun.  Cupcakes are already in the freezer and I’ll just be serving a few nibble treats, fruit and juice boxes. Simple is key.

·         Make a cake for the family party.  I’m thinking of trying out this coconut flour cake for something new. Yikes, it takes a dozen eggs?  Any other suggestions for yummy cakes would be helpful.   

·         Cast on a fall knitting project.  Chi-Chi is asking for a cardigan hoodie.  He and I have his yarn picked out, but need to make a final decision on a pattern.  There is a cute pattern in the latest issue of Taproot that I may run by him for approval.  He’s getting pretty picky about his wardrobe these days.

·         Trip to the Dartmouth Farmers’ Market early Saturday morning, solo!  Saturday is my “day off” from working out, but I still find it impossible to sleep in.  I’m wired to be up at 5:45 am.  While the rest of the house is sleeping in on Saturday mornings, I’ve been sneaking off to the market to buy the week’s worth of veggies as well as a treat for mama.  It’s a nice escape and actually allows me to TALK to vendors/friends at the market, instead of dealing with two sweet boys wrestling in the isles (:  My favorite treat these days is a raw vegan pecan pie that I can’t resist!

Practical:

·         Prep for the party…which basically means getting the barn cleaned up. I usually bring out a few kid-sized tables and chairs.  It’s going to be a bit strange this time since we have the sheep living in the barn.  They will be out in the paddock, but the barn has a “animal smell”, that I actually find rather charming (;  What will the kid’s think?

·         Regular weekend to do’s including running kids to hockey and bulk prepping lunch boxes for the week ahead.  With all the entertaining going on, I’m not expecting much to happen on the practical end of things other than party prep and party clean up.  Of course, having the party outside the house is going to keep any clean up minimal.