March Bucket List.

We have been so fortunate to have a really love "early Spring" though my daughter keeps reminding us that our "3rd Winter" should come along anytime soon! One can only hope. After a week of bitter cold, this past week was filled with beautiful blue skies, warm air and melting snow. It's slushy and I have no idea what color our car is, but the feeling that just around the corner, we'll soon be seeing buds on trees and flowers in our garden makes me so happy. It feels lighter. I wore a sweater to the centre yesterday, instead of a big Winter coat and boots, with hat and scarf, and layers of mitts. It was nice to put on a cotton pair of socks, instead of my wool ones. And to not have to warm up our wheat bag to warm our bed at night. If "3rd Winter" comes along, this little reprieve has been so lovely for my heart and my spirit. 

Love the "March Bucket List" as my visual for today. It has me excited for this month. The thought of starting some seeds inside, to wear lighter clothes and to decorate for St. Patrick's Day makes me smile! As a 4th generation Irish lassie (maybe 3rd, not sure how it works), this is one of my favorite celebrations. A whimsical day that truly signifies Spring for me. I've put all of Christmas away now, and have started to get out the green for the day. And then a bit of Spring is happening too. Changed out the front door wreath and hung up the wind chimes on the back deck. We couldn't put "Bruce the Moose" away as he's actually buried under some ice but once that melts, we'll hang him to dry and then tuck him away until next Winter. I'm starting think about our Spring projects for outside and what we'd like to accomplish this year. 

Hope you are starting to get excited about Spring!

💗 Chy 💗

Spring Dreaming.

The last few years, we've had pretty mild

Winters. Not much snow, though we did

have a few good snowfalls. No real storms

though. Late Falls and early Springs. We did

appreciate these and hoped for many more

Winters but truly this year, we've had a lot of

snow! Lots of sun, a bit of cold, no storms

but snow, snow, snow! The good thing is we

we all hope it will help keep forest fires at

bay. So today, a little bit of Spring dreaming!

💗 Chy 💗

Hello February.

The shortest month of the year and often

the coldest here in Northern Canada. But

also the month of pretty flowers, yummy

chocolate and an extra abundance of love!

💗 Chy 💗

Book Collection.

Years ago, I watched a show about hoarding

and it scared the heck out of me that having

"collections" can lead to over crowding in a

home. Since then, and now that our children

are grown and the house isn't full of toys, we

have made a very conscious choice to still love

our items that we collect but ensure they all

have a spot AND that we don't have to have

every single item within a collection. This

has worked well for us. However, the book

collection we have amassed over the years is

a bit much! So much so we've actually joked

that we need to build an addition on to the

cottage that would be exclusively a library!

I know many people who read a book and

pass it along, and we do purge at least once

a year. But the books we have, we do read

again and again, and can't imagine parting

with them. Too precious to us! Is it actual

hoarding? No, it is our love of reading ....

💗 Chy 💗

Some girls ....

"Some girls want a Birkin. I just want a 100 year

old cottage on 50 acres, with a thrift store nearby."

I would add in the following: and a book store around the corner, with a coffee shop that has local musicians and freshly baked scones. We actually have these in our little hamlet and I love we can live in the big woods but still have lovely places to explore and be. I will also add in to this sweet dream that we have our amazing cottage but it's not 100 years old. It looks old because of the bits of character we added in but reality is, our build was just 10 years ago (still feels brand new) and we don't have 50 acres, just 2 but we live in a subdivision and have farmland all around us. Our little plot of land is likely the smallest in our area but we love it and didn't feel the need to have more than we have. So much to take care of already. We wanted to live a quieter life, not be tied down by mowing a million hours over the weekend. And we also wanted to see our neighbors, which in the Summer we can't see other homes or lights but in the Winter, when the leaves are gone, we can see some lights and our neighbors homes. The best of it all. It's so beautiful right now with all the snow, and honestly, the only thing I ever am not fond of is the icy roads at times (infrequent but part of life in the country) and the occasional wind storm that scares me! We are at a time in our life where we can stay home when the weather is bad, and we get our trees checked each year to ensure any that may be more prone to falling are taken down. A very peaceful life!

                                  💗 Chy 💗

All Grown Up.

When I was a small child, I remember my dad

being so excited one Christmas morning when

he opened a package and there was a brand new

wallet in a small box. He was beyond thrilled.

My first thought was "why would you ask for

something as boring as a wallet?" And in that

moment, always promised myself to ask for

items that were dreamy and a true gift, and

not something I "needed." Of course, now as

an adult, I'm at the point in my life where there

is really not much I want or need, but this year,

my old wallet was beyond repairable and it was

time for a new model. Look what my dh found.

A sweet pink leather wallet, with many tiny

slots inside for my cards, a place for bills, a

zippered section for coins, and a spot for my

id. I love the little leaf and the mottled look

of the leather. Truly, a need but also a want. I

guess its time to proclaim that I'm all grown up!

I never would have guessed I'd be so thrilled.

💗 Chy 💗

Yes, I CAN Cook!

I may have said this before, but I'm pretty sure my kids grew up thinking I didn't know how to cook. The truth is, I love to cook and baking is a passion. But I can rarely get into the kitchen because my dh loves to cook and he took over the cooking when we got married. He wanted me to concentrate on my studies, on my career path and then our family. Even when he went back to University, he would be home early in the afternoon, and dinner was his commitment. Truly I didn't fight it, as I would rather cut the grass or play with the kids. So it was a great arrangement. Now that I have a very small contract after retiring from palliative care, I've been figuring out ways to get back into the kitchen. I collect recipes ~ grand dinners I want to create, baking to fine tune and scrumptious dishes to explore.

The photos above show my latest attempt to feed my family and have them love my dish, knowing the daddy guy had no hand in it! It's a Garlic Parmesan Cheese Tortellini Chicken and Broccoli. And I can happily report it went over very, very well. Easy to make, so tasty and everyone had more than one helping! I had one tiny helping that was leftover today for lunch. Next time, I'll make a double batch so we can have more the next day.  A great success!!

I'm off to gather more recipes ....

💗 Chy 💗

Into the Gray.

"The weather is a friend if you make it one.

I look forward to the gray, quiet time for

solitude, contemplation, reading, long

conversations with friends. Colors are softer,

sounds have more depth, the pace is gentler.

Instead of resentment at the lack of sun, snuggle

into the gray velvet quilt and make yourself

a cup of tea."  Written by Jennifer Jones

I love these words by Jennifer Jones. Such an amazing way to describe Winter in our region. It may be gray outside, but inside, we are full of life, activities, memories and love. I'm not always crazy about the season but love it at Christmas, and on those days where we can choose to stay home when it's nasty outside, or we're forced to stay home if it's too dangerous to travel anywhere. Those are the days we're extra thankful for our warm little cottage, and work that lets us have the flexibility to just be. Making a pot of soup, steeping our tea, and cuddling down with warm blankets and sweet lights make those gray days very precious. Yesterday was a brutally cold one, with temperatures hitting almost - 40 C. A stay at home day for sure. Today, the numbers were better but the wind did keep the air bitter. We spent some time at our new centre, folding laundry, putting the dishwasher on, hanging curtains and installing blinds. Though we are now open, we still have a small task list that we're trying to complete before we go on our trip. Just a few more items and then we'll be all done. Looking so good! I shared with dh today that it now feels like out 2nd home, not an office, or clinical space, but another version of our cottage here in the big woods. This one just happens to be in the little hamlet, though there is a forest to explore across the road. So happy we chose this amazing spot. 

Enjoy your Sunday tomorrow!

💗 Chy 💗

New Years Eve.

After a busy Christmas season, we had quite a quiet but very welcome New Years Eve to ring in 2025. Dh made an amazing pork roast, rubbed with his special mixture, then wrapped in thick maple bacon, with rosemary on top. Not in the photo are the beautiful veggies he also roasted. We've never been big meat eaters ~ we were actually vegetarians for years. But when I became protein malnourished, we added chicken to our diet, and then some pork. I can't tolerate beef but seafood has been helpful as well. I still can't eat very much meat but dh has worked hard to figure out what I can tolerate. This was a new recipe he created and it was beyond amazing. I even had second helpings the next day! He also introduced me to a blueberry gin that was so smooth and bubbly. We ate well this season! So yummy.

For the evening, I spent some time building 1 of 2 dollhouses for our new childcare centre. It was pretty easy to put together. Well made and strong, it should hold up well with our littles in our care. You can't see all the furniture in these shots but the rooms are outfitted quite nicely. With room for adding more in as we grow. I'm hoping everyone will enjoy these new additions to our classroom. I know I did!

I'm excited for 2025. This past year was one filled with growth, healing, new experiences and incredible opportunities. It also, like any year, had moments that were hard, times when I felt we were truly moving backwards, some not pleasant experiences and missed opportunities. But overall, a much better year than 2023, with freedom and a new level of authenticity that was very present in my own little life. 

Wishing you all the best year ever for 2025!

💗 Chy 💗

Europe Dreams.

The two of us visiting Walt Disney

World in June of 2023. Amazing trip!

We were with his company for the 2nd

week but the 1st week was our time to

celebrate my retirement from my long

term position and to our new beginnings.

Our previous trip had been to Disneyland

in November of 2022. For 2024, we had

thought about going for our milestone

anniversary but the building of our new

centre took so much time, we let it go.

Then dh's company announced a trip to

Spain for a conference and invited all

the partners to attend to help celebrate

their 30th anniversary. We decided to

add in a week in Paris before the work

conference so we could visit Euro Disney.

After booking our flights a few days just

before Christmas, we took some time

today to book our 1 hotel close to the

Park, then started to look at our 2nd

hotel that will be in Paris, along with

our train tickets to get from Paris over

to Spain, but that made me pretty anxious

so we took a break. We'll book the rest

of the next few days. Then we'll be all

ready once we get to our dates. For now,

it will be lots of dreaming. The 2nd

week is all paid for by his company and

all planned out, so that will be so very

relaxed. I'm nervous about flying over

the sea but know this is too fun to pass.

A beautiful start to the New Year!

💗 Chy 💗