The Wild Side

A day of rest? 

bah!

Lou Reed keeps me company

as I scour corners,

cleanse counters

and discover dark niches 

that never see the light of day

All while the dishwasher washes,

washer & dryers spin

and I play dervish

with the vacuum hose

and iron will to sanitize this home

Sunday,

bloody Sunday

good for nothing or

built for everything good

the house of the lord 

never holds dust

so today

I 

must be one step closer 

to God

hey babe

take a walk on the wild side

and as I try to remember where 

the mop I'm sure I own lives

this feels like

my version of a walk

on the wild side

look at that kat 

go, go, go...

doo, di doo, di doo, doo didoo, doo...

Give Me A Broom or Give Me Death!

Sleeping beauty lay,

glazed eyes barely

able to see

the growing grime.

Was this a fairytale ending -

Forever to drool

onto cheap throw pillows?

Bring on the Drugs!

Don't worry. No camels were actually harmed during this photo shoot. She was actually sleeping!

I haven't played the Sunday 160 in ages! The drugs must be working a smidge, as I am off the couch! Well, hoping to be for some of the rest of this beautiful long weekend. Have a great Sunday all and Salutations to you Monkey Man for being such a super host week after week!

Saturday's Email of the Week: A Smorgasbord

I have to say that it was a bit of a slow week for interesting emails. A gazillion recipes, lots of comment stream on Linked In, a few cutesy emails, but nothing that made me roll on the ground laughing or inhale sharply at the shock of it. Oh well, they can't all be banner weeks I guess. Perhaps I will just present you with a smorgasbord of images and snippets from my week via my life-line to the outer world - email. I hope you have a fabulous Saturday!

So on Thursday the kids and I went for dinner, then hit Canadian Tire to pick up a new inner tube for T's bike. We wandered around and as we were in the exercise-type aisles, I also picked up a step-counter.  The kids were gung-ho to buy some hand weights as well, but I managed to convince them out of them.

Why a step counter, you ask? Well, I have to admit that I fear all of this writing stuff might be a bit of a detriment to my waistline. I missed my weekly yoga class and didn't feel like I managed to squeeze in quite enough activity to make up for it. All the surfing I do just doesn't amount to quite enough calories burned I suspect.

So on Friday I strapped on the step counter, left my laptop behind and hit my gardens for a little fresh air and slugging of mulch. My shoulders got a mite rosy from my exertions, but my mood was elevated. By the time the kids came home I had burned off 150 calories, according to my new toy! While the girls ran naked through the sprinkler (first time this year!), I lovingly planted a few new specimens that we picked up from the garden centre on the way home. Yes, I love my gardens!

The forecast now calls for rain for the near future, so I stayed late into the evening to feel the grass between my toes. A discovery that our rhubarb was coming ready was cause to celebrate, so a bundle was picked. I think that perhaps tomorrow I can make use of one of those recipes that came in last week;

Aunt Norma's Rhubarb Muffins

Ingredients

• 2 1/2 cups flour
• 1 teaspoon baking soda
• 1 teaspoon baking powder
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• 1 1/4 cups brown sugar
• 1/2 cup vegetable oil
• 1 egg
• 1 teaspoon vanilla extract
• 1 cup buttermilk
• 1 1/2 cups diced rhubarb
• 1/2 cup chopped walnuts
• 1 tablespoon melted butter
• 1/3 cup white sugar
• 1 teaspoon ground cinnamon

Directions

1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C). Grease two 12 cup muffin pans or line with paper cups.
2. In a medium bowl, stir together the flour, baking soda, baking powder and salt. In a separate bowl, beat the brown sugar, oil, egg, vanilla and buttermilk with an electric mixer until smooth. Pour in the dry ingredients and mix by hand just until blended. Stir in the rhubarb and walnuts. Spoon the batter into the prepared cups, filling almost to the top. In a small bowl, stir together the melted butter, white sugar and cinnamon; sprinkle about 1 teaspoon of this mixture on top of each muffin.
3. Bake in the preheated oven until the tops of the muffins spring back when lightly pressed, about 25 minutes. Cool in the pans for at least 10 minutes before removing.

I will let you know how they turn out! 

For now I will leave you with a cute little poem that resonated with me from the week. I am sure I have read it before, and probably you have too, but it made me smile to re-read. Maybe I will vacuum and work on that sticky floor tomorrow after the muffins go into the oven...

MOTHERS

Real Mothers don't eat quiche;

They don't have time to make it.

Real Mothers know that their kitchen utensils

Are probably in the sandbox.

Real Mothers often have sticky floors,

Filthy ovens and happy kids.

Real Mothers know that dried play dough

Doesn't come out of carpets.

Real Mothers don't want to know what

The vacuum just sucked up...

Real Mothers sometimes ask 'Why me?'

And get their answer when a little

Voice says, 'Because I love you best.'

Sunday Scrub

In with the new

Out with the old

Goodbye old desk

So long last week’s

Dirty bowls

& crunchy socks

With a

Sunday scrub

& valiant vacuum

the world is clean again

For a day

~

Despite my slothful start to the day

I did get a few things done today

including a late addition

to Monkey Man's

Sunday 160

Cleaning Spree

Time to empty shelves.

We discard old

and broken items

that no longer hold love or attention

in hopes that St Nick

will come to offer

shiny new baubles

for our play!

$$$

Yesterday we headed to the mall and spied Santa on his throne. My eldest hid behind me, but little R headed straight for the Big Guy's lap to chat. I figured that made it a good excuse to clean the playroom and thin out the toy shelves down there. Perhaps I will be able to see the floor for a day or two...

Oh, and this little ditty is my entry for the Sunday 160 over at Monkey Man's as well. 

Hope your Sunday was swell!

The Clean House

Through yonder window

I do peek

while head bends

to the floor.

If only, 

if only the floor

were clean

then I could go outdoors

but no

I labour and 

scrub below

the view of grass still green.

bright promises glint

reflecting day's descent

left darkened on

knees of nevermore.

breezes blow

past brushes path

small mercies

on a cheek so keen.

Aye, by lantern light

rest will come to alight 

on  thine house that sparkles bright

and a woman laid to bed, goodnight!

*

This is my take on the Magpie prompt this week. I have been cleaning in preparation for visitors this weekend, so envisioned myself on the floor scrubbing, looking up longingly at the tease of the outside world. Life kind of looked like that today.

Strawberry Fields Forever

   I was going to extol the virtues of spending time in nature with family. Some bleeding heart stuff about activities with kids and how it brings you all closer  together with memories; blah, blah, blah.... I could have even gone further with delightful pictures of the girls and I angelically stirring a bubbling pot of jam on the stove. Yeah, coulda. If I hadn't just spent the last hour scraping that bubbling jam off the top of my flat top cooker. Did you know that jam turns to concrete when cooked in such a way? mmmhhmm, it does. Yup.

   Well, I still have to put out the garbage and maybe take another crack at some of the concrete embedded into the stove. It might just be one of those memory spots, but hey, the floor under the stove got swept and swiffered when I pulled the stove out to wash the f#@%$#^#$@$#!!!! jam off the side of it. I still have the largest basket and one of the smaller baskets to deal with tomorrow. Perhaps I can manage to splatter the ceiling or walls with red droplets of goo that will make me tear my hair asunder and cry like it is the end of the earth. That is another day though. Happy Father's Day.

Green Thumb Journey

I have been getting my hands dirty the last couple of weeks. Many bushes have been trimmed, including the forsythia, dogwood, cedar hedge and lilac tree. I have planted tomato plants, pickling cucumbers (seen right), eggplant and relocated sunflowers that self-seeded from last year. Last weekend, I even dug out a whole pile of sod and created a new garden bed. The corner was hard to get at with the lawn mower and I seem to always be behind in edging, so this solved an issue for me. Plus, I am always keen on beautifying my space. Must divide, relocate and flourish! Yes, I am crazy (I think my problem is that I cannot bear to let anything go). Time on my hands? Not overly, but I seem to have a problem; a gardening addiction. I am willing to carry that cross.

So here is the newest garden patch.

Doesn't look like much yet,

but when the black-eyed susans,

lady's mantle and sedge grass settle in

with sunflowers towering in behind

it will be a pretty space.

Here is another project that I undertook a few weeks back. There was a sad holly bush, little more than a few twigs really, that got relocated last fall. It survived the transplant, but was getting buried by grass and weeds. I cut out a quarter-circle and added some heuchuras for comfort. Now it is a simple little space to welcome people at the driveway's edge.

Yesterday, I even struck further afield and went by the girls daycare. They have a patch of garden there that is plenty green, but mostly weed. I did some gardening there last year, that was muchly appreciated. With a barbeque coming up tomorrow, a request was put forth last week for my ministrations again. I gladly got in and got dirty digging out weeds and moving stuff around.  I was not able to totally bring it up to (my definition of) a beautiful flourishing space, but I did add some irises from my house and offered pointers to potential gardeners in residence there. Maybe I am weird, but I really love to see the difference I can make just be giving a little TLC where needed. As I have mentioned before, it is almost like a meditation, but it certainly brings me in touch with Mother Earth. Always a good thing in my books.

   I have not spent all my time in the garden though. We have had so much rain that the ground has been literally soggy at points. They are calling for more rain tonight, so gardening tomorrow will probably be cancelled again. The worst part about that (or probably a blessing) is that I am stuck inside. That usually creates enough of a guilt factor that I end up cleaning. AGHHHHH! Now that project is a never-ending, soul-sucking, task that seems to lack any glory or praise-worthiness. It still needs to be done though. So I will admire my beauties from water-washed windows as I brush dust-bunnies away from their hiding spaces.Somehow it just doesn't feel the same...

solar power cleaning

   So, I made it to A New Day. I have not completely shaken the grumpies, but I am trying to keep busy and hope that I lose them around a bend in the day. So far, my two big tasks on the list are checked off;

1. pay bills 
2. make extra house keys

and I am on load number three for laundry. I am even being a greenie today and hanging clothes on the line (my electricity bill came yesterday and reminded me that I have a cost saving measure out in the yard; summer = line drying = $$). Of course there was a water main that broke in the area yesterday, so doing a gazillion loads of laundry might not be what the city wants, but oh well. I am not perfect. Grumpy me says "phfttt!" to the powers that be. Whatever ;)

   With a road trip just days away, I have also realized that there are a few tasks needing to be accomplished before leaving; ie. clean bathrooms, vacuum, maybe even tackle the mop and beg it to be kind with me this time. Going away for a weekend isn't really a big deal, but we are going to be gone for upwards of a week. That means getting someone to come in and take care of the kitties. That means that someone else will see the disaster that I call home. Ugh. So embarrassment has me fretting over cleaning. Really, whomever comes over will truly not care about the state of my house, I am sure. They have been here before and would be shocked to walk into a sparkling palace. No need to cause heart failures in friends. So perhaps, I will just contend with the bathrooms before heading out to yoga this afternoon. Don't Sweat the Small Stuff, so the saying goes. I will try to relax into that thought, but right now have to go add another load of laundry to the line. Solar power cleaning. My meditation for the day.

Ciao!

Cleaning the path for light

    So thus far in my day I have attacked my task scheduler with vigor. I picked up a few needed groceries. The bill man got his dues. I jumped on the sturdy vacuum (no, not broom you nasty people!) and sucked up any new crumbs that were added over the last day and a half. My arch nemesis the mop had his way with me and danced me throughout my world. Almost worked up a sweat with that last one! I even swept the hunks and ashes from the hearth, with thoughts of a flame to set backdrop for my evening. I am feeling good. I visited my friends at Threading Light and smiled with gratitude that I am able to state I have friends and people that care about me. Life is a pretty good thing. Tonight there will be conversation, smiles, nibblies and bevvies to sip at. I can think of others that wish me well and am truly grateful for the path that has brought me here. For all the stresses I carry with me, today I thank you who offer your shoulders to lean on, hands to pull me up and smiles to encourage the dance. The snow that blows outside my window covers up the grass that hinted at spring yesterday, but the sunshine remains shining in my heart.

Be well

Performance Anxiety? Nah...

   So I have to share a little secret with you. I am a little bit stressed. Tomorrow evening I am hosting my book club's meeting. There are a few factors here that cause me angst. The first being that I have not finished the book yet (Yes, I know that I could be doing that now. Thank you for reminding me). The second is that with me hosting I should present a clean and tidy house. This never happens for more than 5 minutes at my house. Yesterday I vacuumed the entire upstairs world, with dusting attachment and everything. Within half and hour lunch occurred and the kitchen floor resumed it's normal state of existence; crumb covered. I live with this, as I know having two girls under the age of five necessitates a mess or two. Tomorrow though I have outsiders entering my abode. Some of the ladies have never been here before, therefore might want a toodle around. I do a great job of looking through things and not even seeing messes. Right now I cannot help but notice the masses of papers cluttering counters in my kitchen. Oh.

   "How do I deal with that?", I wonder to myself.

   So now I feel like I am up for inspection. Ack! I think this is where my anxieties step up to the plate. What will people think of me? I already fail in my eyes, as I cannot live up to my own expectations, let alone anyone else's. No. No, no, no! Stop! Put the brakes on the negative train. I have had enough. I will clean again tomorrow after the children go to daycare. I will do the best that I can and accept what does not happen. Many of the ladies have children and all have a job of some sort or another. I can do nothing but my best and if that means I ask them to walk through the kitchen with eyes cast down, so be it. So what! Will they judge me? Maybe. Maybe not. Does it matter? Not in the grand scheme of things.

   Realistically I do not think I am that worried, if I think about it. It is a sunny day. The girls and I went for a walk to enjoy some of the rays, which is much more important for them and me. We all thrilled to the melting snow and gloried in each other's company. Plus, I managed to put another coat of paint on the trunk that was started many moons ago. So I will close today with a few pics to celebrate the day.

I think that these smiles are worth every bit of sniff I get over a less than perfect house...

Sing a Song of Thursday

I've got blue skies
on a wintry day!
When it's cold outside
pushing a vacuum warms me up, I'd say...

Yes, I'd say on Thursday

that a clean house

is more welcome for play.

So mopping, mopping, mopping

Is what I'll do today.

Yeah mopping, mopping, mopping

May the floors come clean, I pray!

Laundry spins

and toys have been put away

lunch is gone,

but yet  at the table I stay

I don't want to do it,

but the floor is embarrassingly gray.

So mopping, mopping, mopping

Is what I'll do today.

Yeah mopping, mopping, mopping

May the floors come clean, I pray!

Ohhh, mopping, mopping, mopping!

Lord my nerves they fray,

but mopping, mopping, mopping

Needs to be done, so good day...

Exhausted fingers bang out a feeble attempt at a blog post - Day 6 in Reno Land

   I am exhausted. It is 9:05 as I write this and I think I might just go to bed when I finish my post. I have no witticisms tonight. I continued on my quest to redo my living room. The girls and I went to buy more paint this morning and also picked up two new light fixtures for the front door and hallway. We returned home for lunch and when they went down for nap, I grudgingly picked up a paint brush again. Today's task was trim. I suppose I only started around one this afternoon, but I kept at it till dinner. Even then, I only stopped long enough to eat my gourmet chicken pie and noodles and sauce, then pushed myself back to the task at hand. By just before bedtime all the crown mold and baseboard was painted, as well as all the trim around doorways. Perhaps I just work slow, but alas I did not get the doors painted (there are 7 of them). Also, I need to put a second coat of paint on the half wall at the front door and sand the bay window. Of course once the bay window is sanded, it too will need to see paint. Tonight I just don't care anymore though. I did manage to swiffer a little bit of the floor and dust the wine rack, cabinet and end table. They were put back into place. The vacuum needs to make an appearance though before too much more can be moved back into place. I cannot lift another finger though tonight. I give up. And as for tomorrow? On the seven day after creating my world, I shall rest. I promised the girls we would do something fun. They have put up with a lot while I have been busy transforming our world. Either outside play (skating, snowmen?) or a play space of some kind is in order. Monday is another day...

Wednesday Wanderings

   The day winds down and it was good. Somewhat a surprise, as there was not a huge game plan in place at the beginning of the day. Even more especially as I was awake at 4 in the morning pleading with my brain to go back to sleep. That is the second night this week I have looked at the clock to see 4:00 burning into my brain. A quick trip to the bathroom did not coax my thoughts back to dream land and away from such nasty thoughts as a full bladder. I know that some of you do this too, but I just do not enjoy trying to shut down my brain and knowing that the clock is ticking off minutes into hours. I know that the morning will see me grumpy and moving slower, but somehow I cannot convince the ole bod to win out over consciousness. Perhaps sleep will win over tonight. Fingers crossed and toes too!

   So why was my day a good one, you ask? Well, it proved to be productive again. While I love to relax, I find it hard not feeling guilty when I am not keeping busy. Being a single Mother there is only one adult in my household to accomplish all the tasks set before me. Yes, some are the mundane laundry, meal prep, clean the toilet bowls, etc, but there are other things that stretch my abilities. What you ask? I do not enjoy mopping floors, but the children force this issue with spilled milk on a regular basis. My kitchen counters are my dumping grounds for paperwork and I just cannot seem to ever get to the bottom of those piles. I know that you have some little corner of your home that is just as bad as mine, if not worse. Well, maybe it isn't that bad, but I have seen some of your clutter piles and they aren't pretty! hmmph.

   Ok, off topic. What was I talking about? Hmmm... Oh, my day! Geez, it must have been real exciting if I can still get myself worked up over my weak points. Oh well, perhaps you might still have a wee bit of interest waning. Shopping! I love to shop. Not all days, but often household purchases put a smile on my face. Today I conquered the wet world at my door step and met it head on. I could not take the wet socks any more.I  broke down and   bought a little mat for the back door. Hurray!

   Wait! Come back! I did more! I bought mitts, paint and a lamp. I replaced the hat I lost last week and decided that the rug at Home Sense just had to be tried out in my living room. I even bought a birthday present for T's birthday next month. I picked up a prescription and gas. Wow, this all sounds just sooo exciting. Don't you think? Me too! With the satisfaction come from some of my new house finds, I even took the sacrificial first step into my next home renovation project. I started pulling down some of the wallpaper in the hallway! There is no going back now (it is an atrocious gray blue, green and peach underneath). You shall find me bitching about this upcoming project next week, I'm sure. I still have to pick a colour and buy paint, but I am almost there.

   Give me one more minute, because the best is yet to come! No patience today, I swear! Well, today was Wednesday and that is generally my favourite day of the week, as it is my yoga day. We had been on a break for the last two weeks, so I got to see all my favourite yoginis today and gather up some smiles and hugs. That put a bigger smile on my face and reminded me that I had in fact come up with a plan at around 4:30 for my day. Oops, well there was still time. I headed the car into a parking space on the street and went inside the former Galleria Mall. It has now been converted into a variety of schools and businesses, with a few shops to boot. My destination was the continuing education department of Western University. Perhaps my tale today will have some of you shaking your heads at my decision, but I have signed up for a creative writing class "Writing in the Digital Age". It is an online class starting next week. I am excited to see what it might offer and want to send a little shout out to a certain friend for inspiring me yet again. I think you know who you are.

   So there, that is my icing on the cake moment. Yes, a long and convoluted way of coming out with a wee bit of newsy bits, but that is just the mood I am in! And with that, I think I will trundle off to bed in hopes that I will sleep the night through. Be well my friends.

Given er - New Year's Purge

   After spending New Year's Eve at my sister's house, I was weak and listless. Ah the beauty of a ahem h a n g o v e r to allow one to sit and do absolutely nothing for the day. I can never sit still for that long on a regular basis. We returned home yesterday afternoon and today has been a whirlwind of activity. Back to real life! To look at my living room or kitchen counters you still cannot tell, but I spent the morning givin er in the cleaning department. Laundry has been going constantly and the dishwasher is on its dry cycle. I mopped the kitchen floor and even swished the mop around a few other rooms. The recycling bins are jammed full as are the garbages. This week is finally garbage day again (we are on a 6-day cycle, not including weekends) and we get to put out unlimited garbage. I think I just might finally get rid of some items that have been taking up space in the thought that perhaps one day I will fix them, reuse them or re-purpose them. Some items have been waiting a long time and I think it is TIME. Goodbye old kiddie pool with a hole in it! So long lovely carpet that I could perhaps get the stink of cat pee out of, but know will never be the same. Perhaps I will even call up the OCPF to see if they will come collect some reusable items. They usually call about 4X per year to see if I have any donations, but I think I will beat them to it this year. Toys the kids no longer play with and have had no interest on kijiji. Old clothes that cannot be passed on to a next generation of babies, as the younger set is now male and his Daddy won't allow him in all the pink from all the older girls. PURGE, purge, purge! The Christmas tree will finally get undecorated tomorrow when the girls are back at school and Christmas will disappear from the house. I want my house back. I feel surrounded and am going to fling it all away. Watch out or an old housecoat will slap you in the face in my frenzy! Beware the baby socks that are marching towards the door. They will mow you down and aren't stopping. It takes everything I've got to get up the will to attack it all. Deep breath. Here I go again. Wish me strength. I hope I make it back. Goodbye!