Callaloo Soup

It Was a Good Weekend

How was yours?

8 Books| Have read, about to read

I'm a voracious reader. Always have been. As a child my family knew to mainly give me books for gifts. Sometimes my cousins would even use books to bribe me to get to play games with them! My reading dropped off in the early years with Kieran, but over the last few years I have picked back up my favourite pasttime.

Last year I signed up for the Goodreads challenge for the first time and met my total of 52 books. This year, I upped the ante to 60. So far I am 26 books in, which means I need to read 4 more by next Monday! I'm sure I will do lots of catching up during the summer though.

I am doing a bulk of my reading on my Kindle (I know!), but I really try to mix in paper books as well, because I do so miss the feeling of turning pages. And the paper smell. And the heft of a good book. Sigh.

That stack above are some of the "real books" I've read recently.

The Book Thief

I was entranced by this book. It took me a while to get used to the writing style, which was admittedly strange, but once I got the flow of it I raced through it.

This I Know

I love Susannah Conway's blog and newlsetter. They are like breaths of fresh air, so I knew her book was a must read. I was not disappointed.

A Tale for the Time Being

Another one that entranced me. It was like a literary version of a time travel tale. Throw in tsumanis, buddhism and quantum physics, and I was hooked!

Quiet

Susan Cain's book helped me to realise that I was not in fact anti-social or boring, but just and introvert with little patience for small talk, and the need for time alone to recharge my energy. It explained many things. like why parenting my very easy-going kid is still exhausting for me. A definite must-read, whichever part of the introvert-extravert spectrum you fall.

A Casual Vacancy

I know many people were disappointed with this book, I think because they were expecting a Harry Potter for grown-ups, but I quite enjoyed it. It proved for sure that J.K Rowling can write! Maybe it helped that I grew up reading many books by British authors?

I'm back to reading on my Kindle right now, but I have threse three paper books lined up for the future.

We Were Liars

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao

Everybody's Got Something

I'll be sure to post a review once done!

How Does Your Garden Grow?

It feels like our vegetable garden is progressing very slowly this year. I think we may have gotten started a bit late, based on the other flourishing gardens I see around. Or maybe, we just don't know what we're doing? I took a walk around with the camera for a check up.

The nasturtiums are starting to bloom. I love these plants. Not only do they serve as a pest deterrent, but the flowers and leaves are edible and can be used in salads. I can't wait until they really explode and are a riot of colour at the edge of the veggie plot.

We have baby courgettes! (Zucchini). Last year we had a very disappointing crop, but I'm crossing my fingers that this year will be better. Usually once they are happy and start producing, they don't stop and we have zucchini coming out our ears.

And we have tomatoes at last! Funny story, these aren't even on the plants that we planted from seed. Once Spring was in full blast we noticed an entire patch of tomato seedlings growing where the plants were last year. I think our mild winter is thanks for that, the seeds that fell there were able to germinate without any help from us!

We have flowers on the aubergines and peppers, and I can see the red onions and carrots growing. We've also already reaped radishes, and even coriander for my favourite quinoa salad. There's a nice crop of dill too. I need to find recipes to use it!

How is your garden growing?

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We Took a Vacation. And it Was Awesome

This may sound crazy, but 10 days ago we took our very first family vacation. I mean we've gone on trips together before, but never one where it was just us three in a new city, with no friends or family involved. And boy, was it awesome (Friends and family, we love you, but we also need time alone).

It meant that we could plan outings and activities that were in line with Kieran's interests and abilities, appealed to the two adults, while also respecting his routines and need for a full night's sleep.

Les écluses (locks) at Canal du Midi

We ate out a couple times, but had picnic lunches every day which simplified the daily flow.

We spent one glorious day at the beach. Thank you Mother Nature for the splendid weather over the four days!

Everyone loves toys, so the Toy Museum in Pezenas was spot on

Kieran loves the ponies. Chocolat did not disappoint.

And of course we did some shopping. No silly, not boutiques: goodies for the pantry!

With a longish day in the car we decompressed at the playground before dinner

Our last day meant a quick trip to another beach in Sète

and a visit to honour Georges Brassens

We did so much in four days! Kieran was a joy to travel with: patient, no tantrums whatsoever, open to new experiences, inquisitive and able to keep himself entertained in the car without needing any distractions (no DVD players for us!). He looked at the traffic, pointed out all the kinds of vehicles, kept an eye out for passing trains, sung songs, asked tons of questions, even when stuck on the highway on the way home with all the other people heading back north.

Needless to say, we are already planning what the next trip will be!

P.S. if you love seeing photos of our life in France, follow my Instagram feed for more.

Making Daisy Chains

It's school vacation time in France again, so for the next two weeks I'll be taking it easy and spending lots of time with Kieran. Things will slow down on the blog as well and I'll be posting photo postcards daily (but also look out for Filofax Friday!)

Kieran's Street Festival Birthday Party.

A good time was had by all!!

 

Filofax Friday | And Then There Were Two

When I entered the Filofax world last year, I knew I should start off with just one, and see how it worked for me. Believe me I drooled over many of the planners, but I wanted to have just one place to house everything. In the past having information scattered throughout various notebooks and journals led to disaster, so I wanted to keep it simple.

But for the last few weeks I have been having a niggling feeling that I needed to get another planner. My Apex was filling up fast and getting bulky, and I also felt like I wasn't getting as much business planning done as I should. In February I tried to use an A4 sized binder for business planning, but I really didn't like the larger size; it just took up too much room on my desk and work table.

So I took the plunge this week and got a new A5 Metropol, just for business stuff: that is my two shops on Etsy.

My plan is to use it for overall business development, goal planning, setting business goals, and working on product development. Here's what's in there (so far)

At the front is my 2014 year planner from DIYFish.

I use it to map out the year, and analyse last year's sales, as well as plan sales/product cycles for 2014

Next is a monthly calendar for planning big events, important tasks and product launches for that month.

 

The next section is where I get into the details of events and projects for each week. Less than an hour after I ordered the new planner, I found a post on Facebook about the DIYFish Life Mapping planners specifically meant for tracking events and small projects.

Total aha moment for me, and after reading some more about it, I realised it would be a good system for drilling down my projects, and doing more of the business planning I know I needed to do. I ordered a three month set to try it out.

Using the weekly planning sheet, I was able to break down a big project into the steps I need to take, and plan which day each bit would be done next week.

After that I have sections for big picture planning

 

product development and a notes section for all the business development classes I take online.

Now my Apex is primarily for my daily to-do lists, blog planning and keeping note of general  ideas and things to remember. I'm only just getting started on this new dual planner system, so we'll see how it's working in a couple months.

Do you have more than one planner? Why, or why not? Leave me a note in the comments, then click over to see what Monika is writing about this month.

 

I am Not An Entertainment Committee

A few days ago I read this article on Huffington Post: I'm Done Making My Kid's Childhood Magical.

The title alone resonated with me, and as I read what Bunmi Laditon had to say, I found myself nodding along with each sentence. These two sentences in particular leaped off the screen at me.

We do not need to make our children's childhood magical. Childhood is inherently magical, even when it isn't perfect.

Childhood is inherently magical.......

It is, isn't it? Just think about how many things children see for the first time, pretty much every day, and the wonder in their eyes when they do. I remember the first time I blew bubbles for Kieran, or the day he did his "first" painting, and those were such amazing moments.

I have boards full of activities and crafts pinned for reference, and there was a time when I really felt like I wasn't doing enough with him based simply on the fact that all those activities actually existed out there. I'd make lists of things for us to do, not get around to the majority of them, and then feel like I was a crap mum. When honestly he was happy just doing his own thing. Thank goodness I found my favourite parenting blog by Janet Lansbury, and read a few articles that helped me to realise that I am not supposed to be his entertainment committee. I took a step back then, and all for the better.

Yes, we still do activities together (just check out my IG feed!), but not every single day. Most of the time when I play with him, I'm following his lead and playing what he wants to play (which is usually either going grocery shopping, or having a picnic. Or cars. Lots of cars). I've also learnt that if left to his own devices, he may feel bored for a bit, but he always finds something to do.

Yes, I love planning his birthday parties, but they are always on a tight budget, and let's be honest, most of that stuff is for me. I have DIY in my blood, and his parties are one way I can enjoy myself by creating the decor. and baking the cookies. When we ask him what he wants for his party his answer is always " Balloons and cake. And bubbles". That's all he needs.

When I think about my own childhood the things I remember most are playing with my friends in a wooded section of the neighbourhood, walking home from school with my friends, and yes birthday parties. But not what I got, or what activities we did, just a memory of having a fun time with friends and family, and eating homemade ice-cream that we all helped to make by churning the ice-cream maker. When I think about Christmases past, I couldn't begin to tell you what the gifts were, (except that year we got those big dolls that walked. Wow!), I mostly remember that I loved going to my aunt's house and playing with all my cousins all day long.

And I hope that years from now when Kieran thinks about his magical childhood, that he remembers walking home from school and throwing rocks in the river, or blowing on dandelion seeds, or the day that he learned to ride his bike.

As Bunmi pointed out:

Parents do not make childhood magical. Abuse and gross neglect can mar it, of course, but for the average child, the magic is something inherent to the age. Seeing the world through innocent eyes is magical. Experiencing winter and playing in the snow as a 5-year-old is magical. Getting lost in your toys on the floor of your family room is magical. Collecting rocks and keeping them in your pockets is magical. Walking with a branch is magical.

Since I read the article I have been ever more mindful of this. I honestly feel like I already do a pretty good job, but now I am intentionally making a note of those moments. More for me than for him, so that on those days when it seems like life is tough, I can look though my Instagram feed and scrapbooks and see evidence of the childhood magic. Which is magical for me too, since I am seeing the world through his eyes in those moments.

So I'll end with one last quote from the article (but you need to read it yourself!)

When we make life a grand production, our children become audience members and their appetite for entertainment grows. Are we creating a generation of people who cannot find the beauty in the mundane?

Do we want to teach our children that the magic of life is something that comes beautifully gift-wrapped -- or that magic is something you discover on your own?

 

 

On Gardening and Les Saints de Glace

There's a legend in France and other parts of Europe about Les Saints de Glace (Ice Saints), whose feast days are May 11th-13th. The story goes that farmers would invoke these saints to prevent a late frost from destroying their seedlings.  It's still a pervading legend, and many people won't transplant their seedlings until after these dates are past.

We're not that superstitious, and are eagerly waiting to get our seedlings out in the garden soon. They are still being coddled indoors right now though

Yes. That does say "Ugly Dark Red Tomatoes". We are very scientific around here.

Meanwhile, outdoors we have more signs of the garden coming to life

The snapdragons have been happily growing, and even starting to bud.

And new leaves are poking through on the hardy hibiscus.

I also planted watercress seeds, and they popped up within a week!

In a few days I'll be able to snip them to add to my salads.

This week we'll get the vegetable beds tilled, and start hardening off the seedlings.

Do you have a garden report to share? Link me up in the comments!

 

The Birdseed is Growing! And Other Signs of Spring

Several days ago I looked out the window and saw an odd spiky object hanging from the mulberry tree. I moved closer to the window and realised "Dudes! The birdseed is growing!" I gasped! "Could it be Spring?"

Later on a grabbed the camera and took a walk around the yard, to find things sprouting up everywhere.

The bulbs we planted back in November

The rose bushes

My peonies

Even the succulent in the fairy garden is blooming.

And most surprising of all, the chives have come back! I certainly wasn;t expecting this, but they have all started growing again.

Dudes, Spring is springing! I am really hoping that we won't have a surprise late frost! But it's definitely time to get planning our vegetable garden this year.