Everything New & Fresh

April was the month of ups and downs weatherwise, what a rollercoaster! I think it is the coldest spring that we have had here in southern Ontario in a long while. As I type this I have a little space heater blowing on my feet.

With that said the crocus, tulips and daffodils are doing their thing. I planted my pansies and they are loving this cool weather. A great tip for keeping squirrels from eating your tulips: make a spray of a little water, a good couple tablespoons of Castor Oil, and a bit of dish soap to make it runny and put in a spray bottle, I made up about a cup of it. Shake it up and spray it on tulips, pansies, the soil and rocks around the area. Apparently they don’t like the smell of the Castor Oil. I sprayed it on and so far so good, no eaten bulbs, fingers crossed. I spray again after it rains. My peas are poking up, although something has been digging in the garden looking for yummy things, so they may have gotten a few. As well, this is the first year, our back lawn has holes dug into it, my husband thinks maybe possums looking for grubs. I would be mad, but honestly I don’t care about the lawn so much, we can’t eat grass anyways, so to me not a biggie. Speaking of which, grass is getting longer with all the rain we’ve had, ugh. Now my garden is a different story, garlic is growing nicely and I just planted onions yesterday. We put up a little greenhouse in one corner and are starting some kale, squash, more onions and hyssop so far.

I do love the earthy smells of spring. Having said that, I do not enjoy the floofy things in the air that cause springtime allergies. some years are better than others, and this year so far so good, only one half day of sniffles and sneezes so far. Can anyone else out there relate?

I was able to make a small batch of strawberry jam from last years berries, as we ran out earlier. It should be just enough to get us through to berry season.

This past week has been crazy, had plants out and windows open, even overnight, and then we had to close windows, have the heat back on and bring our plants back in and into the little greenhouse. With all the up and down weather, hubby has got a bit of a spring cold and has been trying to sleep it off and out. I’m making him drink lots of tea with lemon, ginger, turmeric and honey with a splash of apple cider vinegar. Hopefully he is feeling better soon.

New Goals For Spring

As I get older, I’m finding it a little more difficult to stuff, you know, stiff legs and feet in the morning, not sleeping as well. So I thought I’d do something about it and went for a checkup at the doctor, and started going to get Acupuncture. The lady I am seeing is a 2nd generation Acupuncturist. So far she is wonderful, helped with my sleeping and digestion, gave me a list of some things that I should be doing as well as eating. she introduced me to an exercise of Ba Duan Jin, which is sort of a cross between Tai Chi and yoga. Whatever it is it is simple to do and I love that. I can do it if I’m waiting for the kettle to boil, brushing my teeth, or on hold on a call. The acupuncture is not covered so I do have to pay for it out of pocket and is not cheap, but my health is worth it, so it is something I am willing to do. Also it is a good motivation for actually doing any exercises or changes in diet that are suggested. I will keep you posted on future results.

Hitting The Trails Again

We have once again started hiking the trails. Sometimes in the winter and early spring, they can be tricky because of ice, so usually we end up just walking around the neighbourhood which is fine too, just not as exciting or not always very scenic. Trying to choose trails with some hills, nothing huge, but just to get a good cardio workout. I’ll have to check out some other trails in the area, maybe some Kitchener ones.

New Promo for Mothers Day!

Check out my Mother’s Day Promo’s. This one is only for 4 days and is starting to book up, so snag your spot early. Head to the Promo page for more info. Mom is worth it for sure!