who doesn't love post cards?

Jan and i have been receiving a lot of post cards over the past month so i thought i'd share in my adoration for the simple, picturesque snail-mail. Two more days til we head off to europe, i've got herbatint soaking in my hair, the dishwasher running, and my ipod loading up, and craving sleep to finish up everything tomorrow at work. oh my. i've been going crazy trying to tie up everything at work....

oh right. this entry was about post cards.

Friends of ours-Dave & Olivia have been travelling all over south asia for the past several months. We are quite lucky to be friends with Dave's whole family-who many reside here as well. Jan went to high school with Pete-Dave's brother so he has had this friendship for many many moons. We were fortunate to have travelled with Pete and his family, (and a large one at that!) to Nova Scotia to beauitful Wolfville, for Dave and Olivia's wedding. it was simply gorgeous. lovely, simple, it truly was them. we were glad we were a part of their special day.

Dave and Olivia have been keeping a travel blog, i am following it, you can see to the right. Oh i like this, travel blogs. i love being able to feel connected and see their journey along the way. there's so many places in the world i want to see... I think they are having a fabulous time. I am interested in seeing when they decide to come home, as their return date keeps being extended. good for them!

They have also been keeping us updated in their post cards they have been writing to us, one is from Nepal, around Christmas time, and another we just recently received, written in March, and has a wonderful picture of a banana market in Kerala! love it.

The other post card is from my cousin Natalie, who jan and i have become close with over the past couple years. Natalie has an amazingly adventurous free spirit about her that i really do admire. She has got a drive and independence and im really proud of her. She travels all about as well, out west, out east, currently attending art school in Halifax, and going tree planting again out west very soon. She sent us a letter and post card, we really like receiving them and reading all about how she is doing.

There is something so much more personal about letter writing, i really appreciate our friends who are off on their own adventures, who take the time out to keep up updated this way. There is also a real 'olden days' and organic feel to it--you know, the days before email, computers and telephones were around, people have been letter writing long before you could click 'send' and have your letter written and read in an instant. of course those who know me well, know i love 'the olden days', circa early 1900s... road to avonlea anyone???

well.. my music is almost uploaded and my herbatint is about 15 minutes overdo to be rinsed out, and i really must get some rest! ohhh i simply cannot wait. ONE MORE DAY of work

im so looking forward to getting on that plane and having the next (almost month!) to really clear my head and rejuvenate.

and maybe, just maybe i'll send a post card or two while we're away (even though we'll likely be home before they are received!!!!) i might try to write while im away and post some photos, but it certainly won't be the first thing on my mind!!!

may you also get plenty of rest over the next few weeks to rejuvenate yourself for a wonderful summer ahead! xo meg

seedlings

tomatoes
Originally uploaded by clearthearea83

the seedlings are doing so well and this upcoming weekend they will be transplanted to bigger pots.
most of the seedlings have been doing exceptionally well, i teamed up with my friend Darryl, the fabulous soon-to-be husband of my good friend Erin, and also an amazingly talented chef, to purchase heirloom organic seeds from The Cottage Gardener. D purchases all the seeds while i purchased the necessary equipment. I already had a grow stand, i purchased a large 3 tier stand with lights and all from a woman on kijiji last year. This will be my 2nd year at growing seeds.
It gives me such pleasure and fun to be able to plant and watch and grow your own food. my ultimate goal is for our yard to be an 'edible' yard. but for starters this is what i've got on the 'grow' right now...

Tomatoes:
-Green Zebra
-Juanne Flamee
-Box car willie
-Austin's Red Pear

Peppers:
-Hot Cyklon Peppers
-Orange Sweet Bell

Herbs:
-feverfew
-St. Johns wort
-hyssop
-tall growing lemon basil
-italian sweet basil
-thyme
-oregano
-parsley
and i know there are other's that i simply cannot remember at this moment..

we also have yet to plant the carrots, beets, cucumbers and other directly seeded veggies, and also started butterfly bush, strawberries.

boy am i really looking forward to this summer :)

9 more days...

well i am officially sick... the congested, clogged-up, sore throat, red-nosed, aches and pains kind of sick. the kind of sick that i absolutely, positively do not need to be right now! of course, there's never really a good time to be sick now is there?

i tried my hardest, i did, to fight it, but the restless nights, and sleep deprived, working-too-much-over-time has finally caught up with me. and so after last night's battle with trying to keep quiet with my coughing and sniffling so i wouldn't wake up Jan -who has also been working too much lately- i finally gave up on trying to get at least a couple hours of good, restful sleep and woke up with Jan at 6 am, dragged myself in the shower and got ready for work. i knew today was absolutely not a day i could be sick, as i had way too much work to do. i work in child welfare, and can't elaborate too much on work, nor do i want to. but i can say this; i worked for 4 hours and then became dizzy from lack of sleep and completed the most important tasks and came home and have been laying in bed ever since.. catching up on some much needed sleep and rest.

i just really hope it's over soon, especially since we are leaving next week for a much needed vacation. i guess i shouldn't say much needed because i am certain there are other families and individuals out there who really could use a holiday or 'break' more than we could.

but we are very much looking forward to almost a month's time away in Europe, visiting with family and friends, and just plain rest. It has been quite a year for Jan and I! April 25 will mark the one year date that we purchased our first home, a beautiful century home in the heart of downtown Kitchener. We got possession in September 08 and officially moved in October after several long weeks of labor intensive renovations (that's for another blog entry!!) anyone who owns a home, especially one that is 100 years old, knows there is always something to work on and it never ends! that's all part of the fun, right... right???

Jan and i will celebrate this special anniversary event in Europe. We depart on April 23, (yup, 9 more days now! yipee!!) to Amsterdam, where we will then catch our flight to Czech Republic and spend just about 3 weeks there. Our first stop in Czech is in the mountains to Klasterec, the home of Jan's grandma where she resides in his family's home. In Klasterec, we will spend a good week and a half there; breathing in the fresh spring mountain air, catching up with family and neighbours, eating some great food, and drinking some fresh pints of czech lager. Oh and also the best part, gardening and working in the forest with Jan's mom (did i mention she is coming with us here? it will be quite lovely to have a gardening partner, as i know Jan will be spending much of his free time down at the 'hospoda'--czech term for pub--with all the local town's men! and i know Iva is very much looking forward to my company as well)

After a week, we will be joined by our close friends Scott and Angelina for 4 more days where we will show them all the offerings and beauty in this part of Czech. After our adventures here, the 4 of us will travel back to Prague where we will stay for about a week in an apartment we rented. It will be their first time in Czech and we are really looking forward to showing them around and enjoying Prague and all of it's wonders with them. They have quickly become our very good friends over the past couple years and we couldn't ask for better friends!

Renting an apt. or house in Prague can save you lots of money and you can find some beautiful places to stay in, and it's so much better than a hotel or hostel. Most are equipped with a full kitchen, living/dining room, and plenty of sleeping accomodations. We are lucky and found a great apartment with a cute little roof top terrace where i'm sure we will enjoy endless amounts of Moravian vino...

and then it's back to Amsterdam May 14th, (there are no more direct flights to Czech anymore and they all stop over in Amsterdam, which is convenient for us!) where we will then catch a train to Eindhoven, where we will be greeted and picked up by my awesome family for a 5 day stay with them in their home town (also the birth place of my mother, and oma) of Asten (Noord-brabant of the Netherlands). They live in a stunningly gorgeous home built in the 1700s where my oma and mother were born in! It is such a beautiful home and my relatives did an amazing job in restoring it and keeping it to it's natural beauty. In Asten, we are most looking forward to catching up with all the family, visiting my great Aunt Mein in s'Hertogenbosch, going for long walks, and visiting some natural hot springs.

and then, sadly, we must face reality, and come back home to Canada...(Jan and i have one rule while we are on vacation, and it is that you don't talk about the end of the vacation, EVER!) but with our lovely home which we have settled nicely in, it will be a welcoming treat to come back to, where it will be nearly summer, and our first one in our new home!

I think i will end with a list, since i love lists! and a wish that you are well and can get some rest soon too :)

Top 5 things I am most looking forward to in our upcoming trip:

1) spending quality time with Jan

2) being with my bosom pal Ang
3) catching up with family

4) long walks on cobble stone streets
5) some R & R

won't be long now...

i actually began this blog awhile ago... began playing around with it, reading other fabulous, creative, interesting, and educational blogs, and decided it might be a worthwhile activity, and so alas, i have entered the blogging community. my hidden love of writing has crept away into the deep part of my right brain and i think blogging may be a way for me to journal as i once did oh-so-long-ago.
and while i cannot promise my blog will be any of the above mentioned type of blogs that i so dearly love to read, i can say that for you, my reader, whoever you may be; that you can get a glimpse into what i like to call my sweet, happy little life.
and so it begins...