Long Weekend Reno - Venturing into American Clay

Its a long weekend here in Ontario, and I am deciding to spend it touching up the latest reno: We took the plunge and instead of re-painting the walls we decided to be adventurous and troweled on a credit card thick layer of American Clay.

The stuff is amazing. Beautiful earthy colors, 100% natural, and leaves your walls with a delicate suede finish (depending on the finishing texture you choose).

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It was especially helpful to have a local ecological living and building supply store in town where we could ask a plethora of questions and see gorgeous samples. With the help of the amazing owners John and Michael we were more than confident that such an unconventional choice for our walls would be a perfect choice for our family and be a worry free application.

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The_Balance by Pascal Anson

Stumbling through forgotten files on an old portable hard drive, I was reminded of this gem - a chair built to sit perfectly balanced in a variety of positions. Part of Pascal's philosophy "Ordinary Made Extraordinary'.

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The way one interacts with this chair is so delightful that I can't help but smile at the thought of owning one.

Furoshiki - Where Have You Been All My Life!

Furoshiki is a traditional  Japanese cloth (roughly from the Edo period) used to wrap/bundle clothing, wares, and lunch boxes.

What this really means is that you can use a simple piece of cloth (traditionally 45 x 72cm) and on a whim, make yourself a shopping bag, lunch bag, purse, book bag, wine bottle caddy, or wrap a gift! There are numerous site online with instructions.

instructions and source

 

And Japan's Ministry of Environment even openly promotes the use of Furoshiki!

 

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Current Obsession: Depression Era Recipes

Apple Dumplings:

Simple recipe, consists of butter (it was lard at the time & we're vegetarian), milk, flour, baking powder, apples, sugar, and cinnamon! Tasty - sure not the same as you would get at a french pastry shop but serving it fresh and warm from the oven made it ultimately comforting and delicious!

I'm not adding a recipe as there are hundreds of delicious variations on google.

Current Obsession: Depression Era Recipes

Recently my husband said he would make 'Creamed Peas on Toast' for supper - I assumed he was delusional, then began thinking about what kind of godforsaken meal I would be in for. Was it a dessert? with whipped cream? A form of french toast? He said it was one of his most favorite suppers from his childhood but wouldn't tell me more...

Supper time came, and I was pleasantly surprised...

source & recipe

A deliciously saucy, cheesy, and sweet pea flavour on crispy toast. My husband said it was his grandma's depression era comfort food recipe. Upon more internet research, I found out that most of these recipes are quick, cheap and easy to make - and most importantly, a lot of them are vegetarian!

So, more experimenting to come...

Dutch Cycling Logistics

Planning on a trip to Europe and the Netherlands in the upcoming years, the thought of renting a car and driving through Holland scares me. Visiting Amsterdam a few years back, I had more than one close encounter with cyclists after unsuspectingly stepping onto bicycle paths, or mistaking them for sidewalks.

I found this video online:

Cycling Infrastructure Video

Fantastic explanation of how cycling paths work in the Netherlands.

I doubt that any of this will be adapted in Canada over the next Century...BUT it does make me want to go on a cycling holiday in NL.

Current Obsession: Bicycles and Active Transport

Searching through the internet to find innovative solutions to bicycling in all weather conditions.

Seems like in Canada, as soon as it gets cold, bikes get put away and cars sit idling in driveways left to get warmed up. What is the logic of me getting up in the morning, shoveling my driveway, clearing snow off my car, scraping ice off the windshield, warming it up for 5 minutes or so, and risking driving on slippery roads surrounded by cocky drivers if I only have 3km to get to where I'm going?

Current items that get my heart racing with joy:

Xtracycle cargo bike

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Stroller holder            Link