My Hood

I love the neighbourhood we live in.  Each time I walk through it, I find so much inspiration from the vibrant colours, the history of the heritage houses, and the spontaneous creativity posted along the way.  It's the kind of people living in the neighbourhood who are enjoyable to meet.  I love that Strathcona is home to many artists which only adds to the vibe.  I love East Van.  I'm just going to put that out there right now.  I think there is something incredibly special about East Van that can't be fabricated in other parts of the city.  It's raw, unpretentious, and inclusive.  

Hollyhock Heaven

I went a little ape taking photographs of flowers on Sunday.  I probably took a hundred while walking through the Strathcona community garden.  The lighting was awesome.  The setting sun back-lit the leaves and pedals of the plants.  My favourite photos of the day were the hollyhocks.

   

They remind me of my mom who use to grow them out side of her bedroom window.  Her's were dark violet mixed with some reddish purple hues standing tall against our light green house.  I found my self more drawn to these delicate pink ones for their ethereal quality.

Sunday Picnic

We all went out for a Sunday picnic last week to enjoy the (finally arrived) summer weather.

It was kind of a last minute plan and we really didn't have much in the way of delicious picnic food to bring.  But I did whip up a refreshing elderflower and mint drink to take with us.  

um, can we say gross?

Blueberries and Walnuts

Unsprayed local blueberries and walnuts on top of hot cereal makes me pretty darn happy.  Especially when I can sit and eat in my garden patio while soaking up the morning sun.  

(A rare occurrence so far this summer.)

Mr. Goof Ball

Little B has become increasingly difficult to photograph this past year.   He can't stay still and thinks that a good picture must entail a goofy face .  

I managed to catch him after a moment of sadness and snapped the straightest face I have seen in a long time.  

 But after a few shots, his mood picked up and it wasn't long before the goofy faces started appearing again.  

Simple Pleasures

The best part of summer for me is the abundance of fruit!  Especially stone fruit.  It's such a pleasure to sit and eat a bowl full of local cherries.  I've also been plowing through honey dew melon like there's no tomorrow.  I'm sure I've eaten  more than double my weight in melon this season already.  And in my opinion EVERYTHING tastes better in a ceramic bowl.  

Our simple pleasure turned into an impromptu math lesson.  Although litte B likes to call it his science project.  In the middle of eating our cherries and melon he ran up stairs and came back with a pad of paper and pen in hand.  He asked me how to write 1+1 then we started using the cherries as a visual.

So satisfying.  

Georgia Olive

I've been a little busy lately bringing this beautiful little girl into the world.  She came a week early which was a pleasant surprise.  I had the most incredible experience and can fully appreciate the natural process of giving birth the way it was meant to be.   My first experience was so traumatic I was pretty sure I wasn't willing to risk doing that again.  But what tipped the scale?  Banyan needed a playmate for life.  Being an only child did not suit him at all.  So after three and a half years I took the risk...

I'm happy I did because now I know giving birth can be a beautiful thing and it doesn't have to be emotionally and physically traumatic. Having a Midwife and a home birth was amazing.  I highly recommend it.