Connecting With Nature: Winter Solstice

This time of year in our society many people (ok, most) are focussed on the holiday season of peace, joy and gift giving. It is not a time when people look to spend time outdoors. In the northern hemisphere it is either too cold, too wet or too dark to do much at all outdoors.

But it is important to remain connected to the cycles of the Earth and seasons year round. As the season darkens and the natural world goes to sleep, we, too, turn inward and slow down.

The solstice, the longest night of the year, and a turning point for the return of the sun, is a time of inner reflection, but should also be a time to connect with the natural world.

Many of our seasonal traditions and images stem from natural winter elements, such as holly, pine boughs, pinecones, mistletoe and evergreen trees.


Here are some suggestions for connecting with nature in the darkest days of winter:

Continue reading at The Green Phone Booth>>>

Overcoming Nature Anxieties

I am passionate about gardening as a way to connect us to our food, and I enjoy spending time in the outdoors, connecting with the plants and animals that live amongst us. I believe that this may be the only way to have people truly care about protecting the environment and see that our well being is tied to a healthy planet. I also believe in the power of modelling and education to shape children's perceptions and behaviours. The best way to desensitize children to the "ick" factor and sensitize them to the diversity of life around us is to spend time in nature.

My daughter mistakes any flying insect for the stinging
variety, even harmless flies. 

However, I am also aware that children often come out with their own fully developed personalities and temperaments, and this has been one of the most challenging aspects of parenting for me.

Continue reading at The Green Phone Booth>>>

Cheapskate Summer Bucket List

My Pinterest feed is full of cute ways to document a summer bucket list, along with all the fabulous things to do during the summer. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, however, my summer bucket list will mostly consist of free things to do with my kids. If life gives you lemons, as the saying goes, make lemonade, so I'm excited to try to do as many things with my daughters that will cost little to no money. To continue with the May 30 by 30 Nature Challenge, I hope to have as many bucket list items take place in nature or relate to nature as possible.

Continue reading at The Green Phone Booth>>>

How To Play In Nature for Kids Of All Ages

For the month of May I participated in the David Suzuki Foundation 30 x 30 Nature Challenge, along with Eco Novice and Eco Yogini. I value time in nature, not just because it is good for my health, but also because I enjoy the sensory experience of being outside. I enjoy observing the insects as they go about their business. I find it relaxing to listen to the wind rustling the leaves, and I have been known to fall asleep to the sounds in the Mama-Do-Nothing-Chair. And to me there is no better smell than the wet soil after a rain storm.

Now that the challenge is over, I am looking for a variety of ways to continue to spend time in nature. Play is important for children, but I believe that everyone should play. Time in nature provides so many opportunities to play beyond they typical nature walks and hide and seek.

Here are some ideas for nature play that will get everyone, young or old, interested.

Continue reading at The Green Phone Booth>>>

Week Four: 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

For the month of May I participated in the David Suzuki Foundation 30 x 30 Nature Challenge to spend 30 minutes in nature for 30 days. I posted each week on my progress and shared photos of my experiences outdoors.

To get caught up on my month and my reflections each week:

Week One

Week Two

Week Three

I'm a little late posting photos from my final week and sharing my thoughts on the challenge. I've had a stressful few weeks at work and have experienced a great deal of negativity. The 30x30 Challenge has been the bright spot in my month because it has helped to motivate me to get outside when I might have chosen to sit on the couch. 

Highlights of the 30 x 30 Challenge:

• My time outdoors is evident on my face. I'm already sun kissed and all that extra vitamin D feels good. If I've had a bad day even just a few minutes outdoors can turn it around for me. 
• I'm more connected with my daughters because when I'm outside they follow me out, and when they're outside it helps to get me out too. We've gone on multiple family bike rides, hung out at the beach and gone on nature walks.
• My oldest daughter is becoming a real preteen and often prefers alone time in her room. I've been "kicking" her outside, which in turn has made me realize that I can take what I'm doing and sit outside doing it as well. I've done some marking, edited photos on my iPad, worked on a knitting project, read a book and had a nap in my backyard, with the sounds of the birds and wind in the trees helping me to de-stress.
• I managed to check everything off my list for the month: lots of family walks and bike rides, using our foot power to get to school when possible, using my bike to do daily errands, keeping up with daily gardening tasks and trying geocaching for the first time. 

Some downsides to the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge (as if there are real downsides to spending time in nature!):

• While the garden is beautiful, the inside of my home is a disaster. I am currently looking at seven baskets of unfolded laundry that soon will be eight baskets. There is grass all over the downstairs floor from so much foot traffic going in and out the back door. And those dishes all over the counter are not going to clean themselves. 
• My crafty projects have really taken a back seat this month. My one little word for the year is make, and I have a long list of craft and DIY projects to do. I am about an hour away from finishing knitting a pair of ankle socks, but by the time I sit down in the evening I'm too tired to pick up the needles.
• My blogging has also been neglected. I've tried to keep up with posting about my progress with the 30 x 30 Challenge but many of the DIY projects I'd hoped to write about are not done.
• I'm also behind on my work. Granted the last couple of weeks I haven't been able to do any work from home (thank you BC government), but I have huge pile of marking that is calling my name.

Here's my fourth week in photos:

I chose the rainiest day so far to try geocaching for the first time. My girls
were displeased and acted like the water was burning their flesh.

All that changed when we found it! These happy campers
were so enthusiastic they wanted to look for another
geocache right away. This will be on my summer
bucket list for sure!

Again lots of bike riding this week. We all rode my oldest
to her gymnastics class and continued along the dyke.

We paused at this pier along the Fraser River to watch
people fishing and the tugboats chugging along.

My youngest had a preschool field trip to the Richmond Nature Park.
They pretended to be honey bees looking for flowers. Then they observed
nature with a magnifying glass.

After the class trip was over we stuck around for our
own quiet walk in the park. So serene.

Of course I spent hours and hours in my vegetable garden. Things are really
starting to come up and we've already enjoyed many meals, and lots of
impromptu snacks from the garden beds. 

A quiet moment in my backyard, trying to get caught up with my
crafty projects, and feeling grateful for the many buzzing pollinators,
humming birds, dragonflies and chickadees I viewed while sitting here.

There's nothing like coming home from a busy day to a cooked meal
and a backyard campfire. It's so meditative to stare at a fire.

My pride and joy, and where I can be found most days. We've had many
family meals from the garden already. So excited for summer!

I'm not one for resolutions and challenges, but this one really appealed to me. I knew that I would find it easy to fit in 30 minutes outside a day, even if it only meant going out to weed and water in my backyard garden. I spent much more than 30 minutes many days each week, and we have had such beautiful weather this month that I was able to spend most of each weekend outside. 

I hope to continue my own little 30x30 challenge for the upcoming summer months. I'm home for July and August with my girls so I know we will be adding lots of outdoor adventures to our weekly agenda, but it is the daily time outside that I want to keep up. Tonight I am exhausted. I have a kitchen to clean and kids to put to bed so I'm sitting on the couch for a few minutes to work on this post after driving my daughter to her gymnastics class. Because dinner was a bit later than usual we didn't have time to ride our bikes to the class. Now I should be out on the back patio soaking up the last rays of the sun and watching what my girls like to call the dragonfly ballet as they swoop around catching flying insects. And now that I'm on the couch, I'm not motivated to get up. I know that there are days like this, and I know that tomorrow I have plans to be outside, so I am not concerned, yet. 

Did you participate in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge? Do you feel like you get enough nature time each week? 

Follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who also participated this month:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

30 x 30 Nature Challenge: Week Three

I am partipating in the David Suzuki Foundation 30 x 30 Nature Challenge, to get outside in nature for 30 minutes a day for 30 days. To read how I did in weeks one and two, click here.

This week was a very busy one and I found it challenging to get outside and spend meaningful time in nature every day. On a few days it only amounted to watering my garden. However, I more than made up for it on others days when I binged on time outside, either at the beach, at the park, going on a bike ride or doing some serious gardening.

I generally don't have difficulties getting outside in the spring because of my love of gardening and the hours that my backyard vegetable garden requires. However, there are times when I just don't feel like getting off the couch, especially after a long, stressful day at work. The 30 x 30 Challenge has been a good fit for me because I feel some accountability to get up and get going.

Take today for instance; it was my day off and I just wanted to sit, do some knitting and maybe catch up on the internet. The sun was struggling to get out from behind the clouds and it wasn't particularly warm in the morning. I dutifully watered my garden and sat down on the couch. Luckily I had mentioned to my youngest daughter last night that I wanted to take her on a bike ride to a park to see ducks and rabbits, and she was quick to remind me of this when she saw me getting comfortable in the Mama-Do-Nothing spot. I would have been tempted to redirect her to some other activity if I hadn't signed up for the challenge and for this I am grateful. We had a nice morning riding the bike for an hour and spending time exploring around Minoru Park.

I have yet to try geocaching! Must do this last week so I can say I met all my 30 x 30 goals.

Here is my third week in photos:

One way I enjoy being in nature is taking photos. I don't have a fancy
DSLR camera unfortunately, but I think my iPhone does a nice job.
I love taking macro photos of my garden with my Olloclip lens.

My girls love to play at the beach and it is always a battle to get
them to leave. 

This is my "naturehood" where the Fraser River meets the Gulf of Georgia.

Normally May is a wet month here on the west coast, and the weather
keeps threatening rain, but we have been blessed with picture perfect
days. The iffy days just make for stunning cloud photo moments.

No matter how many hours I spend in my backyard I can still be surprised
by what I find. In a little used corner I found some volunteer poppies.

Britannia Heritage Shipyards, full of history of Steveston's fishing and
pioneer past, is along my running route. I love this old tree and always
stop to take in the view of the local swans nesting here. 

I challenged myself to ride my bike to Minoru Park in the city centre today.
My four year old and I were thrilled to watch, from a safe distance, these
goslings with their mother.

Join me in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

Follow my progress with the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

And follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who are also participating:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

Week Two: 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

I have completed the second week of the David Suzuki NatureChallenge to get outside, preferably in nature, for at least 30 minutes a day for 30 days in May. Last week was a resounding success and I was highly motivated to get outside for over twelve hours, by biking, gardening, walking to school and playing at the beach.

This week was more challenging to get outside. It rained on and off for a few days this week, so I had to dash out into the garden in between rain showers. Then, at the end of Mother’s Day three of us got a stomach bug, which limited our ability to do much outside for the rest of the week.

Next week I hope to increase our time spent in more natural settings, by water and amongst trees, and to hopefully finally give geocaching a try.

Some Positives to being motivated to get outside each day: 

• I am not just task oriented when I spend time outside gardening. Much of my time is spent just observing. I love sitting in one spot and watching the goings and comings of the insects and birds around me. It is amazing how busy nature can be.

• My mood improves after being outside, particularly if the time is spent being active.

• I have more daytime energy to get things done.

• I am naturally a night owl, and I have a bad habit of staying up too late and regretting it the next day. For the last two weeks I have been more tired and ready for sleep.

• My television viewing is generally limited to a few favourite shows that I catch up on in the evening. Because I am more tired, I have not been watching as much television. 

• I am up-to-date with gardening tasks, which is a first for me. On more than one occasion it crossed my mind to procrastinate, but then I remembered that I needed to get outside for the challenge. This week I planted the second round of carrot seeds, thinned more beet and turnip seeds to give the stronger plants a chance to grow, transplanted my tomato seedlings, and started the sisyphean task of weeding. 

Here is my second week in photos:

This is where I spent the majority of my time outside this week:
my backyard garden.

Along with gardening chores, I am now spending time wandering around
my garden beds looking for food to harvest. This is kale and rhubarb.

My youngest daughter enjoyed watching the dragonflies and noticed this
one land on our fence for a rest. We spend over 10 minutes observing it.

I have let my kale go to seed, and in addition to the benefit of seed
collecting, I have been fascinated with all the pollinators the bright
yellow flowers have attracted to my yard. The plants are humming
with bees.

For Mother's Day I like going on outdoor adventures with my family.
This year we went to Fort Langley and learned about a
piece of our province's past. My girls' favourite part of the day was
panning for gold. 

I have been walking to swimming lessons with my class each day,
and I always enjoy the landscaping around city hall, especially these irises.

My favourite part of gardening is sitting and just observing. I even grabbed
a few minutes to put up my feet and have a coffee one morning.

By the end of this week everyone was feeling better and I managed to get
back on my bike to go shopping and meet a friend for coffee. I took my
favourite route home past Britannia Heritage Shipyards on the banks
of the Fraser River. 

Join me in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

Follow my progress with the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

And follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who are also participating:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

Week One: 30 x 30 Nature Challenge

I have decided to join The David Suzuki Foundation 30 x 30 Nature Challenge to spend 30 minutes a day outside, preferably in nature, for 30 days in May.

Overall this first week has gone well and I've logged many minutes, far more than the 30 minutes per day. In fact, not that I'm officially keeping track or will continue to do so, but I have spent more than 12 hours outside this week. I've been lucky with the weather so far, with only one solidly rainy day, so I have been able to find time to do gardening, biking, and walking in between rain showers on less than perfect days. I'm a hardy pacific northwest coaster who is usually embarrassed to use an umbrella, so even a little bit of rain doesn't stop me from getting outside. That said, as I type this I am bundled up in a blanket on my couch to warm up after a particularly wet bike ride home from the school pick up.

Some interesting things have come up as a result of participating in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge. I haven't worried too much about my three daughters getting their 30 minutes outside as they run around outside during recess and lunch at school. But when I've gone into the yard to garden they usually follow me out, then stay outside long after I've gone indoors.

After a quick tune up, we've been using our bikes far more than usual, and have used them to ride to gymnastics class and to a sushi dinner out at a local restaurant. My husband has also joined us on weekend bike rides to our favourite local spot, Garry Point. This has highlighted for him how much he needs a new bike, which will be his joint Father's Day / birthday present this year.

I can be lazy (can't we all) and I have been avoiding a few gardening tasks, but knowing that I am participating in the nature challenge has really motivated me to get out into the veggie garden each day and slowly tick items off my to do list. So overall, regardless of how I do for the remaining 23 days, it has been a success for us.

In photos, here is how I spent some of my time outdoors this past week:

We rode our bikes out to the beach at Garry Point, and had ice cream. After
coming home from work my husband rode his bike to meet us for dinner.

Wandering around on driftwood at Garry Point again.This was my first time
wearing my beloved Birkenstocks. Can you see the sand all over my feet?

I logged many hours outside in my garden this week. My biggest back-breaking
 task was thinning the seedlings, which gave me a yummy snack of microgreens.

My girls followed me out to the front yard while I was cutting the lawn (with a push
mower). They are natural tree climbing monkeys. Sadly I couldn't convince
them to help with the raking or weeding.

I am enjoying watching the progress of my mason bees.They have finally started
laying eggs and plugging the holes with mud. 

I love visiting the chickens at Britannia Shipyards,
just around the corner form my home.

I'm trying to motivate myself to run on a more regular basis. It's easy when
this is along my route. My shoes match the surroundings!

One of the many bike rides this week. This is on the way home from the school
drop off. Can you seemy four year old, Little Monster, in the bike trailer?

The only activity on my list that I haven't tried yet is geocaching, which I've wanted to do for a couple of years now. I've downloaded a free app onto my iPhone, but I'm looking for any suggestions of websites or apps to try, any tips and ideas for getting going.

Join me in the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

Follow my progress with the 30 x 30 Nature Challenge here.

And follow my fellow Green Phone Boothers who are also participating:

Eco Novice

Eco Yogini

Let the Nature Challenge Begin!

Click here to sign up!

This month I'm participating in the 30 x 30 Challenge from the David Suzuki Foundation. The idea is to spend 30 minutes outside for 30 days. There are so many reasons why this is good for us; check out the website for great tips! I've officially signed up so I can receive ideas and reminders to keep me on track.

Even though I have natural couch potato tendencies, I always feel better after a natural dose of fresh air, vitamin D. The trick is motivating myself so that I don't get hung up on my many inside responsibilities.  Instead, I need to remember that being outside motivates me and gives me more energy, which in theory should help me accomplish all that I need to do. And if I don't, well, those dishes and that marking will always be there and that's ok.

It's easy to spend more time outdoors in May, with the warmer weather that pulls us all outside, and my vegetable garden that always needs some attention. But there are those days when it is a little colder, or raining, or I'm tired from a long day at work, and it is a challenge to avoid parking myself on the couch.


So here is my tentative plan for making it a priority to get outside for 30 minutes over 30 days:

• on my days off from work walk my kids to and from school as much as possible (when we don't have immediate after school commitments), which I try to do.

• continue to check on my garden with watering, weeding and cutting of the lawn

• try an after dinner family walk, which is easier now that it is light so late into the evening

• go on a family walk or bike ride on the weekends, which we have being doing so far this spring. 

• try geocaching, which has been on my list of activities to try for some time

I hope to check back throughout May to share how I'm doing with this to keep me honest and on track.

Do you get enough outdoor time? Do you want to join me in the 30 x 30 Challenge?

This Moment

{this moment} - Inspired by Amanda Soule at SouleMama. 

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments."

{this moment}

{this moment} - Inspired by Amanda Soule at SouleMama. 

"A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments."

Shroom Love

One of the things I love about autumn is going mushroom hunting. Not for ingesting, I'd like to clarify. While I love the idea of foraging for edible wild food, and I know that I could use resource guides to help me find edible wild mushrooms, I am too chicken to do so.

I love the seasonal quality of finding mushrooms on my walks and how they spring up out of nowhere when the the weather turns wetter and colder. I have regular places to check for them, and when I find them it always gives me a little thrill to take their photo.

Here are my favourite photos from this season. These photos can also be found on my Instagram account, crustyroll35.

My absolutely favourite mushroom photo, however, can be found here at my {this moment} post. I expect to see smurfs dancing around it.

What's in a costume?

Like many families, we start talking about and planning our next Hallowe'en costume shortly after Hallowe'en ends. Of course my daughters change their minds many times throughout the year, and part of the fun is dreaming about all the cool costume ideas we can create. Some of the most used tubs in our playroom are the dress-up tubs. We have accessories for any type of princess you can imagine, pirates, cowhands, gypsies, Indian saris, wedding and bride's maid dresses, carpenters, doctors, wizards, witches, unicorns and on and on. Often my daughters' dress-up games are the beginning of some grand adventure or quest and they can play for hours. That's one of the things that I like about Hallowe'en - the role playing, becoming someone or something else. We can step outside our life and become more dramatic.

My sweet little zombie bride

I have noticed the past couple of Hallowe'ens the "We're a culture, not a costume" campaign, designed to raise awareness about cultural stereotypes. Much has been said about the offensiveness of appropriating First Nations culture by dressing in a feather headdress, and most people I know would not dream of dressing in a traditional Chinese clothing and conical farmer's hat. We can agree that these are racist because they put forth a stereotype of a culture. But what of wearing African tribal clothing? Or wearing fake glasses with "Asian eyes" on them while carrying calculus books? Do people consider it acceptable to wear a turban and say they are a terrorist? Perhaps not in "polite company", school or work, but these types of costumes persist.

This issue came up when I was chatting with my oldest daughter about her costume for this year. She finally settled on being a witch and when I came home with a second hand costume from the local thrift store she was thrilled with the black and green sparkly dress and pointy hat. In trying to decide how to accessorize, she settled upon being a "good" witch rather than an "evil" witch. We began chatting about what made a witch good versus evil. 

Now, before people accuse me of needing to loosen up and grab a sense of humour, I would like to state that I love witch costumes and I love playing up the mythology of a wart covered witch brewing a spell in her cauldron. It is my safety costume and I enjoy putting on the cackling voice and laughter.

Me and my husband

I began telling my daughter about where the myth of the evil witch living alone in the woods came from; persecution of women who revered nature and used knowledge of nature to live. The brewing of spells in a cauldron? Probably came from making herbal tinctures to cure ailments. The Salem witch hunts are well known. Covetous neighbours may have made accusations because they were jealous of their property or something in their life. But largely people were scared of anyone who lived life differently or followed a different belief system so they were labeled evil. If someone was an independent woman who chose not to follow the same path as others she was accused of being a witch and could be burned at the stake or drowned. If she lived the accusations were true. If she died she was cleared of all charges. 

Our speaking witch's head in a crystal ball decoration

This was quite shocking to her. The world to her is still a good place where the worst thing that can happen is someone can get sick and die. She had the same reaction when we read Little House on the Prairie and one of the characters said, "The only good Indian is a dead Indian." Racism (and the word Indian rather than First Nations) was a new concept to her and she had a hard time understanding why someone could be judged, hurt or killed for who they are. 

She asked more questions about witches, and then said, "Maybe we are witches then. We love nature." At first I liked this idea and chuckled. I love that my daughter sees the beauty in nature and is learning to value and protect nature. And I love that she was able to see that witches of yore may have held similar beliefs. But as I thought more about it I became concerned. People do not understand nature based spirituality; too often images of satanists swirl in their heads with the Hollywood version of wiccans. I have heard derogatory comments about people who follow wiccan beliefs. They are seen as weird, and anything odd about them is chalked up to their unconventional beliefs.  

I understand where this comes from. Some people feel that a Muslim woman wearing a traditional hajib is a potential terrorist. We fear what we don't know and we seek to make sense of it. The easiest way is to categorize and stereotype, which brings us back to Hallowe'en costumes. I understand that sometimes the fun of Hallowe'en, for adults, is to shock and push boundaries, and there is a time and a place for that in life. I'm not a killjoy and I love Hallowe'en. I may have worn costumes that offend someone (in fact I'm sure I have) and I will continue to wear witch costumes at Hallowe'en. I will, however, remember that the mythology of evil witches is based upon persecution. 

Happy Hallowe'en everyone!