April Storm…
We had quite a bit of snow fall in the last 2 days… We woke up to this scene this morning…
Our Electricity went out at about 9-10 this morning and was still out by the time we went out at about 4pm…
Sewing…
So… a few weeks ago I wanted to sew some wrap pants… I sat down at my sewing machine, dusted the dust off and went to start…
Then, I remembered why my machine was dusty…. I got it used a few years ago and it has never worked well… I have been able to use it a few times after getting it serviced but it would quickly deteriorate after… The tension was always off, missed stiches, it would pick up the bobbin thread, birdsnests etc… each time I would sit down in front of it I would spend an hour trying to get it work and then I would just give up….
So… when I sat down and could get anything done I decided that it would be the last… I went out the next day and bought a new machine… It sews so well and has a few bells and whistles that I can’t wait to try out…
Within a day or two I sat down and made my Wrap pants to lounge around the house in…. they are amazingly comfortable…
A few days later I made a new purse/backpack.. I have been looking for one that I like for so long and all that I could find were the gaudy faux leather ones… So this was made out of some thrift store cord fabric that I found…
(it is not actually that crooked… I just was to lazy to take my wallet out to take the pics)
I may still add a front pocket or something to make it a bit less plain but I love it… it fits perfectly, it is really soft and it hangs perfectly even when full…
I have many more projects lined up now…
La Cabane à Sucre…
Here are a few pics from “La Cabane à Sucre” or “Sugar Shack” where we went last Thursday… This is one tradition that I want my Family to know. It is something that I loved doing as a child…
For those who don’t know what it is… Quebec is the largest producer of Maple Syrup in the world so when the Nectar Flows the Sugar shack go to work…. collecting the Maple water a few times a day and the boiling it down to the Maple Syrup we know…
With the syrup comes the food… A whole array of traditional french-canadian cuisine… Def not healthy or vegetarian and not something that I could eat everyday or more than once a year…
Cretons on toast,Split Pea soup, Maple omelette, Breakfast Sausages, Apple Maple Ham. Maple Baked Beans, Pork rinds, Beignets, homemade dougnuts, Maple cake, Maple sugar Pie etc…
Followed by “tire sur Neige”
Hot maple syrup poured onto snow making a Maple taffy…
Now “Sugaring off” also includes small petting zoo’s at many places, horse drawn sled or buggy rides etc…
Anyway… here are some pics….
Here is the Maple Taffy…
This was an amazingly nice Llama called Tommy…
I think it is now safe to say…
That Xavier has weaned…
When I started nursing my newborn almost 5 years ago I would have never had guessed that I would have nursed this long, I couldn’t even imagine it… Nursing a baby was so foreign to me, I had never really seen anyone nurse… however, I knew that Formula would never touch my child’s lips…
My original goal was a year… but by the time he was 6 months old I knew that I would be letting him wean himself.. I couldn’t imagine taking something away from him that was perfect for his health, that nothing else could come close to nutritionally, that was the perfect comforting tool and that he enjoyed so much. I couldn’t imagine weaning him to the milk of another species just because our society has put a taboo on breasts.
When I got pregnant with Colin I offered often even though it was painful at times… it wasn’t martyrdom to do so, I did so out of respect for his needs. My temporary discomfort was nothing compared to taking away the benefits of nursing… the pain passed and we both continued to enjoy nursing…. Colin was born and Tandem nursing became second nature…
Near the end of my last pregnancy, Xavier went down to nursing once a day and then started to skip days… With the arrival of his newest brother he started to skip days more often and went to once or twice a week and then continued to diminish…
Though he still came to nurse at times, at one point a few weeks ago he suddenly lost the ability to suck…
The last time he tried he was a bit sad because he couldn’t get any milk, but said that though he couldn’t get milk anymore he was still nursing… and then he then gave me big hugs… I think he knows that he is done, but just wants to make sure that he can if he needs to… and though I wouldn’t be surprised if he asks again I think it is now safe to say that we are at the end of our nursing relationship…
I am proud of the fact that I practice complete Child led Weaning… I could never do it any other way.
Of course there were ups and downs in the 4 1/2 years… but what great relationship doesn’t have ups and downs?
Though I have shared it many times before… here is my favourite nursing pic of Xavier and a memory that I will cherish forever… he was 3 1/2 here…
West African Peanut Soup
2 cups onions
1 Tbsp oil
1/2 tsp cayenne
1 tsp grated fresh ginger
1 cup chopped carrots
2 cups chopped sweet potatoes
4 cups vegetable stock
2 cups tomato juice
1 cup smooth peanut butter
1 cup chopped scallions or chives
Saute the onions in the oil.
Stir in the cayenne and fresh ginger.
Add the carrots and saute a couple more minutes.
Mix in the potatoes and stock or water, bring to a boil, and then simmer for about 15 minutes, until the vegetables are tender.
Puree the vegetables with the cooking liquid and the tomato juice.
Stir in the peanut butter until smooth.
Serve topped with plenty of chopped scallions or chives.