In my last blog post I talked about my kids carving this spoon for their mom. Here is the finished project. The wood is pine and was an easy wood for the kids to learn how to carve with. The…
I got inspired last winter to carve some spoons for gifts for the holiday season. My kids loved hanging out in the wood shop with me, and they decided that they wanted to help carve a wooden soup spoon for…
Since my woodworking shop is in the bottom floor of my house, my kids spend a lot of time in there with me. They both have a set of ear muffs and a few tools. My daughter “sets up shop”…
Whenever someone says they are “too old” or “too young” for something, I wonder if the reason for it is really that they are afraid of failure or even afraid of success!
I have so much admiration for people who are open minded and willing to try something new – at any age. My daughter is not yet three, and there is no concept of “too young” for her.
I love having my son around creating his own wood projects when I am in the shop. He has his own set of tools, and he finds scraps of wood in my recycle bin that fuel his imagination.
This is how I grew up — hanging around my dad’s shop while he worked on custom cabinetry orders. I didn’t realize until I started my own carpentry and timber framing business how much I picked up just by watching my dad and helping him here and there.
Yes, the words “Happy” and “Work” can be in the same sentence! Especially when my family visits, and I get a big hug from my sweet daughter.
One of my goals is to create worksites that are both healthy and enjoyable. A 40 hour work week means we are spending a quarter of our lives at a worksite or office. I am still living while I am working, and I want my life to be purposeful, fulfilling, and enjoyable. So how can I achieve this at the worksite for me and everyone I work with?
These beautiful veggies came from a farm close to us that is set up as a CSA, which stands for Community Supported Agriculture. You buy a share in the CSA at the beginning of the season, and you enjoy a box of local, organic, seasonal vegetables each week. The first time I had garden-fresh broccoli (so sweet!), I was completely sold.
In a time where we get apples shipped from New Zealand, broccoli shipped from California, and zucchini shipped from Mexico, we have become disconnected from our food sources and the people who grow it. These are all foods that grow in Canada, and if we are able to find local produce and shift our diet to be more seasonal, we can enjoy fresh delicious food that was ripened by the sun in the fields rather than by chemicals en route.
We put up a clothes line this summer at our new house, and I just had to take a photo of it. How nostalgic as well as environmentally sound is a clothes line!? I love seeing the kids’ clothes lined up together, reminding me of how quickly they grow. And hanging the laundry not only gives me satisfaction because I am reducing electricity use, it also gives me a little space in the day for a peaceful (yet practical!) meditative activity.
Our modern culture has bought into an idea that everything needs to be sterilized with antibacterial soap or bleach, both of which cause harm to our health. Yet the sun is the original disinfectant and brightening agent, and it is free and easily accessible. Hang out dish cloths that have started to smell, hang cloth diapers that have staining, and hang clothes that you don’t want to shrink in the dryer. And best of all, the old saying is true that sheets which have been hanging on the line smell divine when you lay down to sleep at night.
My very best helper! My son Roghan loves to be in the shop with me. He sucks up every little bit of information he can, very eager to help at every chance he gets.
If buying our neighbour’s organic eggs can help instill in our children an understanding of health, community, and respect for the environment, then we say – let’s get cracking!