New Country Living

Spring on the West Coast

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Mon, 06 May 2013 17:38:00 +0000

Spring has sprung on Vancouver Island! The weekend was a gorgeous 20+ degrees celsius and that means the flowers were blooming and we were weeding and planting and watering! So far we've planted kale, carrots, potatoes, spinach, and peas. Then of course we've got our strawberries which our neighbour thins out every year for us and then takes them to the farmers market to sell. They always come back with a vengeance after being thinned. We also have rhubarb which has made us a couple of pies so far. Well actually my mother in law made the pies! Yummy!

The boys have become produce snobs. Nothing compares to straight from the garden fresh food and they are both beginning to comment on the produce in our grocery store compared to the ones in our garden. I love it that they know that fruit and veggies are just not worth buying unless they are very local and in season. Otherwise they taste like cardboard compared to what we get fresh out of the garden.

So here are some photos of our blooming gardens!

Our first iris in bloom!

Begonias.

Can you see the bumble bee on this apple blossom?

Strawberries in bloom!

Look closely! Spinach in the foreground, peas in the background!

Gorgeous tulips and various herbs.

Butterfly Bush in bloom.

There is a bumper crop of gooseberries this year.

Soon to be blueberries.

This is the fourth year for our blueberries and I think it's going to be a good one. We were buying so many blueberries from our local blueberry farm that we decided to plant our own. We now have 12 blueberry bushes. If you've got some great recipes for blueberries, gooseberries, black berries and the rest of the goodies in our garden please share and I'll do the same. Now if only we could grow mango!

Happy Spring and Happy Gardening!

Susie

Apps for French Immersion Families

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 13 Mar 2013 08:00:00 +0000

I have had a hard time finding apps that would support my children who are being educated in the French Immersion system. Where are all those French versions of some awesome English educational apps? I scoured the World Wide Web for what looked like some great apps for my kids. Here are 5 that I would recommend. I even have a little something for teachers of Early French Immersion.

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Recovering from Surgery - Or just prisoner of your bed!

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Mon, 11 Mar 2013 08:00:00 +0000

My girlfriend has been held prisoner in her bed after some major surgery. She is not the type of person to want to lie in bed for a week or two, lapping up the luxury of doing nothing. So I thought I'd write a list of all the things she can get done while recovering. Here we go....
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Life Before Little People

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 09:00:00 +0000

I sometimes have to indulge in a little nostalgia of the days when there were no little people in my life. The days when I would see babies and toddlers and not give them much thought whatsoever. I know that seems a little harsh but I was not one of those people dying to have a baby. Yes, maybe, someday but I was in a self absorbed world. A world that consisted of falling in love, sailing and living a life that was, to date, my version of the high life.

We lived in a gorgeous little character filled condo. A far cry from my ground floor bachelor pad which needed bars on the windows for security. Our view was a spectacular view of the quaint little cove I called home. In the distance we could see the public dock jutting out into the ocean and a little further in the distance, a marina where our sailboat was mored. Life was good. I was working my way up the corporate ladder and the worst part of my day was the commute and the amount of rain in our part of the world.

The major decisions in my life... where we should take our next sailing trip, where to go for dinner, where to set our crab traps, what type of tv we should get....you get the picture. Life was gooooood!

The top ten things I miss most about this past life and in no particular order...

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The Dreaded New Year Resolutions

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 09 Jan 2013 05:04:00 +0000

The new year is upon us and resolutions are a plenty. Not in our house. I only started thinking resolutions while reading meaningful facebook posts, getting calls from long lost friends and colleagues and reading new year messages from my favourite posters.

I realized everyone seemed to be on the resolution bandwagon and I had better jump aboard or risk wasting the year away. I tend to make quiet changes rather than making bold statements to the world. I guess that way if I fail I will also fail quietly. It also makes me less accountable but that's not a good thing.

So although resolutions are not my forte, I have been following a few New Year plans. Not my plans of course, someone else's. I've begun with a plan to get my house in tip top shape with The January Cure from Apartment Therapy. If you haven't checked out this site yet, you should. I love it.

Here's another plan I learned about on Facebook. This one is to help you save money. It's the 52 week challenge. Basically, you save the amount of money for the week it is. So, on week 1 you save $1 and on week 2 you save $2 and so on until week 52 when you will have saved a total of $1,378.00. I'd love to double that number but considering this blog doesn't pay me anything, that could be a challenge.

For those of you with picky eaters and wanting to get healthy. Here's another great idea for a healthy year from Jennifer Tyler Lee at the Huffington Post.

I hope these give you some ideas for the new year. But no pressure, there's always next year.

Cheers,

Susie

photo credit: Audringje via photopin cc

The New iTunes 11

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Tue, 04 Dec 2012 21:02:00 +0000

Apple introduced the much anticipated new overhaul of iTunes, iTunes 11, on Friday. I just upgraded my iTunes this weekend to check it out. Considering the number of changes made in the world of technology it's surprising, or not, how little things have changed in the software apple provides. iTunes 11 is exciting just because it's new and sexy! It's much more visual. Having only used it for a short time I'd say the things I like most about it are:

1. The new mini player. You can listen to your music while working on other things and the new improved mini player gives you much more control over your music.

2. It has a more powerful and easy to use search engine.

3. The new "up next" feature allows you to see what songs are being played next and allows you to add or skip songs from the list.

I'm liking it and it was about time for a change. Thanks again Apple!

Planting Bulbs

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Mon, 12 Nov 2012 18:15:00 +0000

Fall has almost come and gone! Parts of the country are already under a layer of snow! We've had our first frost and I still haven't planted my spring bulbs! Yet again, my garden is going to be devoid of the beautiful spring colours that should be adorning every bed. Instead, year after year, I have a sparse sprinkling of tulips and daffodils that happen to make it through to the next year.

I am a learn as you go gardener. Before I moved to this one acre property with no less than 6, yes 6 flower beds (actually not just beds but 6 areas with various flower beds!) I knew next to nothing about gardening. My hubby plows right ahead and has built his vegitable garden up beautifully but I've struggled to enhance my flower beds. Every year I plan to move things and plant bulbs early but it never happens.

However, I was surfing the net, which I do a lot! And although my husband doesn't think much comes of all this surfing, I can tell you, it has provided me with endless to do lists. A few of which get done. One is this....this year I will plant bulbs. Yes, I know we've just had our first frost but I have been reassured by the Dig, Drop, Done ladies that my bulbs can be planted through snow, as long as they are in the cold ground before spring. They may bloom a little later but all is good. Who knew? I didn't. So there is hope for me yet and those daliah's I've been dreaming of will see the light of day this year.

If you are like me and a little daunted by the education needed to plant the right flowers in the right places then check out this site. It's modern, it's helpful and it's got three cool ladies helping you along the path to flower heaven.

Tip of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 31 Oct 2012 17:56:00 +0000

Happy Halloween! Here I am in my witch costume. Actually quite a few people didn't recognize me at the school dance which was very interesting. It was interesting to see how people reacted when a stranger said hi. Good for some laughs!

My tip of the week today is an easy peasy treat for the kids at school. We have a potluck today and this is what I made. I call them Frightening Fruit Kabobs. You'll need assorted fruit, kabob sticks, ghost and bat rings. I got the rings and sticks at my local dollar store and chose fruit that was orange and black as much as possible.

I put a grape on the stick first and then attached the ring. The rings were already cut so they would expand so they were easy to place around the grape. Then I put an orange fruit on the stick to go with the black grape, added some more fruit pieces and ended with another black grape

These were a hit with the kids and it forced them to eat some nice healthy fruit. Enjoy a safe and fun Halloween.

Tip of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 24 Oct 2012 20:31:00 +0000

Lightbulbs Simplified

In the past, I have gone to replace a burnt out light bulb and been utterly lost standing in the light bulb section. It is so confusing. Not only which bulb for which purpose but also the type of bulb, the size and the colour of light it gives off. Inevitably I end up leaving without anything. I'm writing this post for me and for anyone else in the same boat.

Here we go...

Incandescent Light Bulbs - (on the right in the photo) these are the traditional lightbulbs that we all once had in our homes. The choices now have increased and it's a little confusing which bulb is the best way to go.

CFL - (middle in photo) Energy Star rated compact fluorescent lamps use less than 75% of the energy in a regular bulb and last 8-10 years longer. They give off a 1/4 of the amount of heat of an incandescent.

Halogen Incandescent Bulbs - use 20-30% less energy than a regular bulb and last only 3 times longer than a regular.

LED - (left in photo) Light Emitting Diodes are the most energy efficient and the most cost efficient bulbs. These use 75% less energy than the regular incandescent light bulb. We just replaced some of our kitchen lighting with LED lights. The bulb is much heavier and the weight makes me believe the claim that it is said to last up to 22 years. The drawback is the cost at around $35.00. This may be a lot to swallow for a tight budget but if you think long term you end up saving in Energy and the cost of replacement bulbs of the other kind. These lights don't have the lumen output that may be needed in some cases but technology is moving quickly and will likely catch up to the other lighting options before long and will likely also bring the price down.

As for the light that bulbs emit, there seem to be three categories. If you are lucky, you'll find a store that have some lights plugged in so you can see which is which. In general though,

Warm White/Soft White is the traditional colour of the incandescent light bulbs with a yellow tint
Cool White/Bright White is the best for kitchens and work spaces and has a white tint
Natural/Daylight is good for reading and has a more blue tint

So there you have it simplified. If you have any questions, feel free to comment and good luck next time you are in the bulb aisle! I hope this helped. I feel much more knowledgeable.

Heirloom Vegetarian Restaurant Review

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Mon, 22 Oct 2012 20:02:00 +0000

I promised a review of a restaurant I recently 'experienced' in Vancouver and here it is, with pleasure, as I drool over the memory of the dishes.

The weekend started on the right foot with a luxury steam shower while staying in my my good friends' condo just up from Granville Island, in Vancouver. Once prepped and newly invigorated for the day, we took a walk up Granville Street to go and check out a new restaurant that was just opening. The shopping is fantastic in the South Granville area but we were hungry and had other appointments to get to so we headed straight to 12th Avenue and Heirloom Vegetarian. As we approached the restaurant we heard noise coming from inside but noticed the very cool, antique, rod iron elevator door was closed. We peaked through the bars in disappointment! Our lunch was not to be. My girlfriend got the attention of someone inside to ask when they would be opening and that changed everything.

He was a proud new owner who showed us around the gorgeous, comfortable, modern yet fun space. He pointed out the exposed brick, the original windows, the retro tile on the kitchen floors, the gorgeous bar which was to house organic wines and craft beers and a luxury and I mean top of the line, coffee machine! Everything has been meticulously thought out in the design of the space. Kudos to Evoke ID for a beautiful space.

The gorgeous bar area. Love the window boxes behind the bar!

We were hooked but the owners were holding a family and staff brunch before their big opening and we were out of luck. I told him I was from the Island and how unfortunate it was that I wasn't able to try out his new restaurant and we were about to walk out the door when he invited us to stay for a parfait. I wasn't quite sure what a parfait was exactly but I said "yes, we'd love to stay for a parfait, thank you so much!" and we were in.

I later learned that Heirloom's executive chef, Georgia Morley is a holistic nutrition consultant who in a past life worked as a private chef in the kitchens of lululemon founder Chip Wilson and Vancouver Canucks captain Henrik Sedin. The parfait was not to disappoint.

The porsche of all coffee machines!

We sat down at a table amongst the family and staff members and felt a little out of place. But, the owner was amazing, very welcoming and we were pleasantly surprised when he offered us some tea with our parfait. The parfait came and it was a warm chia with maple syrup and balsamic roasted plums and greek yogurt, sprinkled with bee pollen and hemp hearts. The symphony of flavours was fabulous and very hearty. This was not to be the end of our visit though. Although I would have been fine with just my tea and parfait, we then proceeded to be served 3 more glorious, flavour filled courses and literally rolled out of there.

Our parfait teaser!

Yogi Johl is the co-owner of Heirloom and he checked in on us every few minutes. At the end of the meal, just before the cacao blackberry fudge, Yogi sat down with us and told us his story. He is a very accomplished national wrestler who I later discovered, represented Canada in two Olympic Games (he gave us, a very modest rendition of this wrestling career). He grew up believing pasta and red meat was good for you and the more the better. His physical stature corroborated his story.

Yogi is no stranger to the nightclub/bar business but his establishments were not known for healthy food and more often than not, he would eat at his establishment. One evening in March while smoking cigars and enjoying a scotch, he and his business partner, Gus Greer, came up with the idea of opening a restaurant where healthy food was served and so the dream of Heirloom Vegetarian was born. Just 7 months later, a vegetarian restaurant designed with a high end, yet mainstream, style in mind opened to the welcoming Vancouver public.

The brunch menu that day. Can you say drool!

4 courses later and running late for our next appointment we moved to leave. Yogi wouldn't hear of us paying! We felt like very important food critics or just very famous people but we were in heaven. I wish that feeling on everyone at least once in their lives. We were treated to something no one else had yet experienced and made to feel that we were more important than any one else in the room. Wow, we had just walked off the street. Who were we but two women looking for a great vegetarian meal. One of the staff actually commented on just that as we were leaving. She asked me if we had "just walked in off the street". I said, "yes" incredulously, and she laughed and said "boy were you lucky, people have been walking in here all day to take a look!"

We were on cloud 9 as we left for another pampering at Bioethique Spa. All in the day of a VIP! Needless to say, I highly recommend this restaurant to all my peeps. Definitely, check it out for a meal and ambience you'll remember and give my best regards to Yogi! I will definitely be back...if I can get a table!

Heirloom Vegetarian
1509 West 12th
604.733.2231

Tip of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 17 Oct 2012 20:13:00 +0000

I've recently become introduced to 'nutritional yeast'. A friend was mentioning that nutritional yeast is a staple in her pantry. I had no idea what it was or what I'd even use it for, so I did some research.

I discovered some interesting ways to use this cheesy tasting product. And with a diet like mine it may come in very handy. This is one of the only non-animal sources high in vitamin B12. Its also a source of iron, magnesium, phosphorus, zinc, chromium and selenium and other minerals plus protein, folic acid, biotin, 18 amino acids and other vitamins.

Wow! So how does one use this ingredient.

Replace regular cheese with a dusting of nutritional yeast and your spices of choice on popcorn, pizza, pasta, mashed potatoes, quiche, french fries or my favourite, kale chips
Use nutritional yeast to make cheese sauce or just thicken a sauce instead of flour.
Use it to replace bread crumbs in recipes for burgers or anywhere you need a binding agent.
Add it to your salad dressing to get a boost of B12.
You can even try adding it to dog food or baby formula.

Try some of these recipes...

Here's a delicious Mac & Cheese recipe from Healthy Happy Health Blog.

Here's a cheese sauce that's quick and easy from Yummly.
A cheesy Kale recipe from Chick In the Kitchen.

For more recipes, just do a search in Google under nutritional yeast recipes. Happy Hunting and Eating!

photo credit: arimoore via photopin cc

Luxury in Vancouver

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Fri, 12 Oct 2012 19:31:00 +0000

A few weekends ago, I was lucky enough to be spoiled rotten by a good friend of mine in Vancouver. We were celebrating my birthday. She lives in a condo that is absolutely gorgeous and located just up from Granville Island. They are pros at renos and there condo always looks gorgeous. In the midst of another reno, they decided to embark on the instillation of a steam shower. The last time I visited the steam shower was in but not sealed yet. It sat there teasing me.

But this time, I took full advantage! Stepping into the steaming shower was the first time I ever felt like I was at a spa without actually being at a spa. They also have one of those overhead rain showers so once you are done your steam, you can rinse off with a luxury shower as well. I'm looking forward to the next visit with renewed enthusiasm! Take a look at the photos and for more information on the benefits of steam showers check out this article.

Luxury Steam Shower

River Rock flooring

Next week I'll be writing a review on a fantastic new restaurant that has just opened up in Vancouver. Stay tuned.

City vs. Country Wildlife

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Thu, 11 Oct 2012 21:34:00 +0000

Living in the city there was a term used for older women who prowled the bar scene aggressively searching for men. They wore leopard print and 3 inches of makeup and topped the look off with lots of fake bling. They were known as cougars. You know the ones. Well cougars take on an entirely new meaning in this neck of the woods.

The cougars in this part of the country have been prowling. There have been more wildlife sightings in my neighbourhood in the last month than I remember in the 8 years I've been on the Island. A cougar was seen by the elementary school, in backyards and even one woman's living room! I've never seen a cougar in the wild and I prefer to keep it that way unless it's far away and I'm safely enclosed somewhere cougars don't go.

Our latest wildlife encounter occurred just last week when a big black bear walked across our front lawn. It was very exciting. I was racing for the camera, the kids were yelling and the dog was barking! I caught a glimpse and then he/she was gone. They are magnificent beasts! Unfortunately the reason for his visit was likely the development next door which is pushing him out of his comfortable home. 5 acre homes will take his place. I the bear is also a little annoyed that we put up a fence between him and our apple trees but this didn't stopped one young bear from climbing the fence to have a nosh last year. Maybe it was even the same bear.

Along with bears we've encountered bunnies, mice, shrew, deer, elk, eagles who ate our chicken and a weasel that did the same. I took some fabulous photos of the eagles as they perched in a tree waiting for more chicken buffet. I'm in awe of wildlife and it's beauty but really would prefer to keep it at a safe distance perhaps viewing it from behind the wheel of my car or sitting on a comfy bar stool.

photo credit: digitalART2 via photopin cc

Slippery Slope

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 10 Oct 2012 00:11:00 +0000

I just walked in the door from gardening and scooping up the packages the dog leaves for me and I slipped coming in the door. The porch wasn't wet. I didn't slip on a banana peel. No, I slipped on a mouse head. Lovely!

Window Shopping

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Fri, 05 Oct 2012 19:56:00 +0000

I've been doing a little window shopping. I'm loving the colour orangey red right now...

What to do with the pool balls you have lying around!

Votives

Loving Owls

Cool Mailbox

Ella Moss Dress

Love the red zipper on these Bussola Boots

Can you tell I want to dress up a little girl. So sweet!

Cool Kid Lamps

Pretty Bed

Must get Brian on this project - love these trays!

I'm wanting a long harvest table for the kitchen. Wish I had room for one this big!

Rustic Bench

Colourful

Funky Lighting

Vase Ideas

Need to check this one out for recipes.

Poutine

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Sat, 29 Sep 2012 02:50:00 +0000

I have been on the hunt for the best Poutine. That devilish yet delicious dish of french fries, topped with cheese curds and smothered in gravy. Despite my healthy diet, this is the one item I splurge on (ok there are many but this is the only one I'm focusing on today). My girlfriend who now lives in Ottawa, introduced me to poutine many years ago (over 25) as we were travelling to her place in Mt. Tremblant Quebec. Quebec is the birthplace of poutine so I was introduced to the real deal. I blame her for this post because ever since, I have needed the occasional (ok, not so occasional) fix of poutine. Click "read more" below.

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Tip of The Week

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 26 Sep 2012 12:30:00 +0000

My Tip this week is how to prevent or at least discourage impulse shopping. This has been a tough one for me. I love beautiful things and I see a lot of beautiful things that would look even more beautiful on me, in my house, on my dog, on my kids and the list goes on. Click on "read more" below.

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Tip of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 19 Sep 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Happy Wednesday and Happy Tip of the Week day! I'm going to introduce you to my favourite greeting card designer. Her name is Jacquie Lawson and if you haven't met yet, then do me a favour and go and visit her here. Click "read more" below.

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New Country Fashion

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Sat, 15 Sep 2012 12:30:00 +0000

My 'New Country' Style

I love to dress up and I love to put together outfits. I grew up with a Mum who never left the house without her hair perfect, her lipstick on and looking gorgeous in some well thought out outfit. So I come by it honestly. I don't think I do it for the same reasons or in the same way or even every day but I would never go out of the house in sweats and no makeup. Click on the "read more' below.

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Cluck, Cluck Chicken Truck

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Fri, 14 Sep 2012 19:03:00 +0000

The town I live in is debating the pros and cons of back yard chicken farming. If you've been following my blog then you know that we have chickens. I was against getting these feathery friends from the start but really they are not all that much trouble and the kids love searching for eggs. And boy, after having your own chicken eggs, you just can't go back to store bought.

At first my husband was moving the chicken tractor all over the yard so we could get nice fertilized grass on our front lawn. But on nice days he'd let the chickens out of the coop and then I'd have a fertilized front door mat and fertilized deck which I inevitably stepped in and I didn't appreciate it. I came up with a brilliant (if I do say so myself) solution and we fenced off a wild portion of our property at the back of the house and now the chickens can run about wherever they choose in their nicely contained chicken yard.

Original Cluck Cluck Chicken Truck

The only problem is that they are more susceptible to predators now that they are out of the coop more often. An eagle paid us a visit and we lost my son's beloved 'Lady Skidoo' - yes, that was her name. A weasel got 'Ginger Snap' and then we were left with 'Liquorice'. Well, we have finally replenished our stock. One chicken was just not enough....not enough eggs that is. So we went to our chicken lady, Ev and bought 3 more chickens. They are a Barred Rock breed and the one we had left was a Nera.

I posted about our fabulous chicken truck that my talented hubby made. Well that chicken truck is now too small for 4 chickens. It was made for 2 and ended up housing 3 and could probably do 4 ok but we like to give our chickens lots of space. So we, or rather my husband designed a new chicken truck.

Having learnt a few things from the first time around, these were our prerequisites:

1. 4sq ft. of space per chicken in the coop and 10 sq ft. for a run
2. It must be on wheels
3. It must have shelter over the food area. Chickens don't like their food soggy!
4. Eggs must be easy to retrieve.

It took me four hours to nail the chicken wire around the new chicken truck and a tutorial on the jig saw had me cutting out the cute little windows you see. Just another two handy skills I've picked up while living here that will look great on the resume!

The beautiful new Cluck, Cluck Chicken Truck

One of the many gorgeous eggs we get daily.

The girls' laying quarters

The girls' back yard

Tip of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Wed, 12 Sep 2012 12:30:00 +0000

Ok, it's Wednesday so here is my tip of the week. Let's talk jewelry! I go through spurts of buying and wearing jewelry. I usually use it to make my boring outfits just a little more exciting but sometimes I just can't be bothered. So there are times it gets a lot of wear and other times I don't see my jewelry for weeks. Needless to say I have a lot of jewelry, collected during my jewelry wearing (and buying) spurts. Nothing very expensive, but a lot.

My jewelry used to be thrown together in a box with sections which worked to a point but my necklaces would get tangled and I couldn't always find what I wanted and then I'd forget I had certain items. Next I tried a hanging pocket organizer. This was much better but I still found it hard to get some of my bigger necklaces into the pockets and found I never had enough pockets.

So then....I saw something online that was brilliant! It looked something like this. Gorgeous right?

Right, but also very expensive. I figured - hey I could make that. (Oh dear, my husband is rubbing off on me!) But it's never that easy and I wasn't sure about all the wood I'd need or if I could find something pre made that I could adapt for my project. I kept coming back to this photo and I particularly liked the hooks on the bottom that could hold necklaces. And then as I was innocently walking down a home furnishing isle in a local discount store, I found it. I found a mirror that was surrounded by a wire design. The wire was perfect! I could hang earrings, rings, bracelets and necklaces in an organized way. Best of all it was all in once place, I could see what I had to work with and there was even a mirror to check out the look.

It's hidden away on a side of the dresser that no one can see when they enter the room so they don't see the clutter of jewelry. I also thought about hanging it on the back of my door. I've organized it so all my necklaces are hanging below the mirror; my rings are all above; my earrings are to the right and my bracelets to the left of the mirror. It works brilliantly for me and keeps me organized!

The Country Fair

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Tue, 11 Sep 2012 02:49:00 +0000

Before I moved to this rock in the middle of the ocean, I had never been to a country fair. City amusement parks with rides galore...yes. Country fair's with more rams than rides...no! I don't see the appeal of barn animals, tractor pulls and logging demonstrations - unless the loggers provide some eye candy of course.

Which they weren't on Sunday. And it was drizzling and I was cold and we were sitting on benches that were rock hard. But whose complaining.

These events are what have drawn my boys (including the big one) and dragged me to the country fair every year for the past 4 years. It's now become a tradition. It's not fall unless we've gone to the fall fair and taken in the sites. My hubby relives his "would have liked to be a farmer" (now he just has farmer friends) day dreams and tries to get the boys just as excited. I'm just hoping the boys grow out of this desire to go to the fair and we can take a nice trip off the rock and over to the big city and they can go on real rides because of course I'd rather do that. Or maybe I can just sneak off for a little while, let them have their fun and I can ride the roller coaster of retail therapy. Sounds good to me. Retail or roller coasters which would you choose?

Country vs. City Dirt

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Sat, 08 Sep 2012 12:30:00 +0000

There is a new phenomena living around farms and forests. It's called dirt. It seeps into everything. In the city, I lived in a condo. The dirt was left in front of the elevator door and it wasn't dirt you could actually see, it was more like dirty sidewalk grime from the bottom of my high heels. I probably vacuumed like once a week....ok let's be honest, once a month.

Here in the country, the dirt creeps under my fip flop clad feet in the summer and in the winter its usually mud caked to the bottom of my oh so fashionable muck boots (named for cleaning out barn stalls). Yes, I do take my shoes off at the door but no matter how many times a day I vacuum, I still get into bed at night and find that yet again I am sweeping it of sand. I never had to do this in the city. I never had kids in the city either!

Tip of the Week

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Fri, 07 Sep 2012 13:00:00 +0000

I am giving you this tip having learned the hard way. Anyone with an iPhone and children need to read this.

I downloaded a cool little app for the kids called Tiny Monsters. Its a fun little app where you get to hatch Monster Eggs and take care of them in their respective habitats. Even I have played this one but it has the option to buy diamonds with real money and this is not just chump change (do you see where I'm going with this?). These are diamonds that cost more than wedding ring.

So, I'm around the campfire one night at a friends place and he's telling me a story about his child who has just racked up a whopping bill by buying something while playing on his iPhone. Well as soon as I get home that night I head to the computer and check my visa bill. Yup, my little angels have bought themselves enough diamonds to have their own diamond mine.

Ok, so Apple was very accommodating and refunded the money. Phew! But I have my phone set up so that any purchase needs a password before it goes through so why did this happen? Well, little did I know that this security measure does not include "in-app purchases". A totally new term for me. My phone settings have now been changed to restrict any "in-app purchases". So this is how it's done on the iPhone 4.

1. Click on Settings
2. Click on General
3. Click on Restrictions - you'll be asked to set up a code to get into your restrictions. Choose something easy that you'll remember
4. Scroll down to that new term "in-app purchases" and set it to OFF.

Ta da! Now your little angels can play till there hearts content and Mummy won't get a bill that gives her a heart attack!

Please Make Recycling Easy

noreply@blogger.com (The New Country Mum) — Thu, 06 Sep 2012 13:27:00 +0000

I try to buy very environmentally friendly products to clean my house. Sometimes, I even make my own cleaning products but lately I've been trying Method all purpose cleaners and most recently the Method Hand Wash Refill bag. I refilled all the hand soap in the house and then had the package left over. I looked to see if it was recyclable because it's has a plastic feel but all it says is "to recycle this package go to terracycle.net". So I'm in a rush and don't really want to stop and check this out but my guilty conscience (my husband's voice) gets the better of me and I plop the package down beside my computer so I remember to check out terracycle.net.
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