tamarack's trails

the end

2011-09-14T12:09:00.002-04:00

Well friends. It's been fun. I do love this site, and all the many forms it has had over the years. It has served it's purpose wonderfully. As you well know, there have not been any posts in quite some time. Life has taken me to places other that musing on baby diapers, and garden work. Being a person who likes completion and closure, I have to officially say goodbye to Tamarack's Trails.

Happy Canada Day!

2010-07-01T09:05:00.000-04:00

Did you know that July 1,1867 Canada became a country. That Canada has the longest coastline of any country. That Canada has 10% of the world's forests. That 8.4 % of Canadians suffer from asthma. That there are 292 species of butterflies in Canada. That Dan Akroyd, Richard Dean Anderson, Kim Cattrall, Alexander Graham Bell, and Joni Mitchell are Canadians. That there are more donut shops

hello cupcake!

2010-06-16T14:53:00.001-04:00

Talya got inspired last weekend by a trip to the bookstore, and a browse through the cake section. There are a plethora of books on cake decorating, and even more with beautifully displayed and photographed sugary masterpieces. She found one called Hello Cupcake, and we brought it home, along with some desire to get creative. After a bit of study of the book, a trip to the grocery, some

summertime

2010-06-14T14:55:00.000-04:00

Oh dear readers I neglect you. And I am loathe to say the neglect may get worse. Summertime is on it's way and little Cedar has finished his preschool year. This means I am back to being morning noon and night mama. No more free mornings to spend in front of the computer. I love this blog, I love to write, and I will do my utmost to keep up with it, but in some ways I think I must let go of

an illusion

2010-06-07T15:53:00.000-04:00

The squares marked A and B are the same shade of gray. Do you agree? Could your perception possibly be wrong? Check out this website for Proof and Explanation of the above statement.

obsessed with grass

2010-05-24T10:22:00.000-04:00

When I was a kid, my father considered my brother and I manual labor he did not have to pay. This meant that he had us raking leaves in the fall, shovelling snow all winter, washing the cars in spring, and every summer spending our saturdays mowing the lawn. Lucky for me, my brother is older than me, and well, a boy. This meant that throughout the high school years, when I was in middle school,

Earth Day, one mama's way

2010-04-22T10:13:00.000-04:00

You'll have to click on over to the blog at Mama Goose for today's post. I was invited to write a guest post by Meryl of the Goose regarding Earth Day and how it relates to my job as a parent. Turned out pretty good I'd say. So have a read, and then get outside with your kiddos on this lovely day and celebrate our Earth.

alone in the woods

2010-04-21T13:47:00.008-04:00

Last week I returned from four and a half days backpacking in Pennsylvania. Being in the woods this long not so much a feat in and of itself. The amazing fact is that I was there for that length of time alone, by myself, without my children. If you know me at all, you know that I have spent a little time hiking in the woods. I have been on a trail or two. What I have discovered is that it keeps

pinks and blues

2010-04-01T11:54:00.001-04:00

When did childhood become so cut and dry, so blue and pink, so stereotyped? Cedar wants a rocketship for his upcoming birthday. Being the eager to please mother that I am, I figured this would be an easy enough task to accomplish. So, I recently went to a big box store, whose name I will not mention (but their marketing campaigns sure hit the bullseye), to seek out this rocket gift. It's

HR 4870- for healthy kids

2010-03-30T10:39:00.003-04:00

If you send your kids to school, there are a myriad of ways out of your control in which they can be influenced. There are bullies, unjust teachers, overbearing institutional rules, shrinking school budgets, and kids who's family values are very far from your own family values, to name a few. These issues are huge and require as much parental involvement as possible to mitigate. They also get

on becoming a green parent

2010-03-24T09:30:00.002-04:00

I have always been a "green" person. A hippie. An environmentalist. A tree hugger and animal lover. I have hiked long trails, for months. I had a biodiesal car for a while. I worked on a vegan animal rescue farm. I do not eat animals. It is a part of who I am to learn about the earth, live sustainably, and encourage others to move in an eco-friendly direction. After all, if we ruin the one

a spring reminder

2010-03-22T15:21:00.000-04:00

With the official start of spring under our belts, my attention is slowly turning again to the yard and garden. As I tromped through the gardens last week clipping dead branches and surveying the scene to assess the winter damage, I had a wonderful early spring reminder of summer. It's been very warm and sunny here lately and things are thawing out a bit. I noticed the small patch of earth

without a chip to crunch

2010-03-16T11:53:00.002-04:00

Being a devoted reader of my blog, you might think I am some sort of food purist. This however, is not so. I do have my standards, but some are easily bent. One place the rules are challenged is when it come to chips. I, like all of us good Americans, like a tangy, spicy, zingy, flavorful chip to crunch. While I do not go for the brands oft advertised on network TV that I admit I look down

No Freedom of Speech

2010-03-11T11:48:00.002-05:00

We Americans think we are free. And in many senses we are. There are so many privileges and rights that we enjoy as citizens of this country that people in other places around the globe are struggling to create for themselves. So many men and women have fought and died in battles to ensure my right to speak my mind, and yet, selfishly, I rarely if ever think of my freedoms. Many I just take

this moment

2010-03-08T18:29:00.003-05:00

I am sitting on my porch in the sun, with the computer on my lap. It is warm enough to sit outside without gloves or all the excessive clothing that winter necessitates. I can hear the snow dripping and melting and creaking under the pressure of warmth. The occasional nearby chickadee chirp or crow caw pierces the gentleness. My dog is snoring over on her bed, her feet twitching as she chases

see Spot run

2010-03-05T15:03:00.003-05:00

I'm walking the dog. The hound. We're moving slowly through the limited maze of snow trails that have been formed by the incessant march of humans and dogs walking across the field these last wintry weeks. The wind rises up and dies back, allowing the the sharp crunch of the snow to be heard periodically. The sun is out and I am grateful. At moments I can even take my fleece hat off and let the

sacred and scarce

2010-03-02T20:50:00.007-05:00

The long winter. The swine flu. Rob's broken rib and sprained ankle. Poor co-parenting relations. Sick kids. Nothing new. Unending demands from the 3 year old. Tiredness of life has set in. It's about this time of year that autumn is unable to be conjured into memory, winter feels old and worn out, spring is a marathon away, and thoughts of summer bring on bouts of the Mission:Impossible theme.

Big Red and a little gold

2010-03-01T10:59:00.001-05:00

You can't say silver is bad, sad though it may be that both men and women Team USA hockey lost to Canada in Olympic playoffs this week. None of those Americans will be returning from Vancouver with a gold medallion in their pockets. Our teams fought valiantly for the top spot, but that intense maple leaf pride gave our northern neighbors just enough edge to pull off the win. On the other hand,

pigs might fly

2010-02-28T08:00:00.002-05:00

Moving through my third weekend of being sick, I have to wonder if I didn't give enough credence to all the hype about the swine flu last fall. You remember, it was all over the news. Everywhere you turned people were responding to the scary yet unseen threat of a new flu strain with the unfortunate fate to be named after a piggy relation. Folks were stocking up on toilet paper and energy bars

a doughnut hole each morning

2010-02-25T11:20:00.003-05:00

I have been sick in bed for almost two weeks, and let me say, it has not been a fun time. I do believe it is the flu, and it has been a long recovery. As I have spent all this time in bed, trying to get well, life has gone on in our little family. Rob has been in charge and has been taking care of it all swimmingly. He has been supplying me with plentiful meals and drinks. He has been keeping

Number One in the spotlight

2010-02-19T11:45:00.000-05:00

Here's how the story goes... For Christmas I was given a subscription to Writer's Digest from my father. He seems to have this endless belief that I can write well, and, as father's do, he has been trying to encourage my habit. It's a fairly inspiring magazine with articles on all sorts of topics pertaining to, you guessed it, writing. I happened upon a page that advertised the Writer's Digest

a hockey convert

2010-02-12T15:31:00.001-05:00

If there is one thing that Rob has brought to my life that I was utterly clueless about before I knew him (besides stepparenting that is!) it is HOCKEY. He adores all hockey, but has an affection for women's hockey in particular. This could be because he is a sensitive guy who prefers the gentler rules and outlawed roughing of the women's sport on the ice, or that he has a little girl who he

a predictable turn

2010-02-09T12:12:00.000-05:00

I've been wondering what to write lately because life has taken a pretty predictable turn around our house. Rob goes to work, that is, when he is not injured with a sprained ankle, broken rib, stomach flu, or massive head cold. We have discovered that delightful youthful attribute that many pre-teens and teens possess, the refusal to go outside with a hat, gloves, and warm coat in sub zero

just a game

2010-02-03T09:28:00.000-05:00

Hockey season is of course in full swing, and has been for some time. The ice situation is rather compelling really, and we have been fully engrossed in keeping the ice ready at all times for hockey action. Some ice experts arrive late in the night with their gear to manage the ice layers and prepare for the next day's games.There are several goalies to choose from for our team, some who can

Parents for a Peaceful Planet

2010-01-05T08:44:00.000-05:00

I'm into the online social network thing. There are a few I frequent, one for Ithacans, one for stepmoms, and facebook of course, but as I searched around the web I could not find a site that catered to eco aware people. People who want to promote natural living, or parenting their children in a nature based and worldy way. I presume I simply missed it. With all the millions of people on this