Random Notes to Make Up a Post (sort of)

We’re in to that almost-fall part of summer, where you almost want time to stand still, but not quite, because fall is just so delicious. We’re big failures on the camera-toting front, so very few pictures to be had, but, a few wonderful things of late:

*Running in to friends at the farmer’s market early on Saturday morning, and then, spur of the moment, spending the entire day with them. Babies napped in cosy beds in the absolutely stunning cottage. Multiple trips down to the water to swim and play on the dock. Naked kiddos just doing their thing. Many eyes to watch children, so that mamas could swim, alone, out in the deep coolness of the lake. Good, market food shared in the sunshine. Peas fresh from the garden. Ice cream on the beautiful drive home, and the discovery of an absolute treasure of a place that promises ski and snowshoeing trails and home-cooked meals afterwards in front of a fire with friends.

Maren likes to dress herself these days, "a skirt an' a dress" being the preferred outfit

*Buying practically nothing from the grocery store. Seriously. We spend about 30$ a week on things like soap and olive oil and salt, and other random, not available at the market things. We have a CSA that we pick up on Thursday nights, typically by riding our bikes and towing the kids in the trailers and then huffing and puffing back up the hill, children nearly suffocated by local, fresh, organic eggs, veggies, berries, mushrooms, bread, and sometimes even chicken.

*My early morning solo trips to the farmers market in Kingston on Saturdays. I load up the kids, and off we go, a little drive, a ferry ride, another short drive, and then we trade in our empty mason jars for fresh ones full of raw, whole milk. We trade empty egg cartons for ones full of free range eggs. We scoop up extra blueberries, purple potatoes, and anything else that strikes our fancy. We buy bacon for Maren’s daily breakfasts with Papa while Mama and Nate sleep/nurse until the last possible second. Maren and I share two muffins. She gets strawberry-rhubarb, I get “morning glory”, and Nate sucks on the lid of the bottle of squeezed-before-our-eyes orange juice. Maren runs around. We chat with the farmer who supplies our dairy and meat. There’s usually live music and a bunch of also-running-around little people. And I feel incredibly blessed to have access to such real, whole food, to have the money to buy it, and to be able to expose my children to the magic of the whole experience.

*Swimming. I did some research and found out that if I swim between 6 and 11 am on weekdays, I can pay a relatively small amount of money to have a membership at the (only!) pool in the city, which just happens to be a 6 minute walk from our front door. I am NOT a morning person, however, I’ve been feeling really crummy about my body post birthing of this large babe. I walk a lot, carry Nate and/or Maren in a sling, bike a decent amount and do the occasional yoga session with Maren, but I knew I would feel a lot better about (and in) my body if I could get some sort of regular, just for me, exercise. So, now when Nate wakes me at 5h30 or 6 to nurse, I feed him and get him back to sleep (well, the sleep part doesn’t always happen!), and then I sneak out in to the hall and pull on my swimsuit and walk out the door. And then I swim. And then I get home, showered, dressed, and feeling like I’ve accomplished something. All before 8am. It’s a good feeling.

*Nate is crawling, pulling up on everything, and loves to walk holding our hands. He’s insanely mobile, but it’s fun. My guess is he’ll be walking by 10 months. He’s got four teeth, two more on the way, and a definite personality. He’s lovely.

 

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