I guess it's been awhile

I moved, and things have been crazy hectic since then.

B is at a new daycare and loving it.

We're moving again in Feb, back to East Van.

Still in school, courses seem a little repetitive.

My family is planning a Peru trip for October.

There are 14 of us going.

B and I might stay an extra 2 weeks and go to Ecuador as well.

I'm taking summer courses this year and taking the fall semester off.

It should be fun...

I hope.

I have yet to make it the winter farmer's market (we're an hour and a half away on transit..sorry I'm really not that committed). I plan on learning to drive eventually, probably..

No Impact Man

via other bloggers I have stumbled upon No Impact Man.

I haven't gotten through even 3 months of his 1 year mission but I am incredibly impressed.

I'm very critical of "green" and "sustainable" (I find a lot of times these are just pretty words people throw around) and have not yet been disappointed.

I have recently done a complete switch in terms of food purchases,

I used to go to the super market 3-4x a week to purchase food and consequently had to compost a lot more than I should have.

I'm now buying ALL produce at the farmer's market and limit grocery store purchases to flour, beans, and milk.

As a leaving present from the farm I spent some time working at I was given a lovely organic cotton, fair wage shopping bag.

GOODBYE crappy 35% post consumer, sort of plastic, made in China bags.

I've enlisted in Crunchy Chicken's August BUY NOTHING Challenge.

with the exception of daily coffees it shouldn't be too hard (B and I spend far too much time at the coffee shop anyways...we walk by and she BEGS to go in...)

I'm a student, a single mother, and a summer worker who doesn't get paid much.

I don't have much extra anyways.

but back to the point.

No Impact Man, I look forward to your movie.

Trout Lake Farmers market weekly adventure: eggplant (B is not excited about this, and asked me to put it back..she's 2), Kale, swiss chard, peaches, blackberries,blueberries, apple chips, 2 purple peppers, little qualicum cheeseworks cheese, potatoes, and 1 lb of organic/grass fed beef for B, and from the farm: mixed greens, green peas, and ...more swiss chard.

Discipline books

I'm on a 52 books in 52 weeks challenge. Week 1: The master and the margarita.

I've also just purchased a couple of "gentle discipline" books so hopefully I'll get those soon. We're in what I'm hoping is the middle of temper tantrum-ness. Yes I just made up a word. I'm really at a loss about what to do most of the time in re: to tantrums. I've found what doesn't work is trying to hug her (OW!), but sometimes singing rock a bye baby does calm her. I found the Baby Book by Sears really helpful so I just ordered the discipline book. I'm quite skeptical about "gentle" discipline but don't believe in spanking..and so to say the least I am completely confused.

I'm trying to see the tantrums in a positive light, she is learning independance and makes it quite clear to me that she knows what she wants. B is also learning that she doesn't get what she wants all the time (also a good thing). But it's hard to watch her get so upset.

I know she's probably stressed out about switching daycares, and her dad being away for a bit.

I need to figure out how to let her express her emotions without hurting herself/me or causing too big of a scene when we're out (although the scene isn't really what I care about..it's her not hurting herself when she's wailing on the floor).

Tips? Thoughts? Book recommendations?

Mindless consumption of "reusable" bags

Most stores you go into now offer reusable bags.

Almost everyone I know now forgoes plastic or paper bags in favor of "reusable" bags.

Okay..fantastic.

Sort of.

What I'm finding is that people have massive piles of reusable bags though...

and instead of reusing them they are buying more and more of them (they are so cheap after all).

My mother would be the perfect example. She has reusable bags from just about every store, and so I get passed down RB on an almost weekly basis.

But these bags aren't cloth. They don't seem to be cotton or any other natural material.

I accidently put one through the dryer a couple of weeks ago and ended up with a lot of hard black stuff stuck to the inside of the dryer.

I don't know where these bags are being made, who is making them or out of what materials.

The only thing I seem to know about them is that everyone has at LEAST 3.

So yes fair enough, they're not plastic.

But that doesn't make them the best choice.

Unless you only have one or two...and they don't break on you...or melt...

and are made using sustainable production practices.

It's really just an easy way for big corporations to make themselves look good.

Ask them to sell organic cotton, fair labour bags.

Trout Lake Farmer's market

I work most saturdays so we hadn't made it to the farmer's market at Trout Lake until today. I brought B in her wagon with the cover on, and she quietly sat and read and ate on the way to the market (20 min walk). We picked up some apple chips, beans, cherries, zucchini, and peas. I left work yesterday with a ton of salad mix and kale...so I think we're good until mid week.

Some day I'll be able to afford a CSA... some day.

First Farmer's market

Our first market went so well yesterday!

There were tons of people and all the produce sold out.

I am completely exhausted.

B is down for a nap right now, and I should be too.

We had pita pizzas for snack (soooo good! roast veggies, whole wheat organic pitas, organic tomato sauce and nutritional yeast).

I get really frustrated with the whole organic thing, so I may just stop saying it and from now on you can just assume that everything is made using organic ingredients.

I haven't taken any pictures lately, but will soon.

Probably.

SUMMER TIME!!

It's been awhile since I've posted.

I'm working on a farm for the summer and it's been pretty incredible.

We harvested some strawberries for the market today:

so I brought some home, I can't explain how great it is to have fresh eggs and produce to purchase at work...from a farm 5 miles from my house...that I harvested myself!