Growth Chart Ruler

Okay folks, 

I'm 1 for 1 and here's the first project.  I've been wanting to do this one for a while now, finally got around to it! In total this project cost under $5. Including gas... 

I live so close to a lovely bike/walking trail it seemed a shame not to take advantage of the beautiful weather we've been having. Plus, this way the babe got out for a walk too! The exchange with the employee (let's call him Dave) at Lumberworld went something like this:

Me: "I need a 1x8 x6ft of something cheap... it's for a craft, not building" (CLEARLY I know what I'm talking about here....)

Dave: "Um, okay. I'll go get that for you while you pay. Where are you parked I'll bring it out to you?"

Me: "No car, I'm walking"

Dave: "You're gonna carry it?"

Me: "No I'm gonna balance it on the stroller"

Dave: Eyebrows raise  "Okay... I'll meet you out front..."

 

I got more than a few funny looks on the way home, but the BOB stroller is amazing! I'm pretty sure there's not much it can't do and by the time I was home I was ready to get underway.

Supplies Needed:

- 1 x 8 x 6 board (I used fir, but pine would work great too. Something you can see some knots/grain gives it some good character) 

- Stain

- Rubber gloves

- Old rag

- Ruler/Measuring tape

- Sharpie

- Printer

Step 1: Antique-ify my board with some stain. I had this

Minwax in Dark Walnut kicking around from the Glassless Picture Frame project last summer and I love the colour, so it was perfect.

I just rubbed it straight in with an old rag rather than paint it on first as I didn't want it to go too dark.

 

Step 2: Once that is dry, mark off in pencil every 1/2 inch with your ruler. Then with a sharpie bold the lines. I used 1/2" & 1 1/2" lines as my ruler marks and a 2" line for each foot marking.

  

Step 3: I printed off my numbers at a 200 size font, shaded them with pencil on the back, and then pressed hard with my pencil to outline the numbers. Once I lifted the paper I could then trace the numbers in with my black sharpie. Easy Peasy and no free handing! 

***Make sure when you commit your numbers to the board you take into account how high you'll be hanging your ruler!*** (I'm hanging 8" off the ground, so my marks start accordingly)

 

Step 4:  Step back and admire your work! Now I just have to be patient until the little guy can actually stand next to it to measure him.

 

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Pin, Lose or Draw!

New phase, new title.

 As previously mentioned I was looking for a new blog title as the times have changed and I was lacking for inspiration. But lets just switch things up: enter PINSPIRATION!

As many have lately, I too have become a bit of a Pinterest junkie. It's like the ultimate dream space... Except that I pin a LOT and don't actually follow through on many of these brilliant ideas.  Now I could come up with many excuses such as:

1. Having a new baby at home (4 months... 'nuff said)
2. I'd rather dream about how amazing these projects will turn out than actually try to pull them off
3. My dear husband just went back to work after we decided that "living the dream" (thanks Government of Canada) and not working wasn't paying our bills... funny
4. It's sunny outside! Who wants to stay inside and do crafts?
5. It's raining outside! How dreary... I don't feel like doing anything...
6. and the list goes on and on

But! Let's change that attitude and get back on the "I think I can, I think I can, I think I can" train.

So I'll boldly proclaim that I will weekly (I was about to write daily, but let's be realistic here) post about a Pinterest Project and then you can decide if it's a pinterest win, lose, or draw.

Are you game? I am!

Thoughts from a "__________"

I'm changing the title of this blog. But to what? It once was "Thoughts from a Sailor" and while that was appropriate at the time I am no longer spending the majority of my time sailing the seven beautiful seas, so as the times change so too must this title.

These days I wouldn't call myself a sailor anymore,  

 but rather a mother, 

 

a wife, 

 

a yogi

 

a sister, a daughter, a friend, a regular old gal...  

I would say that, despite waking up in the middle of the night to feed a hungry baby, losing my entire adult lexicon to spend most of my day speaking babble, changing dirty diapers, this list goes on.... 

I love my life. my family. my friends. my community.

So as for the new title. Let's say it's in the works and in the meantime perhaps I will start to more consistently update my life.

A Victorian Necessity

The Bike Seat Cover!

Because this is CUTE!

And this is not!

Leather Fun Afternoon

New Wallet!!

 So. I hate my wallet. I used to hate my wallet and now I LOVE my wallet.
I have always felt some strange aversion to paying a lot of hard earned money for a wallet to hold all my hard earned money. I have a similar problem with buying purses & bags; however since they typically carry more than just my money I manage to find ways around it.

Aside from spending the money on one, wallets also never seem to have the right combination of what you are looking for. Example: they will be small enough, but not have zippered space for change; OR they will be have all the card and bill space you need but be gargantuanly huge as well. I need a wallet to fit in my pocket if it needs to, have zippered space for change (because lets be serious change sucks, but it sucks more if it's falling out everywhere every time you open up to get a bill), it needs to have quick access room for cards and a bill fold large enough for those other random bits of paper, etc than inevitably end up there.



So to fix all these problems in one I decided I would make my own and then I couldn't complain about hating my current wallet anymore.
It cost me about $7.00 to make.

• Genuine Leather (scraps in two tones!) - $5.00
• Sweet Zipper (just happened to match) $1.95
• Fun afternoon of time on the sewing machine - Free!

 7 step Tutorial to make your own:

This wallet is 5 x 8 inches opened wide with three double card slots, a zippered change pouch and bill fold.

Supplies needed:
5 x 13.5 darker leather
5 x 8 lighter leather
5 x 3 darker leather
5 x 2.5  lighter leather
5 " zipper
Dark thread
Heavy duty needle
Sewing machine

1. Cut all your pieces
2. Sew Zipper onto the "bad" side of your largest piece of dark leather.
3. Line up your 5 x 8 piece on top of your largest piece leaving the zippered edge with a 3.5" flap to fold over and create your change purse
4. Fold over outside piece and sew opposite side of zipper onto the good side of your lighter piece of leather
5. Line up your smaller pieces to create the overlapping pockets and fold over remaining edge.
6. Sew around the outside edge to hold everything together. *helpful hint Go slow when you hit the thickest parts. My sewing machine didn't love me for it, but we went slow and got through with a relatively straight stitch.
7. Cut off loose threads and Voila! You have the perfect leather wallet!

*** I've added a ivory ribbon tag into mine to personalize a bit, but you could play around however you like to have fun with it!

Finished Product!

And The Pears Just Keep Coming!

 So I leave town for about 10 days to visit family and I'm dreading the look of the patio when I get home because I know it will be covered in pears starting to over ripen, full of fruit flies, and not an altogether lovely sight. However to my surprise its not so bad. There are a few over ripe pears, a few flies, but not the festering mess I was expecting. The tree however is still FULL of ripe pears and they are getting BIG! I climbed up a picked a few with the help of my sister and now between those and they rest I hadn't processed from before I left I once again had more than I know what to do with... SO

Puffed Pear Pancake (childhood favourite!)

• Pre-heat oven to 425 F
• Fill a greased frittata pan (or glass pie plate) with enough sliced poached (or canned) pears to fully cover the bottom - we used about 6/7 I think  but they were on the smaller side
• Beat two eggs
• Add 1/2 cup all purpose flour - whisk in
• Add 1/2 cup milk - whisk in slowly
• Add 2 tbsp sugar, 1 tsp vanilla, and 1 tsp cardammom
• Pour mixture over top of pears.
• Bake for 20 minutes
• Remove from oven and flip over (by placing a plate on top, flip the pancake, then slide it back into it's dish)
• Sprinkle with sugar and cardamom and voila!

AND

Ginger Pear Marmalade

• Zest three limes and set aside
• Juice three limes and put in large bowl
• Peel, core, and thinly slice 8 cups of pears
• Coat with juice from limes
• Add 3 tbsp of minced crystallized ginger
• Add 4 cups of sugar and let sit at room temperature for 1 hour

***meanwhile prepare canning jars

• Add zest to 1 1/4 cups of water and stirring frequently let come to a boil until liquid is reduced by half
• Remove zest and add water to pears
• Stirring frequently, boil pears for approximately 15 minutes
• Add zest back in and continue boiling for another 5 minutes or until mix reaches a gel stage
• Spoon into your canning jars leaving 1/4" room at the top, add sterilized lids and rings, and place in canner for 10 minutes

Enjoy!

Saturday Scrumptious Snacks!

Peppery Pear Salsa (courtesy of my mom)

1 cup vingear
8 cups chopped pears
3 finely diced red peppers
3 finely diced green peppers
1 cup sugar
2 tbsp salt
2 tsp dry mustard powder
1 tsp tumeric
1/2 tsp allspice
1/2 tsp ground black pepper

- Bring everything to a boil and simmer for at least 5 minutes or until liquid thickens a bit.


  *Optional* I also added 2 jalapenos and 1 red onion to this recipe for a bit more of a kick and less sweet salsa 


Honey Almond Flax Granola

1 cup coconut
5 cups rolled oats
1 cup sliced almonds
1 1/2 cups almond meal
3 tbsp flax seeds
1 tbsp cinnamon
1 cup dried blueberries
1 cup dried cranberries
1 cup honey
1/2 cup vegetable oil

- Pre-heat oven to 350 F
- Mix together all dry ingredients EXCEPT the dried fruit
- Combine honey, cinnamon, oil in a saucepan and bring to just boiling.
- Coat dry ingredients with honey mixture and spread out evenly in a cookie tray (or two)
- Bake in oven for 20 minutes (or until golden brown) stirring halfway
- Cool and add in dried fruit


Enjoy some Scrumptious Saturday Snacks!

Loves,
Sarah

So I Have a VERY Productive Pear Tree... Now What?

Now what you ask?

Jam! Jelly! Pearsauce! Oh My!

So much thanks to my mother who canned all sorts of goodies when I was younger and a bit of how to/follow the pictures help from Pick Your Own and I was all set to make up some lovely pear jam this evening. Unfortunately or fortunately depending on how you look at this batch of 14 jars didn't even put a dent in the massive amount of pears I still need to process (and there is still more on the tree!) But the Jam is ultra tasty and we'll be enjoying it all year long! 

Final Product. Yummy!!

Summer Bounty

 Summer Bounty.... wonderful!

I love fresh flowers, and they are the most satisfying when you've picked them right from your own garden (or perhaps stolen some from the neighbour across the street... ssh don't tell)

DIY Glassless Photo Frame

Cute as a Button Creations

Okay, fresh start. More than two years since I've last posted but since I've been hooked into some "Pinteresting" things lately I thought I'd share some of my craftiness this summer.

Latest and Greatest: DIY Glassless Photo Frame

Supplies:
- Old Picture Frame (or window could be cool) - without the glass
- 10-15 wooden clothespins
- Jute Twine
- Sandpaper
- Staple gun
- Stain/Paint
- Paint Brush
- Old Rag
- Wood Glue (for repair of frame if required)

Start with ugly old broken frame...

Exhibit A

Fix up as required. This one need some serious corner attention as you can see. Follow with a light sanding and then paint or stain your favourite colour. I choose a nice dark walnut stain that managed to cover the original dirty dusty rose with a few coats. Since I had the stain out anyways I also did a quick coat on my clothespins so they wouldn't look so new. If you have nice old ones that a bit used that would be ideal!

Once your frame is good and dry (best to let it dry overnight so you're not dealing with any sticky paint or stain) you can staple on your jute twine (or hemp, or heavy yarn could work too) At the spacing you require for your photos. And Voila! A unique way to display your pictures and a reason to get some prints too and not just leave them stuck in an album on your computer that no one ever gets to see anyways....

Enjoy!

That's all she wrote...

Well, 30 day challenge is done now, and I officially had my last yoga class for the season yesterday. It was a great one, great temperature and great atmosphere. I will miss it that's for sure, but excited for the warmer weather to come and getting some runs in outside in the sunshine on my weekends.

Sailing season has officially started. First trip was crazy, a little of everything. Snow, rain, cold, wind, calm, sunshine, etc. Not to mention 30 kids plus 3 fantastic volunteers that add the the beautiful chaos onboard. So great to be out on the water again and filling the boats with life and laughter.

Life is starting to norm out a bit now as well. I had a few goals over the winter: reno my basement (check!), 30 day challenge (check!) and finish my 150T Masters ticket (check!!) The ticket was huge for me, and I'm so glad that I managed to finish it before I started sailing again. It is a huge weight off my shoulders and now I can live freely again for a while. Although after such a goal orientated winter it's a little strange to be in place with no specific goals in mind yet.

We'll have to see what comes my way I guess.

30 Day Challenge: Complete!

30 classes in 30 days....I did it!

Wow! Feels amazing to be done and tonight's class was a great one. It feels a little anti-climatic to be done. I thought I would feel this great sense of accomplishment at having finished...Yes it does feel good to know that  I completed the 30 days, but it's not like now that I've finished the challenge I'm just going to stop. How could I stop doing something that feels so good and has been so good for me?

Here are a few things that I've learned in the past month:
1/ In regards to water - be aware of when you are drinking and why you are drinking, if you come to class hydrated you probably don't need it, but it's definitely nice to have it when you do need it. No point in suffering!

2/ It's not all about flexibility - although I was aware of this before, it was something I came to understand more and more throughout the challenge. It doesn't matter how much you look like Gumby, but it does matter that you try to 100% of your ability and try it the right way.
3/ As my teachers have drilled it into me now: Intensity and Frequency = Results
4/ Your body is different from one day to the next, so expect your classes to be too.
5/ Everything outside the room affects what goes on inside the room - This one really surprised me. I understood the relationship between what I ate (fresh fruit and veggies vs. coffee and cookies...for example) and my classes, but I was really shocked at how much my mental/emotional state and stress levels affected my classes. It was a really interested experiment in a way because the yoga was always a constant; the same thing every day as a way to view how different aspects of my life affected me.
6/ It's all about the breath - believe it or not, breathing and relaxing through postures will help increase your depth and strength.
7/ Make sure you have fun - if it's not enjoyable, you're not going to want to do it. I love yoga! It's never really been a challenge wanting to go to class, sometimes finding the time is an issue, but I love going and pretty much always feel amazing when class is over.

So those are a few of the things that I've learned. There is so much more that I  learned along the way and a TON of corrections for each of the individual postures. I know I've come a long way in my practice and am sad that it will be over as of March 14 until November. I will be heading out sailing 5 (or more) days a week as of the 15th so I have to let my membership expire. I'll be back though!

To everyone on the 101 Day Challenge: Keep on plugging away, it'll be freakin' fantastic when you're done!

Quotes of the Challenge:

"Don't change the posture, just change your mind....it's easy" - Owl

"Motion is the lotion for your joints" - David

"Do it for Chuck!" - Peter

"It could be worse,  you could be in Acapulco." - David

"Don't give up on yourself" - Ida

"Did you touch your forehead? Okay, we'll wait for you, then we'll have a 'Sarah touched her toes to  her forehead party!" - Eric

p.s. for the record...I haven't managed to touch my forehead to my toes yet, I'm so close! Still working on it though!

Second to Last

Only one more class to go now. I'm kinda of sad that this is almost over...
Today's class was really good. Everyone was in a fantastic mood after Canada won the gold and we practiced to the yells, screaming, and honking of the celebratory world outside.

Still feeling the back and leg, but was able to relax in class and just enjoy it for what it was today. The room was a great temperature too. Hot enough to sweat, but cool enough to keep my sanity! Thoroughly enjoyable, and definitely looking forward to the last hurrah tomorrow night!

Double Day #2

So as I said previously, I had to skip Thursday and Friday's classes which meant that today was a double class day. I'm going to back track a bit here, and briefly talk about the two days that I missed.

I was surprised at how much I missed doing the yoga! The first day off it just felt like something was missing out of my day, and the second day I started experiencing quite a bit of stiffness in my back (lumbar area) which has turned into quite a bit of pain actually.  I also felt a lot more lethargic and tired and overall low on energy; work seemed to drag on a bit and the days there seemed long. It's quite astounding actually the differences I noticed in only two days.

So back to class this morning at 0930. I was feeling pretty tired and stiff. I don't normally do morning classes. I walked in and learned that Ida was teaching which helped me make up my mind to just go in there and do it. She is an amazing teacher, I always learn something new in her classes. It's amazing how a seemingly minor adjustment can change a whole pose. She is quite an inspirational teacher and is somehow able to instruct and motivate at the same time with a strict but caring demeanor and an eye for every detail...

I like to be able to push myself a lot in class and found this morning's class frustrating with the pain in my back. I wasn't able to do the sit-ups at all because of a sharp pain in my back when I attempted them so I had to start rolling from side to side to sit up. It just felt defeating to not be able to do something that I've always been able to do. It was nice to be back in the hot room again though and I was hoping that it would help to relax out the tension in my back so my second class would go better.

No such luck...In fact this evening's class was worse on the pain scale and also a strain that I've been feeling in my inner thigh was exaggerated as well. It was an odd class because while I was still able to push myself into the depths that felt like they were working through the muscles and joints, during the transitions between postures I was really struggling. Another weird thing: despite the pain in my back during my daily life and in the transitions, I felt no pain in the postures, not even in the spine strengthening series where I assumed I would experience quite a bit! Strange...

2 classes left now. I hope that this back issue sorts its self out tonight. It would really stink to spend my last two classes of this challenge in pain...

26 of 30

26th Class in a row.  And now unfortunately I have to take the next two days off... So you're thinking I'm cheating, but it's in the "rules" you can miss two days and make them up by doing a double on another day. I know that is not the point. You should be finding time in your everyday life to fit in the yoga, but sometimes things come up.

So I already, in anticipation of tomorrow, did a double earlier this month and I will have to do a double this weekend to make up for my missed class of Friday. It is unfortunate that these two days fall back to back, but I guess that is how the dice fall sometimes. Thursday is the S.A.L.T.S. AGM and Offshore Documentary Premier and Friday I'll be cooking for Street Cafe down at the Mustard Seed and there is no possible way I can make it do any other class that day. The closest would be the 6am class, but I still wouldn't make it to work on time. Drats!

Tonight's class I really tried to focus on the relaxation aspect of yoga. It's easy to get caught up in the deeper, harder, stronger, better, more! more! more! and to forget about the "meditation" side of things. I really tried to keep my mind clear and focused on what I was doing and, while pushing myself in postures, to concentrate on keeping my breath even and my mind witnessing what was going on in each posture. It was a great class and it was a good challenge to try and increase my awareness of everything that was going on in my body and not just what the posture looked like in the mirror. 

On a separate note. After having done a number of classes with no water, I thought that to be fair I should try a few classes drinking more often that I normally did just to see. So yesterday and tonight were the starting test of that "theory." Honestly, I'm not sure what I think. When I'm having a great class, water doesn't really matter, when I'm having a "crappy" class then water seems like it matters a lot, but really it's not helping me that much it's just my mind trying to distract itself from the uncomfortableness of the situation. I will say though that I do really appreciate having my water there to take small sips from as my mouth gets dry or chalky tasting...it doesn't always happen, but when it does it's hard to distract my mind from that parched feeling inside my mouth. So I've done it all, water in the room and not drinking it, no water in the room period, drinking more often, drinking less often and I think my opinion is that it is nice to have the water in the room for those moments that a small sip will allow you move more fluidly through class, but best not to focus on the water and do NOT drink, under ANY circumstances during the spine strengthening series. I've never done it because I can't fathom that nasty feeling you'd get in your stomach as it presses into the floor during all those postures, bleh!

25 down and 5 to go

Well only five classes left... I'm not sure what I'm going to do when all this is over? I need to celebrate! I'll take a day off, but then I'll probably go into withdrawal...

Both yesterday and tonight's classes were great. Back on track with energy levels and still feeling good about being in class. I'm soooooo close to touching my forehead to my toes, just a couple centimeter's away... I even stayed extra after class tonight to try again, to no avail, but I KNOW that SOMEWHERE between my feet and my head I can find the extra half inch that I need. I WILL do it before this challenge is over!

In general I'm really starting to see and feel the connections between the breath and postures to a greater degree. If you can control your breathing, you can control your posture; filling your lungs and then stretching on the exhale, it feels amazing to go that extra little bit that the release of your breath allows.

One posture that this has been really evident in lately is Rabbit Pose. This posture seemed so weird to me at first... I used to feel a lot of pressure in my neck/cervical spine when I started doing this pose, but now I can really feel it in the rest of my back as I exhale and push my hips more up and round out my spine more and more. It took me a while to "get" this pose, but now I look forward to it as a release after doing Camel (which is one of the deepest backward bends in the series). It also happens to fall very close to the end of the entire series so it's a mark of being close to the finish as well.

My marks have changed as my practice has, but there are always some postures you use to mark different parts of the series as you go and you look forward to one, and then challenge yourself more as you work through a posture that is more difficult. Each class is different though, so you just have to remember to breath through everything and acknowledge each class for what it is that day.

One Week Left

Well. Here we are. 23 down and 7 to go.

4 days ago I would've said that it felt like this challenge was rushing by, but the last few classes have made it seem like I have a long way to go yet. Today's class was a bit of a turnaround though. Mentally, it felt a lot better than the last couple and physically I was going strong until the last two or three poses. This is a vast improvement on the past couple of days, although still not back to where I want to be again.

It has been really interesting to watch the progression of each class in the challenge thus far and how different things outside of the hot room affect my class. Some classes have whizzed by so fast I felt like I was barely in the room at all, and others have dragged on forever. I wish I enjoyed the classes that dragged on forever more than the the ones that pass quickly, but that is not the case.

When classes get difficult, or hot, or you are tired you have to focus on the posture and the correctness of your form. It can be the hardest thing to do though. You just want to think about how hot or uncomfortable you are, how you wish it was over, or the fans were on, or the door was opened for a few seconds... One of the instructors said once "Don't change the posture, just change your mind. It's easy."

Yeah...right...

But if it's all about intent and intensity, then I guess you don't have to master the mental challenges right away just as you wouldn't expect to master the physical ones.

Class 22

Eight classes to go.
I've felt really weak and tired in the last couple classes so hopefully there is a turn around here in the next few.
Oh, and my computer is in the shop....so if you don't hear from me, that's why.

Two Thirds + 1

I can't believe I missed blogging yesterday! It was such a landmark class in the grand scheme of thirty days! Alas...

My reflection on today is about differences.

It is amazing how different one day and one class can be from another. Yesterday's class number twenty was an amazing class. It felt fantastic and really focused and intense. Beautiful yoga.

Today my class was one of the harder ones I have ever had. I felt nauseous, weak, and tired and it was all I could to go from one pose to the next. After Stick Pose, which is the 5th out of 26, I pretty much wanted to just give up and not do anything... I did managed to push myself through all the poses, but it was probably the most mentally challenging classes I have ever had.

I know why the difference was, and it is an eye-opener to see how everything in your day affects everything else. Diet for example: Yesterday I ate really healthily, lots of fresh fruit and vegetables at every meal and tons of water. Today there was lots of water too, but I had a grilled sandwich for lunch, a sugary mocha, a giant cookie... it was "Bean Friday," it's tradition! Also, mood. Yesterday was fun and less stressful and I was in great relaxed mood when I got to class. Today was fun and productive, but I was in a bad mood by the end of the day and in a rush to get to class and it made a difference.

So. Lesson learned. Eat well.

Live. Laugh. Love. Yoga.

19. When Chuck Norris does yoga...

Please complete the sentence...

I honestly didn't ever think that the two would go together, but my teacher tonight thought that one of the students had a resemblance to this reknowned roundhouse kicker and proved me wrong managing to bring "Chuck Norris" into our practice a least 5 times that I can recall. (Only one thing wrong. In the reference to his mother telling him to go outside and dig a hole, and then Chuck Norris digs a hole to China and comes back three weeks later with a black belt in Tae-Kwon Do: Tae-Kwon Do is Korean not Chinese....)

Aside from all things Chuck Norris.... Class 19 was a great one. I really feel like I'm getting into my groove again. It's amazing how much doing the yoga revitalizes me. Coming into the room is immediately calming. About ten minutes before I left my house to come to class tonight I was curled up in bed hiding under the covers, exhausted from a physical day at work, and feeling like maybe I should just take a break tonight and pull a double on the weekend... But I managed to get myself out the door and as soon as I got into the room it just felt right. It's so great to be able to do something, even at the end of a long day, that energizes and relaxes me all at the same time.

I knew it would be a good class as soon as I hit the first backward bend. I just had this great release of all my tension and nothing matter but breathing and working through each posture as they came. I love classes like that!

I'm also sold on the "no water" theory. Tonight was three classes in a row and the new challenge was to not even bring my water bottle in the room. Previously I had always had it in the room, you know, "just in case." It just felt safer that way somehow, but it was unnecessary and I'm enjoying the challenge and focus of a practice without it.