luxuries

Maetia and Grandma

Maetia, Grandma and Grandpa

Michael and Drake at low tide

The three of us

Maetia helping us snap beans

We have been very blessed this summer to have a few of life's little luxuries come our way. The first was buying another car. Another Toyota Corolla, one that will pass inspection and cost less to maintain. Not only does this car have automatic windows but it actually has windows that open and close without great stress on the wrist and brain!! The door handles are all attached and they open and close. Finally, when we use the key on all the doors, it actually unlocks them instead of only sometimes, leaving you in a parking lot with a baby and groceries and no way to get into your car. Another luxury was getting a clothesline. We have been hanging our clothes up inside our house for 2 years and at times using the little inefficient dryer. Now we dry our clothes quickly and easily with the ocean breeze. Our best luxury this summer involved having our parents come all the way from British Columbia. We would both get home from a hard day's work and supper would be ready, there would be cookies and/or muffins made (still warm), Maetia was happy, and all our outside jobs (fixing, painting, landscaping) were all done. We loved having you both here so much and wish that you could come back!! Maetia still asks where is gggma and gggrrpapapa. We also loved to have John, Anne, Tristan, Ella, Nathan and Anne with us for a week. We had such a fun family vacation!
Michael's work continues to be busy and go well. He is enjoying learning this trade and we hope he will be able to use it for our home in the not so distant future. Our farm has continued to grow and keep us busy this summer. I ended up having 28 CSA members which was way more than I planned on. We have been able to feed this many families from less than one acre of land!! With this type of farming it is hard to believe that there is widespread hunger within our own towns and cities. Our land continues to give us more than we need and we are trying to put away things with freezing and canning. We have begun the process of subdividing our land from my father's land and getting it ready for a home. We were hoping for this winter but it might be next fall instead. We love where we live right now and are not anxious to move again, only to be closer to the land we are working and trying to understand. I have been finding I am busier than I hoped to be. I have Maetia with my mum or at my sister's daycare 3 days a week. Then I am busy on Saturday morning with the market. I hope with more organization and planning, next year I will be home with her more. She is growing and changing so much all the time. She copies everything we say and do. She talks and babbles all the time and we can usually understand what she wants by her talk and signing. She is finally walking which has seemed to increase her appetite and help her stomach move food along better. Her acid reflux is still there but seems better in an upright position. I am going to add photos to this post and then post 2 or 3 more to get all the photos on that we want to share. We are hoping that with fall approaching and the CSA winding down we are going to be able to go fall camping, biking and hiking; and spend some time together as a family before it gets too cold.