Creating a Fairy Garden

You might remember that one of the things I wanted to do this year was to build a fairy garden with the kids. We finished ours this past weekend and had a lot of fun doing it.  Over the past couple of months I got some inspiration on Pinterest and then set about our own version.

We got four wine boxes at our local LCBO. With a donation to their charity you can pick them up at any of the stores. We stacked them in a staggered fashion and drilled a couple of drainage holes. I wanted to add some gravel for additional drainage, but didn't have any on hand, so I just filled the boxes with soil. The top one buckled for some reason, but I think it's still fine.

At the garden store I chose a variety of smaller plants, some of them are ground covers, others are larger. I have no idea what they are, but I liked the colours, shapes of leaves and looked at the sun/shade requirements. I planted them with enough space to add our fairies and in a way that allows them to grow and drape down the side of the boxes.

We found our princess castle (now butterfly fairy castle) at Michaels as well as the horse, fairy and tiny flower pots.  Once the castle was placed I covered the different surfaces with sand, broken shells, left-over fish tank pebbles, glass pebbles and moss. I made sure to cover the soil as best I could.

We added a 'pond' with a pot I had made last year and D added his little fishing boy and dog. M decorated the castle with butterfly stickers, which is why we didn't paint it. We also have a PEZ Tinkerbell, a treasure chest, a princess bride and some pink miniature doll with purple hair - sometimes a helicopter brings in new inhabitants and often the dog goes for a swim.

I might attempt to build a small fence for part of the garden, but for now we're set. Have you ever built a fairy garden?

Step back to 1860

We visited Upper Canada Village and had a blast. This is the second time we've visited and both times we saw a few different things. Upper Canada Village is set in the 1860s with buildings built according to that time and people in costume, horse drawn wagons and a lot of British Flags.

You'll find a blacksmith, a flour and saw mill powered by water, a store, hotel, church, dress maker store, doctor's house and many more buildings. The kids love wandering around and seeing the different houses, the horses and just the whole feel of it being a little different.

I enjoy the little details, the quiet of no cars or other motors and the family walk we get out of it. It's a lovely place to visit and only an hour away from Ottawa. The weather was hot and sunny so we were glad the restaurant does not abide by 1860s standards and has AC - it was a chance to eat a quick bite and cool down.

You can visit for hours or just stay a bit - it's a beautiful place to stop by - they have events throughout the summer and fall. Next time I want to visit before Christmas for the 'Alight the Night' festival when more than half a million lights are hung in the village - I imagine it to be magical.

Friday Food Files

What do you do with the season's first strawberries? Strawberry tarts - puff pastry tarts to be precise. This one is made with a cream cheese lemon base and no glaze - yummy, slightly sweet and a perfect afternoon treat.


How to:

• Store bought defrosted puff pastry spread in greased tart shell. Bake for 15 minutes at 400F until golden. Take out and let cool.
• In the meantime mix a cupful of room temperature cream cheese and mix it with 3 tablespoons of sugar (or more if you want it sweeter), add a table spoon of lemon zest and 1-2 table spoons of fresh lemon juice. Carefully spread on cool pastry.
• Cut your strawberries and spread on cream cheese mixture. Enjoy.

*If you prefer to add a glaze, take a tablespoon of strawberry jam and dilute it with bit of apple juice. Spread over strawberries and let set.

Crawling under tables and Hello Kitty slippers

Before having kids I questioned a lot of things about how people raised children - the typical 'why can't that toddler sit still in an airplane' or 'why did that mother let her child go to the grocery store in Hello Kitty slippers'. Once we had our own children I noticed very quickly that I had no business questioning anything related to other children and I also started doing things I never thought I'd do.

1. Crawl under the table after every meal cleaning up (this was much easier when we had a dog)
2. Waking up without an alarm clock
3. Scooping piles of sand out of pockets and shoes all summer long
4. Using morning shower time to think without being interrupted
5. Thinking of creative lunches that fit in a small box and don't need to be warmed up
6. Picking up sippy cups all over the house
7. Talking about the kids constantly even when out on dates
8. Finding stickers and scotch tape on all walls of the house
9. Reading the same books over and over again
10. Seeing every age-appropriate animated movie and actually enjoying them
11. Cooking any shape of pasta to guarantee a successful dinner
12. Hiding vegetables in said pasta dishes
13. Saying NO every day
14. Having your heart strings pulled when you watch them sleep
15. Having to sort through arts and crafts deciding what to keep and what to recycle
16. Reading every note and flyer that comes from school (so much paper!)
17. Having to write so many cheques (why do schools still use cheques?)
18. Constantly washing little hands and faces (and feet in the summer)
19. Taking your child to the grocery store in Hello Kitty slippers or Fairy Wings
20. Sharing hugs and kisses all day long (I'm not a hugs and kissy kind of person)
21. Being so proud of little things that I tear up
22. Laughing at fart jokes as much as I do
23. Answering the question WHY all the time

Collectible colour - May

Doesn't blue just look so summery and fresh? Makes me want to take a beach vacation.



What is this series about?
For the collectible colours feature I choose a specific colour per month and collect things in my house to arrange and photograph. I can't go out and buy anything to match the colour scheme though, I have to own it  - I find this a great exercise to focus on day-to-day objects and to see if they fit.

Friday Food Files

This is the easiest recipe that you can either serve as an appetizer or a light dinner with salad. My daughter eat it, but my son didn't because of the visible vegetables.

How to:

• Store bought frozen puff pastry
• Tomatoes (smallish ones or cherry tomatoes)
• Green onions
• Cream cheese at room temperature
• Balsamic Vinegar
• Salt and pepper

• Defrost the puff pastry and cut into small squares if used for an appetizer or leave as one large sheet if using for your dinner. Place on parchment paper lined cookie sheet and pre-heat oven to 400F.
• Stir cream cheese to make it spreadable and season with salt and pepper. Spread carefully on puff pastry.
• Cut tomatoes into wedges or quarters if using cherry tomatoes. Distribute on top of cream cheese.
• Cut green onions and distribute on pastry pieces.
• Drizzle with balsamic vinegar and bake in oven until crust is crunchy and golden - about 20 minutes. Let cool a little and enjoy! This is nice warm or at room temperature.

And now I ask you...

 Photo by Fabian Björnstjerna

As this blog is celebrating it's two year anniversary this week I thought it would be timely to ask you how you feel about this little corner of the world wide web. I'd like to know what you like, what's missing or even what you don't want to see.

So I've created a short and anonymous survey for you. It shouldn't take more than five minutes and your input would be much appreciated. I know your time is valuable, so I hope you'll also put your name in for the give-away I posted this week? I'll keep the survey open until May 30, 2012 and will be sure to share the results with you shortly.

Thank you so much for visiting here, for your comments, your input and thoughts on my little diary - it really means a lot to me.