Walks

With a climate very similar to Scandinavia, I find myself bundling Thomas up in his snowsuit and foot muff, and taking him on long walks in his stroller in the cold at least a few afternoons a week as is so common there. We do a figure eight of our neighbourhood (which allows us to come home quickly at the halfway point if necessary), and end with a break at a local lunch stop. The whole venture takes us about one and a half hours. It's perfect!

How do you spend chilly days?

The one and only time Thomas has ever slept through the night was after a long night walk in the cold. I swear there's something to the Finnish Department of Labour's recommendation to let your babies nap outside in their pram. Our super cozy stroller seems like the perfect place to snooze. It also takes the social pressure off me that I'm feeling as Thomas loves to nap in his stroller outside, but hates to nap in his crib.

Picnic

Two blocks from our house is the Victorian-style urban park, Bannerman Park complete with a playground, public swimming pool, baseball diamond and lots of places to set out a blanket under a tree for a picnic. It is actually the oldest park in Newfoundland and Labrador. As a child, my grandmother (who lived literally across the street from our current house for more than 30 years) would take me and my cousins to that very park while caring for us while our parents were at work. I've bookmarked the same walk I took as a child with her as a regular routine for our son and me once he makes an appearance. This chevron picnic basket seems the perfect DIY to stash in the carriage to use to enjoy a mid-afternoon snack in Bannerman Park. Photo and DIY instructions via Twig and Thistle.

Leaves

Quirky and genius! I love these leaf cutouts. They make me miss long fall walks in the woods. Via NY Times.

Sailing

I'm thinking that next summer's pursuit should be sailing lessons! Image via bigsnit.

Skerwink

This past weekend, we took a little road trip to Port Rexton and discovered the most fabulous walking trail - the Skerwink Trail in Trinity East! Do you like hiking? Hiking is the perfect remedy for a gal like me who disdains gyms and longs for exercise that's also entertainment. Image via incogkneetoe.

Potholes

There's a huge pothole in front of our house that makes me nervous (flat tires make me cringe). Pete Dungey's pothole garden solution sounds like the perfect fix. If everyone planted a garden in the pothole in front of their house, the city's roads would be a botanical garden. Images via Erin Ever After.

Receipt

I've recently made a slight career switch which sees me working in the area of climate change and emissions trading. Given my 9-5 occupation, this post from Design Verb via Cup of Jo caught my eye. Doesn't this receipt make you think? I'm curious how far the red onion and yellow pepper I purchased today had to travel to make it to my grocer's counter. It makes me realize that it is worth the effort to start incorporating more frequent visits to a local farmer's market into our routine.

Neighbourhood

After revealing our home, it seemed only natural to snap a few pictures of our neighbourhood.

Boxes

I love window boxes and I've really enjoyed improving the back garden at our new home. Fifty seven paving stones, forty bags of weeds, fifteen plants purchased on the cheap from summer's end sales and more than ten full days of work later, the garden looks presentable. I'm saving my pennies for a bbq, table and chairs, and solar lanterns to make the site an entertaining destination next summer. Friends near and far, please pencil in our event on Regatta evening 2010; we're looking forward to hosting a cook up, complete with mojitos, smokies and a viewing of the championship race at the lake. Here's to planning ahead!

This fall's edition of Canadian Gardening arrived in our mail box late last week and has tempted me with the most festive, autumnal window box. Complete with tiger striped miniature pumpkins, small flowering cabbages (which I've also used in planters in our backyard), tasmin tiger spurge, sprayed black branches and black scallop bugleweed, these window dressings look spooky and are a perfect 'welcome mat' for fall breezes. These window boxes expand my thinking on fall planting beyond mustard and pink mums, orange cotoneaster berries and red burning bushes.

As our street is framed with towering maples and chestnuts, the falling red, yellow and orange leaves would be nicely accessorized with this window box. For more fall container planting inspiration, see here.

Windows

I have a serious soft spot for window boxes.

Here are some of the ones I'm lusting after on Flickr. I should also mention that I love coloured clapboard, which is an obvious influence from my hometown.

If you're curious to install your own window boxes, check out this compilation of options from Apartment Therapy.

Images via Jeff Wignall, Luvzdollz, ihrigmr, I Love Butter and Pikaluk.

Sunsets

I have a confession: I have never stayed up all night to watch the sun rise. I know it is a quintessential adolescent thing to do; movies are chocked full of scenes of youth partying all night, watching the sun rise from a hill top and then sneaking in the back door to hopefully avoid tipping the parents off that you didn't come home the night before.

I am certainly not rebellious. I have however, taken early morning flights (think 5 am departure times to attend conferences and travel to visit friends) and have seen the sun rise while on a plane. Given my sleep and work schedule though, it seems more realistic to pencil in plans to watch the sun set rather than rise.

I relish sunsets. As Edmonton is quite far north, the sun hasn't been setting until after 9 pm lately. Last night, my mom and I caught a stunning sunset that washed the high rises of downtown in a flaming orange light. The sky was streaked with pinks, reds and oranges. The skyscrapers looked something like this:

Photo via Eyebex.

I am making myself a promise to pay more attention to sunsets. They're a beautiful facet of life on the prairie. I would love to watch a sunset over the glacier in Banff National Park at Glacier View Inn or on a hot air balloon. Sunsets will have to make up for the fact that I still haven't seen the Northern Lights.

Lilacs

This weekend, while walking in the Saskatchewan River Valley, my mother, Greg and I noticed lilac trees in full bloom.  The flowering trees remind me of the large lilac behind our back fence at my family's home when I was a young child. The blooms look delightful cut and displayed in mason jars.  Welcome to Edmonton, lilacs!

Photo via The Eye. 

Mountains

A long weekend in the fantastic Jasper National Park requires no wordy recap; instead, here is our photo diary of Victoria Day Weekend 2009.