Welcome to the last week of April. Ellie’s room makeover is almost done. She is so excited to start sleeping in her new room, and I am excited to share the finished product here soon.

A highlight of April for me was Easter. Easter is my favourite holiday, usually because it’s a bit quieter than Christmas or Thanksgiving. I think having a child changes that, and this year was definitely not quiet, but we still had a great time. We hosted dinners, including one with Matt’s aunts who have not been to the farm in several years. We celebrated my nephew’s second birthday. We had two egg hunts. And of course, Ellie soaked up every second and every sweet.

April is also my Dad’s birthday and my parent’s wedding anniversary. We got together and acknowledged those occasions as well.

I’ve learned over the years that it’s important to me to take every opportunity to be together. It’s worth it to invite everyone, cook all the food, share all the candy, remember those who aren’t with us and sometimes even cry a few tears. Sharing time with those around us–whoever can be there–means a lot to me.

Here are some other occasions and reminders from this month.

Speaking of occasions, our forsythia is blooming. When we first moved to the farm, the forsythia bloomed on April 2. It hasn’t been that early since–and some years it hasn’t flowered at all. This year, the branches are covered in blossoms by mid-April.

I want to try this adult Easter egg hunt next year.

A great update for an oak kitchen

My friends and I did a Half Baked Harvest dinner several weeks ago. I made this salad and it was a huge hit. (Everything everyone made was delicious.)

“Life can be cruel, as you know. But it can also be kind. Filled with wonders. You need to remember that. You have your own choice to make. What’re you going to focus on? What’s unfair, or all the wonderful things that happen? Both are true, both are real. Both need to be accepted. But which carries more weight with you? The terrible or the wonderful? The goodness or the cruelty? Your life will be decided by that choice.”

All The Devils Are Here by Louise Penny

I’m finishing off the month by putting the finishing touches on Ellie’s room. Pictures on the walls, sheets on the bed, clothes in the closet. In amongst some work and hopefully some outside time too, of course.

How was April for you? Did you celebrate Easter? What’s blooming where you are? Any favourite recipes to share? What are you doing to wrap up the month?

It feels like spring has sprung here. We’ve seen our first robins, red wing blackbird and turkey vulture. There were a pair each of mallards and hooded merganser ducks paddling in the pond over the weekend. And this year’s sap run is coming to an end with a very decent quantity of syrup.

Perhaps a result of changing season, I’m feeling more motivated.

It’s a welcome change. I have been stalled for a while, which is not a comfortable place for me. I like being productive, but I have made no progress on Ellie’s room makeover or on bringing in some new contracts for work. These are important, but I’m not being disciplined in how I spend my time.

When March Break came along, I gave myself a little break from the blog to try to reset. I like writing, and I like posting every week (schedules and deadlines definitely work for me). But I had lost some mojo So I went back to my word of the year and chose to take a break.

I worked, read, prepared our income taxes, updated my consulting website, and took a small trip for a new client. Ellie and I started going swimming each week and had a fun March Break together. We marked Matt’s 44th birthday, which was hard. I thrifted a great furniture score for Ellie’s room and found some contacts for potential new work.

And my motivation and energy are returning. I’m looking forward to sharing more about Ellie’s new bedroom, starting to work outside and hopefully kicking off patio construction.

For now, here are some of the things I enjoyed this month:

This account has the best parenting–and human being–advice. They also have a new name.

Chef’s Table is my go-to for something easy, inspiring, fun, and uplifting to watch. Mashama Bailey, Lennox Hastie and Tootsie Tomanetz episodes are favourites.

“You should know when enough is enough.” So much inspiration from the first 100 episodes of People I (Mostly) Admire.

Made this pie for Matt’s birthday. Ellie’s verdict: “Daddy would really like this.” Yes, he would.

Ellie is really into non-fiction (or as she calls them, “information books”). This story was a hit and led to a movie, more inspiring animal stories and daily dolphin role playing.

I’m aiming to finish off March with being disciplined. I am putting the finishing touches on some pitches for work, prepping Ellie’s room for painting (more to come), and depending on the weather and my productivity, maybe doing some coop clean-up.

How was March for you? Do you have any tips for being disciplined? Who else works best with a deadline? Has spring arrived where you are?

February has been a month of celebrations. Cigo’s gotcha day, Valentine’s Day, Pancake Tuesday, Super Bowl, birthdays, sap running, the pond finally freezing and more. We’ve had lots of opportunities to be with people we love and have fun together. Nothing has been extravagant. Everything has been special.

Of course, the biggest occasion was Ellie’s birthday. Our girl turned 5! We had a lot of fun celebrating together.

Celebrations don’t have to be complicated. Some fun food, a day off, being together become so meaningful. It’s worth making the effort to acknowledge special moments.

Here are some things that caught my eye this month.

What are you doing to help?

To boldly grow. A thoughtful discussion of “first-hand” food.

Books were of course a big part of Ellie’s birthday presents. This one is my favourite and this one is hers.

I’m wrapping up this month by wrapping up a few work projects. I’m also meeting up with a few friends I haven’t seen in a while–more reasons to celebrate.

How was February for you? Did you do any celebrating this month?

As I was trying to figure out how to begin this final post of January, I went back and reread my first post of the month–my word of the year.

“I want to remember to choose my attitude, how I feel, how I react, how I spend my time… When I make a choice, there’s an acceptance that I’m letting something go in favour of something else… I’m also choosing to build my life based on what is most important to me–Ellie, family, friends, Cigo, this farm, freedom to enjoy it all.”

There have been some ups and downs this month. Anxiety is not something I struggle with usually, but I’ve had some worries recently. Rereading the words above is comforting. I know what is most important to me. Choosing to let go of other things–including worry and anxiety–makes me focus on the life I want.

So we finished the month on a high. We had a fun day celebrating my nephew’s ninth birthday with family. We have snow finally (not worrying about how long it took to arrive or how long it will stay), and we’ve enjoyed sledding, snow forts and skating. We’ve also made progress on several home projects.

Life is always ups and downs. Choosing to focus on the ups is important to me. As is remembering that I’ll find my way through the downs.

Here are some pick-me-ups from this month:

We are doing 1,000 hours outside again this year. Prioritizing time outside has added so much fun to our lives. We are at 72 hours already.

I am loving wool socks. The Darn Tough brand is a favourite, especially for their lifetime guarantee.

“This farm is and what we do on it is this living breathing thing.”

The land on most farms is degraded. But we can regenerate it.

Let’s share a pick-me-up. What was the best part of January for you? Did you make any tough choices this month?

November turned out pretty well for us. This is remarkable because for the past few years November has been pretty hard. Between the anniversary of Matt’s death, an increase in tantrums (an annual event for some reason), illnesses, the time change, darkness, and cold temperatures, it tends to be a tough month.

We’ve gone through all of the usual hard stuff, but we’ve also had some good times. The month started off with very warm weather, so I blitzed through outdoor projects like the garden and wood chipping. We watched my sister run her personal best marathon to celebrate her 40th birthday.

Then we went straight on to winter with cold and our first (and several more) snows. We embraced it, changed the art in the mudroom and built our first snowmen. Along the way I still managed to squeeze in one more big outdoor project, even if I had to scrape off some icicles first (more on this to come).

Before we look ahead, let’s look back at some of what caught my attention this month:

We hit 1,000 hours outside. This is our second year doing the challenge, and our first time making it to 1,000. I’m really proud that we did it and am excited to start counting again in January.

What happens to your soil in the winter?

Ontario’s premier is opening up greenbelt land for development. Ontario is losing 319 acres of farmland daily. Once farmland is paved it’s gone forever. Farmland produces food. Let’s keep it that way.

Media paywalls and democracy

Ellie and I love variations on the three little pigs story. This Canadian hockey version is a winner.

How did November go for you? Have you transitioned to winter where you are?

Sometimes I think, “Oh I should post this on Instagram.” It could be my morning hike, or a home project, or a beautiful view at the farm.

But I rarely do.

With projects I usually don’t want to take the time to stop (I’ve learned to take pictures, at least most of the time). But mostly, my choice is about focusing on real life. I don’t live my life online. I enjoy the bit I share here on the blog and occasionally social media. But my life exists in the real world, and consciously staying offline keeps me focused on what’s real.

Do you feel a tug between real and virtual?

Here are some of the things that happened both offline and on this month:

What ancient cultures can teach us about the lost art of raising happy, helpful little humans.

A hallucinatory vision of modern hippie-luxe Not a typical interior design description

The Colonizer Playbook A great presentation of a heavy, hard topic.

Visualizing the climate future. I’m not as optimistic as this presentation. What do you think?

We’re ending the month with, of course, Hallowe’en. We’ve carved our pumpkin (and tried the hand mixer hack), made Ellie’s ghost costume, and I expect to kick off November with lots of candy. A different sort of treat arrived at the farm yesterday, on loan from our farmer.

Putting it to work will take up the rest of my week (don’t expect as-it-happens social media coverage, but I’ll share a blog post here once I’m done).

How do you find balance with online and off? Do you have a favourite parenting book or tip? How do you feel about modern hippie-luxe decor? Are you hopeful about climate change? Did your mixer help carve your pumpkin? What’s your favourite Hallowe’en candy?