Spectacular Spring 2019 Playlist

Need some music for Spring to get you out of the lingering Winter blahs (at least if you're here in Northern Ontario)? Here is a playlist of thirteen songs that I put together for you on Spotify. There are a lot of great new songs that came out within the past few months as well as some songs that are a few years old but were new to me. I have been so obsessed with some of these songs that I listen to them over and over again!

Check out the playlist on Spotify here: Spectacular Spring 2019 Playlist

Two of the songs in this playlist are from new albums that I am really loving right now and I highly recommend checking out the full albums:

LOVE by MARINA

LABRINTH, SIA & DIPLO PRESENT... LSD by Sia, Diplo, and Labrinth

Cheers,
Kaylie

Seasons and Feelings

Seasons make us feel a certain way. We feel certain emotions and associate the seasons with certain things or experiences. We look forward to some things during certain seasons, and there are some things that we don't look forward to, but I want to talk about what I love about each season and what I associate with each one. First off, I think I should mention how I rate each season since this will give a better understanding of which seasons I like the best. Fall is my favourite season. Summer and Spring are almost tied but I'd say that Summer takes second place with Spring coming in third. Winter is in last place, although I do like the beginning of it. I'll explain more about the parts of Winter that I like in the rest of this post, along with what I like about the other seasons.

Spring

Spring is a new beginning. It is a time to wake up and enjoy the little things in life. The world starts to come alive again. The snow melts away and plants start to grow. It's fun to explore and see which plants are starting to poke up out of the ground. The sun starts shining way more and the cold starts to go away, allowing us to spend more time outside without freezing. To me, Spring is magical. We don't know what to expect when the snow melts and everything that disappeared during Fall and Winter comes back. Spring is full of surprises. When I think of Spring, I think of bunnies, flowers, rain, and innocence. The days should be filled with tea parties and prances through fields of wildflowers. Spring is a time of pretty things.

Summer

My birthday is in July, so naturally I love Summer, even though my favourite season actually comes after summer. Summer is a time for swimming and lounging by the pool. It is a time for gardening and eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Summer is very established. Sure, things continue to grow and there are still surprises, but it isn't as unpredictable as Spring. The right place to be during the Summer is outside. Meals should be eaten on a porch, or better yet, at a picnic. The days should be spent on road trips. The nights should be spent camping in a tent or stargazing under a magnificent starry sky. Summer is the time for adventures.

Fall

Fall is not too hot and not too cold. It is cool enough to get to wear sweaters but not too cold that you have to wear a whole lot of layers. The mosquitoes are dying away and it is the perfect season for spending time outdoors. You won't get too sweaty and the bush doesn't feel so crowded anymore since the plants are drying up and the leaves are falling off of the trees. It's especially nice if Summer decides to hang on for a little while longer while Fall slowly comes in, giving you that perfect combination weather. Fall is a very cozy season. I tend to think of it as dry and earthy. It's a spooky time of the year, but spooky in a good way. Fall and cemeteries just seem to go together, because Fall seems old too. I love thinking about my ancestors during this time. It's the perfect time to look at old photos and documents. Libraries beckon us inside and an evening in a cabin with a wood stove is a necessity. I love harvesting and seeing what we can still get out of our garden. Herbs, pumpkins, and squashes come to mind. Fall is the time for being thankful.

Winter

Oh, Winter. You're so crazy but you're wonderful in the beginning. I love Winter during the month of December (even though I realize that it doesn't officially start until less than a week before Christmas). The beginning of Winter is nice because the snow is just beginning to fall (hopefully it is or else you might end up with a green Christmas) and it's pretty. The first snowfall is magical, even it is light. When it comes to Winter past January 1st, I find that it's just too much. I tend to stay inside a lot during the Winter since I get cold more easily than other people and it becomes uncomfortable and even a bit painful, in a way. Winter is all about curling up with hot chocolate and a good book, with a fireplace video playing on a computer or laptop (or a real fireplace). The Christmas season brings warm, happy feelings, especially when it gently snows the first few times and the snow is just so pretty sitting on tree branches. Winter is a time of love and patience.


Sometimes, I feel like I just move through the seasons without fully celebrating and enjoying them. I am not Pagan but I do think that the Wheel of the Year that most Pagans follow to celebrate the seasons is very interesting. I think it would be great for paying more attention to each season, like people did in the past. Seasons were important in times when there wasn't as much as there is now. Farmers had to pay close attention to seasons and the seasons often determined whether or not something could be done. I want to enjoy seasons instead of always looking forward to the next one. I want to live in the present moment of each season and appreciate each one for what it offers.

Cheers,
Kaylie

Sudbury Gardening Festival 2016

On May 28th, I went to the Sudbury Gardening Festival with my mom and my best friend, Bethany. We had never been to this free annual gardening festival and were excited to go since we all like gardening. It took place at the YMCA Centre for Life and Parkside Centre in downtown Sudbury. Since we had never been to this event before, we decided to just wander around and take it all in. There was much more going on, like speakers, but we decided to just look at all of the vendors and exhibitors.

At the gardening festival, vendors and exhibitors don't mind answering questions. The questions can range from gardening and environment related questions to art questions since there were also vendors selling art and homemade yard decorations. There was a vendor selling chaga tea so I asked the two people at the table a few (or a lot) of questions about chaga since we have found it on my family's property. Chaga is a fungus found in some Northern countries that grows from wounds on birch trees and has many health benefits. I wanted to know how to harvest it properly and how to prepare it so that it could be used for tea. The people at the table were happy to answer my questions and seemed enthusiastic while talking about chaga. While visiting some art/yard decoration vendor's tables, the vendors told me how they make their decorations. So, I not only got some questions answered about chaga that I had been wondering for a while, but I also learned how to make some really neat yard decorations and I hope to try making them some day. I was very happy with all of the information that I received from speaking to people at the festival and I also picked up some booklets and pamphlets with environmental and gardening information as well as information about re-greening in Sudbury. This festival was definitely educational!

One of the super exciting things about the gardening festival was receiving free plants, trees, and seeds! There were many vendors selling plants and seeds but you could also get plenty for free! Some of the popular plants being given away were these two shrubs that you see in the photo above, If I remember correctly, the plant on the left is Black Chokeberry and the plant on the right is Wild Raisin. Apparently they were also giving away milkweed, which I would have also liked to receive to attract Monarch butterflies to my yard, but they ran out fast.

There were two tables giving away various types of trees so my mom and I tried to choose trees that we don't have too many of on our property. From left to right in the photo above, there is Jack Pine, White Pine, White Spruce, and Mugo Pine.

In the above photo, you can see the free seeds that we received. There are Black-Eyed Susans, Orange Jewelweed (also known as touch-me-nots), Fire Weed, and Evening Primrose. My mom got the touch-me-nots for my brother since he loves them!

One of the plant vendors that was selling plants by donation at the front of the building was selling starwberry plants so we bought a paper cup full of these guys! We got ten plants for $5. They had been kept in a fridge so we were told to also keep them in a fridge until we were ready to plant them. Once we were ready to plant, we were told not to worry if they still looked dead for a while because they would still be in hibernation mode. These strawberry plants will come back year after year and spread but we have to cover them with straw in the Fall to prevent them from freezing during the Winter. That's why they're called STRAWberries!

Here's a closer look at one of the strawberry plants! Aren't they creepy? I think they look like weird little aliens! Hehe!

I also bought a yard decoration from a vendor that was selling hanging decorations made from old tea pots, plates, metal dishware, etc. This silver creamer decoration was $10. I love the simplicity of it and how the jewels look like water pouring out of it. Of course I had to hang it in our flowering crabapple tree, especially while it was flowering!

That concludes my thoughts and summary of my first visit to the Sudbury Gardening Festival. I had a great time and look forward to going again next year!

Cheers,

Kay

Awakening Spring 2016 Playlist

I'm so happy that the snow is melting here in Sudbury. Winter is always a difficult time for me because the lack of sunlight seems to affect my mood and motivation and I also have a circulation problem in my feet so staying out in the cold isn't very fun for me. I'm excited for all of the snow to melt and for the flowers to start growing and the leaves to start appearing on the trees again. I'm really really looking forward to spending time outside again; going for walks and sitting on our front porch and planting our garden. I am determined to spend more time outside this year during the spring, summer, and fall than any other year.

Since Spring Equinox was on Sunday, I decided to make a spring playlist for you guys using Spotify so I hope you enjoy my Awakening Spring 2016 Playlist.

I chose songs that I associate with spring. To me, the songs are fresh, pretty, relaxing, and lively. There's a whole mix of different songs so I hope you enjoy!

Cheers,
Kay

Finnlegh: Joe Pye

There are lots of different flowers, wildflowers, plants, and trees on our property where my family lives so I love taking photos of Finnlegh outside! He's beside some Joe Pye here. This picture was taken during the summer. We've been having snow and rain here lately and it's been cold. This photo makes me long for summer again but I remind myself that I must enjoy all of the seasons that we get here in Northern Ontario. Although, we've hardly had a spring, summer, or fall this year so I hope that Mother Nature gives a nice winter (not too cold, good weather for going outside to do winter activities).

-Kaylie