Smooth Criminal

In honour of the police checks that *Steve* and I are enduring in order to volunteer at *Mila's* school this fall, I dedicate this smoothie to all the non-criminals out there who have been wrongly convicted. Take 1 cup of your favourite milk. I'm currently enjoying a little soy in my coffee. Pour the milk into your blender. Get ready for some blending.

Then add at least 1/2 cup of frozen woodland blueberries to that blender. Europe's Best is our new standby. *Mila* eats them by the gallon, so we always have at least one bag on hand. Look how impressed she is that I am blogging about HER blueberries.

Next get the vanilla extract away from the dog. Add in 1 tsp of vanilla to your mixture.

And no smoothie is complete without a splash of orange juice (1/4 cup would be plenty). You can also try lemon, which I'm sure is delicious. Next time I'm adding a teaspoon of wheat germ as well. So, blend up all your ingredients well and drink immediately through a straw. Remember to adjust your ingredients if you like your smoothies thicker or thinner.

signed, the willow

Meet The Instructables

IKEA Hacks on the Instructables

signed, the willow

Pssst! Pass it on!

Um, I am not whispering to you when I say "Psst! Pass it on!" In fact, hear what I say LOUDLY in full colour!

Meet 350.org. They are taking the initiative for us, the citizens of this, our very own planet, to spread the word. 350 ppm is the acceptable level of CO2 within the atmosphere. Currently, we are at 385 and we're only getting worse. I urge you to spread the word and do something. I'm putting on my thinking cap to find a creative way to spread the word in the GTA and I urge you to do the same in your area. We need to make a difference for our great grandchildren, our grandchildren, our children and even our own selfish egos. For we are living it and breathing it right now, this very second. It's our atmosphere, I dare you to do something.

signed, the willow

Mental Health Day

I completely lost my marbles yesterday. *Mila* has a ton of things going on and *Steve* and I have decided that it is not her "issues" that we need to deal with. It's my anxieties. As part of my Family Tree Friday, I am trying to face the demons that hide in my family tree. Part of changing what is going on is to change how I perceive things and what I can do about things. Tucked in closets and dusty corners, we all have families filled with skeletons and spiders. Some more than others. Some families have more members than others. And now-a-days, I think that if someone whimpers an ounce of "I feel sad", there are 17 drug salesmen lining up to sell a pack of Zoloft or drug-of-the-week. I'm not trying to say that we all need to sort out our problems without the drugs. But some things are manageable for some people some times.

It has taken my 36 of my 37 years to discover that I need to exercise fairly vigorously on a daily basis in order to release that serotonin that my brain cells crave. I figured it out and no, not every day is perfect. I'm sure I could use some of those drugs some days. But I choose to fight my battles this way. I will perfect my strong will.

signed, the willow

Rock Stars

I guess we paint rocks every year in anticipation of Canada Day. We rock.

signed, the willow

Move over Zsa Zsa

Have you gone to Winners lately? You should go.

Listen to me. Telling you what to do. Who do I think I am? My kid is wearing maribou slippers! My husband is downstairs in the boys room (powdering his nostrils) with the door wide open. And our dog? Well, she can speak Japanese, but we just can't interpret. So we just tell her she's doing a great job burping up the alphabet.

sayonara, the willow

Smartie Whiteboard

You have to love the IKEA in this inspiration. Take a plain old $9.99 magnet board from IKEA. Get the smartie magnets that go with all good BITS magnet boards and pick up a pack of dry erase markers in fun childish colours. Go crazy! And the fabric? Yes, IKEA. I have inherited the most useful tool known to a 20-something single gal from her 'pa': a staple gun. Staple the heck out of the back of an old dresser and dress it up. I love my craft table.

signed, the willow

Toasty Tortillas for Two

Toasty Tortillas

What will you need?

2 spinach tortillas
2 baby English cucumbers (seedless) diced with peel on
8 Ontario strawberry tomatoes (or grape tomatoes will work well)
1/2 cup chickpeas - mashed
1 tbsp Dijon mustard
2 tbsp mayonnaise OR 2 tbsp your favourite salad dressing
2 scallions diced
1/4 cup brown rice - uncooked

In a frying pan "pop" the brown rice until toasty but certainly not burnt. Set aside.

Mash the chickpeas. Add the mustard, mayo (or dressing), the cucumbers, the tomatoes, the rice and the scallions. Gently mix together and fill tortillas. Roll up and enjoy.

signed, the willow

Why IKEA is so successful

1. Flat packs

2. The shopping experience - sorry, you'll have to go there to see for yourself!






3. Low cost furnishings & making self-serve FUN (that mirror is $2.99)





4. Their restaurants and I hear the meatballs are yummy
(plus you can take home a pack for your carnivores)






5. The old standby's: BILLY, LACK, POANG (Sorry, not SUMA)

6. The fun bold Swedish patterns

7. Family Friendliness - IKEA designs things for you and your family

(if you want to display it behind glass you can - or you can just get the glass case at IKEA).

8. IKEA keeps my spell check employed.

9. The ads have always been outstanding

10. They send you a catalogue in the mail

The IKEA Way

11. They adhere to environmental standards and take fair trade to heart.

12. Form/Style

13. Function

14. Creativity - ATTENTION IKEA HACKERS!

15. Their showrooms look like home OR it's okay to have things messy

16. Living 10 minutes away from IKEA makes you never, ever want to move.

17. If someone tells you that they never shop there and they would never buy ANYTHING at IKEA...THEY ARE BIG FAT LIARS! Everyone has bought one pack of napkins, a BILLY bookcase, a RIBBA picture frame or had a 50 cent hot dog! These liars are known as "BIG FAT LIARS THAT PRETEND THEY ARE TOO GOOD FOR IKEA!" Ha! We all know that IKEA is too good for these people.





18. They always let kids be kids and grown-ups be kids too.





19. They allowed Mark Malkoff to live in their store. What other retail operation would do this?





20. Because I shop there, they stay in business!





signed, the willow

The View From Here

On Thursday morning, Lady of the Lake woke up to this at 6 a.m.

On that same Thursday morning, Willow Of The Wood woke up (at 6 a.m.) to this (at 7 a.m.).

Let's go back to that lake again.....

Then this came along and perturbed the Lady of the Lake with it's noise and the ripples that would cause the waves to kiss her toes at the shoreline.

And Willow Of the Wood?

Yes, she gets a "Johnny-on-the-spot" within earshot behind her house. Yep. And it faces her when she washes dishes, wakes up and looks out her bedroom window, runs on the treadmill, sits on her new deck, picks up dog poo in the backyard, eats her dinner and teaches *Mila* how to read. Oh and she looooves how there is no hand washing going on in there, but there is newspaper reading! Only men would think that it would be perfectly acceptable to take a newspaper into the porta-potty with them. Thank you "Mighty Machine Men". Lady of the Lake, your lake is calling the Willow's name and she's coming over!!!!

signed, the willow