The Big Blizzard

      Oh my goodness, blogging world, looking back on this week in 2024 history feels wild still. Mid-February, we got hit with massive storm system, that brought with it a proper, prairie blizzard and an incredible amount of snow. 

I feel like these photos really do not do them justice, so I will try to add some notes to give you a better idea of how bad it got. 

This first image is between our garages, when we were digging out a tunnel. As you can see, it's piled halfway up the side of the garage. This is a standard garage height, as in a chevy truck can fit into these garages with height space to spare.

We got a tunnel going... it was *packed* in there. 

Can we just talk about our garbage and recycling cans? Please note how buried these ours, when they are over half of my height. Like, they reach above my waist, and I am a tall girlie. 

This is our back alley, white on white on white on white. And still coming down when these photos were taken. People everywhere were trying to dig out, which of course wasn't gonna happen for days. 

Spot Raccoon's vehicle there? Note how the snowbanks are like the same height?

The smaller cars got completely buried in many spots. 

Everything was wearing giant, fluffy white hats. 

And this was looking down one of the streets needed to access our home.

It took around 5 days before the city got fully dug out, and honestly, the ruts on the road and the snow piles remained for weeks, until it warmed up enough to melt a little. We haven't had a proper blizzard in some time, but it did bring back many memories of my childhood here on the prairies! 

Rye Bread & Winter Moments

     Hiiiiiii, did you think I was gone for good again?! Nope, just busy trying to survive full time work and part time school, plus maintaining relationships, keeping up with housework, spring/summer arriving, never ending appointments, and oh yeah. Burnout. 100% in a bad Burnout Season of life. But I really didn't want to disappear from the blog for another 5 years, and I love sharing my photography elsewhere besides social media platforms, so here I am! 

I have curated and edited around 360 photos to share with you, so hopefully I am able to sit down and get a lot of blog posts up in the near future. Thank you for sticking around! I saw my visits number went way up in my absence, so hello all your old-school folks! 

I made a return to bread baking. I am definitely a little rusty, but it still turned out very delicious, and I am looking forward to making more in the future. 

You can find my recipe ~HERE~ 

This is homemade butter! Every time my workplace has heavy cream to write off, I take whatever I can and we make butter. Just stick it in the freezer, and use as needed. So so yummy! 

Speaking of work write offs, here I am, curled up in bed, separating rosemary leaves from their stems. They arrived frozen, but there was still plenty of good pieces to be spared! 

Living music evening at a cute cafe with S. 

One of MANY piles of thrifted books. Guys, regardless of how INSANE my TBR book piles everywhere, it hasn't stopped me. Haha! 

At this point, I have read 56 books this year, but am on a current reading pause. See aforementioned burnout. It really does affect everything. 

Anyways, I have had some amazing thrifted hauls and even posted my first book haul video on Tiktok, so I guess I am moving into the BookTok world?! 

For a while I was spending a ton of time, sitting in our lazy boy, reading away. Here are some of the many books I tore through. 

I have been snapping a lot more random moments that I share on my Instagram stories, but I really loved the vibe of this one. Cozy moments are worth documenting over and over. 

Heading out to Manitou Springs, for a proper soak in the mineral spa. 

We had the opportunity to attend a Blades game and sit in box seats, compliments of my workplace! 

It was a really fun night, and now, it feels extra special, because one of the coworkers I attended with has since passed away, and she had a real impact on me. So these last moments with her feel insanely special now and I am grateful for them. 

At this point in January, I was fully caught up on snail mail. Oh my how times have changed. LOL

Another one of my many hobbies that has gotten to the "insanely overwhelming" point. Who knows, maybe I will get rolling on them soon too. 

Always adding random cactus to my collection that we then proceed to kill. True story. As I type, this guy is still alive somehow! 

Well, that's all I am going to share for now, but just getting rolling on blogging again feels great! Step by step, I really want to get the overwhelm shed off my shoulders and maintain my burnout a lot better. 

I hope you guys are all doing incredibly well. 

Our Cozy House

    Greetings, my friends! I did manage to make it back here quite quickly, which makes me very happy. I wanted to share a few snippets of my home with you this evening... 

In the past year, I have moved 3 times, as well as changed jobs 3 times, bought a new car... just endless amounts of big changes. For a while, I found it very hard to tell where my home actually was, and I am still in the process of getting all my addresses changed to one current address. That is a rather exhausting feat, and remembering postal codes is a whole other ball game. 

Now, we have been in our current tiny home for several months, and it feels like a proper home now. The baking bug is biting, hobbies are re-entering my life, decorating is always happening, furniture has been built, hooks hung, and there is more to come, I know. 

These photos are a bit older, but I will eventually be posting some posts about how I decorated for Autumn and Christmas. Even though our home is tiny, it is super cozy and inviting. We have wonderfully big, above-ground windows which makes such a difference! 

The Lazy-Boy chair belonged to Raccoon, and is quite old, but still very comfy. Typical of me, I didn't like the colour, and wanted it to match the main colour-scheme I was going for, as our living room and kitchen are basically one big room. 

So I acquired this cover off of The Site That Will Not Be Named, and it looks great! Plus, I can take it off and wash it when need be. 

You'll have noticed Bookshelf #1 lurking behind the Lazy-Boy, and this is another piece of furniture I converted. It's meant to be one of those shelves you slide fabric bins into, but I needed more bookshelf space. (To be honest, I ALWAYS need more bookshelf space!) I intend to paint it white, come spring, but for now, this does very nicely. 

Here is a closer look at some of the tiny pieces I put on top to help make it more cozy. Also, as you will come to see, I have books stashed everywhere! 

This gorgeous hat was sent to me by a dear friend and I absolutely had to hang it up! Somehow, it brings the perfect Anne of Green Gables touch to my otherwise very witchy corner. 

My wonderful, trusty desk that has been with me since I was in my mid-teens. It still remains perfect, but I am ruminating on whether or not I will paint it as well, come spring. However, the warm, red-toned wood fits my vibe nicely, and I like the worn-in look.

Yes, I still have a massive collection of washi-tape, and yes, I am still writing letters. I am a wee bit behind on them at the moment, but I did have a massive catch-up not too long ago, so they are all fairly recent! 

You should know that my bookshelf is stacked 2 deep, and now there are tons more books layered on top, with a huge stack beside and in front of it. Oh and I have books tucked SO many other places! 

Used book sales, thrift stores, and newly opened romance bookstores are deadly. 

One last little corner of my living room! Yet another example of how I am blending cozy Anne of Green Gables with enchanting Witchy vibes. I love a mixture of homey Little House on the Prairie, and messy Herbalist. 

I hope you have enjoyed seeing glimpses of my dwelling space! 

I will return shortly with more little snapshots of my world. Take good care, bloggers! 

Thrifted Finds, DIY Projects, & Manifested Supplement Cupboards

 Hello, friends! How has life been treating you these days? I recently discovered this collection of music, and for those of us who are Austenites, I had to click on it. It's so lovely and would be a great soundtrack for the upcoming autumn season. Give it a listen ~Main Character Vibes of a Jane Austen Novel~ .

{Found Via Pinterest}

Who else here is a thrifter? That is one thing that hasn't changed about me; my love of thrifting. The problem is I am a collector of pretty things, but we are working on curating them and actually using them. Some of my latest scores have resulted in me needing to do a little DIY moments. I got this napkin holder for just $1!

And here it is being painted as I have an idea of what I want to turn it into! Alongside it, you will spot a little wooden tray and 2 picture frames also being painted white. I am taking out any dark wood tones I can, to eliminate the cluttered feeling, but also, it is very important to me to keep things homey.

I also spend too much time on FB Marketplace, and scored this little side table for $5. Here is what it currently looks like, and I will definitely do a before & after post when all these little projects are done and in use!

Yes, that really is 3 colours you are seeing. She's pretty bright! 

Cannot wait to have her done and next to our lazy boy...

Remember how in my recent Banana Bread post I mentioned that pre-mixes you can buy from the grocery store rarely turn out for me? Well I gave 2 a go, and honestly, neither one turned out great, and I really don't like the taste. However, the cookies do look nice. *haha*

It is really nice to have our own kitchen and be able to cook and bake at will. 

Some of you may be aware of what I do for a living, and how much I am learning about vitamins, minerals, herbs, and supplement blends. I have been acquiring quite a collection, and have even referred to those I have multiple bottles of has "backstock". *hehe* Something I started manifesting when we began looking for our own home, was a supplement cupboard. Specifically, one in the kitchen. 

It fills one with so much hope when they see something small manifested, and seeing others manifestations happen is also inspiring and encouraging. Thus, it pleases me to share my supplement cupboard with you!

As you can see, I have outgrown it already. *laughs* But. we do consume many supplements daily, and many of these are being saved for illness seems to be impending and so on. 

Sometimes I go out on errands, and stop by a few places to pick up actual necessities... then somehow wind up with real flowers, faux flowers, and potato chips. HOW. 

Well, hopefully you have found some entertainment and sparks of joy from my latest ramblings and happenings. I am sure you will see some more posts soon as I intend to have my DIY projects complete, and a few more underway! Also, perhaps soon I will be able to share more spots of our sidewalks or garage being completed; that would be lovely. 

Take good care!