Happy New Year!

For the past couple years I’ve spend a considerable amount of December hand making and writing our family holiday cards. I bought supplies and made a plan for this year as well, but about halfway through the month I realized I would never be done in time, and besides that there were so many other things calling my attention. Learning to let go and prioritizing has been a theme of our year since Baby Forager made her appearance nearly four weeks ahead of schedule (and thankfully with no serious complications).

All of that said, I missed sending the cards for the point of connection they create. So many of our friends are spread out all over the world and sending a tangible note to show how much we value them was a big part of why I made a point of sending out cards each year. It’s a small gesture, but one I felt was important to continue in some way. A dear friend I know shared her Christmas letter on her blog, and it suddenly clicked that I could, and should do something similar!

As I alluded to earlier, this year has been quite an adjustment now that our little family has grown by one. We also spent the year settling into our new rented apartment. That was quite a big change that brought some great things (a planned, intentional living space, not just a randomly configured basement retrofitted as a suite!) and some challenges (where to put all the plants and the massive piano?). In a lot of ways we still feel like we’re settling in since there has been so much change in such a short amount of time.

Along with the new baby, and newish house, this year also brought a newly minted Master’s degree for Mr. Forager. He’s been working toward this goal for the past five years so having that finished is a huge weight off all our minds! We’re so proud of him, and he’s looking forward to having more time to work on some other projects that have been sidelined these past years (new Abram’s Epilogue album is in the works!).

Little Forager is enjoying his last year at home before heading off to school next fall. I was warned how quickly littles grow up, but I still can’t quite believe it! In some ways we’re so ready for the change, but in others not at all!

As for me I’m looking forward to more music teaching, and obviously working further on this blog. It’s been a great year of exploring my city and the surrounding area, and I’m excited for even more amazing adventures next year!

Reflections on 2018

In the above collage I have what Instagram deems as my top nine posts of 2018. I think they are pretty good, and they hold a lot of memories, but I wanted to do a fuller reflection on my year and share a few other photos that might not have got as much attention based on Instagram’s algorithm, but were very special to me.

I read my 2017 reflections over again before starting to write this one, and was again struck by how busy December is. I had so many ideas and plans that will have to be put off for another time, but I’m really happy with what we were able to accomplish this year.

We had a lot of little trips throughout the year, and we were so happy to be able to take a flight to visit family in Manitoba. There were so many firsts in Little Forager’s second year, and we enjoyed soaking up every minute of them - especially his first real experiences with the ocean, and his first airplane trip!

This year was the first full year the A Forager’s Home Shop was open for business, and it was really nice to have that outlet for my creativity. I really enjoy making things for others, and I have been so blown away by your support in this endeavour! I look forward to what the coming year brings!

In addition to my regular topics, I also took more of a focus on eco-friendly home decor and/or organization on a budget on the blog. There are not a lot of gardening and foraging topics to cover in my area in the winter, so last year I shared how I redid my bedroom spending only $10. I also was able to feature a few of my products in there including the now out of stock autumn forage wreath, and the golden pinecone garland (still in stock and available in gold or silver via the link to the right).

I was able to make so many beautiful wreaths for the shop this year! Some of them were absolutely one of a kind, and will not be made again, others I will probably recreate like the sagebrush wreath and twig wreaths below. The Autumn Forage Wreath (pictured above in my bedroom), and the Summer Forage Wreath (pictured below, second from the right) were made from what was available at the time, and while I might make something like them again, I won’t be able to exactly recreate them. You can shop the current wreath collection by clicking here.

Fabric Twine Basket

Handwoven Rag Rug

Fabric Twine Coasters

I was also able to work on lots of items from recycled fabric this year, and that gave me a lot of joy. I get my fabric scraps from various groups that are doing really worthy work. Some of them come from a few of the ladies that are a part of my Church’s “Sewing for Dignity” group that makes clothing, baby blankets, and feminine hygiene packs for underprivileged communities. Some also come from my Grandma who is a part of her Church’s used clothing ministry and helps sort out what is quality, and what is unusable from the various donations they get. Previously all of these bits would have just become garbage, so I am happy to give them life as useful, beautiful objects.

I also got a chance to be a vendor at the inaugural season of the Dallas Barnhartvale Farmers’ Market this summer. It was a really great opportunity to meet a lot of local people, and the support from my community was incredible. I’d be absolutely happy to do it over again next season!

This year also involved a lot of winter! It snowed straight through until April, so we made great use of our snowshoes, and skates. Kamloops is very beautiful in the snow! This year Little Forager also began what might be an undying love of skating and hockey. He’s now a diehard Blazer’s fan, and loves watching the Canucks on TV. This Christmas he got his own pair of tiny skates and is hard at work learning how to stay up by himself on them.

This year - unbeknownst to me - was my last season with my garden. I have so loved working on that project, and feeding my family with my own two hands. Balcony gardening is my future, and I am looking forward to the challenges and learning experiences that will bring. Even without the space I am used to, I will still be keeping the “grow” category of topics alive here on the blog.

2018 also featured a lot of recipes! I enjoyed writing the “meals from the pantry” series, and might pick that up again this winter if there is interest, and I also love creating and sharing the recipes I make from foraged ingredients. This is “A Forager’s Home”, after all!

Douglas-Fir Sugar Cookies

“Pop Stars”

Mixed Bean Turkey Chilli

Wild Lettuce Soup

Apple Muffins with Sourdough Starter

Roasted Vegetable Soup

Dandelion Leaf Kimchi

Floral Ice Cream

Pumpkin Apple Blender Muffins

Sourdough Doughnuts

If you have been reading this blog for the past little while you’ll know we recently had to move house. I was hoping to do some sort of “holiday home tour” this month and show off how we set up our new place, but our crazy schedule got the best of us, and all I have to show you are these few photos below.

We spent Christmas with my side of the family in my parents’ new place. This was the first year they had enough room for a full Christmas tree, and I have to say it made it feel a lot more like Christmastime knowing that my parents had their tree set up!

This photo of Little Forager sleeping in the glow of the Christmas tree is possibly a candidate for my absolute favourite photo of the year.

I’ve saved our biggest news of the year for last - although we’ve already shared it quite a bit so you might already know. This year we were so thrilled to find out that our little family would be growing by one in Spring of 2019! We are expecting a little girl to join us, and we couldn’t be more excited!

2018 was a complicated year, but filled to the brim with good things, and we can’t wait to see what 2019 has in store for us! How was your year? I’d love to hear how things were for you in the comments.

Goodbye Garden

Some of you who follow my Instagram or other social feeds might already know we have moved. Part of this move means saying goodbye to my garden of 4 years, and starting a new life as a balcony gardener. This post is going to be on the photo heavy side, because I don’t really have a lot to say about our change. I’ll continue to garden in this new way, and keep writing about it here although the topics will be even more focused on small space and container gardening. Nothing else about the blog will change other than the “Grow” topic, since I am more than able to continue with the “Find, Eat, and Make” categories that I normally write about.

We’ll miss our time here - especially the incredible views - but we’re looking forward to settling in to our new place, and tackling the challenges that come with growing plants on a balcony.

I’ll be updating more about our new place soon, and there is also new stuff coming down the pipe for the A Forager’s Home Shop (specifically winter/Christmas related things) so stay tuned here for updates! It’s been a little while since I last updated this blog, but moving has really commanded all my attention! I’m looking forward to getting back in the swing of things again now that we are almost settled in.

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2016 In Photos