Tricia's Musings

Random Thoughts about life in general, living in the big city of Toronto



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What makes you happy?

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Did you know that the word Genki means happy in Japanese?

I often think of things that make me happy. Perhaps that’s a side effect of being stuck at home due to my Crohn’s and being in pain a lot of the time. Considering my circumstances I think overall I’m a fairly happy and positive person.

If I think about it I can find happiness easily. It doesn’t take much. What kinds of things make you happy? I know that one of my blogging friends, Robyn, is full of happiness because she’s just purchased a beautiful home for her family. Security and living space, a new beginning. Yes I’d imagine that those things would make many people happy.

Gazing out my kitchen window at my backyard – seeing all the birds in the feeder or flitting from plant to plant, butterflies and bumble bees doing pretty much the same as the birds, but to flowers, squirrels chasing one another, and just seeing my many flowers in bloom or the pretty foliage in my garden. Those are things that make me happy.

When I take photographs, particularly of flowers, I’m actually trying to show you what makes me happy. I’m amazed at the loveliness of plants and the amazing things they do, the whole blooming process, the patterns within leaves or even within flower petals. I try to show you what I see and what amazes me when I post some of my photos.

I guess I’m a very outdoors oriented person because as I sit here and try to think of things other than family and friends that make me happy I keep thinking of outdoor things.

Being in a canoe, especially on fast or white water. The smell of cut grass. The fragrance of a rose or pretty much any flower or foliage that produces a scent. A sunset or sunrise. The way clouds look when they are dark, or when the sun passes through them. A rainbow after a rain storm, or walking in the warm rain. These are things that make me happy.

A child’s smile, or the sound of children laughing. My husband laughing. Helping others, especially when I’m working as a nurse. Chocolate – anything chocolate. Yes these are things that make me happy.

Today I’m happy and relieved that my sites are back up and running! Does that make you happy too?





I must buy a canoe this year

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I’m so envying my blogging friend RennyBA. You’ve seen him here many times as he’s a faithful commenter.

He recently had some very good friends come and stay with he and his family and they did some outings together. One of the things they did was go canoing on a beautiful lake. Lovely.

I swear I was born in a canoe. I used to white water canoe – now that’s an adventure!

Being Canadian you either play and live hockey or you are an avid camper and or canoeist – or something in between. Trouble is I haven’t been in a canoe in ages. It’s like a craving now after reading his posts and looking at all the photos they took.

I miss canoing and boating so much! We have a pop up trailer. I think I’m going to get a canoe sometime this summer and use it. I must get back into a canoe.

I can always store the canoe where we keep our trailer. Might as well have the complete outdoor package together right?

Does anyone else enjoy canoeing or boating?

It is easy being green

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I’m glad to see that some of you really liked the eco-handbags in my last post. I really like the company and what it stands for as well as their products.

I really do think that I’m going to get one of their handbags. I need a new purse. I do, I really do.

As for living green. Laane said in one of the comments “If you’re really eco-friendly you recycle at home. Because all the transport costs a lot of pollution too.”

Well you’ll be pleased to know that recycling is the law here in Toronto. Our recycled materials are picked up every two weeks. Garbage is picked up on alternate weeks.

Green garbage – kitchen peelings, used paper towels, coffee grounds and other biodegradable “garbage” is picked up weekly. We do have a composter though so a good portion of our green garbage goes into the compost as well.

I’ve written a few articles on As the Garden Grows lately about living green and how to save money by living green. Making a few changes now can save you a lot of money in the future and none of the things that we to make our life greener are all that hard.

Check out those articles if you want to be a little more eco-friendly and save some money too.

Why do we have more money living in a house than an apartment?

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It’s amazing how much different our life is since we got our house six years ago. We’d been living in a small apartment, paying fairly low rent given the area – and we didn’t really have the same kind of bills that we have now that we have a house, but it always seemed like we were struggling to get by.

When we living in the apartment we were both paying off student loans, had a car payment, paid for cable, internet, car insurance, and telephone and paid our rent (only $725 which is cheap for a nice apartment in a good area of Toronto). We both had full time jobs that paid decently too.

I really have no idea how we got by without having applied for a student loan consolidation. We would have saved a lot of money on interest and our monthly payments probably would have been lower too.

Still we pushed on. The student loans were our biggest bills other than rent back then. I am glad that we don’t have student loans to pay off anymore. I’ve thought of going back to school but it’s the loans that scare me! If I ever do back to school you can bet your boots I’ll be consolidating the loans next time.

I think getting a house gave us more of a sense of responsibility. We used to buy what we wanted when we wanted. Now we think about it for quite a while. We still buy what we want but by the time we’ve put all that thought into it we’ve often saved the money to pay for that item outright.

I know our living expenses are higher in the house – mortgage, property tax, water bill, telephone, cable, cell phone, internet, electricity, oil for the oil furnace, insurance – no car or student loans anymore though, and yet we still seem to have extra money and I’m not even working these days.

Sure I make some pretty good money via the internet, but Chris makes less than he did when we lived in the apartment so income kind of evens out. As I said it must be just that we are more responsible with our money these days.

Unique handcrafted Eco-Handbags

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ecofriendly.jpg

Do you recycle? I’ve just been exploring the website of a company that recycles in a very creative way.

Eco-Handbags.ca is Canadian company, based in Montreal, Quebec and it’s been a well received online presence since it’s beginnings in December of 2006. This online retail store sells one of a kind chic, unique and eco-fashionable handbags.

These handbags are made out of recycled and eco-friendly materials such as candy wrappers, chopsticks, 35 mm slides, movie billboards, sails, soda pop tops, bicycle inner tubes and truck tire inner tubes, record albums and cds, magazines as well as natural materials such as hemp, natural plants, denim, recycled canvas, organic cotton and many more interesting materials.

I must tell you right from the start that I absolutely adore most of the handbags. I’ve spent quite a while exploring the site and I’m impressed by the lovely and utterly creative bags that Eco-Handbags many talented designers have created.

This company believes that if everyone did their part for their environment, even something as simple as purchasing a fashionable unique handbag that’s been made out of recycled materials, that the world would be a better place. If you’ve been reading my home and gardening blog over the last week or two you know that I try to live a fairly green lifestyle so I’m quite happy to be introducing you to this wonderful company.

Visit the Eco-Handbag.ca website and you’ll find not only handbags, but also coin pouches, clutch bags, totes, purses, men’s shaving kit bag, wine bags, yoga mat bags, cosmetic bags, gym bags and just about any other type of bag that you might desire.

Enough of me telling you what you can find on the site – let me show you!

trucktirebag.jpg Just take a look at this beautiful mini evening handbag that’s been made from recycled truck inner tubes. The inner tubes used to create this bag have been collected from tire centers then cleaned in an environmentally friendly solution for three days.

The patterns on the rubber are unique to each hand bag.

Fine leather and non leather is used for the trim, Swarovski Crystals adorn the outside of the bag, and the inside is lit with an automatic light system that illuminates the interior of the bag when it’s opened.

candywrapbotero-kiwi.jpg This Botero- Kiwi handbag is made from candy wrappers. Isn’t it beautiful? I think this is my favorite design. I may end up buying this one myself.

This bag was inspired by Columbian Artist Fernando Botero.

The candy wrappers are constructed in a way that creates the attractive bubbly shape. This bag also features a zipper closure, and shiny metal handles.

art005-40.jpg This last bag, an open tote, is
made from recycled art banners. Don’t you love banner that was used for this bag?

This bag would be idea for day to day activities and because you might use it every day it’s been made with materials that can cope with seasonal changes. The banner is made of PVC, it’s trimmed in black, has a black promo lining and has an interior open pocket and cell phone pocket to help you stay organized.

You’ll notice that when you visit the site and start browsing through the various bags that the designer who made the bag is listed. Clicking on the link will take you to the artists profile page and you’ll be able to see all of their creations on that one page. Eco-Handbags.ca does this specifically to highlight and support their artisans.

All prices on the site are in Canadian funds. At this time the Canadian dollar is within a few cents of the US dollar so if you are a US citizen the price in US dollars will be very close to the one displayed on the site. I found the prices of the bags to be very reasonable. Each bag is unique, is a way for you to make a difference in the environment and is a quality handcrafted item.

Shipping throughout Canada and the US is free of charge. Purchases will be sent via the Canadian Postal Service using the Expedited, small packet air or ground service depending upon which country the parcel is being shipped. International orders should contact Eco-Handbags.ca to discuss shipping rates.

I really like this company and not just because it’s as Canadian as I am. They are really all about protecting and saving the earth. Eco-Handbags.ca is a member of 1% for the Planet. This is an alliance of small businesses that pay a voluntary earth tax and donate 1% of their sales to non-profit, non-governmental environmental organizations.

Visit Eco-Handbags.ca and take a look at their lovely handbags. I’ll bet that you’ll love them. Check out their eco-blog and eco-links while you are there too.

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