Congratulations to the Roberts Family

My sister, Sarah had a baby boy on Thursday and no doctors were needed for the delivery. This is Sarah's third boy and now she knows how to deliver them herself! I wish I was closer so that I could hold that little baby boy! Welcome Benjamin Edward Roberts! Way to go Sarah - I hope it was the Disney Experience you were hoping for! Can't wait to see pictures (of the baby, not the experience)!

What's for Breakfast

We headed to the library yesterday after the 4th straight day of rain. I brought back a few cookbooks, including Feast by Nigella Lawson (which is my new favorite cookbook). I started with her fishcakes for dinner (baked, not fried), I made this granola last night and I made her banana buttermilk pancakes for our family breakfast this morning (sometimes I do make breakfast twice, Joshua always asks for pancakes)! We also had potato and onion hash for dinner. All delicious. I had been making a granola recipe that I found on allrecipes.com but I haven't been able to find good quality coconut lately. So I thought I would try this one. Enjoy!
Andy's Fairfield Granola
from Nigella Lawson's Feast

4.5 cups rolled oats
1 cup sunflower seeds
¾ cup sesame seeds
¾ cup apple sauce
2 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. ginger
⅓ cup brown rice syrup
¼ cup honey
¾ cup light brown sugar
2 cups whole almonds
1 tsp. sea salt
2 tbsp. sunflower oil
2 cups raisins
1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees.

2.Mix everything (except the raisins) together.

3. Spread on baking sheets and bake for 40-60 minutes (till evenly golden, after one turning).

4. Cool and add raisins.

Notes:
One variation: replace almonds with raw peanuts and add 1/4 cup cocoa powder to seeds and oats at the outset. Skip the raisins.

Kids are Great

I was playing with Joshua in the basement the other day and he was pretending that we were going hunting in the Arctic. We saw polar bears and penguins and we were having a great time! I was getting hungry and I asked if he wanted to come upstairs with me and get a snack. Joshua said "Mom, can you just bring my snack down here, I'm not done using my imagination."

What are great things your kids have said lately?

Loving the Kids

Mr. Innkeeper has been waking up with Delia at night and getting her back to sleep for the past week. I hadn't slept through the night in over four years and it showed! Delia had a couple of rough nights at the beginning of last week, but now settles right down with Mr. Innkeeper and I have gotten to sleep! Glorious sleep!


This past week I have been able to enjoy my kids and family so much more and the business goes way smoother! As I was putting Joshua to bed tonight I was thinking about how much I love him and enjoy him, instead of "please go to bed so I can have one minute to myself!" I love being a well-rested mom! And I love Mr. Innkeeper!

Riding the Bus with Jason

My brother is famous, you can see him here:

http://www.cbc.ca/thisibelieve/

The Barbeque

Strawberry Muffins for Canada Day!

We had a barbeque on Monday to celebrate Canada Day. I was arranging my newly painted chairs (Happy Anniversary to me from Mr. Innkeeper) on the back deck at around noon, thinking to myself how it was such a perfect day for an outdoor party.


We had people come for 1:00 pm so all of our guests would be checked out and the rooms would be clean in case people wanted to have a look around. We had just over 50 people show up, and then the torrential down pour began. We all crammed into the house while Mr. Innkeeper manned the grill. It rained off and on for the entire party, but cleared up in time to have fireworks at Grandpa Bill's!

B&B Etiquette

When staying at a B&B please remember that the host is most often the one who checks you in and makes you breakfast. Check-in time is between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm and while I am happy to accommodate people outside that window of time, I like a heads up! Breakfast is better if I am well-rested! Well, I'm not really sure about being well-rested since that hasn't happened in over 4 years, but that's another topic.

One night this week we had someone check in at 1:30 in the morning. Mr. Innkeeper and I had waited up until midnight and figured the guest was a no show. He rang the bell at 1:30, Mr. Innkeeper got out of bed to check our guest in and asked him if his flight was delayed. The response: "I got in around 11:00 pm". Uh, okay, so we're not sure if he headed downtown for a drink, since we're only 15 minutes from the airport or why he couldn't call when he arrived at the airport! I just don't think he realized how it works at a B&B. It's quite simple - just let us know if you're going to be late! And if you're going out on the town, stop and get your keys first, so I can go to bed!

Flowers from my Garden

I am grateful this week to have found someone to help me on Sundays. I have been struggling at trying to get everything done before church and then rush home to try and finish cleaning rooms before guests arrive. And I was having a hard time to find someone who could work on Sundays, truth be told, I didn't even want to ask anyone. I don't want to be a Sunday employer, but I just couldn't get it all done and retain my sanity. My friend's mother's name kept coming to my mind as I would reflect on my problem and I dismissed it several times thinking that she wouldn't want to clean all day Sunday. But finally I called her and she was willing to come. Today was her first day and she did an excellent job (she even said she enjoyed it). I am so glad that the house was clean when I came home today, because church has already put me on the verge and I definitely don't feel like scrubbing toilets today!



Delia was not happy in Sacrament Meeting, so I took her out for that hour. The next hour I taught Sunday School to three 12 and 13 year olds. And the next hour I stayed with Joshua, who is still having issues with his new Sunbeam teacher. Joshua had some pretty big tantrums in the hall and there was plenty of stress to go around. Thankfully, Delia had a good time in Nursery. Sometimes I feel that the only reason I am going to Church is to obey!

Happy Canada Day! We're having a big barbeque tomorrow to celebrate, and we're hoping for sunshine! I don't think there are many places more beautiful than Nova Scotia when the sun is shining!