Courage

Courage means to tell the story of who you are with your whole heart. – Brene Brown

Outdoor Lending Library

A few blocks from my home someone set up an outdoor Lending Library in front of their house.

St. George Lending Library

Lend or Borrow

Give or Receive

Such a great way to de-clutter your own house and pick up some new books. And who doesn’t love FREE BOOKS?

A great example of individual initiative.

 

Summer Came Early

Summer never showed up last year so we’re soaking it up for all it’s worth.

We’ve Got It All Wrong

Somewhere along the way we forgot what nature has always known. It’s not the female’s job to primp and preen – just look at nature – that is supposed to be the male’s job.

Take the peacock for instance.

We saw a fine example of this at Maplewood Farm today. First a grey female peacock came along and watched the male for a while. He strut his stuff and shook his feathers like nobody’s business.

Ater a while she got bored and took off.

Then a white female peacock came along and watched the male for a while. He strut his stuff and shook his feathers like nobody’s business.

After a while she got bored and took off.

I asked my kids which female peacock was impressed enough by the male that she might have babies with him?

They said, “None. He’s not working hard enough.” 

Exactly my point with women today! So many billions of dollars spent on hair, make-up and clothes in order to primp and and preen around the males hoping that one will pick them. But no! This is not the way of nature.

Be confident in who you are,

women,

and you true inner beauty will shine.

Be confident in who you are

and you will feel whole within yourself -

not needing another person to fill that empty void within.

Be confident enough in who you are

to show your inner self to the world.

This is the only way you can find a true companion.

Find the confidence by accepting yourself

just as you are right now -

with all the mistakes, imperfections and failures.

The world needs you.

Just as you are.

Ahh, Spring…

10 Hands, 50 Fingers

One thumb, one thumb, banging on a drum.
Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dum.

Millions of fingers, millions of drums.
Millions of fingers banging on a drums.
Dum ditty dum ditty dum dum dumm.

-Dr. Seuss

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In preparation for selling my art work, I bought a fabulous new high resolution large format scanner last fall. We’ve been having some fun with it…

How much can you tell about a person by their hands?

BIG NEWS! I’m selling my art now!

I am so excited to share that I am now selling my art as prints, posters, greeting cards, postcards, t-shirts, hoodies (sweatshirts), stickers and iPod cases! http://www.redbubble.com/people/erikahastings

I have set up sales through an online company called Red Bubble. Here are some FAQs to get you started.

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS

I saw one of your paintings or photographs and would like to buy a print of it but don’t see it listed on Red Bubble.

No problem. Just email me at erikahastings@gmail.com, let me know which one you were interested in, and it will be added there.

I’d like to have one of the images on a T-Shirt, Hoodie, iPhone Case or Stickers but I don’t see it listed on Red Bubble.

No problem. Just email me at erikahastings@gmail.com, let me know which image you wanted and in which format and it will be added there.

I’d like to buy one of Erika Hastings’ original paintings. How do I do that?

Sorry. I am not currently selling original art work.

Is it safe to buy online?

Yes. RedBubble takes their works seriously and PayPal has been safely used by millions of people around the world.

What are my shipping and handling costs?

Add you items into the shopping cart and ‘proceed to the checkout.’ Once you add your address and preferred shipping method, your shipping costs will be calculated.

RedBubble is an Australian company with bases in Australia, the US, Canada and the UK. They ship worldwide.

What if I don’t like the purchase?

RedBubble offers a Satisfaction Guaranteed policy. If you are not satisfied with your order you can choose to get your money back, replace the the item or get store credit. Easy as that.

 

If you have any other questions, feel free to leave a comment below or email me at erikahastings@gmail.com.

Have fun and buy some art!  http://www.redbubble.com/people/erikahastings

Can you guess what it is?

Rainbow Squash

 

 

A few treasures from a winter farmer’s market in Vancouver last week.

 

Smurf Houses

 

 

 

We have recently found several Smurf books at the library – graphic novel style – that have been published in the last year. Smurfs are apparently making a comeback. These mushrooms look like a good home from them.

I found so many vibrant and unusual mushrooms when I was on Bowen Island. In Spain there is an annual mushroom hunt that everyone partakes of, so everybody knows all the common and latin names of every kind of mushroom that grows. I, unfortunately, do not.

Does anyone know the names of these mushrooms?

Pink Leaves

 

I am a big fan of color saturated photography, in case you hadn’t noticed, especially nature shots that burst out with all the colors of the rainbow like these pink autumn leaves.

This was another one from my hike around Killarney Lake on Bowen Island.

Rainbow Log

I took over 2000 photos during my afternoon hikes on Bowen Island and have slowly whittled it down to just over 100 of the best ones. I think this one is my favorite.

I was hiking around Killarney Lake and found this partially burned log with bright orange mushrooms growing inside. The blue and purple are the burned parts of the log, the red and brown is the still healthy tree trunk and the green is the moss growing along the side.

Bright Spots

Twelve years ago, shortly after Chris and I got married, we moved to Brazil to volunteer at an international Baha’i school that my parents had been working at for several years. It was a tough year, as the first year of marriage is for anyone, and the work was hard. The days felt long. My health was terrible. I hated my marriage. I was teaching a class of crazy third graders. I had a lot of dark spots.

My sister was also living and working there and at the end of a terrible day we’d all be sitting around the dinner table and she started a new family tradition to get us out of our melancholic depression: Bright Spots. Everyone had to think of one thing that they were grateful for, a highlight from the day, a *Bright Spot*, and we’d share it with each other. A lot of times the only thing that we could say was, “My bright spot is this dinner tonight.”

We’ve continued the Bright Spots tradition within our own families at dinner time, and recently I’ve also added the addition of Dark Spots to the conversation as a way of bringing up and discussing the difficult times during the day. Mealtimes are a natural time for attachment and connection, in fact, we only feel comfortable eating close to those who we are most attached to.

So here is my Dark Spot for today:

1. In a few days, Chris leaves for Spain for two and half weeks for work. I know. Spain! I don’t mind so much when he goes to Denver or Milwaukee because, who wants to go there? But Spain. Oh, Spain.

And now to my Bright Spot:

1. When Chris comes home from Spain, he is taking the week off to watch the kids and I am going on a four day trip by myself to Bowen Island, a 15 minute ferry ride away. This will be my first time in 8 years that I will be on a trip by myself – without children. I will sleep in every morning, go for a run, take a walk and take pictures, do some paintings and recharge. I am ecstatic.

Today is Canadian Thanksgiving.

What are you thankful for? What is your bright spot?

Crazy Hair

Swingin’ in the Rain

 

Just swingin’ in the rain…

 

Airplane

So that’s how you get those balls into the right holes…

What is the biggest challenge to homeschooling?

Zimbabwean sculpture from Van Dusen Gardens.

 

I was asked last week, “What is the biggest challenge to homeschooling?”

Well, that’s pretty simple. That would be me. I am the biggest challenge to homeschooling. Me, myself and I.

 

In the first place, just deciding to do homeschooling was a huge battle against myself. I was looking forward to a time when all the kids would be away for part of the day, taken care of by someone else, so I could work and fill up myself in other ways.

Bit by bit as I pulled the tangles out of that knot I started to see that this time is short. No more that a blink of the eye in my life time. My ancestors live long lives and 20 years out of a life time of 100 years is just a blip on the map. In reality, I only have maybe 10 years left with my oldest daughter before she is finished high school and off on some great world adventure. I realized that if I can truly give her what she needs in these next ten years, she will become a strong, independent, creative, compassionate, loving person. And in these next ten years I can nurture her to become her true self, find her gifts and encourage them and help her to find her path in life.

I worked as a high school teacher before I decided to become a full-time, stay at home mother, mostly for the same reasons that I am describing here, and what I saw in the schools was a swarm of teenagers who were truly lost. They didn’t know themselves or have the courage to be who there were. They didn’t know what they’re own unique gifts and talents were or how to strengthen them. Even if they did know them, they were too afraid to show them. When they got to university they didn’t know what to study and switched majors every year. Those that were focused on a career path leaned heavily on the pressure of their parents. By the time they graduated and started working they realized that they didn’t like the job they had spent the last 4-12 years of university working toward.

I don’t want to my children to be lost.

But, back to me. The other greatest challenge is wondering, Am I doing the right thing? Am I screwing up my children even worse by teaching them at home? Are they falling behind? Am I doing enough with them? Am I doing the right thing with them? Are we using the right curriculum? The right method?

There are so many fears and worries in the beginning – most of them are alleviated by research and by time. Just seeing that yes, in fact, my daughter will learn to read in spite of the teacher’s worries that she was falling behind. No, there is no such thing as falling behind. Every person has their own unique blueprint. Curricula and methods work for some and not for others. I just have be patient and try different things.

I see that my children are thriving in this environment when they were shriveling in school, so I know that it is the right thing. But I still worry sometimes…

I also see that as my two year old approaches the three year old age, things are easier. We can all do similar things together. I have energy and drive to paint and to find bits of time to do my own work. I know that it will get easier and I will have more and more time to do this, even though they are at home with me. We can all work together.

My 3 year old nephew, Will and my almost 3 year old daughter, Fiona.

Sing a Song

Sing a song of sixpence, a pocket full of rye,

Four and twenty blackberries baked in a pie.

When the pie was opened our mouths began to sing,

Oh, wasn’t that a dainty dish to set before the king.

The king was in a bath of berries, counting out his money.

The queen was eating raspberries, sweeter than honey.

The maid was in the garden, washing berries from the clothes,

When down came a blackberry and landed on her nose!

To Market, to Market

To market, to market to buy a wallet.

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig.

Good price, good price. Only for you!

Made by hand, made by hand. Will you buy two?

To market, to market to buy a wallet.

Home again, home again, jiggidy jig.