The Great GORP Project

Assiniboine Park Children's Garden! Yay Winnipeg:)

 
 
 
 
 
I just can't say enough about the new Children's Garden at Assiniboine Park. . .The first time I saw it in full bloom after the grand opening I had to use every ounce of willpower to stop myself from openly applauding. . .then skipping and running through the darn place like an overgrown ape-like child. . .instead I contained myself, although I couldn't do anything about the stupid grin plastered across my chops. . or the many random outbursts declaring (to nobody in particular) THIS PLACE IS FLIPPING FANTASTIC!!!

I'm not just saying this because we happen to be partners in the company responsible for constructing some of the amazing installations out of reclaimed wood. .. ahem. . cough. .Wood Anchor. . .cough!

The best part about the "thinking" that must have been invested into the design of the garden was that unlike a giant "McDonald's Play-land" full of so much distraction that kids are overwhelmed and can barely think straight, the Assiniboine Park Children's Garden built into the design. .. room for IMAGINATION !! There is room for space(if that makes sense?). . .room for imaginary play. . .and the flow incorporates opportunities for discovering the unexpected. .. I LOVE the organic flavour. . .this granola loving gal gives it 2 thumbs up with a side of Whooopeeeee!!

This week has been packed full of "stuff". . .yesterday I attended a workshop on Strategic Planning. . .and it blew my mind. .. in more than the figurative sense. . .my head is still aching. . .I think I might have blown a fuse. . .but that's alright. .stretching right?? I'm putting together a short summary of some of the neat take-aways from the lesson plan. I'll share next post. . .tonight my dear Georgia competes for her yellow belt in Taekwondo, and right now I've got a 3 year old on my lap requesting some reading time. .. so off I go!

Rock out. be mighty and make someones day. . .do something EXTRA kind, just because it's Wednesday:)

Snakes and Ladders at Assiniboine Park. . . . Sneak Peek!

Yesterday we attended a sneak peek at the newest installation/massive project going on at Assiniboine Park. . .a Children's Garden with a Snakes and Ladders theme. Wood Anchor worked on many of the artistic wood works you will see in the following pictures. . the robins nest.  .stump hop scotch. . . .and massive snake to name a few! All made from reclaimed wood of course:) We are so proud to be partners in this company which is obviously filled with talented and amazing folks. .. we can't take any credit for the creative genius. ..so we are content to point and stare happily:)

 

A birds nest indeed:) And there's even a little worm in there. . . an uncommonly cute worm if I do say! 

See the snake?

This picture doesn't do this sculpture justice. .. it's over 10 feet tall and quite a sight. . .

Stump hop scotch was the biggest hit with my kids.. ..probably because there was the danger of falling into the newly planted foliage and doing some damage that would cause their mommy angst!

An alley way of musical frogs rocking it old school. ..can it get any better?!

 
 
 Only if there's tunnels for running, hiding, and general all purpose scally wagging. .  . SWEET!

Way to go Winnipeg. . .we soooo needed this!!

Hopping out.

 
 
 

Chesty. . .

Heeeeyyy. . what did ya think I was going to post about?

Remember when I fell all crazy in love with the toy boxes from this post? Well. . .I finally got around to making my version of them at home. . with a little help from my mother in law, who agreed to trust me and give my home made creations to the kids for Christmas, I went to work.

I found a very basic (non country charmish) unfinished toy box at www.cedarchests.com for $150.00. These chests are well built and made in the USA by a very reputable company called Little Colorado, they have a very good reputation and I love their philosophy and "feel". . .but I digress. Then I picked up some walnut stain at the local hardware store and borrowed some Osmo (an awesome product, we happen to sell through Wood Anchor. . .a natural non toxic wax base finish for everything from kids toys to floors;). The retro ADJUSTABLE legs I found at Lee Valley and the cool lego man decal I found on Etsy for 10 bucks. YES!

So after a few evenings of toiling away the finished product is what you see above. . that one is Oskars (because he's a lego maniac) Georgia picked an owl on a branch and Leo is getting a flying robot. .. but the decals have yet to arrive. .. so those pics will come later.

I'm pretty pumped. . .each cost under $200 bucks to make and in my humble completely biased opinion. .. THEY ROCK! 
 

That's my do-it-yourself tip of the year. . .I've still got a quilt to finish, which is haunting me. ..but soon enough. . SOON E NUFF. One foot in front of the other. . .it's that kind of year:)

Road trip update: My clean eating quest was destroyed less than 8 hours into the trip by the best gas station chicken fingers I've ever had in my life. . PERIOD. Somewhere in Nebraska I think? Also the best billboard I've seen in a long time, it read:

"If you must curse then go ahead. Please just use your own name."

- God

Rock.

Hair cuts and House!

There's been a battle brewing in the Dyck house for the last few months. ..all to do with Ozzy and Leo's hair. . .or more like their excess of hair. .. . I'm in favour of the long super cute shaggy look but Grant is partial to the ugga crew cut ;). .. . .After a long arduous battle. .. Grant won . . .so being the good wife that I am. .. I complied and pulled out the scissors. . .

O.k. fine. . .then I ruined EVERYTHING and my boys looked like the Beatles on a sugar high. . .so I called in reinforcements. . before Grant got home (lest he think I purposely thwarted his win!. .. .thanks mom:)

Mr. Clean. .. just waiting for the next hair to drop so he can whisk it into sweet oblivion:)

Hmmmm. . .why do I get the spooky feeling this is a picture of the future???

Now for some BLACK HOUSE PROJECT PICS AND PROGRESS SHOTS!

YUM. . .tabasco flowers are popping up in my entrance. . .
 

Sweet light from Varaluz lighting.

Living room storage and bookshelves. . the glass doors on the face of the cabinets I found in the back of some old shed on our old property by the river. .. reclaimed to perfection and a new life thanks to the handiwork of my sweet painter and awesome finisher:) (And to think Grant called me crazy for dragging these things from place to place not knowing at first what I was going to do with them. .. see my dear, your wife isn't always a nutter:)

Sweet honey Elm. . .from landfill diverted trees here in our very own Winnipeg. .. At least they will live a while longer. . .www.woodanchor.com!

Vanity. . .this is the Heath tile I found on a major clearance and bought it sight unseen on-line. .. it turned out GREAT:)

 

   Bathroom in progress. . .

Well. . .we may not make the Christmas deadline. ..but maybe we will?? As we hurdle towards the day we celebrate our Savior's birth I am trying to keep the true meaning of Christmas on my mind and in my heart and lay down the angst of deadlines combined with the constant rush. .

Time to slow down and soak up this season. . .let's not let it slip away with only new stress wrinkles to show for it K? There. Deal. If only the twitch in my eye would listen once in a while. . .come on dude. . quit it already. . .;)

Rock. Slow.
 
 
  

 

A first class event. . .

Well. . .now that I'm semi recovered from all the hoopla. .. I'M BAAAAACK!

The picture above is of all the nominees and judges who were part of the OYF national event this year. I can barely find the words to describe the experience. .. they had us running from sun up to sun down, and as we later found out. .. .it was all part of a master plan. . MISSION BONDING. That's it. It was like summer camp when you are a kid. .. you pack so much into that week that by the time you leave the compilation of experiences and moments and ups and downs and crying and laughter all mesh together into a feeling that is quite surreal. . .and friendships are formed, connections made, and a warmness of heart felt. .. .. that you will remember forever.

We were honoured, humbled, inspired and treated like royalty. To see the number of alumni who came out to watch and reconnect and participate was probably one of the most striking things about the event. That and of course meeting these folks for great conversations all week long was mind boggling. They welcomed us with open arms, kindness and compassion. I have literally never felt so at home in the midst of strangers. . .. although, I'm happy to report they aren't strangers anymore:)

So enough of my gushing. .. GREAT EVENT. done and done. I've got some sweet pictures for a BLACK HOUSE/COMMERCIAL KITCHEN UPDATE coming at ya tomorrow. .. and I might just find the time to throw together a sweet mix of running tunes for your ipod. . no promises though:)

Rock out. . .thanks for the support all. We will continue to farm proud and Gorp hard.. . .(yes, I'm on a mission to turn GORP into a verb. .. .as in Gorp much? Get Gorping. .. .gorp off?? (just kidding. .. about the gorp off bit. .. :)

Go Gorp. . There, non offensive and motivating. .. just the ticket.

Thanks for the memories OYF. . .see you in Victoria for 2010!

 

:)

(Artel Farms logo. .. with a Christmas tree instead of a leaf. .. very cool tweak for our Christmas party invites. .. thanks Lisa:)

First of all. . .Man. . .thank you. . .for your wisdom, for your kindness, and for just plain taking the time to comment and encourage and share. . .I love it. It's so easy to isolate yourself and assume that nobody else can possibly be going through the same thing. . .simply because of how we all present our "perceived" best face forward. . .but every once in a while there are cracks. . .and we see each other vulnerable. . and that's when we give each other the opportunity to love bigger, love deeper and GIVE. It's humbling and real. Thank you.

Well. .. at zero hour on Friday I finished the Artel Farms Slide-show Spectacular 2009 for the Christmas party. It's something we do every year to remind us of the struggles, victories, and just to make folks feel special. . .remind them that we see them. . .REALLY SEE THEM. . HOW HARD THEY WORK. . HOW THEY PUT THEMSELVES OUT THERE FOR US. .. AND WE NOTICE! I worked on it all day. . .just to have to do it THREE TIMES OVER because of technical nasties. .. but in the end. . .after it failed to save to my memory stick. . I hauled the whole dang computer over to the banquet room and with a LOT of help from a certain office managers sweet husband. . got it rolling. Whew!

Then to top it all off. .. there was the "First Annual Artel Farms Car Rally" on Saturday. . .the guys worked on this all week. . .fine tuning the track/field and rounding up all kinds of vehicles that were on deaths doorstop. . .INCLUDING A SCHOOL BUS!! It was crazy. . .and a bit surreal. . all of a sudden like ten minutes before the race all kinds of people started showing up. . some we knew, some we didn't but had somehow heard about this nut-bar shindig. .. there was a huge bale grand stand for the kids to watch from. . .enough food to feed everyone (thank goodness) and some pretty snazzy "race car/bus" drivers. . .pictures to come tomorrow:)

Tonight I'm in all likelihood pulling an all nighter getting ready for the Outstanding Young Farmers finals in Ottawa. . .we fly out Tuesday. . .and there is a MEGA LOAD OF THINGS TO ORGANIZE before we go. . .

We also had the Wood Anchor Christmas party on Saturday night. . .which was karaoke and chinese food. .. yes. .. I was forced to sing. .. so of course I did Mr. Brightside by The Killers. .. .thank goodness I had two rock stars (Jay and Jean Guy)singing with me so my monotone speaking/singing voice couldn't be heard. . .that's what I'm telling myself;)

Well. . .better get this show on the road. .. I'm putting on the coffee. . .it's going to be a long night. . .

over and out. ..

Tuesday. . .why are you hiding?

Well, Tuesday is upon me like a turtle on a fly. . .an ambitous fly, but still. Check list from yesterday remains unchecked, but that's alright, I will find drywall somewhere, insulation shall magically materialize. . .that's what I'm going with for the moment. More importantly Grant is off to San Jose with J our business partner in WOOD ANCHOR, to attend a green building conference and hopefully drum up some sales . . . there is a break in the harvest so what better time to take off after not seeing him for the majority of the summer (BIG WINK HERE BUDDY, don't be mad) ;) See one of our awesome tables here, made from old elevator beams. . .now eat off that bit of history! I know I will. Did some heart to heart with my self yesterday. . .perspective is the word of the day around here. . .I can do this one step at a time, the black house will be done by January (I'll post pics soon), that means my energy bar business can move into the basement, my provincially inspected basement, complete with HACCP plan and building codes for a food establishment adhered to. . .more research to do here. . .one step at a time Colleen. Then I can focus in on planning an awesome launch party for GORP and hope that somehow I can pull this off with 3 kids on my thigh. Yeee haw. . .let's not think too hard about this.

O.k. Tuesday, I'm on to you, time to sharpen my pencil and do some checking. . .look out!