Earth Day at the Farmer's Market

This morning I awoke to sunshine and began my day researching other blogs out there and found so many helpful sites, where others selflessly help others to create and write. From Zen Habits I found Mary Jaksch and her blog, Goodlife Zen,  and her wonderful blog which in turn linked me to her site Write To Done, where they are passionate about helping writers get confident and write better.  There is even a free ebook, The (nearly)Ultimate Guide to Better Writing for you to download if you wish.

This was such an exciting start to my day. After my breakfast during which I was filled with gratitude for the trees breaking into leaf outside my window, my lovely friend Ruona called me and invited me to go to the opening day of the Farmer's Market here in beautiful Maple Ridge.

When we arrived it was a bustling, happy place to be. So many wonderful vendors sharing fresh produce, and crafts and community organizations displaying their ideas for all to see. 

This little boy was intrigued by the red wriggler worms used to make a worm composting box. I used to have these in my Magic Puddle Preschool many years ago.  Children just love seeing these living creatures in the dark soil.

Inside the magical worm composting box.

I had just watched the documentary No Impact Man last week and he had incorporated a worm composting box into his New York apartment.  Life is so full of timely coincidences.

We walked on and bumped into my friend Loretta, who I am currently doing my MEd with at SFU.  She loves bees and is working with Hives for Humanity to spread the beauty and power of bees. Not only to they give us honey, but they help heal humans.  The CEED Centre have recently added bees to their Community Garden and it is exciting to see the work Loretta is doing in our community.  She has created some bee puppets and was presenting a puppet show today. The marionettes made of natural fabric and wool are once again of my Waldorf based preschool and the toys we had there for the children to play with. 

See the black and yellow bee puppet hided by the moss. Love the marionettes too, so soft and gentle.

Bees and the flowers they love. Plant flowers and feed the bees.

Once again we moved on. It is such a joy to be at our Farmer's Market and you can't walk ten steps without bumping into an old friend.  Music was everywhere you turned and children were dancing and performing in little enclaves where performances were occurring. A true wealth of community and the sense of belonging that it brings to all who are there.

We stopped to watch local artist Jack, as he painted the mountains we love so much.


In the distance I heard to drumming and was drawn to the sound.  Sure enough it was a good friend, Pamela Danz,  playing with another mutual friend. Great sounds and it got us dancing.

What an amazing morning. I also gathered a  huge amount of information I hope to use for my cob house project. Booths on solar energy and saving rainwater to set up irrigation systems in your garden etc were so helpful to me as I get nearer to building my natural home.

I hope to post information about these discoveries on my Pams Cob House blog another day.
Right now I am heading into Vancouver to see my daughter and get some planters and plants to build a patio garden for her deck.

Thank you for such a blessed and beautiful day, and it is only 1:30. :-)