Crop Top Confidence

Posted on August 2, 2018August 2, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

I’ve always wanted to be a crop top person. I’ve admired the look, and the confidence it takes to pull it off, from the last time they were popular, through now. I’ve always had an urge to tug and tie my t-shirts and button ups at my waist to get a better fit for my short torso but consistently chicken out between checking my outfit in the mirror and leaving my bedroom for the day. I end up tucking my shirt in and having it billow out and fit poorly all day instead. It’s not a lack of confidence in my body that makes me untie my shirt and tuck it into my skirt, I think it’s more a lack of confidence in my style.

Then I noticed, while working my booth at local markets, just how many women – of all sizes and ages – were rocking crop tops this year, how great they all looked and how envious I felt of them. I decided this was the year I would trust myself and my style and start wearing cropped and tied up tops whenever I felt like it. Admittedly, there is a bit of a body confidence hurdle to overcome, especially when summer tan lines make me feel like I’m wearing a big sign that shouts, “hey! this is weird for me,” but the feeling that my clothes fit properly and knowing I’m brave enough to do something that makes me nervous, in public no less, ends up actually boosting my confidence in the end.

T-shirt Craft Arts Market
Skirt so old and altered, I actually can’t remember
Shoes ModCloth
Camera Bag Amazon
Earrings Claire’s

All photos by me and Matt Harrison.

Garden Party

Posted on July 31, 2018July 31, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

We moved into our starter house at the end of summer 2016. The backyard was a mess so we spent the rest of the year trying to tame and reclaimed it.

We had the garden area cleared and restored in time to put some vegetables in last summer but they didn’t grow very well. The soil was full of pests, tree roots, literal garbage and plastic that the previous owners had buried for some unfathomable reason, and broken glass and pottery. The yard was also shaded by a large walnut tree at the back of our yard and an overgrown birch on the side, breaching the border between our yard and the neighbour’s. We tilled the soil, trying our best to clean it up as we went, and worked in some manure that we got from my father-in-law’s organic farm. The plants that were able to take root and then survive the bugs did well enough to give us a few fresh meals, but certainly didn’t produce enough to give us winter reserves.

Early the next spring, our neighbour, also a new, first-time home owner, had the overgrown birch tree taken down. We dug up many of the tree roots that were sending up suckers and causing trouble, found and removed the rest of the garbage (thanks Pepper), and, over the course of the previous year, had driven away most of the pests using organic methods.

Knowing not to expect too much from our garden, this year we planted a few cheap and easy things with a let’s see what happens attitude. We didn’t get many peas, but the radishes did alright. Then the summer sun started rising over the houses and shining into our north facing yard, through the gaps where the tree used to be, for most of the day and our garden took off! The horseradish, potatoes, tomatoes, beans, zucchini, and various herbs soon took over and started crowding out the weeds. Not even Pepper, the biggest garden pest of all, can trample the strong, bumper crop of plants we’ve been able to grow this year.

Dress ModCloth
Hat Forever 21
Shoes ModCloth
Necklace Emery & Opal

All photos be me and Matt Harrison.

Swimming with Sharks

Posted on July 24, 2018July 23, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

Pepper has loved water since she was a little puppy having “pool parties” in her water bowl. She loves chasing waves, splashing in puddles and running through sprinklers so we were very excited to take her up to the cottage and play in the lake. She liked putting her paws in the water and playing on the large rocks that stretch out into the lake, just under the water’s surface, but she only only properly swam once and didn’t seem to like the way her thick fur weighed her down. We decided to let her find swimming in her own time and accepted that, although she loves playing in shallow water, she may never like swimming.

Since coming home from our weekend jaunt to the cottage, we’ve passed our steamy summer days walking along familiar rivers and taking evening trips to the beach. Pepper dips her legs in the river to cool down and enjoys running down the beach in the shallow water after a long, hot day. During one of our recent trips to the beach, she surprised us and confidently left the shallow shoreline to take a short swim with us as we waded out into the water; maybe her shark fin gave her courage. The next time we returned to the beach, she met another Australian Shepherd and paddled around with him for a little bit while his owner told us that he didn’t like swimming at first either. She dashed in and out of the water, swimming, herding the waves and shaking out the whole time we were there, like it was nothing.

The lake at the cottage is a little different because there isn’t really anywhere you can ease in, you just have to jump, so I’m not sure she’ll get in this time either, but I’m so excited to see if she’ll swim while we’re up there again for our summer vacation.

Bathing Suit ModCloth
Skirt Steady Clothing
Sunglasses ModCloth

Pepper’s Shark Fin Labrashark

All photos by me and Matt Harrison.

Banana Frozen Yogurt for Dogs

Posted on July 12, 2018July 11, 2018 by Melissa Harrison

Summer afternoons get pretty hot for this fluffy pupper in our old house with no air conditioning. We keep cool with walks in shady parks, romps in the kiddy pool and this two-ingredient doggy frozen yogurt stuffed into Kongs. Made with just banana and plain yogurt, it’s a simple, healthy and refreshing summer treat!

Ingredients

Makes enough to fill 2 large size Kongs.

1 ripe banana, mashed
½ cup plain yogurt

Method

Mash banana in a small bowl and mix well with the yogurt.
Churn in an ice cream maker according to manufacturer instructions.
You can serve the frozen yogurt to your dog now but it will be more of a soft serve consistency. For a longer lasting treat, fill a couple of Kongs (or other dish your dog can eat directly out of) and stash in the freezer for a few hours.

Since there isn’t any added sugar, the frozen yogurt is going to freeze up quite hard and will be difficult to scoop. If you can’t freeze it right into something your dog can eat out of, just leave it out on the counter until it thaws out a bit and becomes soft and scoopable again before serving.

All photos by me.

Sophster-Toaster

Author: Melissa Harrison