This site is an archive of ChiotsRun.com. For the latest information about Susy and her adventrures, visit the Cultivate Simple site.
Thank you for all your support over the years!

Learning Swedish

December 31st, 2015

I speak Spanish fluently, the result of growing up in South America. Thankfully I never had to study it since I just learned it as a grew up. In high school I studied German and was able to hold my own when I traveled to Germany in high school. Mr Chiots and I are planning a trip to Sweden next fall, so we decided to learn Swedish. I found Duolingo, a free language program and we’ve been using it for a few weeks.
duolingo (1)
I even put the app on my phone and now I can do my 10 minute lesson when I’m out and about and have a few minutes to spare. One of these days I’m going to go through the Spanish lessons to keep up on that language.
duolingo
Overall, I think this program is FANTASTIC! It’s a great way to learn a language for a trip or just to keep your brain active. I use both the desktop and the phone version because they are both different and I learn different things from each. I like the flexibility of being able to complete the lesson while I’m at my desk or when I’m out and about. The best part is that it’s FREE! So sign up, friend me (ChiotsRun) and start learning a new language or strengthening one you already know.

Do you know any other languages besides your native tongue? If you could study one language, which would it be?

New Book

December 30th, 2015

This year Mr Chiots got me a On Garden Style for Christmas. I’ve had this book on my wish list for a long time, but it’s rather pricey so I’ve never purchased it. Now that I have it, I LOVE it. If you’re looking for ways to give your garden that extra bit of something you feel it’s been lacking this book is for you.
On Garden Style 1
It’s not a gardening book about plants, what to grow and where to put it. It’s a book about designing your garden space, thinking of it like indoor space. So far I’m really enjoying this book and it’s just the book I need as I start to lay out plans for this new garden space. I’m only through the first 20 pages or so, but I can tell this book is going to be an invaluable resource for me!

Did you get any great books for Christmas?

Gardens Aglow

December 29th, 2015

This past weekend we went to the Coastal Maine Botanical Garden light event. The main part of the botanical gardens are lit up with thousands of light, I’m not 100% of the total number, but there are a lot of them! When I was in college in Cincinnati, we always went to festival of lights at the Cincinnati Zoo. It’s such a great way to celebrate the season and light up the dark winter nights.
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Busy, Busy, Busy

December 28th, 2015

Even though we are busy around the holidays, we have a few traditions we maintain. Cinnamon rolls for breakfast on Christmas morning, opening gifts on Christmas Eve. We go on a hike on Christmas day, this year we walked one of the property lines and went back to the wetlands in the back of the property. Did you know we have one of the headwaters to a river here in Maine and have our very own bridge?
File Dec 28, 7 16 31 AM
File Dec 28, 7 12 13 AM
One of our traditions is that we always try to watch as many James Bond movies between Christmas and New Years as we can. It helps us take time to relax, otherwise we often end up doing chores and working. This year we decided to start at the beginning and watch them on chronological order. So far we’ve managed to get in four movies.

What traditions do you maintain around the holidays?

Still Waiting…

December 23rd, 2015

So far this year we’ve only had a few inches of snow, that all melted weeks ago, the ground is still bare.
first snow 1
I can’t say that I’m eager for a rerun of last winter, we got over 12 feet of snow, but I am ready to have a blanket of the white stuff brightening up these dark days.
SNOW
There’s no snow in the forecast for at least the next week. No doubt it will come, there are many years we don’t have snow until Jan, I’m just hoping it’s a more “normal” winter, that is if there is a normal when it comes to weather.

Do you live in an area with snow? Do you have any yet?

About

This is a daily journal of my efforts to cultivate a more simple life, through local eating, gardening and so many other things. We used to live in a small suburban neighborhood Ohio but moved to 153 acres in Liberty, Maine in 2012.

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