Cinnamon Heart : What did I do all summer?

Well, I pulled a typical me and didn't post for a couple months, but I kindof had a good reason. I had to return home to Hornby Island to take care of my Uncle and Grandma who were both very sick. My uncle is still sick, but now on medication and getting better. But I spent half of July and all of August on Hornby looking after them and their garden. Now I'm not going to lie to anyone, I wasn't vegan while I was there, I was vegetarian. It is a very small island (less than a thousand people) and vegan options aren't great, and none of my family really knows how to cook vegan food and it would have just been one giant stress on them too try and accommodate one more thing when we were already so busy and stressed out. I know a lot of people won't understand why I had to go vegetarian but I know that it was the best choice at the time, and made life easier for my family which is exactly why I was there in the first place. But now I am glad I am back home, and can return to a fully plant based lifestyle.

So what exactly did I do? Well I did a lot of stuff, I cleaned because we thought there was black mold in their heritage home, I picked and picked and picked in the garden. Beans, squash, potatoes, onions, garlic, tomatoes.... you name it and my grandma is growing it. She has a huge garden every year, but she fractured her back at the beginning of summer and was unable to care for it anymore. I cooked for them, which was a challenge as their are omnivores and my meat cooking abilities are limited at best. I learned how to can things, peaches, tomatoes, and to make jelly. I picked plums, and pears, helped with construction clean up, and was pretty much a general labourer haha. I also did get to see some of my childhood friends and hang out which was great too.

I am so glad I went, not just because I wanted to help my family get better, but because I hadn't got to spend so much time with my family since I moved off when I was 17. I learned all the gardening things I never learned when I was a kid. My aunt, who was also there helping, realized we didn't learn nearly as much as we could, or should have when we were younger, and I was so glad for that opportunity now.

I am about to start a new job, a government internship, so who knows how much I will be able to post, but for now I will share some photos from my time on Hornby, you can check out more on my instagram @cinnamonheartvegan.