A Handmade Life

Things That Are Making Me Happy

2012-01-23T16:11:00.000-08:00

There are many little things that are making me happy right now. Today, despite the cold, I am feeling just the slightest bit springish. It could be because I'm working on the garden plan but I think it has more to do with the fact that at 3:39 it is still bright out with no sign of darkness yet...I'm grateful for lengthening days. I'm also very much enjoying the geraniums I brought inside back in October. The red ones bring such a bright splash of colour to our home and it is such a simple delight to have something blooming inside at this time of year.

Molasses Softies are a treat that have made me happy many times over the years. I found this recipe when I was a child and it is still a favourite tea time treat - especially nice in the wintertime. I've put a link to an online recipe, the only thing I've changed is that I don't use corn syrup so I substitute honey or cane syrup.

Being (and continuing to work on being) o r d e r l y is making me very happy. I know that more orderliness in our home over this next year will help to make our lives much more enjoyable as we go through some big changes this year and I am getting a surprising (to me) amount of pleasure out of the order we already have in place - such as weekly menu plans. Truly it will never cease to amaze me how such little changes in our daily round can make such big differences in our enjoyment of our days.

And fortuitous book finds are, as always, making me happy. Some weeks back I was cleaning out some of my boxes of books that have been packed up these last two and a half years. I found an old Alexandra Stoddard book ( Living Beautifully Together) and enjoyed re-reading it SO much that I immediately ordered all of her books in our library system. Books have always had a way of showing up in my life just when I most need the wisdom within them and so it is with Alexandra Stoddard's books - the timing is just right.

Another Trip Round the Sun...

2012-01-08T12:50:00.000-08:00

There's something so invigorating about a new year. A fresh start - so full of promise. 365 days, 52 weeks, 12 months, 4 seasons. How will it be spent? How do we wish for it to be spent? Because it will be spent whether we plan it or not.

I've got big plans for this year. Exciting plans. One of my dreams has always been to have a market garden - I love to grow good food and I love seeing other people excited about eating fresh food. When I was a child one of the things I very much loved to do was to set up a little stand on the road by our house and sell flowers or rhubarb - it was great fun to me. This past summer I was offered the opportunity to use the land where I've been gardening (for myself, for and with the landowner and for the foodbank) the last few years to start a market garden. Well...it didn't take much arm twisting to convince me. Ahem.

So there has been planning and dreaming (not to mention organizing our family life for this big change) in the works since summertime and this past week I've started getting down to the details. The Seed Catalogs! Oh my. For a person who, when faced with going to a regular grocery store, desperately wishes that there were only two kinds of toothpaste to choose from these seeds catalogs can get just a little bit overwhelming. So many choices.

It has been an interesting week narrowing down the choices and figuring out just exactly what and how much I will grow. How many bean seeds of each kind does one actually need to get?!? How many tomatoes would be reasonable (this coming from a person who usually grows around 100 plants just for herself)? How much salad mix of each kind to buy to keep one whole garden section continuously succession planted in baby greens from spring to late autumn?!?

It has been quite a learning experience working on sorting these things out. It is important to me to have heirloom varieties of each crop as well because I've found that, over the years I've been growing, old varieties often have the best flavour...and if you're going to grow food, why not have it Grown for the Flavour. Mmmm, I like that, I think that would make a very appropriate slogan. Happily I am almost done now, just the corn to get sorted. And even more happily we enjoyed some delicious baby greens from the greenhouse - these will (we think) be one of our most popular crops for our customers. I think it may be a very exciting year. ;-)

Happy Solstice and Handmade Gifts

2011-12-22T14:08:00.000-08:00

We have a tradition of giving the boys one small handmade gift at Solstice. This year when I was wondering what I could possibly make for my 16 year old son he sent me a picture of this hat. It looked simple enough so I googled and found a simple pattern on this blog. After a quick reminder for myself on how to do a half-double crochet I got to it.

I'm pleased with how it turned out and, better yet, so is he. It really does do a mama's heart good to see her teen son wearing some handmade goodness. If you look at that first link you'll see that the hat had a label that said "Love" on it, I barely resisted the temptation to make one up that said "Mama's Love" to torment my son with.

Happy Solstice!

May the return of the light help you find much to be thankful for.

Simple Shawls and Simple Fudge

2011-12-21T16:16:00.000-08:00

Today I finished another shawl. I'm pleased to have these two shawls made and looking forward to gifting them. The last four years some very special women in my life have had cancer - these two shawls are a celebratory gift to two of these women who have recently finished their treatments.

I'm hoping they will keep them just a little warmer and cozier this winter and that they will feel wrapped in love and healing thoughts each time they use them.

This last one I finished binding off with just this much to spare! And, during those last tense moments, when I thought I might run out, I wondered why on earth I hadn't just done one less row to be sure I would have enough yarn to finish. I've made a mental note to remind myself next time but feel free to remind me because I'm sure to forget (I've done the same thing before).

I did make sure that I used a bigger needle to bind off rather than trusting myself to bind off loosely - it makes the shawl lay so much nicer if it is not bound off too tightly.

I really love this shawl and have one on the go for myself as well (using odds and sods of wool). It is a simple but pretty shawl (free download Herb Garden shawl on Ravelry) and I especially love the rounded bottom instead of a pointy one. If you've never used a shawl I highly recommend them - there really is a reason why women have used them for centuries. They're Just Right for a little added warmth and comfort (and Perfect if you like to sit up and read in bed).

E has been wanting to try fudge for ages and so we decided to make a very simple recipe that I used to make when I was younger.

Not health food for sure but a delicious treat all the same (we used 2 cups of chocolate chips and 1 cup of butterscotch chips).

And since teens don't get the concept of Christmas baking being for Christmas...another batch of brown sugar buttons to replace the one that was ~~scoffed~~ eaten.

Gingerbread House Simplified

2011-12-19T15:45:00.000-08:00

Throughout my childhood we had a fun tradition of making a gingerbread village - complete with church with stain glass windows, lights, skating pond, people and several houses. It was all set up on a large board that covered the entire top of our piano. And, to my candy-loving young self it was Divine! I loved it.

And so most years I have tried to make sure my boys have had the chance to have their own gingerbread houses. We've never had a whole village but we have at least had one handmade house and sometimes a couple of them. This year, while discussing ways to simplify the holidays (with the purpose of freeing up more time to spend doing the things we really value - time with friends, family and nature), we had talked about gingerbread houses and the boys had decided that they liked the plain old candy (a rare treat around here) as much as they did the gingerbread house making and so we had concluded that we wouldn't do gingerbread houses this year.

Then one evening I was sharing this information with a friend as we talked about how different the holiday season felt compared to when our kids were younger. After she left I went and talked to E a bit more about it and he decided that it was, after all, important to him to make a house. So we decided we would simply buy an already cut and baked gingerbread house (instead of spending a few days making the dough, rolling it and cutting out house patterns and then baking) thus meeting our want for this traditional treat as well as our need for simplifying.

The next afternoon I quickly put the bought house together with melted sugar and then the boys spent an hour filled with laughter, royal icing, sticky fingers and taste-testing while they decorated their house. Gingerbread Houses Simplified...leaving more time for a walk in the winter woods with friends - lovely.

Goodies and Greenery

2011-12-13T09:47:00.000-08:00

E and I have been enjoying watching A Victorian Farm and A Victorian Farm Christmas together. It's fun to know that the way we decorate our home is not unlike the way a Victorian farm family decorated their home for the holidays.

(we drove by these guys on our way to find a tree, by the time we got the camera all we could get was a bum shot)

We've been collecting greenery on our walks for some time and last weekend we set out to the woods to get our tree. We came home with red cheeks, a sweet little tree (which, I admit, took some getting used to after two years of massive trees) and assorted other greenery (we are fortunate enough to have yew, ivy and lots of other greenery right on this property including these gorgeous red berries, no holly but oregon grape leaves do in a pinch).

I've had some fun making two simple green decorations outside - one in an old milk can and one in an old cream separator.

The rest of the greenery has been placed throughout our home - I couldn't resist tucking a string of white lights under some old glass insulators on our mantel.

Simple, lovely and all able to be tossed back outside afterwards to compost - my favourite kind of decoration. ;-)

We've been doing a bit of baking, some of our favourites - toffee, brown sugar buttons, seedy crackers - with shortbread, gingerbread men, thimble cookies and nanaimo bars still to go.

Yesterday we made a treat for our favourite canine companion and, since I've been working on planning a new business, E and I talked about a business idea for him - homemade dog biscuits sold at the farm stand. This batch - carrot, apple, molasses - seemed to go down a treat so it will be a keeper recipe. Happily we have our own very willing taste tester dog (and actually E tested them out too as they are made with ingredients that non-furry creatures can also enjoy). ;-)

And, I don't usually like to post photos of myself (camera shy and all that) but I thought I would share this one because I wanted to show this great hat. I wear it all the time because it is so warm (felted wool). I've had so many compliments on it and I love being able to say, "Thank you, I got it at the dump.". Fun to see the looks that gets. This summer we were camping on a little island and they have a re-store at their dump, it is a place where people can drop their stuff off and then others can buy it for a small donation. There is a similar place up near my folks' house (although things are free at that one). I LOVE the idea of this and wish there were such places at all landfills. Such a wonderful idea and interesting to me that it is often in island communities where you will see these. I'd like to be able to say that I usually look much tidier than this but, no...that's me, hair knotted in a bun, stuffed in a hat and off I go. ;-)

Now...to get back to that knitting.

Owls, Angels and the First of December

2011-12-01T16:48:00.000-08:00

A special young friend is celebrating a birthday soon and so when we went to visit yesterday we took along a handmade gift. I Love having a young girl with an appreciation for crafts in my life, my boys have always enjoyed my handmade things but there is something very fun about crafting for a girl too (I've had fun, fun, fun in years past making her gifts). This girl has a connection to owls and so, when I saw this post, I couldn't resist making a woolly owl for her. I still have my sweater scraps from my patchwork blanket so I chose a gray one and got started.

I dug out our needle-felting supplies which haven't been used since we moved and needle felted the eyes and beak.

I stuffed it with some batting. The feet were cut from another felted sweater bit.

And then I used some buffalo wool (also in thrifted stash) to crochet a nest. The entire time E eyed it covetously and so I think I know what to make him for his Solstice gift. He does have a fondness for felted animals and I thought it was so cute that I might just have to make myself one too.

November has passed by so quickly that I could hardly believe it was already time to get the boxes of decorations out last night so we could find the advent calender. We put up the calender and then got out one of my favourite childhood decoration - this angel chime candle. We sat together and watched as the candles burned down and we talked about what we look forward to in December. This was always the first decoration I would set up when I was little, that way I could listen to it chiming as we set about putting out the rest of the decorations and there really is just something magical about candlelight, isn't there.

This afternoon E and I made some paper snowflakes (as we do each year) to decorate the windows then E lit the advent candle because the first day of the month always takes a bit longer to burn down than the other days (there are markings on the candle and we burn one section each day). And, as I took this photo I gave thanks again for the grace that brought us to this place...right here...right now.

Here's to a magical month.

Handmade Lavender Soap

2011-11-29T16:13:00.000-08:00

I enjoyed the first attempt at soap-making so much that the boys and I made a second batch the very next day.

Lavender is one of my favourite scents so we used some lavender flowers with some lavender essential oils in this batch. This time we made an all olive oil soap (the first batch was olive and coconut oil).

The longest part really is waiting for the lye to cool. We waited...and waited...and put it outside to hasten cooling and waited some more.

Then it was ready to mix. We used a stick blender and it quickly came to "trace". We added the essential oil and mixed a bit more.

We poured some into our mold (a cardboard box lined with a plastic bag), added some lavender flowers then poured the rest of the soap mixture on. The next day it was ready to cut.

I think that soap making may very well become an addiction for me. This seems to be an issue for me...although I have overcome my edging addiction (only by selling that home, mind, so I'm not sure that counts but still...). When my soap-making-guru friend emailed me yesterday to let me know that soap has a shelf life and that I might not want to make more than a year's supply I felt quite robbed - I'd just been enjoying sniffing this latest batch and was contemplating my next batch. What to do? How many pounds of soap could my family actually use in a year?!?

I may have a plan that will support this new ~~addiction~~ love, I think I might just sell any excess at the farm stand next year (big plans in the works for this!)...that way I can keep making new batches to my heart's content this winter and not have to worry about overwhelming my family by urging them constantly to "use more soap!!".

Handmade Soap

2011-11-28T10:22:00.000-08:00

I can't quite recall for how long I have been wanting to make soap. I've made all kinds of other goodies from scratch but never soap. At long last I decided I Must Make Soap and it could not wait a moment longer. A dear friend came over so that we could make it together (surely this must be the best way to make soap - or anything, for that matter - for the first time).

Now, this friend and I both seem to be instructionally-challenged, by that I mean that we both find it difficult to follow (or stick with) directions of any sort, we both have a tendency to want to try something different. We started off following one recipe and then, as we looked at our carefully measured ingredients and considered the amount of soap we though it would make, decided we need more. Happily, I had a recipe from another friend on file and we were able to slightly change our proportions and continue on.

I had some spices another dear friend had passed on to me after her sachet making (when she was clearing out in preparation for her big move) and I ground some up to add to our soap. We both were wanting our soap to look something like these beautiful bars. We added a few bottles of our favourite scents - orange, clove, cinnamon and tangerine.

It was incredibly simple to make, the longest part was waiting for the lye/water solution to cool to the appropriate temperature. So quick and easy!

What amazed me most is that one can take such simple, few ingredients and end up with something so beautiful and useful. It's magical to me. And actually, it is, to me, very much like gardening - take very little and with a touch of magic (and perhaps a bit of luck) you have such goodness. I love it.

In fact, I loved it so much that the very next day, after slicing up these bars and phoning my friend to rave about them, I started another batch with my boys. And now I can hardly believe I waited all these years to try it. Hmmm, it seems I've many years of soap-making to catch up on...I could make calendula, comfrey, chamomile...even nettle!

Snow, Pinecones, Knitting and Other Good Stuff

2011-11-16T16:31:00.000-08:00

Our days lately have been a delightful mix of busy-ness and quiet times. In theory this time of year is our "quiet time" - the time of year when the pace of our life slows down naturally due to the change of season and...I'm forced to admit, in large part, due to the shorter days - one just can't work as much outside when it gets dark so early. For me this is a good thing, I'm the sort of person who needs external forces to slow me down (I'm working at learning this on my own). I feel pretty much "done" at the garden for this year, certainly there is more I'd like to do but I am content with what I managed to get done before the snow.

The garden is mostly all tucked in - some under fall rye, some with garlic planted and mulched, some with a blanket of chopped leaves and some, very sad indeed, with no covering due to lack of rain to sprout the rye seeds and very hungry birds (who ate up all the unsprouted seeds). Still, I'm pleased with how it looks and I've still got lots more bags of leaves to compost with manure that can be added in the springtime
(or next week if the weather cooperates!). I'm looking forward to seeing loads of worms under this leaf covering come spring and really realizing how much of my love of gardening comes from the joy of building soil.

So with gardening come to a close that leaves me with a lot more time for relaxation, rest, rejuvenation...OR...

knitting!

And decorating for winter. And baking! Musn't forget baking.

(E finally got to make us some caramel apples - he has been wanting to do this for ages)

Actually I love all these things and find them very relaxing. Over the years we've managed to whittle down our holiday preparations to the things that are most important to us and it makes this time of year much more enjoyable for us.

(E's first mini snowman of the year last week)

On our afternoon walk earlier this week we started collecting pinecones and greenery for our decorations - it wasn't quite the same as the last two years (where we lived in the woods) but I think we'll easily manage to find enough greenery in our neighbourhood to decorate our home.

Usually at this time of year I do a big clean up before decorating, this year I've been going a bit further than usual. For several months (ahem) I've been working on the virtue of orderliness (you can read more about these virtues in Pace of Grace or try doing some virtues picks on the right sidebar of this website - I love these cards and find them extremely inspiring ). Orderliness does not come naturally to me and so what I had thought would be a 3 month virtues pick is still with me. ;-) At any rate, it means that my usual pre-holiday season clear out has taken on a deeper meaning.

I've been continuing my work on decluttering but also focusing on putting what's left (as well as my habits and our routines) in order. And since I like to always include some fun in any project I take on, I'm making sure that decluttering remains interesting and leaves me with a feeling of being productive. Hence...

trying to use up as much of my thrifted yarn stash as possible in each gift I make. ;-)

I also have plans to us up the rest of my felted sweater bits to make another one of these patchwork quilts. This one gets used constantly and with four of us and a cat there is always someone wishing we had another. And so this month is passing quickly as we work towards being Orderly before our busy time next spring.

What I Love About Right Now

2011-11-09T08:17:00.000-08:00

Sunrises...that I don't have to get up super early to witness.

Pumpkin bars.

Erm...photo here if you'd like to see them...apparently these don't always last long enough in our home to have their photo taken.
Saving seeds from E's heirloom carrots - did I mention how good it feels to me to save seeds?

Burdock root and tincture.

(some dried, some frozen and some tinctured)

Scalloped potatoes made with our homegrown Kennebecs.

Rubber boots!

Rides in my car with bags of leaves for mulch! (sorry boys, no room...I'm taking the leaves to the garden)

Also loving having the floor of my laundry room back after months of stepping over flats of ripening tomatoes. I'm down to two flats now and have put them on top of my freezer so that we could have the floor back. And grilled cheese and tomato sandwiches made with the last of our German Stripe tomatoes. Delicious!

Pumkin Tradition

2011-11-03T11:33:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I turned one of these into this.

Such a lovely way to enjoy the pumpkin harvest. ;-)

(this was such a nice variety of pumpkin to grow - almost all flesh and seed but hardly any stringy bits)

Two and half years ago I came across this recipe and a new tradition was born - make pumpkin cinnamon buns out of one of our pumpkins. This, for me, is what I love about tradition - they don't actually have to have been done for ages. They are easy to start at any time - you simply find something you love...and then you continue to do it regularly (although make no mistake - we don't limit these to only harvest time!).

(with cream cheese icing made from cream cheese and a touch of honey)

And what's not to love about pumpkin cinnamon buns! We have giant pumpkins from the garden again this year but we've decided not to cook them all up this year, rather to use all our smaller ones instead but I did get a good laugh remembering the year I did cook the giant ones.

Several more pumpkin recipes to work our way through (some on the sidebar) and always happy to hear any of your favourites. ;-)

Garlic Planted. Hurrah!

2011-10-28T11:02:00.000-07:00

One of the tricky bits of being a maniacal gardener is the tendency to over-do it. I love gardening and so I tend not to notice when I am overdoing until...oooh about mid September each year when a small part of me starts hoping for frost. This year was no different than any other year and so, with a big sigh of relief and much pleasure, I am happy to say that the garlic is planted and all my garden have-to chores are done for now. Hurrah, indeed.

(making beds)

This gorgeous garlic was grown by friends and, knowing how delicious it is, it was somehow difficult to be plunking these huge cloves into the ground instead of eating them.

(clove spaced 6 inches apart in rows that are 8 inches apart)

W was visiting these same friends while they were planting their garlic and came home with a helpful way of planting. He made me up these PVC guidelines from some spare pipe. They came in very handy.

We planted the remainder of the garlic on Sunday, gave it a sprinkle of soybean meal and now we just need to mulch it before it gets too cold. Feels good to have it done.

And, it even looks beautiful. Well, to me anyway. You can see on the other side of the garden the plots where the fall rye has yet to sprout. And you can also see some of the potato bins which have been pressed into use as compost bins. Compost bins which would very much like some more manure added to them, I might add. Now...to make time to go and get manure and turn the composts. What? I didn't say the garden want-to chores were done, just the have-to chores...

Potato Bins

2011-10-26T08:24:00.000-07:00

Sometime earlier I mentioned that I planted our potatoes in bins (you can see earlier photos here and here) so that they wouldn't use up much garden space. I love how these work and I've been meaning to post some photos of these and am finally making time to do so.

I planted several seed potatoes in the bottom of each bin and then filled the bin as the plant grew. I had wanted to use straw or leaves as the mulch but, since I didn't have enough, I ended up using dirt (leaves are like gold around here). The best thing about these (to me, anyway) is the ease of harvesting. Once I push the cage aside the boys can easily start picking potatoes.

Next year I'd really love to keep up with mulching with straw or leaves - less dirt on the potatoes that way. And there's one of the fun things about gardening - you're barely done for the year and already looking for ways to improve next year's garden.

So, of course, we've been enjoying lots of potatoes lately. Last week I made a potato crusted quiche (with cherry tomatoes and nettle!) and it was delicious (shown here before pouring the egg on top so you can see the crust).

And with the amount of potatoes we have I expect to be enjoying home fries, baked potatoes, scalloped potatoes, roast potatoes, mashed potatoes, hashbrowns...

Autumn Crafts

2011-10-25T06:33:00.000-07:00

Many an autumn afternoon used to be whiled away doing nature crafts with my boys. These days they're not quite as interested as they used to be in some of our old standbys but last week they humoured me. We went for a walk around the neighbourhood in the sunshine and collected some leaves.

We came home and got out our old tin of crayons, wax paper and the iron.

A short time later...

Love these! I first made them when I was in elementary school and have had a fondness for them ever since. It is quite possible that the next time I make these it will be with my grandkids. Now there's a thought. Perhaps some of my friends with little ones will take pity on me and start sending their kids over for craft time with me and I can continue to indulge my love of playdough and other such lovely stuff.

In the meantime it looks as though I'll be spending some of our afternoons on a new pursuit - driving lessons with my newly 16 year old. Oh for the days of playdough and mud pies!

Antipasto in the Cupboard Under the Stairs

2011-10-24T15:33:00.000-07:00

The last two weeks have been a blur of finishing up the garden, building compost, canning, celebrating and all sorts of other things. I am happy to say that I am finished with canning for the year (and please don't tempt me into doing any more by offering me any produce - I never can so no). Last week I made antipasto and decided that would be it for the year - no more. Enough.

And so, here is my "cupboard under the stairs" in this house, all done for the year. I love having a coldroom with shelves to line up all the things I've put by for the year. We've definitely got enough tomatoes between the canned ones and the passata as well as the stewed ones in the freezer. And, I think there is plenty of everything else as well. This year we have my regular peach garlic salsa and hot salsa as well as an extra special batch of what I'm calling Johnny Cash salsa for my husband. The floor of the coldroom is mostly filled with boxes full of potatoes (the Kennebecs did great -they're huge!- as did the Sieglinde potatoes) and soon it will be cold enough that I'll have to move the onions and the rest of the squash in as well.

Bliss to be done and feeling all tucked up for the wintertime.

Fall Rye

2011-10-14T09:16:00.000-07:00

Awhile back I mentioned a new found love for cover crops. I'm so thrilled to be able to get the chance to experiment and learn more about green manuring/cover cropping. One of the things I love about gardening (ooh, there really are SO many things) is that there is always so much more to learn. It's delightful really.

In early September I planted fall rye on one of the sections of next year's garden. I was tickled to watch it sprout and grow so lush and green so quickly. Really, it just looks beautiful and I love the thought that the sections where it will remain until springtime will be so nicely tucked in for wintertime - keeping the soil intact through winds and rains, all the while adding goodness to the soil.

The other day I tilled in one section of it in order to prepare garlic beds. As I tilled I couldn't help enjoying how gorgeous the soil looks already - crumbly, light, dark chocolate brown.

I'd already planted more sections in rye and look forward to trying out some other cover crops as well. I love this practice of growing our own fertility right in the garden. Next year I plan to do some undersowing of low growing cover crops in some areas too - to add organic matter to the soil as well as to prevent weed growth. And next...my first time planting large quantities of garlic. Hopefully I'll be able to convince a few family members to help - after all, many hands make light work (ahem!).

Chickweed

2011-10-13T08:17:00.000-07:00

Chickweed is a pretty unassuming plant. It can hide in the garden beneath other plants without drawing any attention to itself. I was looking for some a few weeks ago and managed to find some beneath some closely planted tomato plants. I enjoy nibbling on it fresh but was wanting to bring some home to make some chickweed oil.

I gathered some up and tucked it in my "potions" pot with some olive oil. It simmered away while I made the plum butter and for a while longer. Throughout the summer I've done this with comfrey, calendula and plantain so now we've got all the skin oils that I like to have on hand.

Strained and bottled it makes a simple healing oil for skin ailments. Usually I make all my oils into salves by adding a bit of beeswax but his year I've noticed that, having not made time to get to that next step, we are using the oils quite nicely as they are. So...sometimes not having the time to do something can show you that there is no need to do that thing. ;-)

Squirreling

2011-10-12T07:02:00.000-07:00

We've been doing our usual thing for this time of year - squirreling away as much food and harvest goodness as we possibly can. Yesterday was spent bringing in most of the garden (just a few things left to get today). Last week E and I spent a bit of time seeing what we could find on this property and ended up with mushrooms and apples (we'd noticed this tree down the bank a bit when it was flowering in the springtime).

We also were thrilled to have a generous friend offer to let us pick from her plum tree. E very much misses our plum tree at our old home (mostly because he loved climbing it but I think there is nothing more delightful to him than being able to climb a tree AND pop fresh-picked fruit in your mouth at the same time!).

He was so happy to be able to pick some plums and I was happy to be able to make some favourite plum desserts as well as a batch of plum butter. When I asked E if he wanted me to make a batch he said he couldn't remember if he liked it. I made some and at first taste he remembered that he did indeed love plum butter. ;-)

I was pleased that I came across my old recipe (which I had labeled "Good Plum Butter" to remind me that was the one I liked to use, not the one in my canning book). Here it is in case you feel like making it.

16 cups plums, coarsely chopped
4 cups sugar (or to taste)
3/4 tsp cinnamon
1/2 tsp cloves

Simmer chopped plums with sugar until soft and cooked down. Use immersion blender to blend to smooth consistency. Add spices and cook down further until desired thickness. I cook until I can take out a spoonful and once cooled it has a "jammy" consistency - maybe two hours all told.

Then I ladle into sterilized pint jars and process for 15 minutes in a hot water bath canner.

Fall Fashion....for Dogs?!?

2011-10-04T10:22:00.000-07:00

One of the things that has been keeping us busy is this family member. We came home from a weekend away of mountain biking and hiking to find that he needed surgery. Thankfully he has nicely healed. Instead of having him wear a plastic cone around his neck (to keep from scratching or licking his stitches) he wore soft cotton short-sleeve t-shirts.

The last two days he has had another wound and so, in keeping with the cooler temps., we outfitted him with one of W's outgrown flannel shirts. Doesn't he look lovely? You can tell that he isn't too pleased with me taking his photo though. Poor fellah, he's had a rough month.

Well...

2011-09-28T17:39:00.000-07:00

Well...that was a bit of an unintended break. And what can I use as an excuse? Busy with all those zucchinis, tomatoes and cucumbers that I last posted about? Enjoyed my times away camping so much that I couldn't bring myself to start using the computer again? Got lost in the garden and couldn't find my way out of the corn patch? Followed the wrong trail on my last hiking trip and never did find my way back?

Hmmm, no. Mostly just life, I guess. Life does have a way of whizzing by on us, doesn't it. I do SO love this time of year AND...I find it incredibly busy. An absolute whirlwind and I often feel like a whirling dervish (one who gratefully falls into bed each night, that is). We like to fit in as much beach time, camping time, hiking, company time, relaxing time as possible and, of course, there's The Garden. And all that entails - the garden takes priority at this time of year (and I'm forced to admit each year that I may have a s l i g h t issue with planting too much food. Ahem).

In any event, putting food by is a very important part of family life for me. There has been lots of harvesting, eating, freezing,eating, canning, eating, seed-saving (and did I mention the eating?!) as well as garden prep. for next year (Yay! for beautiful cover crops and a crash course in those).

So, my freezers are very full. My cold room is getting full. My boxes and boxes of canning jars are getting used up quickly. Slowly but surely parts of the garden are getting put to bed - there is beautiful fall-rye growing on a big part of next year's garden (I think I might have a bit of a crush on cover crops). And, I do believe, life might start easing to a little less of a whirl sometime soon - or whenever we get frost, at least. In the meantime I'm enjoying the absolute abundance that is available in this beautiful area we live in and feeling very grateful indeed (and I will also be feeling very grateful once all this abundance is done ripening and is tucked away once and for all!). And then I'm looking forward to catching up here with photos of all that's been going on.

I do think my family starts to worry that maybe I've been dealing with too many tomatoes when I start playing with them and making them have conversations.

"Over 100 tomato plants?!? Is she crazy?"

"Oh, she's crazy, alright. And it isn't just the tomato plants. Just ask her husband. Poor fellah!"

Zucchini, Tomato and Cucumbers, Oh My! Salad

2011-08-24T17:32:00.000-07:00

I was going to do a post on tomato seed saving but then...

yesterday afternoon as I looked around our dining area at the table covered with veg. I decided we needed to have something with zucchini, tomatoes and cukes (We also had cabbage salad of course. Thanks to these cabbages we've been eating cabbage at least once a day for almost 2 months). Happily, I remembered a salad I'd made last year at my friend's suggestion that I had found delicious.

I sauteed some of my warted zucchini and some white patty pan zucchini with some neglected garlic scapes from the fridge as well as some delicious and long-awaited garlic from this year (from a friend's garden - it is SO gorgeous!) in some olive oil. When these were soft I mixed them with some of our pesto (thawed from the freezer) and a big dollop of mayo. Then I added slices of armenian cucumber and lots of cherry tomatoes cut in halves (brown berry, sungold and red pear cherry). A little salt and pepper and it was wonderful. So good that W asked me to make it again so I'm about to do that now.

Love finding ways to use our veggies that we all enjoy so much. Thanks for the "recipe", Mary-Sue!

So Much to Learn

2011-08-23T17:06:00.000-07:00

Each year around this time the boys and I put together a learning plan for the year. We're very relaxed about them, we find it fun to discuss what we all would like to learn about and what we want to focus our resources (time, energy, and sometimes money) on. We usually jot down lists of interests and have a couple times done some mind-mapping learning plans (very fun!). W, at almost 16, is very self-directed and motivated in his learning. He has been organizing high-school age workshop courses for the local homelearners for the last two years and needs very little help from us planning out his year anymore...actually, we sometimes find it challenging to even keep up with him anymore and, at times, it feels as though we just sort of scurry along behind him with whatever support we can give if and when he needs/wants it. The other day he was making some plans for this fall and it reminded me that E and I would need to do our learning plans soon. I mentioned to E that we should think about what we wanted to put on them and E, being as much about efficiency and simplicity as his mother, replied, "Everything!". ;-)

I can see it now.

E's Learning Plan 2011-2012

This year I want to learn about...

Everything!

And I have to say I quite like it. ;-)

Ah, Summer

2011-08-22T09:11:00.000-07:00

Somehow time always gets away from me in summer. One minute it is the first weekend in August and the next thing I know it is somehow nearing the end of August. It is at times like this that I am ever so grateful the boys have never gone to school and that the end of August doesn't feel like the end of summertime for us.

We've had all sorts of things to enjoy lately.
A trip (for all of us except one of use who went on a fishing trip to Haida Gwaii) to visit with lots of family where there was creek time, beach time, good food, garden time, Rummoli night, games and, of course, visits from Russel the Crow (he much prefers when we're not visiting and our dog isn't there).

A crazy rain storm with lightning, thunder and hail. We watched as the lightning made its way across the lake towards us and then were amazed by the amount of rain that came down in only half an hour or so (at least 3 inches possibly 4) - we felt like we were immersed in the rain clouds. We also had hail and some of my veg here are showing a little damage but nothing major at all and my garden in town is fine. E was quite happy that this time we were able to just watch the lightning and not have it strike a tree right outside the house. This sunroom looking over the lake makes this house spectacular for storm watching.

(Mother Nature washing the windows for us)

(you can see my solar fruit dryer just at the bottom of this photo - not a lot of solar drying going on just then)

We've been eating cucumber everything. Cucumber sandwiches, cucumber salad, Greek salad, cucumbers straight up while standing in the garden...

The cukes are so plentiful that I've been drinking cucumber juice each day in an attempt to use up the ones that grow to enormous sizes when we are away.

And I was excited to pick my first-that-I've-ever-grown cauliflower. I've always avoided the Brassica family because I didn't want to worry about the bugs but the cauliflower were absolutely pest free, easy to grow and delicious.

I've also managed to get another batch of comfrey oil made and a small batch of calendula oil. I think even when the kids are grown and we don't have as much use for calendula salve I'll still make at least one batch each year just because I think it is the prettiest oil to make.

And now as we realize the summer days are winding down we're making plans for how we want to spend the rest of it and...canning like mad.

Homemade Tortillas

2011-08-10T07:04:00.000-07:00

Sometime ago I came across some locally made tortillas (Wrap It Up Tortillas) at our little store down the road. They tasted so much better than the kind we had been buying that we decided we needed to start making our own again (and buying theirs when we don't have time to make them). I'd never found a recipe that I really loved but I decided to look online and came across this delicious one ( I felt pretty certain that a Texan would know a good tortilla recipe). ;-)

We tried it out and were very pleased with how simple they were to make (this dough is super easy to work with).

But even more pleased with how delicious they were. I don't even have any lovely photos of them filled with all sorts of garden goodness because we snarfed them down so quickly that there was no time to take photos. This time I used unbleached all purpose flour but the next time I'm going to try half all purpose and half whole wheat.

Abundance of Apricots

2011-08-09T06:17:00.000-07:00

I mentioned getting some particularly delicious apricots for free last week, we've been getting quite a stash in the freezer for our smoothies and were grateful to be offered even more. I wanted to make some sort of sweet treat to offer in thanks and came across this recipe. It looked so beautiful that I couldn't resist trying it (but would be delighted to hear of any other apricot recipes too).

I also decided to make some apricot jam (using Pomona's Pectin - 8 cups apricots to a little less than 2 cups sugar) with some of the very ripe ones to use as a spread in our crepes and to give some as gifts. I love having extra preserves on hand to give to people who would enjoy them.

Then we were offered even more apricots so I dug out my solar dryer and put it to use for the first time this season.

All that goodness and we still have the tree on this property (a later not as flavourful variety) to harvest. Yum!

A Weekend in the Woods

2011-08-08T15:01:00.000-07:00

We spent the weekend with friends in one of my favourite campspots (I can never commit to calling any of the campgrounds my favourite because I love so many so I have to say one of my favourites). The things I love most about this spot is the absolute peaceful, quiet feeling of it, the call of the loons each morning and this - the water pump. This campspot is considered pretty "rustic", no running water, no toilets...just quiet - I love it. Last year when we were there the weather was unusually cold and this year it was delightfully hot - just right to make one want to go for a swim in a mountain lake.

There were a few hikes, campfire time with s'mores and games (no luck this year getting the teens to do a sing-a-long), time to learn a new game (Farkle - which I somehow managed to win in spite of my "slow and steady" low risk method of game playing) and even a tiny bit of time for reading in the hammock.

Then we came home to a feast of garden-fresh corn from a generous gardener and Greek salad and, of course, zucchini from our own garden. And today...an X day (plus some apricot preserving) after last week's busy-ness.

And yes, it was as delicious as it looks.

Summertime Feasting

2011-08-05T06:28:00.000-07:00

I always love food but there is just something about summertime food that can't be beat. I love harvesting all that's ripe and then figuring out what delicious thing I can make with it. I mentioned before that I tend to over do it with zucchini so I was so pleased when E found this recipe for zucchini mushroom pizza. We've had our variation of it twice now and it is a big hit. We use the dough recipe in that link (it is a much chewier, thinner dough than our regular recipe) then for the base we use pesto and olive oil.

I use our old mandolin (yes, another yummy thing I can make with this gadget that I spent so many years pestering my poor husband to get rid of. I've actually bought two more since at thrift stores for other people) to julienne the zucchini and we just use regular mushrooms as well as a few cherry tomatoes for toppings. We top that with grated cheese and bake it 'til golden.

I can see a lot of our zucchinis getting used up this way. And good thing too because yesterday I noticed my "wart" zucchinis are starting to produce now.

Funny looking things. This is the first time I've tried this kind, I got the seeds at Seedy Saturday this spring. I assumed they would be a bush zucchini but the plants are sprawling out into my (already small) pathways. If you have any favourite zucchini recipes you'd like to share I'd be very happy to hear about them. ;-)

Onion Braids

2011-08-04T06:07:00.000-07:00

The other day I harvested most of my first planting of onions. I brought them home and, after cleaning and drying them, made them into a braid.

This is my favourite way to store onions. I find it very handy to have them hanging on the wall in the garage (before freezing temps) or coldroom. I also love the way they look.

This year I'm also growing a few Kelsae Sweet Giant onions and was pleased to see how big they are getting, can't wait to see how much bigger they get.

Plenty of Pesto

2011-08-03T07:26:00.000-07:00

One of the things I love about living in the Okanagan valley is the absolute abundance of produce growing here, another thing I love about living here is the community of people we have in our lives. Last week a dear friend asked me if I wanted to join her to make pesto since they had been given the opportunity to pick loads of basil for free. Well, of course I couldn't resist. We rode our bikes to the Farmers Market to get some garlic and other goodies and then back to her place for a few hours of making pesto. Once there she showed me how much basil they had picked - there were two large Rubbermaid bins, a shopping bin and two large fridge crispers full. Yikes! I'd never seen so much basil in my life.

(our dueling food processors!)

We washed, stemmed, processed, ran short on ingredients (several times) and made our way through the crispers full as well as most of the two big bins. It took us many more hours than we had thought but the time whizzed by because we were enjoying ourselves so much. I love doing this kind of project with friends and having time to talk and catch up while getting something done.

I ended up going home with 4 quart jars, 1 plastic container and 1 good size bowl filled with pesto. Jacqueline managed to fill a freezer with yogurt containers of pesto. Once I got home I also put my pesto into plastic containers to freeze and then popped them out of the containers into a plastic freezer bag. Needless to say we've been enjoying pesto everything since then - pesto pizza, pesto potatoes, pesto pasta, pesto on bread, pesto on green beans...

The freezer has been in constant use as it is also blueberry, cherry and apricot season here and I'm getting it stocked with our year supply of smoothie ingredients. Apricots are very easy to come by here and I've seen several trees going unpicked around town. I was pleased to be offered some apricots from the tree where my garden is.

Apricots have never been my favourite fruit (the ones on our old tree were just OK in flavour) but this variety has incredible flavour and colour. I hope to find out what kind it is so I can plant the same kind when we get our property. They're delicious fresh and make a great addition to berry smoothies.

Summertime Equals Zucchini Time

2011-07-27T18:58:00.000-07:00

Even though the weather isn't helping it seem like summertime around these parts (it has been unusually wet and cold), the way the time is zipping by certainly makes it feel like summer. There's been cherry picking...and pitting and freezing of course.I love my old thrifted cherry pitter and can't imagine cherry season without it, it makes light work of cherry pitting and when you do it outside you don't need to worry about the cherry juice that splatters all over.

We enjoyed making homemade noodles so much when our friends were here that the boys and I decided to try making homemade ravioli with our garage sale pasta machine. It works like a charm for rolling out sheets of noodles. I don't have a ravioli maker yet so we improvised with a jar and a slightly wider drinker glass. These we filled with spinach from the garden and ricotta cheese and then served them with sage butter and garlic scapes. Yum!

I snapped a few photos of the garden this week while I was wondering why on earth I don't do a better job of keeping up with pruning tomatoes. Part of me wants to because I like how tidy the plants looked when pruned and because I plant so closely I don't want too much overgrowth but another part of me just has such a hard time pruning plants. So, I pruned some here and there and then let myself be distracted by picking more beans and the last of the peas.

My late planted potatoes are quickly filling their cages and I need to get busy adding more mulch.

And, happily, there are cherry tomatoes ripening up outside - a very few at my house so far but lots at the garden at work. Thank goodness for generous gardeners sharing their tomatoes, a few of these added to any dish makes it delicious.

There has also been lots of zucchini eating going on. Last year I was quite convinced that I would plant less plants (8 is really too many for one family) and yet....somehow....I ended up with 8 again. If the boys question me on it I'll use the excuse that with two gardens at separate locations it gets a bit confusing and somehow I ended up with 4 at each. ;-)

Today both boys started looking for recipes themselves rather than leaving all the zucchini prep up to me, they know that they will be eating lots of this over the summer and the get ~~pretty sick~~ slightly tired of my same old, same old methods of preparing it (although in my defense I have loads and loads of ways of making it, it is just that when you're eating it at least once a day for months...). E found a recipe for thin crust zucchini mushroom pizza that we tried tonight (I'll share it next time) and he declared it a two thumbs up success.

We even took zucchini away with us on the weekend to enjoy with friends during a weekend of hiking and mountain biking. When it comes to zucchini I guess my motto is....don't leave home without it.

Gratitude

2011-07-19T13:30:00.000-07:00

Knitty Gritty Homestead GratiTuesday

It is part of my regular daily round to take time to be grateful for all that I have in my life. I'm always thinking about the things I have to be grateful for and I often take time to write things down too. I love this idea that Knitty Gritty Homestead is doing each Tuesday, she shares five things for which she is grateful and asks others to share their gratitude list as well. The last few years have been teaching me all sorts of lessons and the more I learn the more I believe that it really all boils down to just this:

Live in the present.

Practice gratitude.

I believe those two things are the key to a happier life. And, happily, they are very simple. Easy? No, not always. But simple? Yes. And easier with practice.

And so I hope you will join me in practicing gratitude - there's no better way to stay in the present than by focusing your attention on whatever is "good" in your life right now.

Right now I am grateful for -

So much fresh produce in the gardens that most of each meal is garden-fresh.

Gorgeous full moon right outside our sun room (or moon room, in this case) windows (and a clear view of a barred owl as it perched on a dead tree as a bonus)!

An abundance of fresh flowers to cut and bring inside for bouquets.

First batch of green beans. Love these (all of which were enjoyed raw and fresh).

Homemade strawberry ice cream! Twice (once with friends which makes it taste even better)!!

The morning glory vine S planted starting to bloom as it climbs up our stair railing. Lovely!

And you? What are you feeling grateful for?

Lavender Wands

2011-07-13T06:44:00.000-07:00

I've been enjoying making lavender wands again. This is such a lovely thing to do as your visiting with a friend (or watching a movie) because you can do it without much thought, I also love the smell of lavender so enjoy working with it just for that reason. A dear friend of mine showed me how to make these several years ago and I can still remember spending time with her in my old back yard as she showed me how she makes them. She makes hers much tidier than I ever have but I enjoy them all the same.

Once they are dry I will remove the white string from the gift ones and replace it with a ribbon. I still have the original ribbon from the first one my creative friend gave to me and I re-use it each year on one of mine (she made the ribbon as well).

I've got quite a stash now, some will go in our bathroom, some will go in our clothes drawers and some will be given as gifts.

An Important Message

2011-07-12T06:26:00.000-07:00

Do you remember these letters? We had them when I was little and I can remember them being on our fridge. I bought some from a thrift store for W when he was very little and he liked to play with them. They've been packed away for years and I came across them when we moved and brought them up to the kitchen. They've been a source of entertainment ever since.

The boys make all sorts of messages and whenever we have company over people seem to find it hard to resist making some sort of message. Sometimes I'll make one...

only to have it changed into something different the next time I come into the kitchen.

The messages get changed with surprising frequency and quite often I find myself giggling at what I read on our fridge.

FYI - that message was not done by me (therefore not MY breath) and, as far as I know, not done by our dog either. Hmmmm....

Garage Sale Goodies

2011-07-11T16:24:00.000-07:00

I'm know I've posted before about my love of garage sales ( the posts in my Thrifty Goodness section are about garage sale or thrift store finds). We like to get everything we need (and lots that we want) at garage sales and thrift stores for many reasons but recently (since moving again and having to pack, move and unpack all our Stuff!) I've been trying to avoid going to garage sales in order to stop getting more...well...stuff. But, I have to admit that it really is quite hard for me to break this habit, especially because my husband loves garage sales too and has no intention of staying away from them. So, the last two weekends we've found some great stuff. Last week we stopped off at one on the way to the garden and these are some of the goodies we found.

I'm always on the lookout for these Bakelite utensils - we all love using them - but I've never found so many all at once before. E spotted a big bag full on a table and snatched them up quick. ;-)

I've been looking for an old metal watering can for Ages!

I HAD to get this casserole dish because it matches my thrifted bowl set...right?

And then this Saturday morning we walked to a great one in our neighbourhood and found these goodies.

We also hit one a few months ago and I found this.

For $20 for a spinning wheel I really couldn't be expected to resist, could I? And I manage to justify all this to myself quite easily because I tell myself that I need it all for my farm market when we get our farm. ;-)

There's just something about finding such treasures, isn't there?

Kildeer Mama and Babies

2011-07-07T08:10:00.000-07:00

I keep forgetting to share these photos of the mama Killdeer with her babies. This is the second batch of chicks (four of them) this year that have hatched right by my garden in town. The owners mark off the nests so that the eggs don't get stepped on when we're working in the garden (that's what the bamboo poles are). If you look closely you can see one little chick poking its head out.

I was there just as all the chicks were heading out of this nest where they had hatched and moving out into the field. In the photo below you can see the last little chick just thinking about leaving with its Mama. They sure don't seem to stay in their nest very long and they grow up fast. It's fun to see them getting bigger each time I go to garden. You can usually spot them just by watching for their parents - they try to distract you away from their babies by calling out and pretending to be injured - then you can catch a glimpse of their babies on legs that are exceedingly long for their bodies.

We also have loads of quail babies at home here. Yesterday morning our cat had a close encounter with one, I snatched her up (by her tail, actually) and made her drop the little chick. Thankfully the chick was able to makes its way back to its family. Kitty was in the dog house for the day!

More Strawberries...With Chocolate

2011-07-05T07:59:00.000-07:00

We went back for more strawberries on the weekend and came away with 10 more buckets. I've got plenty in the freezer now (for our winter smoothies) and we had enough to make Rebecca's chocolate shortcake that I've been meaning to make since last summer.

Yum! I followed the recipe this time and the boys loved it but I have a few changes in mind for next time which include making only half the cake batter (for a thinner cake part) and then letting some of the juice from the strawberries soak into the bottom cake layer for a bit (possibly also putting a bit of liquor of some sort in with that strawberry juice!).

So now we're done with putting by strawberries and next up will be cherries and raspberries. The neighbourhood where we are now was a cherry orchard at one time and there are still cherry trees everywhere so it will be fun to see which neighbours put up "Cherries for sale" signs.

The other day we all decided to have some fun with our cameras. Each day we pick a different subject and we all take a photo of it and then decide which one we find the most interesting. S started off with a flower and then came in to show us and told us we had to figure out which flower it was and then go take a photo of it. E was not impressed. "It's not a treasure hunt!", he said. He just wanted to know which flower it was so he could take his photo too. ;-)

Then E chose the next day's topic and it was super macro close-up. He has taken several interesting pictures and tonight we will see them all and then pick the next subject. Quite fun to see the different perspectives each person has.

There are so many gorgeous blooms here that it is quite easy to get carried away with photo taking but I noticed yesterday that I can't help myself from being drawn to taking photos of veggies. I really do find them utterly beautiful.

(first peas in my home garden which is a little behind compared to the garden in town)

First ripe cherry tomato in home garden, this one is planted in a big herb box on our side patio. It is a wonderful place to have herbs growing.

Fool Me Twice...

2011-06-29T17:41:00.000-07:00

We've been eating a lot of strawberry shortcake and a few days ago we decided to move onto fool. Hard to beat strawberry fool for an easy-to-make, delicious dessert. I made it for my family Monday night and then made it again last night for our friends.

Just chop about 4 cups worth of strawberries (or run them quickly through the food processor if you like but leave them a bit rough). Sprinkle a couple spoons of sugar on top and let sit for a few hours.

Whip 2 cups worth of cream with a titch of sugar and, if you have it, the seeds scraped from half a vanilla pod. Then fold the two together. Spoon into serving dishes (jam jars in my case because I don't have any pretty clear glass bowls and the jars do nicely in a pinch) and top with a strawberry. I was thinking last night that it would be really nice served with a crisp cookie...like maybe a stroopwafel. I'll have to get some next time I go to the market and test out my theory. Then we'll have to be "fooled" for a third time. ;-)

It definitely goes down a treat!

And my Clivia is in bloom again. I was just thinking it wasn't going to bloom this year and started cleaning it up to take outside to divide (my friend has been waiting patiently for me to divide it for faaar too long) when I noticed a bloom stalk coming. I love this plant with its glossy green leaves and I also love that each year it reminds me to be patient and that it will bloom in its own sweet time.

Oh, how funny. I just used my blog search to see if I could find another post about this plant blooming and I see I posted about it on June 30th last year. I was so sure it usually bloomed earlier and that it was late this year...I guess it hasn't taught me much about being patient after all. ;-)

Low Sugar and Delicious Strawberry Freezer Jam

2011-06-28T14:46:00.000-07:00

I've posted before about how much I love Pomona's Pectin. I've always loved to make jam but I do not like the amount of sugar most jams call for - I like to taste the fruit not just sugar. I've made a freezer jam for years with dried pineapple as the sweetener but this year E wanted to make strawberry freezer jam "like Gramma's". Who can resist that??

So, I told him how much sugar goes into regular freezer jam and we agreed that we would use Pomona's to make a sweet jam with sugar (rather than dried pineapple)but with a lot less sugar. He made one batch (4 cups strawberries to 1 cup sugar) tested it out and was delighted with it.

The next day he easily convinced me to help him make another batch - a double batch this time. It literally takes minutes and then he was filling jars to tuck in the freezer with his year's supply of strawberry jam.

How to explain how much I love that my kids can do this...it truly fills my heart with joy. I have a feeling when I look back on all the things my kids "learned" at home with me during these growing up, home-learning years that this - this knowledge of how food grows and what to do with it - will be what stays with me and what I'm most pleased they learned.

Since we had so many strawberries (my husband did point out that no one else was leaving the berry farm with 12 buckets full in order to illustrate my craziness, I think, but I know he'll be asking me in the next couple days if I am ready to go picking again because we are all looking forward to try the other even sweeter variety of berries on the other side of the field!) I decided to try out Jamie Oliver's Quickest Strawberry Jam. It is delicious and we've decided to keep the jarful in the fridge to use a sauce on icecream and yogurt this week as well as for jam.

I have many memories of waking up for school on June mornings to the smell of my mom making strawberry jam. I would come down to the kitchen and there would be a plate of strawberry "foam" that I loved putting on my toast. I was thrilled to make this jam and be able to skim the foam for my boys.

Such a simple thing but such a treasured memory because it reminds me of how lucky I was to grow up in a home where these simple pleasures mattered and yet were also so every day.

The Peas Are Ready!! The Peas Are Ready!!

2011-06-27T08:27:00.000-07:00

E LOVES peas. And when I say he loves peas...I mean he loves peas - like he can down a bucketful easily in one sitting. So you can imagine how thrilled he was to hear that I get to take care of the whole garden at work and that we get to do all the harvesting for ourselves this week. Saturday morning we all, along with S's sis, went strawberry picking (13 buckets can be picked quite quickly when you have 5 willing pickers) at the local patch then we headed to the garden (with a quick sidetrack at a garage sale on the way - can't wait to show the treasure we found!).

Once there he got a half buckets worth to tide him over while he did a few errands and I worked on my own garden. Then we picked three more buckets and there are only a couple handfuls left.

It is funny because when I first brought him home a smaller batch from work he was eating all the peas and then, once done, he would eat all the pods. Now that the peas are plentiful he isn't eating as many of the pods. ;-)

Yes, I did feel tickled to gather bunches of green onions and put an elastic around them. ;-)

The snow peas and sugar snap peas are ready as well and there are so many I have a feeling I'll be spending some time freezing some this week. I used a recipe from Simply in Season for Thai Green Beans (shown online here) substituting peas for beans and green onions from the garden for regular onions.

The broccoli and zucchini and red peppers are ready as well so we also made a stirfry. I just love this time of year when so much of each meal comes directly from the garden. Such a feeling of abundance (only the carrots are bought).

And if all that weren't enough we also get to pick the ripe tomatoes out of the greenhouse - a mug full of Sweet Orange Cherry tomatoes.

Life is good!

Divine Strawberry Shortcake

2011-06-24T15:34:00.000-07:00

Two posts in one day!?! I know. But it just doesn't seem fair for me to know how good this recipe is and not share it ASAP. I know we live in a consumer culture that tries to convince us we NEED all sorts of things. Well, I don't believe it and over the last 15 years or so I've learned that one actually needs very little to live a joyful life but trust me...you NEED this!

Convinced? Alright, here's the recipe. My friend sent me this link yesterday and I made a batch for the four of us. When I was patting out the dough to cut into squares (I didn't want to bother using a circular cookie cutter and then have extra dough to reshape so whenever I make biscuits or scones I always do squares) I realized that if I cut the dough into only 4 squares they would end up being quite large. I cut them into 8 more reasonable sized squares and figured (possibly) we might make two dessert nights out of them.

After we each ate a portion (and some of us may have "cleaned our plates exceptionally well" - read: licked 'em clean) the boys asked for another. And so, why not. We each had a second portion. S asked if we could have it every night for two weeks and, since strawberries are such a short season for us, I believe we will. I've already got the strawberries sliced up for a whole new batch tonight.

Solstice Camping

2011-06-24T15:11:00.000-07:00

My oldest son W wanted us to go on a group camping trip with some of his homelearning friends. I've had lots on the go lately and, since W is 15, I thought it would be a good idea to challenge him to get us all packed for this camping trip including our food preparation. He got a lot done while I was at work and then when I got home we made some calzones together. This had me remembering all our camping trips when the boys were very little and me trying to madly pack everything by myself - I much prefer this way! ;-)

We'd decided that none of us wanted to cook or do dishes while we were camping so we needed to prepare everything ahead of time. We wanted to make things we could eat with hands only so we would each only need one bowl and spoon to take care of (for our morning yogurt and granola).

We made our regular pizza calzones for one dinner.

And then we decided to try making a brocolli, mushroom, potato filling with a cheddar sauce for the next night's calzones (we like to buy something similar to these in our favourite health food store in the town of Paia on Maui - Mana Food's).

We needed another batch of our latest favourite granola bars too. I got a recipe from a friend's blog and converted it a bit to suit us (and then have proceeded to make it once a week since). The original recipe is here if you'd like to try it. My converted recipe is here.

Easy (and Delicious!) Granola Bars

4 cups old fashioned oats
1/2 cup walnuts
1/3 organic cane sugar
1/2 tsp salt

Put these 4 ingredients in a bowl and mix well.

In small pot put -

1/2 cup coconut oil (that I melt with the peanut butter and honey)
1/2 cup honey
1/2 cup natural peanut butter

and melt at med heat. (Watch carefully so as not to burn - ask me how I know!)

Press into a 10X15 cookie sheet(do use this size pan because if you use too big of a cookie sheet then it gets spread too thin - we know lots about being spread too thin, don't we! and it ain't a good thing!)

Sprinkle 1/2 cup of chocolate chips on top.

Bake at 425 for 5 mins turn the pan then bake for another 5 mins. Keep a close eye on them so they don't get too browned. Honey browns quite quickly in baking.

Take out of oven and let cool (do let cool first, if you are impatient to eat them - like me- then they go all crumbly and you think that they didn't work well but they do...if patient!) Cut into bars. Eat. Make another batch. ;-)
So with all the food prep out of the way there was nothing to do but enjoy -

the lake...

the persistent Columbian Ground Squirrels (which I do not feed but they never did seem to get the message )...

(here he is trying to get into my pack to get my trail mix)

our friends, lots of time to read and....

Hammock Time! Bliss!

Edited to add (since a few asked about the A Pace of Grace book)-

Yes, I think it is a fantastic read. I had this book out of the library in the wintertime and really loved it. I've recommended it to all my friends (and even a few moms I don't know well) and they've all really loved it too. It is filled with all kinds of thought-provoking ideas and potentially life-changing information. The first time I read it I read it through quickly and didn't have time to do the exercises in it but this time I am making time to do them. One of the first exercises is to consider the questions - "What stresses me?" and "What blesses me?". The book really gets you thinking about what is important in your life and how we can live our best life without spending on energy (and time) on less important things.

I highly recommend it and would love to hear if you enjoy it. It is actually one of those books that I would like to buy (I almost never buy new books) so that I could read it with a highlighter pen and go through highlighting all the especially meaningful bits. ;-)

A Long Time Ago...in a Home, Not So Far Away...

2011-06-17T14:33:00.000-07:00

A Long Time Ago...in a Home, Not So Far Away...my talented husband rescued a walnut tree from its fate as firewood. He brought it home in the back of his truck and he has been using bits and pieces of it to make all kinds of beautiful things as gifts - jewelery, bread boards and butter spreaders. He has several gorgeous boards that he is saving to make our dining room table but in the meantime...

he decided to make us an outdoor dining table.

It's gorgeous. He cut one of the boards in half lengthwise and then used a piece of granite that we've had sitting around for years (picked up for free from a shop that was getting rid of it). He put these both on a table frame that had long since lost its glass top. I love the live edges on it.

We're looking forward to the weather drying up a bit so we can continue to enjoy dinners outside on it. I sometimes tease my boys that they'd better learn to build/fix/make things the way their Dad does if they want to get a good wife...and I'm only partially kidding. ;-) I have a huge amount of respect for people with the ability to make and fix all sorts of things and while I may not have been consciously looking for that in a mate I have to say that it is something I really admire about him. The boys also know how much I love it when S brings home flowers that he has picked for me too. Dads can be such great role models. I feel very grateful that my boys have such a Dad and I'm also feeling very grateful and full of admiration for my own Dad.

Nettle and Comfrey and Bears...Oh My!

2011-06-13T20:17:00.000-07:00

Well, once I found out how well the fresh nettle blended and froze into cubes I knew I needed more. My friend and I headed up into the hills with our kids for a day of picking. Since the both of us have serious over-do-it tendencies we came home with A Lot Of Nettle. In fact at one point after my second day of blending and freezing (I'd long since given up on ice cube trays only and was freezing the mush in large shallow trays to be broken into chunks later) I may have had the thought "too much nettle" go through my brain...but it only lasted a moment. I googled nettle, came across this site (filled with nettle recipes) and was re-inspired by the thought of nettle ravioli (and me with my $2 garage sale pasta maker) and nettle gnocchi.

As soon as I had plenty of frozen raw nettle, frozen cooked nettle and a year's supply of dried nettle for my infusions I had time to make some soup. This is a simple potato broccoli soup that I added several stems of nettle to. I cook two potatoes in broth then add some broccoli and garlic to cook just until tender. Then I add the nettle to cook for a few minutes and then blend it all until smooth with an immersion blender. We like it with a little cheese (feta, gouda or cheddar).

Then it was time to move onto comfrey.

My son's friend was kind enough to bring me some comfrey so that I could make a quick batch of comfrey salve to take to my mom. This batch I made using the heat from a candle to infuse the oil.

It is a quick method (link to a photo tutorial of my son making some) and once the oil was infused I just added a bit of beeswax and then let the oil harden into salve.

I also filled a quart jar with comfrey and olive oil and will let it sit for a few weeks until I strain it and then use a fresh batch of comfrey to infuse it into a stronger oil following Susun Weed's method here and here. There is just something so simple and pleasing about gathering wild goods for making remedies and food. I love it.

And this is a picture I just couldn't resist sharing. Unfortunately my reflection in the window makes it a little hard to see what is outside. Just minutes before I took this photo E went to take the compost out (we were visiting at my parents' house) and when he came back in he said that he thought there must be a bear out there because the middle bin was knocked over...this didn't surprise me (bears are not unusual there) and my mind was moving onto the next thing when I hear him say...and I heard rustling. Well! That stopped me in my tracks. He didn't mean that the bears had been there last night he meant that they were there...now! I went to look out the bedroom window and sure enough.

Sieglinde Potatoes

2011-06-09T07:00:00.000-07:00

Speaking of Sieglinde potatoes - we've had this dinner a couple times in the last two weeks. Roasted Sieglindes, roasted asparagus...

and crispy fried tofu (grated extra-firm tofu fried with garlic, oregano, nutritional yeast, pepper and braggs sprinkled on it) on fresh greens topped with our favourite dressing.

So good. We hadn't had this tofu salad for at least a year and I realized that I missed it. This is something that even people who are pretty sure they won't like tofu usually like.

Delicious!

Gardening

2011-06-08T09:25:00.000-07:00

I picked our first goodness from the garden in town the other day - no, not anything I'd planted, it was a volunteer head lettuce that had come from seed from last year. At any rate, it was lovely to have some fresh greens of our own.

My little salad garden here is coming along nicely as well and we can start harvesting some of the greens.

The peas are coming up nicely as well and I look forward to this wall being covered in peas for E to snack on.

My town garden is slowly starting to look like a garden. I always love to take photos of a garden when it is planted and then at times throughout the season. It never, ever ceases to amaze me how things grow and the abundance we get from the ground. In a very short time I won't be able to get through these pathways without brushing tomato plants loaded with tomatoes. It truly is magical what can come from some seed and a patch of dirt. I love this quote from Thoreau -
Convince me that you have a seed there, and I am prepared to expect wonders.

I too always expect wonders from seeds and I am never let down, I think seeds are truly magical. Although I am perhaps just the teensiest bit let down about how my tomatoes and cukes look so far this year. We've had very wet, cold weather so far this year compared to what we are used to and my warm crop veg are really showing their displeasure. I've started giving them some nettle fertilizer in the hopes they will perk up a bit so we'll see, I think they'll start growing with enthusiasm as soon as it gets warmer. Until then...no photos of the tomatoes! ;-) Cold weather crops, like these cabbages, are quite happy though.

I'm also very excited that I was able to get some Sieglende seed potatoes at the Farmers Market last weekend. I had already planted the rest of my potatoes but once we'd been introduced to the Sieglinde variety by a good-food-loving friend (via the Jamie Oliver roasted veg recipe), I knew I had to grow some. They are E's favourite potato variety now. My potatoes are planted in cages made from wire and I will just keep throwing more leaves on top as the plants grow (instead of hilling them with dirt). It is a pretty good space saving way to grow them.

And, I've also been having a bit of fun with "honey holes" and planting squash and potatoes down on the front bank of this property. I like to try to plant food wherever I can (no sense in limiting myself to a "proper" vegetable garden). ;-) I always think that the worst that can happen is that things don't grow but...might as well try. Right!?! So these squash (as well as some pumpkins, potatoes and tomatoes) have been given a home on a bank in the hopes that their vines will grow down the bank and supply us with lots of squash to fill our coldroom.

They also have a lovely view of the lake so hopefully that will encourage them to grow even more.

I hope your garden is coming along too!

Nettle Walk, Nettle Smoothie and Nettle Ice Cubes

2011-06-03T10:25:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I spent the afternoon with some friends up in the hills by our last home. I wanted to find some young nettle to pick and since everything is at least 6 weeks to 2 months behind up there I figured it might be a good time. We went to where I had found some last year while I was hiking with my Dad and there it was just waiting to be harvested.

There were sweet little yellow violets.

There were trillium (in white and purple).

And, most importantly, there was lots of nettle - young, tender delicious nettle whereas down here it has all gone to seed. We all picked some before heading off for a bit of a hike.

And then I couldn't resist picking a bit more. I had in mind to try grinding some in my Vita-mix and then freezing it in ice cubes because I wanted to take some to my folks for their smoothies.

I blended it with a tiny bit of water (just enough to get the blender to blend) and then poured it into ice cubes trays and froze it overnight.

I tested one of the cubes out in our smoothie this morning and it worked so well I plan to go pick lots more and make a supply to last my own family through the winter as well. It will be such a nice way to get some nettle into our smoothies when there is no longer fresh nettle available.

I set this batch aside to dry for infusions (all kinds of nettle love here as well as how I make infusions) and with that and the nettle a dear friend brought me I should have enough now to last through the year.

Hopefully on the next trip up to get more fresh nettle to blend we'll be lucky enough to find some Shaggy Manes too.

Chocolate Energy Orbs

2011-06-02T07:32:00.000-07:00

I'm always trying to come up with different healthy, portable snacks for our family. We've all loved the energy orbs(method for making them linked there) I've made for years and so, for something a little different, I thought I'd try making a variation of them with chocolate. After all, isn't everything better with chocolate?!?

I ground my chosen dried fruits and nuts in the Vitamix, this time I used dates, raw cashews and some dried apricots (I had already soaked the apricots in water for a bit to soften them up). Then I melted some dark chocolate with a little orange juice (I love the flavour of orange with dates). I meant to add a little coconut oil at this point but somehow I forgot...I'll blame it on the smell of melting chocolate distracting me. ;-) Once the chocolate was melted I mixed it in with my fruit and nut mixture and then put it in the fridge to chill for a bit. Once chilled I took spoon fulls of the mixture and rolled it into balls then rolled it in coconut. I keep them in the freezer (all the better to make sure we don't eat them up in the first day) and they are ready to go on a hike whenever we are. Delicious!

Quinoa Cakes and Mushroom Ragout

2011-06-01T07:48:00.000-07:00

Last week I made the quinoa cakes I was wanting to try. When I saw the recipe I had never heard of quinoa cakes but after googling it I see there are all kinds of variations so we will be trying this out in a few different ways.

Once breaded and chilled they crisp up nicely in a cast iron fry pan.

I decided to serve them with the mushroom ragout recipe from Joy of Cooking : All About Vegetarian cookbook (these mushrooms are delicious on soft polenta and I thought they might be nice with the quinoa cakes too).

I carefully finished cooking the cakes and carefully put them on our plates with some mushrooms on the side. Once at the table I sat down and watch in amazement as my husband calmly m a s h e d his cakes up, mixed them with the mushrooms and contentedly ate it all up. E did the same. Next time W and I will get nicely shaped cakes and they will get quinoa scramble!

Still, they were eaten up with no complaints about quinoa so that is a good sign. I think next time I will try making them with some spinach, scallions, garlic and feta mixed in. I could see these being good in pitas in place of falafel too.

This is a photo of the mushroom ragout over some polenta that W made, this was serious comfort food to me. If you love mushrooms then this recipe is a must try.

Priorities

2011-05-30T09:20:00.000-07:00

Another weekend, another hike. This time of year weekends often include lots of hiking time for our family (it's nice to get out there hiking before the full, dry heat of summer hits) but this year we've decided that we really will make sure our priorities are our priorities.

We love time outdoors and so we are scheduling it in just the same way we schedule work hours in - it is a priority in our lives and we are determined to treat it as such. This weekend's hike had us hiking along a trail we went to for my Mother's Day hike last year - a beautiful spot.

We enjoyed our hike, the boys enjoyed having a friend along, there was time for a packed lunch, flower photos and, once we were out of the park, there were roadside spots for rosebud collecting (I collect these every year and this ritual is such a simple blessing to me).

Every time I go for a hike I feel so grateful to live in this area, there are so many beautiful places to hike that are easy to access.

On this hike (which has a very steep climb for the first while) we saw some members of the local naturalist club out on a bird count. These women always inspire and impress me - some of them are 30 years older than I am and I love to see how fit they are. They are also gracious outdoors people and always take time to engage my boys on the trail and encourage them.

Once we got home we decided a home baked treat was in order and, since it is rhubarb season, rhubarb cake seemed a good choice...especially with whipped cream!

We also enjoyed a delicious fresh salad with dinner, not from my garden yet but from a beautiful garden I've been noticing for the past few months whenever we are in town. It is a home on a city lot that seems completely filled with beds of greens. It looks beautiful - like a living quilt(you can see what I mean if you click on that link and see the blog header photo). When I first saw it I felt sure that someone must be running a market garden there and I was very curious.

I LOVE seeing whole yards used to grow food. And, from my understanding, the greens are then brought to our farmers market by bike. I love being able to tell my boys about people like this - very inspiring. We bought some of his greens at the market this weekend and they are fantastic.

Blackberry Muffins

2011-05-27T08:02:00.000-07:00

We love blueberry muffins in our house but blueberries tend to get used up quite quickly (no matter how many pounds we pick and freeze - why is that?!?) so now we are onto wild blackberries. They make delicious muffins (and frozen yogurt and smoothies and fruit crisp and...).

I thought I would look for a new recipe and came across this one, it sounded delicious! I started out intending to mostly follow the recipe but that didn't last very long. I had some plain yogurt to use up so I wanted to use that instead of the sourcream and milk and I wanted to use coconut oil instead of butter (not that I don't Love butter). I also didn't want to use that much sugar - I like my muffins to be just sweet. So here is what I ended up using.

2 1/2 cups flour (I used a combination of spelt and whole wheat)

1 Tbsp baking powder
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
2 large eggs
1 cup plain organic yogurt
1/2 cup sugar
1 very ripe banana - mashed well (this adds sweetness and lets me add less sugar)
6 Tbsp melted coconut oil
1 teaspoon vanilla
1 1/2 cups frozen blackberries

Preheat oven to 400°F. Grease a standard 12 muffin pan.
Mix together the flour, baking powder, baking soda, cinnamon and salt in a large bowl.

In a separate bowl, mash the banana until smooth then add eggs, yogurt, sugar, coconut oil, and vanilla. Mix.

Add the wet mixture to the dry mixture and mix together with a few light strokes, just until the dry ingredients are moistened. Add the berries. Don't overmix. The batter won't be smooth.

Divide the batter evenly among the muffin cups. Bake 17-20 minutes. This is very yummy so I suggest doubling the recipe - I did! ;-)

Quinoa Asparagus Salad

2011-05-26T08:25:00.000-07:00

I love quinoa but my boys don't. Like really don't. They're not picky eaters at all so when they tell me they really don't like something I know they mean it! But I can't help thinking that I just haven't found a way to prepare it yet that they like. The other day I made a quinoa salad using up some leftover quinoa and some things from the veg drawer.

I sauteed some onion and a bit of garlic. I added some cubed sweet potato and let that cook for a bit until it softened. Then I added some chopped asparagus and cooked it for just a few minutes longer. I mixed these veg with the cooked quinoa and then poured some of our favourite dressing over it all (although this time I used balsamic vinegar when I made the dressing). And what did my boys think? Not much! I loved it though. And had to put it away so that there would be some left for our guests - I found it hard to stop "testing" it as it was delicious to eat while it was still warm. ;-)

So, that leaves me on the lookout for another way to try quinoa and yesterday I found this recipe in a magazine. I feel pretty confident that they will like these quinoa cakes but if anyone has any links to favourite quinoa recipes I'd sure appreciate them.

You Can't Always Get What You Want

2011-05-24T20:10:00.000-07:00

We had a lovely long weekend (Oh, I do SO wish every weekend was a long weekend!) and on Monday we decided to go for a hike to look for Morel mushrooms. We headed to an area nearby that had burned last summer hoping that we might find some there. We walked. We saw Marmots (can you see two of them on the top of the log pile?).

We searched some more. We enjoyed a new-to-us hiking spot. We saw a blue bird that I've yet to identify (at first I thought it was a Lazuli Bunting but I'm not quite sure now) and we almost literally came upon this Hairy Woodpecker. I was close enough to see that his front feathers were no longer white but a silver-grayish from rubbing up against the charred trees.

We found beautiful wildflowers - Chocolate Lilies, Indian Paintbrush and some Arrowleaf Balsam Root and wild strawberries in bloom (we'll have to come back when they are fruiting).

We walked some more. No Morels. We found Miner's Lettuce to munch on. We saw one single wild rose in bloom - it was tucked up against a charred log in a sheltered spot, the rest were still tightly wrapped buds.

And while we could have been disappointed that we didn't find any mushrooms I think it makes far more sense to delight in what we did find.

A carpet of Arnica in bloom. Gorgeous. So while it may be true that (in the wise words of Mick Jagger) you can't always get what you want...we certainly were happy to find beauty in what was.

Beauty All Around

2011-05-20T09:11:00.000-07:00

The weeks seem to be passing by so quickly I can hardly believe it. The blossoms help to remind me to stay present, some of them are so short-lived that if I don't stop to enjoy them That Moment they are gone! I went to my parents' home for Mother's Day weekend and when I returned S pointed out that there was a flowering almond tree on this property (one of my favourites from our old home that I used to take the boys' photo in front of each year when it was blooming. It was a fun way to see their growth each year.) The flowering almond had not been in bloom when I left yet it was just beyond peak bloom when I returned. So quick!

I couldn't resist taking photos of the hummingbirds while I was visiting my parents. They seemed especially assertive - almost buzzing our heads as we worked in the garden.

Am loving this tree Right Now as its blooms are almost done too. Do things seem especially quick to finish blooming this year? Is it because of the late spring?

So beautiful. And the each time I go outside I get a waft of gorgeous scent - yesterday I was walking by a tree right near our front door and caught a scent that reminded me of something I couldn't quite place...finally I decided it was very similar to the cherry popsicles of my childhood summer camping trips. ;-)

My folks came to stay for a few nights this week and we also had another overnight guest.

Just one night though and then (I'm so grateful!) we found its Mama. What a relief!

There was also time for a short hike with my Dad and...

a run in with this fellah. I am not a fan of snakes (to put it extremely mildly) - they terrify me. And this fellah just seemed to go on and on when he finally decided to make his way across the trail so we could continue. On and on and on. Blech! To me, he made the poison ivy we came across look positively friendly!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-05-18T11:09:00.000-07:00

Oh...maybe just a word or two - apparently wordless isn't really my thing. ;-) The other day S brought home some lilacs and had them in this jar when I got home. Such a lovely combination of colours and I Love the scent of lilacs. Then yesterday I \spent my work day gardening around old lilac trees as well as Lily of the Valley - the day passed quickly in a haze of delightful smells. I couldn't resist bringing a few more home and E put them in this old wine bottle (I just never could recycle that one). I ended up putting the ones from S into our newly painted bedroom. You can't quite tell the colour of it from that photo above but it is a lovely, calm blue with just a hint of periwinkle in certain lights. Such a peaceful colour, it is almost the same colour as our bedroom at our old home but not quite. It is feeling very springy around here with so much in bloom and such good smells everywhere...I love this time of year.

Use It Up, Wear It Out, Make It Do or Do Without

2011-05-13T11:06:00.000-07:00

I was raised with that saying as a way of life...I don't remember if it was actually ever said but it was certainly lived. My parents are part of a generation where that was simply what you did - there weren't a lot of material goods and so each item was treated with respect. When things broke then they were fixed. If they were broken beyond repair then the item was saved to be used in another way. I have a very strong admiration and respect for that way of thinking and very much believe it is a way of thinking that our current culture could benefit from.

Last year S brought home some wicker furniture that was on the side of our road with a free sign on it. My husband knows that I love things made of natural materials, that I love a bargain and that I'm always happy to do what I can to make something last a little longer. A little while ago he also brought home some paint so that I could fix up this weathered (somewhat sad looking) furniture. I painted it and then I decided to use some thrifted cushions and some material I had been given to make some "new" seat cushions for the two chairs. So now we have two lovely looking and comfy reading chairs, a table and a loveseat to put on our patio. It makes me very happy to be able to furnish our lives in this way and to so rarely have to buy anything new, I very much enjoy being able to fix things in this way - it gives me a deep sense of joy.

And now I am also working my way to finding a balance in this. I am determining what "projects" I can let go of and pass on to someone else. I've realized that I can't *fix* everything, and that I don't want to spend all my free time working on things - remaking, repairing, re-purposing. I realized that what was a very worthy value at one time - saving all material items to be re-used in some way - can quickly become overwhelming in this age of "too much" stuff. That it isn't up to me to save everything from the dump and that I can let go of some of the projects I have tucked away so that I can free up some time to just be (don't get me wrong, this doesn't mean I will be throwing things in the garbage, it just means I won't be taking on any new projects for a bit and that I will see if I can find someone else who may be interested in some of the things I had planned to fix).

Do you ever have those moments in your life where you see very clearly that time is precious? Heartbreakingly clearly? That it passes by so quickly that in a blink your children are almost grown and that things - those constants in life- can change in an instant? Things are coming together right now in my life to show me this lesson clearly...and I'm grateful for the ability to be able to really *see* this. And so, for right now, I am working on letting go of "too much" so that I can fully enjoy "just enough". And for now this may mean some daily quiet reading time in my "new" comfy wicker chair. ;-)

What about you? I'd love to hear if you have experience of this feeling.

Red Lentils

2011-05-11T07:39:00.000-07:00

I've been stocking up my pantry again since moving. I was using up as much as we could out of our pantry, cold room and freezers before moving and was feeling a bit Old Mother Hubbardish for awhile. Now I've got all my big pickle jars filled with grains and beans again and there is just something so satisfying about seeing shelves lined with full jars. I came across a recipe for a red lentil/feta cheese dip(much like this recipe only add 1/3 cup of crumbled feta instead of tahini, an onion and some paprika) and knew it was a must try - I'm always on the lookout for healthy, filling snacks for our family.

This was easy to make and delicious to eat - much like hummus. I can almost taste it already on our sandwiches and wraps in the summertime with our ripe tomatoes and cucumbers!

I had also come across a recipe for these quick and easy flat bread on this blog - delicious. Next time I will double the recipe, E was devouring them almost as quickly as I could get them out of the pan. We picked some garlic chives to add the dough and they gave it a very nice flavour.

I always love finding simple recipes to add to our family's collection, we tend to be a hungry lot and keeping us full with whole, healthy food takes a bit of planning and preparation - especially with two growing boys!

The Case of the Missing Eggs

2011-05-03T14:20:00.000-07:00

We feel very lucky to have access to a large space in town in which to garden. This will be our third year getting to garden there and it has been so wonderful.

W and I went to rake the space into beds over a week ago and yesterday the boys and I went to do a little bit of planting. We planted out half of the cabbage seedlings and lots of onions (red and yellow). We mulched two of the pathways with trimmings from the day lilies at this house and will be on the lookout for more mulch wherever we can find it.

There are always killdeer on this property and usually while I am working if I get too near to their nest then they try to distract me away from it by running, squawking and pretending their wing is broken.

This time I didn't even notice her nest until E pointed out to me that she was just sitting calmly. I don't know if she is getting used to us or if she just didn't want to leave her eggs because it is close to hatch time but she didn't seem to mind our presence at all, she just sat there and watched as I planted out some onions. Since I always have my camera close to hand I couldn't resist taking her photo. It is Amazing how well they blend into their environment - even though I knew where she was today (it is marked out with bamboo stakes so we don't step on her eggs) I still had to look hard each time I went by on the tractor to see if I could see her - she blends right in.

We've been busy doing lots of yard work around here working to get things into shape. The boys found some abandoned quail eggs where they were raking and brought them to me to see (you can see them in the top photo). We put them into an old bird nest we had and I put them right outside the front door. The next morning I came out to look at them again (so lovely) and...they were gone. We're not sure what took them. My guess is a raccoon but we've had other guesses too. Eight eggs gone! A feast for some critter.

This is a Test!

2011-04-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

I am testing myself. I am a person who tends to take on too much at times. I love to make things, fix things, grow things and do things. The last few years I have been challenging myself to slow down a bit. And ooooh, is it ever tricky for me. So...I am testing myself. When we moved here I found an apricot tree -a very sadly neglected but still living apricot tree - down the bank amidst some dead apricot trees and, what looks like, some plum trees. Here is my challenge - I am going to see if I can leave this tree well enough alone. No pruning. No mulching. Not even going to pick off the old mummies (even though I KNOW they are harbouring brown rot fungus which I used to oh so painstakingly pick off my old tree! Horrors!!). No, none of that. I am only going to enjoy whatever fruit it gives us just as I have enjoyed the beautiful blossoms it is giving us right now. So delicate and beautiful.

Now...why couldn't I have issued myself the same challenge for the wallpaper in the bedroom? That is definitely something that should have been left well enough alone.

Through My Child's Eyes

2011-04-26T16:20:00.000-07:00

W went for a hike down the bank today with his camera. He sent me this picture when he returned. I love getting to see things through the eyes of my boys. When my boys were little I came across this quote:

A mother focuses the lens through which her children view life.

I've always found that to be quite true and wonderful - and it can also feel like a beautiful, huge responsibility at times too- and now I find it so interesting to have a chance to view things through their lens...literally too.

My Favourite Thing!

2011-04-25T14:39:00.000-07:00

My friend Anne used to enjoy telling this joke about dogs (partly, I think, because she loved dogs and partly because she loved to laugh) and I always enjoyed hearing her tell it because it always made her laugh. I loved her laugh and, even though I miss it very much, there are some days when I feel that I can still hear it.

DOG DIARY
8:00 am - Dog food! My favorite thing!

9:30 am - A car ride! My favorite thing!

9:40 am - A walk in the park! My favorite thing!

10:30 am - Got rubbed and petted! My favorite thing!

12:00 PM - Lunch! My favorite thing!

1:00 PM - Played in the yard! My favorite thing!

3:00 PM - Wagged my tail! My favorite thing!

5:00 PM - Milk bones! My favorite thing!

7:00 PM - Got to play ball! My favorite thing!

8:00 PM - Wow! Watched TV with the people! My favorite thing!

11:00 PM - Sleeping on the bed! My favorite thing!

That's the joke and the reason I was thinking about Anne and that joke yesterday and today was because it occurred to me that much of the time I am not unlike that dog, things capture my attention and I can't help but think- my favourite thing!

Yesterday morning we had an Easter egg hunt. My favourite thing!

I found a dark chocolate bunny. My favourite thing!

We puttered outside in the garden. My favourite thing!

I did some edging. My favourite thing!

The sun was shining, the sky was blue and it was gorgeous and warm. My favourite thing!

We ate lunch outside on the deck. My favourite thing!

Rhodo blooms are starting to open. My favourite thing!

Friends came for dinner. My favourite thing!

We made perogies together and had time to really talk. My favourite thing!

And had delicious hand-made apple pie and angel food cake and ice cream. My favourite things!

This morning at work I got to drive the tractor for the first time this year. My favourite thing!

Oh! Killdeer eggs on the ground right by the garden. My favourite thing!

Planted loads of seeds and seedlings out. My favourite thing!

Do you see what I mean? And so now I can't help but wonder if I have more in common with a dog than most people or if everyone feels this way. Does everyone have endless amounts of favourite things? I have to say that I'm not too worried about this doggy tendency because I've always thought that dogs, in general, are pretty happy creatures so it must be a good thing to think rather like them. Right? ;-)

Easter Eggs

2011-04-22T08:10:00.000-07:00

There is just something I love about traditions - the constancy, the stability, the...comfort, I suppose of knowing that each year around the same time you will take part in the same thing. Whether it is making heart-shaped somethings, planting seeds, dyeing eggs, going camping, beach days, harvest celebrations, Solstice fires or Christmas gift making there is a rhythm to our lives that I love. I look forward to each of these things and, in good times and trying times, I know that these things will occur...and I feel a sense of comfort in that.

I have coloured eggs every year of my life that I can recall - actually my family often came up here to the very city where I now make my home to dye eggs with our extended family. I happily recall Easter egg hunts with cousins and delicious meals made by my aunt (with Amazing mashed potatoes). My mom made traditions an important part of my childhood and I am extremely grateful for it.

My boys have also always dyed eggs. I expect (and hope) we will always do so (yes, I am picturing them bringing their children to "Gramma's" house to dye eggs).

We've had a trying couple weeks here - unexpected news of cancer and major surgery in our family. Feeling very unsettled and uncertain. Feeling very grateful and relieved to get good news Monday that all had gone well. Counting our blessings. And...on Wednesday...having a last-minute visit from a dear friend and deciding to dye eggs with her and her littles. Using brown eggs because that is what we had (I usually make a point of buying white for dyeing) and enjoying the difference the shell colour made in end result.

And this is E's favourite - his dragon's egg. Beautiful.

Salad Garden

2011-04-20T09:25:00.000-07:00

When we first moved in I found this patch of ground that I'm pretty sure must have once been home to some veggies (there is a chive plant there and not much else besides weeds). I decided to make it our salad garden since I will still have a large garden in town (that I feel very blessed to have access to) where I will grow most of our food.

I'm in the process of clearing it out. I planted some greens and radish there last week and am now trying to figure out a way to keep my cat from digging up all the seeds!! Today we are having an unexpected day (mostly) at home and so we will plant some peas out there against the wall as well (with more peas to be planted in town to try to satisfy E's hunger for fresh peas).

Yesterday after work I was given a bag of freshly grown greens from the greenhouse. What a treat! E kept taking some and eating them and I kept saying that they were for dinner. Finally I gave up and we both munched away for a bit...it had been so long since we'd had fresh young greens - because I do try to keep to local and/or in season foods as much as possible, E had only ~~convinced me to buy him~~ had lettuce twice since our last harvest. He loves lettuce and was delighted with the gifted fresh greens and I was delighted to see him appreciate and savour them as the seasonal goodness that they are - there simply is no comparison between just picked greens and store-bought shipped greens. Happily there were enough greens left for dinner as well and those we enjoyed with our favourite liquid gold dressing (we use grapeseed and/or olive oil instead of flax, parsley instead of cumin and always raspberry vinegar not balsamic - this is SO good that you want to drink it!). So nice to be at the start of growing season again and have all sorts of fresh vegetables to look forward to.

Rag Rugs, Beauty and...the Humble Cabbage

2011-04-15T07:56:00.000-07:00

I've enjoyed making crocheted rag rugs since my sister-in-law showed me how to about, oooh...probably almost 15 years ago. A little while ago my friend gave me a couple old sheets that are the perfect colour to use as a rug in E's newly painted bedroom. I painted his room as soon as we moved in and, since it has wooden floors, would like to get his rug done as soon as possible - they make for a great spot to sit while playing Lego or sketching and they also make it more likely that a feline friend will venture into your room for a nap.

Crochet rugs are very quick to make once you have the ripped sheets ironed into strips (it really is worth doing this step because it makes for a much nicer looking and way longer lasting rug). Normally I find this part of rug making a bit of a drag but in this house I decided to bring the ironing board into the sun room to make this task enjoyable. Yes, that's right...enjoyable. No, I'm not an ironing fan but the view from this sun room makes any task a pleasure. I mentioned how blessed we feel to be living here and this is one of the reasons.

Most of our time inside is spent in this room. It makes a great spot to eat meals, read, play, chat, grow seedlings(!!) and just sit and look out the windows. Beautiful! I would like to make a rug for this room too (I have a feeling it will be a bit cold in the wintertime due to all the windows across the whole front) but I'd like to try making a braided one out of recycled wool clothing, that sounds like a good wintertime project. Now the only problem is that his rug seems to hit a bit of a stall because we keep having sunny weather and I have a very hard time working on anything but the gardens when the sun is shining.

Now, I'm sure my dear friend would tell me that perhaps if I stopped doing things like rescuing people's cabbage seedlings (by pricking the extras out of 4 flats of someone else's seedlings) then I would have more time for other things but how was I to resist? I never have been able to toss out or cut off seedlings and apparently I can't even bear to hear about other people planning to do this. So...I now have about 88 cabbage seedlings living happily in the sunroom. It's a good thing I hadn't finished making up my garden plan yet. ;-)

One of the reasons I couldn't resist is that cabbages are so easy to store for winter use and also because of my family's love for cabbage salad and coleslaw. You wouldn't have been able to resist either, would you?

Counting My Blessings

2011-04-12T17:06:00.000-07:00

I am a big fan of "counting your blessings" although I admit that that saying used to annoy me. Perhaps it was because older relatives would say it to me when I was a teen and wanting to complain about something. These days I take it quite literally and I actually do count my blessings. I write them in a gratitude journal, I say them to myself each day, I give thanks out loud for particularly wonderful or touching blessings and sometimes...sometimes I take photos of them but always I am aware of the multitude of blessings in my life. Friday afternoon the boys and I took a break from working to do something we'd been looking forward to since we knew we were moving here...actually something I've been looking forward to doing for many years. This move brings us back quite close to our old neighbourhood and that means we are back near our old bakery and little neighbourhood grocer but now I'm actually close enough to bike to it. Hurrah! So Friday afternoon the boys and I donned our helmets, got out our bikes and E timed us to see how long it would take to get there. Five minutes. Five minutes to delicious fresh made bread. Definitely a blessing!

I was so tickled to be able to get my bread (without even a plastic bag) and tuck it into my basket to bike home. E made us mushroom soup again and when S got home we happily had our fresh rye bread with soup. S asked me if I was tickled pink to have been able to ride to the bakery and, as I happily nodded my head, W answered (in his dry way), "Yes, she even made me take a picture". I really did and now I can share it with you. ;-)

Finding Treasures

2011-04-11T09:52:00.000-07:00

One silver lining of moving into a new place is finding treasure tucked away in gardens that were planted by someone else at long time ago. This home has a yard that tells me this was once a well-loved home with a well-loved yard. We've been finding all sorts of treasures in the flower beds and I know there are many more hidden treasures that haven't started to come up yet.

One of the first things we found (besides crocus) was a huge planting of forsythia so I couldn't resist bringing in a jar full of branches to force an early bloom -such a cheery plant to bring indoors. Then we found hellebores, what a beautiful bloom these have.

Then my nose led me to this gorgeous plant, Rose Daphne, and I've since found several more - two yesterday that are tucked under huge evergreens and in desperate need of transplanting to somewhere they won't be covered in needles and will get some light. They have the most delicious scent of anything I've smelled and rank right up there with plumeria, old roses and lilacs as personal favourites.

We've also found loads of Prairie Crocus (in a deeper purple than the ones I had in our old garden), Grape Hyacinth, tulips (E is thrilled - he missed the tulips at our old home so much) and yesterday I also spied tiny buds of hyacinth coming up in one bed.

Lovely! And now, although I can tell what to expect in many of the beds due to the leaves and stalks left from last year, I can't wait to see what else we come across that is still hidden from view beneath the soil.

Thrifty Thursday...a Day Late

2011-04-08T08:35:00.000-07:00

This move brings us back to our old neighbourhood so we were happy to return to our old home branch of this library system and see our favourite librarian again. We're also back by our old favourite thrift store and so we thought we'd better stop off and see what they had. I was happy to find two very fun handmade aprons. This one I LOVE because of the pocket on the front, the whole flowered part is just one big pocket - perfect for clothespins, seed packets or all sorts of other things.

Plus I love the little ric-rac trim detail on the pocket edges.

And this one I love because it is reversible.

How fun!

I also found some lovely linen napkins in a very cherry spring colour that I couldn't resist at 4 for 25 cents!

We put them to use that night when E made us some Hungarian Mushroom soup for dinner. It was beyond delicious!

There is just so much to love about thrifting - the unique treasures we find, not consuming more brand new goods, no packaging and very inexpensive. I always especially love finding someone else's handmade things and enjoy giving them a loving home where they will be used and loved.

Seeds!

2011-04-05T09:35:00.000-07:00

We've had so much going on these last couple weeks including a week with no Internet access that I haven't been able to post here. Happily we were so busy outdoors that none of us noticed the lack of Internet all that much (although I did hear W grumbling about it a bit since he uses it for his online courses and was also missing having easy contact with his friends). There has been lots of cleaning, unpacking, exploring, digging new garden beds, pruning, weeding, edging and, best of all...

seed planting! Oh, what a treat for me to get my seeds out and get some plants started. First priority went to tomatoes, of course, and I've got Scinocca Plum, Franchi Italian red pear, 1884 Beefsteak, Azoychka Orange Beefsteak, Amish Brandywine, Striped German, Djena Lee's Golden Girl (we love the description of this one from The Cottage Gardener) and more. I especially love being able to plant my saved tomato seeds and I've got Tigerella, huge long-pointed paste, Andrea's Large Round Italian, Silvery Fir, Yellow Pear Cherry, Brown Berry Cherry, Red Roma Cherry and some paste varieties.

I planted these with a friend on Friday and then on Saturday I asked S if there were any particular varieties he wanted more of or if he thought we needed more. We did a quick count of how many were already planted and then his answer was that "88 tomato plants almost seems normal", meaning that I'd never done anything in a normal way before so why stop now with only 88 plants. And, instead of taking this as an insult, I took it as encouragement and planted more. :-) Now, I just need to find more tables to put in the sun room because the table and book shelf are filled. There are so many tomato varieties I'd love to try -Boxcar Willie is one, just because my mom used to have a cat with the same name - wouldn't it be nice to be able to taste one of every tomato and then choose your favourites to plant? Would love to hear if you have a particular "must-try" favourite.

On the Move

2011-03-24T21:32:00.000-07:00

Yesterday we got the keys for our new home - no, not our farm, although I am more than ready to have it work out for us to buy our farm apparently the universe is not yet...I shall endeavour to remain patient. However we did find a lovely rental home that is back down in the valley MUCH lower in altitude and we were especially happy about that when we woke up to a fresh 2 inches of snow up here (we still have over a foot on the ground). We are left this (our current lake view - note the snow and the peak of the mountain on the right side of this photo...

and arrived to this - if you look carefully on the left of this photo you can see the same mountain but now we will see it from down in the valley instead of being up in the mountains behind it, sort of the opposite view. However we still look upon the same gorgeous lake, we'll just be quite a bit closer to it now and the boys are thrilled.

But, what thrills me the most...

is that I took an hour's break from cleaning and packing (Oh OK, it was more likely two hours) to get out my edger (yes, my I'm addicted edger...how I missed it) and my pruners and get to work on some springtime gardening. I can't tell you how delightful it was for me to be back where I could be digging in the dirt and fixing up some neglected flower beds and yes, I was giggling to myself almost the entire time. Life really is good and we're all feeling very blessed...tired and looking forward to being done with moving but blessed.

Homemade Soft Scrub Cleaner and Toothpowder

2011-03-21T14:19:00.000-07:00

Those are two separate things...don't mistake the soft scrub for use on your teeth. ;-) I was looking at a informative website and came across this recipe for homemade tooth powder. Since I've got a 2 quart jar of my dried sage (that I am trying to use up before summer) and the other necessary ingredients on hand I thought I would give this toothpowder a try. I put the sage, salt and baking soda into the blender (I left out the optional clay because I didn't have it) and blended it to a fine powder then poured it into a bowl. I mixed in the peppermint essential oil and that was it. It works very well and, possibly because I am used to using plain baking soda on my teeth sometimes, I find the taste of this, with its peppermint flavour, to be quite nice. I'll definitely keep making it.

I've also been doing quite a bit of cleaning as we get ready to move, normally I am very happy with using just vinegar and baking soda to clean our bathtubs. I spray vinegar water on then sprinkle with soda ( I keep mine in old, large spice containers with a shakeable top), scrub with a cloth and rinse - this method has done me well for years - but every once in a while I like to make a soft scrub to give a bit of an extra clean. I put about a cup of baking soda in a bowl and add 6 Tbsp of castile soap (have also used Dr.Bronners before) and 6 Tbsp of vinegar and then added just a bit of water to get it to a sort of soft ice cream consistency.

I put it into a squeeze bottle (or you can just keep it in a container and dip your cloth into that) and it works great on tubs and sinks or on the inside of cupboards.

Now, I've got clean teeth, tubs, sinks and cupboards...if only I could find some magical way of getting clean (very high) walls that didn't involve me waaay up a ladder. ;-)

A Little Cabbage Love

2011-03-17T14:56:00.000-07:00

Cabbage is a staple veg around here through autumn and winter but, happily, we've yet to tire of it (don't ask me how my boys feel about butternut squash by this time of the year). Our favourite way to eat cabbage is the cabbage salad from the book A Homemade Life - the salad that E calls "the cabbage salad that you should make if you don't like cabbage...or even salad.". But the other day I brought home a red cabbage as well and decided we should have a bit of a different salad. I used my slicer to thinly slice half a head of cabbage and grated some carrots to add, then I put half of this into a container and popped it in the fridge for the next night.

I thought a creamy dressing would be a nice change so I mixed a couple spoonfuls of mayo with some garlic, dry mustard powder, a squeeze of lemon and some salt and pepper. Then I added some roasted sunflower seeds and mixed it up. I tasted-tested it before dinner (just two small bowls full!) and then set it out with the rest of dinner. E let me know that he really liked it after one helping and then quickly helped himself to two more helpings. Needless to say I was pleased that I already had a container full grated and ready to be dressed in the fridge. Although...all that said, we are very much looking forward to fresh baby greens from our garden too.

Elderberry Syrup

2011-03-15T17:52:00.000-07:00

I've been busy packing up the shelves of my coldroom, there were still plenty of jars lining the shelves - things we hadn't used yet (it seems I do tend to go a little overboard with my preserving each year). I kept a couple jars of Elderberry syrup out just in case we needed them before we moved - lucky thing. W and I had both been feeling the start of something coming on and so I made good use of the syrup (my boys have decided that they don't really like the taste of this syrup so they are sticking with oil of oregano or garlic/lemon tea).

It certainly seems to be doing the trick because I have no feelings of illness today at all. Love being able to stave off bouts of illness with homemade goodies.

Scottish Oat Cakes

2011-03-14T16:26:00.000-07:00

My Oatcake recipe has been with me a long time - since I was little. These have always been a favourite snack for W and so I like to be sure to make them regularly (anything to help fill up a 15 year old with an endless appetite plus they connect us with our Scottish heritage). Last week I thought I would make some for our tea time but I couldn't find my recipe. It took the third time looking through my recipe box to find it (W had put the recipe card back upside down after he made them last time?!?!). I had a moment of worry that I had lost the recipe and was wishing I had posted it here just in case so...now I'm going to. I find one of the handiest things about blogging is having another record of my favourite recipes.

Oatcakes

1 1/2 cup flour (whatever kind you like)
1/4 sugar
1 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp salt
1 1/2 cup oats
1/2 cup melted butter (I use 1/4 cup butter and 1/4 cup grapeseed oil)
2 eggs beaten with 2 Tbsp water (I used to sometimes use flax seed as an egg substitute and have also used apple juice instead of the water)

Mix dry ingredients then add liquid ingredients/ Mix and then roll out to 1/4 inch on floured board. Cut. Bake at 375 for 15-20 minutes.

I love these served split open with a bit of butter and a spoonful of our homemade jam - this time we had blackberry jam on one and blackberry peach on another. Such a simple tea time treat.

And now I'm going to link this in my sidebar so I will more easily be able to find this recipe...just in case.

Things Take Time

2011-03-10T19:59:00.000-08:00

I love to go for a walk each day on this property - 10 acres of woods makes for a very peaceful place to walk and think - or not think, if that's preferable. I always see animal tracks, usually rabbits, different birds, deer, coyotes, squirrels, mice and raccoons. When we first knew we were moving up here I was told that I might see a moose because we are near to the creek. I've seen moose at a distance before and been surprised rather close-up by one once when I was snowshoeing but wanted to see one again. I've been keeping my eyes peeled the whole time we have lived here but, although I've seen tracks on my hikes further up the road, I hadn't come across any on this property.

Sunday I went for my usual walk down to the ridge above the creek and on the way back I saw tracks where there hadn't been tracks on my way down. When I got to the house I told my family that I thought there was a moose on the property. E and I went for a walk together on Monday and, sure enough, we were part way down the hill and saw the moose across the fence in the neighbour's property. We enjoyed watching for a bit and then off she went. The next day I took W with me and I went to show him where we had seen the moose, as I was scanning the property to see if I could see her in the distance W pointed out that he could see some big ears under the tree right across the fence from us.

Not expecting to get so up close and personal with such a huge creature we backed off a bit towards the closest tree and watched and took some photos. We called up to E and he came down to join us to watch for another while. Such an amazing creature - they seem so massive, strong and majestic to me but, at the same time, sweet and almost comical looking. Truly beautiful.

Lately my walks have helped keep me present while I've been working at not worrying too much about finding our next home. I am a big believer in signs - although the last while I would have liked some signs to be bigger...and clearer...and much easier to understand - so it occurred to me when we saw this moose that this was a sort of closure on our time here - a time fraught with many stretching lessons and many ups and downs - and that things would be, and were, working out just as they should. I had been watching the whole time we lived here and now, at last, just weeks before we leave, here was this moose...right in front of us. A very good sign indeed. So, I guess the moral of this story is that while at times things might seem quite...well, poopy...

there is likely a lovely surprise right around the corner from all that poop. ;-) A lovely reminder for me that Things Take Time. Life really is good!

Vintage Melmac Plates

2011-03-08T12:15:00.000-08:00

Apparently I truly cannot resist thrift stores (anyone who knows me knows this but one would think that I would be able to show some restraint when we are in the middle of packing up all our belongings to move). We went to a thrift store on Saturday to find an old metal trunk for W (his plan is to fit all his stuff from his room into the trunk for the move) and as we went into the store I could be heard to say (quite firmly), "We are ONLY looking for a trunk, we're not getting ANYTHING else!". And then....

Yes, exactly! How was I to resist? Vintage Melmac plates...made in Canada! Perfect for my picnics. Beach days. Tomato pie at park days. One of my favourite colours. And, they fit perfectly in my vintage picnic basket (er...better make that, baskets). Really...how was I to resist? Anyway, since the picnic basket was being packed and moved it might as well be filled with pretty plates(plus that way I can leave the flower ones I found this summer in with our camping supplies and not have to swap them out each week through summer to the picnic basket). Right? Right?? Thankfully my family loves me very much and no one pointed out that I was the only one buying something and it wasn't, ahem...a metal trunk.

Can't Stop Knitting Slippers

2011-03-07T17:15:00.000-08:00

Apparently these slippers are addictive. I can't seem to stop myself. Is it that I want to use up lots of my wool stash (so that I don't have to pack it) and that this pattern lends itself so nicely to doing that? Is it that I need a distraction from packing and looking for a place to move? Is it that they are so quick and easy to make (so quick that I can make a pair before I can even finish watching Bleak House)? Or is it just that I find them so fun and cute? I don't know. Probably all of the above. Whatever the case I now have four pairs knitted and just need to finish with the buttons and weaving the ends in.

And...I have a feeling I will be making another pair tonight so that I can finish Bleak House.

Mary Jane Style Slippers

2011-02-27T11:33:00.000-08:00

A lovely knitting friend sent me a link to these fun slippers a while ago and I had meant to make some for Christmas gifts but got side-tracked with felted sweater slippers instead. But, on Friday that friend came for tea and I thought that would be the perfect time to start on the slippers (that way I could pester her with how-to questions if I had any). ;-) I rooted through my suitcase (and then my...ahem, boxes) of thrifted wool to find some yarn to use, found the pattern and they started coming together very quickly. Another friend offered to lend me her DPKs to finish them off and they were done shortly after getting the needles the next day.

I was thrilled to have a quick and easy project to do - love those knitting projects that knit up quickly and leave you feeling very accomplished! I did these ones with 4 strands of orange wool and 1 strand of bright pink mohair. If I have enough mohair left I'm going to do another pair for a gift.

These made a very nice break from de-cluttering and packing, that's for certain. And while they're not warm enough for wearing in this house ( I tried them on to take the photo and then quickly slipped back into my wool socks and felted wool slipper clogs) I know that in another month we will be somewhere back down in the valley where Spring is on its way.

Butternut Squash Gnocchi

2011-02-24T08:57:00.000-08:00

It is important to me to eat and cook with local (or better yet, homegrown), seasonal food as much as possible. I love the seasonal variety it adds to our menu but I mostly like knowing that our food hasn't been shipped from far away and I also love the taste. We have been using a lot of root vegetables, squash, cabbages, onions and the like in our meal plans lately along with all our preserved garden goodies. This week we enjoyed Jamie Oliver's roasted vegetables again (Love These!). We used one of our squash for roasted squash bisque and then I decided to try a new-to-us recipe from a Vegetarian Times magazine I was passing on - Butternut Squash Gnocchi (with sage butter, and believe me, Everything tastes better with sage butter).

These were delicious! I didn't bother putting the cooked squash through a sieve, I just mashed it in a bowl and then added the rest of the ingredients (minus the nutmeg). Very simple and very tasty. We ate it alongside a savoy cabbage I had chopped and sauteed with garlic, oil and a bit of soy sauce -simple, quick and yummy.

All this squash eating has us also eating a lot of squash seeds. Now whenever I bake squash I also bake the seeds at the same time. I put them in a cast iron fry pan and drizzle a little oil over them and then just sprinkle with whatever herbs or seasonings we feel like - a nice snack to tide us over while dinner finishes cooking. I think I'll try to find a few more new recipes to see us through this winter season and then, before we know it Spring will be here, with fresh greens, asparagus, nettle, lamb's quarter and lots more.

Good Things to Eat

2011-02-18T17:13:00.000-08:00

I think I may have some over-do-it type tendencies. ;-) I love growing food and I also love preserving food. I've never really set my own limits on how much to preserve (or paused to do something sensible like figure out how much preserved food a family of food can actually use in a year), I just keep growing to my heart's content and then preserve as fast as I can. At our old home I actually had four freezers and they were always filled to bursting by September. I did give away two of the freezers when we sold our old home but I still have two (plus the fridge one) and they get filled with goodness from the garden.

So...we've been trying to use up a lot of the goodies in the freezer before moving (freezers are heavy enough on their own but filled with food they're quite a workout). I've been doing a good job of using the zucchini that I have stashed in the freezer. We've had zucchini...well...everything. Today for lunch we had zucchini broccoli cheese soup and that went down a treat. I think we'll be having that often until we move and that should help put a dent in, what seems to be, the never-ending zucchini supply.

I also unearthed some more bags of the edamame that I froze - it was my first time growing it this year and I'm glad I did. It seems even more delicious to have it on hand in the wintertime. And I didn't forget Valentine's Day! We were out all day with activities but I couldn't not make something heart-shaped for my guys - heart-shaped pizzas for all and heart-shaped carrot cake (his favourite) for S (which he kindly shared with the rest of us). ;-) (I admit to a slight twinge of longing for the days when we used to cut out paper hearts and do all sorts of Valentine crafts).

Of course, we can't have Valentine's without some chocolate so, the next day when we stayed home, I made some of my favourite chocolate nut clusters (picture how-to here if you're interested).

And then today I decided to use up some of our walnuts and hazelnuts (yes, still from my old trees before we sold our home a year and a half ago - those were good producing trees!) to make some seed and nut bark. I toasted them with some sunflower seeds and almonds as well.

Then added the toasted nuts to some homemade granola, flax and hemp seeds. I simmered some honey, with a bit of water and grapeseed oil then poured that over the nuts and granola, mixed it all together and pressed it into a greased cookie sheet. Pop it in the fridge to cool and harden and it is done. That's our house-hunting snack. ;-)

And E decided that we needed some more snacks too so he made his peanut butter chocolate chip biscuits too.

Love that my boys love to cook!

Fox and Geese, Birthdays and Boxes

2011-02-08T11:39:00.000-08:00

For many years, whenever I was in the midst of something trying or difficult, I would think to myself -once I get through this then...fill in the blank with - all will be well, life will be wonderful, I will be happy, life will get back to normal, etc. At some point I realized that there was, what I now call " always something" going on and that that actually was life. Life wasn't meant to be day after day of ease and calm, that life was full of struggles, difficulties, challenges AS WELL AS beauty, peace, calm, joy and delight. That they could happen at the same time. That this Yin and Yang actually served me very well and helped me to grow and appreciate life - all of life, even the struggles.

The last two years have been filled with quite a bit of change and uncertainty for our family. We've learned many valuable lessons from this time...and, I think, we are about to learn more. ;-) The house we have been living in has sold and it is time for us to move on. I've been packing up boxes and taking this time to do some more decluttering. We're looking for a new home to tide us over until we get our farm but just now we have no idea where we'll be living in less than two months- quite a stretching lesson for a home-loving person like myself. Some months ago I came across a quote that really spoke to me. I wrote it down in my quote book and thought it would be fun to share here.

Life is not about waiting for the storm to pass; it is about learning to dance in the rain.

Isn't that gorgeous? And so we have been busy dancing in this latest rain storm...or more accurately - skiing, snowshoeing, snowboarding, playing games,

(Fox and Geese Game with my folks during a visit to their place on the weekend)

celebrating birthdays, enjoying daily walks,

eating delicious pumpkin bars (with the dual purpose of using up pumpkin from the freezer in preparation for moving and they use up chocolate too!!),

along with some of the practicalities of a move such as packing - and these are just our books (dare I admit - not even all of them!)

And whenever these rains start to feel a bit overwhelming the gardener in me gently reminds myself that nothing grows well or thrives without a little rain. I hope you're able to dance in the rain as well.

Handmade Wooden Jewelery

2011-01-25T09:23:00.000-08:00

Well...that was a bit of a break I had no idea I would be taking. ;-) Funny how time gets away on you and before you realize it, it is almost the end of the first month of the new year. Yikes. We've been busy with decluttering and doing some packing and also with fun stuff like the boys learning to downhill ski and S and I re-learning to ski (after many, many years not skiing - almost 30 year for me!). I'm thrilled we have another activity to enjoy as a family.

I did mean to show you all the wooden delights my talented boys (the big one too!) gifted me with this Christmas - and since it's a month past I guess I better get on with it.

W made this beautiful spoon out of walnut wood for me. It feels just right in my hand and I am determined to use it even though it feels too "good" to use in many ways. I know he wants me to put it to proper use instead of saving it so I will - just not with tomato-y things (or blueberries, grapes, elderberries or anything else that might stain it).

E made these gorgeous wooden holders for our cloth napkins (also out of walnut). They're beautiful and...I just happened to find some lovely linen napkins at the thrift store that look just right with them (although they also make even our everyday cloth napkins look good - shown below) .

He also made me this handy pen holder for my desktop - he knows I LOVE things made from wood. It holds 3 pens (or pencils) and helps to keep me organized (a habit I am working to develop even more this year).

And S made me all sorts of good things - another beautiful board (that I can't bear to cut on so I call it a cheese board instead of a bread board) and a knife to go with it.

And...five wooden (not golden) rings. I had been looking through a book on handmade things earlier in the month and had shown him some wooden rings that I thought were beautiful so you can imagine my delight when I found that my talented husband had made some for me! This is one of my favourites.

And then I think he got on a roll with jewelery making and decided I needed some bangles to go with my rings

and also some necklaces. He also made my mom some beautiful earrings that I don't have a picture of but I can tell you that all the females in our family were delighted with him. I do so love handmade gifts!

Felted Sweater Hat and Needle Felted Sweater

2011-01-04T15:10:00.000-08:00

Well, apparently I was having such a relaxing holiday that I managed to forget all about posting these two gifts - my favourite handmade things from this Christmas. E had told me that he would like to get a hat with earflaps (what I consider an Elmer Fudd hat) and so I was delighted to find a pattern for one in this fun book (Warm Fuzzies by Betz White). This made up quickly and easily on the 23rd from thrifted sweaters, already felted, I had on hand. I was quite happy with how it turned out and I am thrilled with how much he loves it. He has worn it constantly (even inside the house) since.

I also really like this gift - as a mama to two boys I am thrilled when I can make something for the little girls I know. I was very pleased with how this one turned out too. I started it quite awhile ago but somehow got sidetracked with other gifts so it was a good feeling to get it finished.

The bumble bee is a 3 D needle felted bee that I stitched on (the same kind I make for wreaths and hair barrettes).

The ladybug is needle-felted right onto the little pocket.

And...I couldn't very well leave the back of the sweater plain, could I? No, I didn't think so either, so I did a little dragon fly. Fun.

Last Minute....

2010-12-23T10:32:00.000-08:00

We're enjoying spending yesterday and today finishing up a few odds and ends. Yesterday we made our gingerbread people for decorating. Last year we decided to borrow this tradition from friends - each year they decorate gingerbread people for each person spending the holidays with them - then we decorated them ahead of time (the boys couldn't wait) but this year we will decorate them once all our company is here tomorrow.

The boys finished their woodwork gift projects and I finished a few last minute things -a knitted hat out of Buffalo wool.

And these fun hair elastics - they're made from self cover buttons that I found at the thrift store and bits of fabric from my scrap bag.

This one is my favourite because it is made from some fabric that was in my mom's stash of fabrics from when I was little. I definitely want to make more of these.

Today all we need to do is wrap, make shortbread and prepare some beds for company coming today and tomorrow. I might need to dig through my scrap bags to find more fabric for wrapping as I seem to have used most of my cloth bags already and will either need to make a few more or, if I run out of time...

wrap more in furoshiki like this (now I wish I'd bought more square scarves last time I was thrifting).

And...we still have plenty of time for walks and sledding in the fresh, new snow we received yesterday. Not to mention plenty of time for hot tea and cookies too.

Wishing you joy, fun and love, as well as quiet time for tea and cookies.

Solstice and the gifts of darkness

2010-12-22T15:42:00.000-08:00

We celebrated yesterday with our Solstice traditions. I LOVE these simple traditions - they bring me a sense of rhythm...remind me of the seasonal cycle that we are blessed with. This year I've really settled into this darker season and have found much to enjoy about it. I've enjoyed the S L O W ness that it has ushered in, actually, I've welcomed it quite readily - probably for the first time I can recall...I think I really needed it this year.

(daily walks in the woods (and seeing the antics of our silly dog) have helped immensely with my enjoyment of this season)

As a gardener I can see the importance of the winter season for plants- a time of going inward with little outward appearance of growth, a sort of gathering in of reserves to build energy for the springtime to come - and I consider this a valuable season for myself in the same way. After all, who couldn't use a little bit of extra rest and quiet time and the darkness lends itself so well to that. So, since I've been enjoying the darker days instead of counting them down, it almost came as a surprise that it was already Solstice but we managed to organize ourselves to celebrate just the same.

Our traditions are very simple (and flexible) - we have homemade pizza for dinner (round to symbolize the sun) and SUNdaes (because they're delicious and having SUN in their names means it makes perfect sense). We also have a fire (outside in the past but inside this time) into which we take turns throwing slips of paper where we've written things we want to "get rid of" - habits, behaviours, items or whatever is no longer serving us in our lives. Then we gleefully watch them burn and say an intention to replace the burned thing. Very fun!

Last night E also wanted to do our gratitude candles and so we did...even though this is usually our Thanksgiving tradition. For this we sit at our table and, as we go around the table, we take turns saying something we are thankful for and then light a tealight candle off our centre candle. I love this tradition too and we all always feel very grateful for the abundance in our lives after doing this.

I hope you had a wonderful Solstice too.

In the Kitchen

2010-12-20T09:24:00.000-08:00

We've been busy in the kitchen making all kinds of treats. We made some old favourites like Thimble Cookies

(shown here waiting to be filled with blackberry jam or raspberry currant jelly)

and some newer favourites like Brown Sugar Button cookies.

I made a double batch of these seedy crackers to give as gifts with homemade cheeseballs (although, of course, we will be sure to keep some to enjoy ourselves).

Filled with yummy ingredients and baked into loaves, then sliced and baked again...

they're a delicious, seedy, crispy treat.

And we didn't forget our bird friends. E made these to put out on the solstice tree tomorrow. We put them out on the patio to keep cold and the Gray Jays have already been helping themselves to them.

We'll poke a length of yarn through and go outside tomorrow afternoon to hang them on the solstice tree as edible ornaments for the birds.

More Felted Sweater Slippers

2010-12-16T08:51:00.000-08:00

I wanted to make a pair of slippers that were just a bit more masculine than the ones with the crochet trim. ;-) I found a pattern that I liked here (and, surprisingly, I was able to print it out at the size I wanted without any computer help from my son).

The top pieces are sewn together and then I cut the bottoms out of a dark blue felted sweater for contrast. This is what the finished slippers were supposed to look like but all three of my boys thought that they didn't quite look finished.

In the end I decided to use some of the ribbing from the blue sweater as a band around the ankle and we also decided that for this pair we liked them better with the seams on the inside rather than outside.

And I like knowing that most everyone in my family will have cozy toes each winter. Wool makes such a huge difference in helping to keep warm. I can't imagine living here at this time of year without wool slippers...and socks, and sweaters, and hats...

Felted Sweater Slippers

2010-12-13T10:45:00.000-08:00

One of the favourite gifts that I have been making for family members the last few years are Fibre Trends felted slipper clogs. This year, since I'm enjoying chopping up felted sweaters so much, I decided to try making some slippers from the sweaters. I found this pattern and knew it was a must try so yesterday I made a pair.

The instructions on that link are very clear and I was able to easily put together these slippers even though crocheting isn't my strong point.

I like them so much that I think I'll need to make a pair for myself in January.

Homemade Veggie Pot Pie

2010-12-10T08:29:00.000-08:00

Awhile ago I was visiting a young friend during lunch time and she was eating an Amy's pot pie. She told me she loved that kind because of the cheesy sauce in with the veggies and so, of course, I had to try making something similar - it really did look delicious. Pot pies are, to me, an ultimate in comfort food. So here was my first attempt and it worked well enough that we all decided we wanted it to be a regular part of our meal planning.

I sauteed an onion in grapeseed oil in my cast iron pan then added some cut up veggies (I only had potatoes and the carrots from E's garden that time but next time I would likely add sweet potato too). I sauteed the veg for a few minutes and then added some broth and covered it with a lid so the veggies would cook a bit. Once they were cooked a bit I used a slotted spoon to scoop them into a casserole dish and sprinkled on some of my dried thyme.

Then with the leftover broth in my pan I made a gravy. I usually just mix a bit of butter a flour to make a roux and then blend it in with the broth and add our favourite spices. This time I did that but then after it looked sufficiently gravyish I also added some grated sharp cheddar cheese - it was delicious. But, since I am also trying to use up things in our freezers to make room for holiday baking I also dug out some raw cashews and made some cashew cream in my blender (just blend raw cashew bits and water until it looks like cream) and then added this to the gravy/sauce for even more creaminess. So delicious.

I got chickpeas, green beans (from our garden) and peas out of the freezer and added those to the casserole dish with the other veggies (for my sons' sake I refrained from adding zucchini) and then poured the sauce over all of it. I had already made a pastry dough using this recipe from my tomato pie recipe. I rolled it out and put it on top of the casserole dish and the baked it at (I think ) 375 or 400 for probably 30-40 minutes. Guess what's on our menu for tonight?

The Pox - Round Two

2010-12-09T08:00:00.000-08:00

We've been having lots of fun in our preparations for the holidays. There has been more crafting for gifts. This bookmark will be sent out with some other goodies tomorrow. I made these for my parents last year and they were well received (the idea came from Soulemama's book Handmade Home) and when I was asking a friend for gift ideas she reminded me of them so now my brother will have one too.

We started our holiday baking. So far we've made our annual toffee, Nanaimo bars (also something we make once a year) and W made dough for sugar cookies (he wants to cut them out and ice them).

Hard to believe that just four ingredients could turn into something so delicious. Recipe here in case I've tempted you and I do hope I have - it's melt-in-your-mouth delicious.

I cut some greenery from different trees to make our decorations. A door wreath is a must-have for me and I also love to have smaller branches throughout the house and especially on the fireplace mantle.

And the boys have been busy making gifts as well. They've been making hand-dipped beeswax candles.

And they've been doing some woodworking too. E has been making these simple and lovely napkin rings. We all love gifts made of natural materials and strive to make sure all the gifts we make reflect our concern for our Earth. I think these napkin rings are simply beautiful and am so pleased that my boys love making gifts as much as we do.

I'm glad we were able to get quite a bit done last week because now we settle into round 2 of the pox. E showed signs of it yesterday and definitely has it this morning. So...he and I will find some quiet things to do over the next few days until the worst is over - and I will be very grateful for audio books.

Radical Homemakers

2010-12-08T08:18:00.000-08:00

I have long thought of myself as a homemaker - as in the Maker of the Home - and have been very proud to do so, after all, what could be more important than making a home for my loved ones and I. When I heard about the book Radical Homemakers I asked our library to buy it so I was very pleased to see it sitting in my library bin last week. I knew it was my kind of book almost from the moment I started reading it. Every once in a while I find books that are so good that I don't want to put them down and so with this one I managed to find a way to read it while I went about my daily round. I even found a way to clip it open so that I could read it while knitting gifts (which I've never been tempted to do before).

It is such a good feeling to come across a book telling about a group of people who value the same things you do. I enjoyed reading about each person in the book and very much felt a feeling of community while reading. And, when you choose to live your life outside the norm in our society, it always feels good to hear about others making similar life choices - it is very affirming. Such a good book! And so, I think the next time someone asks "What do you do?" I might just say, "I am a Radical Homemaker." How fun is that?

Re-purposed Skirt

2010-12-07T10:09:00.000-08:00

I've always loved to make something new out of something old, I have a hard time bringing myself to get rid of anything made of natural fibres because I know that I could re-make it and give it a new life. My friends and family know this about me and so I am sometimes the lucky recipient of things that others no longer use. A friend of mine has been giving me all kinds of goodies lately and when she gave me a couple skirts I put them aside to make into aprons - I knew they would be just right for this purpose.

Unfortunately, I tend to have more creative ideas than I have time so often these projects can pile up on my shelves. I had some free time this past weekend so I decided I would re-make these skirts into aprons for gifts - making things for gifts always seems to motivate me to get going.

I thought I'd share the process here because it really is a simple way to give a skirt a new life. I seam-ripped the back seam and took out the zipper. Then I used some scrap fabric I had on hand to make two long-ish ties. I inserted the ends of the ties into the ends of the waistband (where I had seam-ripped it open).

Then I sewed the ties in as I sewed a new seam down each side joining the fabric and the lining into a finished seam (the old seam allowance from the middle seam became the turned under edges to make a nice finish).

And that was it!

Our Christmas Tree

2010-12-06T08:15:00.000-08:00

Last year was our first (and we thought, only) year in this temporary home and we decided that we would take full advantage of the tall ceiling and get a giant Christmas tree. Since we find ourselves still here it seemed only natural to go out and find another big tree for this year's celebrations. On Saturday we went a couple miles up the road and started our search. Our faithful friend scouted things out for us (actually he just bounded through the snow as blissful as a puppy just as he does on our daily walks). We found the one we wanted in a very short time.

Then we brought it home and set it up - much more quickly than last year due to the experience gained from our struggles last year.

The next day, after far too long for E's liking (he was asking at very regular intervals when we would be decorating from the moment we set it up) we decorated it. One of the things I love about Christmas is getting out the box of decorations each year and the memories they invoke. Most of our ornaments are handmade and I can recall the making of them and what was happening at that time in our lives - they all have their own little bit of history.

And now I look forward to evenings in front of the fire, with the tree all aglow and filling our home with its delightful fresh scent. Beautiful!

And what was keeping us so busy that our poor youngest son had to wait to decorate that tree? We were both making gifts. I especially love it when S gets time to create. He makes beautiful, useful items out of wood and he does it so well. Last year he made these walnut breadboards/serving boards and this year he is making walnut utensils like this butter spreader (and other secret things...or so I hear).

Such a fun time of year.

Quiet Time

2010-12-03T10:23:00.000-08:00

We've had more time at home than usual and E and I are quite enjoying it (the poxy teenager W, not so much). I've been catching up on some gift making and have one parcel almost ready to go (thankfully I made one of these button-tab hats much earlier this year in a short-lasted fit of organization) .

This is the Regular Guy Beanie from Ravelry. I've made five of these now and they're just an all around good toque - they fit well, the size is easily adjusted and you can add stripes or not.

I also made a tiny little gift for an acorn-loving little friend. I started out trying to make it with mohair (in just the perfect shade of nut-brown) but alas, fine mohair yarn and I don't get on at the best of times and when I added in the four small needles needed AND knitting front and back of stitches...well, it just wasn't happening. So...I chose another yarn and this little acorn (pattern from this website) came together very nicely.

I think she'll quite like it.

And, even though we have plenty of snow outside the windows, I can never have a wintertime without handmade paper snowflakes ON the windows. They are one of my favourite simple pleasures and I could happily cut them all day.

And, I've even had time to finally strain some of my ~~neglected~~ well-aged tinctures that have been sitting on my shelves waiting ever-so-patiently to be strained and bottled. This one is wild rose-hip - I love the colour.

Crusty Portuguese-American Yeasted Cornbread and...Coyotes.

2010-12-01T09:07:00.000-08:00

A few days ago I thought I would try two more recipes from Kneadlessly Simple, I chose the recipe for Crusty Portuguese-American Yeasted Cornbread (because it sounded too good not to try) and San Francisco-style Sourdough bread (this time made with yogurt and vinegar because I've just started the sourdough starter recipe from the book). I baked the cornbread one after dinner and we ate half of it for a bedtime snack, the rest we saved to eat with our dinner the next night - it's delicious with chili. I'm so delighted with how well these breads turn out and how simple they are to make. I'm looking forward to tasting the sourdough loaf, it is waiting in the fridge to be baked with tonight's dinner. My sourdough starter will be ready to test in a week and I'm looking forward to loaves of bread that remind me of a long ago trip to San Francisco when S and I were newly married.

On Saturday morning E, our spotter of all things animal (if there is a creature of any kind in range he will spot it), vegetable (he is always the first to find the wild berries), and mineral (beautiful stones and...coin - if there is money on the ground he Will see it) noticed a coyote outside. We all looked outside and saw three of them. We watched them for awhile and then, it seemed, they left. Later that morning we let one of our cats out and, after a bit, I noticed that she was crouching on the deck in her "stalking" position. I looked out and we saw the coyotes again, one of them was just below the deck staring up at us (or more likely, her).

I opened the patio door and she zipped in the house, still down low to the ground. She raced through the living room, up the stairs to our bedroom where I thought she went under the bed. When I looked up I spotted her here...

high up on the window ledge of the highest window - watching the coyotes from a safe spot.

A Pox on Us! (or Handmade Felted Sweater Heart Ornaments)

2010-11-29T10:13:00.000-08:00

Well...it has been an interesting few days around here. W, our 15 year old has chicken pox. It came as a bit of a surpise, when they were younger I had hoped they would get them so that it would be over and done with but, I have to say, at this point, I'd sort of forgotten all about them and given up that they would get them. Poor boy has been feeling pretty wretched but, on the bright side, we're having quite a lot of quiet at home time. That means rest, reading and some coddling for W and crafting time for me. When I got my wool sweaters out to make the quilt I put aside a red woolen sweater for tree ornaments. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it.

Whenever I've had a spare moment I've been fitting in a few of these handmade hearts. They're so quick and easy to make. Just cut out two hearts, stitch them together with a blanket stitch (put a bit of stuffing in just before you're finished) and that's it.

I've been making several for our tree and now I plan on embroidering the fronts of some with a little bit of peace, joy, love and hope. I wanted to do them yesterday but I ran out of the buttery coloured embroidery floss that I like so I had to dye some of my white floss with chamomile tea and then wait for it to dry. I have to say that there is a lovely kind of freedom that comes from knowing that you actually can't go anywhere - I could get used to being under "quarantine" every once in a while, there's something to be said for a time of isolation and quiet at this time of year (although I might not be saying that when E gets them next week). It certainly helps a person catch up on their handmade gift making.

There's Still Time...

2010-11-28T13:32:00.000-08:00

I'm very blessed to have a wonderful circle of female friends in my life and I'm always amazed at how talented they all are. One of my dear friends is having a generous give-away on her blog and there is still a little bit of time (be quick!!) for you to check it out and have a chance to win one of her creations. I thought I would take the opportunity to show you two of the beauties she made and gifted me with this summer (did I mention that, as well as creative and talented, my friends are also very generous?). I'm lucky enough to have several of her home-made creations, including some fabulous lounge pants made of brightly patterned vintage sheets and a gorgeous old-fashioned floral handbag.

I love this little pouch that she made of repurposed denim and appliqued with flowers - she knows just the sort of things I love.

And this patchwork journal is made out of lots of bits of blue fabrics - she also knows my favourite colour - such a beautiful spot to keep track of my gardening notes and to use as my gratitude journal.

And just wait until you see the little bag she is giving away...

No Knead Bread Recipe

2010-11-26T13:48:00.001-08:00

I haven't been making our own bread very often lately but now that it is so cold out I feel quite good about having the oven going - the fire is just not keeping it quite warm enough. I've been meaning to try out Mother Earth News' No Knead Dutch Oven Bread recipe for ages - all the more reason to use my cast iron pot that my folks gave me last Christmas. I also had Kneadlessly Simple from the library so, being uncharacteristically organized for me, I decided to test both recipes and then choose our favourite to add to our collection.

They are very similar recipes and so easy to make but from the start I felt that the Mother Earth News one was rising better and looked less sticky so I felt as though it would be the keeper recipe. I baked it first (the baking temps and times were slightly different and I wanted to be sure to follow the recipe exactly the first time - Yes...Me!! I followed a recipe precisely. I know - bizarre but true.)

We couldn't wait the suggested hour (?!?!) before slicing it...we couldn't wait five minutes! so we tried it right away. Delicious.

A little later when I took the lid off the fresh baked Kneadlessly Simple Peasant Style loaf it looked simply beautiful too. Just the right combination of crusty outside and chewy inside.

And, also delicious. So...it looks like we will have two recipes to add to our keeper pile. Ah well, you can never go wrong with a good bread recipe and since we like to eat a lot of soup at this time of year it's always nice to have fresh bread on hand.

Let's Go for a Walk

2010-11-26T11:40:00.000-08:00

Well...I have two (new-to-me) delicious, crusty yet chewy bread recipes that I am excited to share with you but I'm unable to do any new posts because I have no more photo space available (?!?!). I had no idea how this all works, for years I've just been merrily posting all sorts of photos and never stopping to wonder how that happens. Anyway, I'm now looking into it and will hopefully be able to post bread and crafting photos soon. In the meantime, here is a post from a few weeks ago that I somehow forgot to post but that already had photos added.

E and I were out walking with friends in a park while W was at drama lessons and we happened by this guy, he could not have been less bothered by us walking by him. He just stood there.

Walking is my favourite form of exercise (next to gardening), I love it because it involves all my senses. I try to make sure that we get out for a walk every day (lately that has involved double toques and snow pants!) and I believe the benefits are huge (physically, spiritually, mentally and emotionally). Walking for me is a time when I can actually manage to still my mind and really be present - the sights, sounds and smells all combine to make walking a sort of meditation for me. I love it.

My last few walks have involved making my way through the snow and gathering greenery from some trees to begin decorating our home for the season. Quite different in some ways from my walks during the rest of the year when I am collecting wild plants for food and medicine but still very much the same in one way - an appreciation for the abundance and beauty of Mother Earth.

Brrrrr!

2010-11-22T09:56:00.000-08:00

We've been getting snow for over a week now and the boys are thrilled to be out sledding each day. The last little while has also brought colder temperatures (about -17 right now) so we have been quite happy to have more time at home and time by the fire each evening.

There has been time to make applesauce (thank you mice for helping to keep me on task and not procrastinate!!).

I love getting spray free red apples because then I can cook them with the skins on and we end up with PINK applesauce - how fun is that?

We been enjoying our daily walks and some days I've been remembering to take the camera (although we didn't have it the day we finally spotted a rabbit - we saw hundreds of tracks last winter but no bunnies).

Snow has a way of making everything beautiful - even the dead or dying trees.

E has been enjoying the time at home to do some baking - his peanut butter biscuits.

And we've decided to have a puttering day at home (almost like an X day!!), where we'll get our work done early, try some new bread recipes, keep the fire going strong and have the whole afternoon for creative time (we want some time to make more gifts) and outdoor fun.

I also wanted to show the back of the felted sweater quilt since several people have asked what it looks like. I just used the edge of my presser foot as my guideline and did a regular seam, there is no backing on the quilt so you can see these seams on the back. I quite like the look of it.

Felted Sweater Patchwork Quilt

2010-11-09T07:06:00.000-08:00

I've been collecting wool sweaters for a couple years now and finally decided to make the quilt I've had my heart set on. Some of the sweaters came from the thrift store and some were passed along to me because they had been shrunk or had a moth hole or two. I love that this quilt is made almost entirely of sweaters that would likely have headed for the bin otherwise. I felted the ones that were not already shrunken - all I had to do to felt them was put them in my ( top loading) washing machine with hot water and a tiny bit of dish soap, I let them agitate until they were shrunken enough then spun them and hung to dry. I do have a tendency to overfelt sometimes because I have too many other things on the go (and, apparently, a short attention span) and I forget to check on the felting progress but I've decided to keep the superfelted sweaters for making thick, warm slippers. Here is a bit of information on felting in case you are wondering more.

Once they were dry I decided on how I wanted my quilt to look. I wanted to have some big squares (all the less sewing and cutting to do) and some random-ish squares. I decided to use one of my cutting boards as a template for the big squares and then I used a mandarin orange box lid for my smaller squares. Two of the (smaller side of the) box lid blocks would equal one length of the cutting board squares ( I know that doesn't seem to make sense but hopefully it will once you see the photo)

By using the width of the box lid but making the "smaller squares" any length I could have my random look without having to fuss much. The beige block here is my cutting board size and you can see that for every block that size I used two of the smaller blocks across.

I planned out where I wanted my big blocks, because I didn't have too many I only used 3 per row (and alternated their positions) and then filled with smaller blocks (of all different lengths), mostly cutting as I went - I was trying to use up most every bit of each sweater. I put one strip together at a time and then sewed the finished strips together as each one was completed. When I put my first strip together I immediately knew I would want to make a patchwork scarf with any leftever bits. Here is the first strip...

in progress

and here it is at 6 strips wide. This is Just the right size for wrapping around me for movie watching on cold evenings but...I still have a few more big blocks so I think I'll make it at least one strip bigger so that I can share if needed. Perhaps I can convince all the males in my family to watch one of my (favourite)shows with me if I offer to share my quilt with them?? And since it was almost getting dark and the colours weren't showing up very well inside...

I asked W to take an outside photo for me. I haven't even clipped the threads off but I can tell you that I will already be using this tonight. I love the warmth and softness of the felted wool and I especially love being able to re-use something old to make something new. So fun

(You can click on the photo to enlarge it)
I couldn't resist using a couple of blocks with the pockets still on from an old cardigan - now, some people might think that would be handy for holding the TV remote but I'm thinking it looks just the right size for a ~~big~~ bar of chocolate. ;-) Could I be any better prepared for an evening or four of Pride and Prejudice? I think not.