The Pitter-Patter of Little (webbed) Feet

After what seemed like eons, Blueberry the Muscovy finally hatched out her clutch of eggs. We ended up with 5 adorable, feisty little babies. She and her sister, Drusilla, seem to be co-parenting the brood. It takes a village, peeps.

It's hard for me to believe that almost a year ago to the day, Dru & Blue were the day-old fuzzballs. They grow up so fast!

For your squeeing viewing pleasure -

Proud Mama Blue and her bitty babies, out for a stroll

Mama Blue and Auntie Dru watching over the littles

Blueberry and two of her day-old hatchlings

And last but not least, Mama and Auntie taking the kiddos on a grand tour of the Hollow. Absolute sweetness.

Stocking Up for a Shindig!

Maybe I've mentioned once or twice that the past year has been slightly bumpy? Well this weekend is shaping up to be the official end to the year of bleh. My nephews (and their awesome parents) are coming to visit, all the way from Tennessee, and that, my friends, calls for a party.

In preparation for the party, I've been running my hiney off, trying to get this old place looking nice, and trying to plan a yummy-but-not-overly-complicated menu for our BBQ/Karaoke Good Times-fest. Today I took a stroll through our infant garden and was happy to see that a few of our very early crops should be ready to go, come the weekend.

We don't have a lot, maybe just enough for a very Spring-y green salad - lettuces, radishes, basil, thyme, chives and *maybe* some strawberries and beets. And, if I steal the pigs' goat milk ration for a day, I can make up some fresh chevre. Hmm... this is kinda coming together!

Anyway, even after going half bananas planning and plotting this par-tay, I can't wait to have a house full of family and friends here to help us celebrate Fathers Day, the beginning of Summer, lots of May/June/July birthdays, our recovery from our year of crazy, and most importantly, the safe return of my brother-in-law from his most recent tour overseas. Our cup runneth over with Good Things.

Now, let's get funky! :)))

My handsome little nephews, gettin' their crazy on.

Welcome to Boggy Hollow

Before:

After:

Chalkboard paint, you are a miracle in a bucket! :)

What's in (an odd) middle name?

Not that this has anything to do with anything farm-ish, but I've been missing my Grandmas lately. I posted this on my personal FB page, then thought I might like to share it with y'all too. MJ 

I've been noticing that the name "Ivy" is increasing in popularity all of a sudden. I grew up not loving my middle name, learned to appreciate its uniqueness and it's significance (named after my Grammy) and now suddenly feel very protective of it. Don't screw this up for me, Beyonce. 

At least mine is spelled a little different! 

This is a pic of my Grandma for whom I am named, Ivie Loretta, being held by my Great-Grandma, Ruth Piety Julian Ford. Grandma's twin sister, Avie, is being held by my Great-Great-Grandma. ♥ Miss you, G.G.!

Great-Grandma Ford and 7/15ths of her eventual brood, and her mother-in-law. Raising fifteen kids during the great depression - can you imagine? I come from some tough gals! :)

Surviving Winter Break: The Tween Edition

Trying to keep a pair of 9 and 12 year old girls productively occupied and not bickering during a two week break from school is a tall order. Here we are on day three and we're already starting to unravel a little...uhg.

So, here are some things that I have done, and others that I've tentatively planned, all in an effort to keep peace in our wee kingdom.

Baking - We made these frosted pumpkin cookies on the first day home together. They are delicious and not too fussy a recipe, which made baking these with the 9 year old actually enjoyable. Madness!

Crafting - We made suet (actually, lard) cakes for both the wild birds and our chickens.

Chicken scratch, oats, dried fruit, poppy seeds, peanut butter and lard, mixed together and pressed into hollowed out orange peels and set up in the fridge to firm up = birdie delights.

Threaded with a little biodegradable cotton yarn, and hung up high enough that the dog couldn't snatch it up and eat it himself (the lard smells very tasty), our little cakes are ready for the finches and chickadees to enjoy.  This one is hanging in our giant old apple tree.

Distraction - I bought a dvd of their new favorite "old" movie, The Goonies, that I'm holding back for a time when I can't take the I'm borrrrrred's any more. Now I just have to resist the urge to give it to them immediately, lest they burn themselves out on it too quickly.

Distraction #2 - Their Pop is lined up to take them to see The Hobbit this weekend, during which time I'll be at home luxuriating in 3 solid hours of silence. Have I ever been so happy to be raising nerdlings? I doubt it.

That's what we have on deck to get us through the first week. We're hoping for - nay - counting on their Christmas gifts to keep them sufficiently occupied for the second week. 

In the event that they fail (don't do me like that, Santa. You owe me, fat man!), I've got my Costco-sized bottle of Baileys and a pair of noise-cancelling headphones at the ready. ;)

How to: Paper Snowflakes

Now, I know that making paper snowflakes isn't rocket surgery, but some of us learn better with a visual aid, which is why I'm posting this here How to.

Paper snowflakes in the front windows during the Winter months are a long-standing tradition in my family. My sister and I grew up with a single Mom and a tight budget, so we learned to make our own fun when we could. Mom's office had a ginormous dot-matrix printer that used 15 inch(?) wide green and white striped, accordion-folded reams of paper. For some reason, the printer would always spit out two blank pages after every print job. My Mom's boss gave her the green light to bring the wasted sheets home for us kids to use as coloring paper. I still have some of that pretty epic artwork scratched on those place mat-sized pieces of paper. I could draw ducks like nobody's business back in the day.

Those awkwardly shaped, oddly-striped pieces of waste paper ended up being our first snowflakes too.

Nowadays, the girls and I just rob the printer in my husband's home office blind. But we're doing it in the spirit of the SPREADING JOY, dang it!

Monkeys against a backdrop of snowflakes, Christmas morning.

What you'll need-

*standard printer paper (or re-purposed wrapping paper scraps, sales flyers, etc.)

*scissors

*scotch tape for hanging them

Step 1: Squaring up your paper -

Fold bottom edge of page up to touch a side. You will have made a large triangle. See that extra bit that wasn't folded? Trim that piece off.

Now you have a perfect square!

Step 2: Fold the square in half along the same crease you made when making the initial fold to square it up. It is now folded in half.

Step 3: Fold it in half again. Now it's in 4ths.

Step 4: Fold it in half one last time. It is now folded into 8ths. You should have one side of your triangle which is a single, solid folded edge (side one), a side that has two folded edges (side two) and a side that has all cut ends of the paper (side 3).

Each of the facets of the "flake" need to be treated differently. This is where a small mistake can lead to a giant pile of pretty scraps instead of a gorgeous finished snowflake.

Side One - This is the side of the folded paper that holds things together. If you go to bananas with the scissors, your snowflake will either be very fragile or will fall apart completely. I try not to cut away too much more than 50% of that edge.

Side Two - This side also contains folds that hold things together, but isn't as critical as the connections on side one. I'd probably cut a maximum of 75% of this edge.

Side Three - This edge is all cut ends (what will be the outer edge of the snowflake), so there are no folds to preserve. Go crazy and cut 100% of it if you want.

First cut on side one. I want this snowflake to be kinda-sorta frilly, rather than strictly geometric, so I'm going with bends and curves.

Finished cutting. I cut maybe 30% out of side one, 75% out of side two, and 80% or so of side three (a very subtle dish shape). Now the unveiling begins!

Open slowly! You don't want to tear your lovely creation.

Et viola! A lovely, festive, one-of-a-kind paper snowflake.

This is a great craft for those long, cold days of Winter break at home with the kids. Be creative and have fun!

The Case for Foraging

Harvested on a 90-minute walk in the woods with my 9 year-old:

Organically grown* Bosc Pears - $5.98/pound (8 pounds, 8 ounces = $50.83)

Organically grown* crab apples - $1.00/pound (10 ounces = about 63cents)

Organically grown* mystery apples - $1.00/pound (4 pounds, 12 ounces = $4.75)
{In season, in Washington state, apples can get pretty cheap, but this would still be a very hard to find price for organics.}

Organically grown* rose hips - $3.00/4 ounces (4 ounces = $3.00)

Organically grown*/Wild rowan (ash) berries - $4.00/pound (8 ounces = $2.00)

Organically grown*/Wild hawthorn berries/haws - $5.50/pound (4 ounces = $1.38)

Market value of fruit harvested today** = $62.59

Washington state minimum wage as of 9/29/12 = $9.04/hour

Amount of hours (before taxes) needed to work at minimum wage to earn $62.59 = 6.9 hours

*This assumes that since these are in the middle of the woods, that they are organic/unsprayed. Unless, of course, Montsanto has Round-Up ninja lumberjacks on it's payroll, which is certainly possible.

**Prices per pound are based on the most conservative prices I was able to find per item per pound on the interwebs.

We are here.

When our family moved to our little farm just two years ago, we had a laundry list of things that we'd hoped to accomplish. We wanted to own livestock beyond backyard chickens, we wanted an epic kitchen garden, a towering orchard, and honestly, just to simplify our lives, clear away the clutter and return our focus to the tasks and pastimes that nourish us, emotionally and physically.

We moved forward in our progression toward "real" farm life - we built a herd of happy dairy goats, expanded our flock of laying hens, and harvested as much produce from our own land as our clumsy attempts at gardening would allow. But our true benchmark for success, our pie-in-the-sky daydream was to raise and harvest enough to feed ourselves - well.

It seemed like a pretty far-fetched idea, considering where we started and the road blocks that we've come up against, but somewhere along the way, by trickle and drop, we made it here.

This shocking arrival of providence dawned on me last week as I was sitting down to dinner. We had a pork roast, raised by my husband's Aunt & Uncle, our Greek salad was made from tomatoes and cucumbers grown by my friends Lisa and Jen, respectively, and we drank our fresh juiced blackberry-apple cider. When it occurred to me that this food was all produced by people we know and love, an immense feeling of lightness and happiness flooded over me. We didn't get here alone, but, we are here.

:)

Volunteering as a Family

Volunteering in any form is an important contribution, but it has been my experience that volunteering with kids is doubly rewarding - a worthy cause is served and parents usually find a few teachable moments to capitalize on in the process. Good compounded!

Here is a link to an article about an amazing program that our family volunteers with once per month, during the school year:

http://www.thurstontalk.com/2012/03/06/feeding-our-kids-one-backpack-at-a-time/

That's me with the purple vest on in photo #1, and pic #3 is of my girls, stuffing bags full of easy to prepare snacks and small meals that will be sent home, discreetly, with kids who are otherwise food-insecure, to be eaten over the weekend when the safety net of a school hot lunch is not an option.

We are so proud to be a small part of this amazing program!

Does your family volunteer in your community? Are there any programs that you'd like to give a shout-out?

Recipe: Osborne Family Applesauce Birthday Cake

This cake is another of my amazing Great Aunt Ethel's legendary treats. She would make an applesauce cake every year for each one of her siblings on their birthday. Keep in mind that she had twelve siblings. Therefore, she got to practice making this cake a lot!

Unfortunately, this is not Aunt Ethel's exact recipe. That, sadly, has been lost to me, so this is my best effort at making the cake from memory. And, believe me, do I have memories of that cake. When you only get one slice, once per year, you savor every speck of it and commit the experience to memory.

The coup de grace, the icing on the cake, if you will is just that - the icing.

Aunt Ethel always made this cake with a peanut butter frosting. So simple, and so dang good.

So without further slobbering rambling, I give you, the traditional Osborne birthday treat, Applesauce Cake with Peanut Butter Frosting. :)

Cake Ingredients-

1/2 cup salted butter, room temperature

1 cup brown sugar

1 cup granulated sugar

2 eggs

1 teaspoon vanilla (can be left out if using boozy homemade applesauce)

1 1/4 cups cake flour

1 cup all purpose flour

2 teaspoons baking soda

3/4 teaspoon salt

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1/8 teaspoon nutmeg

2 cups applesauce  (Made from sliced apples that were left over from making "Apple Pie in a Jar" liqueur*.  But of course, your favorite store bought or traditional homemade applesauce would work just fine.)

1/2 cup golden raisins

Directions-

Preheat oven to 350 degrees F.

In a mixer fitted with a whisk attachment, cream the butter. Add the sugars and continue mixing. Add the eggs, 1 at a time, and vanilla, then mix until well blended and fluffy.

In a separate bowl, whisk together the dry ingredients. Add to the creamed mixture alternately with the applesauce. Fold in the raisins. Pour the batter into a greased and floured loaf pan and bake until firm to the touch, about 40 to 45 minutes. Let cool in the pan, then turn it out and allow to cool the rest of the way before frosting.

Frosting Ingredients-

1 stick butter, softened

1 cup creamy peanut butter

2 cups +/- confectioners sugar

3 tbsps +/- milk

Whip butter and peanut butter until well mixed. Add 2 cups confectioners sugar, a little bit at a time until well incorporated and fluffed up. If you're happy with the thickness/consistency of your frosting, stop there. If you'd like a more spreadable consistency (more icing than frosting), then add the milk, 1 tablespoon at a time, beating well between each addition, until you reach the desired consistency.

A really bad photo of a really good cake. This one made with cream cheese frosting, per my youngest monkey's request.

Slice up and serve, as dessert or as a really decadent birthday breakfast, with a big cup of strong coffee. :)

*Apple Pie in a Jar - Cored, thinly sliced apples, steeped in whipped vodka (or bourbon), brown sugar, vanilla bean and a cinnamon stick for 4 weeks. Add "Buttershots" liqueur for that extra buttery, caramelly flavor dimension. AMAZING.

Blog Posts from the Edge

Day 7 of my captivity:

Hand, foot & mouth disease has invaded our once peaceable kingdom, and during a 9-day forced togetherness fest they call spring break, no less. We've yet to experience this elusive "Spring" phenomenon, and there most certainly hasn't been any sort of break. I'm confident that I'm rapidly approaching a mental break. Does that count?

Sick, bored, itchy children abound. Planned excursions to the out-of-doors have been scrapped due to inhospitable weather conditions and a highly communicable virus. We grow steadily more weary of one another's company with each passing hour.

Worse still, living conditions are deteriorating rapidly. The inmates children insist on being fed DAILY, pushing the very limits of my once generous sense of hospitality. Dishes are accumulating faster than they can be dealt with, and other routine tasks are being neglected as well. An increasing amount of my time is being consumed re-directing children to find something to do and otherwise manually dislodging them from "my grill". Surely madness lies around the next corner?

I pray you, send reinforcements as soon as can be managed. Earplugs, chocolate, fortified liquor and calamine lotion by the gallon are our most immediate needs. Some sort of force field that separates the children from my person by at least 5 feet would be most welcome, but I am uncertain as to whether or not such technology yet exists. In lieu of that, perhaps a remote control mute button, or a spell that renders me temporarily deaf? Anything helps.

We have a minimum of 3 more days of incarceration togetherness before the large, yellow, multi-passenger transports return to whisk my charges away to their institutions of learning. May their journey be swift and unhindered, delivering not only my bedraggled younglings to their destination, but delivering me from a slow, soul-crushing episode of cabin fever as well.

Three more days, three more days, three more days.....

Embracing

My girls don't care about their hair. At 12 and almost 9 years, this separates them from many of their peers, and not in a good way. They really just can't be bothered to give a shit about it, which is both liberating and frustrating to me as their Mom.

It can be awkward, feeling like you have one foot in two worlds - simple, messy, homey farm life, and presentable, punctual, social "city life". I feel 100% comfortable wearing a tattered dress, muck boots and a sloppy pony tail in my front yard, but if I'm called suddenly to pick a sick kid up from school and have to venture out dressed in my farm shlubbery, I am beyond ashamed. I feel like I have to explain to every passerby that I don't really dress like this, but that I was just wrangling errant chickens back into their yard or turning a compost pile, all for the greater good of humanity. Why do I feel the need to explain myself? I know that the core choices in my life are right for me and mine, so why do I feel like I should apologize for not being what people have come to expect? Why can't I be more like my kids?

When I find myself worrying about how the girls are perceived by their classmates and friends, or by what passing strangers on the street may think of me and my parenting based upon my kids' funky attire and awkward yet bubbly social exchanges, I try to slow down and remind myself -

My kids climb trees.

My kids can milk a goat, catch a chicken and drive a nail.

My kids know that bacon was once a pig.

My kids can describe in graphic detail the complete life cycle of a chicken, rabbit or goat.

My kids catch salamanders and butterflies.

My kids would rather go to the County Fair than a Justin Bieber concert.

My kids get excited about rainbow colored carrots.

My kids love telling other kids about our animals.

My kids can drive a tractor!

My kids can identify birds by their calls and songs.

My kids don't know a thing about American Idol, the Twilight series or Jersey Shore.

My kids are proud of our life.

These girls are teaching me a lot about embracing what matters to you and satisfies your soul, and letting the rest of the world's BS fall away. I have a lot to learn from these monkeys.

Easter Eggs Au Naturel

I saw this great little poster floating around on the interwebs, and it reminded me of making Easter eggs with my Grandma Gwen. By the time that my sister and I were born, Grandma was out of the farming trade, and no longer raised chickens of her own. She did, however have a good sized kitchen garden. While we didn't have the luxury of farm fresh eggs to work with, let alone multicolored eggs, we had Grandma's depression-era knowledge base and a bountiful garden to work with to make our Easter eggs pretty, and we did.

The tricks that I remember Grandma employing were using boiled onion skins to get a rich orange/brown color, boiled beets to make a happy pink egg, and rubber bands wrapped around eggs in crazy ways to make stripes. Grandma was definitely about using what you already had!

Little did we know that there were scores of spice and veggie colorants available to us beyond our orange and pink standbys than ran the gamut from red to violet. Then again, Grandma had likely never heard of pomegranates or turmeric, so it's probably just as well that we were happy enough with what we had.

But in this age of everything available everywhere anytime, at least a few of these natural dye-producers are likely to be found in your fridge or pantry right now! So if you're too far away to buy my purty-purty, naturally rainbow colored eggs, try out a few of these non-artificial, non-scary, food-based colorants on your eggs this year. ;)

From Better Homes & Gardens' website-

*Bluish-Gray
Mix 1 cup frozen blueberries with 1 cup water, bring to room temperature, and remove blueberries.

*Blue
Cut 1/4 head of red cabbage into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp. vinegar. Let cool to room temperature and remove cabbage with a slotted spoon.

*Jade Green
Peel the skin from 6 red onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint Green-Yellow
Peel the skin from 6 yellow apples. Simmer in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Simmer 4 oz. chopped fennel tops in 1-1/2 cups of water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Orange
Take the skin of 6 yellow onions and simmer in 2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 3 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint Red-Orange
Stir 2 Tbsp. paprika into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Yellow
Rich yellow: Simmer 4 oz. chopped carrot tops in 1-1/2 cups water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Various shades of Yellow: Steep 4 bags of chamomile or green tea in 1 cup boiling water for 5 minutes.

*Mustard-yellow: Stir 2 Tbsp. turmeric into 1 cup boiling water; add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Pale yellow: Chop 4 oz. goldenrod and simmer in 2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Faint yellow: Simmer the peels of 6 oranges in 1-1/2 cups water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. vinegar.

*Brown-Gold: Simmer 2 Tbsp. dill seed in 1 cup water for 15 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar.

*Brown: Add 1 tablespoon vinegar to 1 cup strong coffee. (Other suggestions - boiled Walnut shells, black tea)

*Faint pink: Chop 4 oz. amaranth flowers and simmer in 2 cups water; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Simmer the skins from 6 avocados in 1-1/2 cup water for 20 minutes; strain. Add 2 tsp. white vinegar. Mix 1 cup pickled beet juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar.

*Dark pink: Cut 1 medium beet into chunks and add to 4 cups boiling water. Stir in 2 Tbsp. vinegar and let cool to room temperature; remove beets. (Other suggestions - pomegranate juice)

*Lavender: Mix 1 cup grape juice and 1 tablespoon vinegar. (Other suggestions - Red Zinger tea (hibiscus tea))

Snowed in, Day 3

Here in Western Washington, we're in the thick of what some folks are calling "Snowmageddon" (drama queens!) and our little farm is literally snowed in at the moment, thanks to a driveway that is on a negative grade, and a very diligent snow plow driver who has inadvertently capped our crazy driveway with a three foot wall of ice & snow.

Today is the fifth day that the kids have been home, and the third day of being snowbound. I'm hanging on to my wits by a thread and distracting myself with craft projects, chores and a whole lot of cooking and baking. So far so good, but with the threat of power outages looming, and the likelihood of the girls being home 24/7 until Monday at least, my joy of family togetherness is waning.

Oy.

The Battle Hymn of the Chicken Mother

Today my mood/health pendulum has swung back in the direction of blehh. I'm having another one of my sleep-a-thon weeks, and my dag-gum sinuses are back at it again. I feel very guilty on days like these when I am a total sniffling, snorting couch potato, even knowing that my fatigue is legit, because I feel like I'm not giving 100% to my family, critters, friends and other commitments. I baled on being an usher at Junior Programs today, now that, my friends, is lazy.

But laziness and fatigue don't win the day altogether. When I reflect on what I get done around here, even on a sick day, well, I don't feel so bad. Here's what I did today -

6:30 - Wake up, shower
6:55 - Wake kiddos
7:00 - Loaf on the couch half asleep, directing children to eat their breakfast and get a move on.
7:30 - Additional child badgering. Seriously, who takes 30 minutes to eat a piece of toast?
7:40 - Send kids out for critter patrol, start preparing goat rations.
8:00 - Go chip frozen goat water. Attempt to top off goat water, only to find that the hoses have all frozen overnight. Bring a 5-gallon bucket into the shower to fill with warm water.
8:05 - Carry 40 pounds of sloshing water a few hundred yards through semi-frozen mud to very thirsty goats.
8:20 - Kids finish getting ready for school as I bellow reminders to pack library books and brush teeth.
8:30 - Drive kids to school.
8:40 - Fall asleep on the couch while Facebooking. :(
10:30 - Wake up in a panic remembering that I'm supposed to be at Jr Programs in an hour. Decide to beg out, since I feel like I've been kicked in the face by an elephant, and could go for another nap.
11:00 - Finally give up on 2nd nap out of guilt for not having done laundry or gone to give my critters a proper visit yet today. Grrr...
11:10 - Bring snacks to the goaties and get my snuggles, bring bread and lettuce to the hens (who are locked in the run do to high hawk activity) and am greeted with soft clucks and much flapping.
Noon - Start laundry that I should have done yesterday. Oops.
Noon 'til 2ish - Drifting throughout the house doing weird little odds and ends that I'd never really think about as "chores", per say, like misting my shiitake mushroom patch, sterilizing the syringes for Chardy's antibiotic shots, digging up all of the books and dvd's that need to be returned to the library (Seriously - with the late fees I pay, they could build a wing of the library in our family's name.), taking out something for dinner, composing a grocery list, etc., etc.

Not too bad for a lazy day! It sure as heck helps to have a very supportive husband, kids who are old enough to dress themselves and tell time, a pizza man on speed dial and a lot of very supportive friends and family. They carry through my physical/emotional funks until I can get myself sorted out again.

So next time you get frustrated with yourself for not being on top of your game, take a minute to really think through what you've done with your day. We do more than we realize, even when we're not 100%. And it's worth remembering that acclaim and perfection aren't really what mothering is about. I'll take my loving, imperfect, spunky lovebugs over uptight, overachieving, high strung superstars any day. I am a Chicken Mom. I fawn over my babies, but don't hold them so close that they can't experience the world for themselves. I try to make the best nest that I can for them, but encourage them to also seek their own adventures, often against my own better judgement. I let them know that I love and accept them a million different ways, and they do the same for me. I'm allowed lazy days on the couch, because of the people and support systems that I am surrounded with, two of whom I gave birth to. They take me as I am and I them, or we all try to at least. They are growing up to be good people with good hearts and love and empathy to spare, and imperfect me and my underachieving ways had a hand in that. Take that, Tiger Mom.

Turning this Day Around

After the horrible start to our morning, I caved in and let the girls stay home from school. Scarlet said that she didn't want to cry in class, and Liv is always up for playing hooky, so we were planning to snuggle up together and ride out this rotten day in our pj's.

But then I had a thought. What if we did something kind for someone who needed it, to lend this grim day a spark of hope? The girls and I discussed what we could do, and we settled on buying some warm clothes to take to our local clothing bank at St. Michaels. We also bought some hi-cal snack foods to bring to our county food bank.

Our thinking was that, if we had anything to say about it, no other being would suffer on account of this cold snap. And so, we memorialize our lost babies with fleece jackets and granola bars, and hopefully bring a little much needed peace to our grieving hearts.

Scarlet, the Chirping Knitter

Most of my posts lately have been knit-centric, mostly because at this time of the year, pretty much every year, my life becomes knit-centric.

I learned to knit when Olivia was a toddler, about 9 years ago, from my husband's Aunt Janet. Yes indeed, I learned to knit from Janet Jackson. How many people can say that???

Ok, ok, she's not that Janet Jackson, she's way better. :) She taught me one of the most useful and satisfying skills that I have, and I've since been able to pass the joy of knitting on to others myself, most recently, my baby girl, Scarlet.



I was showing her the knit stitch, and when pulling the new loop of yarn through the existing stitch, I advised her to keep her right hand needle in contact with the left hand needle, so that the stitch wouldn't slide off. I told her that they should rub together like cricket legs.

Later that day as she sat knitting, I heard her mumbling under her breath, talking herself through each phase of the stitch, upon reaching the "cricket legs" phase she whispers "bbeeeeed-deet", in imitation of a cricket's chirp.

Just when you think you can't love your kiddo anymore, they become hyper-focused little knitters, chirping in earnest. My heart is fit to burst with sappy love over this girl. I am one proud mama today. :)

We're here!

Just a quick howdy to all my homeboys and girls on the interwebs. We're in the house, surrounded by boxes, overwhelmed by our new yard (and missing our old garden), enjoying the quiet, adjusting to the taste of well water ;p and just generally exhausted and blissfully happy to finally be HOME.

Pics forthcoming, as soon as the camera can be located.

By the way - the farm name debate drags on. Bill leans toward Boggy Hollow Farm (because Boggy Hollow Beer sounds better as a name for his homebrew, so he says), while I and many of you prefer Soggy Bottom Farm. Maybe a compromise? Boggy Bottom Farm, Soggy Hollow Farm? Help!

Where I've been and a lil' sumthin'-sumthin' for my peeps

The girls have been out of school for two weeks, as of tomorrow, but let me assure you, that it feels like much longer already. Just another 8 weeks to go! Oy...

So, as is my habit during the summertime, or any extended break from school, I try to keep the girls moving and entertained, lest they should drive me bat-poo crazy with their clinging and whining. So far we've gone to the drive-in movies, swam at the Y, played at the park, gone to the beach, the library, etc. We just got back from spending 6 days up north at Cama Beach State Park, on Camano Island, and since coming home, I haven't had two free seconds to myself to do much of anything, let alone catch up on reading and writing. I've missed you all and in case you've missed me too, here are some pics of what I've been up to with the fam.

Here we are at Cama-


In front of our little cabin


Hanging at the beach


Catching little shore crabs by the dozen


And dungeness crabs by the half-dozen


Just grill and add butter - YUM!

While the hubby and kids pursued crustaceans and played cut-throat games of Sorry! and go-fish, I preferred to partake of the simple pleasures of knitting in the sun and drinking shocking amounts of sangria. Ah, the good life...

Anyhoo - I so enjoyed my semi-drunken knitting that I decided to make a lovely assortment of cotton dishcloths for one lucky reader to enjoy. Oh I know - just what every woman wants, new dishcloths! But you must admit that these are pretty darn cute -



In addition to the dishcloths, I'll also include a few coordinating kitchen towels that I had no part in making, but scored for a steal at Le Costco. You don't need to do anything fancy to enter to win, just leave me a comment expressing your interest in showering yourself in dish washing accoutrements, and bingo, you're in.

If I can overcome my innate laziness, I may eventually post the patterns that I improvised for these dishcloths, if anyone is interested.

Thanks again for reading and good luck! :)

A Fathers Day Limerick

My muse in his purest form, watching the Sounders and drinking beer.

Sent my fella,
to Cabela's,
to buy himself a gift.
But he should note,
that if he brings home a boat,
that he and it,
will be set,
adrift.