Family Stick Puppets

There are times when I welcome the rain this time of year I think because it gives me a guilt-free excuse to stay inside and enjoy indoor time.  I have been summer quilting and crafting with the kids this spring which has kept us moderate lately.  The frenzy of early spring has passed and with most of our vegetables in the ground, I don't feel like I am losing time in the garden if weather keeps us inside.

Last week my daughter wanted to make puppets.  We didn't have any popsicle sticks on hand so our Lincoln Logs became the sticks.  Each family member got a puppet and a signature t-shirt (or dress), each 'puppet' was taped to a lincoln log, and much family entertainment followed.

They have provided for some much needed comic relief during tense dinnertime moments.  Now they are perched on the windowsill over the kitchen sink, reminding me during some reflective moments not to take it all too seriously.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

The State of the Garden

Tonight we enjoyed the first fruits of our harvest, and though small in quantity, they were large in taste and a good reminder about what is to come and why it is worth the wait.  Our endive is ready for the picking, the leaves grown long and curly.  I planted too much this year (again) so I am looking for great recipes to use it in, other than your basic salad. I added it to some lemon fusilli in a cream sauce (an Ina Garten recipe), substituting it for arugula, and it was splendid.

Ready for eating was also one solitary radish, which we split five ways, and some young lettuce leaves.  All of our plants have stopped their growing spurt since the sun went away and the rain started.  I can probably count on one hand the amount of hours of sunshine we have had in the past two weeks.

My spinach is struggling this year--the leaves are turning brown and wilting before my eyes.  In an effort to save my plants, I cut those leaves this morning hoping that the new growth will start green and stay that way.  Our cucumbers, just barely sprouting, are being eaten by some sort of insect.  I planted some nasturtium babies all around them--let's hope they do their job well.

What is going on in your garden?

Nature Study Monday: Nasturtium

The perfectly rounded leaves of the nasturtium leave so little that needs to be said.  There are fewer baby seedlings that I find more delightful.  I planted a bed of hummingbird attracting flowers a few weeks ago and these were the first to appear.  I have little experience identifying plants and often have to do some research in order to figure out what is sprouting (even if I planted it!), but I did name these as soon as they came up (and it made me like them even more).

If you do any googling of these plants, you will find that they are the gardener's darlings.  They are easy to grow from seed, do well in sandy soil, deter many garden pests (like aphids and cucumber beetles), and they are edible!  I have so many coming up in and around our butterfly garden that I am considering transplanting some to the veggies.

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

The State of The Hens

We are still adjusting to being chicken owners and have hit some small and large bumps along our road.  Sadly, we lost one chick (our Rhode Island Red) early last week due to a misstep (literally) by our middle child.  It was pretty traumatic for us all, especially considering that the poor thing didn't die immediately.  I never imagined how attached we might become to our (still tiny) pets.  Last week was a hard one for us.

In order to make sure that the three that we still have remain safe and healthy, we are brainstorming ways to keep invaders out of our coop at night before our babies move outdoors.  Right now, they spend their days outside and nights in, under a heat lamp.

Already they know us and one, our Barred Plymouth Rock, comes when she sees me.  They are eating lots more these days and have gotten most of their "grown-up" feathers in.  In a few weeks, we are going to replace our lost little one with another two chicks.  Three feels like a sad number to me.   Maybe another Rhode Island Red.  Any suggestions from you chicken owners?

Yarn Along: 18 May

Joining Ginny again today...

The knitting and reading have been so entertaining again this week.  Elizabeth Zimmerman's Ganomy Hat is now off my needles and awaiting the winter and a recipient.  I loved knitting this piece and plan to knit another one very soon.  Having conquered a small EZ pattern, I *think* I might be ready to move on to one of her sweaters.  Hmmmm....

Based on so many recommendations of your recommendations, I got a copy of The Dirty Life from the library yesterday and stayed up way too late reading it last night.  I am still reading  Lessons at Blackberry Inn, but it is resting right now as the copy is my own and does not have to be returned to the library.

I can't wait to read about your needles and your nightstands this week!

Getting Started: A Quilt for Harvey

I have been wanting to try my hand at quilting for quite some time now.  We have so many blankets around the here though that it did not seem like a good use of my spare fabric.  However, once the warmer weather arrived (and then left), I realized that I do not have a spring/summer cover for our middle son's bed.  Because he already sleeps in long sleeves, long pants, and socks, his down comforter is hardly appropriate for our sweltering summers.

I am still in the cutting portion of the process--and will be there for quite some time--as I have over four hundred squares to cut!  I have most of the fabric that I will be using in my stash already.  I chose mostly prints with shades of green, yellow, and blue inspired by our time spent in the garden.  I am on the lookout for small amount of brown to add (maybe a chicken print).

I have hesitated to quilt because it seemingly requires such attention to detail, and, errr..., this is simply not one of my strengths.  I have been paying pretty close attention to my measurements as I cut, and even still, my squares are varying sizes.  I am forging onward though and hoping for the best.

Nature Study Monday: Yarrow

Yarrow, native to Europe but found widely throughout North America,  is a new addition to our garden this year.  While I have planted many seeds and bulbs, I have not put in nearly any plants.  Yarrow was one of the few that I added, having spied this butterfly friendly plant at the nursery.  It's tiny pinkish blossoms caught my eye and the knowledge that it thrives in poor soil sold me.

Since planting it, I have learned of a whole host of other uses for the plant.  For medicinal purposes, it can help stop bleeding, fight cold and flu symptoms, and break a fever (amongst other uses).  I also learned from A Dyer's Garden that combined with alum, it can be used as a yellow dye plant.

This plant is a perennial so I am hoping that it will live on in our garden for years to come!

A Butterfly Garden

Before we moved into our house, I knew with absolute certainty that I wanted to turn our backyard (and potentially our front yard) into a vegetable garden.  And so when we closed on our house, I started with five beds, expecting to add more as time went on (which we have also done).  What I didn't know was how much I would love the visitors that some of these plants brought with them.

When we found a rotund caterpillar (on our dill) then watched it promptly spin a cocoon and transform into an Eastern Black Swallowtail butterfly, I found out that dill was indeed a host for these beauties.  The following September, we spied a "flock" of migrating Monarchs on a neighbor's butterfly bush.  Each of these two specimens was so spectacular that I knew we would love to see more in our very own garden.

I started doing some reading on butterflies (namely The Family Butterfly Book by Rick Mikula) in order to get a good idea of the varieties of plants we should have around our garden.  This year I am paying special attention to those plants that are native to Northern New Jersey.  Here are some that have gone into the ground:

Bee Balm

Dianthus

Milkweed

Butterfly Bush

Loads and loads of dill

Yarrow

Coneflower

Blazing Stars

Lavender

With the exception of the dianthus and yarrow, none of them are in blossom yet, but we, err...me, are so so excited to see the wonders of a butterfly garden right in our backyard.

Yarn Along: 11 May

Joining Ginny again for the Yarn Along...

In summers past I have not found myself knitting much--the garden calls too loudly and too long for me to even cast a sideways glance at the quiet of my needles beside a couch that never gets sat on.  This season appears to be different though.  I don't know if it is the excitement of finally giving Elizabeth Zimmerman a try or my determination to plow through my stash or just plain ol' love of knitting (and Project Runway by way of Netflix), but the needles are still clicking away as the weather warms.

I have started (and ripped and restarted) the Ganomy Hat with Lumpy Bumpy by Charlene in the Olive colorway.  I picked up this yarn (which I love) at a sale years ago--it has gone with me back and forth in three moves (two of them across the country) and that just has to end (the moving and the stashing).  I have knit several pieces out of this yarn (in various colors). I know it well so it was a good place to start on my first EZ knit.  So far so good...

Reading has been just as much fun as knitting for me this week.  I finished Pocketful of Pinecones and started Lessons at Blackberry Inn by Karen Andreola.  I am learning so much about Charlotte Mason's methods through these fictional accounts of a 1930's mothering on a homeschooling journey with her children.  And on the kids minds are farm animals since our visit to Stone Barns so we have gotten much enjoyment out of The Year at Maple Hill Farm.

I am so interested to hear about what you are knitting and reading this week!

Mother's Day at Stone Barns

Along with some very dear friends, we took a trip to Stone Barns in Westchester County this weekend.  The weather was absolutely perfect for the jaunt to New York State and the farm appeared in all of its glory.  There were mama pigs and their piglets, Rhode Island Reds (like our very own Monster), lots of veggies in and out of the greenhouses, buttercups and dandelions, and so so much more.  Crisp, clear blue skies, good good friends, farm animals, and most of all my own little piggies, each one so different and so loveable~ all of this made for one very happy day.

Nature Study Monday: Peony

For Mother's Day, my own sweet Mama brought me a whole bunch of these beautiful flowers which a re in bloom right now. I find it hard to look at them for too long as I can not really wrap my head around the beauty.  It almost confuses me.  

And I knew without even "knowing" it that they had to be native to Asia.  The flora and fauna from that part of the world have such a distinct exoticism.   It turns out that he peony is native to Asia but also to parts of Europe and the Pacific Northwest.  Most peonies grow in bushes but some look more like trees.  They are evidently tolerant of some shade but do need 6 hours of sun each day. 

I made a stop to our local nursery a couple of days ago and found a white peony shrub (which I have a very nice spot for in our front yard), but I thought better of it--the flower is definitely not native our area, and while I do not have a black thumb, I also do not have a lot of tolerance for plants that need to be babied.  It looks like the only peonies I will have will be in a vase, but I'll take them!

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember.

Amanda Soule

Children and Work Around the House

In her Easter basket, my daughter got a book I have always wanted to read, The Country Bunny and the Little Gold Shoes.  If you haven't read it, it tells the tale of an aspiring Easter Bunny mama bunny and her 21 baby bunnies.  This mama bunny, with a whole house full of babies, has each one of her children dutifully running the house. 

I do realize that this is fiction (although I have decided that I want my life to be exactly like mama bunny), but it did make me think about what I could expect from my own children if I simply asked (or told, rather).  They are expected to clean up after themselves, and I do my best to make sure one  activity is closed out before we move onto the next (which is not easy for I myself have a hard time with focus).   They have to put away clean laundry, deposit all of their dirty clothes into a laundry basket (this has been a struggle, even for Daddy), and bring all of their dishes to the sink after eating.  But there is little beyond this.  

There is a host of things that I think they could do: take out the compost, feed and water the chickens, make their beds, wipe he counters, etc..., but I suppose I do not know where to begin.  I am not sure I want to offer an allowance for doing what I consider to be simply what is expected in our home.  The problem is, right now, I don't expect it and therefor I do it all.

All of this makes me wonder what those of you with children expect from your own kids in and around your home?  Clearly the expectations change with age.  If you have any special words of advice or practical solutions, please share.

Yarn Along: 4 May

Joining Ginny again today for the Yarn Along...

Thankfully we have had some cool nights around here so I have had a chance to wear my so so cozy B.O.B.!  This sweater is not perfect--I wish the neck was a little higher, the underarms are grafted poorly, and it lumps in the strangest places--but I love it.  I love it for its warmth, its coziness, and for the fact that it is my very own made by me.  It might be a very long time before I get a chance to make anything else like it for myself, so I am going to wear this one out!

I have also ventured into Elizabeth Zimmerman territory--the Ganomy Hat from The Knitter's Almanac.  Since this year I have resolved to not buy any yarn until I have used what I have (except for those 8 skeins of Rowan for my new sweater), I am using some Lumpy Bumpy by Charlene in the Olive colorway, freshly wound on my windy contraption.  Although I am overcoming some of my fears of this revered knitting goddess, EZ still makes me nervous.  Her pattern writing is so casual, as if sweaters knit in fingering weight wool could fly off of her needles after a few simple calculations and some relaxing time with her wool.  Maybe one day I will get there... 

I have still been reading Pocketful of Pinecones by Karen Andreola.  I love the simplicity of this book so much that I just ordered Lessons at Blackberry Inn and A Charlotte Mason Companion.  Our local library does not carry these or the first hand writings of Charlotte Mason.  The more I read about her methods, the more I really like them.  It feels like a good starting place for us this first homeschooling year coming.  

Dandelions Calling

The changing of the seasons, of winter into spring in this case, is a real reminder of the fleeting nature of our lives. It is so much less about "out there" than it is about right here, now, this very moment.

I do know this, and even when I don't, I get reminders of it all of the time, like here, and here and here.  But somehow despite the seasonal reminders, the darn near constant calls back to the moment by my children, I still slip back "out there," and away from the fullness of the now.

These glorious spring days, though, have been reigning me in, insisting that I stay closer to my breath, to my kids, to the ground, to what is around me right now.  I have been a better listener and , oh the stories they have told!

Nature Study Monday: American Goldfinch

I spotted yellow again!  Except this time it was the brilliant yellow of a male American Goldfinch during mating season {thank you to Susan for correcting me on my spotting of an "Oriole. " Not an Oriole at all but the winter plumage of a goldfinch}.  Female Goldfinches keep their duller yellow color all year while males actually molt twice.

American Goldfinches are completely vegetarian, only rarely eating an occasional insect by accident.  They frequent backyard feeders and love sunflower seeds (I am wondering if I might have the answer here to one whole side of our sunflower house not sprouting.  Hmmm.  Never mind, he is too beautiful to stay mad).

They nest later than most birds--in June or July--when milkweeds are in bloom.  Evidently the female weaves the nest so tight that it can hold a cup of water!  How I would love to find one of these.

Birds nests are all around right now.  Have you seen one yet this year?