{this moment}

A special moment from this week I want to remember.  (Inspired by SouleMama)

I walked into Christian's room this week and this is what I saw.  One happy
girl and one obliging young man.

::right now::

Right now, we are...

...pondering the beauty of this video ...simplicity...work...enjoyment.

...anticipating our first real blueberry harvest.

...appreciating fresh ginger in our kitchen.

...picking mulberries. If only I could get the kids to not eat them as they pick we could make some of these recipes.
 
...talking a lot of politics as Christian is taking a government class at our local community college and he'll get to vote in our primary.

...thankful to live in a country where elections are held without bloodshed.

...celebrating Phoebe turning 12!

Dyed Pasta

One of the fun things about teaching an early elementary class at our homeschool co-op is getting to do some of the fun things I did with my older kids when they were younger.  Our class is learning about Ancient Egypt in preparation to go to an Ancient Egypt exhibit.  Since the Egyptians were so into jewelry we thought it would be fun for the kids to make some necklaces out of dyed pasta.  I took extra for Esther's class and they also had fun stringing it. 

Dying pasta is super easy.  All you need is pasta, food coloring, jars and rubbing alcohol. oh, and newspaper. 

First put some dry pasta in jars - one jar per color you want.  Then squirt some food coloring in it.  The only one I could find was a gel food coloring, I couldn't find the old liquid kind.  But it worked great and they also had some neon colors.  I stuck with the regular colors but neon would have been pretty cool. Then pour some rubbing alcohol into the jar - enough to cover the bottom of the jar about 1/2 to 1 inch.  Shake it up.

Leave it sitting on the counter all afternoon so that every time your big kids come by they can shake the jars.  And every time your toddler comes by you can tell her "Don't touch"

Next, pour it out onto some newspapers (after draining off the liquid in a colander) about 30 minutes before above mentioned toddler's bedtime so that she can "help".

The next day the pasta will be dry and your child can make all kinds of necklaces and bracelets. 

If you make these and use the neon food coloring let me know how they turned out.

This post is linked to Barn Hop and Made by You Mondays, and Works for Me Wednesdays.

in the garden...cabbage

It didn't rain here at all last week and our ground finally dried out enough to till a some more garden beds.  We're still going to be piling on the compost and begin moving in a no till direction.  But this will help us not have to use so much compost this year.  We were also able to plant some tomatoes and squash. 

But the real stars this week have been our cabbage.  They have started forming a head and I'm hoping will be ready to pick soon.

Here's some tips for growing cabbage:

• Planting times for our area are Jan. 15- Feb. 28th and Sept. 15th - Nov. 7th
• Plant 18" apart - cabbage can get pretty big
• Unless you're planning on canning the cabbage for, say, sauerkraut (yum) or plan on freezing it (yuck) you should think about succession planting.  Start early in your planting time, for us that would be in September, and then plant a few every two weeks.  That way you can harvest the large heads and have smaller ones still growing.
• You can either direct sow the seeds or start in packs and transplant. 
• Plant with lots of compost and top dress mid season.
• Cabbage likes cool weather so when it starts to warm up (upper 80's) it will get bitter

Problems and Pests:

• For the most part cabbage is pretty easy to grow.  Try not to get compost or dirt down into the head.  Water the dirt - without splashing- not the plant.
• Caterpillars do like cabbage and you can us bt to get rid of them.  bt won't hurt people or plants or any other insect, just caterpillars.

Harvesting and Storing:

• Harvest any time after the head has formed.
• Store in a cold cellar
• In mild climates, like ours, you can just leave them growing in the ground all winter. 

If you have other tips for growing cabbage, feel free to leave them in the comments.

This post is linked to Barn Hop. and Tuesday Garden Party

{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)

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

Lowering your grocery bills

I wanted to let you know that today I'm guest posting at Money Saving Mom on how to lower your grocery bills by growing your own food.   I'm sure there will be some great comments so come over and join the discussion.

compost and giving thanks

Since we (as in I) have decided that we need to go with plan "B" on our garden and try to do some modified raised beds, we (as in I) decided that we needed more mushroom compost.  I got some about a month ago.  Gabriel hooked up the trailer for me and he, Benjamin and I went and got a trailer full.  It all went very smoothly - I just had to be careful not to park anywhere where I would have to back up...I can pull a trailer but not back one up. 

So yesterday morning I decided, on a whim, that it would be a good day to get some more.  That way we can spread it and let it cool down before we use it.  Phoebe, Benjamin, Esther and I left the house at 11am and returned at 9:30pm. umm, the mushroom farm is only an hour and fifteen minutes away from our house.

My first sign that something might not be right should have when the compost guy said, "Um, are your tires okay?"   yeah, they're fine.  I think, well, they might need a little air.  So we go air them up and get water.  My second sign should have been the trail of smoke following us.  I did get out and look at it, but didn't see anything wrong with the tire.  Then, ten miles into the journey home our trailer had a blow out on one tire and the trailer was sitting so low on the other side that it ate into the other tire... that would be the smoke.  While we waited for Carl I thought about the book One Thousand Gifts and so began thinking about what I could give thanks for.

• a 10 year old boy who can play for hours on the side of the highway finding bamboo, wild flowers and dewberry brambles
• a 2 year old who finds enjoyment hopping the seats in the 12 passanger van
• an (almost) 12 year old who gladly helps entertain the 2 year old
• time to spend with these three children in a way that wouldn't happen had we been at home
• cds of old time radio shows like Tarzan, Bob Hope and The Thin Man
• children who enjoy those cds
• Battleship and Rush Hour travel games - always kept in the car
• a friend who missed a nap with her children to help me "ponder" my situation and offer suggestions of trailers we could borrow.
• another friend who offered to come pick us up and helps me look on the brighter side of things "You probably needed to replace those tires anyway."
• the discovery of  Bejeweled demo game on my phone - it's the only game on there and no one ever plays with my phone because, well, it's a tool not a toy.
• cell phones - I have no idea what I would have done without it - I guess we would have taken a very long hike.
• a friend who went to pick up our raw milk and make room for 4 extra gallons of milk in her refrigerator since we would not be in town before the cut off time
• a surprise visit from an old high school friend who lives in the area.  She graciously took us to her home and fed us "lunch" at about 4pm.  Can I just say that lunch never tasted so good?
• Facebook (although I'm not a member) which has helped keep that connection
• cheese popcorn from Tractor Supply
• a police officer who we know from church and works in that area who gets off work early to come help us and spends 4 hours helping change tires and move compost into the borrowed trailer.
• a huband who not only puts up with my crazy ideas but loves me anyway.  I'm only suffering a little mocking about trying to haul 2000 pounds of compost on tires that clearly state a 775 pound per tire limit. (what kind of person reads the fine print on a tire???)
• and most importantly, a Savoir who causes all things to work together for good... even when those things aren't "good" in themselves. 

What are you thankful for this Tuesday?

stuffed pretzels and musings

After a week full  of drama (the good kind, of course) we were ready for some relaxation.  A weekend full of rain gave us just that.  We spent the whole weekend doing a "whole lotta nada" which for you non Spanish speaking folks means "nothing much".  I did work some on costumes for the high school play.  And Sunday afternoon I had an urge to make something new in the kitchen.  That's when I remembered this stuffed pretzel recipe from Sara, aka Farmama. 

They're not rolled out like traditional pretzels but oh, my, they were so very, very good.  Christian said, "These are really good." oh, about 100 times last night.  Next time, I'll add a little whole wheat flour to them and see what happens.  And we might try rolling some to look like pretzels.  We stuffed ours with homemade pesto and mozzarella cheese.  I think they would also be great stuffed with honey and raisins.  I'm also going to try to freeze some for snacks. 

One of the things that got me thinking about Farmama is that I remembered that they do no-till farming.  We've had so much rain here the last few months that I'm not sure we can get any more ground tilled up.  The clay soil holds the moisture and the tiller just gets all clumped up with soil.  So we're going to plan "B" and doing a modified version of the no-till farming.  Modified since I really should have started these beds last fall.  Farmama is no longer blogging and I really miss her posts but she's graciously kept her blog online.  It has lots of great info about sustainable living from a family who is actually doing it.  And some great recipes.

For more great recipes check out Tasty Tuesday.

{jr high drama}

Have I mentioned that we have the most amazing homeschool drama club?  I'm sure I have but I wanted to mention it again.  We've been a part of it for the last 4 years and I have seen my own children (and others) grow so incredibly much.  It's fun to see kids go from barely being able to make eye contact at the beginning of the year to standing in front of a 100 people with the lights on them and act and project their voices. 

This week has been all about the jr high group.  They had rehearsal both Monday and Tuesday afternoon and have performances Thursday and Friday nights.  Both Gabriel and Phoebe are in the play, "Employees Must Wash Hands Before... Murder."  It's a spoof on restaurants and the health department, complete with a fry cook who thinks he's Yoda, a counter girl with deep seeded emotional issues, the attractive girl, a yellow and pink talking bird, a 1980's restaurant owner and the Fairy of Copyright Infringement.  Very, very funny. 

Here's some pics from their dress rehearsal.

Here's Gabriel as the 1980's restaurant owner and Phoebe, his mother.  It was funny seeing them act together...her being so sweet and him, well..not being so sweet.

Phoebe was also the Fairy of Copyright Infringement with her wand of Punitive Lawsuits.

This is the restaurant sign....

It's been a lot of work and we still have the high school performances in early May, but, goodness, it is so worth it to see the kids perform so very well. 

eggs surprise

Look what we found in our nesting boxes the other day...green and white eggs.  Our flock has Rhode Island Reds, Buff Orrpingtons, Barred Rocks, and 2 other breeds that we've yet to determine.  We adopted a few hens from a neighbor before we moved and she wasn't sure what these were.  After some online search I'm thinking that of the 4 hens, 2 are Americanas and 2 are a Spanish Game hen.  But I really have no idea, so maybe you guys who have had chickens for a while can help me out...

We have 2 of these and I *think* they are Americaunas.  I *believe* they are the ones laying the greeen eggs.  Their wattle isn't very big and I've heard that they need to have a mature wattle before they start laying.  And since we didn't get any green eggs before they stopped laying for the winter I'm thinking these are the green egg girls. 

See these girls with the big yellowish earlobs?  I think these are the white egg layers.  Their comb is huge and floppy and they have a large wattle so I think they matured faster than the other mystery hens.  Also, we got one white egg before they stopped laying for the winter. 

We call this lady "Abraham" in honor of Abraham Lincoln because...well... she has a beard.  She is supposed to be a Buff Orrpington.  We got her from the feed store at the same time we got our other Orrpintons.  She's whiter, with almost no wattle and has greeenish legs.  She's also very tame because the kids love her.  I don't think she is laying, she's pretty low on the pecking order and is smaller than the other birds.

This post is linked to The Barn Hop.

{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)

If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.