Our favorite season is officially upon us!
We celebrated with a small campfire, hot cider and maple-glazed donuts, and Mad Libs, staying out until it was dark and we were too cold to stay without getting blankets.
In other words, it was perfect!
Happy Fall, everyone! Let’s enjoy these fleeting moments while we can!
Last week we started school again, and amidst all the new books and pencils we discovered a new challenge:
She’s pretty aggressive, this one. Biting pages of books, pouncing on reading assignments, clawing her way up legs.
She’s the ultimate distraction in our classroom.
Who, me?
She’s the perfect combination of adorable and diabolical.
The relative calm of our mornings are punctuated by cries of “aawwww! OW! NOOOOOOOOOO!!!”
I’ve lost count of how many pencils we’ve lost to her. You think she’s sleeping nicely in that basket? Think again!
The worst part? As soon as we are finished with our lessons for the day she DOES curl up in that basket and sleep soundly like a little angel.
All worn out from her mischief.
This year’s gonna be challenging.
Comments Off on New Year, New Bully
Tagged Homeschooling, Kids, Pets
This weekend we did our best to welcome fall by meeting with friends for apple picking and cider pressing.
The weather didn’t feel so very fall-like, with temps in the lower 90’s, but it was at least sunny and bright.
Tanya’s son Alex cracks me up!
Only the Golden Delicious were ready for picking, which was sad, but it also means we get to go back again when the Winesaps are ready (and hopefully there’s more color in the trees!).
Oona and Alston played hard all day.
Look! A rare Emily sighting! I don’t know how she can manage to be so covered up on such a hot day.
The orchard still has plenty of peaches available. That, along with the super hot weather made this seem mightily out of place:
Trina provided us with hayride tickets, and though we baked a bit, the kids had a blast.
Maddie made her feelings about the temperature plain.
After our apples were picked and paid for (along with many cider donuts, of course!), and we’d had our hayride and spent time catching up, some of us drove back to Lisa’s house to press some apples into cider.
This. Little. Cutie. I cannot resist her.
We got four of these out of roughly one bushel of “B” apples. In retrospect, it’s probably good we didn’t get a whole lot more apples to press, since the kids lost interest and were ready to climb Lisa’s trees and chase dogs and chickens. And run they did; they had a lot of fun running off all of their energy outside.
Lisa made a fabulous Texas-style chili and Tanya brought cornbread to go with. Along with the fresh cider and fabulous company and the kids wearing each other out, I didn’t think the day could get any better.
But I was wrong!
Lisa made me a pumpkin cheesecake for my birthday! And it. was. DIVINE!
When Tanya presented me a bottle of a hard-to-find wine, Lisa decided to open up a lovely Burgundy from her (rather extensive and enviable) wine cellar. It put an already magical day over the top.
September, you are off to a fantastic start!
Neve’s been after me for a while to use some of my London-themed fabric to make her a dress, so this weekend I went through my patterns and we decided on the Ice Cream Dress from Oliver & S.
I used some Riley Blake fabric wit complimenting colors and patterns and cut it out two days ago. Today I got to work on it all day and was done in just a few hours.
It was a breeze to throw together; though I think I might personally prefer this pattern made up in a soft knit. Neve is pretty happy with it, though.
I did the bottom panel and the pocket yokes in the contrast fabric but left the top yoke in the main fabric.
I’m curious to see how it drapes after several washes and wearings; the fabric still has quite a bit of stiffness to it.
I can’t wait to try this pattern again; there are so many different fabric options that would be super cute with it!
The thing about blogging is that sometimes you’re at a loss for what to say after a weekend of lounging around with your cats, watching a Top Gear marathon on BBC. Hardly makes for exciting reading, right?
I CAN tell you that we have gotten new neighbors, and Lucy and Orzo helpfully went over to personally greet them. As it turns out, the woman over there is terrified of dogs. *Sigh*
If we are very lucky they will be much like the previous neighbors, whom we barely even knew were there.
As for the neighbors behind us (the church) we discovered that (adding insult to injury) the clearing for the cemetery behind us was only part one. Part two is the absolute clearcutting they will be doing to make themselves a new septic field for their new building (oh and the new neighbors want to clear cut as well – buhbye privacy!).
Thank goodness for cheap trees at Arbor Day Foundation. Looks like we’ll be buying spruce trees by the ton!
I did some more weeding in the gardens and pulled out all of the failed/failing squash plants. The squash bugs beat me thoroughly, yet again. I tried picking them off every day, twice a day. It did no good. I even tried the dish soap spray. It made the plants look even worse. Next year I’ll be using floating row covers and Neem oil.
The thing about Neem is that there’s no solid evidence of how it affects honeybees, so I have to be very careful. The squash will only get sprayed at night when the bees are in their hives, and not at all once the plants have flowered. Unfortunately it’s too late to try it this year. The second planting of cucumber and zucchini I put in in July hasn’t grown very large due to the cooler weather. If we don’t get a heatwave for the remainder of summer and into September I doubt they will fruit at all.
My tomato plants are looking great at the moment, and I’ve pulled a few nice cherry tomatoes off already.
Unfortunately the only varieties that are doing well are the Chadwick Cherry plants and the Mortgage Lifter plants. None of the Cherokee Purple or San Marzano made it.
To hopefully remediate my garden woes I’m working on the soil this year. We have had historically poor soil; fortunately we have crazy amounts of compost! The area that was the lambing pen this year has broken down into the blackest, slickest dirt you could hope for (hay plus wood shavings plus lots of pee and poop sitting in the sun alllll summer). I’ve been digging it up with the tractor and dumping it on areas of the gardens that are done for the season. We also have plenty of fallen hay (full of poop from the livestock) that I will till in this fall and leave for next spring, in hopes of helping build better dirt for growing.
But for now my focus is on fall. The spots where the squash was pulled out were planted with brussels sprouts, parsnips, kale and chard. Garlic seeds are on order, and strawberries will be ordered soon for a spring bloom.
My mums are already blooming (crazy, right?).
Once they start selling these in stores I’ll buy a few more to continue lining the walkway out front with them.
This little jealous mister hung out with me while I tried to clean the craft room a bit. I didn’t get very far. I got all of the coming year’s school stuff sorted and that was about it.
We DID make time to roast marshmallows.
Orzo and Lucy were on hand in case we dropped any.
And maybe to try and sneak one from the bag if Maddie would just look away.
There’s a whole lotta kitty lovin’ going on.
It’s going to be a sad day when she can’t fit in the napkin basket anymore.
Of course, it will be nice to have a place to put the new napkins I made.
And these ones for Halloween:
I guess as it turns out that for a weekend where it seemed like not much happened, I had a lot to say!
It seems a little nuts that this summer has been mild enough to have us craving soup, but you won’t hear me complaining. By all rights we should have been experiencing temperatures in the 100’s by now, with crazy oppressive humidity. Instead, we are seeing mere 80’s. It’s wonderful. I could love summers if every year was this way. That’s not to say we won’t get punished by a brutal September or October (hey, it could happen….in fact it HAS happened in the past), but for now I am going to revel in actually being able to work in the garden without wanting to die from heat stroke.
But back to the soup.
Before I left for my long weekend away, I made sure to put up several meals that my family could reheat easily and not resort to ordering pizza every night. At the same time, I was cleaning out the freezers and came upon a whole frozen chicken carcass from a roast chicken dinner this spring and several bags of frozen vegetable scraps (bell pepper cores, carrot and celery tops, onion skins). An idea was born. A big pot of chicken noodle soup would take care of using up that food before it went south, and would make several meals to leave behind.
To begin with, I let the carcass thaw a bit, but since it was already cooked and mostly just bones and some fat I wasn’t too concerned. I seared it a bit in a big pot with olive oil to brown it up a bit. While that was going, I did the same thing with the vegetable scraps in a saute pan.
Once I had both the chicken carcass and the veggie scraps browned up a bit, I threw the scraps in the pot with the chicken and filled it up with water. Then I dumped several tablespoons of Herbs de Provence on top and stirred it all up.
A few grinds of black pepper and a shake or two of sea salt and then I brought it all to a boil. Then I reduced the heat to low, put on the cover, and let it simmer for nearly 12 hours.
In the meantime, I picked a decent bunch of carrots from the garden and washed them up to add to the soup.
Yummy heirloom carrots! I sliced them all up, and since I wasn’t sure if they’d be added the next day or the day after (depending on when I got to finishing the soup) I put them in a food saver bag and packed them tight to keep them fresh.
Nifty, right? This was not nearly enough carrots, though! I had to add a whole bunch more that I bought at Trader Joe’s so the soup would be nice and full of them. I think I used 3 or 4 cups of chopped carrots for my pot.
When my stock had simmered down to where I wanted it to be volume and flavor-wise, I browned up some boneless chicken thighs I’d also found in the freezer clean-out.
While they were sauteeing away, I strained the bones and scraps out of my chicken stock to leave only the liquid. Then i added the meat.
I like using thigh meat for soups because it is so much more flavorful than breast meat.
While that was going on, I also whipped up a batch of homemade pasta dough using THIS recipe. I rolled it through the linguine cutter and then cut that into smaller strips and let it dry for about an hour.
I threw all of the carrots into the soup with the broth and meat, and then, for good measure, chopped up some celery and onions and threw that in as well. I taste-tested for salt and herbs, but I honestly didn’t have to add any. The slow simmering had made a very flavorful broth.
The pasta went in a handful at a time to keep it from sticking together.
At the end it looked and smelled divine.
The kids LOVED it. I was able to freeze several quarts of it for them to enjoy while I was away, and enjoy they did!
Neve has been calling this the “Summer Chicken Soup” so as to differentiate it from the Garlic Chicken Soup we make all winter which is so medicinal for us.
I loved it because I went in with no recipe, just a knowledge of what I hand on hand and how I wanted it to taste. Improvisation in the kitchen is really fun for me, and this was no exception; particularly because so much of it was grown here and made completely by hand.
I’ll certainly be doing this again!
This weekend has been the perfect storm of excellent mild weather and time for both relaxing and productivity.
The temperatures have made being outside during the day an absolute joy.
The garden is starting to finally show some signs of the bounty to come. The bees are all over it lately, and I am so excited to see the results!
I brought home a fig tree from Whole Foods yesterday and planted it today. There’s already little figs growing on it. I hope in a few years it produces enough to make fig jam!
We’ve also been seeing more of our neighbors lately. The little boy across the street loves to visit the flock, and we always love to show them off! It’s also super important to us that the people living around us are happy with our little homestead. The hollow that our property sits in protects most of the neighbors from animal sounds, but you never know.
Another turtle found wandering around down by the stream! Lucy was taking an interest in this little guy so Neve relocated him to the garden.
Friendly little Thomas.
I love it when the kids spend full days out of the house; it’s not often that it happens in the summer (unless they are in the pool, but that doesn’t really count as being outside and exploring!). I’ve spent more time outside exploring as well, and I’ve found countless wild blackberry bushes, wild rosebushes, and even wild blueberry bushes. It’s important to me that we start trying to make a deeper connection to this land that we own. We will be here for awhile, and taking care of what is here in addition to putting in a mini orchard and improving the soil will be worth it for years and years to come. Hopefully this will help my kids to grow up with an appreciation for the earth that sustains us and a mindfulness towards its care.
In the meantime, slow down summer. These beautiful moments are far too fleeting.
This is a post I’ve been meaning to write for several months now, and I figured I’d better get it done before another school year was upon us!
I am so incredibly proud that my sister Maddie completed her first year of college! There’s been a whirlwind of changes and activity and I can’t believe just how well she’s taken to it all.
Aside from going to school full-time, she’s worked several jobs; two at stores in the mall, and babysitting for my friend Lisa a few times a week. She’s also made herself available to model for Susan when needed (as you can see from the picture above that I shamelessly stole from her).
I would be remiss, however, in not mentioning that she’s had some incredible help along the way.
Firstly, college is expensive. Although she was awarded some financial aid, Paul and I filled in the gap for the first semester and helped her buy books. Her second semester, Susan paid for tuition and books. It’s one thing for family to pay; that’s what family is supposed to do. Susan is my best friend. She had no obligation to help out, but as she told me, she believes in Maddie and wants her potential to be realized. Not going to college was not an option. She was in a position to help, and she did. We owe a great debt of gratitude to my dear friend for making it easier for us to keep Maddie where she needs to be and help her on her way to her future. Her encouragement means the world to us.
Secondly is our new friend Kate. Maddie met her during her first semester when she signed up for a required writing class that Kate was teaching. It was a tough class and Kate has high standards for college students (as she should!), so Maddie spent a lot of time with Kate during her office hours, getting extra help and learning how to manage her time. In the process, she and Kate got to know each other well, and became fast friends.
After several months working together and spending a lot of their free time together, Kate and her husband Brian offered to let Maddie stay with them so Maddie could be closer to school and work. We’ve become friends with them as well (what, you think I’d let my little sister move in with someone I didn’t know? No way!) and have been overwhelmed by how much they’ve helped my sister. They pushed her out of her comfort zone (not an easy task!) to branch out in her job search, and as a result she found a job she adores (she works at Coach, and has discovered she loves work in sales).
(As an aside, I do love that I can go into town and meet my sister for a meal regularly; its one of my happy places)
They helped her learn how to save and manage her money and buy her first car. Now, Kate is working with her to narrow down her choices for college when she transfers out next year, and how to navigate the admissions process. I’m watching my sister bloom into an incredible, capable woman and Kate gets so much of the credit for that. She believes in Maddie, and has stepped in give Maddie the push she needed in order to be successful in school and life. I cannot overstate this: I will never be able to repay her for all she has done this past year.
We are getting closer and closer to Maddie stretching out her wings and heading out to a bigger school, potentially someplace far away. We will miss her, but I can’t wait to see what she will accomplish with her life.
Congratulations on all you have done so far, little sister. I am so proud!
Comments Off on Proud Sister Moment
Tagged Homeschooling, Kids
The lambs have gotten HUGE! Their tails have all fallen off, and they are more and more independent every day. They are still nursing, but it’s becoming rather comical as they have gotten a bit big to be under their mamas!
Oona has been learning how to handle taking care of feeding; she has the advantage of being fast enough to outrun them to the troughs, but the disadvantage of still being small enough to get a bit trampled. She gets smarter about how she manages it every day, though.
Paddington and Piccadilly nursing.
This is Darby, if you can believe it! He looks enormous to me now! Luckily he is still just as sweet as ever.
Wembley.
Wimbledon.
Esmont.
Snacking on the go.
Keswick.
The fabulous Knightsbridge.
Everybody is doing well and growing like weeds! So far even our very hottest days have not been too awful; hopefully that will remain the case and we won’t have to administer too much heat tonic this summer!
