The state of things

Last weekend I had an idea and decided that it just had to be done. So I drove to the paint store, bought 10 samples of paint and started testing them in my kitchen. And this is how it looks, still, today. Every day this week I walked in there and examined and stared and turned my head and tried to envision the space and color. I think I've finally figured out what I want. I'm staying with the green that was in there to begin with. And this means heading back to the paint store to buy a gallon of paint to cover over my "brilliant idea".

Of course my epiphany came with a tagalong that I felt must also be carried out right away. See the mirror on the wall? This is our front room. The room you first walk into when you come into the house. It suffers for a lack of purpose. No one knows what this room is or what it does except to contain a huge mirror. Our piano is stuck right in front of it but it doesn't fit well. So I decided it had to come down. Immediately of course.

So I stayed in my pajamas, grabbed a hammer and screwdriver and started pulling at the baseboards and the wainscoting that covered the bottom half. When it got to the mirror, my plan was to just start pulling the (10 foot) mirror off and to "see what happens". Jeremy just stared at me, left the room, and returned a few minutes later with a rug to cover the floor, a box to put the broken pieces of glass in, gloves, goggles, and shoes for my um, unclad feet. He took over most of the work wearing a cowboy hat to protect his head (he made sure to point out). We pulled and hammered and scraped and eventually, piece by piece, the mirror came down.


With a little help of course....

Finally it was finished. To our surprise, the wall is in pretty decent shape and shouldn't take too much work to fix the little holes and scrape off the remaining glue. Notice the green paint in the bottom corner? I didn't keep my paint samples quarantined to the kitchen... they started spreading to other rooms as well.

After craning my neck and squinting my eyes in hopes of seeing a full room in a tiny patch of color, I think I've finally decided on the paint for this room as well and it's not green OR blue. In the meantime, while certain walls are having identity crises, I'm enjoying a leisurely friday afternoon playing a very crazy game of memory with Ian and crocheting in between turns.

(See where my mind is lately? Tearing down mirrors, painting random walls, and bouncing between knitting and crocheting which have sent my fingers tripping a few times. But I discovered a new yarn store and I just had to get a few skeins of yarn and now another project is on the way.)

Homemade Tuesday

The yeast has been proofed in my little white bowl.
The bread is quietly rising in a corner of the kitchen.
The beans have been soaking since last night, nearly ready for the soup that's planned for dinner.
Sawyer is napping.
Ian is playing quietly in his room.
Henry is sleeping, snuggled at my feet.
And I am knitting little house helpers. They are wonderful and oh so pretty to look at. I want a big stack of them for my kitchen, in all colors.

Post birthday bash

My post birthday recovery is over... I didn't intend to ignore this little space here but it appears I did. It's been a good week though, filled with lots of naps and quiet time. I'm not sure I will schedule two birthday parties back to back like that again. But it was wonderful and Ian loved the attention and gifts and cakes and every little thing about everything.

He's officially 4 now and takes every chance he can to tell people about it. I love this picture, he's not in focus and it's a bit dark, but he's just so genuinely happy at this moment. Recognize the candles?? So the cake's a little ... short... but making any type of gluten-free/dairy-free baked treat bounce and stand tall is a bit difficult. Maybe by his 14th birthday I will get it just right... hopefully. He didn't seem to mind though, it tastes great.


And Henry wanted to say hello. What an incredible little friend he's turned out to be.

I'll be back soon... there's been knitting and painting and cooking.... and can you believe it's almost March?

*Henry pic from NP

4 amazing years

Happy Birthday Ian Jeremy...

Counting birds

Ian and I are getting ready for the Great Backyard Bird Count! It's an annual event that happens across the country in order to take a tally of the birds we see in our own backyard. Experts are able to use these numbers to compare with the previous years species and total numbers. It takes as little as 15 minutes of your time just one day or you can spend hours over the 4 days counting bird sightings. We are reading up on bird species, hoping to identify some when we go out looking. Here's a list of the top birds seen in 2008.

It begins on February 13 and goes for 4 days. All it requires is 15 minutes in your yard, counting individual birds (identifying them if possible), and then logging online to report your findings. You can even boost your chances of seeing them by putting out birdseed to attract them.

This will be our first year doing it but it's a great excuse for the family to get out and observe nature, taking notice of the little creatures in the process. Only two days to go!

Photo by NP

Henry

Henry moved in over the weekend... and I think he's happy with his new home.

Sawyer follows him around saying "mmow, mmow" while trying to hug him and Ian does anything he can to make Henry jump and play. He loves to climb on our laps to be rubbed and to fall asleep. We love him already.

He came from the local shelter. The boys and I occasionally look online at the cats and dogs just for fun trying to imagine what they would be like here. When I saw this little guy's face I told Jeremy I wanted to go and see him. He looks nearly identical to the cat, Logan, we had before our kids were born. Logan drove cross country with us when we moved but died after being hit by a car a few months later. We've always missed him. When I went to see Henry, I was struck by how similar he was to Logan and realized that I just couldn't leave him there at the shelter. So now he's home... renamed from Harley to Henry... something familiar to him yet making him ours.

Worms and kitchens

A batch of red wigglers have finally found a home here in our basement. They really dislike the light so we were torturing them in the name of curiosity but we were so excited to see them. It's been almost a year since our first attempt through Craigslist which didn't end up very well. So today we finally made it to Pistils Nursery to get a good batch. And I'm excited to see how our worm bin does... it's supposed to separate the worms from the compost naturally as well as give us some good compost tea. Now we'll have a third way of composting our food. What the chickens won't eat, the worms will, and what the worms don't eat our compost bin outside will gladly welcome. One more step in having less garbage to throw away!

______________

And I have found a new love... it's a kitchen in a kitchen. I was browsing through house pictures one day and saw this adorable little eclectic home, full of color and unique odds and ends, and right there in the kitchen was a little person's kitchen. Brilliant! I have thought about getting a little bigger kitchen for the boys since they do love to "cook" but it never occurred to me to have it in our kitchen so we could all cook together. So this morning when I was at Grasshopper with Ian, I saw they had little wooden kitchens by WonderWorld on sale. It's a hit so far and if only dried beans and paper bacon and eggs were edible, dinner would be made...

Busted

Isn't it funny how we never seem to take pictures of the ordinary things around us? I thought for sure I had a more recent picture of our rocking chair but this was the first one I could find and that's Ian there... at 20 months old, which I guess is fitting since he's the little culprit who broke it. This afternoon he climbed up onto the back and it fell, backwards, hitting a few things on the way down. Several joints have come apart and one of the panels in the back broke free at the top splintering into several pieces. When I came in and saw it laying there on it's back, all cockeyed, I knew it couldn't be good.

You know that moment when you realize that something has just happened and by the sound of it, it can't be very good? And then you hear the crying and you realize that someone was hurt at the same time? And then there's that nanosecond when you've just happened upon the scene and determined that a) no one is dead or bleeding out and, b) your beloved chair is broken... and you have to react. It's this nanosecond, that moment in time that feels like an eternity, where your synapses are firing messages to your body and all you hear is the adrenaline rushing through your brain. It's that moment that determines the type of parent you are.

Do you instantly rush to your child's aid no matter what disarray the room is in or what happens to be lying in pieces at their feet? Or are you the one that calmly picks him up, knowing he's physically fine but wanting to comfort him anyway? Or the one that knows he's fine and you rush to the chair, or vase, or whatever precious item has been sacrificed to the annals of childhood and send him to his room even though he's still crying over the shock of being flung in the air? I'm beginning to see that it is me... that one... the latter... the one who gets upset at the sight of blood, not because it's blood, but because it means they must have been doing something crazy in order to get hurt in the first place.

When I knew he was more shocked then hurt, I rushed to the chair's aid first. My poor antique rocker. It was given to us the first year we were here by our neighbor. She didn't have any room for it anymore. Her parents gave it to her as a sweet 16th birthday gift, some 35+ years ago.

For now it's tucked away upstairs in a spare bedroom. I'm hoping we can find someone who specializes in repairing old wood furniture by hand. It's too beautiful to not at least try.

Ian is fine... he's over the drama and the only thing he has to show for it is a red scratch on his elbow. I'm beginning to see it though... the future with my rough and tumble boys and as beautiful it may be, I think I'll keep the antiques away for awhile.

____

I know some people were having problems commenting recently. My husband thinks he fixed it so give it a try and let me know if you have any problems.

Playing

Our week has flown by without a lot of computer time and we're looking forward to a relaxing weekend. Hope you have one too.

Sharing one picture that sums up our week of play... Ian as Luke Skywalker and Sawyer as R2-D2. The trash basket was completely their idea and Sawyer makes little robotic sounds following Ian around on various missions. And I think I've heard plans of building the Millennium Falcon this weekend...

Printable

I had a request to make my posts and recipes easier to print and so my wonderful husband stepped in to figure how it could be done. Blogger isn't the easiest to customize but he manages to find ways to answer all my urgent blog needs and my oh please please please can you get it done this evening? requests.

So if you want to print a post with say, a recipe, then you would click on the title to bring only that particular post up and at the bottom will be a PRINT THIS POST link. You can preview it to make sure you are printing only what you'd like. Let me know how it works for you.

Thanks for the suggestion Lori!

Hand-dipped beeswax

A first attempt at hand-dipped beeswax taper candles. The process takes a few hours but it's really enjoyable. Begin with a wick, dip twice in melted beeswax, hang to dry, dip, hang...repeat. They are rustic and bit wobbly in places but exactly what I had hoped for. The boys and I spent the day at my sister's house making them. She posted more of the process here. I think I see another tradition beginning...

(mostly) raw asian rolls

This is my new favorite meal right now. It's very adaptable and this peanut sauce makes everything tastes incredible.

For the asian rolls I take whatever type of veggie I can find, usually it's zucchini, carrots, spinach, green onions, and red pepper, and slice them thin. Then I add some rice noodles (like pad thai noodles) for some extra filling. Regular rice would work great too! I roll all of it in a spring roll skin which is perfect to hold onto and dip. The spring roll skin is actually fun to play with because it's stiff until you soak it in hot water for a few moments and then it turns soft and paper thin. You can totally experiment with this and add whatever you'd like. It's a great way to way to eat raw foods!

Peanut Love Sauce

4 T almond butter
2 T creamy organic peanut butter (for peanut allergies, substitute almond butter for all)
3 T nama shoyu or soy sauce (Tamari for gluten free)
2 T extra virgin olive oil
2 T apple cider vinegar
1 T honey or maple syrup
2 soft dates, pitted
2 green onions, finely chopped
1 -2 garlic cloves
1 T ginger, freshly minced
1/2 cup chopped cilantro
1/2 cup chopped parsley
1 - 2 t dried chili pepper (optional)
1/ 4 - 1/2 cup fresh water

In a blender, blend almond and peanut butter (optional), soy sauce, olive oil, vinegar, honey or maple syrup, dates, green onions, garlic ,ginger, cilantro, and parsley until smooth. Add fresh water a little at a time as necessary to blend smooth. The sauce should be pourable, but still thick. Set aside half the sauce and add the chili pepper so you have on that is hot and one that is not. (I usually leave the chili out completely since my boys don't like spicy foods)

This sauce is delicious and works perfectly with any type of roll you can come up with.

Recipe from Happy Foody

Herbal Tincture Tutorial

I've made this herbal tincture for a couple of years now. It began when I took a course online from a holistic college and then read all the books I could find on herbal remedies. We mainly use herbs and homeopathics at home, most of which I have bought, but I plan on making more homemade herbal remedies in the future. For now... here is a little tutorial on how to make an herbal tincture.

A tincture is basically herbs, fresh or dried, that have been steeped over time in alcohol, distilled water and/or glycerine. The herbs are strained out and you are left with a concentrated herbal remedy that you can take by itself or mixed into juice or water. In this case, I made a sleep tincture that I can give the boys if they are having a hard time sleeping. It calms them down and relaxes them enough to fall asleep and usually stay asleep. I buy these herbs pre-mixed but you can make a tincture with any combination of herbs or a single herb as well. Tincturing single herbs is usually recommended in the beginning so you can see if that particular herb is helpful and does what you need it too (sleep, healing, etc...). For this batch, I'm using chamomile, lemon balm, passion flower, oatstraw, catnip, and hops. I'm also making a single herbal tincture made with echinacea root.

_____________________

Start with a wide mouth quart-size glass jar (any size glass jar will work) and fill it about a 1/3 to 1/2 full with dried herbs and about 3/4 full with fresh herbs.

I use a mixture of food grade vegetable glycerine and alcohol. I use cheap vodka (100 proof) because it pulls the herbal properties out more efficiently but if you want a nonalcoholic tincture, vegetable glycerine and distilled water is fine. Vegetable glycerine is very sweet so I use about 50/50 between the two.

I fill it about 2/3 of the way, alternating between alcohol (or distilled water) and glycerine.

Then I stir it gently to make sure all the herbs are mixed in.

Add a little more leaving a 1/2 inch to 1 inch room at the top to allow breathing room. Put a clean lid on and make sure it's tight with no leakage.

When it's all prepared, always label the jars right away with the name of the tincture, the date it was tinctured on, and what was used. Then store them in a cool, dark place for 4 to 6 weeks. I use my basement or garage. Shake the jars occasionally to keep it well mixed. If you find that there are herbs exposed at the top of the jar over time, just add more liquid to make sure they are covered.

_____________________

...4 to 6 weeks later.... it's time to prepare the tincture! You'll need a container to strain the liquid into, cheesecloth, and sterilized jars (fresh out of dishwasher will do) to store the prepared tincture.

Slowly pour the jars contents onto the cheesecloth to strain the liquid out. I usually let it sit for a little bit and let it drain.

Then, very carefully (especially if you use a rubber band to secure the cheesecloth and that rubber band chooses to fly off taking the herbs with it!) and squeeze the rest of the liquid out by hand.

Strain the liquid one more time. It's very important to strain the tincture a second time to ensure there are no leftover herbs. Even very small amounts of herb can change the ratio in the tincture over time. So I put more cheesecloth over the mouth of my clean jar and that usually catches the last few pieces if there are any.

You can keep the finished tincture in a jar. I have little brown bottles with droppers that I bought from a supply store online. They aren't very expensive and I would recommend them if you plan on making herbal tinctures at all. They are so handy when giving the tinctures to a little one.

Lastly, I make sure to label the jar/bottle with the name and date.

Most tinctures made with alcohol will last indefinitely and the others will easily last a couple of years. Just make sure to store them in a cool, dark place because both the heat and light can make them less effective.

_____________________

One thing to remember is that this isn't the same as canning so the jars don't need to be vacuumed sealed. But the lids need to be on as tight as you can get them, making sure there is no leaking. If at any time you are unsure about your finished herbal tincture then it's best to just throw it out and start over. Last year I had left two jars of herbs for about 6 months before I remembered them. I strained them but noticed the smell was just slightly off. I figured it was better to be safe so I just tossed the whole thing. If you find that you don't need the tincture for awhile then my advice would be to strain it after the 6 weeks anyway and store the tincture itself (which like I mentioned above will last many years) until you do need it.

Both the boys love herbal tinctures. They take them straight without any juice or water, even ones I think are strong. If you aren't used to them though... then adding them to a drink will work just as well.

If you are new to herbs... then here's a couple of good books I really like.

The ABC Herbal (my favorite)
The How To Herb Book
The Herbal Home Remedy Book

and for homeopathy:

Homeopathic Medicine for Children and Infants

Disclaimer: I am a mama not a doctor... please see a doctor if you are ill and have questions.

Fabric for Haiti... and me

"All my scattering moments are taken up with my needle."

-Ellen Birdseye Wheaton 1851

I've been filling my evenings crocheting row after row, focused only on finishing my blanket. It helps that our 'no new spending' stops me from rushing out and starting new projects that I'm just aching to try. Then one little phone call from my Grandma who says she wants to donate some fabric and I immediately volunteer to go to the fabric store with her. Our church is planning a medical trip to Haiti and they're asking for fabric to take with them. One of our life resolutions is to always have some money aside for people in need. Well how could I pass up a need to send fabric to Haiti? So off we went. I told myself that I was only getting fabric for Haiti... two different fabrics, 3 to 4 yards each. See? I'm not sure what type of clothing they will be used for and for whom, but I'm sure they will find the perfect home.

I did, however, allow myself to deviate just a little. It started with the plan of just looking for color ideas but then I picked up one bolt of fabric and then another and soon I realized that I would have to start on that new project I've been thinking about this past month. I saw an idea for a "Happy Birthday" banner and knew I just had to make it for our family birthday celebrations. I wanted something that could be hung up on the wall for each birthday. Something the boys could look forward to when it was their birthday ... something that could be passed down to their kids if they wanted. And well, since we have a certain birthday coming up for a certain soon-to-be 4 year old I figured now was the perfect time to get the fabric and start it. It's the collection of fabric in the first picture... the one with the little boy and the polka dots in red and those greenish blues.... It took us a while to pick them all out but I love how sweetly they come together.

And this morning, even though I should be finishing up the towels in the laundry, I'm moving them aside to wash the new fabrics. And my plans to start on our taxes early this year (meaning tonight!) may just have to take a step back for a few nights. I can't help it really... it's just calling to be cut and sewn. At least I can say it all started with a good deed... some people in Haiti will be happy we made a trip to the fabric store last night.

A year in pictures

I'm not ashamed to admit it... really, I'm not. The truth is, I don't like to scrapbook. I've done it before... I've gone to workshops, bought supplies, even completed a couple of albums and enjoyed looking at the finished product. I love craftiness, I love looking at pictures of my boys, and the idea of making something unique and special to look at year after year seems like it it's a win-win situation (not to mention that my mom loves scrapbooking and does an absolutely beautiful job). I've urged myself just to get in and do it and maybe my feelings would change. But they don't and my pictures are still sitting in computer files begging to be printed and put in an album. I constantly put them out of my mind so I don't feel guilty that my kids don't have any album to physically hold on to and look at.

This year I decided to let my shame go and just accept it. I simply want to print out pictures and stick them in albums... maybe add a short explanation, maybe not... definitely the date and place... but not much more. Then I ran across this idea recently and fell in love. It's called Project 365 (they are selling a kit if you want everything in one fell swoop) and all you do is take one picture a day of anything and everything you want, print them out once a week or once a month, and then put them in an album with (or without) a short explanation. What you end up with is your entire year in an album, without too much fuss, and you've captured details of your life, things you may never think of capturing otherwise.

It reminded me of a little conversation my sister, niece, and I had with Alicia Paulson at her book signing about capturing memories. That a picture of a mug or that little corner in your home that holds your library books can be just as powerful of reminder of your life as pictures of your family are. We usually all take pictures of the people around us, but not nearly enough of the things around us. I started a new computer folder called 365 for 2009 and I'm adding one picture a day. I'm so excited to see the things that will end up there. Forgotten things that I hope will thrill me in 30 years when I look back and remember. Here's a couple examples so far:

My boys, always. I know they will be in many.

A collection of our hats, scarves, and mittens sitting by the front door.

A common sight in Jeremy's office where he works from home 2 days a week.

I saw this idea from Aimee at Living, Learning and Loving Simply. Here's a great list of ideas if you need some. I'll post pictures every so often, or mayble I'll post my picture everyday along the sidebar.... hmmm... I'll think about that one...

Just a side note.... there is a lot of info on it, especially on the creator's site, Becky, if you feel like browsing around. I'm not going to buy the kit or 'scrapbook' in any of the traditional sense. Mine will be very simple, mostly pictures and writing, no fancy papers or pens. Otherwise, I will be right back to where I started! So feel free to do this any way you want, it's all up to you how easy or hard you want to make it.