Life With The Crew

Thankful Tuesday - 10.30.17

Today I am thankful for...

~a glorious walk in the woods after a soggy day of pouring down rain.  The chicken yard is a mud and chicken poop pit, the backyard is a dead grass and dog poop mess, but the woods were beautiful.  And since we fired up the woodstove this weekend, we came home to a warm house and hot apple cider.  I always forget how much I love heating with wood.  It instantly makes the house feel more like a home and I smile when I go outside and smell the familiar smell on my clothes and in my daughter's hair.  It makes me feel like I'm part of a secret society.

I think the leaf color has been amazing the past two weeks - maybe the final oncoming of cold temps made them realize that it is actually Autumn and they have a job to do.  The rain yesterday brought a ton of leaves as well as water down and the forest floor was a carpet of red, yellow, and brown.  Lovely season, lovely day.  Thankful that I could be out soaking it up.

What are you thankful for today?

 

 

 

The Cutest Hairy Feet...and Other Things

First off, I'll start with the hairy feet, because they are so cute.  One night when I couldn't sleep, I hopped on-line to send some emails while the little babe slept.  I saw an update from Our Ash Grove that they added new items to their shop.  I jumped over just to look and ended up finding the perfect gift for my little babe.  

Aren't these adorable?  Do you know what they are?  I would not, except for the fact that my husband and daughter have been reading the Hobbit stories for the past two years, so I know that hobbits have hairy feet - apparently even little girl hobbits.  I made an immediate impulse buy and planned on giving them to her for Christmas, but after our busy and stressful week, I decided that she could use a little gift.  Plus, I'm really bad at keeping gifts from her because I get so excited to see how she likes it - and she loved these!  The dresses are made with plant dyed linen and the tiny lace detail is amazing.  Please check out this mother and daughter Etsy shop - great handmade items.

We made a trip to the arboretum to check out the pumpkin and squash displays.  It actually felt like Autumn should feel (a hat was needed and fingers were cold) and we had the place to ourselves except for the gardening crew cleaning out the annuals.  So much color and texture, though it was a bit odd to see roses in bloom at this time of year.

I finished a new sweater for the little babe a couple weeks ago.  This is the Annabel by Georgie Nicolson.  I chose it because it had a hood, two front pockets, and in the pink color she chose, she would look like Little Pink Riding Hood. I made it in a 50/50 baby alpaca and wool blend, Rooster Almerino, so it is super soft and drapey.  Looking at it after the fact, I think it is a bit too drapey for an outdoor sweater coat, but oh well.  The yarn was purchased on sale and the only problem I have with it, which may be why it was on sale, is that there were several large slubs in multiple skeins.  I could have taken the time to cut them out, but just went with it since it was for the little babe and I knew it would get wear and tear anyway.  As usual, I altered the pattern and did not make the daisy trim detail - it was too time intensive.  The little babe chose her own buttons, which are pink plastic daisies.  

A play table at the arboretum - simple beautiful corn.  She couldn't resist putting her hands in those smooth and colorful kernels and neither could I!

Enjoy the season!

Thankful Tuesday - 10.24.17

Today I am thankful for...

~a family day of rest after a super crazy week of getting our newest Airbnb rental ready in a pinch.  We did it (minus one kitchen countertop and the guests sat on folding chairs - luckily they were family friends!) and so took a much needed recharge day.  A long walk in a new adventure spot and lunch at a new place made for a good day.

~kind friends who entertained the little babe so that she wasn't bored out of her gourd while Mom and Dad were working and not paying attention to her.  I am also thankful for a little babe who can entertain herself pretty well on a jobsite.  Drawing on empty cardboard boxes, exploring basements by herself, and finding a use for all kinds of trash and scraps - what a kid.  

~two working eyes to see beautiful red maple leaves shimmering against a bright blue sky on a sunny warm day in October. 

~my awesome petsitter who gave me a recommendation for an equally awesome veterinarian who was willing to help me out when I was desperate.  My Romanian rescue dog Wallace needed medical care and due to trauma in his former life, we were unable to transport him to the vet without physically restraining and traumatizing him further.  The new vet came to my house, plied him with liver treats, and did what needed done in a caring manner.  SO THANKFUL.

What are you thankful for today?

Bubbles in the Rain

We woke up to warm weather (again - crazy for October) and rain that had started falling over night.  The little babe ate breakfast and then declared that she was going outside.  "Okay, but I'm not going with you."  That didn't matter, so donning raincoat, skirt, and wellies (too warm for a shirt apparently), she headed out into the steady rain.  I would look out the back door occasionally and see her bebopping around, collecting leaves, catching rain under the downspout with her purple bucket.  I would ask if she wanted to come in, but no, not yet.  I handed her a bottle of bubbles and said have fun.  After several minutes of watching her blow and then catch bubbles by herself, then pouring some on the deck and scrubbing it with the outdoor broom, the guilt kicked in and I donned my raincoat and wellies and headed out.  We discovered that we could transfer bubbles from her wand to a leaf and then transfer that to a leaf on the tree.  The sassafras tree was in full color and the large leaves were perfect.  We then walked an obstacle course while balancing our bubbled leaves and used them to decorate the wire fence.  Blowing bubbles is much more fun with two.  

My little babe turns five years old today and while the structure of our days together has changed as she has matured, I am glad that we are still able to spend our days together, learning and playing/playing and learning as we go.

Thankful Tuesday - Party Edition

It was a beautiful Autumn day for the little babe's 5th birthday party, which was a super secret surprise.  Considering that she didn't even know what a surprise party was or the fact that she is still young enough that I can actually make the party decorations and baked goods with her and she just cracks it up to what we normally do, it was pretty easy to pull together.  Plus, I passed on most of the food making to friends and family.  The ride out of town up to the cabin was gorgeous - the trees decided to put on their party clothes.

There was a campfire with smores, good old fashioned party games like Pinecone Spoon Relay and Pin the Orange Teeth on the Beaver.  I bought awesome felt masks from this Etsy shop (her masks are so popular that she had to close her shop for a couple days to catch up on Halloween orders), which the kids loved!  She also made this cute headband.

We spent the night at the cabin and in the morning, I did the typical photographer Mom thing and put the picture before the safety of the child.  I wanted my little deer to frolic through the woods and leap over logs so that I could capture wonderful action images.  (She did happily agree to this!)  But since it had rained during the night, the logs were slippery and apparently frolicking with a mask on is a bit tricky, especially while holding your acorn collection bucket (her idea), and so while I was snapping away, she slipped off the log and landed in the mud.  Birthday gone bad.  Oh well, it was time to go home anyway.  

I am thankful for the friends and family that made the journey into the woods to celebrate with us and for the friend that readily allowed us to use his cabin.  

What are you thankful for today?

 

Morning Walk in Pictures

 

The fluffy seedpod is swamp milkweed - a little more delicate looking than the traditional milkweed.  The last two photos are of the prickly cucumber, a native species which in warmer climates tends to be invasive.  It likes wet areas and we found it at the marsh that we like to walk around.  The inside looks like a loofah sponge, though it is too small to make it worth harvesting as such.  I like to tell the little babe that we learn something new every day - and today we definitely did - this was a new and interesting find for both of us.

Fresh from Peaks Island

Bright blue skies, crashing surf, hedgerows of beach roses, stacking cairns, salty sea smells, and windblown apples free for the picking.  The two large Golden Delicious and one dark red apple are Pennsylvania grown, the rest are from Peaks Island, Maine.  This is my first attempt at jelly making and while it was a success, it is not something that I am going to do very often.  There is too much white sugar and too much waste involved.  If I didn't have chickens to eat the appetizing apple and rose hip cake pictured above, I would have had to throw out the leftover apple mash.  The little babe wanted to eat it and while it did smell like applesauce, it contained the cores and seeds, so it wasn't very palatable.  The chickens loved it though!  I don't think the rose hips imparted any flavor to the jelly, but they gave it a nice rosy color.  I did not use any pectin in this recipe - the apples alone were enough to set it, which I thought was pretty cool.  Our Peaks Island Apple and Rose Hip Jelly is a sweet reminder of a lovely vacation.

 

Thankful Tuesday - 10.3.17

Today I am thankful for...

~beautiful rocky coasts

~brave little babes

~lovely Autumn light

~fun places to stay while traveling - way better than the Econolodge!  (Muzzy Ridge Farm and Ten Apple Farm)

What are you thankful for today?