Category Archives: Sustainable Living

Squashes and Sweet Potatoes, Oh My!

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Well, the harvest is complete and most of the veggies have been canned or frozen for the winter.  The pantry looks pretty good and we have lots of soups to savor when it’s cold and bitter outside!  But, we also have many pounds of winter squash and sweet potatoes strewn about on the floor (we don’t have a basement or root cellar to store them in).  I’ve already canned up lots of squash soup and I have many gallons of puree in the freezer.  Unfortunately, I really don’t know what else to do with these veggies other than pies.  I’ve found a few yummy recipes on the internet that I’ve already tried, but I would love to hear some of your favorites!  Can you help me build my file of recipes?  Feel free to leave it in the comments, or if you post it on your blog, be sure to leave a link.

While the mice are away, the cat will do stuff!

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Okay, well only one mouse was away … Kaia went to her Nana’s house for a few days.  But even with the other little mousey around, this ended up being the weekend of getting stuff done!  Maybe it’s the energy of fall making me want to put my house in order.  Or maybe I’m just a glutton for punishment and try to do too much.  (Probably more of the later.)

Friday morning Leif and I headed out to a local farm and picked up a few bushels of apples and 5 gallons of apple cider.  The 5 gallons of cider went straight into the carboy (big glass jug) along with 2 pounds of honey and 2 packets of champagne yeast.  It now sits on our counter while it ferments into a yummy and sweet hard apple cider. Mmmm! (Note:  I let the cider come to room temperature before adding the yeast and honey.)

After that was taken care of, I went outside with Leif and Heidi and scraped a bunch of lichen off of branches that had fallen in the woods.

Why would I spend my time doing something so seemingly pointless, you ask?  Well, because when you boil this funny little plant, it creates a wonderful rusty brown color to dye fiber with.

I have two skeins of white alpaca/wool mix that I want to use to make this vest for Leif.  So, I thought I’d make it a more seasonal color first.  We soaked our fiber in hot water while bringing the Lichen to a boil (we ended up having about 4 cups of lichen and wrapped this in muslin cloth before putting it in about 2 gallons of water).

I had 2 skeins weighing about 7 ounces and Heidi had about an ounce of unspun wool.  The rule of thumb when using lichen is 2:1 lichen:wool.  We ended up using 4 cups (I don’t know the weight) of lichen to 8 ounces of wool.  If we had gone by weight I’m sure the color would have been stronger.

The lichen boiled for 30 minutes, then we turned it down to simmer for an hour and added 2 big pinches of salt (to help the dye set).  Then we tosses the fiber into the pot and let it simmer for a few hours.  Once the heat was turned off, it was left to sit overnight.

While all this stuff was boiling, I decided it was time to reorganize my art closet.  It had become a huge clutter … and I don’t like clutter.  So, once Leif was down for his nap, I dove in.  I even had enough boxes to organize our medicine section of the closet.  I know I didn’t include the before picture, but believe me, it looks much better!

Leif was very helpful with my projects as long as I kept him supplied with crackers and apple cider (the non-alcoholic kind!)  He even let Suki clean up after him.

Saturday, I drained the fiber and rinsed it in warm water.  It came out a nice earthy brown color.

Heidi took her wool out, but I wanted a bit of yellow in there, too.  So, we decided to do a second dye with marigolds.  First we needed to boil the wool in Alum (Alum is used a lot in dying as a mordant, or a chemical that is added to the dye to make the color stay in the fiber).    We stirred 2 ounces of Alum into about 2 gallons of water.  (We were using ~10 ounces of fiber, my two skeins of yarn and Heidi added more undyed wool.  The general rule is 3 ounces of alum and 1 ounce of cream of tartar per one pound of wool, but Marigold doesn’t need cream of tartar.)   Then we tossed in the fiber and brought it to a simmer for one hour, stirring occasionally.

Once it had simmered, I tossed in a basket full of Marigolds

(yeah… so, I’m not so good a measuring out everything… but if you want to, the general rule when it’s not Lichen is 1 pound of plant/dye material per one pound of fiber) and let it simmer for a few hours, until I got the color I wanted.

Of course, doing all this wasn’t enough for me (I really do like projects!)… I had to cook and can 8 quarts of Emeril Lagasse’s Potato Leek soup, too! (Can you say YUMM?) (edited to add: the dairy was left out of this recipe for canning.  I add it when it is being reheated for a meal.)

All the while, the fermenting cider bubbled along…

Sunday I rinsed and dried my yarn.  It came out perfectly!  Just the color I had envisioned in my mind.  I think it looks like pumpkin pie.  It will make a lovely ‘little man vest”!

Lichen-Marigold Yarn

With that out of the way, it was time to tackle some of those apples.  So, I peeled and sliced up a bunch and tossed them in a pot to make cinnamon apple sauce (17 pints), apple pie filling (6 quarts) and dehydrated apples.  And I still have about a bushel of apples left!  Shesh!  Got any good apple recipes?

Taste testing apple sauce

I think I’m going to go put my feet up!

Fall Bonfire and Chocolate Awesomeness!

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Every year around this time we have a bonfire to celebrate the coming of Fall and Toby’s B-day. But this year, we are also celebrating Kaia’s speedy recovery from the snake bite, and Toby’s new job! We have a lot to be thankful for.

When I saw this post a few months ago on painting with chocolate, I knew I had to do it as a topper for Toby’s B-day cake!! I can’t believe how simple it was and how freaking awesome it turned out!!

I found a good picture and altered it according to the video in the post above. Then taped the picture to cardboard and covered it with wax paper and taped that down too.

The Original Picture Under Wax Paper

I put the dark chocolate in a plastic ziploc bag and melted it in hot water. Then I filled in the larger areas of the darkest parts of the picture. Here you see me using a tooth pick to add chocolate to the detailed areas.


Dark Chocolate Details

This is the final picture of the dark chocolate before I put it in the fridge to harden.

Dark Chocolate Layer

I mixed the dark chocolate with white (lots of white, only a little dark) to get a nice brown color and filled in the shadowed parts of the picture.

Light Brown Chocolate Layer

Then, after cooling it again, I used the white to cover everything with a nice thick layer, and returned it to the fridge.

White Layer

Once it had time to harden I took it out and flipped it over to reveal his chocolate handsomeness!!

Final Freakin' Awesomeness!

Kaia also took her turn making flowers and designs to decorate the cake.

Kaia's Side Decorations in Chocolate

Toby loved it! It now sits in the freezer so that it’s staring at you when you open the freezer door! Don’t know if we will ever eat it. :-)

This morning we celebrated his real birthday with breakfast in bed and a hike.  Happy Birthday Sweet Stuff!

July Harvest

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  • 365 eggs
  • plums
  • peaches
  • tomatoes
  • green beans
  • eggplant
  • cucumber
  • squash (yellow and zucchini)
  • mint
  • black berries
  • red raspberries
  • blue berries

And I put up 5 quarts of ‘mock’ apple pie filling, 5 pints of cucumber relish and 4 quarts of green beans.  My counter tops are covered with squash and cukes!  I need to do more processing!!  We are eating squash burgers, squash casserole, squash waffles, and squash muffins!  Got any good squash and cuke recipes???

Also, sorry posts have been so sporadic.  I’m trying not to spend so much time at the computer!  We are cleaning house, cleaning the yard, getting rid of things that aren’t needed, trying to simplify.  See, Toby recently left his job and has been looking for work (work that would also include benefits and a good salary and possibly working with others!)  But, for the last 2 months, we thought that meant we were going to have to move!   AND I’ve moved 14 times in the last 18 years!!  I am SOOOOO ready to be settled.  So of course, at first, we were not excited about the idea of moving.  Yet, I’ve thought this was my dream life for so long, and now that I have it, I’m resenting it.  I look at my friends who get to play on the weekends or relax when they are done work and I just wish I could have some time off.  We are always tending to something here… animals, buildings, land, gardens… People are always saying to me “I have no idea how you do everything that you do.”  I guess that should be my first clue that I’m doing too much.  Now we need to look at all we do and figure out what truly brings us joy and drop the rest of it.  Really, when we built our homestead, we went about it wrong.  We built so many structures and have half-assed our landscaping.  Now it all needs to be tended and that’s not what I want to do.  I realize that, as we settle in here and the kids get older, the stress load on us will lighten.  But the idea of moving almost seemed like an ‘out’.  We could start over and try to do it better.

BUT!  Don’t worry folks!  In the midst of interviews as close as Raleigh (3 hours away) and as far away as Hawaii, Toby was approached by a friend who may (prospects are good!!) have an opening for Toby that would have benefits, a good salary, let him work with his friend, and allow us to stay where we are!  I have to say, even though we were getting excited about getting a place in the city with no yard, we are relieved now that we won’t be moving!  But all of this has started us seriously paring down what is not needed in our lives, fixing up the yard and house to make it closer to what we want and require less tending…. and it feels good!!!  Today we moved a pile of wood and another pile of rocks, started planning out our patio and retaining wall, cleaned out closets, the fridge, and my apothecary, rearranged dining and living room furniture… Tomorrow we will tackle Kaia’s room!!  (That may take all day :-)

June Harvest

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As a part of my plan to try to simplify things in my life, I am no longer weighing out all of my harvest…. Though the anal side of me really wants to know exactly how many pounds of summer squash I picked, and how many ounces of herbs, it’s just not a priority.  So, I’ve let it go.  I did, however, write down what I’ve harvested this month.

June Harvest

  • Lettuce (now bolting)
  • Basil
  • Parsley
  • Edible Flowers
  • Garlic
  • Onions
  • Berries (Blue, Black Raspberry, and Red Raspberry)
  • Peas
  • Summer Squashes
  • Nectarines
  • 336 eggs

I also put up 11 quarts of Kale Soup  (and we still have stuff in the pantry from last year!  YAY!)

What have you harvested?

Re-evaluating

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We’ve had a great spring here on our land.  Things have felt really productive.  But, I have to tell you, we are beat!  I wake up in the morning, jump out of bed and get going.  Laundry, taking care of the animals, garden care, kitchen clean up, etc. all comes before breakfast.  Most nights I spend preparing for Kaia’s schooling, sewing, cleaning, or researching one thing or another on the internet.  Weekends we do chores around the land (and we usually don’t get done with our list of ‘to do’s).  I’m not complaining.  I’m simply stating how things are right now.  But I’m starting to feel resentful that we have very little down time, fun time, or time to play with the kids.  We have been working towards this life and lifestyle for years.  We now have our own land (25 acres!), our own house (built with our own hands and very earth friendly), we have chickens and gardens and orchards and bees and cottages.  And each of those things requires upkeep.  Well… we are tired!  We are re-evaluating this life style.  We want to live more gently, but this is definitely not more simple.  We don’t have time or energy for those bonfires and potlucks with friends that we wanted.  We have little time for travel and very little time to relax and read.  Having Heidi here helps tremendously, but she has been gone for much of 2010, and we won’t always have her here.  So, we are taking a look at our life and trying to decide what things we truly desire in it, and trying to figure out how to have those things and keep a simple and earth friendly life.  There may be some changes in store…. we’ll see.

Toby's new shirt

garlic and onion harvest

veggie gardens

more veggie gardens

Kaia got some goggles for swimming… Leif stole them!

Yes, the goggles work more effectively if you stick your tongue out.

Weekend projects

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The 2 year old roof.

Spots are filling in pretty well.  I think I’ll give it one more year and then plant a few more things if needed.

I absolutely love all the color on the roof right now.  It’s like a patchwork quilt!

And the yard is coming along, too.  After 2 years of having huge piles of dirt and rubble in the yard, we finally had it leveled.  Now I have the perfect spot for my berry garden!!!  Yum Yummy!!

We also put up a bear fence for the beehives that are coming this week.  I finally painted the chicken coop… I just need to trim it in yellow and put some color on the windows… green or blue maybe?

I also made myself a Medicino sundress.  I love this pattern!  It’s so simple and such a cute dress!  Kaia wanted to pose in her dress with me.

Kaia has one more week of ‘official’ school left.  We will continue with math and reading through the summer, and add in whatever else she is interested in.  We are definitely going to do a few lessons on Greek Mythology!

A new dress

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I love, love, love this fabric and how Kaia’s new dress turned out!  It’s a really simple pattern by Heather Ross, and it was also my first time working with elastic thread (fun!).  The pattern is actually for adults so I altered it for Kaia.  Isn’t it sweet!  I’m definitely going to be making more, for her and me!

The first pose was my idea.  Kaia then decided she wanted to do something a little more sweet and innocent:

Sensory Doll

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I’ve been wanting to make Leif this doll for a while now.  He’s so into taking things apart, pushing buttons, pulling levers…. I thought he’d enjoy it.  It was a lot of fun to make!

If you want to make one for your favorite little explorer you’ll need:

  • fabric for the body (I used an old sweater that was given to me… it has a great texture and reminds me of a teddy bear)
  • Contrasting fabric scraps for the shirt, shorts and pocket
  • buttons, string, or whatever you would like to create the face
  • 5″ zipper (with a large zip for little fingers)
  • 10″ ribbon for the belt
  • easy-open snap for belt
  • large, bright button for the pocket
  • 6″ ribbon for foot strap
  • velcro for foot strap
  • ~2 feet of string/shoelace for the other foot
  • bells
  • crinkly paper
  • small beans (~1 cup)
  • stuffing

(Here’s something major!!  If your little one is still into putting things in his mouth, you may want to hold off on this doll since there are so many buttons and choking hazards!)

First cut out your pattern (download it here.… don’t let your printer ‘scale it to fit page’.  You want it at 100%.  And some of it is drawn really close to the edge of the page, so just be sure to compare what’s on your computer to what printed out… sorry about that!  It’s very hand made!)  You should have these pieces:

You will need to tape the four piece for the body together before cutting it out.  Lay down #1 first, then #2 on top, and so on…

Iron your fabric.  Then, using the pattern, cut out your fabric.  You will need two body pieces.  I only put clothes on the front, but you could cut a second set of clothes and dress the back if you want.

Put the right sides of the shirt pieces together and sew 1/2″ seam.  I used a baste stitch for all but the last 1″ closest to the waist.  That was a regular stitch.  Then unfold the fabric and press the seam open.

Sew the zipper to the wrong side

Then rip all but the last 1″ of seam.

Trim the excess zipper.  Fold the zipper and neck seam and sew 1/4″ seam.  Sew 1/4″ seams at the arm holes and waist.  Then sew a 1/4″ seam at the pants waist and leg holes also.  Sew 1/4″ seam all the way around the pocket, and measure and make your button hole.  Measure out where you want the button to go so that it will match up to the button hole on the pocket, and sew the button to the pants.  Then, sew the pocket to the pants so that the button matches up.  (was that too much???  Does that all make sense?)

Pin the pants and belt straps to the body front (matching the waist and leg corners to the triangle tabs on the body).  Sew 1/4″ seam on the sides of the legs, leaving the wast and leg holes open.

Measure out where you would like the snap to go on the belt.  Trim the excess belt (leaving 1/2″ or so extra so you can sew a seam on each end)

Sew belt end seams and sew on snap.

Place ribbon on foot (either one) and sew them onto the edge of the leg.  Then attach and sew the velcro (making sure that the upper and lower pieces meet up then the strap closes).

On the other foot, sew a piece of shoe lace to the edge of each foot.  Make sure the pieces are long enough to tie into a bow.

Sew on a face.

Place the right sides of the body together.  Pin and sew the body front and back, (with a 1/2″ seam) leaving a large enough hole to turn the doll inside out.  Trim off excess fabric.

Yes… Toby is feeding the doll some salad!

Turn it right side out.  I put little beans (about 1/2 cup each) into the feet for texture, followed by stuffing.  Then I placed ~4 bells into one arm, and crinkly paper into the other, followed again by stuffing, so that nothing moved around.  Then stuff the rest of the body.  The sweater material I used was nice and stretchy.  I love the way the finished doll looks like he’s wearing clothes 3 sizes too small!

Hand stitch the hole closed and give him a proper name!  You can certainly give him hair, or a hat… I like our man bald!

Then pass him on to your favorite little one!

Kaia said he looked like a hippie.  I couldn’t really see what she meant.  She said “you know… the tight clothes he’s wearing”.  I said, “I don’t get it”.  She said “you know… a Hippie... those people who walk like this… ” and she proceeds to saunter in a sultry way through the living room.  This went on for most of the afternoon with me trying to figure out how this doll looks like a hippie.  Then, as we were sitting outside playing, she said, “OH WAIT!!  I MEAN A HOTTIE!“  I bust out laughing!!  I have made Leif a pimped out Hottie doll for him to dress and undress! Great!!

Passing on the tradition

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Last week, my father-in-law passed on boxes of sewing goodies from his mother’s stash (so, that would be Kaia and Leif’s great-grandmother)! She was an avid seamstress and had some fabulous stuff! Look at this:
There were 4 boxes of lace like this!
This is just begging to be the hem of a frilly dress or skirt!!

Look at this lovely lace!

And there are all kinds of patterns!  Some obviously from the 70′s.

Kaia and I are going to use some of this to make some Greek goddess outfits when we study Mythology this summer.

And there was a nice chunk of this fantastic fabric!!  I’ve already made Leif a pair of pants (I call them his Party Pants) and might make a skirt for myself.

Here’s what happens when you wear your party pants to sleep!  Not a good idea to party when you are sleeping.

Eggs for sale!

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Our ladies have had a great egg laying month!!  Last month we averaged about a dozen a day (from 22 chickens), and the numbers just keep increasing.  I’ve put a fence around the garden so that I can let the chickens out of their gated area to free range in the afternoons without them getting to the seedlings.  They are loving it!!

So, with all these eggs, we’ve officially started selling them.  I spent a good part of today designing the cartons :-)

Aren’t they cute?!

Our day in pictures

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Let’s start our morning with some daredevil antics!

Don’t see anything wrong with this?

Let’s look again:

Then off to a sweet farm tour where we enjoyed some fabulous home made jellies and ice cream, and I scored an angora fleece from this guy:

Then we spent the rest of our day enjoying the beautiful spring weather:

(You didn’t know chickens can read, did you?  Well, our chickens can!)

What I didn’t get was pictures of the fabulous sand creation that we created!  We got a bucket full of sand from the pile in our back yard and Kaia put all kinds of stuff in there.  Then we all went dinosaur fossil hunting.   Even Leif was getting into it.  At one point, Kaia pulled her hands out of the sand and said, “Hey mom!  Coprolites!”  I was thrilled that she remembered the word for fossilized dinosaur poop.  Then, I looked at what she was holding in her hand and realized that it really was poop!!  Turns out the neighbor cat has been using our sand pile as a littler box!!  Needless to say, we all stopped playing archaeologists and went inside to scrub off!!! :-)

Still, it was a fabulous day!

Garden Season has begun!

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YAY!!  I’m so excited!!  I can’t wait to have fresh food from the garden.  This past weekend, we set up a straw bale cold frame to start our seeds in and seeded kale, lettuce, cabbage, and parsley!   We are using a pane from a glass door as the top.   The greenhouse in our window that we did last year got things sprouted fantastic, but after that, they got tall and scraggly.  So, we’ll see how the cold frame does this year.

Swimmable Mermaid Tail

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Kaia has been waiting, and waiting, for this project to happen.  She picked out her fabric last month, but we had trouble getting the fins.  They finally arrived today, so I had to get right on it!

Behold – Mermaid Kaia!


This was a fairly simple project to do.  We got the swim fins from Metro Swim Shop (yes, you read correctly, I said ‘fins’.  I got this fin for myself and will make my own tail as soon as I get the fabric.  The description says it’s for kids, but it fits up to a women’s size 8 shoe)

First, I had Kaia put on her fin and traced her lower half (from waist down) on a large piece of paper.  This gave me the basic shape of her body.  When I was tracing the fin part, I had her sit up for that the fin was flat on the floor.  The tracing is not the proper measurement of the pattern, it simply give me a shape to go by as I mark in the proper measurements.

Then, I measured Kaia around her waist, hips, thighs, knees, shins, and ankles.  I took each of these measurements and divided in two, since you will have 2 sides to your fin.  Ex: her waist was 21  so half that is 10.5

On the paper, along the tracing of her body, I marked the measurements in the proper places.  Ex:  at the waist of the tracing, I measured out 10.5 inches, marking on either side of the tracing, so that the center of the tracing is also the center of the measurements.  Do this with all your measurements and then connect the markings.  The markings will probably be an inch or two out from the original tracing.  Use the tracing as a guide of how to shape the pattern.  Does this make sense??

Then, cut your pattern out.

Take your chosen fabric and fold it in half.  This way you will cut out both sides at one time.

Lay the pattern on the fabric and pin it down well through both layers of fabric.  Make sure there are no wrinkles.

Cut out your fabric.

Take the pattern off and, if they aren’t already, put the right sides together (meaning the sides that will be showing once you are done should now face each other).  Pin the fabric together really well so that it doesn’t slip or bunch when you sew it up.

Then sew along the sides leaving the waist open, and one side of the fin open (see finished picture below)  I left 1/4 inch seam allowance on the first run and had her try it on.  Then Iwent back over the edge with a zig zag stitch to finish it off.

To get the mono fin into the tail, you will need a hole big enough to slip it through.  The adult monofins are a little more flexible and might fit through the waist hole and be worked down to the tail.  Kaia’s fin is pretty stiff, so we left a hole in the bottom of the tail for the monofin to slide into and then put 4 pearl snaps to close it off.  I zigzagged the open edges to prevent any fraying.

At this point I checked to be sure the monofin fit into the opening and had Kaia try it on to be sure it fit well, and figured out where she wanted the waist level to be.  It was a little loose in the waist, so I took it in a bit.  You could make an elastic waist band, but the fabric Kaia chose hugged her body well once I took it in, and didn’t need any elastic.

With the right sides still facing, fold the waist band down (wrong sides together) to where you want it to be on your body (below the navel, at the navel… etc.) and finish the seam.  I did two lines of a wavy stitch to make it look like scales.

Kaia’s really happy with how it turned out and wore it to bed the first night (fins and all).  You can see in this picture on the bottom left of her tail, where there are snaps that open up the tail to let the monofin in.  You can even see a little of the pink fin sticking out.  I want to fix that but Kaia said “no”.

I’ll post pictures once mine is done!

Come live with us!

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We’ve finally got it all figured out and are happy to announce that we have some of our land for sale!  We would love to have some other families out here with us!!
Here’s the schpiel:

10+ wooded acres for sale!  We are a homeschooling family of four (6 year old daughter, 1 year old son) attempting to live as sustainably as possible.  We have a small homestead with chickens, bees, and a nice big garden.  We own 25 acres and would like to sell 10+ (due to county regulations, it can not be any less than 10 acres).  The land for sale is rolling to steep, completely wooded and mostly north facing.  Don’t let that discourage you, though!  There are some beautiful homesites, as well as solar and garden possibilities.  We are in Leicester, only 10 miles from downtown Asheville, but it feels very private.  It is $7,500 per acre (firm).  Let me know if you have any questions.
Blessings!

Ta-Da!!

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Here it is!  My first official sewing project from my lessons!  I’m calling her the “You are a Sassy, Sexy Housewife-Mama, and you Know It!” apron.

And Look!  It’s reversible!

Isn’t it cute??!!  If you want your own, you can get the pattern from Pretty-Ditty.

While I wasn’t working on the apron, I made some big boy bibs for Leif and a blanket and bibs for a friends new little boy.

I’m having so much fun with this!!

And if you are still interested in an herb trade for sewing supplies, there are lots of herbs left.  Just let me know!

Here’s a look at some of the lovely fabric goodness I’ve gotten so far!  Do you like my fabric and color-coded piles??

Leif’s new pants

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Well, I think the internet might be back up… maybe… it’s slow and keeps going up and down, but maybe they are fixing it.

We’ve been snowed in,  without phone and internet since the last snow 5 days ago.  Let me tell you… After all the snow and indoor time in the past month, I’m getting to be one cabin fevery chick!!!  OY!!!

Well, I did finish a pair for pants for Leif, finally.  I started this outfit this past fall, but just got around to the pants.  And they are SOOOOO cute!!!

Can you tell he likes them?

I put two little pockets on them, one red and one green, with a little owl on it.

Sewing and the Great Herb Trade!

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I finally did it!  I’m taking sewing lessons!  I’ve been wanting to learn how to sew for a long time now.  I can do a little on the sewing machine, but I’ve wanted to learn from a professional.  Well, as luck would have it, I won a raffle for 7 sewing lessons from a professional seamstress!!  I’ve taken two lessons so far and I’m having a blast!  I won’t tell you what I’m making yet…. I’ll show you when it’s done!!! Anyway, I’m already planning all the things that will be made… a skirt for Kaia, pants and bibs for Leif, a skirt for me… I love the idea of making clothing for my family.  Knitting them is certainly one way to do it, but knitting an outfit take ages.  Sewing is instant gratification! So, here’s where the Great Herb Trade comes in.  I have over 150 dried herbs in my apothecary… culinary, medicinal, spiritual, you name it (see list below)!  But, right now I’m only seeing a few clients and spending most of my days with the kids.  I have all these herbs and they are just sitting around.  However, I don’t have any sewing goods.  I have a sewing machine, and that’s it!  So, here’s my proposal:  You tell me what herbs you would like and how much and I’ll send them to you!  In trade, you send me any fabric, notions, and sewing goodies that you want.  You get to build/stock your herbal pantry, maybe even experiment with some that are new to you,  and I get to build up my sewing supplies!  Nothing wasted, lots gained!  How’s that sound? Here is a list of the herbs that I currently have in stock.  If you are interested, leave me a comment (and make sure I have your email) and let me know  what you’d like!!  Yay!!  This is going to be fun!!! (oh, and ‘c/s’ means ‘cut and sifted’)

addendum – List edited 2/23/10 to reflect the herbs that are still available-

Alfalfa c/s
alfalfa powder
Amalaki powder
Angelica root c/s
anise seed
Artichoke leaf c/s
artichoke powder
Ashwaganda Powder
Astragalus root c/s
Beet Leaf Powder
Bilberries whole
Black Cohosh root c/s
Black walnut hull powder
Bladderwrack c/s
Blue Cohosh root c/s
Blue Violet leaf c/s
Boneset herb c/s
Burdock root c/s
Calendula flowers – whole
California Poppy leaf c/s

Catnip leaf and flower c/s
Cayenne powder
Chamomile Flowers
Chicory rot – roasted
Cloves – whole
Comfrey Leaf

Coleus Forskholii c/s
Coltsfoot c/s

Copal Resin
Cornsilk c/s
Cramp bark c/s
Damiana leaf c/s
Dandelion leaf c/s
Dandelion Root c/s
Dong Quai c/s
Echinacea Purperea root c/s
Echinacea purperea root powder
Elder berries
Elder Flower
Elecampane root c/s
Eleuthero root c/s
Eyebright herb c/s

Fenugreek seed – whole
Feverfew herb c/s
Frankincense tears

Ginkgo Leaf
Goldenseal root c/s


Holy Basil
Honeysuckle flower
Hops strobiles
Horehound herb c/s
Horse Chestnut c/s
Horsetail herb c/s
Hyssop herb c/s
Jasmine flowers
Juniper berries
Ladies Mantle c/s
Lavender flower –whole
Lemon Balm herb c/s
Lemon peel c/s
Lemongrass leaf c/s
Licorice root c/s
Licorice root powder
Lobelia herb c/s
Maca Powder
Malva (Mallow) flowers
Marshmallow root c/s
Marshmallow root powder
Meadowsweet herb c/s
Milk Thistle
Milky Oat tops

Mugwort leaf c/s
Mullein leaf c/s
Mustard powder
Nettle leaf c/s
Nettle root c/s
Nettle seed
Oatstraw c/s
Oregon Grape root c/s
Oregon Grape root powder
Osha root powder
Partridgeberry herb c/s
Passionflower leaf c/s
Paw d’Arco root c/s
Peach Leaf c/s
Pepper – Black Malabar
Peppermint leaf c/s
Plantain leaf c/s
Prickly Ash bark c/s
Queen of the Meadow (Joe Pie) root c/s

Red Raspberry leaf c/s
Red Root c/s
Reishi Mushroom powder
Reishi Mushrooms
Rose hips seedless c/s
Rosemary leaves
Roses – petals
Rue c/s
Sage – ceremonial whole pieces
Sage c/s
Sarsaparilla (Jamaican) root c/s
Sassafras root c/s
Saw Palmetto powder
Shatavari powder
Shatavari root
Sheapherds Purse c’s
Slippery Elm bark c/s
Soapwart c/s
Solomon’s Plume root c/s
Solomon’s Seal root c/s
Spearmint leaf c/s
St. Johns Wort flowering tops
Stevia powder
Stoneroot c/s
Sumac berries
Thyme leaf c/s
Triphala powder
Tylophora indica c/s
Usnea lichen
Uva Ursi leaf
Valerian
Vitex berries
White Willow bark c/s
Wild Cherry Bark c/s
Wild Hydrangea root c/s
Wild Yam root c/s
Witch Hazel Bark c/s
Wormwood herb c/s
Yarrow leaf and flower c/s
Yellow Root c/s
Yellowdock root c/s

a break in the weather

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Finally, it’s gotten above 35 degrees!!  The snow has been on the ground for a month and it seems like every morning I’ll wake up to a little more!  The past few days it’s gotten up into the 50′s and it’s been wonderful!  The chickens are having a field day taking dirt baths and stretching out in the sun.

Speaking of chickens… have you ever heard of longcrowers?  Check this rooster out!  If you have crappy neighbors, you need to get you one of these babies!!!

Kaia and I had a great week of school!  She always starts with math.  She loves using the abacus.  Most of what we are doing is review as we try to get caught up to her skill level in her new math program.  She’s really enjoying so much hands on and not a lot of workbook pages.  Leif really likes the abacus too… I’m going to need to get him one of his own :-)

She’s also enjoying spelling, and usually does more than one lesson a day.  There is a chart that comes with the program that you mark off each lesson you complete.  She’s on a mission to put stickers on the chart as fast as she can.  It really is amazing how fast she is progressing, though.  She’s soaking it all up.  It’s not that they didn’t teach it at her old school, but the kids had the choice to spend their day how they wanted and she always wanted to color.  Me… I’m a task master.  I think it’s important for her to start learning this stuff, so if I present it to her in a way that she enjoys, then we both win.  All About Spelling has lots of hands on too… she’s all about that!  Her reading skills are really blossoming!  She’s feeling so much more confident and she’s started reading to Leif, writing letters to friends…

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This week we also continued with Prehistory and the Precambrian period.  We’ve started making a time line similar to this one.  It’s fun to see the way her mind works with stuff like this.  As she is filling in the pages, everything she pastes on the page goes in perfect alignment with the last piece.  It’s all square and in order.  Funny how some things must be in their proper place while other things (like her room) can be chaos!  We focused on volcanoes this week and she made one out of model clay.  We were supposed to create an eruption (with baking soda and vinegar) but she wanted to make a volcano just like Mako Island (from the show H2O: Just add Water, the Australian show about kids that are mermaids).  So, she didn’t want to make it erupt.

Here are her little hands hard at work.  You can see the secret entrance to the magic cave where the girls turn into mermaids.

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She pulled the top of the volcano off so that she could paint the magic pool of water inside!

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And here it is… Mako Island in all it’s glory!  I think she should call it Phallic Island :-)

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Leif is keeping me on my toes, too.  He finds all kinds of stuff to keep himself busy while I’m occupied with Kaia… like boxes full of shredded paper:

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Even with his hands in the box, he can still give you a great “Who Me???  What did I do??”  look!

While we aren’t busy doing fun learny-type stuff, I’ve begun planning this years garden.  My cucumber, peas, greens, and beans did fabulous last year, but the squashes (winter, summer, and pumpkins) got hit hard by borers, and the tomatoes and melons just crapped out.  So, I’m going to fill each bed with a good helping of chicken poop compost to see if that helps the soil.  I’m also rotating what goes into each bed so that the heavy feeders aren’t draining the soil in the same place.  I think the only thing I’m going to drop from my list is melons.  I’ve never had good luck with them… you can’t can them up and save them for the winter, and for the space they take, you get so little return.  I’ll just buy them at the markets when they are in season and use that space for other goodies.  I’ve never had luck with Eggplant either, but it’s supposed to be so easy to grow.  I think I’m going to try the good-old standard eggplant this year instead of trying to grow the skinny kinds.   How do you grow your eggplant?

New hats

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Well, my intention was to knit myself a new hat… one that completely covers my ears, because I can’t seem to get one that keeps my head and ears nice and warm.  I found a great pattern and saw the finished hat in my local yarn store.  But the pattern didn’t have a gauge (how many stitches per inch, etc.).  I actually wanted to make it just like the hat in the store, so I bought the same yarn that they used and everything.  Still, the pattern made a hat that fit Leif and not me.  So, now Leif has a new hat.  Still, I really liked the hat, so I adjusted the pattern and made one to fit my head too.  You like?

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Doughnut crazy

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Kaia and I crafted felt doughnuts, stuffed with polyfill and catnip, for some of our favorite feline friends!  There are all different icing and sprinkle types, for your cat’s specific tastes.  We gave the first one, a raspberry icing with chocolate sprinkles, to our cats as an early gift.  As you can see, they are definite doughnut fans!

“It’s MINE!  All MINE!!”

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The Standoff!

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The Smackdown!

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The victor (note: Max, the tabby is at least 12 pounds… Isabella barely tips the scales at 6 pounds!)

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“It’s still mine and you can’t have it back!”

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“Oh NO!!  Look out for the Giant Doughnut Stealer!!”

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What’s your favorite flavor??

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Blessed Winter Solstice!

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We have had such a wonderful last few days.  Being snowed in has been a great adventure for all of us.  The power was out for 24 hours, but we enjoyed the peace it brought and we kept ourselves fully entertained!  There was tent building:

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There was lots of snow play (sledding, snow men, snow ball fights)!

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We’ve perfected our snow cream recipe and began experimenting with flavors!!

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Snow Cream – basic recipe:

  • 1 cup cream, milk, or other milk like substance (coconut milk, chocolate milk, rice milk…)
  • 1/2 cup sugar (maple syrup would work nicely too)
  • 1 tsp. vanilla extract

Mix well, and then add enough fresh snow to thicken like ice cream.  Then enjoy!

Variations:

Mint-Chocolate Snow Cream:

To the above add:  2 Tbsp cocoa powder and 1/2 tsp. mint extract

Eggnog Snow Cream:

To the basic recipe add:  1 tsp. nutmeg and 1/2 tsp cinnamon

We all enjoyed opening our gifts this morning!  I’m happy to say that Kaia considered her new skirt her best gift! (Take that Santa!)  She’s worn it all day and we had to order her to take it off before she went to bed.  When she loves something, she can wear it until it’s worn out very fast!

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Toby’s gloves fit him perfectly and Leif likes his new stuffed, felt toys:

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Leif also seems to like his new mittens (I’ll post the pattern soon.  It’s really simple!)

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I knitted myself a new hat:

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And Toby made me a oriental style shelf/unit to put above my computer!!  (pictures to come once it’s installed)

This evening, we ended with a lovely meal and a yule log bread (smothered and stuffed with chocolate!)

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Have a beautiful winter!!!  Hurray for the return of longer days!!

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Big Snow Day

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Well, it looks like we will be hanging out on our land for a few days, possibly weeks :-)   We are getting more snow that I’ve seen in 16 years!  It’s a beautiful winter wonderland here, and Kaia is having the time of her life!  She’s been in and out all day, coming in just long enough to let her clothes dry by the fire and then she’s back outside.

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I’ve been fighting a cold, along with a nasty fever, so I stayed by the fire and knit all day!  I’m working on Leif’s first pair of mittens.  It brought back wonderful memories of my great-aunt Pearl.  She lived in NH, and though my sister and I grew up in Miami, great-aunt Pearl knit us a new pair of mittens every year.  We always looked forward to them!  Maybe I’ll carry on that tradition and knit a new pair of mittens and a hat for Kaia and Leif each year!

While I was knitting, Leif was kind enough to entertain himself with a ball of yarn and the phone (if we prank called you today, sorry!)

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I took him outside for a bit, but he really wasn’t sure what to make of it all…

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My garden is in there somewhere…

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Measuring the snow… So far we have 13 inches!

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Yes, that is our lawn chair they are sitting in!

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We just happened to go to the library earlier this week and got lots of books about snow and winter.  One we picked up was absolutely perfect for a day like today.

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Houndsley and Catina is a lovely book about the quiet and peace two friends find in the first snow of winter.

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Sleep tight!

Ornament crafting

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We’ve had the crafting spirit in our home lately!  This weekend Kaia and I made some santa ornaments after seeing them at Write-It-Down.  We just happened to have everything we needed and couldn’t resist the cute little guys.

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Then we had a few friends over for more crafting.  We made beeswax ornaments with beeswax from a local beekeeper!  I got 5 pounds of it!! Mmmmm, the kitchen smelled yummy!

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I had some lollipop molds, so I used a dab of play dough to block where the stick would go so that the beeswax didn’t flow into that part of the mold.  I also put some sparkles in the bottom of the molds.  (You could put some on top too, right after pouring the beeswax in, if you want sparkles on both sides.)

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When the beeswax was cooling, but still soft, I poked holes for the ribbons.

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Then there were the glittered pine cones:

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And the pipe cleaner trees (Kaia’s is looking a bit like Charlie Brown’s tree… she said she will be putting more ornaments on later :-)

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And once our friends went home, and Leif finally fell asleep, Kaia and I just kept going and made Cinnamon-Applesauce ornaments with the recipe that we found over at 5OrangePotatoes.  I love these!!  I will definitely be doing them again!!  And the cool thing is that you can use any cookie cutters you want and hang them around your house all year long!! They don’t have to be holiday ornaments.

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We used some of the dough that was left over and made them into beads!!  Just roll them into a little ball and poke a tooth pick through it for the hole.

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We stamped a sweet little fairy print into most of the ornaments.

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The house smells delicious!!

Wildcraft!

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OK, I’ve been hearing about this board game for a while now and, I have to admit, I have been very resistant to it!  I’m not totally sure why, but I think it has to do with the feeling that if I’m a good herbalist, I shouldn’t need the aid of a board game to be able to teach my kids about herbs.  (I know, that is stupid… if it’s fun, who cares, right.)  Still, when the game went on sale (1/2 off!)  last week, I decided to give it a try.  I really didn’t think Kaia was going to go for it.  It doesn’t have anything to do with mermaids, castles, or the like.  But, when the mail was delivered and Kaia saw the game, she flipped out!  She was so excited to play, that we had to schedule an emergency “family play night” that night! :-)

So, did I like it?  I have to say, I am thoroughly impressed!  It was SO flippin’ cute and fun!  Kaia loved it and for once wasn’t all competitive about who won!  (No one wins, it’s all about cooperation.)  We all liked the story that went along with it… collecting herbs to help with our ailments…. picking huckleberries…. It is just fun!  I even learned some new herbs!

Here’s how the story starts:

Grandma needs huckleberries to bake a pie. You and your cousins embark on an adventure up the mountain to collect berries as well as herbs she uses.

Will you all harvest the right plants to help with the trouble you run into along the way?

Will you make it back before nightfall?

The only way to win is by helping each other out.

Wildcraft! teaches you 25 important edible and medicinal plants and their uses in mostly first aid situations. (Wildcrafting is the harvesting of wild plants)

It also teaches team work, for you will rely on each other’s knowledge of plants and good fortune to make it to the Huckleberry Patch and safely back to Grandma’s.

You should definitely check it out!  You may still be able to win a free one here.  I don’t know if the contest ended yesterday or if it’s still going…