the ease

creeping along and easing in.  we all stepped left one space and are getting used to our new skins.

baked apples - recipe in taproot issue 3

the best defense - ginger & orange

remember in the last post when i talked about cleaning out the garage?  …and how it’s usually only the first in a string of cleaning events?  yep.  i called it.  i dropped the girls at school last week and gutted the downstairs to prepare for a new landscape.  when the girls came home alizah squealed with delight saying our house looked like it should be in a magazine.  i guess i’ve set the bar pretty low thus far.  ha!   both girls said it seemed like there was way more room and alizah especially was mystified by the phenomenon.

we have a dining room again.  goodbye work room.  it almost seems like i’m punishing myself since having a big, open, functional work space was so indulgent, but my focus has shifted as is the case from time to time and right now food is the center of my creative mind.

this dining room is getting it’s fair share of use.

hubs has been coming home this week after orientation so we see him for about three hours each night.  this is his last week before going on the road full time.  it’s been a tough month for all of us.  the house seems particularly my own when he’s away which is sort of a hard thing to explain… i used to divide a few tasks that were his alone to complete which meant resentment.  he was notorious for ignoring those tasks for so long that i would silently bubble until exploding in rage.  only then would he finally cave and at that point it didn’t matter any more.  let me explain.  the biggest was laundry.  i know i’ve said before how much i HATE laundry and his only task was to put it away - already washed, sorted, folded, and ready to be stuck in it’s drawer or hung.  the clean clothes would sit out for so long that by the time he finally put them up they’d have cat hair all over them and they’d be in disarray from the kids rooting through them and there’d be a whole new lot coming out of the washroom - now filling the role of undone chores.  

however, now that there is no hubs to divide chores with, everything gets done quickly and easily.  it’s a bazaar and unexpected perk of being a “single parent” if that makes any sense at all.  i also love how excited we all are for him to come home when he’s been gone.  we want to eat him up, knowing he’ll be leaving again in only a couple days.  i cook his favorite foods and the girls swoon over him.  he asked how long this special treatment was going to last & (me being me) i told him to just enjoy it while he can.

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crinkle cat

the boy’s load

mae and i spent the day with the boy on tuesday.  i baked biscuits and the boy made coffee and mae played with the mini lalaloopsy he bought after she told him all about them on the phone the day before.  we yarn shopped and lunched and played with crinkle cat who mae was a little afraid to touch at first.  then she got over it and chased him all over the house, properly traumatizing him.

carl got started on his giant cabled scarf which i’m waiting patiently waiting for an update on.  he’s good people, the boy.  i’m sure there will be a post in his corner of the blog about our visit soon (wink wink)

mae wore the sweater i knit for her sister oh so long ago.  it was one of those knit-off-the-cuff sweaters that i never took notes on and i’m kicking myself for it.  a woman at the yarn store asked if i had knit it and swooned.  she went on about it for so long that mae became embarrassed and hid.  ha!  maybe, when the stars align, i’ll go back to it - read it the best i can, and knit along with pencil in hand.  i need to get millie on paper, too.  i never did get to it… i totally suck at that part of design.  i mean, really, really suck.  oh goodness.  ha!

xo

these days

i hope everyone had a nice labor day weekend.  

quiet, relaxing, rejuvenating and the like…

my mama and i went caving with mae in southern indiana.  it was fun and beautiful and exciting for the little.  my mom and i laughed and dreamed all the way home, taking back roads through itty bitty towns surrounded by farms on giant hills dotted with goats and cows and horses.  we smiled and waved as we passed the amish men and women selling goods out of their carriages and reveled in how affordable the housing is in those towns.

alizah was on a separate adventure in west virginia with her poppie.  ya know, white water rafting, zip lining, and jumping off cliffs.  the usual stuff for an 11 year old girl.

blessed children.  loved and loved.

it wasn’t all death defying and adventurous though.  the rain has come and i’m on my knees with gratitude.  things are growing!  really!

running outside to collect the few plants still thriving is such a thrill.  the broccoli is so happy - growing nearly waist high and forming big beautiful heads.  ugh.  our garden broccoli is the most delicious thing to pass by my lips.  and of course those mint family plants are taking fast advantage of the space left by the plants we lost to the drought.  

a lot of rain means the house is quiet with nappers and play and pies… oh the pies.

baby blueberry pies

apple raspberry pie

chicken pot pie

i never ever made a pie from scratch before this week.  while i was making the chicken pie for dinner last night mae asked if pies were my new thing.  she’s so funny to me sometimes.  i just hope my girls see that spark - i want them to be fearless in every facet of their lives - even in the most domestic ones.  we were enjoying our dandelion vinaigrette on our garden broccoli the other day and i laughed as they mmm-ed and yum-ed and we reflected on how they thought i was nuts when i started running around the garden digging up dandelions for food!  (i got the dandelion vinaigrette recipe from taproot magazine, soil)  alizah asks me all the time if i know what i’m doing and the fast answer is “no” but it’s also such a good, rich, fulfilling answer.  i will never know what i’m doing as long as i’m moving forward and learning something new.

i’ve done a bit of knitting, too of course but i’m not quite ready to share.  soon.  maybe even tomorrow.  and now that i’m thinking of it i think i should go start another shawl.  yes, that sounds mighty fine.

have a wonderful wednesday sweet people! xo

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SO, you should make some pies, too… right?  i know you want to.

the crust recipe i used for the sweet pies

the crust recipe i used for the savory pie

the filling recipe i used for the blueberry pie

the filling recipe i used for the chicken pot pie - for this i omitted the celery & carrots, added corn & potatoes.  it was delicious.

the filling recipe for the apple raspberry pie doesn’t exist.  sorry.  i just sort of made it up as i went, but if you happen to find one, MAKE IT!  it was delicious and the entire family voted it the best pie of the week.

dear sunday

i’m willing to share a good deal of my dyeing and spinning secrets once and for all!  ha!  most of them are dirty ones so if you’re a dyer or spinner by trade you may want to brace yourself.

sunday morning dye pot.  hot pot.

i turn on the heat and in go the first bits of merino to become the dark wool.  then a few minutes after the pot begins to steam, in go the second bits of merino to become the light wool.  laziness brings forth many of my happy accidents so i’m learning to fine tune the art of corner cutting.  

sink dump and i thorough hot rinse.  now to cool.  i squeeze the wool gently, then jelly roll it in a towel and stomp out the excess water and straight to the wheel we go.

singles.  dark and light.  lovely on their own actually. and yes, you read correctly.  i spun the wool while still damp.  it’s one of my greatest dirty little secrets.  i was impatient once last year and began spinning before the wool was completely dry.  it didn’t bother me in the least and i felt like i had more control over the fiber.  when i plyed the singles and let it dry it became a smooth, bouncy, soft yarn.

i thought i’d give it another go to see if i could get the same result.

here the yarn is still wet.  it seems stiff and has almost no spring to it, but late last night i checked on it and it was dry, smooth, bouncy, and soft as can be!  i actually knit a swatch, too which i forgot to take a picture of - and we’re looking at size US4-5 needles making this a sport weight.

i hope that wasn’t too terribly jarring.  hee

it was good to get that wheel out, tighten it up and watch the flyer whirl.  i needed that break in routine.  i needed to remember what it was like to sit quietly and draw.  inching and pulling and working those legs.

mae and i did the hard work of weeding in the afternoon.  with the warmth and the rain and the fresh soil i laid down, our seeds weren’t the only things springing to life.  it seemed over night our entire garden was overrun with weeds.  the dandelions.  so bittersweet pulling them, yanking and breaking them.  i hear my liz in my head telling me how much good they can do and in my untainted soil they’d be perfectly medicinal.  maybe some day i’ll grow a dandelion patch.  wouldn’t that be something?  beans and corn are making their way out of the soil now.  we found so many of them.  i think all but a few of the corn have come up now.  march.  woah.  

sunday dinner.  my mother has been making artichokes this way for as long as i can remember and i’m sure i was the only kid in second grade who not only knew what one was but had it at the top of her list of favorite foods.  i remember going around the room on the first day and having to telling the class your name and something about yourself… what your favorite foods and colors were, etc.  i said artichokes and my teacher gasped.  she asked if anyone knew what an artichoke was and no hands raised.  then she asked my to share with the class about that “unique vegetable”  how horrifying.  ha!

my alizah loves her artichokes, too.  she was squealing with delight when she got home from her dad’s and the house was filled with the thick odor of garlic and greens.

and now for the SURPRISE!

saroyan is DONE.  perfect.  it’s cooling a bit outside and now is the time for it.  

firsts

another “first day” of staying home and hopefully it’s going to stick this time!

mae and i started the day off with some quill cutting.  my mother had given me this giant goose feather she found months (if not years) ago and i told mae we could write with it.  i had learned a little bit about quill cutting from the ladies of the calligraphy guild who would meet at the shop, but i’d never tried my hand at it.  i think we did a great job!  i just used a very sharp knife to slice the quill at an angle and TA-DA!  instant writing utencil!

mae spent an hour drawing and writing and learning how to dip her “pen” just so while mama worked on our new kiddie gallery.  i’ll take pics of it tomorrow in the daylight and post.

i got a ton of “decompressing” done.  that’s what i’m going to call it from now on i think.  i’m sick of the word “clutter” and really, the massive accumulation FEELS like it’s weighing down on me so… if the shoe fits.  i cleaned out the kid’s toy closet and both toy boxes.  their bedroom is next.  their room honestly doesn’t have much in it in the way of toys, but i think ALL toys need to be downstairs where they can be monitored and accounted for.  what really, really, really gets me are those toys that the kids get for the holidays that come with three hundred thousand pieces and after they’re played with once, the appeal is gone.  then mama is left collecting bits from under the couch and out from drawers and the cracks of couches.  done.  it’s all done and packed and ready for donation.

mae’s sweater is SO close to completion, too!  i’ve been absolutely terrible about documenting this one.  pics coming soon.  i swear it.

we also had a no tv/ movies day and i think it was about 3pm before mae noticed.  she was sitting ON her play table (which is the new fun thing) painting and suddenly asked, “why it’s so quiet?”  that was all.  about a half hour later she was feeling sleepy and wanted to watch some tv.  i agreed.  she layed quietly on the couch for a little rest, then was up and playing again with no interest in whatever show was on.

so, hubs came home late in the afternoon and was famished.  we whipped up a SUPER delicious meal - totally vegetarian friendly, too.

it was a fast use-what-‘cha-got kind of meal and the fastest thing i could think of for my poor starving man were tacos!  i had no taco meat, but i did have a can of black beans, yellow rice, salsa verde, cheese, and jalapenos from the garden.  i dashed out to the garden and picked the largest green tomatoes i could find and fried them up.  i’d never made them  let alone TRIED them before so i knew i was really taking a chance there, but they were delicious.  even my tomato-hating husband ate them up.  mae loved them, too.  she was stuffing her little face with slice after slice.  now i’m thinking i could make a similar breading and fry some of the giant bush beans i have growing… hmmmm

later, mae went off to nana’s for the night and hubs and i headed to our friend’s birthday party/4th of july bash.  our old friend jay was there so i decided to capture the moment.

oh the man love.  jay is the dude who won the biker build off back in 2006 - hubs painted the bike.  we were up many nights until dawn at jay’s shop during the last leg of my pregnancy with mae and the night the film crew left (1:08am to be exact) my water broke.  he was there for mae’s birth and we haven’t seen much of him since.  it was a lovely surprise.  

i don’t believe i’ve ever shared her birth story in this space.  it’s a fine one indeed.  maybe another time.

xo