Bean Tepee tutorial!

This beautiful day we took advantage of the awesome weather and built our BEAN TEPEE! We'll be planting scarlet runner beans around it so that it'll serve the dual purpose of providing us with beans AND a place to have summer tea parties!

We, first, painted the soil around a hulahoop (afterward I realized that we could have had the same result by using a flower pot filled with sand and using it to mark the soil...less paint). After realizing that a hulahoop sized teppe would be rather small ;), we decided to increase it's size!
Anyhow, we dug in a circle around the circular guideline leaving about 30 cm of space between the paint and the trench. Also, we had to make sure there was a doorway; so we didn't dig for the 60 cm location we had chosen for the doorway. We dug down about 45cm....Liv and Briar had to 'rescue' every worm that we encountered to transplant in the veggie garden...It slowed the progress a bit! Jeff and the kids cut down 8 alder saplings which we stripped of limbs and saved. We tied the saplings together about 3 metres from the thickest end with dark coloured twine (so it wouldn't stand out).

Liv helped me to spread the poles (saplings) out into a tripod shape in the trench. Because it was tilted, we dug deeper under some of the poles and stuffed rocks under others so that they were reasonably stable.


Next, we sorted through the pile of limbs that we had removed and picked out the largest ones. Interlacing these limbs with the frame of poles, I (Liv decided she was done at this point and played in the sand box with her bare feet) tied a small portion of them to steady up the frame.

The remaining twigs and branches I wove in and out of the frame that we had built.
When I had finished using up all the branches, I used twine (again) to add a bit of structure to the tepee so that the wood would dry in the desired shape more readily.

I replaced the soil that we had removed from the trench and tamped it down a bit (not too much as I plan to add a bit of top soil and plant scarlet runner beans). I wanted to make sure that it wouldn't blow over when the wind howls across the marsh. I am thinking that if it's sturdy enough, I can leave it up all year round...
I LOVE the effect that the top had when laying on my back inside the tepee when I was done. Doesn't it look like a spiderweb???
It looks like it has always been there! I can't wait to plant the beans!!

bread's done...

Well, our bread is baked and done...actually, it's been eaten now. It turned out pretty well. I could have actually used it as a weapon (the crust was REALLY hard) but it was soft and delicious inside. The kids were in bed by the time it was done, so they missed out on the fresh bread (poor kids!). I found the process REALLY long. The bread was great but was it really worth the 4-5 hours that it took us?

We actually made homemade butter to go with our bread and had a fresh pot of local wildflower honey as well. Maybe I can find a less time consuming recipe????

Seedy Sunday, etc....

I woke up this morning SO excited for the fifth annual Seedy Sunday here in town. It was like Christmas as Krista said.
I went with a shopping list of what I was to buy and what I was NOT to buy ( i.e. tomato seeds - I have six envelopes of various varieties and still found myself perousing the tomato seeds. Argh!) I still came home with a few more packages than I had planned but I was much more refrained than other years.
I have been mentally planning my garden for months and am just itching to start planting. I am hoping to get a load of Sea Soil in the next week or two so I can start the process of planting peas and spinach....brocolli....lettuce....oh, the list could go on.
I've decided to forgo my usual plethora of dahlias this year. I LOVE dahlias. Especially the size AAs (dinner plate size). Isn't it interesting that in bra-size AA is small and in dahlias, it's super large??? Anyhow, I've decided to make the best use of my space with veggies and fruits. I am hoping to grow enough to dry, can, pickle and cold store many of my garden's produce for the Winter. We'll see, as I always seen to have this plan....BUT this year, I have met a few other homeschool mommies that would like to (and have in the past) managed to save much of their produce. SO we are planning to have a canning party...or two or three. I love the community feel of it all!
My sister was with me at Seedy Sunday and it was FABULOUS! We talked and planned together....helped eachother scope out things on our lists...helped make decisions AND share seeds! Now if the cilantro won't grow at my house, maybe it will at hers?
I still have an arbour to build, a bean teepee to construct and a stack of tires to acquire for potato planting. But I am going to love it all. I am planningto give Olivia an area of the garden that is hers to plant in it what she'd like. Every year, I am chasing her out of the soil after the seedlings come up, so this year, she can have her own spot to do with what she'd like. If she'd like to make a puddle, that's fine too. Now if I can find some space for this spot!

Onto another topic! Embarassingly, I have never, ever made bread. Today, we've tried. It is still rising at the moment, but we had a fun (and a bit tense) time gettingit all together. Briar has figured out how to get the lid off the flour canister and spread .....a lot while I wasn't looking. How do moms with eight...heck, three kids, do it?????
After our trip to Brent and Penny's farm yesterday, it seems that we'll be most likely getting a couple of chickens in the next while. Jeff was instructed to build a coop, but he says 'we have a coop, it's called a roasting pan.' (jokingly, of course....Right, Jeff?!) I don't know if he'll get to it before he goes back fishing, so I think I may have to build it. In all actuality, although it would be easier for me to get Jeff to do it; I think it may be fun to plan it and build it with Liv. I so want my daughter to know how to use power tools and a hammer. I just have to do some research about coops first.....
We are looking forward to free-range organic eggs from our OWN chickens!!! No roosters, though.

I am also hoping that our dog, Freckles, can curb his herding impulse enough to let the chickens be!

On the crafty front, I bought some sweet fabric while in town as well. It's so not Amy Butler , Heather Bailey or Anna Maria Horner but it's cute none the less. I especially like the dots.
I amde the kids backpacks this week. Briar has had a backpack fetish for awhile and I was having a tough time finding a child's backpack that wasn't emblazoned with a super hero or a princess. Argh. Anyhow, I quickly made these up for the kids and they love 'em. I love it when that works out.

I have heard nothing from our Etsy store. I have to say that I am getting severely disheartened. I had hoped to slightly supplement Jeff's fishing income with some few dollars that I could make selling my crowns, etc. Waldorfmama started her shop on Feb. 15th and has already sold 27 things!!!! SO awesome for her. I am truly pleased for her....but I am sulking a bit. Anyhow, I am trying not to sound like I 'feel sorry for myself'....but I guess, I kind of do?! :) I guess, I'll just have to keep trying. Okay. That is ALL I'll say about it.

an afternoon on the farm

We had a wonderful day yesterday visiting some friends and their farm. This is the farm that we farm-sat a few months ago. I would be SO willing to do it again!!! Spring is just around the corner and it is being heralded with the arrival of the sweetest little babies!!!! I had trouble getting a clear picture of the lamb with its' mommy....so, yes, it is peeing but it's still cute, right?
I couldn't believe how tight its' tiny little curl were! Little ringlets the size of pin heads!
The chicks were a big hit too. The mama bird did NOT like being parted from her babies but they were so lovely!

Briar is always initially afraid of things bigger than him (even though the mini donkey are only slightly larger) but he comes around pretty quickly. He was kissing and hugging them. So sweet!
Liv's favourite is Shuffles, the baby mini donkey. She brought her horse grooming gear and gave him a bit of a brushing.

By the way....

PLEASE leave comments! I LOVE comments! I feel SO excited when I get a comment. Somewhere out there someone knows that I exist! :)

NAKED!!!!!!!!

This is how I am feeling right now....I forgot my camera at a friend's house today. I never realize how addicted I am to clicking away until I can't get it. I fret about the shots that I've missed and the cutest or most amazing facial expression lost forever. Moments so fleeting, gone and forgotten. Okay, a bit too dramatic, but I do feel weird without it. I had planned to download a few pictures of our last couple of days and of the backpacks that I quickly made for the kids (I was annoyed with the lack of un-commercialized and icon-blazened backpacks for little ones...so I made some). I've also been working on a couple of felting projects for Easter and Spring!....Well, I will have to add them at a later date...Tomorrow? Jeff comes home tomorrow for the weekend! Yahoo!

Sunshine!!!!!

Oh, what an amazingly fabulous day it was today!! The sun was out all day. The kids played outside for the majority of the daylight hours. I managed to complete AND post the newest crown. I sold a windchime! We made ginger snaps with our homemade butter.

We did foot print paintings and removed all the hearts from our tree and started with our new seasonal theme.

We have decided that decorating our window tree with the birds that we have seen throughout the Winter at the feeder and the newly arriving birds would be appropriate for this 'in-between' season. I wasn't sure how to show root babies, etc. with the tree so we've gone with a more avian theme. So far, we have the red-winged blackbird, the fox sparrow, house finch, rufous-sided towhee, red-breasted robin and the common flicker. Tomorrow, we'll add the dark-eyed junco and the black-capped chickadee. I think the swans, Canadian geese and the ducks may be too big fo our little tree....also, I have never, ever seen any of the larger birds in a tree...the thought of it makes me giggle, in fact...kind of like a monkey wearing glasses or a fish on a bicycle....Okay, maybe it's just lack of sleep.....

I had to include this photo of Briar pretending to breastfeed the cat. My sweet, sweet little boy.

Gnorman and Gnaomi the gnomes

Olivia and I made these little folk the other day. I'll be adding them and a few of their friends to the shop in the next day or two.

I, also, have a crown in the works.!

Okay. I'm sitting here with a snoring baby in my lap worrying that my last post was too....bitter at the end. I think I'm just frusterated that I am not going to be able to have the shower OR finish the crown tonight. Snoring babies in laps do not like to get wet in showers. They also don't like the hammering drone of a sewing machine near their little ears. I'm tempted to try laying him down again; but he seems to know when I am not holding him despite my desperate attempts to simulate the position and texture of my pajamaed arms with pillows and various articles of clothing discarded by a five year old earlier in the evening. How does he know!? I think he must be a baby genius. Maybe he is only pretending to be asleep. He has a very believable snore, though. :)

fog....

I am working on a few little crafty things lately, but I seem to be unable to remember to take photos of them when the light is right (daytime).

I found some beautiful blue satin at the thrift store today! After it's washed, it'll be going to work on the newest crown. I'm going to see if I can get it finished up tonight....we'll see as I need to have a shower, tidy up a bit and get ready for our playdate tomorrow....Does anyone ever NOT feel overwhelmed and too busy after having kids?

I found a FABULOUS kids book today about the human body!!!! Liv and I spent an hour tonight reading it. It's so interactive and there are so many things to check out! There is even a 'baby' in a womb that floats around in water. REAL water. So cool.

It has been so beautiful here. Foggy. I LOVE fog. Love it. Love it. Love it. It is bone-chilling cold in the fog but I love the mystery and stillness. When I used to live in the fishing village where Jeff and I met, I would pray for foggy days....and windy days. The wind would blow the fishing boats in and it would mean that he'd come to town. I especially loved it when the power in town would go out and we'd have to start the generator at the pub where I worked. A large proportion of the town's population would head down to the pub and have a good time. Music. Sometimes scrabble. Lots of friends. A few drunken annoyances. But it was always weather with an "!". The fog was like that too. You couldn't see acroos the harbour...In fact, you could barely see ten metres in front of you. Cold but cozy. I miss that.

I would move back in a nanosecond if it hadn't become some gorby (tourist, actually 'Geeks On Rental Boards') attraction. Everything is so different there now. It's no longer a small fishing village; it's a tourist mecca. It's odd to see the people that you used to see walk through town sporting a tobacco stained beard, gum boots and a leashless dog now wearing khakis, short hair and selling some time-share to a beach front property with the name of some local flora or fauna. Do I sound bitter??? Anyhow, it's only a couple hours away. I can visit the weather.

Our beautiful children....

There are times that I look at our sweet, funny, kind and loving, little ones and worry that I've taken this short time that we have together as parents and small children for granted. It makes me want to kiss, giggle, play, explore, dance, sing, run, spin, paint, daydream with them and hold them and not let go...even as they grow out of my lap.
I am truly, truly blessed to have such amazing children to love. Please know that I love you with all my being, little ones, and will protect you all of my days...and nights (even those frequent waking nights). I am trying my best....and somedays it doesn't seem as if that is enough.
You are the joys of my life....

books, books, books

There are SO many books that I want to read right now. I plan to read them. I can promise to read them....but I most likely won't follow through. I don't know how I used to DEVOUR books continuously. Oh! How I miss that! I am especially having difficulty with non-fiction. I get three pages in and forget about it on the night-stand buried beneath the stacks of soft covered early reader library books, board books and half-read magazines. I have 8 books on hold at the library at the moment. I am SO excited to pick them up....but who am I kidding. I'm not going to read them.

Oh September, don't you cry for me....

It's hard to imagine that the desolate mud pit of our back yard was the haven of butterflies and sunflowers only five months ago.Oh! The wonderful smell of sheets dried on the line.

And even though the Morning Glory or bindweed is a 'weed', it is SO beautiful. I miss the warm days that are perfect for naps in the grass with your favourite feline.
And imagining that the leaves of the sunflowers are floating from the sky.
Oh, September, I am trying to savour the quiet sleep of Winter....but I want to be outside in the fresh clean air!

I did it!!!!

I finally managed to list everything on Etsy! I stayed up until 1 am changing phto sizes and listing each item. It took much longer than I had anticipated, but I am SO pleased that I'm done for a bit.

I've used my mom's account and have listed my things with her sweaters. I'll have to do some tinkering to make it geared towards both of us. Thanks Mom!
I am a bit insecure about listing my 'things'...I'm not sure why that is. Fear of failure? Fear of people's opinions? I don't know. I wish that those feelings of inadequacy would go away as I got older! I guess it's one of those things that I need to work on...
I LOVE this sweater that my Mom just knit. It has this soft ethereal feel to it. Krista totally helped me out by taking the photos for me for the sweaters! I was having a heck of a time doing very well it myself. I think the photo quality for Mom's sweaters went way up with Krista's shots. She takes such amazing photos!

peanut butta!

Liv and I made chocolate nut butter a few days ago. It started as peanut butter, but we ran out of peanuts! So we started adding hazelnuts. Then I had the 'fabulous' idea of adding cocao as they do in Nutella....Then we had to add sugar. It turns out that they use A LOT of sugar to Nutella. We never did get the proper oil/nut/sugar ratio. I thought it was gross. Olivia thought it was passable. I do notice that she hasn't eaten any since we made it. Oh well! The activity itself was fun.

crafty sister

My beloved sister made this doll for her little guys....I love it! It made me giggle.....okay, laugh histerically. I don't know what it is - the sweet little face? the baby's bum made out of the heel of a sock? the belly button? the nostrils? the thoughtful, creative and caring nature of my sister making sweet toys out of socks? Whatever it is, I love it!

A Walk in the Park

One of the many fabulous things about having my sister in town now is the walks we can do together! We took our brood of a five year old and three 20 month olds plus one of the dogs out to the park for a wintery walk. It was a beautiful day! Matty and Gabe really enjoyed having a canine friend along to walk themselves. Freckles was on his best behaviour and let each little one have a turn holding his leash as he walked slowly. He isn't my wonderful companion, Eli, but I have to admit that he is a very good dog.
Briar, Matty and Freckles loved walking ahead together. They seemed like two little old men out for a walk with their dog. They chatted and strolled along.

Amazing Discovery!!!!!!

You may know this already......BUT in a fit of exasperation over a burnt, crusted on mess of lasagna, I used the baking soda and salt that I keep in a shaker by my sink (to clean the sink). I made a paste with it and scrubbed the bottom of the pan. Voila!!!! It was so simple and easy, it was close to ridiculous! Thinking that I had made an amazing discovery, I told my sister. Evidently, some people already know this little secret. If you didn't already, you do now!