a number of things

a little nature study

This week's holiday (Mardi Gras down here in south Louisiana) along with some rare sunny days, inspired me to do a little of sewing and create something that had been bumping around in my head for quite some time. A small "wallet" of sorts to generate a bit of excitement for the coming of spring and all things outdoors. (Spring is coming...right?)

The Nature Explorer's Wallets were immediately put into action in what dry areas the kids could find. The mini leaf & flower press was an especially big hit with its 90lb watercolor paper pages along with the tiny "nature notes" book. The whole little kit was so much fun to do and received with such enthusiasm, that I made up a few extras as well as a pattern for the Etsy shop. I hope you enjoy them as much as we are!

 

where do the weeks go?

Time seems to be flying. It's February already and the days are full even though the weather is bleak. Homeschooling is rocking right along regardless of the fact I have not posted a thing (in what seems like forever) over on the schoolhouse blog.The above picture is from earlier this week when we dove into a few barn owl pellets. Great learning fun!

Among the many projects that I am currently juggling, I am switching my Tiny Shop from the blog over to Etsy. There are several reasons for this change, not the least of which is that I really would like to add more things to the shop such as prints and pdf patterns. All in good time, however. All in good time. :)

Have a fabulous February day!

   

our tree project

This was fun! You see, we don't get just a whole lot of fall color down here in the deep south. This is one of the few trees that celebrate autumn along with us. Click the picture for a better view.

 

autumn days

Swamp Maple Leaf

Oh how I love these autumn days. We began our homeschool year early (in the midst of the unbearable last-of-summer heat) just so we could let go and enjoy these lovely November weeks. They have been beautiful and busy.

Amanita crocea

Tomorrow my oldest (Noah) turns 15. Wow. Wasn't it just yesterday he was the one toddling around the house? And now he is a real live teenager and baby #6 is the one toddling. How time does fly.

I love my boys. (Ok, girls... you know I love you too.) They are so simple in their needs and wants... and so much fun! Way back when I wrote "Sewing with St. Anne", Noah (little 8 year old Noah) asked me when I was going to write a "boy's book". 'Someday', I said. Then a few years later, when I wrote "Tea & Cake", Caleb and Noah both asked me when I was going to write a "boy's book". 'One day', I said.

Feather from one of our chickens.

Fast forward to now. Just the other day Collin (almost 8) asked when I was going to "make a book for the boys". Without hesitation (or thinking) I said, 'Now!'. And so I am.

This book is first and foremost for my boys. They are providing many ideas and much input. It is still taking shape, but the basic skeleton is there just waiting (as life frequently interrupts) to be fleshed out with fun ideas, projects, recipes, photos and watercolors. I will be self publishing this time, also. Another learning adventure that I am quite excited about!

 

Cortinarius armillatus

So there you have it. One of the many reasons things have been quiet around here lately. One of my main problems when I set myself to a large-ish creative task is that I think of a hundred other creative things that I want to do. Oh the paintings that I have in my head... they keep me up at night! But I have a promise to keep. So when I have a few of those precious free moments, I will be working on a book for my three sweet boys... and having a blast doing it. :)

 

i love camping

 

 

 

 

 

After checking the weather forecast for this week, we made a last minute decision and decided to take off and go camping. I so love the woods, the foods, the canoeing. Just everything.

(More photos are on Flickr.)

  

wordless wednesday :: mockingbird nest

    

sketchbook: Mother's Day time

Ahh... It felt so good to pick up a pencil and brush again.  To mix the paints and watch the colors blend.  I haven't done any of this sort of thing since before Lilly's birth and I was, frankly, having withdrawals.

When Chip and the kids asked me what I wanted for Mother's Day, I told them that all I needed was time to doodle.

And doodle I did!  For inspiration, I kept going back to this beautiful book.  As I told a friend recently, just looking at it makes me want to break out the watercolors and forget all about the laundry. One of the first things I did was research a few of our common local birds and paint their eggs.

Since I cannot paint near as much as I would like right now, I am really enjoying these Cathy Johnson videos as well as her ideas for travel watercolor sets.  So inspiring!  

"My View"

I know one day, I'll be able to do this more often...  As my sweet friend Dodi reminds me, this is but a season.  And what a beautiful one it is.

(P.S. ~ And yes, if you are wondering, Lilly has nursed herself to sleep in the sketch above. :-))    

   

peppermint for tea - part 2

Ok, so 3 or 4 days have passed and my mint is now dry and it is time to remove it from the stems. The easiest method I have found for doing this with mint (it will vary from herb to herb) is to pick off the top leaves first so that I have a bit of stem to hold onto, and then simply strip the leaves off by running your hand down the stem.

There always seems to be a few willing helpers for this little task. The smell is heavenly!  You can crunch / crush your leaves up a bit more if you like, but I don't usually bother. (The larger leaves do require a slightly longer steeping time, however.) We store all of our teas in labeled wide-mouth quart jars, but any airtight container will work just fine. Just make sure they are stored out of direct sunlight. A cupboard or pantry is just perfect.

You can of course brew your homegrown tea in the same manner that you would brew any loose leaf tea, but I personally love using a French press. These are meant for coffee, but work extremely well for loose leaf teas.  Simply put in a nice, big, heaping spoonful of peppermint (above I have added a bit of homegrown lemon balm for a yummy blend) per cup and add boiling water.  Steep for 15 - 20 minutes push down the plunger, pour and enjoy!

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According to The Green Pharmacy, these are just a few of the things that peppermint is helpful for:

• Breathing Difficulties
• Colitis
• Gastritis
• Irritable Bowel Syndrome
• Muscle Pain
• Sore throat
• Coughing
• Nausea
• Stomachache
• and even hiccups!

 

peppermint for tea

We drink a lot of teas around here. Black, white, green or herb (a lot of herb) on a daily basis. This year and last, I decided to include more herbs for tea in the herb and salad garden (focusing on both herbs that we use for tea regularly and herbs for medicinal uses) in an effort to save a bit of money while enjoying the superior flavors of homegrown ingredients. (I know that technically speaking, herb "teas" are called "tisanes",  but for the sake of this post, we will call them teas.)

Above you see my humble peppermint patch, running wild at the base of an old rose bush.  Peppermint really needs it's own spot, as it will quickly take over the area in which it is planted. A few sprigs planted this year will give you all the tea you need by next.

Peppermint can be used fresh for tea, but we like to dry it for the sake of convenience. When picking peppermint to dry, we cut long stems and remove any yellowed or bug nibbled leaves.

Even though I grow everything organically, I still like to clean the dust off by soaking the mint for 10 - 15 minutes in a bowl of cool, clean water. This also works to drown any tiny buggly creatures that you may not want in your tea. 

After soaking and gently swishing the stems, shake off as much of the water as possible and spread them out on a clean towel (turning occasionally) until the leaves are dry from their washing.  Don't leave them there too long, about 30 minutes or so. The whole room will smell pleasantly minty.

There are several ways to dry your herbs (Using a dehydrator or low temp oven, for example.), but this is the way we do it because it is simple and can be done by the kiddos also. We just bundle the stems into small bundles and secure them with rubberbands. Be careful not to put too many stems in the bundles because you want the air to get to all the leaves so they won't stay moist and mold.

I like using rubberbands so that as the stems shrink, they will not fall. I make little hooks out of paperclips and hang the bundles from a clothes hanger out of direct sunlight for 3 - 4 days or until the leaves feel crispy and dry.

next: Storing and brewing!

autumn zoo trip

We buy an annual pass to our local zoo so that for a whole year, we can go whenever the mood strikes us.  (It costs the same as it would to pay for us all to go only once!) One of our favorite times to go is in the fall... in the middle of the week... when we have the place practically to ourselves.

So one beautiful day last week, Chip took off of work and we all went to see some of our favorite critters.  This zoo is small compared to most, but it makes up for its size in how close to the animals you can get.  Check out the tongue on this guy!

Here are the girls and I in the petting zoo area.  This little fella is a must see on every visit.

And if anyone is wondering what my waistline is looking like these days, here is a belly shot. :-) (I have no idea what I was pointing at.) Only about 3 weeks to go!

Hope you are having a fabulous autumn wherever you are!

   

popcorn!

 

Way back in the early spring, we decided to plant a small patch of popcorn as an experiment of sorts.  The variety we chose is called calico popcorn and it was such fun to see all the different colors!  Some ears were solid red or yellow or orange, but some had all three of the colors mixed into one ear.  So beautiful.

 

When they were ready, we harvested the brightly hued ears, peeled back the shucks and left them to finish drying out on the back porch.  (Amelia even used some of the shucks to make a corn-shuck doll following the instructions in The American Girl's Handy Book.) A couple weeks back, I spread out a sheet on the porch floor and gave the kids the "task" (they loved it) of taking the kernels off of the cobs.  Some used their fingers while others employed tools I am fairly certain our ancestors would not have bothered with.

 

They were amazed at how soft the empty, dried cobs were and even more astounded when I told them that corn cobs were frequently used as toilet paper in outhouses as late as the 1930's. (ew!)

 

We didn't plant much, so we didn't expect much and we were quite thrilled to find that we ended up with a little over a quart of popcorn. 

 

Well, today I finally popped some.  It did not pop up as evenly as "store bought", but the lessons learned more than made up for any unpopped kernels.  After lunch, I think we will sit down for a bit of popcorn reading and perhaps pop up another bowl.  Yum!

   

just popping in

          

Just popping in for a quick "hello"!  We are enjoying the last of the school-free summer days along with getting a few projects wrapped up.  This afternoon we will be securing the outdoor things (such as the rabbit hutch) in preparation for Edouard skirting the Louisiana coast.  We are already enjoying the cooler tropical breezes he is spinning off (Beautiful zinnia picking weather!), and hopefully he will slip on by without causing any damage.

While picking zinnias just now, we noticed that the humming birds are back!  I guess we need to dig out and clean up the feeders after the winds die down.  We love watching the hummers.  There are lots of butterflies out there too along with the honey and bumble bees.  Still, I find myself dreaming of autumn...

Have a fabulous day!

PS ~ Why didn't anyone warn me about how addicting knitting can get!?  My goodness... I love it. I'm just not good at it yet. :-)

  

Thank you, Flowers and Frogs

Thank you all so very much for all the sweet well wishes and much needed prayers!  Congrats also to commenters Kim, Elizabeth, Carmen and Monica who are also expecting!  What an interesting world this bloggy web is.  We all feel as if we in some way know each other, when in fact we have never met.  Absolutely lovely. :-)

         

These are my sister Jill's flowers, but I really want some.  I think hydrangeas are probably my favorite flowers of all, but until recently I have not had a spot with enough partial shade to grow any.  Now I can't get them out of my head.  I think it is so cool how the color can be changed by altering the soil acidity and they would look so beautiful with my antique roses.  I really think I may have to get a bush or two, I sure hope they are easy to grow as I don't think I can do too much with them this summer.

Jill takes wonderful photos and really should have a blog to show off her work. (Hint-hint. :-))  Below is a recent one she quickly snapped of 6yo Joseph. 

           

The frogs (one on his shirt and one on his head) are one of his favorite accessories.  As he is stalking the hapless creatures he whispers, "I am a friend to frogs, I am a friend to frogs."  I somehow doubt the frogs feel the same way.

  

We Like Worms.

We really do.  Not only in the gardens, but on the back porch also.

Now, if you are one of those local lurkers who have spent some time on my back porch, you are probably getting pretty grossed out by this thought. :-) Not to worry, even sitting right next to our hard working little worms, you would never know they were there by sight nor smell.   

         

This is the third time we have raised earthworms (Red wigglers, to be exact.). The first two times we just used a large Rubbermaid container with tiny holes drilled in the bottom and ventilation holes drilled around the top edge.  (Here is one version I found online.  You can Google for a ton more.)  The only problem with our Rubbermaid bin was that it was too messy to put on the porch (Nothing to catch the liquid that drains out.) during the winter, so we had to release our worms into the garden once the weather got cold.

This year, we sprang for the "worm condo" bin.  Ok, not really a condo, but a pretty neat and practical arrangement just the same.  (There are many different versions on the web.  Again, just search "worm bin".) We can now keep the little guys year round right on the back porch. 

         

Why on earth would we want to do this?  Well, several reasons actually.  The first is so that we can harvest the nutrient rich worm castings for the gardens and potted plants.  The second is that it is a great way to quickly compost our kitchen vegetable waste.  By placing the vegetable scraps (the worm's food) beneath the top layer of worm bedding (in our case, grass clippings), there is never an odor or bug problem.

The third reason for our worm farm is the "extra" worms we get to remove and add to the garden when the bin gets a bit crowded.

         

But the final, and maybe most important reason we do this, is that it's great educational fun!

         

Another Wee Garden

         

A couple of local friends have been asking about our wee gardens lately, so I thought I would post a few pics of my mom's amazing tiny garden. (Ours is still going strong and I will try to post a few pictures soon.) She has hers growing in a wood planter box which is nestled into her front flower bed. She wanted me to wait to take the photos until the heather had leafed out and she had tidied it up for spring, but I think it is quite beautiful just as it is.

         

She has a little pond in the garden with rocks at the bottom and real water plants!  She recycled a glass Christmas dish for the pond and when it has a light coating of algae, it looks incredibly real.

        

The focal point of mom's wee garden is this adorable little house.  It is simply a bird house with a beautiful little door attached.

        

It makes me want to shrink right down and move in. :-)

Have a beautiful, spring day!