Sunday, October 16, 2011
Saturday, October 15, 2011
blue october
This has to be one of the prettiest places on earth, this top of the hill panoramic pumpkin patch of glowing golden light. We were right up here last December to saw down our Christmas tree.
Friday, October 14, 2011
Wednesday, October 12, 2011
root cellar
Cross your fingers. Ruby and I went to look at that old farmhouse today, and I feel a little giddy.
When I was pretty young I started reading the Foxfire books, and I have always wanted a root cellar. This one still has the shelves and big wooden bins. Across the way is a spring house.
There is room for a dog, chickens, and four bedrooms.
Tuesday, October 11, 2011
shakori hills grassroots festival
We camped for four days in Silk Hope, North Carolina at the Shakori Hills Festival of Music and Dance. It was sunny and golden during the day, and the moon was shining at night. Ruby loved fast fiddles, the sandbox, being a goldfinch in the Paperhand Puppet parade, the arts and crafts tent, and the moon. The campsites were full of hanging jack-o-lanterns, campfires, and candles, and our hair still smells faintly of woodsmoke.
good morning pigs
We talked to the pigs several times a day. Ruby loved saying goodnight to them. One night we walked to our campsite down a dark country dirt road by following our moonshadows.
the blackberry bushes stringband
My favorite band of the weekend was the Blackberry Bushes. If we had one less child I might be convinced to drive to Ozark, Arkansas for the Yonder Mountain String Band Harvest Festival this weekend. These guys from Olympia, Washington had me thinking about the Be Good Tanyas as we walked into the field. They have a young edgy quality to go along with their sweet harmonies.
Monday, October 10, 2011
Wednesday, October 05, 2011
one for ruby too
john gets a pumpkin for ruby, a photo by ellajohn on Flickr.
It was a perfect afternoon on the kindergarten field trip.
Tuesday, October 04, 2011
Sunday, October 02, 2011
Friday, September 30, 2011
Wednesday, September 28, 2011
fourth showing of the week
Again, I'm grateful.
Sunday, September 25, 2011
Starting now. I'm stopping the rushing.
The children are settled well in school, the house is fine, the cars have fresh tires, and the pantry is full. It is time to sit back and breathe and appreciate fall.
This week I'm going to take care of everyone just as I usually do, but I'm also going to take care of myself. We might have sandwiches for dinner. I'm going to the gym. I'm going to paint my nails a dark fallish color. I'm going to take pictures, bake bread, and make soup. There is a cable scarf on the needles and a stack of books beside my bed, the bed I will be in by eleven every night.
pear chutney
She wrote that this is delicious made with apples, peaches or mangoes and will keep for months once made.
3 pounds Keiffer pears (the hard old fashioned pears)
Juice of 1 lemon
2 ounces fresh gingerroot
6 dried chili peppers
2 cups cider vinegar
2 cups sugar
1 T. salt
2 T. mustard seeds
½ pound sultana raisins
10 cloves garlic (1 ounce), peeled
Peel and core the pears, cutting each into eight pieces. Squeeze the lemon juice over the pears and let them rest while preparing the rest of the ingredients.Crush the peeled ginger in a mortar with a pestle. Do the same with the chilies (about 3 T. chilies). Bring the vinegar and sugar to a boil in a non-reactive kettle and let simmer 10 min. Add the ginger, chilies, salt, mustard seeds, raisins and pears. Bring to a boil and then lower the heat and simmer for about thirty minutes, until the chutney thickens. Crush the garlic cloves in the mortar with the pestle and stir them into the chutney. Pour the chutney into jars, fasten the lids, and store in a dark cupboard a month before using. Refrigerate after opening.
Wednesday, September 21, 2011
Monday, September 19, 2011
Sunday, September 18, 2011
self
Ok, so pretty soon I might be back to the daily narrative, but I've been taking this photography class and it has taken over my evenings after the children have gone to bed. I'm smitten with layering one picture of top of another. I've even finally read the owner's manual for my camera, so watch out.
Our house still hasn't sold. I know that three months is nothing in today's market. We have to keep it up until Thanksgiving, but then we'll take a break for a while and ride it out until early spring. I was so sure that I wouldn't be spending this year in the car, so sure that we wouldn't spend another Christmas here. By the way, Ella called me into the bathroom the other day to let me know that she knew I was Santa Claus.
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
Monday, September 12, 2011
Sunday, September 11, 2011
home
We were home for Labor Day and completely enjoyed gathering around the dining room table for projects, painting, sewing, and drawing. I suppose this would be our rhythm if we were homeschooling.
Ruby has mastered cutting and glueing and can go through an entire gluestick in one session. She is drawing people, circles with faces and two stick legs. Today she wanted to make her own alphabet book.
Saturday, September 10, 2011
medusa, nine
She obsesses for weeks about her Halloween costume. Today we did it all at Goodwill in ten minutes. Thank you Percy Jackson.
Thursday, September 08, 2011
butterfly
This little one has Lyme Disease. She is going to be just fine. I can see how people could get past the acute stage on the illness. She was starting to feel better when she was diagnosed.
Sunday, September 04, 2011
climbing out of summer
I'm starting another photography class tomorrow with the lovely Vivienne McMaster. I took her You Are Your Own Muse course last spring, and this is my favorite image from that experience. Strangely enough, this is the first and only layered photograph that I've ever made. Since then, I've been collecting photos to layer and planning some concepts that I would like to experiment with. It is such an inspiration to share a virtual classroom space with such a variety of women and artists from around the world.
Saturday, September 03, 2011
picking apples
Today we hiked around Natural Bridge in Rockbridge County and then picked a bushel of apples in Bedford. Along the way I got to knit in the car.
It seems too hot to pick apples, but tomorrow we'll dive into making applesauce and apple pies.
ella
This big sassy fourth grader has been under the weather for a while now. We went back to the doctor this week, and she is getting another Lyme test. She had a rash, large circular marks on her torso and legs, and has had a headache and nausea. Last week she had a very high white count, and by the end of this week it was going down. Today the rash seems to be gone. I'm looking forward to hearing from the doctor on monday.
Thursday, September 01, 2011
Thursday, August 25, 2011
Tuesday, August 23, 2011
flower picker
I think there were more yellow flowers than she could comprehend. We camped for the weekend and then came back to start school on monday. It is a new year of sorts for mamas. I have a lot of work to do at school this week, but next week I'm considering some new routines, the library, bike rides on the Huckleberry, a new photography class. I'm looking longingly at my knitting needles.
The nights are dipping into the forties, but the days are hot. I love the long slow fall into winter. I get quite the thrill thinking about cooking beans in the crock pot.
