Monday, August 20, 2012
Wednesday, August 15, 2012
Friday, August 10, 2012
Wednesday, August 08, 2012
dragon driving
We tell our children that music festivals are about the music, but what they are really about is the magical moments when an almost seven year old can drive a dragon, a recycled handmade dragon that breathes fire.
Ruby had her bit of festival magic while picking some little leaves while we were watching some music. A huge flowing swan puppet fluttered down to eat the leaves from her hand.
Bateau on the James
sit, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.
I was going to title this post "Things I've learned while I took a month off from taking pictures and posting on this blog". On Sunday I was standing in The Bookery in Lexington, Virginia looking though a stack of Sally Mann books, and I realized that I had to start taking pictures again. I think it has to do with only having a "big" camera right now. It is easy to leave it behind when it is going to be hot and dusty. We have been festivaling and travelling, and the kids have been taking turns going to Camp Granny.
There are tomatoes in the garden. I keep thinking of it as my practice garden because it is a wild jungle out there with tomatoes falling over onto basil and watermelon vines taking over everything. It is a riotous mix of flowers and vegetables, but we have eaten cucumbers, squash, tomatoes basil, and many greens. There are some giant watermelons out there waiting to be harvested by the young watermelon farmer who planted them in the utility room in March. My second round of eggplant is coming along, and I'm going to try the Mallobar spinach soon. I read that in tropical regions it can grow 14 feet high.
The chickens are big girls who should start laying in the next few weeks. They are very tame and social. Their coop needs another layer of roofing material before winter, but lately I feel that my building skills are lagging behind my desire to do these big projects. It has taken us over a month to fence in our vegetable garden, but that should be complete by the weekend.
This picture is from Amazement Square, a children's museum in Lynchburg, Virginia. Ruby loved their interactive Batteau on the James River.
Wednesday, July 25, 2012
suddenly, we are five years older
We are headed out camp at a music festival this weekend, and this is a photo from the same festival five years ago. This is John at two years old and his friend Grace who lives in Oregon. They are flying out for the festival this year, and John and the big kids have our tents all set up. Ruby and I are leaving in the morning after we make the hummus. We are ready for lots of kids, dancing, playing, and sitting under the trees on top of a mountain.
I've spent the day getting ready to go. I"m making Korean baked tofu, sesame slaw with cilantro and green onions, roasted potatoes, pasta salad with olives, red peppers, sundried tomatoes, white beans, feta, and pesto dressing, and a pot of brown rice. I've packed wraps, bread, fruit, and cheeses. It always amazes me how much my children eat, and we are camping with at least three other kids.
I've spent the day getting ready to go. I"m making Korean baked tofu, sesame slaw with cilantro and green onions, roasted potatoes, pasta salad with olives, red peppers, sundried tomatoes, white beans, feta, and pesto dressing, and a pot of brown rice. I've packed wraps, bread, fruit, and cheeses. It always amazes me how much my children eat, and we are camping with at least three other kids.
Monday, July 16, 2012
hipster
My mama got a new hip, her second in three months. The littles and I are at her house in Tidewater Virginia being reacquainted with high temperatures and humidity. It is hard to breath or move, but the okra is growing mighty fine. Tomorrow night I'm making bhindi masala and cooking garlic naan on the grill.
My camera is in the mountains and I'm feeling odd about that. I want to take a picture of the okra I picked today on a wooden trencher.
I had a funny chicken experience today. I went over to our friend Ari's house to pick up my mama's milk from Saturday's farmer's market. I went in the gate and started talking to an especially pretty little hen. Bak. Bak Bak. Suddenly fifty chickens are coming at me expectantly, and about half of them are roosters. I looked them right in the eye and kept on about my business getting milk, eggs, and bacon from the freezer.
My camera is in the mountains and I'm feeling odd about that. I want to take a picture of the okra I picked today on a wooden trencher.
I had a funny chicken experience today. I went over to our friend Ari's house to pick up my mama's milk from Saturday's farmer's market. I went in the gate and started talking to an especially pretty little hen. Bak. Bak Bak. Suddenly fifty chickens are coming at me expectantly, and about half of them are roosters. I looked them right in the eye and kept on about my business getting milk, eggs, and bacon from the freezer.
Sunday, July 08, 2012
her apple tree
Thursday, July 05, 2012
derecho
I'll never do a rain dance again.
Last Friday the kids and I went to the lake for the day with friends, but Ruby passed out on the beach around eleven in the morning. I called an ambulance, but the lifeguards cooled her down quickly with shade, fans, ice packs, and iced water. The EMTs took all her vital signs and thought that she just needed shade and lots of liquids. I had a big cooler of iced water and a cold cut up watermelon, and we stayed up to our necks in the river. I was so wiped out from such a mama fright. Ruby is currently explaining to everyone that she wasn't unconscious. The sun was in her eyes.
That night I was out among my tomatoes wishing for rain and started doing a rain dance. What showed up were seventy five mile an hour winds with only a hint of rain. The power was out for the long haul, friday through thursday. On sunday night I took the kids to Richmond, and John stayed here to take care of the animals. Tidewater, Virginia is pretty much the hottest most humid place around these days, but my mother had power, running water, and the sweet, sweet air conditioning. We left there today, and my car themostat read 105 for quite a while. By six we were home, and it was 81. The kids enjoyed some fireworks in the driveway with their daddy tonight. He had cleaned all the old food out of the fridge and cleaned the house, and it is good to be home.
Last Friday the kids and I went to the lake for the day with friends, but Ruby passed out on the beach around eleven in the morning. I called an ambulance, but the lifeguards cooled her down quickly with shade, fans, ice packs, and iced water. The EMTs took all her vital signs and thought that she just needed shade and lots of liquids. I had a big cooler of iced water and a cold cut up watermelon, and we stayed up to our necks in the river. I was so wiped out from such a mama fright. Ruby is currently explaining to everyone that she wasn't unconscious. The sun was in her eyes.
That night I was out among my tomatoes wishing for rain and started doing a rain dance. What showed up were seventy five mile an hour winds with only a hint of rain. The power was out for the long haul, friday through thursday. On sunday night I took the kids to Richmond, and John stayed here to take care of the animals. Tidewater, Virginia is pretty much the hottest most humid place around these days, but my mother had power, running water, and the sweet, sweet air conditioning. We left there today, and my car themostat read 105 for quite a while. By six we were home, and it was 81. The kids enjoyed some fireworks in the driveway with their daddy tonight. He had cleaned all the old food out of the fridge and cleaned the house, and it is good to be home.
Monday, June 25, 2012
ella miranda in the blueberries
We joined some school families early Saturday morning to pick blueberries. I'm just thrilled that this farm is less than five minutes from our house. The berries were the largest I've ever seen and were just dripping from the bushes. We picked more than two gallons in an hour, even with Ruby eating berries steadily.
beans
Remember when Ella used to say "farmer marketing"? Here is some real farmer marketing. These Stonecrop beans were perfect last night with some local corn on the cob.
gardening
After a brief stint of letting things go, John and pulled a massive amount of weeds out of the garden this weekend. There is black cloth under that hay, and I'm going to find some newspaper and buy more hay for the rest. The children and I planted tons of basil last night and handfulls of sunflower seeds.
I thought we would have it fenced this weekend, but maybe by next weekend. Apparently we are flirting with disaster considering that every neighbor put up deer fencing on May 15. I'm always in denial about how much these little projects are going to cost. I'm sure we'll be repaid in tomatoes alone when the "Mortgage Lifter" starts to bear fruit.
Monday, June 18, 2012
Tuesday, June 12, 2012
Friday, June 08, 2012
country living
Back when I was ten and reading a lot of Foxfire books I was entranced with the idea of having a root cellar, and now we have one with wooden bins, dusty shelves, and a nice collection of old blue mason jars. Inside I found a vintage picnic basket, a coal miner's lunch box, and some McCoy planters. There are old gallon jars still filled with apple cider than may be more than twenty years old--talk about "the mother" of the vinegar.
For now, the root cellar makes a great place for us to store our bikes, but with the arrival of this visitor in the photo the kids say that they are never going in there again.
For now, the root cellar makes a great place for us to store our bikes, but with the arrival of this visitor in the photo the kids say that they are never going in there again.
Wednesday, June 06, 2012
Fast Forward
From tiny baby chickies to big teenagers in a mere three weeks. This week has been dedicated to getting these girls into their coop. We have been digging and putting up posts, stretching fencing, and making more trips to Lowes than I ever imagined. The kids and I took the girls out to their newly fenced run to let them take a look around, and they promptly ducked their heads and walked right through the fencing. It is that two by four fencing that will hold them well when they are a bit bigger. I may own my own fencing pliers, but I don't really know what I'm doing. One more trip to Lowes for forty feet of hardware cloth, and we'll try that one more time. We did dig a trench and put in a cement shield against digging predators. The top will be covered with poultry netting. I still want to put a metal roof on my coop, but hopefully by the weekend the utility room will be liberated.
Tuesday, June 05, 2012
Monday, June 04, 2012
Sunday, June 03, 2012
Monday, May 28, 2012
Friday, May 25, 2012
I feel like I've been holding my breath all week.
I'm so ready for the weekend. A long one with no where to go.
Wednesday, May 23, 2012
being here
It is never too late for any of us to look at our minds. We can always sit down and allow the space for anything to arise. Sometimes we have a shocking experience of ourselves. Sometimes we try to hide. Sometimes we have a surprising experience of ourselves. Often we get carried away. Without judging, without buying into likes and dislikes, we can always encourage ourselves to just be here again and again and again.
Pema Chodron
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Mi Familia
Ella's Spanish teacher is one of my favorite people ever. They were studying the extended family, and I just had to show you her family complete with her aunt and uncle's dogs, our cat, and a box of baby chicks.
I just adore the details in all the family members.
I just adore the details in all the family members.
Monday, May 21, 2012
Thursday, May 17, 2012
self
self, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.
Monday, May 14, 2012
6 chicks
They are growing so much every day and are gaining strength. I covered up their pen with hardware cloth so they can't fly into the utility room. Everyone is named now, and we have Scout, Henrietta, Susan, Flower, Puffy, and Clarisse.
Tuesday, May 08, 2012
chickens
Our chicks arrived today. We have two barred rocks, two golden laced wyandottes, and two light brown leghorns. They'll be living in the utiltity room for a few weeks, and the children can't believe their own good fortune. They are hilarious to watch, and tonight one even fell asleep in my hand.
Monday, May 07, 2012
wheels
We moved into this house with a lawnmower fit to mow a postage stamp, and being quite naive we bought a small twenty inch electric pushmower. After a long spring of charging and mowing and charging and mowing our two and a quarter acres we finally invested in the right machine for the job.
We've set aside part of a field for a meadow, and the goldfinches are going wild on the wavering stems of grass seeds.
Saturday, May 05, 2012
eye
eye, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.
I am starting another photography course with the lovely Vivienne McMaster this month. May is such a full month, but I'm going to dive in anyway. Each time I sign up for the class I'm very excited, and then the trepidation sets it. What am I doing? I'm taking a class about how to do my least favorite thing--take pictures of myself? It is so much more than that. When I think about Vivienne's classes I am reminded of the line by Mary Oliver, "Tell me, what is it you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Well, I'm going to romp around in fields of flowers this month. I'm going to build a chicken run and take pictures of an abandoned house in my neighborhood before it gets torn down. I might even use all those dials and menus on my camera. I am turning 46 this month. I'm yarnbombing a tree with a group of elementary school kids. I'm going to take the kids to the pond to see the baby geese. I'll paint my picnic table blue, smell the peonies, plant herbs, till, mow, and plant tomatoes. I bought enough seeds to plant three hundred and forty feet of basil plants. That's a lot of pesto.
What do you plan to do with your one wild and precious life?
Wednesday, May 02, 2012
biscuits and gravy
I wanted to link to this month's Vegetarian Times and share the recipe for their gluten free biscuits and chickpea gravy. We aren't gluten free, so I might make my regular old biscuits and top it with the gravy, but I'm going to post the whole thing for my gluten free friends.
Biscuits.
1 cup white rice flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1.5 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 oz or 1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup fat free buttermilk
Gravy
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2.5 tsp paprika
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
3 tbs veg oil
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup chickpea flour
4 cups warmed milk
Biscuits. Preheat oven to 375. Butter baking sheet
Whisk dry ingredients. Cut butter into flour until no big lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk.
Roll and cut 16.
Gravy. Pulse chickpeas, paprika, poultry seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne until crumbly.
Heat oil in the skillet and add chickpeas and saute until fragrant and crisp. Transfer to a plate. Add butter to the skillet and melt. Whisk in potato starch and chickpea flour and cook one to two minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cook one to two minutes or until sauce is thick. Stir in chickpeas and season with salt and pepper.
Biscuits.
1 cup white rice flour, plus more for dusting the work surface
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup potato starch
1.5 tbs sugar
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp baking soda
2 oz or 1/2 stick of butter
3/4 cup fat free buttermilk
Gravy
1.5 cups cooked chickpeas
2.5 tsp paprika
2 tsp poultry seasoning
1 tsp onion powder
1/2 tsp salt
black pepper
cayenne pepper
3 tbs veg oil
4 tbsp butter
1/4 cup potato starch
1/4 cup chickpea flour
4 cups warmed milk
Biscuits. Preheat oven to 375. Butter baking sheet
Whisk dry ingredients. Cut butter into flour until no big lumps remain. Stir in buttermilk.
Roll and cut 16.
Gravy. Pulse chickpeas, paprika, poultry seasoning, onion powder, salt, pepper, and cayenne until crumbly.
Heat oil in the skillet and add chickpeas and saute until fragrant and crisp. Transfer to a plate. Add butter to the skillet and melt. Whisk in potato starch and chickpea flour and cook one to two minutes. Gradually whisk in milk and cook one to two minutes or until sauce is thick. Stir in chickpeas and season with salt and pepper.
Sunday, April 29, 2012
the little white turnips
John went out to the market yesterday morning and came home with lots of vegetables and plants. These little white turnips are one of my very favorites. We ate all of them for lunch, just raw and sliced on a plate. I cooked the tender tops in a pot of lentil soup for dinner with carrots, celery, onion, tomato, and fennel.
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