november light

kombucha

My kombucha is probably struggling with the low temperatures in my kitchen this week, but I'm excited to be trying something new. After my big success with sauerkraut, I thought I'd continue my latest obsession with fermentation. It isn't really fermenting, but a symbiotic culture of bacteria and yeast, hence SCOBY.  I like kombucha brews, so we'll see how this one tastes in a few days.

halloween

Next year we have to make our Halloween costumes early. I was racing the Hurricane and Appalachian Power to sew up a little yoda hat for John and a werewolf costume for Ella. Luckily, this little butterfly was easy to put together and made her oh so happy. Our power was out for about twenty four hours, and the kids carved pumpkins in their snowsuits in the middle of the kitchen floor.

Om

first eggs

hatched on May 7

pumpkin gathering

The family spent the afternoon at the pumpkin patch. yesterday afternoon gathering huge pumpkins, riding the goat cart, riding horses, shooting a pumpkin slingshot, and petting animals. Many friends were there, and we spent the whole afternoon. Next year I'm bringing a picnic because the kids spent a lot of time begging for food and treats. I need a soup thermos big enough for all of us. Ruby and John both rode a horse for the first time, and I think that Ruby hugged the goat twenty times. The leaves and the landscape were gorgeous. Back in our warm house, I needed to keep Ruby occupied while the two Johns went out to mow grass. I let her stand on a wooden stool and make the gravy for dinner. She was excited by all the new things she tried in one day.

falling

homebody

I'm going to spend more time in my favorite places this year, and my own back porch is very high on my list.

shakori hills

We went on our last camping trip of the season at the Shakori Hills festival in Pittsboro North Carolina. It is my favorite festival of the year, and we bid farewell to warm weather with a veritable four day hootenanny. We feel asleep to sing-alongs and woke up to fiddle tunes in the middle of a country meadow. We came home dirty and exhausted and ready to do it all again next year.

11

Someone turned eleven this week.

Rabbit and Robot

I took all three kids to the Rabbit and Robot Book Launch Party on Sunday.  The amazing and lovely Cece Bell had come to John's class last year to read some of this book while it was a work in progress.

Getting ready for the book party required a trip out for silver spray paint, the destruction of a pair of leggings, the raiding of a box stash, much duck tape, the sewing of a coonskin cap onto a small pair of pants,  and the use of several Magic Erasers.

John covered his bike helmet in foil, old cans, a whisk, and a spatula. Then he taped a candy thermometer to the front and donned a box covered in foil. Oops. He wouldn't fit in his carseat. The costume had to come off and go in the truck.

Rabbit and Robot. Cece Bell. Pure sweetness.

feathers

what I've been doing at night

She is going to be auctioned off tomorrow night to benefit the kid's school.

cosmos

The cosmos and sunflowers are above our heads, and the goldfinches are eating sunflower seeds all day. Soon, this will be the chicken's daytime run until spring. We have a few watermelons left to eat and a few more pints of pesto to make.  The hyacinth beans have met at the the top of the gate.

We had our first scattered frost night before last.

equinox

We went to the farmer's market today on a family outing, and then this afternoon the children went out to "harvest" tomatoes, basil, sunflower heads, onions, and all of my zinnias.

things I love

John and I camped at a music festival in Pinnacle, North Carolina this weekend. Just the two of us. We sat in chairs for whole sets. We saw all the music we wanted to see. We drank cups of coffee to the bottom and held hands. I loved the workshop sets, Del McCourey, Keller Williams, and the Yonder Mountain String Band. I liked Patterson Hood from the Drive By Truckers. Our next and last festival of the season, Shakori Hills, is in two weeks, and we are hoping to sneak in a fall trip to Grayson Highland's State Park for the wild ponies and amazing vistas on the Appalachian trail at it's highest point in Virginia.

Now back at home we've had rain and cooler weather is setting in.  I made delicious Concord grape jam a few days ago, and we may never buy jam again. I want to pick raspberries on Sunday, and I have a big bowl of apples ready to make applesauce.  Last night I made my first fall inspired pot of soup with potatoes, carrots, porcini mushrooms, and cabbage.

I met the truck from Countryside out by the highway yesterday to pick up a hundred pounds of organic chicken feed. No one in town sells organic feed, but I met a group of people dedicated to feeding their chickens wholesome unprocessed food.  It truly is "chicken granola".

I just discovered Whole Larder Love.  For the first time in my life I thought I might want to hunt something, chop down some trees, and build a smokehouse. Or maybe go fishing.

Eight years ago we were living in Portland, Oregon and spending much of our meager paychecks at the Portland Farmer's Market. We could see it from our apartment. There we found Ken's Artisan Bakery, and from the farmer's market we followed him up to his bakery/ restaurant in northwest Portland.  Last night I went to bed at eight o'clock with the kids, but my mother called to say that she was ordering me a copy of Ken Forkish's new book Flour Water Salt Yeast.

lake's chickens

This is Lake Long Smith, and I would guess this is from the fifties. That is our back porch, the original front of the first house. I love that there was a chicken picture. The family also had horses, pigs, cows, and horses, and there was a working blacksmith shop on the property. Lake kept a large garden and the family had an orchard. It was said that she fed her own family as well as "all the poor people in the the county".

other voices

We heard a lot of stories when we moved into this house, and now I have some pictures to go along with the stories. The original house last built in 1876, and before that the family lived in a cabin out near the big catalpa tree in the backyard. The original farm was eighty acres.

Last Easter Sunday a man knocked on our door and told us that he had grown up in this house. He was a foster child taken in to work on the farm. His mother was unmarried, and social services placed him with the family in this house. He spoke highly of them and was happy that they helped him maintain a relationship with his mother. He recently bought a neighboring house, and his birth mother will celebrate her seventy fifth birthday there.

The top picture shows our neighborhood without the modern road. In the middle is Lake Long Smith as an older woman. The middle right is from our front porch.  The bottom photo is from the sixties and shows the farm outbuildings that are now gone.

Below is a picture of Lake Long Smith, her father in law, and Lake's daughter Norma. I think this picture is from about 1935. Our house was built by the older gentleman. Many people have told us about Lake Long. She was born on a farm on Brooksfield Road about a mile away. Norma, the young girl, was well known by many of our neighbors. She sold the farm and died in February 2007 at the age of 81.

cooling

This was really the only way to cool down this weekend.

butterflies

three days in a creek

We spent the weekend camping down in Catawba with friends, kids, coffee, delicious food, and crackling thunderstorms.

sunflower

sunflower, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

The days are very full this week. The kids are simultaneously excited and exhausted, and I think I'm right there with them.

spiders and fog

Someone told me recently that you can estimate the number of upcoming winter snowstorms by counting the number of foggy mornings in August. Suddenly every morning is foggy, and the spider webs are white with dew. Yesterday the children were scurrying around for sweaters when they got out of bed.

fifth

She wanted me to take a few pictures of her for the fifth grade homework website. She says it is just like facebook, only it is just about schoolwork and her teacher is on it.

first day :: first grade

the perfect blue

I ordered some things this year that I've never planted before, and this has to be one of my favorites. Borage.  We have been eating the buds and flowers in salads, and they taste like cucumbers.

the august garden

We have joked about the sixty dollar tomato, but we are havesting a steady supply of tomatoes, lots of basil and other herbs, watermelons, onions, and raspberries. We have hot peppers and lemongrass, and the grapes are ripe.

I had the best tomatoes of the summer while we were camping at Fairystone State Park this weekend. My friend Nancy was walking around giving away her delicious dinner leftovers, sliced tomatoes and cucumbers with balsamic vinegar. We spent the day swimming in the lake and came back to cook fresh corn and beans, and my kids get very excited about hotdogs.

I am already planning next years garden. Better tomato stakes. A design that allows more walking space. Potatoes. More flowers. Succession planting.

party

party, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

john's 7th birthday

john's 7th birthday, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

Keep on cooking

happy birthday john

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.

bugs

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.

ruby draws

ruby draws, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

watermelon farmer

watermelon farmer, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

gyro john

gyro john, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.

gyro daddy

gyro daddy, a photo by oyabakamama on Flickr.