Science Fair 2013

I am very proud of both of them for all of their hard work and attention to detail. I was really blown away by the fair as I am every year. Everyone love the kindergarteners and their phonetic spelling and creative experiments. In the older grades they really start delving into things I never even thought about in elementary school. It is always a lot of work and a late night, but it is well worth it.

science fair 2010 and 2011

science fairs

sunset chasing

I saw the sun setting and grabbed my camera and ran down the lane and up a steep hill trying to get away from the crisscrossing power lines. My SD card was still in the computer. This is from the upstairs window when I made it back to the house.

wooly owl

I heard someone say yesterday that February felt like twenty eight Monday mornings in a row, and I think that might be true. It feels rushed and cold and wet, and I haven't had time to enjoy it. I don't know about the groundhog, but it has gone from eight degrees to the wintry mix to simply damp. I need to hibernate a little more.

through the roof

The chimney went through the roof today, and tomorrow we should be on our own with the new woodstove.  It is a little disconcerting to have someone saw a hole through the house. It has been cold and dirty, and the guy finally made the call on the mantel today. It can stay. We hired the oddest cat to do the work, and it has been a strange month communicating with him. I think he is some sort of chimney savant. I think he may be one of the most interesting people I've ever met, and I liked talking to him about woodstoves. He has a Danish one that is chest high with an oven in it. I told him I wanted to wood fired bread oven in the backyard, and he told me about baking cornbread and sweet potatoes in his stove.

We had another snow on friday, two inches of powder, and it seemed warm today when it got up to thirty five degrees.

I can't wait to sit in front of a warm fire.

snow

Waking up to no electricity took a lot of the excitement out of this beautiful snow. We didn't have power for two nights, but I think the kitchen on made it down to 48 degrees. We should be a significantly more prepared by the weekend as the chimney man was here today working on putting in our new chimney and installing the woodstove. He can't work tomorrow as the high is going to be in the teens, but says he'll be here thursday. The chimney is on the north side of the house and doesn't ever get any sun.

Ella fluffed up the chicken's house tonight for some added warmth, and John replaced the avian netting that goes over the top of their run. The wet snow tore that down, and earlier today one of the girls was roosting on one of the corner poles about six feet off the ground.

No one likes the bitter cold, but we need some nights and days like this to kill the ticks that seemed to run rampant last summer.

In  the dancing picture we had gone for a walk on the second snow day because it was feeling warmer outside than inside our house.

slackers

bread

My mother was here for a week and I wanted to take my ability to make bread to the next level. Well, I don't know if I made it there or not, but the results were delicious. I'm going to have to try it again by myself. The levain process is simple but sort of mind boggling in that you throw away most of the flour mixture each day. It takes an extra five pound bag of flour to get the levain started. Honestly, it is well worth the results, and then you have your starter that can be used from then on out. The two darker loaves in the bowl contain a pound of bacon. We won't be doing that ll the time, but it is probably the epitome of rich bread. It will be the perfect bread for a tomato sandwich with homemade mayo, or even a fried green tomato sandwich. It might be the best bread I've ever eaten.

gingerbread houses

at home

and now, a look at the holidays

The children are sad that the Christmas tree is coming down tomorrow. Grandmarie left this morning, and school starts again on Monday. We have loved being at home in this house for the holiday season, but we have had our share of shouting and sibling rivalry around here.  In their own naive way my children are very spoiled. They are also the only grandchildren on both sides of the family, and, heck, I like to spoil them too. Maybe we all need to rethink Christmas in the age of tiny screens. We have had many very good moments though, and I'm already looking forward to next year. As always I need to start earlier with my desire to give handmade gifts. I still have a few things to finish, but hopefully it will be worth the wait for the recipients. The children want more decorations next year, so perhaps we'll have a day for bringing in more greenery, more candles, and if the littles have anything to do with it---more lights. One thing we certainly will have next year is more warmth. The woodstove comes this Wednesday. We had twenty four hours without electricity, and the kitchen went down to 49 degrees. I wouldn't let the kids go out to play in the snow because I no way to really warm them up when they came in. Our twenty five advent candles 'warmed" the house during that dark day.

We had many delicious meals and treats. My mother and I made the Pain Au Bacon from Ken Forkish's new book Flour Water Salt Yeast with perfect results. It takes a week to grow the levain. It was definitely the holiday of bacon, and it came from farms across Virginia. Granny and Grandmarie both brought delicious bacon, and we had our own share from our friends at Leaping Waters Farm. Last night I braved the high winds and fired up the grill to cook some of their Ancient White Park steaks for my mother's birthday. It was  delicious beside Julia Child's braised leeks and the Pain Au Bacon.  On Christmas we had oyster stew and fried oysters from Rappahannock via the Fredricksburg Farmer's Market. I think we need to have iced water and kale salad for the rest of the month.

merry and bright

eve eve

it's starting to feel a lot like christmas

This is from last year because I haven't had the camera out for a few days. We have had our first snows, but amazingly enough none is on the ground. We had a little Solstice gathering last night, and Granny and Grampy are arriving today. The kids are crafting up a storm and wrapping gifts. I'm wondering what time they are going to bed tonight so I can get out my sewing machine for a few last minute spur of the moments.

december 19 1997

pause

The tree is up, and Christmas lights sparkle above every bed. Littles are making presents with paper and feathers and glue, and there is much cleaning up of little messes. We cut a basket of greenery to decorate the house this afternoon. Ella plays Joy to the World on her violin, and they are all singing along to the carol station on the car radio as we drive to school.

Twenty eight candles were lit in church on Sunday, and I am thankful that they have no idea why.

earth maiden

I've been wanting a shawl or poncho for a while and have collected a few patterns, but when a friend said that she would knit it for me I was amazed. She said she has knit herself and all of her family everything they could possibly need and more. This mossy alpaca merino blend is about to become the Earth Maiden. It is a big rectangle and and i-cord that can be worn as a poncho or a shawl. To me this yarn looks like lichen on stones or seaweed. It is Cascade Yarns Lana D'Oro in Olive Oil.

winter nests

The paperwhites are in full bloom, and I've been enjoying them so much that I might just have to start another batch of them. I think my mantle is very Christmasy with the red candles and green stems, but the kids want more decorations.  These are some of the bird's nests we have collected, and I've placed many of then in my great grandmother's crystal glasses, bowls, and pedestals.

 We are getting a wood stove in here by the end of the month. The house has one chimney in our bedroom that was designed for coal and other in Ruby's room that is no longer usable. There used to be a large brick chimney on this side of the house, but it was removed when the house was renovated. We are looking for an alternate heat and cooking source when the power goes out during snowstorms, so we are putting in an old Vermont Castings stove that was in my grandparent's house. Come toast your toes next month.

we cut down a tree

Ruby did some singing and dancing for the trees. We found a tree, our tallest ever, and enjoyed a riding to the fields behind horses with jingle bells.