This week...

This is actually from the last two weeks...

 Baby chickies are now relocated to the chicken coop, but confined to this large dog crate, because, well, full grown chickens are not so nice to little babies all the time.  The term pecking order did come from chickens.  In this photo they are enjoying some fresh air.

Our friend lent Isaac the first Harry Potter book, and we are delving straight in.  Here my dear boy has his tiger stripes on his cheeks, isn't he sweet?  They are always sweet when they're sleeping. ;-)

 We've had TWO luna moth sightings at our back door.  We now know that luna moths only live for 7 days, and have two generation cycles in our area, so if we are lucky, we may get another chance in 7 to 9 weeks.  Both moths were boys, as you can tell by their bushier antenna.  Who knew?

 Discovered what the inside of a bleeding heart bloom looks like.

 Getting back into smoothie making.

 The boys gave their little sister lots of flowers.  She wasn't so sure about this, but she just looks so stinking cute.  Mmmm I just want to nibble those cheeks of hers.

Had our first bird (ever that I've seen) in our bird bath, and a beautiful one at that.  I haven't had a chance to look it up, but it is lovely there with those pink flowers and Buddha near by.

So that was our week (or two...), and next week we get to go camping!  Hope your week was just as lovely.

First Harvest

Aren't they beautiful? Other than all the green ones Coby has been eating, this is our first bounty to come from the garden this season (oh and the chives).  There is something so rewarding about growing your own food. The satisfaction of planting and growing and finally harvesting.  These berries were a year in the making, since I planted the bushes last year and then nipped all the buds so it would produce runners and grow stronger roots.
These berries are looooong gone, I could barely snap the photo, but there are many many more coming (assuming I can keep Coby away from them before they ripen), and I hope enough that we can preserve some.  Oh, I dream of a day when we have a large enough garden to grow and freeze or can food to last us through the winter months.  I am borrowing this book from a friend, Preserving Summer's Bounty and it's excellent.  I'm so looking forward to trying my hand at canning. I did get two whole stocks of rhubarb (oh, see another harvest I'm forgetting) so maybe a little strawberry rhubarb jam is in order.

::sigh::

 Well, I had envisioned keeping up with my blog better.  Trying to make daily entries, posting our going ons, the crafts I am working on, the garden and growing homestead and just keeping family and friends up to date with our lives.  I wonder how many blog entries there are out there like this? I've been meaning to blog, but....

 But, I've been having some set backs.  The first one: I prefer to write at night, but I have a little girl who will not sleep with out mama laying next to her.  I do have a laptop, and could theoretically write in bed, but it is older than dirt and will no longer acknowledge our wireless connection.  Not being very technically savvy, I'm not sure how to fix this other than to buy a a new laptop which just isn't in the budget.

 The next issue: I have no way to store photos.  The laptop has no more memory left, the new (to me) desk top was handed down from Sam's work when they up-graded his computer, but all the programing wasn't cleared and I can't save any photos to the desk top.  We got an external hard drive, but are having technical difficulties with that. I know I can up load directly to my blog, but then I have to go through all the photos daily (this computer is very slow with up loading photo on the view finder), and I just don't have that much time (something about two active little boys and a new babe).  Oh, the list could go on and on.

 I am working on it though!  Or more accurately, I'm asking those around me who know more about this to help me.  So, while someday I hope to be able to write daily, and include beautiful photos (from the new camera I so badly want and with photoshop editing), for now I will try to just write and add a photo here and there.  And I will keep dreaming about the blog I hope to one day create.  I will stop procrastinating on this blog simply because I can't do it exactly the way I want.

Staying low

After a wonderfully busy weekend, we are hanging low today.  Little Jacoby has a stomach bug, so there is lots of snuggling needed, and also lots of laundry to do.  And trying to do our best to wash hands frequently and strengthen our immune systems in the hopes that it does not spread.

This Moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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In the Garden

 I went out to water the garden this morning and was greeted by these beauties.  This is our first year with a large strawberry patch, and I'm hoping for a good bounty. 

 I planted this whole bed last year, and trimmed back the blooms since I had read that should make for a more plentiful harvest the following year.  I've been out feeding and watering them and I see so many buds in there. 

 Our little blueberry bushes are also starting to bloom as well.  This one is a cultivated variety, but our land is covered with wild low and high bush as well.  Unfortunately, the chickens usually get to them first, but I'm thinking of getting some gardening fabric to cover them with after they are done blooming.  Maybe, just maybe, we can collect a few handfuls.  Blueberry jam anyone?

Somethings, of course, must be planted.  I decided to go easy this year, having a new babe and all, and only started a few things.  The rest will be purchased as seedlings.  My very favorite, kale and lettuce, I can never seem to have enough of either.  Usually, I'd just throw it right out in the garden in a little patch and thin as they grow, but since I didn't do the sheet mulching in the fall, the beds are covered in cardboard and straw and manure, so in the pots they go.

 And our little apple tree we planted last year.  The deer did quite a number on it, so we have it fenced off.  Unfortunately,there doesn't seem to be any blooms on it.  Lots of love and care and maybe some good doses of natural fertilizer and perhaps next year...

And some happy little dandelions.  I know, usually the gardeners foe, but they are just so happy.  And, how could I possibly dislike something that brings the kids so much joy?  Plus, every part is edible, so really they are just an under appreciated wild edible.

I just so love our little garden.  There is nothing so therapeutic to me than to get my hands in the earth.  To watch as the things I've planted grow and produce food for my family.  That deep sense of satisfaction I feel in clearing a bed of weeds.  The way the loam we got to fill the beds several years ago was dry and chalky and now is dark and smells rich and sweet.  The fresh air and sunshine.  Oh, what could be better?  And I have dreams, dreams of a bigger garden and root cellars and more apple trees and bees, perhaps some sheep and maybe a cow someday.  But that will have to wait, this house and yard are just a bit too small.  And it's hard to put so much love in your land knowing that you don't plan to keep it.  I can only hope the next person to call this place home will find as much love here.

Today...

Today we...

We enjoyed watching our ladies and roosters foraging in the back yard. Hopefully eating all the ticks that have been plaguing us.

Made silly putty for the boys to play with.

Isaac giving Jacoby and Deanie chick lessons.

Enjoyed some time with my sweet little girl. Oh, is there anything sweeter than a naked baby. Love!

Planted some carrots and fed and trimmed some rhubarb. You'll have to excuse the angle, I was holding a sweet little baby.

Looked at the garden I gave to the boys and realized, they were growing lots of weeds.  Perhaps some recipes for dandilion greens are in order?  I think so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And last, but not least, there was a free section at the library where this oh so interesting puzzle was, and I just could not resist. 

 

Now, I'm off to bake a loaf of sourdough and shred the pork for our pulled pork dinner. Hope your day was wonderful too.

Chirp!

 Eight new little ones have joined us.  We got a little mix match of chickie to add to the flock.  Three Ameraucanas (blue egg layers), one barred rock, two buffed orpingtons, and two hall cross.  I've never heard of the hall cross before, but it's supposed to be a cross between a Rhode Island Red and a white chicken producing a RIR with high lights.  I so enjoy looking out into the yard and seeing all different colored chickens running around, so I wanted a good mix.

 And of course my Isaac was ready to play with them.  He has always been so gentle with the baby chicks, even as a very young toddler, he could hold them with out much supervision.  Jacoby, on the other hand, has to be highly supervised as he just doesn't understand how very fragile they are.

 Isaac holding them and "examining" them (pretending to be a vet).  These little ladies will get plenty of handling, which helps them be more friendly as they age.  And Isaac will get one of the best lessons in life, one of care and gentleness and an understanding of where food comes from (in this case eggs, these aren't meat birds.  Though I would like to do broilers soon...).  And a whole lot of fun playing with them while they are little and he can pretend they are "jumping over the moon" as he gently jumps them over their heat lamp. 

And, of course, there is one other member of the house quite interested in our new addition.  And a mama who is a little nervous the door to the storage room where they are housed, will get left open during one of the kids visits.

The Bread of Life

I've tried several times over the past few years to make a sourdough bread, but I've never made it past the starter. Starters are pretty easy to make, you mix equal parts flour and water and let it sit to catch the natural yeast and bacteria in the air. Everyday you mix in a little more flour and water, and after about a week you have a good fermenty mixture. But, in the past, this was where I ended it. Probably because the simple idea of this invisible thing making my bread rise seemed impossible, and maybe I was afraid it just wouldn't work, and I'd feel like a failure. I have been making breads for a long time, and adding the exact measurement of active dry yeast seemed pretty easy to understand. But, being an appreciator of all things traditional, I had to figure this out. Plus, the act of fermentation produces vitamins and makes the bread easier for your body to digest. So after I saw a friend post some pictures of a beautiful sourdough she has been making for her family, I asked for the recipe. She sent me this link , and I got my starter going.

Fermentation is very interesting to me, I'm getting more and more familiar with it too.  Over the past few years I've made kimchi, sauerkraut, kombucha, milk and water kiefer, and now my starter. All these little helpful bacteria floating around, that when added to food, grow more and more and make your food more nutritious.

This is my sponge, the night before.  This is a percentage of the dough and all the milk for the recipe.

After letting it sit for the night, the yeasts are active and making the dough rise.

I prefer to get everything going in my stand mixer, and then take it out and add more flour to get it to the consistency I like.  I found for me, this recipe was a little too wet, but I've been working on how much flour gets the dough to my liking.  I've been adding about an extra half a cup of flour or so. I don't measure it, just keep adding some and working it in till the dough isn't completely sticking to the surface.  Then I leave it in warm place to rise.  We have an over the stove microwave, and when the light is left on (the one that shines on the stove) it stays about 80* in there.  Perfect!

Punched down, and fitted into the bread pan.

After a couple of hours or so, ready to be baked.  I'm still not sure about this whole slashing the loaf thing though, it hasn't produced that stretched out top like I see other peoples breads do.

A beautiful loaf of sandwich bread.  This was actually my best loaf yet.  I replaced two of the cups of flour with white, and it was truly almost like store bought sandwich bread, nice and soft and elastic-y.  I could even fold it in half for the kids peanut butter and jelly "tacos".

And since this is a double recipe and I only have one loaf pan at the moment, I've been freezing the second loaf till I'm ready to make it.  These are my little frozen dough balls, bigger than suggested in the link, but I'm far too lazy to roll out golf balls sized ones, and don't mind the wait for them to defrost. 

Finally, I am a sourdough bread maker!

This moment

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

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New Life

  New life indeed.  I've been really feeling a need to return to my blog (after a rather long hiatus), I've been looking through it and making some changes, like my profile and personal information.  Perhaps with spring here, and the kids discovering new things around, everything feels new and fresh, what better time for a fresh start with this blog.

Spring is here, life is coming out all around us.  And indeed the best kind of new life.

Ananda Julia, born February 10, joined our family.  Hooray for new life!