Monkey Lobster

Thanksgiving, Hanukkah, Family, Food

 

Ya, It's worth the ten hour drive.

Celebrating Spring

Let's just begin here. The chickens are laying like crazy. We're getting so many eggs that one day we decided to decorate and hide them in the yard. We made egg salad, smoked a ham and had some friends over to share in the excitement. 

For my birthday this year I received a chain saw from my in-laws. Bob gave me a safety lesson. I dragged downed trees out from the woods and chopped them up to make coals for the smoker.

Sarah (the stuffed monkey), is the new Meow(who went missing about a year ago). He has every meal with us. He never finishes what's on his plate, and yes, Sarah is a boy.

Christmas Magic

wrappin it up

Details coming later.

thanksgiving weekend

Waking up to my garden covered in snow this morning, this past weekend really marked the end of the harvest season. 

Cousins, aunts, uncles, grandparents and an adventurous great grandmother traveled many miles to come spend thanksgiving with us in our home. We are very grateful for that.

welcoming spring

Spring Crafts

When three pairs of adoring eyes ask for help decorating eggs how can I resist? Soon they are not gonna want to spend the afternoon with me, so I'll take it where I can get it. Here are some links to instructions if you want to play along:

Ukranian Eggs.   Moss Baskets.   Chocolate Nest.   Fun Molds on a Stick

springing

Spring is coming, and suddenly I remember how much I love to grow things. Easter is April 8th, leaving me just enough time to grow some grass and clover in baskets and other containers.

The baskets are lined with plastic bags and wood chips (because they are light weight) and then filled with potting soil, covered with seeds and then covered again with potting soil. The Vases are filled with pebbles, sphagnum moss, potting soil, seeds and then covered with more moss (just because I think it looks nicer on my counters).

If kept moist they should start to sprout in a few days, but it will take a good two weeks for form a nice sod to fill in. I used grass seed and clover, but I have also used radish, wheat, lentil, and unidentified seeds from the bottom of my seed box in past years.

Living greens make such a wonderful backdrop to just about any treat and wonderful bedding for children to collect eggs into. Sure beats shredded plastic. So get started, you still have time.

Valentines Past

celebration

This was our first Christmas in our new home. And in our family since Christmas is all about cooking, we settled more into our new kitchen, and had our first meals in our new dining room.

As wonderful as this was, it was very bittersweet for me. The last time I shared a meal with my father was two Christmas ago, we sat crammed into the middle of my kitchen, shuffling up and down as things went in and out of the oven. My father tied a ribbon on the door and said he hoped that one day he would be able to give us a dining room for our growing family. With his passing came the wonderful gift of this beautiful home.

I am learning to embrace the sadness along with the joy. The sadness helps me to remember how dearly I loved my father, and how much of my soul he is still a part of.

Hope your holiday was full of people you love.