Busy Hands Homestead

We have one giant kitchen window.  It happens to face our neighbor's yard.  It also happens to be across from the bathroom door and thus makes running through the house in our underwear, well, a little too public.   Friday Adam came home from work early, and while my two little ones were asleep, I took the opportunity to run to our local YWCA thrift shop Secret Seconds .  I scored! I found a brand new curtain rod and a dark green, sheer curtain for $16.   But, after hanging the curtain, it was a little to dark and bland.  I took it back down and headed into the garage to see if I could find the left over kitchen paint (light yellow and orange).  I found it and decided I was going to use it to spruce up the curtain. So, here is what you need if you want to sponge paint a curtain: 1 large sponge (or more) scissors latex paint  a plastic plate big sheets of paper (to protect the surface you are working on) a cu...

"Yesterday there was lightning. It started a tiny fire.  This big." Ivory pauses to squeeze her pointer finger and thumb together to show Adam the size of the fire. "On the other side of the mountain.  And then there was a helicopter that brings fire.  No.  Gets all the water from the pond and takes it to the fire.  ALL the water from the pond (big gesture).  And then the water fills up again." She pauses for a breath, stabbing at her leftover macaroni and cheese, looking critically across the table at her father. "But, we didn't see the helicopter land.  Mama really wanted to see it land". She turns to me: "You REALLY wanted to see it land, didn't you Mama?" Sometimes the things that don't happen are even more exciting than the things that do. There was no mention of the life jackets, the canoes, the water bugs with funny flippers, the fish we saw while paddling around the lake or the water snail she proudly carried around...

This recipe utilized the ENTIRE beet plant: the leaves as well as the roots!  3 medium sized beets with greens 2 tablespoons coconut oil peppered goat cheese salted and roasted sunflower seeds salt pepper Roast the beets ahead of time ( directions here ) and let cool.  Peel the beets and cut into cubes. Wash and chop greens.  Heat the coconut oil until hot and drop the greens into the pan.  Cook, stirring occasionally, until the leaves are dark, dark green in color and a little crispy. Remove from heat.  Layer the greens, the cubed beets, crumbled goat cheese, and sunflower seeds.   Add salt and pepper to taste.   There are no exact quantities.  Just add all the ingredients in the proportions that look and taste good to you.  Enjoy. 

"Can I have the pink one Mama?" Ivory snatches a pink pick out of my hand and starts to strum the strings on a red guitar.  I watch her play around on the instrument and am transported back into the narrow hallways of the music shop in Newfoundland, Canada where I bought my guitar and where I got the random assortment of picks that lives in the pocket of my guitar case.  A whole row of beginners guitars hung from the wall: red, blue, black, white...  I almost bought the blue guitar, but then opted instead, for the beautiful warm toned wood body of the guitar I have now.  It wants to be touched.  It deserves to be touched, and I am embarrassed to admit that I can play it as well as when I bought it (which is not at all).   I don't play guitar (yet.. at least I keep telling myself that.)  Ivory doesn't play guitar either. She plays an upright bass.  She plays an upright bass in an orchestra of children pounding on drums,...

I am trying something new, something daring and reckless. I am going to pack all my hand sewn bags, backpacks, aprons and other crafted odds and ends into my car and take it down to the Missoula People's Market tomorrow.  And, assuming that I get past that nerve wracking raffle to get a spot, I will set up my temporary little shop and peddle my wares with no price. Each and every person can purchase any item of mine for any price. CRAZY? maybe. Items available: Girls Dresses Adult and Child Aprons Toddler Backpacks Tote Bags Cute Stuffed Puppy Dogs Baby Blankets... come by and be a part of my daring social experiment, Heidi

In a forgotten corner of our yard four currant bushes are tucked between a windowless corner of our house, the dog house and the neighbors fence.  A few days ago,  I checked the status of the berries, and they were not quite ripe.  Yesterday, they suddenly were more than ready to pick.  While Sylvan napped and Ivory played in water buckets in the shade under our big tree, I walked around the house and teased hundreds of tinny tart red berries off of the branches. Ivory stood by me at the edge of our porch, sneaking the largest, juciest berries into her mouth, while helping me sort the good from the bad, and in the end we had a solid cup of currents.  What do you do with fresh currents?  Jam?  Of course.  But, the thought of standing over a pot in a hot steaming kitchen for a few small jars of jam...   no, not jam.   I scrolled through recipe ideas on the internet, and none of them seemed quite right to me..  until I found...

They rushed down stream, swept away by the icy current of the creek. Bright paint, feathers and flowers, a central mast and fabric sail making each unique, belonging to a specific child. The younger children reaching after them, whimpering, not quite understanding: "Hey, Boat, where are you going.  I can't follow."  The older children kids scampering after them, laughing and screetching, bending and reaching, trying to grab a hold of them before they crash and capsize in the stick jam at the bend. And we wade in, toes numbing, to reach down and retrieve the doomed vessels. The boats first loosing their color, then their adornments, and then their sails and masts. The bright sun is dappled by the trees.  We relish the cool, the shade, the breeze. Clusters of bruised boats are resting on the bank. The younger children are gingerly stepping closer to the edge of the water, bending down reaching with one hand and holding on tightly with the other, to pi...

I have been slacking.  There are a few recipes that I have been asked for and I just have not been able to remember to write them down when I am sitting at the computer.  Instead, I have been stricken with extreme guilt at random moments of my day. I am writing them down NOW! for Ellen: GRANOLA!  I have made granola... and I have a super easy and cheap recipe that is my favorite.  It is from the More-with-Less Cookbook compiled by Doris Janzen Longacre Simple Granola preheat your oven to 250* combine in a large mixing bowl: 2 cups whole wheat flour 6 cups rolled oats 1 cup coconut (I use unsweetened, but I'm sure sweetened would work just as well)  1 cup wheat germ in a separate bowl combine 1/2 cup water 1 cup honey 1 cup oil 2 tsp vanilla 1 tbsp salt  combine the wet and dry ingredients and mix thoroughly spread out on two greased cookie sheets and bake about 1 hour or until the crumbles are dried and golden store in an a...

It finally got hot here.  Which is a perfect reason to go splash around in the water and play with an underwater camera!  

We were late.  REALLY late. I started out the day with best intentions.  I made banana pancakes while the children still slept, woke them and got them fed in plenty of time to leave the house by 9:30am.  We really were going to leave the house at 9:30, and then I got stuck.  Stuck on my want for Ivory to have her bug cage for the Bug Bash day at camp. For her birthday, Ivory received a bug cage, and Sylvan, in little brother fashion, promptly stepped on it and tore a giant hole into one side.  So, while the children were eating, I pulled it and a thread and needle out and attempted to patch it.  I wove my needle through the mesh while Sylvan desperately tried to wrench it from my hands. Photo credit:  Ivory West - I had no idea she was playing with the camera.. and yes, there is Sylvan's sneaky hand trying to grab the box away from me.  Sewing it was much slower and much more difficult than I imagined it would be.  When I got t...