Busy Hands Homestead

After a string of super busy weekends (What weekend?) during which Adam was finishing some projects, I finally got everyone out of town and into the woods: 

A few weeks ago I sat in the noisy gym at the Y (during family fun time) listening to a voice mail from one of my WIC counselors asking me to call her back regarding the online session I had just completed.  At my last visit I had been offered the choice between a follow up in office visit or an online session on wichealth.org after which I would just email the office. I took the online choice and all I could think was: SHIT!... because there is nothing like an online, blank, anonymous appearing box to solicit my honest and uncensored opinion on a subject, especially a subject related to food.  And that opinion had NOT been kind.  In my mind the person reading my criticism was not received by the sweet lady I look forward to chatting with every few months but rather the creator of the lack luster content I had found when I clicked through the segments of my Meatless Meals Section I had chosen to complete. When I finally did speak to her, I...

AH!!!!! I am about ready to scream!!!!!  I have spent the last 45 minutes trying to get one text box onto an image and I can not figure it out. I have focused on it so intently that my coffee is cold. Cold. I don't have time for this!!!! And then I accidentally saved it like this: I can't figure out how to undo it.  Anyway that last bullet point is supposed to say that I added 3 double crochet into each stitch for the bottom half of that corral shape (it appears denser).  A few months ago I watched this:  The beautiful math that links coral, crochet and hyperbolic geometry: Margaret Wertheim  I finally sat down and made myself a "stitch library".   Why?  Well, for years now I have been telling myself that I am going to combine all those craft skills that I love: knitting, crochet, sewing and pottery.  And then I fall short of that goal. I like the ceramic pieces too much on their own...  or I make up s...

I took Ivory, her friend and Sylvan to the Mini-Naturalist Program at the Montana Natural History Center.  The topic was birds, nests and eggs.  We held nests, matched eggs to their mamas, went outside, collected nesting materials, watched an osprey pair bring branches to their nest, and then built our own nests.  Here are Ivory's nests: They are made of play dough , sticks, leaves, feathers and yarn scraps. When we got home she added birds. Lego Birds.

This is my adaptation of the Sweet Potato Salad with Chipotle Chili Recipe found in the cookbook  Best Bite Recipes published by Oklahoma State University Seretean Wellness Center Kitchen.  5 large sweet potatoes, peeled and cut into 1" pieces toss in oil, spread out on two cookie sheets and roast at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for 30 - 40 minutes place roasted potatoes in a large bowl and allow to cool while making the dressing 1/4 cup olive oil 2 Tablespoons lemon juice 1/2 Teaspoons cumin 1/2 Teaspoons chili powder 1 diced Chipotle Chili (canned)* 1/4 cup sour cream 1/4 Teaspoon salt (or to taste) Pepper to taste combine the above listed ingredients in a small bowl and whisk together  *if serving this salad to children, I recommend adding the Chipotle pepper after a few servings have been set aside  1/8 cup finely chopped onion 1/4 cup finely chopped parsley pour the dressing over the potatoes, add the onion and parsley and tos...

Ready for Anything. Bring. It. On.  "Help!  I can't get up!" Planting Seeds for Summer Plants in the Dining Room

While Sylvan napped Ivory cut the butter into pieces and dropped them into the mixer. Yup - she is making the icing for Adam's birthday cake in a velvety unitard.  It is  An Almond Torte .  A ridiculous cake really - 18 eggs, a pound of butter, cocoa, espresso, chocolate covered coffee beans.  We creamed yolks, whipped egg whites and baked the tree layers early, early in the morning.  (I tried to get up early enough to do it alone, but instead I had two enthusiastic helpers for the whole process.) Adam's other gifts: a Stag Horn Fern and an Orchid I miss Adam....  and creating an elaborate cake is one way to make the missing him fun.  I can't get away with making a cake as elaborate as this when he is walking in and out of our kitchen, opening the fridge, and snooping around.  How often do I get to make an entire dinner that states it is better if made a day ahead?  The day before he comes home - that's when - and...

"Hugh.  That Heavy!" Sylvan sighs and steps out of my path. He follows me, barely a step behind, from the stack of cinder blocks to the freshly leveled earth underneath the maple tree. "Hugh.  That Heavy!" I grab a second block. "Hugh.  That Heavy!" With each block I lift, he sighs, and walks directly behind me, following my steps. "One More?" "Hugh.  That Heavy." Our house came with piles of stuff - not junk exactly - just stuff: bricks, cinder blocks, landscaping rock, pine boards, steel rods, 5 gallon buckets..... "Hugh.  That Heavy." Adam's birthday is on Friday. I finally thought of a birthday present. Sure, he has a long list of tools he wants/needs, but I don't dare pick those out for him...  not to mention that the tools remaining on his wish list are pricey.  Those purchases can not be clandestine operations. But, he also keeps mentioning that he wishes he had a place to burn his piec...

Sunday Cooking Marathon: aka Adam starts his Field Season Rainy day walk through the neighborhood. Look Ma: NO FEET!!!! Today I washed, chopped, cooked and transformed: 5 lbs of Carrots 1 bunch of Kale 1 head of Cabbage 3 Onions 6 potatoes 1 lb of Sprouts 1 lb of Tofu 1 lb frozen Spinach 1 lb frozen Green Beans 3 Cucumbers 2 cups Walnuts 2 cups Raisins  1 lb Shrimp 1 lb Ground Beef 1 lb Italian Sausage 1/2 bunch of Cilantro 1/2 bunch of Parsley  into:  Eggrolls Enchiladas Spinach Soup Tofu Cucumber Salad Moroccan Carrot Slaw  Moroccan Chicken Salad with Green Beans and tonight's dinner: Spicy Shrimp with Cucumber Salad, Cilantro and Flat Bread These dishes, along with a few more ingredients and some other odds and ends, are all of the lunches and dinners that Adam is taking with him on his first BIG planting project of the season.  There is enough for him, for us and a few lun...

This week we have awoken to beautiful skies, a bright sun, and a day full of possibilities. It is Spring Break. We are taking a break too.  We are avoiding our usual routine, and all the places filled with crowds of people - well - on their spring breaks.  We are avoiding the YMCA, the Children's Museum, the library.  We are home.  We are outside. We are in the sunshine.   The garlic I planted last fall is greening the brown surface of the garden bed.   Still invisible rows of radish, spinach, and calendula are nestled in between the green.  Today I dug my hoe across the surface of my giant "raised bed".  It really is a filled in foundation of a shed. ( Visible in the old picture I found of our house .)  I am thinking, planning, dreaming and sketching out the succession of plants I hope to grow this year.  I pounded stakes into the ground and strung yarn from post to post, marking a path.   Last y...

March is over.  March is OVER!  The last weekend finally wrapped up a few of the months activities, and of course, it was also Easter.  Three weeks ago I watched the flames fade into the lightening sky.  The wood kiln crackled and popped.  And then we waited.  The door was finally un-bricked and all the ceramic wares were still warm to the touch. We unloaded  scraped and stacked.  I frantically wrapped sculptures, mugs, cups and bowl into pieces of newspaper.  I still had to drive home, pick up the kids, shop for the Easter goodies (last minute - of course) and drive down the Bitterroot valley to our weekend destination.  I checked my email when I got home and found out the results of another of March's projects - the winners of the Second Annual Bathing Beauties Bead Challenge .   Check them out.  The first place winner is AMAZING! I packed the car. Loaded up the kids, the dogs and two sto...

"Getting Work Done!" Sun kissed cheeks.  The sun was so bright on our after dinner walk. For a few short moments the mountains were tinged with rose.