Lately...

Lately, when it rains, it's been pouring. Even through all the rainclouds, there's been some good the last few days too. Birthdays and snowstorms.

 (He's mighty proud of the melted crayon heart we made his daddy).

And this was also a highlight. A faithful reader nominated me for an award. Thank you Nancy from http://littlehomesteadinboise.blogspot.com/

The Liebster Reward is and award being passed around the blogosphere to up and coming bloggers. The rules are as follows:

 

    Acknowledge and thank the blog who nominated you.

    Look for an award image that you like, and post it on your blog.

    Answer the 11 questions asked by the person/blog who nominated you.

    List 11 random facts about yourself.

    Nominate 11 blogs with under 1,000 followers to receive the award. 

    Let the bloggers know that you nominated them. 

    Give them 11 questions to answer. 

 

Questions from Nancy:

When you were a child, what was your dream job? Do you have that job today?

I always wanted to be a mom. I have that job! I also wanted to be a home ec teacher, but I wasn't sure about job stability with that field.

 

What are your 3 favorite books?

The Little Red Hen, Bear Wants More and Bearstein Bears Messy Room. Hey, I read more children's books than adult books lately.

 

If you have to move out of the country, where would you move to?

Not doing it. I'm living on this farm forever!

Can you cook?

Not as good as my husband (who is a trained chef), but he doesn't cook at home. He approves of the things I make him though.

 

Is there any post you’ve been planning to do, but have been postponing for awhile now?

Beekeeping.

 

If you could have any super power, what would it be? Why?

If I didn't have to sleep and would have energy for more projects, I'd love that.

 

Do you prefer the beach or the mountain? Why?

Both, especially when they aren't flooded with people.

   

What movie did you love to watch as a child?

We spent more time outdoors than watching movies.

 

What is something that you learned recently?

How a good rhythm of our day improves everything-learning, my kids behavior, everyone's happiness.

 

What is your favorite season of the year and why?

I love when the seasons change. That's my most favorite time of year. I cannot choose one.

 

What TV series do you watch?

I don't watch TV.

 

 

11 Randoms

1) Many think I am a stay a home mom. I am not. I do have a job outside the home. I used to be full time, but am part time now.  Thankful my husband and I are opposite shifts so our kids are almost always home with one of us.

2) I look forward to what I am having for dessert all day long.

3) My favorite place in the world is home.

4) We have a lot of laughter in our marriage.

5) While I love my life, I miss the days when I could exercise whenever I wanted to.

6) My kids are 3rd generation 4-Hers.

7) My husband is snowblowing our yard right now.

8) My kids and my husband ate a whole pizza tonight.

9) My craft room is a disaster right now.

10) I'd have more kids if my husband let me. He says 2 kids are enough. Boo.

11) I'm tired of being sick and I want this cold/sinus infection to go away.

 

Blogs I'm nominating:

Daisy, at MapleHill101

Mary, at Homegrown on the Hill

Staci, at Life At Cobble Hill Farm

Sue, at Heart to Homestead

 

Angela, at The Mommy Stories

 

Carlee, at Cooking with Carlee

 

 

Questions I'm asking:

1) What's the last delicious thing you made?

2) Is there a recipe you will be trying soon?

3) Favorite Season?

4) Favorite part about homesteading?

5) Least favorite part about homesteading?

6) Best vacation spot?

7) Best day trip?

8) What you cannot wait to eat from your garden?

9) Any good books lately?

10) If you had a super power, what would it be?

11) How do you manage doing all you do?

And include your 11 randoms. Go!

Remembering

Never in a million years would I guess I'd be sitting here today, not posting that which I planned, but something entirely different.

It's with a very heavy heart and tears that I write this.  Our family is devastated by very unexpected loss of a close friend who we have known for the last 10 years. I usually don't post pictures in this space of anyone else other than family, but Sara felt like family, so it feels only fitting to have a post all about our dear Sara.

Way back when I was set up on a blind date with mystery man who I ended up marrying, my husband worked with Sara.  When we moved to Maine, Sara let us know that we were practically neighbors. She was the first local person in Maine who extended greetings to us in our new home.  She was the one who took care of our pets anytime we went away.  She loved all animals. Our dog, Kammie, always knew to check her pockets, as there would almost always be a dog bone for her.

Sara worked in restaurants and always talked about the food scraps tossed in the garbage and how she hated to just throw them away when she knew they would be useful. When we lived at the other house, she asked if we wanted them to compost. At that point, we weren't set up for that, so I declined.  Once we moved and got settled in, I asked if the offer was still good. She was so happy to put those food scraps to good use!

Usually about 3 times a week, we'd have a visitor. Sara would come and leave treats for us. She never wanted to disturb us, so if we didn't catch her, we'd find secret packages for the pets, topped with a couple dog treats, so each of our kids could give a bone to Kammie.  My kids were always disappointed when we missed her.  When we caught her leaving those surprise packages, they'd holler "Sara" and sprint towards her, offering the biggest of hugs. They loved showing her what they were up to and Sara would go with them to give the treats to the animals.

The kids weren't the only ones who looked forward to the visits. I did too. We'd talk about food, gardening, homesteading...all of which Sara was interested.  We talked about turning the 2nd floor of our garage into an apartment someday and renting it to Sara. She loved that idea. Sara enjoyed the simple pleasures of life and would have been so happy living here.

While gifts to the animals were plentiful, she also had gifts for us too. Audra has these little shoes that Sara gave her that she wears frequently. She calls them "Sara shoes".  She gave my kids her entire Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer figurine collection for Christmas, as she knew they enjoyed that movie as much as she did.  Through the years there were also gifts here and there for me too. An ice cream maker, various kitchen utensils, vintage things she knew I would love. Just last month she brought me a shortbread pan that she had and never used as well as some vintage dishes she knew I'd love. Such a giver.

Sara followed this blog daily, probably since my very first posts. Although she likely would not be impressed with me doing a post just for her.  In fact, it's a wonder I have any pictures of her at all!  She always showed up at our community Country Livin' parties, but stayed on the outskirts, pitching in if needed or smiling and enjoying all the children squealing in excitement. She showed up when I was taking my kids' Christmas pictures. Per usual, they sprinted to welcome her. I had my camera in hand and encouraged her to get in on a picture with them. "Oh, not me! Just your kids. I just got out of work, I don't look picture ready."  I made her get in the picture anyway. So glad I did. My Adrian has spent much of the evening tonight just looking at this picture and remembering.

It's hard to believe our dear Sara is gone.  She gave the kids little sponges for the tub just last week. She was here the day before she died. I was afraid something was wrong when she didn't respond to my Email, I actually said to my husband, "Sara always responds, I hope everything is alright." I never expected a goodbye. The last Email she sent was a couple days before she died and it said "Hugs to all!!!!".  Sara will be missed dearly. We're so blessed to have known her.

Antiquing

You know what my annual Christmas gift is? A little Christmas money and a trip to go antiquing by myself. It's quite fun catching their after Christmas 50% of sales.  Certainly a bit more $$ than thrift shops, but it's so much fun! There are sooo many antique shops around us. Rte 1 Southern Coastal Maine....there's one about every mile in some parts!

I recently read that you can tell a lot about a person's loves the most by how they spend their money. Well, I spent mine on my family and my home. Fitting, I'd say.

For me: Another Robinson Ransbottom blue striped pottery. Sure, I have 30 of them. I absolutely need another.  Besides, the resale value is high. I don't know why I tell myself this, as I most definitely not selling any of them.

For the husband:  Another blue hand blown glass.

 For my son: A bunch of quilt squares that are vintage men's dress shirts. There's a ton of these, I cannot wait to finish the quilt.

 For my daughter:  I made my son a train table for table top play in his room. I was thinking of making her something. But then, I found this darling little dresser that is just her size.  I love it.

So there you have it, my perfect Christmas present. Who else loves going antiquing?

Hanging in there...

My evening ritual is going through the photos I take to see what inspires me to write a little something in this space.  I'm usually the paparazzi, so I have plenty to choose from. Only lately, not so many pictures.

It's because we've been sort of out of commission. Well, not really sort of, definitely.  We've been sick, the sickest my family has ever been. In two and a half weeks, my kids have gone somewhere exactly three days. And one of those three days was to the doctor.  You know my kids are sick when Adrian hasn't farmed all day with his play farm and Audra has spent most the day on the couch. Plus neither of them have held a chicken in days. So not our typical.

The flu was suspected, but thankfully that's not the case. Never thought I'd be relieved for "just" sinus infections, but we are. Everyone is still so sick and we are having a hard time shaking it. Nighttime is like having an infant again with everyone up hour after hour. I know I'm a wee bit exhausted when I see that I have so few pictures. Perhaps walking into the doorframe of the bathroom just a few minutes ago and breaking my glasses might be a sign that I really ought to go to bed. I'm heading that way now, but not before I post a little something. I've been trying to get them outside for fresh air as much as possible, but their energy and the Maine winters don't always coincide.

Anyway, I do have these pictures. I snuck up on them while they were playing. Our four legged pal, Kammie, is really the best dog ever.  I'm hoping shortly we can get back into our regular groove.

Sand art

Just some sandbox sand, dye, a pack of note cards (that I got for a quarter at the thrift shop) and glue pulled all together for some kidtime crafting fun. Crafting in front of the fire adds to the fun. I just love setting out the materials and see what they create.

 An added bonus? Some beautiful art to decorate our home.

Itch to Stitch: 12 months, 12 dresses COMPLETED!

 

Wouldn't it be great to commit to making one thing a month? said a friend at  Heart to Homestead . Little did Sue know that I would take the challenge and actually complete it. It's really not a lofty goal, I promise.  Just making a little time for that which you want to do every month is totally do-able if you're interested!  Just working 15 minutes here and there for a whole month and you'll end up with a finished product in no time.  It's easy to let life, family, other hobbies and work get in the way, but it doesn't have to be the case if you wiggle a little time here and there.

I'm super excited how many homemade dresses my little girl has now. She had a couple I made before this challenge, but now she has even more!  I love making little girl dresses, as they are forgiving and will fit for some time, and they can turn into a shirt later on.  All of these dresses were made from patterns I was gifted or bought at the thrift store.  There's only one dress that I bought the fabric new-the rest are either upcycled (many from wool) or from fabric from a thrift store.  My little girl has a bigger wardrobe now and it cost next to nothing. 

Anyway, here's the challenge and the link to all the dresses.


Dress one: Here.
Dress two: Here.
Dress three: Here
Dress four: Here.
Dress five: Here.
Dress six: Here.
Dress seven: Here.
Dress eight: Here.
Dress 9
Dress 10
Dress 11
Dress 12

And here they are, all 12 of them!

Dress 1, 2, 3, 4

 Dress 5, 6, 7, 8

Dress 9, 10, 11, 12

 I think it's pretty neat to watch her grow. 12 dresses, 12 months...she's growing up in mama mades.

12 months, 12 completed projects.  Now this project is complete, I ponder another 12 month project.  What should I commit doing every month for the next year?  What would you pick?

Chocolate Frosted Pumpkin Cookies

Randomly decided to try combining the two-chocolate and pumpkin.  A fine idea, indeed.

 And a disgruntled little boy who had to wait until after lunch.

Pumpkin Cookies (Originally from my friend Staci at lifeatcobblehillfarm.com posted these Pumpkin Cookies with Cream cheese frosting.)


Pumpkin  Cookies
Cookies (from here):

1 c. butter, softened     

½ c. packed brown sugar

½ c. sugar                               

1 c. canned pumpkin                

1 egg                                       

1 t. vanilla                                

2 c. flour

1 t. baking soda

1 t. baking powder

1 t. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. nutmeg

½ t. salt

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

In a large mixing bowl with an electric mixer or in the bowl of a stand mixer, cream together the butter and sugars on low until combined then on medium-high for about 2 minutes.  Add the pumpkin, egg, and vanilla.  Mix well.  Add flour, baking soda, baking powder, cinnamon, nutmeg and salt.  Mix just until combined. 

Drop onto cookie sheet by Tablespoonful.  Bake 10-12 minutes, or until centers look set.  Remove to a cooling rack.  Cool completely.

Frosting

For the frosting: baker's chocolate frosting, right on the back of unsweetened chocolate boxes.

2oz. BAKER'S Unsweetened Chocolate

 

.5 lb.  powdered sugar

1/4 cup  butter or margarine, softened

1 tsp.  vanilla

splash milk

 

Make It

MICROWAVE chocolate in large microwaveable bowl on HIGH 1-1/2 min., stirring every 30 sec. Stir until chocolate is completely melted. Cool 5 min.
ADD sugar, butter and vanilla. Gradually add milk, beating constantly with mixer on low speed until blended.

 Cool before you frost and enjoy!