Gearing Up

We are sneaking out at 9:00 and working until midnight getting ready for the school craft fair.   Working in a fairly professional kitchen blasting Cheryl Crow and making lattes.   We are making honey nut chews and almond truffles among other things.  Vegan truffles.  Delicious vegan truffles made with all organic ingredients.  Vegan, organic, fair trade and locally sourced.  They are so good.  I think it's the coconut oil that makes them divine.  We also have an assortment of other things ranging from bulbs to soaps. 

Kitchen Cut

It is a little daunting for me to start a haircut with this much hair.  Usually when it's like this I run to the experts.  But Eli wanted me to give it a go.  He was leaving on a trip early the next morning.  So I did.

A little snip here.....

and a snip there.

Now I can let down the top layer.  During this whole time he was on the phone to his brother telling him about his trip and school.  They were talking with the clip, clipping in the background. 

Then he goes to the mirror to check it out.  hmmmmmmm

Not quite sure.  It is pretty short.  I don't think I said quite that short.  Where'd my hair go?

Okay signing out Nate.  Not too sure about this.  Mom cut it wayyyyyshorter than I said. Gotta get ready for my trip.

Yeah......I like it!

These Woods

This exceptionally warm weather provided the opportunity to walk in the woods.   We were staying in the house right up from here.   We got to just walk out the door and down into these woods.  Eli found a great stick and the second time around brought down his pocket knife to do a bit of whittling.  He is so comfortable in these woods.  I love to walk behind him and watch him bounce down the hills stopping now and then to pick up the perfect stick to put in his pocket or lace it into a belt loop.   We follow deer trails here and there.  We are reading The Hobbit and I must say after reading that and then coming right out here, these woods seem a little bit more magical.   

Todays Meal

This Thanksgiving Emily took all the pictures.  She took them with her IPod.  This is her perspective of the day.  The one thing she didn't capture were the beautiful pies her and I made.  Pecan and pumpkin.  Since she was about six years old she has been making the crust for our pies and it is always delicious.   I had to coax her a little more this year.  We had to listen to top 40 which was okay because it made for a little dancing in the kitchen.  Also, the experience isn't quite as tactile for her as it used to be.  When she was little she would mix all that buttery goodness in with her clean, little hands.  Working it like the clay that she loved.  Now a days she uses the pastry blender.   Pastry bender or hands these pies turned out delicious.  These pies that I have no picture of.

What is pictured show a few traditions that have been handed down.  First is the Thanksgiving shirt.  My Dad has worn that shirt since as long as I can remember.  For the last few years one of my big boys has worn it.    The polyester shirt that depicts the harvest.  It still stays in his closet and they just put it on for the day.  Also, Ian made the mashed potatoes.  They were really tasty.  We still had the traditional cranberry sauce.   Along with lots of other good things from different households.  This meal was followed by a walk outdoors  right when the light is that reddish color and everything had a reddish tint to it.  Of course, no walk is complete without climbing a few walls and jumping off especially when your mom says no and your grandpa is cheering you on.    

   

The Hawk

This afternoon we came home, unloaded out of the car and noticed the hawk we had seen before was sitting on the fence.  With 6 kids in tow I thought it would surely fly away.  But it didn't.  It sat on the fence.  We went inside and it stayed around all day.  The kids named him Steve.  Some wanted to feed him but I said no due to the fact that it is a wild bird that's not the best idea.  The crows flew by to see what was up and he chased them around for a while.  Then came back to the fence.   

We looked him up in the bird book and found he was a sharp-shinned hawk.  Probably an immature one.  We had thought this bird was a red shouldered hawk but with him hanging around it was easier to identify him.  I guess it's a him since his name is Steve. 

 Meanwhile we were inside making a fall garland to hang in the window.  First we just painted them but realized they needed more texture so we took the leaves we had traced and made rubbings with crayons on them.  I thought it added a little more depth to them.  Made them emulate the real thing a little more.  They look so cool from the inside and the outside.

Sifting Through

This weekend, while sorting through drawers, we found some kits that had sat there unused for quite a while.  Perfect to take outside on a sunny day and do an archeological dig with.   This one was suitable for all ages. Good thing I didn't toss that old bag of bones that I had found excavated from the initial dig.  That way they could fit them altogether to reconstruct the pirate.  Also it left some chalk like debris that was perfect for writing with.  Another find while sorting through things was our collection of heart rocks found this summer on the coast.  They fit perfectly in this basket.  We followed this day of sorting and playing, and mostly playing,  with a showing of Despicable Me.  And in our own theater.  Can't beat that price, right!     

Narcissus Bloom

We are getting ready for our school craft fair around here.  That includes a variety of projects leading to a variety of products.  This one I'm excited about.  Narcissus bulbs in water.  We have prepared them and stored them in a dark, cold room in order to force the bloom.  When they start to get roots we'll take them out into the light.  We have a variety of containers, some from the thrift store and some from the dollar store.  They are so pretty and really shine when the light hits the blue glass.   When coming to our table you'll find an eclectic assortment of items.   More to come about this.       

Harvest Here

Today was a day off school and we took advantage of the lovely weather to get outside and gather goods that were seemingly going unnoticed.  Well, first some of us had to have our nails painted and hair straightened.  Some went downtown.  But the ones that went picking all helped out and helped themselves along the way.  We picked Feijoas and delicious Fuji apples.  Super sweet, fresh apples.  Crisp and juicy.  A bit of a bite of fall.  We have put them in the alleged cellar to use soon.  For canning and jam making.  Jams and butters.

 I just looked up the spelling of feijoa and came across its scientific name and place of origin.  I thought the scientific name was too good and had to add this:   Acca sellowiana, a species of flowering plant in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae, is native to the highlands of southern Brazil, eastern Paraguay, Uruguay, and northern Argentina,and Colombia.  I'll sure be looking at these common bushes around here in a whole new light.
    Wikipedia