Category Archives: Kids

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The Longest Day

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The solstice this year also happened to be the hottest day we’ve had yet, nearly 100 degrees, so we celebrated the way you normally celebrate a super hot summer day.

By lazing about.

We tried to stay inside during the hottest portion of the day – it wasn’t just hot, it was thick.  You felt like a hot, wet blanket was hitting you square in the chest as soon as you walked out the door.  We ventured out early to feed and water the chickens (and then every hour or two we had to go out and made sure everyone still had water – especially the 50 meat chicks we have in the brooder).

I stumbled around the garden a little bit, pulling a few things here and there for our dinner in celebration of summer’s official start.  Neve kept stealing out to where the wild blackberry bush has started to fruit, sneaking ripe berries by the handful.

It was also high time to make a blueberry gateau – Paul’s favorite dessert ever.

Once the sun had begun to set the kids began begging for a fire to sit around and play Mad Libs, and maybe roast marshmallows.

I did one slightly better – I made homemade graham crackers from the July 2012 issue of Martha Stewart Living.  The recipe is HERE.

Then after dinner I brought them out to the fire along with some marshmallows and chocolate squares for the first s’mores of the summer.

(I didn’t have square cookie cutters, so I made them round. )

They were gooey, crumbly and messy, but they were good.

We sat out by the fire watching the bats and the fireflies and playing Mad Libs and laughing until after ten when the fire started to die out.  We all went to bed with our books, smelling deliciously of summer and woodsmoke.

Happy summer, everyone.  Let’s enjoy it to the fullest.

 

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Making Day

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First, an update on the monster spider / shed disaster.

Paul cleaned out the shed for me today after continual failure to find and dispatch said monster spider.  I went in after he had thoroughly removed all the old bedding and done an inspection for creepy crawlies.  I brought a broom in because I wanted to clean out the dusty cobwebs from the corners to discourage anyone from returning.

Mr. Monster Spider was waiting for me on the floor.  Paul got him this time.

The shed is ready for chickens.

Hallelujah!

Today, then, was “cleaning day”, at least outside.

Earlier this week, though, I had a lovely “making day” in the kitchen.

My Weck jars had come in the mail so I was ready to make some Brandied Cherry Jam.  We were almost out of bread, so I needed to make a loaf of Pain de Mie.  I had bought some fresh burgers from Whole Foods and I wanted to make some buns to serve them on. AND my good friend, Marie Grace had convinced me I needed at long last to try making yogurt.

I managed to accomplish it all in one spectacularly grueling day.  I’d like to pace things out more in the future, but the results were so worth it!

The jam was the same that I made last year after cherry – picking : a lovely simple cherry jam with some brandy added at the end to balance out some of the sweetness.  I used 6 lbs. that I had waiting in the freezer for just this purpose.

As always, I wish I had more.  Six pounds made only  three of these lovely 1/2L jars plus a pint for my friends Keith and Jessie, who are avowed cherry jam fans.

While the jam was going I was also heating milk for yogurt and letting two types of bread dough rise.

For sandwich bread I use a Pullman Loaf pan, or Pain de Mie pan, depending on who you ask.  I use the recipe from King Arthur Flour, and it’s been a favorite here.  I make a loaf probably every two days.  We also enjoy the Cinnamon version, which probably is to blame for putting a few pounds back on me that I had recently lost.

Anyway, pain de mie has a lovely, dense crumb that is perfect for slicing for toast or sandwiches, and very easy to make provided you have the pan ( a stand mixer doesn’t hurt, either).

(

See? Irresistible!!!

SO while the pain de mie was resting I was also working on those burger buns.  These have hands down been one of the biggest hits ever to  come out of my kitchen.  They are the PERFECT burger bun, bar none.  And again, super easy.  The recipe comes (of course) from Smitten Kitchen and the name says it all: “Light Brioche Burger Buns”.

I can promise you will not be sorry if you make them.

Finally, the yogurt.

I always wanted to make yogurt at home, but for some reason I didn’t think I could make any I’d like without lots of special equipment.  I figured it’d be fussy and time consuming without a yogurt – maker, and I prefer Greek – Style, which is much thicker.

Then my friend Marie posted THIS about making yogurt in a crock pot (or even without one!).  I cheated and ordered a greek yogurt strainer from Amazon, but otherwise the only thing I bought to get going was some local organic, grass-fed milk and a container of yogurt.

The yogurt came out perfect!  At first it had some liquid floating around it (that would be whey, which you can save and use for baking!), but after a night sitting in the strainer it was the thickest, creamiest, most delicious yogurt I have EVER had.

It is so good, even Paul is obsessed with it.  Now we’re talking about it all the time.  “Hey do you think THIS will be good on top of the yogurt?  What if we add THAT to it? IT doesn’t matter if this jam’s a bit strong, it’ll be great with the yogurt!”

I’ve made two batches now, and I’ve been putting it in these lovely little single – serving sized Weck jars.  We’ve been topping them with the cherry jam, as well as some strawberries we had macerated for shortcake.  I’ve even been known to eat a whole jar totally plain and whine for more.

“Making Day” may have been exhausting, but now I know I can make yogurt whenever I want, and our cherries have been wonderfully preserved.

The bread is an almost every day occurrence, but the burgers?  Out of this world.

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Temporary Turtle

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A few days ago Paul borrowed the neighbor’s lawn mower because ours had broken and the grass was getting obscenely high.  It took him awhile to take care of all of it, but thankfully he was going slower than normal because trudging through the high grass, oblivious to the dangerous mower coming at him was this guy:

A little Eastern Box Turtle.

I was out at the store at the time, so when Neve said she was going to clean out the old aquarium to make a home for her new “pet”, Paul saw no reason to argue. He still had half a lawn to mow.

When I got home I explained to the kids that although they are very cute and friendly, these little guys don’t make great pets.  They don’t live as long in captivity, and since he was used to being in the wild, he’d be happier staying there.  I told them about the turtle my brother had as a kid that starved itself to death.  They didn’t want this little guy to be unhappy.

They did enjoy the few hours they had with Mr. Turtle before he was set loose in my garden.  We haven’t seen him since; he’s probably continued on his way to wherever it was he was going when we found him.

He was awfully cute, though!

 

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The Cat Who Came to Stay

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Our neighbor (who we love) has a few outdoor cats that occasionally we will see wandering around our property, checking things out.  Although I am completely opposed to the concept of “outdoor cats” (they don”t live as long, they get into fights, get hit by cars, eaten by predators, pick up diseases, annoy your neighbors by pooping on their herb garden or terrorizing their chickens or transmitting toxoplasmosis to pregnant sheep) I have never been bothered by these cats.

These ones don’t poop on my herbs.

Or pee on our car tires, or scratch up the paint job and make Paul crazy.

They also have never, ever once shown any interest in the chickens.  Even when those birds were free – ranging everywhere.  In fact, Miss Gaga used to escape her pen, wander over to the neighbors’ house, and eat the cats’ food off the back porch.  Sometimes that hen would scare the cats off and hog it all to herself.   The neighbor thought it was hilarious, and started giving her treats.  I made sure to give them eggs for their trouble.

But I digress.

Lately there’s a new dog living next door.  A very excitable young rescue terrier who thinks it is the best thing ever to chase cats.  Usually up the trees.  Sometimes over to our yard.  Where one kitty has decided to stay for good.

We noticed this little tabby with a gravelly meow hanging out on our back deck for a few days in a row and figured she was too scared of the dog to go home, so we fed her.

And then again the next day.

And again after that.

When Paul wanted me to put her in the garage one colder night so she’d be warm I knew we had ourselves a  cat.

She’s what we like to call “aggressively friendly”; you can’t stand or sit near her without a major purr – fest and some loving – up.

Naturally the kids were smitten.

One day we finally got a chance to talk to our neighbor about it and she told us miss kitty’s name: “Furball”, and that she is a pretty old mama cat.   She was sad that Furball had flown the coop in search of calmer waters but grateful we were looking out for her.  Maddie said she looked more like “Nermal” from “Garfield” than a “Furball”, and Paul began calling her “Furble”.

It stuck.

Then, one day Furble left us half of a frog by the back door, and that was that.  She had officially adopted us.

Since then we’ve gotten at least one mole, a baby snake (which she ate most of in front of us), several lizards, and most recently, a baby bunny. (Again, not everyone is going to appreciate it if your outdoor cat leaves half-eaten carcasses on the doorstep. Keep them safe inside!)

Furble spends most of her time laying in the sun on our back deck, or sitting by our back door, begging for food.  In nasty weather we try to entice her into the garage, but we can’t let her in the house.  Our resident house cats would never forgive us.  Also, we don’t know what sorts of weird cat viruses Furble could be carrying from always being outside, so we always wash our hands after petting her so we don’t transmit anything to our indoor kitties.

But, she’s a great little cat and I hope we can do our part to make her old age comfortable.  She’s certainly made herself a part of the family!

 

 

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Puppy Visiting

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We heard the puppies over at Juniper Moon Farm were getting bigger by the second so we had to rush right over and get some cuddles!

Oona is completely in love.  She begged and begged to bring one home RIGHT NOW.

I can’t believe how fast they are growing!  They are making adorable puppy sounds now – barking and growling as the play.

I am in love with the two biggest, fattest ones.  They were totally chill, happy to be snuggled.

We’ve decided to call ours “Orzo”, once we have him picked out.

Much to Oona’s disappointment it will be quite awhile before a puppy comes home with us; he has to stay with his brothers and father as long as we can let him to learn how to be a good guard dog.

Not that Susan, Zac or Caroline are complaining.  More time for puppy love for them!

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The Most Cherry-Full Time of the Year

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Today I gave the kids a break from math and spelling, packed them into the car and drove an hour away for our yearly spring tradition – cherry picking!

It’s a beautiful drive out to the mountains and the girls oohed and aahhed at all the big old historic estates in Albemarle County that we passed on the way.

It’s perfect timing, too, because we just ran out of our last jar of Brandied Cherry Jam that I made last year. And, like last year, we picked waaaaaaaaay more than planned.

In all, we came home with just under 20 pounds of cherries.  At $3.99 a pound…….you do the math.  Every year it’s the same.  We plan to not spend too much, and we pick too many.  I gripe about it as I am paying for them, I gripe about it all the way home.  I gripe about it as I stand and wash them for what seems like hours.

Then, after we’ve eaten our fill and I am planning out what to make with them I always say “We didn’t pick enough cherries!”

I washed, de-stemmed, and packed into ziploc freezer bags about 13 pounds of cherries.  They’re dead easy to freeze, and this way I don’t have to make jam right this second.  I am, in fact, waiting until I can order some Weck jars this year.

Because Weck jars are prettier that’s why.  And yes, they are ALL going to become jam.

It was THAT good.

 

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Shearing Day!

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Okay, you can file this in the “Better Late Than Never” category.  It’s been busy around here!  There’s LAND CLEARING going on!

It’s been a bit slow going, but it’s been good because our landscaper is really looking out for how the land will look and how best to use it without working against what we’ve got.  The good news is there’s a lot of really good trees (read: really old, tall, straight, hardwood trees).  Enough, in fact, that we can sell some to pay for clearing the land and have some left to look nice and provide shade during the heat of summer. It’s going to be great, y’all!

We did take a break from land and house work Saturday to go to Juniper Moon Farm’s Spring 2012 Shearing Party.

And I am so glad we did!  We got to see so many friends that don’t live close enough and spend some time with the animals.

Maddie provided face painting fun for the kids.

The geese behaved themselves quite well.

We also got to meet Susan’s new cow, Luna!

She’s ridiculously sweet.

Our friend Michelle was there with her adorable baby.  Hi Michelle!!!!

Paul and Erin.  He was probably talking about buses.  That’s pretty much what he does these days.

Emily got to talk about her crazy mad skills as a shearer in between working the sheep.  She’s only recently back from a stint at the shearing olympics in New Zealand. (Seriously, google “Golden Shears”).

We all got some Jerry love.

Some more than others.

I’m not sure, but I think Jerry remembers Paul.

He spent a good five minutes trying to pull Paul’s shirt off.  Neve thought Jerry either really liked or really hated that red shirt.

But after he spent an equal amount of time trying to tear off Paul’s ears I decided he definitely remembers Paul.

 

 

 

 

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A Quick Non – Finish

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I sort of finished a sweater for Oona.

As in, it’s done but she won’t let me have it back long enough to properly block it.

The pattern is called Boheme, and I used Juniper Moon Farm’s Sabine.  It knit up super fast, and I added two little i-cord flowers, similar to the Boheme sweater that was gifted to Oona in December by our friend Suzy Q.

The buttons were some adorable Jemima Puddleduck ones I found at JoAnns ages ago, and was thrilled to finally have something that matched so perfectly!

Hopefully at some point it will get blocked so I can get a decent picture of the lace portion on the bottom.

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Neve’s – Eye View

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We’ve been spending time on and off at Juniper Moon Farm all month to visit all the new babies, and last time we were there Neve took off with my camera.  She took almost 300 photos.

The following are the best ones (and for an 8 year old with no real camera knowledge they are pretty good!!!).

I think she’s ready for some formal lessons, don’t you???