Category Archives: Kids

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Surreal (But Really Great) Weekend

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Last weekend something amazing happened.

Through the combined power of Facebook and Juniper Moon Farm, I reunited with two friends I had not seen in literally twenty years.

I found my friends Heather and Sarah on Facebook – we had been inseparable in middle school – after not having seen them or known where they were for nearly two decades.  We fell right back in to our easy banter and started to catch up and get to know each other again, and then Susan had a sale on Farm Stays this summer.  Heather snagged one for herself and her girlfriend Karen and we couldn’t wait to have a mini reunion!

Heather and Karen stayed three nights at the farm and Zac and Caroline fed us the BEST dinner every night for the stay.  Sarah and her husband James live, coincidentally enough, about two hours east of us and we were able to make a day of visiting Monticello, Michie Tavern, and Ashlawn – Highland.

I even brought the girls and they behaved rather well for such a long day on our feet.

We couldn’t have asked for better weather, either.  The mountaintop was beautiful with the leaves just starting to turn.

It really was surreal at certain moments.  Here you have friends who were *thisclose* at one time and still feel that connection and that ease around each other, but at the same time it feels like you’re getting to know someone new.  It at times takes you back into your teenage head and you remember all of your hopes and plans you had together, and then you’re suddenly in that future together but in different and unexpected ways. I couldn’t always wrap my brain around it.   I really wish I had pictures of us from back then to compare, because I would have recognized Sarah and Heather anywhere.  It’s as though we are simply more confident – looking versions of those girls from long ago.

I guess it’s fitting that this “historical” (for us, anyway) reunion took place at the homes of former presidents (and if you don’t know which ones, please click those links!)

My kids took to my friends right away, and were very sad when we all had to part ways.

It was a brilliant day, a wonderful visit, and I am hoping we’ll get to do it again soon (and NOT twenty years from now!).

 

 

 

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Old Farm Day

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Our very rural county does not have a county fair.  We barely have a supermarket.  Very little excitement happens here (unless you count the various animal escapes or occasional tornadoes and forest fires).  However, the first Saturday of every October we have our county fair equivalent: Old Farm Day.

The basic idea is a showcasing of livestock and antique farm equipment from local farms.  But that’s not all.  There’s the local orchard making open kettle apple butter all day.  Pulled pork barbeque and kettle corn.  Square dancing and bluegrass.  Draft horse plowing demonstrations, animal sound contests, beekeepers with honey and mechanical bull riding.  And tractors on display.  Lots and lots of old tractors.

This year we met up with Zac and Caroline for their first Old Farm Day.  They seemed to enjoy it as much as we do.

I will say that there seemed to be less animals this year, and there was no one doing any spinning or basket weaving demonstrations.  Otherwise it was quite lovely, and I would have stayed until the bitter end had we not had things to do back home, and small children hanging off us and asking to buy everything in sight.

LOVE this old chicken coop!

11 Ton steam engine built in 1921 to power plows or mill machinery.

The location is beautiful – it’s one of the oldest former plantations in the county.

Waiting for the kids’ “Tater Hunt” to begin.

“How can we get this thing home without anyone noticing???”

Neve & Oona’s “Tater” haul.  You get to keep what your kid grabs out of the ground!

That’s a “Large” size kettle corn.  Paul might have bought an extra – large, had they offered it.

Oona and Neve each lasted (barely) 10 seconds on the mechanical bull this year.

We left happy and satisfied with our Old Farm Day experience, and look forward to next year!

PS – plan your 2012  Juniper Moon Farm Farm-Stay experience accordingly!

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An Apple A Day

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After our yearly apple – picking outing yesterday we should certainly have an apple a day for quite awhile!

Although we try to make it out to pick every fruit of the season – cherries, strawberries, peaches – our favorite “not to be missed” fruit to pick is apples.  It’s something to do with the changing of the leaves and the weather and how we look forward to months of apple pies, apple sauce, apple butter and more.

This weekend was perfect because there was a definite chill in the air and it was over cast – very fall – like.

Three types of apples were ready to pick: Jonagold, Golden Delicious, and Red Delicious.  I’ll admit – none of these are my favorite.  But, I’ll head back in a few weeks when the Winesaps are ready and pick my own little stash.

The orchard was pretty crowded and the air was full of the scent of fresh cider donuts and the sound of apples falling to the ground.  There were lots of fallen apples.

I know the people that run the orchard go through and collect these later for some use (cider?  dunno) but seeing them all there made me wish I could collect a bunch to take to my goats and llama – they love apples!  I also imagine that the pigs over at Juniper Moon Farm would be equally happy to have them.

The orchard we go to every year is on a mountain – top and the views are stunning.  Of course, the day we went was overcast so it had less of the wow – factor.

Oona and Neve wanted to bite into those apples right now but we made them wait until we could go home and wash them.

And of course we went for the donuts – you can’t not get some after smelling them the whole while.

I love the country store there – and I wish my larder looked like this!

The pumpkins were also sorely tempting but we decided it’s still a bit early to be bringing those home.

At the end of our trip we had over 60 lbs of apples to lug home.  I brought a big big over to Caroline and Zac at the farm, but when I got back home and saw just how much was still left I kind of wished I had given them more.  I’ll be spending the next week making every apple concoction you can imagine.  And I assure you we’ll be eating apple sauce all through the cold days of winter.

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Hurricane Prep

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So we on the east coast are having a small “thing” this weekend.  Just a little stormy thing you may have heard of called “Irene”.

As if the earthquake (and subsequent continuing aftershocks) we had earlier this week weren’t excitement enough! (Yes, we’re only about 10 miles or so  from the epicenter of that little shaker).

But onto Irene.  We’re in central Virginia, safely inland.  We’ll see plenty of rain and wind and I am sure the river nearby will be flooding (it does whenever we get significant rain, and I am glad we don’t live very close to it).  Our creek out back will overflow and our yard will be a nasty, muddy swamp.  Also, since our power tends to go out at the drop of a hat I am fairly certain we’ll be without power at some point over the weekend.  Hooray for generators! (Though they do take some of the excitement out of a good ol’ power outage, don’t they?)

For all of these reasons we’ve gotten our hatches battened – down and our tanks full of gas and our larders full of provisions.

Except rum.  It seems I have somehow managed to overlook rum.  How on earth will I make my Hurricane Cocktails without rum? Ah well, first world problems.

What we DO have is a freezer full of prep work.  Slow – roasted tomatoes, bean & cheese burritos, marinated chicken, sandwich rolls, and fresh pasta.

I made pasta, y’all.  Thin spaghetti and pesto ravioli.  I now owe a whole new debt of gratitude to the folks at Kitchenaid, who make a kick-ass pasta roller set for the stand mixer.  Susan gave me the recipe and a run down of how it’s done and I was off!  The spaghetti and ravioli are in the freezer awaiting a plunge in hot salty water when we’re ready to eat them.

I also went out and filled the chicken coops with lots of dry bedding since it promises to be a wet and muddy and miserable few days for them outside.  All the towels and napkins have been laundered as well as fresh under garments for everyone.  The dishes are all clean.  The house has been (mostly) picked up and vacuumed.

I have plenty of knitting projects to work on and a Kindle full of books to read. The kids have plenty of books, paper and crayons and puzzles.

I wish we went into every weekend this prepared.

 

 

 

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Sewing Frenzy

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I’ve been spending most of the hot days lately inside the craft room, air conditioning on full blast, sewing.  I just can’t get myself to knit when it’s this brutal out.  I still have piles of unfinished sewing to get to, but this is what I’ve finished up this week.

First, an Oliver & S dress for Oona.

Next up I have been working on some new pj pants for everyone.  The pattern is from Weekend Sewing by Heather Ross.  So far Oona and Neve’s are finished, using fabric sent to us by the always delightful Jellenp.

They’ve been wearing them non – stop and I can’t wait to finish mine so I can be all comfortable, too!

Lastly for now I am pleased to have finished my Traveler Dress from Sew Lisette.  I had to make some adjustments to the pattern for it to fit properly (the waist was far too low and I had a bit of trouble with the collar) but I am really happy with how it looks on me.  The fabric is from Anna Maria Horner and I just adore it.

I may have to make one in the orange version of this fabric, too.

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Beating the Heat

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We’ve been dealing with some nasty heat here in central Va.  It’s been so hot that even the pool is not a good idea during the day.  The water in it is up to almost 100 degrees.  That’s the one downside to a smaller pool – the water heats up fairly quickly in this brutal weather.

It’s been real work making sure the chickens have plenty of water and keeping the garden from frying up to nothing.

As for us, the lighter the food, the better.

I brought home some local peaches last weekend with the intent to make a cobbler but never got around to it.  Then the kids snacked on a few, and before I knew it I had too few overripe peaches to do much of anything with.

But what I DID have was a new popsicle mold sent to us by our lovely friend Jen.  I also had a big tub of Greek yogurt that was nearing its expiration date.

Et voila!  Just like that an idea was born.  I threw the peeled and chopped peaches into the blender along with the yogurt and a splash of vanilla extract and whipped them up.  Then we poured it into the popsicle mold and stuck it in the freezer.

No recipe required, and Oona approves!

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Busy Week

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This week the girls are staying with their grandparents in New York and the pressure is on to get things done!

Don’t worry, I am making sure to have plenty of relaxing down time as well.  Lots of Japser – cat cuddle time is happening, lots of knitting time with Gulliver in my lap, lots of catching up on the tv I can’t watch with kids around.

BUT.

Also lots of cleaning out, throwing away, packing up for storage, weeding, steam cleaning, etc.  You get the idea.

Even better, lots of knitting and sewing.  I am getting ready to put the finishing touches on a strip patchwork quilt using all of my precious discontinued  Heather Ross fabrics.

It’s looking better than I could have hoped, and I found a queen – sized flat sheet at WalMart that looks very similar to one of the Heather Ross polka dot fabrics.  It’s doing nicely as my quilt backing.

But it won’t get done tonight.

Tonight I am taking Maddie to PF Chang’s as a belated birthday gift.

Hooray!

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Another Solstice

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It’s the summer solstice today.  The first official day of summer. The longest day of the year. The day after which all days will begin to shorten.

This is a day we enjoy celebrating.  There’s no commercial or familial obligations; most people barely acknowledge it.  It’s a day for us to celebrate something more basic – the change of seasons.  More specifically, today we celebrate the best parts of summer.

Traditionally, this is best done outside.  Swimming all day, or peach – picking like last year.  Eating all our meals outside, the last one under a growing canopy of night, the starts just beginning to twinkle and the fireflies and bats just beginning to show.  Later on, a campfire with marshmallows and games or stories.  Maybe even singing.

This year, the weather wasn’t that cooperative.

We tried swimming, but as today was the first day over 80 degrees in a week or two the pool water was decidedly too cold.  Besides that, various thunderstorms rattling through the area kept us inside as well. There won’t be any eating outside tonight (too muggy and buggy), no fireflies, no bats.  (Well, there might be, but between the clouds and mist, and whatnot, you know).

So we’ve tried out more of the quiet, unsung sweet parts of summer.

Making blueberry muffins (and eating them all before even one picture could be taken).

Quietly watching the approach of a summer storm (a non – threatening, no – tornado kind of storm) from the safety of the front porch.

Making a round of Butterbeer for the kids.

Reading (Emily is working on the 4th Harry Potter book, Neve the first.  I am reading the 3rd book of The Hunger Games trilogy.  Riveting!)

Napping (okay, that was just me).

And enjoying our favorite two summer foods for dinner: corn on the cob, and pesto.

We feel pretty good about this low- key solstice.  We’ll be back to our favorite summer activities soon enough.

Happy Solstice to you all!

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Flutterby

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A few weeks ago I was weeding all of the grass that likes to grow in massive clusters in my front garden box where I have my herbs.

Seriously if only the grass would grow on the lawn like it grows in my garden areas!

Anyway I spotted a bright caterpillar on a stalk of dill.  An unlikely place, I thought, to find such a creature, but I was happy because normally the only caterpillars we come across are the ones that turn into giant ugly brown moths.  Even a luna moth caterpillar would be welcome, but no such luck.

Until that day.

We brought him in the house, stuck him in a glass jar along with the stalk of dill he had been working on, and by the next evening he was spun into a nice chrysalis.

Then the waiting game began.

We looked up what type of butterfly we were growing – a Black Swallowtail Butterfly – and read all about how they grow and how they change and how long it takes.

And then two days ago….

Our patience and vigilance paid off.

We set him out on the blooming butterfly bush out front and watched him fan out and dry his wings for awhile before taking off into the world.

Good luck out there little butterfly!

 

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Cherry Picking

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I’ve been trying to post this for a few days now, but I’ve had technical difficulties.  You know, the kind where your computer develops a nasty case of I hate you and I refuse to do your bidding.

But we’ve solved (fingers crossed anyway) our glitch and I can tell you that we went cherry picking at Spring Valley Orchard and brought home TWENTY POUNDS of cherries.  Sweet, dark, delicious juicy cherries.

You know, at first I thought maybe twenty pounds was a lot. Too much, even.  But you know what?  It takes an hour to get to this place, and it takes a whole lotta cherries to make pie, make preserves, make drunken cherries (more on these to come), give some to friends and family and still have plenty left for just plain snacking.  It makes me wish I could grow my own.

We lucked out that they opened on a day that was not too hot or humid, or too sunny either.  In years past we’ve finished up at the orchard red, hot, thirsty and grumpy.

Not this year.

Of course, stopping at Starbucks on the way and picking up a giant Mocha – Coconut Frappuccino didn’t hurt.

We also didn’t sample them this time.  We realized that they spray the bejeebers out of these trees to ensure decent yields, so we washed them thoroughly before using them.  It was very,very hard to wait.  It would be nice for there to be an organic orchard here, but I don’t honestly think it’s feasible in these parts on a commercial scale.

When I got home with my 20 lbs of cherries I had the idea that they should sell cherry stoners at the check – out stand.  I ended up going into Charlottesville to buy one.

It was hard tearing the girls away from the trees – they would have kept on picking all day if we’d let them.  And I might have, if not for the cost (cherries aren’t cheap!).

It’s quite a remote spot, this orchard.  You feel as though you’re heading further and further into nowhere (though it’s beautiful).  There’s a quaint old cemetery behind the stand surrounded by a stone wall, giving the impression that it may have been an old homestead at one point.

It felt remote and somewhat lonesome, but what a view!

As soon as we got home we ate at least two big bowls full of cherries.  Then I began the arduous task of washing, drying and freezing several bags.  One bag went to Juniper Moon Farm and two bags went to my parents as an early Father’s Day and a Happy Birthday to my mother. Yet another bag became a cherry pie.  The pie barely lasted a day.  Even my husband, who professed a deep dislike for cherry pie all his life, devoured it.  I believe he may have eaten half that pie himself.

And that’s when it hit me.

Twenty pounds of cherries is nowhere near enough.