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It’s In The Air

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Can you feel it?

Fall is on its merry way, and I couldn’t be happier.

I turned 36 this weekend, and I spent the day thinking about how fortunate I am at this point in my life, and I realized that unlike many people I know, I look forward to each birthday.  Maybe it’s the time of year; my birthday means fall is coming.  September is easily one of the most beautiful months.  Or maybe it is the knowing that I got through another year on this crazy planet and came through it (hopefully) another year wiser.  Either way I am happiest when the days get shorter and cooler and when the nights are crisp and long with the smell of fallen leaves and wood fires.

My truck full of rocks came and Paul spread them out over the culvert.

It still looks like a big old mess down by the stream thanks to all the rain we’ve gotten, but he drive the tractor over the new “bridge” several times and it is good and solid.  We’ll be able to drive hay over it soon enough.

I haven’t spent too much time admiring it, though.  Since there is still a large pile of brush in the stream next to it full of frogs I am wary of the snakes that surely infest it.  We spotted one in the mud on Sunday, but couldn’t be sure if it was poisonous or not.  I haven’t been down there since.  Next weekend we’ll finish getting it all cleared out for the fences.

I  ventured out Sunday and bought a couple of bottles of french wine in town and an assortment of cheeses  and had a wonderful evening with the book club ladies.  The perfect way to cap off a beautiful weekend.

My friend Jessie brought me this:

A cake with a Dr. Who Tardis on it, decorated by her very talented husband.  Do they know me or what!

 

Even the weather has been in on the wonderful: it’s been much lower in humidity and temperature, making for lovely fall – ish days and nights.

The mums are blooming.

The persimmon tree is fruiting.

I think it’s about time for a mug of hot apple cider.

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Back To School

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Two days of school are behind us.  I think we are getting close to figuring out our rhythm for the year, and I am rather pleased with how well it has been so far.  Oona has taken to it like a dream (as long as I get her lessons done first thing.  She gets antsy if she waits too long).

Last year we did a lot of work on letters and sounds, shapes and colors, so this year we are expanding on that with sight words and counting and basic geometry.

Neve is starting off reading the first Harry Potter book.  I’m excited to see how much more she’ll enjoy the books than the movies.

Emily doesn’t really care what I put in front of her to read; she’d just be happier if she could sleep till noon first.

Maddie’s working on some advanced math and chemistry that terrifies me.  Good thing I have teacher’s guides.  And a husband who is a whiz at both.

And to complete our cozy little schoolroom, we even have a class bully.

Hey kid.  Gimme all your snacks or I’ll come sit on your book.

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Labor Day Laboring

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While most everyone else we know is barbecuing and relaxing for the holiday weekend we’ve been working our backsides off inside and out.

Paul’s been playing in the mud rescuing the stream from the mangled tree debris that our less than wonderful landscaper piled there, and I’ve been cleaning, working on lesson plans and making pasta.  There was also a brief time out for the new season of Dr Who.  Because we’re still obsessed, y’all.

We had to install this culvert so we could extend some logs and mud over to stream as a land bridge without interfering with the water.

Did I mention that neither of us has any idea how this kind of thing is supposed to get done?  At least Paul is having fun with the backhoe attachment on our friend’s tractor.

Now all we need is more dirt and maybe some gravel to cover over it all.

The side Paul has finished up is flowing nicely again.  We even saw a fairly large crayfish (crawdad for you Southerners) hanging out on the bank.

See all the debris still on this side?  Don’t you love it when you pay someone to do a job for you and then you end up having to re-do it all?

All I know is it’s getting done.  Paul even thinks we may start fencing next weekend.

What a fabulous birthday present for me!

As for inside the house, there is pasta drying in preparation for the freezer.  September is when the basil in the garden has grown into a giant, bushy shrub and must be harvested before the first frost.  My favorite thing to do is make up a huge amount of pesto and make ravioli with it.  I can freeze enough to last all winter if I don’t get sick of making pasta before I’ve used it all.

I use Susan’s pasta recipe – in fact if you click that link you’ll see my hands creating the last big batch of pesto ravioli we made last year at this time.

Sweet heavenly pesto.  I could eat it for every meal.

Little pillows of delightfulness!  I let them dry on a cheesecloth or clean dishtowel for an hour or more (until they are not sticky anymore) and then toss them into a ziploc freezer bag.  They can be tossed in boiling water from frozen or fresh and take very little time to cook.

For my pesto I fill a blender with fresh basil leaves, toss in a handful of cherry tomatoes, a handful of parmesan cheese, a heaping tablespoon of minced garlic, about half a teaspoon of sugar, a handful of pine nuts, and 3 or 4 tablespoons of olive oil.  These are all approximate values, and I adjust according to taste.  Not everyone likes sugar or tomatoes in their pesto, but I find it gives it an extra something.  You can also substitute walnuts if you don’t have pine nuts, but I prefer the pine nuts.

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Happy September!!!!

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I can’t tell you how thrilled I am that it is the first of September.   Not only does this begin my favorite part of the entire year, but this fall promises to be more exciting than most.

Right now there is excavating happening out in our stream, in preparation for a culvert to be placed.  This way we can actually get over the stream with things like hay and feed.

This is the last big push before the fencing goes up.

While Paul digs out the stream I am busy preparing lesson plans and getting everything ready for school to start on Tuesday.  This year we have a new addition to our class: Maddie.  She’ll be joining us as a student and working hard to get ready for college next year.    She’ll be bunking with Neve in the former playroom, and I am looking forward to having an extra set of helping hands around!

 

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Cleaning Friday

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It’s Cleaning Friday! At last!

Cleaning Friday is something I started early this summer to ease my wearied mind.  We already had Sewing Sunday (which has become more of a Crafting Sunday, but whatevs) so I could look forward to having a solid day every week where everyone knew that is what would be getting done.  They all know not to bug me to do other things on that day.

Cleaning Friday was born out of the same idea.  I am forever trying to get and keep this house in order, but it’s mostly a losing battle.  Fridays were the day I would work at it the hardest so that I didn’t have to worry about it for the weekend.  Neve and I decided that if we made Friday a dedicated cleaning day where everyone pitched in the rest of the week would be a little easier.

It works like a charm.

The house still gets pretty messy during the week, believe me.  And there is still maintenance cleaning that has to be done daily, like the dishes.  But by and far this is a happier arrangement for everyone.  I am less cranky because I know that reliably there will be one day a week where everyone is scrubbing, vacuuming and mopping.

I t has freed my mind to focus on other projects rather than housework all the time.   It’s also rather wonderful to relax over my cup on coffee come Saturday morning in a nice, clean house.

Just don’t clean up this crafty stuff – I is nesting.

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Quiet Morning Knitting

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With school starting in a week there is an awful lot on my plate that needs attention.  Lesson plans have to be finished, the garden has to be readied for fall, chicken coops will soon need their seasonal clean – out, as will the freezer and pantry.  It’s time to finish up the summer sewing, harvest every last bit of basil to make pesto ravioli for the freezer, enjoy the pool one last time before the weather turns.

There’s also a culvert to be dug so we can easily cross the stream to bring hay and feed and water to the animals that soon will reside there.

There’s excitement all around as everyone senses the soon to come change in season.  Apple picking will come before we know it and the house will be full of the heady scents of cinnamon and ginger and cloves.

 

But for now I am enjoying those rare late – summer mornings when I am the only one awake.  I can enjoy my coffee and work on a sock while enjoying the view out of my new craft – room’s window.  That’s where the morning glories have started to bloom.  This year there are purple, white and fuschia flowers.  Every year they really take off right around this time, telling me it’s almost my birthday.  It’s almost our favorite time of the year.

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New Pajamas

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I finally finished the pajamas I had planned on making for Emily for her birthday.  Better late than never!

The fabric is Tula Pink, and the pattern is from Favorite Things.

The pants are a steampunk-ish mechanical bird, and the top has very spooky apothecary jars.  Very Emily.

I even whipped up a sleep mask to match.

She’s ready for fall already!

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Somebody’s 5!!!!

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We’re back from Orlando!

The bigger new, however, is that Oona has turned 5.  5!!!

SO much about my life has changed in 5 years – it is so different and so much better in so many ways.  And yet it seems that Oona has gotten to be this age in the blink of an eye.

She had a spectacular 5th birthday.  And how can you not, when you are celebrating at Disney?

But first we HAD to go to Hogwarts.

The world of Harry Potter at Universal in Orlando is pretty impressive.  It’s really a must – see destination for all Potter fans.  Although I will say that my friend Jessie and her family went to the Harry Potter attraction in London this summer and saw all of the actual sets used in the movies.  That certainly beat out our experience, but we still enjoyed our fill of Butterbeer, Pumpkin Juice and roasted chicken.  This was the all around favorite of the bigger girls for the whole trip.

Disney was not quite as easy to navigate and the weather was not quite as nice.

I will say this about Disney, though: some things they do very, very right.  We had Oona wear her Cinderella dress to the Magic Kingdom on her birthday.  To that, we got a button from a shop just inside the park that had her name and announced her birthday.  EVERY “cast member” (employee) all day long greeted her with “Happy Birthday Princess!”.  It made her millenium.

There was also plenty of meet and greets throughout the day.

Followed by the famous fireworks spectacular at the castle that night.

There is no way we will ever beat that as a birthday experience.

As for me, I found myself having the most fun at the Animal Kingdom.

Since it was meant to look like parts of both Asia and Africa there was much more plant – life (and shade!).  There were animals everywhere of course, and we were all very excited to see their petting zoo, which promised “Exotic animals of many species”.

Well.

What they had were sheep, goats, pigs and a llama.

That was a total bust.  That was the opposite of exotic.

Fortunately, the safari ride we took more than made up for it.

We didn’t have to touch any of the animals to thoroughly enjoy them.

Now we are back to reality.  Back to planning for the school year which will start in just about a week and a half. Back to digging a culvert so we can make a bridge over the stream.  Back to getting fencing set in.

Because y’all, my birthday is coming up.  And you know getting my animals home is the one and only thing left for me to be completely content.

🙂

 

 

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Vacation, Part Deux

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Greetings from Orlando!

We are running ourselves ragged visiting a different theme park every day with the kids.

Our feet are sore like you would not believe.   And we have two more days to go.

Mom is holding down the farm, braving one jackass rooster and some stubborn hens.  She’s gone above and beyond this time, I assure you!

Neve and Emily have gone on their first big roller coasters  and we all experienced the incredible Wizarding World of Harry Potter.  Wands were chosen all around, and Oona is angry that they don’t actually work.

I can’t post pictures from here, but there’ll be plenty when we get home Thursday.

Stay tuned!

 

 

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The Beach is Back

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I am happy to report that after 4 blissful days at the beach I am back and feeling great.  There really is something very healing about the ocean; just listening to the waves and feeling the sea breeze does something to your soul.

This year was my favorite beach trip.  Two of our lovely friends brought their new babies with them (both were born in December) and it was by far the most relaxing, stress – free and fun trip we’ve had. The babies were wonderful and I thoroughly enjoyed taking pictures of them discovering the beach and enjoying some time with their mamas.

There was so much good food that I may have put on a pound (or 5).  I brought homemade peach salsa, my friend Gabi brought a delightful Argentinian fruit spread that we ate slathered in large amounts on good hard cheese.  There was plentiful fruit and summer sausage brought by Jessie.

Of course we all splurged at the restaurants as well.

But the one thing I will really remember from this trip was the Stand Up Paddle Boarding that Diana, Jessie, Margie and I tried.  It was something that was a little bit outside my comfort zone, but I didn’t want to miss out.  I am SO glad I did it.  It was much easier than I feared and we had a blast.I wish I had pictures to show you, but I couldn’t bring my camera.

Little Liam was my seat buddy on the ride out and back.  He giggled and cooed and was a total angel both times.

Teddy was very much into exploring the sand.  And is so obviously in love with his mother it made my ovaries hurt.

Rainbow!  Fortunately the rain didn’t affect us too much – it was brief, and gave us a glorious rainbow.  UNfortunately, due to the cloudiness we were unable to see the perseids meteor shower.

The best beach crew you could hope for.

I’ve linked above to the company we used for the paddle boarding.  If you are ever in Virginia Beach, give them a try.  They were reasonably priced and a ton of fun.