{this moment}

{this moment} A Friday ritual.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple special extraordinary moment.  A moment that I want to pause, savor and remember.

Linking with SouleMama

Hot Stuff--A Video Experiment

Composting is an important component of life on the homestead.  It is a great recycler of waste into the most beautiful soil.  We use it to top dress and amend all of our garden beds, around trees, berries, and anything else that we want to see flourish.  We were able to amp up our abilities to compost a couple of  years ago when we got the tractor.  Before then, B would hand turn the compost regularly with a pitch fork, work that he would have to set aside full days to accomplish.  Now with a few minutes and the front loader it is turned and shifted thoroughly and as a result we are able to do much more.  On Saturday, after some nice rain last week, he turned it for the third time this season.  Yesterday you could see the steam coming off of it from across the yard, so he decided to do a little experiment to illustrate just how hot compost can get.  The clips also illustrate how B spends a day when he's off of work and I'm not. :)

what i want my children to know #9

remember your manners.  it seems like this in an antiquated thing, but do not forget to be polite in a time when face to face seems more the exception than the norm.  we are all a bit deadened by the constant digital communication.  do not lose yourself and politeness in the mass of emoji's and lol's.

what i want my children to know #8

be a life long learner and dreamer.  maintain your curiosity.  read. learn. do. share.  if nothing else, i hope your dad and i have shown you how to follow your dreams and teach yourselves how to reach always for the next step on your horizon.  dreaming and learning + trial and error = ultimate fulfillment.

Pigs and Dogs at Play--Video Clip

Emerson is now spending almost all of his outdoor time out by the barn.  He hangs out and steadfastly waits until he can have several minutes of unbridled play with his new porcine friends.  I can not wait to see how they interact as Mabel and Penelope grow!

{this moment}

{this moment} A Friday ritual.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment that I want to pause, savor and remember.

This week a brief word.  Wishing my bright, smart, witty, creative, beautiful girl a happy 14th birthday!

Linking with SouleMama

Cooking Inspirations

What are your top cooking resources?  Epicurious is running a search right now for the top ten cookbook recipes of all time.  I am a sucker for cookbooks, cooking centric blogs, food television and I love the flipboard recipe e-zine.  Since the tastebuds began by picking a chef to emulate each month, and then grew into kicking up regional and themed cuisines as well, I thought it would be fun to look back at what cookbooks I reach for over and over.  My favorites ebb and flow as I discover new books.  A few staples are:

Mastering the Art of French Cooking, Julia Child  (of course!)

Fields of Greens, Annie Somerville

The Art of Simple Food, Alice Waters

The Barefoot Contessa

Jamie at Home, Jaimie Oliver

Culinary Concertos, Long Beach Symphony Association (comfort food recipes that I grew up with)

Where do you draw cooking inspiration?  What are your tried and true cookbooks or resources??

what i want my children to know #7

always keep your child like sense of wonder.  there is so much magic around you, allow yourself to find joy in it.

what i want my children to know #6

simple is not boring.  embrace the simple in this fast paced culture in which we live.  you may find that time passes you by far too quickly, and the simplest things are the most memorable.

what i want my children to know #5

actions speak louder than words.  do not take someones words simply at face value, observe them, see if they walk the talk, that will tell you volumes about what kind of person they are.  be sure that your own actions reflect and affirm the beliefs that you so passionately believe.

Meet Mabel & Penelope

Meet the latest additions to the farm!  After a few weeks of diligent prep work and barn transformation, these two gilts (Berkshire & Duroc)  now call our little farm their home.  As they are named, they will be somewhat permanent.   They will grow into piggy mamas who's offspring will be both pasture raised show pigs and bacon.  As they met just today they became fast friends instead of rivals, I think that is a great sign!  More soon!

The Gloom of Growth

The first of the spring thunderstorms have come and gone.  The steely sky and steady rain  is a different kind of gray than what you grow accustomed to during the winter.  It is the gloom of growth.  The dark wet tree trunks are blooming with moss, raindrops are dripping luxuriously off of branches full of buds, the birds are singing, and as each rain filled hour passed, the grass greened more and more.  Today with crystal clear skies, sixty degree temperatures, and hundreds of frogs serenading us from the water filled ditches, you can just feel spring stretching her arms before us.

what i want my children to know #4

listen to your inner voice.  you know right from wrong and have a very strong moral compass.  there will be temptations that challenge you, but i know that if you stay true to yourself you will thrive.

inspired by kamana at capturing joy everyday

{this moment}

{this moment}-- A Friday ritual.  A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment that I want to pause, savor and remember.

Linking with SouleMama

what i want my children to know #3

family is sacred.  both your biological family, and your family of closest friends.  honor those relationships, they will sustain you throughout your lifetime.

inspired by kamana at capturing joy everyday

what i want my children to know #2

every day is a gift.  though it can be difficult, set your worries aside and savor each moment for what it is giving you.  take the time each day to be in the present, take a photo, draw a picture, simply observe the quiet or hustle around you and internalize these little snapshots in time.  these are the things that will keep you grounded.

inspired by kamana at Capturing Joy Everyday

what i want my children to know #1

smile.  you would be amazed at how much a simple smile, even just to yourself, can change your mood, lighten your heart and affect those around you.

**inspired by kamana at capturing joy everyday

{this moment}

{this moment}- A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week.  A simple, special, extraordinary moment.  A moment that I want to pause, savor and remember.

Linking with SouleMama

The Growing Days Have Begun

If things on the farm do not happen simultaneously, they certainly happen in quick succession.  Mother Nature is wise that way.  As we thank the trees for the early sap for syrup, now is the time to cease in collecting it.  As you can see, the lichen are thanking us for the little overflow of sap.

Today as we removed the spiels from the trees and scrubbed the buckets to ready for them storage, everything around us is hinting of tasks to come.

In a short two weeks our cool weather broccoli, cabbage and cauliflower seeds have blossomed into little plants ready to be hardened off and planted in our mini hoop house.

A large amount of dirt is lifting as our giant rhubarb begins to emerge like an octopus poking up from the deep.

Tender garlic shoots are beginning to poke their ray through their winter blanket of straw.

We have never seen stinging nettle on our property before, and after an exhaustive unsuccessful search last spring, late summer this plant began coming up in our pepper bed.  We left it and it is now getting large enough to transplant into its own area, I am excited to finally try julie's nettle pesto!

It is also spring animal time.  We are trying to finalize decisions on piglets, and since we did not want to brood any fowl in the house this year we have waited an extra month to order them.  Now we are putting together an order for chickens, ducks, and geese to wander the property all summer.  There is never a dull moment as the growing days have begun!