Hurry to GardenMama

There is a lovely 3-part giveaway happening on the Lovely Blog GardenMama, and it finishes tomorrow!!! So Hurry!

Well the season is reving up...and inside, I often feel like I want to slow down, with the change in weather.....drinking a little more tea....

I guess it is a good thing to have quality clothes for the dolls...sometimes I think our dolls are better dressed than the children - as handmade items are not always planned out well and end up fitting the dolls better!

Sigh...

Another glance at fall and the impending cooler weather...

This evening our appetizer was freshly juiced carrots, celery, apple and ginger - and winning combo for a immune booster!  I liked the zingy taste - but not everyone did!

I'm enjoying my son's play lately - tea with the dinosaurs!  It happens in different corners of the house...I find a little abandoned tea party of dishes, always accompanied by toy lizards and dinos.

I'm looking forward to putting these lovelies on Elousia's feet in a little while...speaking of Vintage...my parcel arrived this week, from my Vintage Swap  Partner.  It was Lovely!  I will post photos next week!

Hope you weekend is swell!

vintage swapping and tales of my week

A sneak peak at the package I sent out last week....I'm a little nervous, I hope my Vintage Swap partner, Elizabeth, will like it!

This is my first swap - and I love this idea!  The Vintage Swap blog is chalk full of blogs of lovliness! 

I'm a little behind here as we've battled a little flu around our house here - YUP - I'm sure it is the H1N1! (said in a sarcastic voice)  Which is JUST a flu - and can be dangerous to anyone who's immune system is already compromised - like EVERY flu.  I received an email recently with a list of the odds of one dying of this flu - You are more likely to die falling in your bathtub than dying of this flu!  Something to keep in mind. 

And I'm also behind in the WIP wednesdays - I was thinking it should probably be called WIP Week - for me!  Last week my oldest daughter, Selah(4) and I put this Mama w/ Baby in a sling, together - a gift for a special birthday party she went to (when she wasn't sick - no, we were not spreading the flu around).  Being invited to birthday parties is SO EXCITING for little people...I'm sure you've experienced the..."2 more sleeps? 1 more sleep" syndrome!

Well, this is a busy weekend for us - but it will give way to a little family vacation next week for a few days, south of our province!

Have a Lovely weekend...something hot, in a cozy cup.....a quiet moment with fiber or fabric in your hands...and a warm cuddle from one of your loved ones - is what I wish you!

Happy ThanksGoodies!

We've just finished celebrating (Canadian) Thanksgiving.  When we were children, we use to call it Thanksgoodies.

The season is well upon us and snow is coming and going, much to some people's displeasure.  I like the change in season - nope, I'm not fond of
 driving in the winter storms, which are so common here in the prairies.  It has been very rare that our city is shut down after a MAJOR snow dump....It is a little sad, really - I'm so drawn to the Slow Movement!  Where we would also respond to the seasons positively, joyfully and thankfully...sadly most of us have to race around and then the weather becomes an inconvenience.

We spent our holiday weekend visiting and celebrating with family. 

Even though the holiday Monday was a brisk day, it was still so nice to get out for a country lane walk!

The woods were filled with the fragrance of autumn's wild cranberry - the scent my Husband so eloquently coined, "tree fart".  I don't think it smells that bad, I happen to like the dying cranberry smell very much...

...Selah not so much, as I let her smell some crushed cranberry on my hand.

Just a couple of hours later...snow arrives.

Now I'm rushing these days to finish winter somethings for all the "littles".  The items that are on my mind are:

:: 2 hats for the 2 older ones

:: 2 pairs of slippers for the older ones as well - I'm thinking leather soles and up-cycled wool felted sweater, for the rest of the slipper.

:: An up-cycled wool blanket into a sleeping sack for baby, the answer for warmth in her hammock

Hat for baby is complete, crocheted mercerized cotton, inspired by Waldorf Mama's pilot caps....

Speaking of handmade, Garden Mama has a FANTASTIC give away - Hurry! It ends this evening!  Lovely, gorgeous felted beauties for natural play!

Garden Mama says:

"One lucky person will be the winner of everything in this post--five of her gorgeous hand knit woodland animals, in addition to a gorgeous autumnal garland with hand knit acorns, felted leaves, and pumpkins."

Take a peak at these inspiring play things - don't you just want to fill your house with these, as you purge the plastic - crap stuff carefully sorted for the recycling bin rather than garbage! I take such joy in watching the little's play with natural toys, because it also brings beauty to my home. 

Thank-you Garden Mama!

A WIP, A Barter, and A Necklace for Baby

I Love Bartering!  This right here is a barter!  And my WIP! A friend wants a sling made for her friend and gave me some of this cotton/canvas floral print...it wasn't quite long enough so, I'm going to go on a limb and expand my sling making skills (which are not incredible in the first place - I need a sling, I make a sling.), by adding a beautiful green silk panel in the middle of the pouch!  I'm hoping it will be lovely!

She, Ingrid with 4 Littles under the age of 6 or 7?! Will take my children for some sitting in exchange for my time with the machine. I think it's a pretty good deal.  As one may notice, I don't get out much....Personally getting-out-much is over rated anyways...and I know that home life would slide if I was running out everyday.

One exciting process in our lives has been my 4 year old daughter learning how to crochet...It was within days of Elousia's birth, where we were sitting around a lot, nursing, reading books, nursing, knitting, nursing...you get the picture.  And Selah picked up a crochet hook, and finally figured it out.  She made her Mama SOOO PROUD!  I could say my daughter at 4 does not have too much interest in her "A B C's" but she can crochet ;) She's presently working on a necklace for her baby sister - not sure if that is safe or not - but it certainly would be cute...we plan to add beads to the next ball of yarn before she starts crocheting, so we can add wood beads throughout her work.

Have a lovely one!

Fight for Good Bacteria! Introducing Yogurt:

This is my FIRST tutorial ever! I realize that there are already a plethora of Yogurt instructions online...and here is just one more! I often get asked how I make it...and over the years I've been trying a few different methods - always looking for the shortest route! So we begin with 4-1 liter mason jars of milk (Preferably Raw)! Heat on low in a large pot of water! (The dial photo is inspired by So Wabi Sabi)For a few years I made yogurt in this yogurt maker - which, all it is, is an electric warmer! I didn't really like how it was turning out - even though the instructions were pretty simple...but if you are intent on finding one of these, I'm selling it for 5 in my online garage sale.
Back on track; heat to 180 - Not Boiling - the milk will develop a little skin on top, which you can just pinch off when it's cooled with clean fingers. I stick a meat thermometer in the middle of the water, balancing on the jars, to tell when it arrives to 180.
Then pull them out, with an oven mitt, and cool until bath-warm.

Pour a little of milk from each jar into a measuring cup; approximately the same amount from each jar. Then whisk in 4 little packs of the yogourmet (4 of the 6 packs in the above pack) into the measuring cup of the warm milk. OR, no Yogourmet? 4 Tbsp. of yogurt from your previous batch/commercial PLAIN yogurt, instead.
Pour the whisked milk back, a little in each jar, until the measuring cup is empty. And whisk each of the jars with a fork as well. These jars should all feel lukewarm!
Place their lids on - and it's time for their incubation! This can be done in a variety of places. I know of some who put theirs in the oven with the light on. For us, the best place has been a small cupboard (actually shared with the Kombucha - it's ok - their bacterias won't mix - if there weren't any lids - they might do some funky mixing of bacterias - and we don't want that!)
Then they are buried in thick towels! I place one under and around them and two over and around them....and you'll be amazed at how well these old towels provide just the right incubating environment!

GoodNight little hens - in your little nest! When it gets cooler, I've thought that it would not be a bad idea to add one of those magic bags - the fabric one, stuffed with rice or flax - that you put in the microwave, into the little incubation chamber!

And then after 12-15 hours, you say, GoodMorning, and place in the fridge to stop the culturing process. Once I forgot for 24-48 hours! - It still turned out just fine, just much more tangy-sour.

Our favorite way to eat this homegrown good bacteria, is with my Moms apple jelly. Any jam or jelly will do. We also use it as a base for smoothies. And lastly, as long as we have plenty of yogurt, you'll find plenty of cream cheese - poured through a cheese cloth or a light kitchen towel, over night, hung from a cupboard handle over a big bowl....AND then you've also made whey (what's drained)...but that can be another story, as to what can be done with that....

Have a lovely one!

On this blustery day....

We have had an incredible September here for weather. It's like the season's apology for a cold-ish, rainy summer...it saved the best for last.....(and that old 90's song plays in my head; you went and saved the best for last....)

Today Fall arrived....cool, windy, sock and sweater/jacket weather. Baking on a cold day - cozy and memorable - to a time when my mother let us lick the baking utensils! And now I pass the baton of the pleasurable, edible remains on the baking utensils!

Hope you have a cozy day!