yummy fall and w.i.p's

This beautiful season of golds and reds and yellows bursting brightly from around every bend always makes me want to stop throw my arms up in the air and spin around in circles grinning madly!

I can't help it, it's Fall!

It just gets under my skin and rattles my leaves like a brisk breeze through a tiny tree.

I dream of this time of year as the other seasons meander by.

Summer is a buddy definitely; all warm and cuddly.

The freedom to roam that is Summer gets under my wings and I fly; but soon roaming becomes dull and I seek the comfort of my cozy home.

Spring is glorious with her brand new babes taking first breaths.

Flowers and fruit and all things living seem to puff up in the super glowing attentions of 

springtime kisses.

Plump is the word for Spring; plump fruit, plump babies.

Everything seems so shiny!

But the newness begins to quickly fade and the springtime high only last but so long.

And our dear friend Winter.

The renewer and bringer of much needed rest.

Yes winter and I have had our love affairs of snow ball fights and hot cocoa by the fire.

Winter is the place I eat cookies til I pass out and come back for more.

No shame lots of love that is my winter friend.

But no matter how much I love these other seasons, again and again I return to Fall.

Fall is the love child of Spring and Winters wild love affair!

It is the warm coat I gently caress in the warm months like and old flame.

It brings introspection with a child's style of delight.

Both daring you to explore and folding you in safety; fall is the Gemini of the seasonal family.

It is books read til the pages begin to fall out and hundreds of soup recipes to experiment with.

It is nuzzling red cheeks and noses of friends new and old in the ancient dance of warmth and affection.

It is the surprise balmy day that takes you to the lake or the beach for one more hurrah before winter sets in.

And it is the early snow that has you diving for your gear and heading for the slopes

before the ground can even turn white.

Fall you are perfection!

And as always, with Fall pressing sweet rays of sunshine on my chilly window panes, I turn my eyes towards projects left to be dealt with later. Sewing and writing and building and cleaning waiting with baited breath for me to pick the winner of my attentions for the day. All of them equally important and all of them making my fingers itch with anticipation!

What to choose, what to choose what to choose?!

Maybe today will be for cutting out patterns and sewing up merchandise for my Etsy store;

Mindful Explosion. Can share my goodies with the world from an empty shop.

Maybe today will be for finishing the rag rug for the kids reading space or getting clothes sewn for the kids; there were some mighty growth spurts this Summer!

A giant piece of me wishes it was the day to finish the chicken coop! Our girls are getting restless and so am I. But this is a multiple person project and I am but one mama (*sigh*).

Do I hear the gentle calling of books being written? Words spilling from my pen and onto pages once starkly blank. Such a satisfying sensation. It's like birth; sometimes rough, sometimes intimidating, sometimes exhilarating, and always at the end something amazing and beautiful to show for your hard work. But which book to choose? Which one calls loudest?

Oh well, maybe today is just the perfect fort of day to be a cozy cuddly mama. To embrace my little ones and take long strolls looking for gnomes under rocks and seeing dragons in the sky. From the rambunctious (and minorly deconstrucionist) sounds coming from my living room, I think I know what the choice will be.

Enjoy these yummy Fall days and all the folks you get to embrace within them!

What are you up to on this wonderful morning?

Give me a shout; I love to hear from you!

apple chip love

We have harvested the last of the apples from the trees.The counters sit filled with apples so red that I keep envisioning Snow White sneaking in to steal a treat. I have so many apple recipes that my head spins and my imagination is full to overflowing with what to do with all these goodies. And while I am delighted by recipes for pies and cakes and breads and unique treats to be made, sometimes it is the simplest treat that catches my fancy the most.

I am forever trying to find ways to make the stuff in life that we need and be far less dependent on the stores or outside sources. My motto is, "if I can make it I can't buy it" (at least not unless I want to support a small farmer or hand crafter that I really admire!). There is nothing more satisfying than making something that you and your family can enjoy. There is a certain pride to be taken from the DIY lifestyle. This time around I made baked apple chips. It is one of the simplest recipe I have made. It requires very little prep time and few ingredients but the end results are very satisfying and delicious!

Baked Apple Chips

What you will need:

An apple corer (I used my peeler and it worked out nicely)

Cinnamon

Nutmeg

Ginger

The steps are easy as pie (actually easier)!

1. Preheat the oven to 250 degrees.

2. Rinse and core the apples.

3.Slice them into thin-ish circles.

4. Put the slices onto a cookie sheet.

5. Sprinkle with the cinnamon, nutmeg, and ginger.

6. Place into the oven and bake for 2 hours (or until the apple chips are the texture you want them); check them at the one hour mark and turn them over so that they bake evenly.

Raise or lower the temperature of your oven as needed to get the best results.

abundance

It is often that I sit back and take in that which I have been blessed with in my life. The wonderful children who are so smart and sweet, the beautiful home (until I buy my forever home), the bounty always set before me even when times are lean. I have been gifted with abundance in my world. And I am so grateful for it all!

There is nothing like the thrill of getting the first red tomatoes from your garden (even if the plant was dying and they were all picked green). The joy of climbing an apple tree to get the gorgeous red fruits! Our apple tree is small and wonky but my what a producer! We have pulled 6 bags of apples (maybe more) from this one little tree and yet it still yields fruit fresh and sweet and as red as Snow White's own apple. I don't think I have ever purchased an apple (they are Gravenstein) quite as sweet or quite as satisfying as the ones we grab from our own little tree. We have even been lucky enough to have another tiny tree that gave us perfect little kid sized Golden Delicious apples; officially my favorite! Amusingly enough, apples have always made me feel slightly sick before (when purchased from the store all not ripe and sad) but this fresh plucked bounty has never caused me a moment of anything but glee.

It is in the midst of this yummy happiness that I have even more joy to behold. My Loki (all of 8.5 now) has taken to sewing like a fish to water. I actually had to drag him away from the sewing machine yesterday to go play outside for a little while. A mothers pride glowing out of the top of my head! My little crafting boy. He is such an inventive soul in every way already (he can't get enough of technology or science which is thrilling) I can hardly wait to see all of the fantastical creations that come from within him.

My youngest Bodhi, loves to take part in the household antics. He is the best helper (for a 2 year old) and always comes barreling through the yard when it is time to pick apples or water tomatoes or check on the thyme. He takes great pride in his findings of ripe foods. And if many of them have tiny nibbles taken out of them well those will be pie or apple sauce! He is simply sampling his wares. My littlest blessing (especially after all that we have recently been through) we are more than grateful for the life we live!

And though this year we only managed to get tomatoes and apples from our little 1/2 acre, and while the coop is about to be pulled apart and rebuilt for the umpteeth time (my plans were less than perfect but hey I am new at this...at least the girls aren't laying yet  *fingers crossed*), and though the gophers and moles are making it difficult to figure out how best to utilize our sweet little piece of land (we have decided not to kill any of them because as Loki says they have as much right to be here as we do...point well taken) the abundance that comes from the little we have (and shared gifts from the bounty of the gardens of friends) we have more than enough.

this growing flock

I am so proud of our little flock of chickens. They are some of the sweetest little birds and they are cute to boot. They have reached pullet age and it is now time for me to start thinking about putting them into the coop permanently. Up until now they have been in their little cage, living in our bathroom at night and hanging out on the porch during the day, but they are definitely outgrowing this space and it is time to move forward. I just did not realize how hard it would be for me. I am fussing and fluttering like a mother hen. Worrying about our little birds; will they be warm, will the locks hold fast against predators, will the hawk try to eat them if they are free roaming the yard?

The two Bard Rocks, Spot and Bohem, and the cheeky and bossy Black Sexlink Clucks-a-lot

The girls cuddling and being curious about the edge of the porch

So to prepare myself and our flock, and to assuage some of my fears, yesterday, I left the birdy babes to their own devices on the porch. They had food and water and some yummy table scraps to encourage them to poke about and get to scratching and exploring. They seemed to really enjoy spreading their wings and seemed fascinated with all aspects of the porch. They, much like me, will need some time to get used to this new step; none of them even attempted to leave the porch even though they were not caged or penned in any way. And when one or two happened to become adventurous and fall off of the porch, they yarped for rescue until I wrangled them onto the porch with their siblings again.

Our two lovely Ameracaunas, Speckle and Paisley

Red and Clucks-a-lot sampling the bush from the safety of the porch

Next step, to the old coop across the property until the new coop has been built. I am too excited for this building project and to create this new little home closer to us for our little feathered family members.

belatedly welcoming new friends

Finally, finally, finally, we have picked up our little friends. 

We have been wanting to do this for so long and now we finally have! 

I am so proud to introduce our 7 little friends better known as the baby chickens. 

Their is Spot, Candle, Paisley, Clucks-a-lot, Bohem, Red, and Speckle (our little crooked beak baby). 

It is such an exciting thing to be creating our tiny little semi-urban homestead step by step. 

With each new addition my spirits raise and I gain more confidence that this indeed is how I should be living. 

Welcome to the family little friends!