hello july!

it's a good thing i'm back in shape... you've got to be ready for summer around here! it's beautiful out and there is so much to do. and of course it's now BERRY season, yay!!



i thought we had missed strawberry season. luckily we found a farm that still had strawberries this week, and they are so good. they burst with sweetness when you bite into them. um...sorry california but oregon berries blow you away! we met some friends on tuesday, and after one mentioned how happy she was to find some strawberries in her freezer this winter i knew i needed to go back for more. off i went by myself this morning before our very hot day revved up, i heard we were in the high 90's.

i have 4 shelves of strawberries freezing to bag up tomorrow, 'cuz they have to be frozen without touching each other first or they lump together. and then tomorrow i am going to make freezer jam! i'm so excited. i've heard that it's easy, and all you need is strawberries, pectin, sugar, canning funnel, and jars. i googled how to make it, and beyond cooking the pectin down and mashing strawberries i think it will be fairly easy. you know i'll keep you posted. it just all makes me remenisce about the apple sauce adventure with sarah, i'm determined to ace some of these skills! speaking of strawberries...

i can't believe i haven't shared this recipe with you, one of my favorites. breads can be great for meals, snacks, potlucks, and family-in-need meals.

it's from claire's corner copia cookbook which has lots of great recipes, check it out.

Strawberry Bread
makes a 9-x-5- inch loaf

2 eggs
1 cup sugar
1/3 cup soybean or vegetable oil
1/3 unsweetened applesauce
1 1/2 cups unbleached flour
1 teaspoon cinnamon
1/2 teaspoon baking soda
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon freshly grated lemon zest
1 1/2 cups sliced fresh strawberries
1/2 cup chopped walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. Lightly whisk the eggs in a mixing bowl. Add the sugar, oil, and applesauce, beating for 1 minute. In a separate bowl, whisk together the flour, cinnamon, baking soda, salt, and lemon zest. Pour the liquid ingredients over this mixture all at once and stir well to combine. Stir in the strawberries and walnuts.

Spray a 9-x-5- inch loaf pan with nonstick cooking spray, or grease and flour the pan. Pour the batter into the prepared pan, using a rubber spatula to scrape the bowl. Smooth the top. Bake in the center of the oven about 1 1/2 hour, until a cake tester inserted in the center comes out clean. Let stand for 5 minutes before inverting onto a cake dish. Carefully turn so that the flat side is on the bottom. Enjoy, we love this!

a reprieve

we're back from our unplanned stay in portland! chris had an interview there on tuesday (a hint to the stress in our lives) and we asked the winklers if we could come for a few hour visit. a few glasses of esb velvet, an upset 5 1/2 yr. old (with 3 packed bags mind you) and a very dear friend coaxing a little stay and we did. marley and i. the lure of a midnight showing of transformers 2 with dad and total domination of computer and tv without his sister lured jasper back home!

it was good, really good. we laughed, the girls played nonstop, we people watched out front, an old neighbor in norfolk who is living in portland now came over, we went to a street festival, and carolyn is an EXCELLENT cook, and an even better chaufer to a few well picked stops. ikea being one, and one stop we were both thrilled about was a thrift store, with thrift store prices.

i scored some things, and put things back that i didn't really need. ( hehe) but look at these lovelies...

beautiful haeger candle holder (yes, the japenese s & p shakers are thrifted, but from va)it has different sized openings for different sized candles, nice little bonus.

how cute is this little shelf? it needs a shiny coat of another color, maybe yellow, or bright light blue... and some fabulous small art from etsy....

oh, want a close up? ok...

it's wood, and made in syracuse, ny. as a kid i actually lived 30 miles from there. in a little town called new hartford. not that it matters....


and these


awesome patterns, to be broken and reapplied, mosaic style. i made mosaics for years and sold my pieces in shops in nc and va, and did private art parties (so fun!). i really miss it, and sort of cringe when i think about how much goodness was in my studio. that i tossed. to move. i know, dumb. i am slowly staring a collection and will start making small pieces.

it will be fun, and really breaking stuff is a good release, like running, which i am back at too!

oh, and i was good at ikea. i did pick up this red and white shade, which adds a fresh pop of color in the corner and makes me smile. it was only $8, half off, excellent!

it's beautiful out, and i am off to sand chairs. enjoy your weekend!

a little laugh

life has been a little stressful for us, hopefully soon it will all be behind us...in the meantime this video got me laughing...

enjoy!



p.s. there is a whole collection of these on you tube if you need more, just type in literal video!

summer kick off

last week jasper finished up school for the year. they had a final potluck and campout and then on the last day of school there was a field day. so fun! there was bubbles and face painting and presentations and side walk chalk and picnic lunches and lots of fun water activities... a new one for me was races in water filled rain boots. love that idea and the kids thought it was a blast! such great people at that school!



i can be slack about things ending and being prepared. luckily house on hill road was prepared to bid her girl's teachers a good summer with some very cool homemade gifts. our friends own a local coffee shop so i thought the cool coffee cozies and a gift certificate to sunnyside up were ideal gifts!


erin kindly posted a tutorial for the cozies so i got to work. the first one turned out too thin, i thought it would make a great shawl for barbie...or marley thought a great coffee cozy for marley!


i've also had these mini celebration flags stuck in my head ever since i saw them on my paper crane.... they are so cute and tiny and can be put anywhere. marley has already picked out fabric for some for her room. i made mine with the sides all being 3". the teachers seemed really excited about them too, and i love the different ideas they had for them... across a kitchen window, in the classroom or around the door. everyone needs some, don't you think?

hope your summer is kicking off well! we did a sleep over at the library and the kids and chris have floated down the river several times in our new 2 person tube with friends. what summer plans do you have?

cob wall structure

a local artist, kiko denzer, kindly donated his time and expertise to work with the kids at jasper's school to create and on site structure. the kids were able to join him during the day to help in every step of the process. we had an all school meeting (families are always invited to join), then he met with the older kids class for ideas, families donated branches, hay, mud, etc. several families came to help during the day too. unfortunately i had messed up my back and could not help...it looks like it was so much fun!

the frame, and interior made of sticks and leaves

mixing up the mud and hay for the exterior

the finished hut, before painting!

a bench they also made

isn't this awesome! i could use a big hug too ;)

for more information about earth structures and kiko denzer check out:

http://digyourhandsinthedirt.blogspot.com/

http://chelseagreen.com/blogs/kikodenzer/

http://kikodenzer.blogspot.com/

eye see you

the new banner picture totally cracks me up. i am very sensitive to light and sound now when i am sleeping. it's my mama ears and eyes, they're super sonic. and this house has awesome windows and skylights to enjoy all of the beautiful greenery surrounding this house. but in the spring and summer it's hard to sleep in, and sleep in i do. i like being up late when everyone is tucked in safe and sound and there are no expectations to get ready to be somewhere. so i really need something to cover my eyes when the beautiful sun gets up to greet my early rising family members. i started this project last year. i found these awesome eyes in jenny hart's book sublime stitching : hundreds of hip embroidery patterns and how-to.


marley was really worried that me wearing this would freak her out and our niece's birthday is coming up. every teen needs assistance to sleep late, so i finished up the eye cover for her. i used the reverse side of a floral sheet (so the design would show up better, a little interfacing, a piece of a flannel sheet to sit next to her eyes, and a 13" piece of elastic to go around her head. i finished her bag and this at 11 pm and decided to photograph it before it got mailed off the next day. i had the best time, these eyes crack me up. i was really tempted to wake up someone and scare them, i didn't, but man i was tempted. it's more fun to laugh with others!

in other news, my baby lost her 2nd tooth. she thinks it's funny to have a hole on the bottom now. have a great weekend!

The conference- Life Is Good 2009

the conference was awesome, therapeutic, fun, tiring, engaging, uplifting, loving, full of laughter and insights, and filled my heart with my friends, new friends and my children's joy because of their friends.

here's jasper with simon and linnaea... our friends from england we have excitedly waited one long year to see again! linnaea has zombie makeup by a teen named chamille who does AMAZING makeup work, she has done work for haunted houses..how cool!

carolyn and i were next door neighbors in the hotel-which was ideal for the girls (of all ages ;) )
doesn't she look beautiful? we are radiating the joy we felt! the cabatics and hessels were across the hall, and the golds around the corner.... our ideal neighborhood!

marley was zonked after a fun filled first day...and passed out in a big comfy chair with me in the lobby chatting with the amazing renee cabatic, jeff sabo and ren allen. you get into really deep conversations easily with people at unschooling conferences. we are all working on living a consensual life with our children. these impromptu conversations are so meaningful to me, like mini therapy sessions. everyone is at a different place, coming from various backgrounds and it is so good to gain different insights.

there was a talent show where anyone could sign up, and everyone was cheered!
there was lots of music, amy steinberg and the vibrations played, and lots of unschoolers performed for us. i am learning from them all. to take a breath, to embrace it all, even within me and to SHINE.

the conference was amazing. it flies by so fast. i wish i could have paused lots of moments, to keep them from passing. there are talks (one brought me to tears, it hit so close to home for me), funshops, circle chats, vendors, the pool, and gatherings all over the place. there's so much love and support for the kids, of all ages. that's why we are there, the kids.

lots of my friends have posted more about the conference, take a peek at their blogs ;) i'm still working on getting my laundry under control.... more soon.

http://zenmommasgarden.blogspot.com/

http://zombieprincess.blogspot.com/

http://pvmaro.blogspot.com/

http://hahamommy.blogspot.com/