Seedlings

Zinnias, cone flowers, and four o'clocks are currently sprouting in a my little plastic greenhouse. I have no produce garden at this time, so cutting flowers it is! I love sprouting my own seedlings. There is some thing about watching them emerge at their different paces and then having to select out the best per pod. 

Right now I am transferring little seedling into decomposable small pots. I love how I can just plop them into a hole or bigger pot.  I have a sneaking feeling that we will have another frost so I am guarding the little flower inside. Which has its own danger. Most year the dogs have been the chaotic force investigating the pots. This year Zeke is taking over that role. I have lucked out for the most part, and he isn't too interested in the greenhouse. The table of potted flowers may prove too much temptation though.

Seedling all transferred

Spring is coming because it snowed

As soon as I saw strawberry plants at our nursery I knew snow was right around the corner, and then spring would arrive. It happens every year since I was a kid. Some time in February, even in year with no snow leading up to the month, people start planting strawberries. The sun is shining and bulbs are creeping back up. Oh need to get those rows of summer goodies going just bubbles out. Then plop - snow. Going into town will mean hearing people complaining about the "freak" snow that has killed their garden.  Every. Single. Year. People. 

This year was particularly nice. Ezekiel went down for his nap and I decide to leap on the chance and catch up on reading. I knew rain was coming, but something catch my eye. At first I thought the lace sheers were moving. Nope. Giant, gentle flakes! We were covered in no time and the scene was lovely. Will ran outside to bring a bit more firewood in for the evening. Frozen firewood when you use it as primary heat is annoying at its best. 

The creek in snow

After Zeke got up we took him out to enjoy the snow. Before we got a hat on him a tree dump some some right on his head. He was not amused. He watched us, and then began to work on his penguin walk. He did pretty well until a rock under the snow sent him over. Warming up by the fire and a toasty drink straighten the day up for him. 

Zeke in the snow

The Real Deal

Lately my afternoon tea has been a lovely mint from a well known brand. I enjoy it thoroughly. This afternoon I was staring aimlessly at the box while the water heated only to notice in teeny, tiny font on a corner the text "100% real". What? Here I was all this time thinking it was at least 20% imaginAAAtion and a touch pegasus dander. 

I am fully aware that the term "real" is now a legal or technical one, but it just highlighted how marketing changes our words. Being able to communicate clearly and with precision is such remarkable and important part of translating ideas to each other. I wonder how much impact changing words, such as real, that have fairly solid meanings  into ones of grey area words will have in the long run on our ability understand one another. 

Something to think over with my tea.

A month of illness, and a van!

It began on Christmas. The dreaded achoooo! Followed with the flush looks and fevers. Great - we have the seasonal cold. I held out for a few days, but finally succumbed. While exhausted, my bout was not very long. Perhaps a week. Will and Zeke however, traded priority sickness level until the ending of January. Zeke had two ear infections during that time. Surprisingly, he was usually in a good mood. Especially on non-ill days. Chatting and running everywhere. Keeping an energetic tot "relaxing" to aide healing is ridiculous and the suggestion stated with such a nonchalaunt nature will be forever met by a scornful look (complete with the eyebrow of doom) from me - and backed by an army of tired, tried mothers. Now, he and Will are both on the mend. We have been able to go on walks and outings. 

In a small window of non-illness wave, we became in need of a new car. Drumroll, Please!

I am a van mom now.

There I made the leap. If you would have told my teenage self that I would be a mom with a van, I would laugh so hard in your face that spittle would have surely covered you. Mom part sure, but VAN! No way. SUVs baby - hey it was the 90s. The SUVs for us just ate up too much gas, possible booster seat layouts make them difficult to deal with daily, and well, I loved the van. It shocked me too. Will made me promise about a year ago to at least look at a van when the time came. I agreed, assuring myself that looking doesn't equal buying. But after having Zeke it became apparent that a van was our future. Plus, friends (I am looking at you Becca and Genna) got vans and it just seemed so much better. Doors in the right place. Safety and connivence. Pretty colors - I am still girly. Come on! I didn't have a chance. We will be adding to our family and it made sense to buy a vehicle that we won't have to replace in a year or two.

The lovely wheels are a 2012 Town and Country in a goldish color and grey/black two tuned interior. I love it! You can really tell they designed it for parents on the go. Six cup holder up front alone! Everything folds, buttons to automated anything you want (perfect for nudging with your elbow when arms are full), separate climate controls, and yes, DVD system. What really blew my mind was the roll down back seat windows. As a child who grew up with a stock Astro van, desperately pressing my face for air to the tiny gap of the pop out window, the windows knocked my socks off. 

So there you have it. Illness and a van.

An Organized Day

In my personal quest to be one of the organized I have tried out dozens (okay, WAY more than dozens - I hang my head in shame) of datebooks, time table strategies, and planners. Almost all of them revolving around the clock and calendar, instead of the tasks to be done. I would try, fail, and with renewed promise try and fail again. Of course thinking, if it has it's own aisle in the office store clearly it is the best method. Ugh. 

Let us walk through the repeated course of events, shall we? I would find a new, improved planner. Maybe it is in booklet form - my personal favorite, I would imagine myself penning and accomplishing so very much, or more forward into the advanced technology with some computerized form. Please remember that I married the guy who had and actively used one of the first PDAs. Personal digital assistant for those youngster among us. So the pressure to move forward to streamlined, paperless process is high. I should have stopped there and glared. I love paper. I collect paper. I write with a pen and paper first, then type (although I have promised to attempt to use the computer more... it isn't going smoothly). I still melt away with smell of an old book. - Paper ramble over, back to the organization attempts. - With new method in hand the night before I would plan the coming day in great detail. Grand plans of how I would accomplish this or that between 8am to 10am, and so on. Looking back I am surprised i had not schedule bathroom breaks too. At some point (usually before noon) during day one some item would get pushed forward for whatever reason, I would need a clear-my-freaking-head break from a creative project, or  I would just fall behind. Then EVERYTHING is behind. Something would get bumped to the next day. great. I hate, and i do mean hate, being tardy or late with or to anything. I am the person a half hour early to appointment. I bring an old book.  

For day two, in all my positive glory, I would schedule in more broad terms. This being an effort to ease the foul mood that would wash over me if the schedule I set forth failed. Terms would become broader and broader until once again carry all the real to-do items in my head alone and the planner would be just symbol of a dream with a few appointments scattered.

Now, it wasn't always a few days. Sometimes I would carry a method on for months. Some of the most stressful months for me and anyone around me. What use is a system that stresses and causes more hassle? None, that's what. The fact was my day and needs aren't time table/clock based. I have few hard scheduled appointment. I have, in personal and professional life, a task based life. Add in my need to bounce around and ramble, good luck date book! So in my effort create a system for a tasker, I create to 8 x 10 charts, if you will. 8 x 10 so I could easily frame them with something pretty. Beautifying and organizing in one go. I use dry ease markers on the glass, so I may use them everyday. Now I check things off as I go. Daily, weekly, or monthly lists, areas for notes, and even a spot to remember my personal needs. If I need to stop midway through and come back later, no stress. 

What do you think of my home organization chart? 

Leftover Cheese n Penne

We are a cheese house. It doesn't help that we had a lovely cheese shop in our town. Every once in while I have collection of small cheese chucks. Goudas, cheddars, bries... all great and about the size for one person. Some days we have a broad arrangement on a plates to sample and enjoy. In a pinch for dinner a desire to clean out the reserves I make leftover cheese n penne. 

I usual start with whole wheat penne, but any tube pasta of choice would work. Cook until almost done and set aside. Sauté some mushrooms in butter. Add sun-dried tomatoes, maybe some fresh. Then pour in a few cups of milk and simmer. Cube the cheeses and stir in. Once melted mix in the pasta. Place into 9 x 13 pan and bake at 350 until top is crispy. I add breadcrumbs on top. 

This time we had goat cheese, smoked gouda, and extra sharp cheddar. Yum!

Saute those mushrooms! 

Yum, yum!

Washing the Kitchen

Our kitchen is front and center upon entering our house. So it is important to keep things shining for my own pleasure as well as welcomed guests. Usually every month or so the cabinets and appliances are washed. Now with sticky fingers Zeke tottering around once a week it is need. 

Speaking of cleaning the house, a proper bucket is a huge help around the house. I use a livestock feed bucket. You can easily purchase one whenever tack or horse feed is sold. I love it because the buckets are solid and sturdy. The handles are metal and can lift a lot of weight - did I mention sturdy. The other mop bucket just don't compare.

Taking out my red mop/feed bucket, I add oh about 1/2 cup of dishwashing liquid, a tablespoon or so of white vinegar and 3/4 a bucket of warm to hot water. Then wash and dry as I go. I use this solution to clean our stainless steel refrigerator and dishes too without any strikes. My kitchen looks brand new.

Here are my before and afters. As you can see Zeke thinks the after shots were a photo op for him!

Before the washing - see the evidence of a toddler!

Ahhh the beautiful after! I finally gave up trying to get him out of the shot. 

Gifting and the Santa question

As in so many homes, we have plenty of toys and things. Things that beeps, that rolls, that rattle, that somehow finds itself under my foot, or collects an unreasonable amount of dust. And in the end Ezekiel is more content when playing with a few toys or items (right now a shoebox and spatula), than to be surrounded by tons of toys. A large part of it being his youth and being easily distracted. 

With his birthday and the holidays being here so quickly the issue of gifts and material goods is coming to a head. Will and i have been discussing the type of traditions and expectations we want in our home. We don't want too many things one year and then a disappointing year the next. Or to have one child receive a gift that is more of a group gift and the other receiving individual use. May be trivial to us adults but feels of favoritism to a child. 

We are also defining who and what is Santa for our home. Does he bring gifts, stockings, one big thing, ....?

Here are the strategies I have heard or am contemplating.

• Family trip or vacation is the big gift for Christmas. Information packed in a big box to be unwrapped. I like this because the "big" gift is a family gift, focusing the unity of the holiday.
• Each child gets four gifts; one to read, one to wear, one they need, and one they want.
• We exchange smaller gifts and Santa brings each child their "big" gift
• Parents do stocking and Santa the big
• Santa does the stocking and parents the big

Some of the important strategies we know - children must give to their siblings. Lots of togetherness and activity. Playing games on Christmas Eve and making a fuss over getting/decorating the tree. We would like to make celebrations about having fun with loved ones and less about a tally of goods. Thoughtful gifts are more important than a thousand cheap knick knacks. Or even better gift the gift of time! Part of our overall home policy is for everything brought in the home something, preferably of equal size, is donated. Hopefully that will help.

So what is your home gifting and Santa policies?

Our Thanksgiving

We always have a private Thanksgiving at home as well as a extended family holiday meal. Partially for the leftovers. Another reason is the home holiday, reinforcing our small family as a unit. 

This year our home holiday was on Friday. We served a simple Thanksgiving meal - turkey, dressing, cranberry, steamed broccoli, and whipped potatoes. Cranberry sauce in easy and quick to make. I think getting down the can aisle takes longer. Whipped potatoes are all about two things: a ricer and lots of cream! We place our turkey in a brine for 24 hours give or take in an ice chest with some ice outside. It is colder outside than our refrigerator and we lack a garage or a root cellar right now. So if you pull up in winter and see an ice chest decorating our porch chances are I am brining something.

2012 Turkey Brine:

• 3 cups Sea Salt
• 1.5 cups sugar (raw, refined.. whatever)
• 1 tablespoon ground cloves
• 2 tablespoons caraway seeds (I like to ground them a bit)
• 1 tablespoon ground sage

Fill a soup pot with water and boil. Dissolve the sugar, sugar, and herbs into water. Simmer for about 30 mins, making a brine broth. Then load your turkey(s) in to the ice chest with some water and ice, and pour in the brine. The turkey(s) should be covered. Close up and stick in a cold place. I also advise more turkeys than one giant one. In the case of taste, larger is not more. 

2012 Dressing:

• French Bread Baguette
• 3 Scallions
• Celery
• 2 eggs, beaten
• Ground pepper
• Sage
• about 2 tablespoons Olive Oil
• about 1/2 cup Broth

Slice up the bread, scallions, and celery together. Mix with the oil, eggs, then add the seasons to taste. Remember to use an oil you would eat. Spread in pan and drizzle broth over. Bake at 365F until golden brown. 

There are some many delicious Thanksgiving dishes that really shouldn't be reserved for just Thanksgiving. 

2012 Thanksgiving Turkey

My Plate, yum yum!