How does your garden grow... Yes I Know it is January

With mung beans and radish seeds... and seed catalogs all in row...

Okay, the meter is terrible, but the seeds are sprouting and the catalogs are mounting up. It is cold and rainy out but my mind is on garden plans and greening things.

I want to simplify the plan in the garden so I am still thinking about my direction there, but to bring a bit of fresh in the house, I am doing up some sprouts in the kitchen. We use opaque recycled plastic containers one inside another with a bunch of holes punched into the inner one for drainage. I am rinsing them about every three hours or so. Yes, even when I get up in the middle of the night.

The green is the mung beans and tiny reddish ones are the radish. The holes are a bit too big on the radish contain so I have a circle of paper toweling down in there.

Monday Morning Musings

My coffee machine died last week, I think it might be a planned breakdown, one of those cup machines, which despite understanding the extra cost and the weakness of the coffee, I really enjoyed. I loved the speed, the ease of use - I could manage to make myself coffee almost while sleeping, but certainly while sleepily making kids breakfast and packing lunches. I am not a morning person. I enjoy them occasionally, especially while camping, but in general morning and I have a detente. In answer to my sudden lack of coffee making and unwillingness to go buy a new one, I dug out the old espresso machine I took from my parents - they might have given it to me or I might have borrowed it and failed to return it - and made my college coffee. Which is a quad shot with a cup of steamed milk. If I am honest, it tastes so much better than my replicator coffee, but grind the beans, fill the cup thing, install the cup thing, re-install it because I put it on crooked, wipe up all the grounds I spilled, fill the machine, realize I forgot to close the steam tube thingy when really hot water hits my hands while I am digging around in the lunch container draw. This coffee is hard on the half asleep but coffee needing mom, it is loud enough to wake up the sleepy Badger - who hates mornings with a passion that makes my detente look warm and cozy - and way more economical. And tasty. Sigh. All good things are work.

Now... I am alone in the house, Jim on a business trip, thankfully a short one, and the kids are at school. It is quiet here the only sounds are the keys I am typing and the spin cycle on the wash. I am drinking my coffee, I have been up for 3 hours and am halfway through it. I have a yummy Macintosh apple scented candle, made by a sweet lady who own a shop here in town, burning. My dishes are 3/4 of the way done, I doubt I mentioned that the dishwasher is down. It started leaking slowly, then more quickly. It functions, but we can't get it to stop spitting water onto the tile counter, I hate the tile counter. It was installed poorly, it is two shades of dirty looking pink, and it cuts every shirt I own. It was the first thing I wanted to change when we bought the house, but new counters are expensive and other projects keep getting priority. The water spitting dishwasher has nearly made the counter a bigger priority, and while I am now hand washing all the dishes I have a vague but certain fear that one day the sink will just fall to my feet. Hopefully later.

This Weekend... We celebrated Butterfly's (she asked me to change her nickname to Bunny, so moving forward...) Birthday by having 5 girls from school join us for a  sleepover. One girl had a commitment in the morning so she only stayed until ten pm. My SIL and nieces also came over on Saturday. I think they all eventually had fun, but drama. I don't want to do this again. Dear Beautiful girls you can't all be the center of attention all the time, you have to take turns. They are nice girls, but this was too stressful and Bunny was in tears repeatedly. Their parents came by 10 am, and my kids and I did a fast turn around on frosting another cake and un-wrecking the house before the family came over at noon. We had a great day and way less stress.

Some Plans for the Week... Wash wool. re-organize my dye porch. Work on organizing my room, so that when I make the kids do theirs I don't feel like such a hypocrite and so I don't trip. Giraffe's Mom is come up today with some timbers she rescued to edge my garden in and I suspect we will neaten it up a bit. Make banana bread. We are having a picnic tea party this afternoon, between school and violin lessons, I expect this to be a regular thing, but to kick us off we invited a girl who is in violin and another friend and the moms. Both girls are friend with Badger and Bunny. Mouse has robotics so Giraffe and her mom are picking him up and we are all meeting up after for 4H. Their activities are non-stop until after 8 tonight.

If I Get Some Time to Myself... I want to walk, for exercise and fresh air.

I am Grateful For... Bunny, who is such a sweet young lady, she wants everyone to be friends. She is cute -sy and fluffy on the outside and brilliantly logical and rational at her core. I loved that she nearly stopped opening her presents yesterday to read the book her godfather & family gave her.

Some Prayerful Intentions for the Week... I pray that I hold down the fort and get all the necessary things done while my husband is away. I pray that racism, bigotry, and misogyny are ended in the hearts of all mankind. I pray that no one ever has to hide in anyone's attic.

Monday Morning (Sort of) Musings...

Now... I am in my studio, listening to the History of Byzantium, drinking the cold end of my coffee. I have spent the morning getting myself organized, home and business wise. Time has moved quickly, and while I want to start crafting my tummy would like to point out that it is almost 1.

This Weekend... We celebrated Badger's eighth birthday. It was actually in August but she wanted to wait for the school year for friends and we have had a busy month with weddings, funerals, and birthdays. She had a great time. Friends and Family gathered and ate the cakes she made and one little girl stayed over night. Birthday season has begun in earnest and Little Seal is next in two week.

Some Plans for the week... That leads into my plans well as I want to make him a stuffed animal dragon. I want to do more work on my business, especially posting listing and such - so much more fun to spin and weave and felt - but work I much do. I also want to get my Christmas crafting plans started.  I also should clean up the garden and put it to bed and will be helping a friend harvest her grapes.

If I get some time for myself... I will likely fall asleep, as much as I like this new schedule, I am a bit run down from all the stress of the past month and feel very tired just now.

I am grateful for... my beautiful funny Badger, who loves to help and to bake.

Some prayerful intentions for the week... I will continue to hold Becca in my heart, she lost her mother to cancer this month. I want to work on my own intention to lose weight and exercise more. I view this in the prayerful section of these musings because it is my head and my heart that need to change. I need to find a balance in this area of my life.





I am off to find some lunch and wish you a good week. ~ Julia

A Walk in the Garden, first work

 It is time to clean out the garden to make it ready for planting! This stone wall is along my back porch. The bushes right here are lilacs taller than my house. I am hoping to get them cut down this year.

 Once this is turned over I am planting peas and beans here.

 Twenty feet of chives. It was a mistake the first year. Every year the garden (nicknamed the garden of war due to me planting 'take over the garden' type plants to work against each other) at the end of the chives - looks like we are up to three rows now - is a couple of horseradish plants.

 Front square will be squash and lettuce this year along with the Borage that comes back each year. The back one will be Brussels sprouts and artichokes. I am slowly putting bricks around each bed with the money I get from recycling our soda cans.

 This area will be the expanded herb bed and dye plants, I will be putting only herbs that I need to replant each year here. My basil plants were all overshadowed by mints and oregano in the established herb bed last year.

It is kinda hard to tell but this is the main herb bed. I have lavender, rue, thyme, lemon thyme, oregano, lemon balm, garlic, and peppermint here.

 Honest, there are strawberries in this shot!

Blackberries and rhubarb. I especially want to make this are neater and prettier.

That's it for before shots!~ Julia

Monday musings, restart

A while back, okay years ago, Nadja at Patch o' Dirt farms started Monday morning musings. It was a great way to focus your week and helped me to settle on plans and intentions in my work. She does appear to be posting now but I want to bring this back. Feel free to join me.

Right Now... I am sitting in my kitchen, cup of coffee at hand. The house is quiet as the kids are at school and my husband is on a business trip. He'll be back on Friday, Butterfly started crying she was missing him within about an hour of his leaving this morning. I wanted to join her in tears, but that would not do. With him working from home most of the time and me taking care of the kids and house and my business we are together - in the same space at least - most of the time. I like it and am spoiled. At the same time him being gone has allowed me to open the house up to the lovely weather and turn off all -nearly- the lights in the house. I can hear the birds and the wind. I think a wood pecker has moved into the neighborhood. As long as he stays out of my fruit trees he is welcome!

This Weekend... We mostly hung out with Jim knowing he was leaving. I had Spinning Guild on Friday and Mom is a member so I went down and got her, we had a nice day together at the meeting then did a bit of shopping and picked up dinner. I took her home and we ate takeaway Vietnamese and watched a movie with Dad. Beaver worked both days, he has a job at the local grocery store and just got his first promotion from bagger to clerk. He is doing well. We played board games, played outside, and cuddled. A little laundry got folded and put away. Dishes were done, meals were made. I got the hand-wash laundry out of the way and finally finished working on the spinning I was doing. I have decided to make the yarn into a hat to sell rather than sell the yarn. I really don't like anything other than the color. It will make a good waterproof cap but when selling yarn mostly everyone wants soft and nothing will make this soft. Mouse helped me mulch in the flower bed by the house door, boy did I not buy enough! I want to mulch all the beds near the house and thought it would go further. It looks nice though.

Some plans for the week... Buy more mulch. Plant the gladiolus bulbs in the under the window bed. Get the garden ready for planting - I feel like I am late but it only stopped snowing last week. Organize and post the stuff I have ready to sell at market this season - I'll be at the Harbor Market and the Westosha Market in Kenosha, WI. Skirt and wash as much wool as I can. Finish quilt for Cousin. Finish shower present for Ginny. Return books to the library, find at least one new author. Spend Tuesday with friend and her daughter.

If I find sometime for myself, I would like to... Start knitting rainbow grey yarn into tote bag to felt.

I am grateful for... My husband, and his work allowing him to be home with us most of the time. My kids who know mornings are not my favorite time and got up early without complaints and gave me extra cuddles.

Some prayerful intentions this week... Hold Seal in my heart, he is doing great but we just got to see his x-rays. Doctor is very pleased but given the size of his fracture he won't be out of the woods for six months.
Hold My sister in my heart she has a job interview this week and is waiting to hear on a earlier interview. Both jobs would be closer to us! Back in the Midwest is the goal - I can't help wanting the closer one, it would put them about two hours away - though whichever job will be better for her family in the long run is what I want for her.

One of the ladies at the guild meeting asked us all to make baby shroud wraps. Her friend is a Chaplin at the state's children's hospital and she needs these tiny little knitted wraps for preemie babies to be buried in. She says she gets lots of hats and quilts but never has enough people willing to make these shrouds. I have agreed to make up a few. Mom lost my elder sister and several babies between me and my sister, so I will hold the mommas and daddys who don't want to receive this knitting in my heart, hoping they get dust rather than use, but if they must be used maybe the hand-knit holding their baby will help them.

Some things that make me smile... My girls hauling fallen branches to a corner of the yard to make a fort. Despite having two house structures they never much use. Mouse thinking cuddling me would get him out of his chores. Open windows and made beds - I should go make my bed.

~Julia

Garden Valentines

 My garden has started!!! I am trying to winter sow this year. Basically, you take milk bottles cut them out and turn them into mini green houses and plant your seeds inside. You put the whole mess outside in a sunny sheltered spot and ignore it. In theory come spring I should have plants ready and waiting. The post I read for this is here. I am trying some dye plants that I want to play with and as I collect more bottles I will start a few more things.

 Badger's Valentine box. The boxes had to be less the a foot square, have at least a 5 by 2 inch slit for cards and have at least one moving piece. This is what Badger with the help from mom, dad, and auntie made. The tail moves.

This is Butterfly's the slit is in the back and the jeans move so you can put the cards in. They also had to write out a meaningful appreciation on the card for each child in the class. Handwritten. The cards could be store bought or homemade but the child had to write something specific and caring to each classmate. They girls had quite a bit of help assembling the boxes. The did the painting and the paper mache, but we did the hot glue and structural work. What I really liked about this approach was that instead of a candy party sign it quick, the teachers made it be a design challenge and a change to think and express something nice about each classmate. 

I hope they brighten their classmates day and yours.
~ Julia

Bits and bobs from this month

This is Badger, we hit a great park to play in while waiting between husband's cousin's wedding and reception. We spent almost two hours playing at North Beach Park in Racine. This is an amazing park.

Mom knows everything. I hope they always think so. They found this feather in the yard. Who lost it? I don't know. Guess who I asked, my Mom.

This is the star jasmine plant I bought myself as a remembrance of my trip to LA with Beaver. He wants to go there for college (not yet!) and had the opportunity to meet some people who might be able to help and have his work reviewed. He wants to do set design/monster creation type work.

Every year I help a friend harvest her grapes and she helps me harvest my apples. I took home a big bag of green unripe ones she was not planning on using. I found a recipe for sour grape pickles. We shall see.

I made jam out of the rest of the unripe grapes, it is tarter that the ripe ones but these grapes are seriously candy sweet so that is not a terrible thing.

Mouse surprised us all with wanting to go out for Cross Country this year. We asked if he knew it involved exercise and being outside... then agreed quickly. He loves computers, and unless we force him would be on them all the time, so this was a surprise. He loved it and worked hard. He came in at the middle of the pack and his school took 3rd over-all. He is the one with the curly hair.

Triangle loom weaving project. I enjoyed it but will need a much bigger loom to make anything not for my girls.

Butterfly reading her birthday card from my sister. I have a beautiful new nephew.

He is moving so he is blurry but that is Beaver. He loves his team.

hi world it's me Julia

I took a bit of a break from blogging. At least from actually sitting down and writing out a post, I written hundreds in my head. What the quiet has taught me is I take more pictures and had something to look back at a remember exactly what I was thinking at the moment rather than what I think I was feeling from the point of view of where I am at now. So I will be fitting in more time to record my thoughts.

Finally finished the hairpin lace throw I made for my Grandpa from yarn I inherited from my Grandmother's Stash. He loves it and has shown it off to all the ladies at the senior center. They are impressed with me and with my Grandma for teaching me.

I washed a lot of wool.

Did a lot of craft fairs selling my work and my Dad's these are his work - bowls, pens, crochet hooks, wine stoppers... He is amazing.

Canned a bunch of stuff - only balanced like that for the photo, I am not completely crazy - these are tomato sauce and grape jelly.

We bought property to vacation on, Grow with and eventually move too. It is on a river flowage. I love the idea of my kids running all over this land, finding nature's hidden joys and secret places. Just being in the woods, calms and brings out the kid in my husband. It has been worth the budgeting and the frustration of the search just to see the stress and care fall from his shoulders as we explored the woods. Even if I didn't love it in it's own right - which I do - I would love it for that alone.

I took up weaving and gave some of the family handwoven placemats for Christmas. I really enjoy doing this.

I started writing a novel. I hide in a local coffee shop read while I eat their yummy breakfasts and write for a while. I have about 70 pages, hand written, so I have only just begun, but it is a bit like a date with myself as I intended to be in high school.

Lots of baking, brewing - beer, wine, and cider, I tried making sausage and cheese and plan to explore that a bit more. I've also worked more on the garden this year. We'll see, I like gardening but more in the planning and harvesting and processes aspects that in the tending it aspect.

Yarn Along - Flowers for Spring

Joining Ginny for the Yarn Along!

Knitting wise I am still in my green tweed sweater for Mouse.  I am making progress, but it doesn't seem like it and I wanted to do something else. As I was reading blogs I saw this at My Rose Valley and decided to do a few. I am thinking I may make the garland or try to figure out a way to connect them into a flower blanket. I whipped up these guys in a few house during dinner and game night.

Reading I am mostly trying to just read blogs and magazine this week as they are easier to walk away from to get stuff done. I really need to work on my time management or self-control. Reading the entire book, excluding the things that need to be done because the story is good is not a good idea.

I am starting to plan my garden. This sketch is a first draft. The curly things are the blueberry and blackberry bushes I planted last year. I am not sure if they survived the dry summer, much less the winter. The horseradish and chives are beautiful. I want zinnas, hollihocks, Madder, indigo, apple mint, lemon verbenna, lemon balm, thai basil, basil, thyme, lavender, rosemary, rue, and lots more. I am thinking about ordering some container sized citrus this year too. & Cherries. & Figs.

remains of the...Garden

 A dear friend was talking today about hardy herbs still lingering in the garden, and while I expected t use the sage on Thursday, I really thought that would be about all that was still working out there.  As I was surprised, I figured a walk in the garden was in order. Come with?  I did not spend a lot of time out here this fall busying myself with fiber related or child related projects and up can tell, but the garden seemed to survive despite me.

Chives growing rampant and attempting to take over the entire yard. Not sure I would mind really, but it might smell odd on mowing day.

 See I do occasionally weed, this is chive and creeping charlie growing just find in my weed collection bucket.

 Lavender - I hope this survives the winter I have some at my front door that has, fingers crossed.

 Lemon thyme - since it is here it will be added to the festivities.

 Creeping thyme - I think it did not like where I planted it as it was never much better looking than this.

 Sage - the star of thanksgiving menu!

 flat leaf parsley - I spent 69 cents on the two little bunches of this. Scraggly looking little things but I had a recipe I wanted to try and if it didn't grow there was enough got that anyway. They just keep going and going, I have cut it to nothing at least four times, each time figuring well I got my monies worth out of that. It's back.

 Peppermint - I think this is growing again, I also think I need to make more tea.

 Rosemary - Growing well - tea and thanksgiving here too.

 I am fairly certain these are last years' onions - oh well I can use some nice green onions.

 Lemon balm - also appears to be re-growing. Yay for more tea!

 Oregano - I should make some tomato sauce with this.

 Spring planted garlic - I am going to try to tuck some garlic in yet this fall.

 Collard greens - Aren't they pretty. I might add these to thanksgiving dinner as the store did not have any brussel sprouts.

Horseradish - I want to harvest some before it has died back so much I do not know where to dig.

We all have unexpected treasures in our lives, my garden is one of them for me. From the outside it is not much to look at but it is a bit like a walk of discovery, hidden in there are treasure untold. Thank you for exploring them with me. Next year I plan to add plants for dying, do a bit more weeding, and I want to ask the neighbor if I can cut back some of her trees that are shading my property. Hopefully that will help my garden to grow.
Hope your garden is growing or sleeping well and that you have a wonderful time with your family this week. ~ Julia

Hello there old friend aka I'm Back

I was swamped with school, my internship, helping with mom, graduation, and helping with a dear friend's wedding.  All of that is done (well I have a few more hours on the internship to go, but for all practical purposes...) so I spent a week cuddling a Butterfly and a Badger and reading novels.  I spent this week finding my house - some chores got a bit neglected - and catching up on my blog reading to find out how all my blog world friends are doing. 

I did not take a lot of pictures in my absence from the blogosphere.  Which is sad and certainly a benefit of blogging - you remember to get the picture yourself.  My husband, professors, father, and sister all claim to have taken pictures of my graduation, I have yet to see one so doubt remains. 

Jim & me dancing at the reception

Standing up for a dear friend and a union I believe in.

Same goes for my friend's wedding and the dresses I made.  Butterfly was the flower girl and I was the matron of honor.  I made both of those dresses and the bride made her own.  The wedding was Steampunk themed (Mad science + Victorian + Steam engines) and a friend in Canada sent me these two photos she took. 

I have entered Butterfly's dress into the county fair so you will get a chance to see it when I get a picture. 

Next week starts my dig season.  Finishing up the Vieau Site (knock on wood, cross your fingers) and working on the Garfield Farm Museum's dig on the weekends.  Both as a volunteer so graduation changed nothing. 

As far a working my long term plans are to stay home with my children.  Butterfly starts Kindergarten this fall and Badger the following fall, when she is in school I will look for a job, but both my husband and I wanted to have it be us that gave them their start. I don't judge other families for making different choices but this was right for us. 

My garden, the girls playing around the May pole.

Mouse hard at play.

Butterfly playing with her brother...um sleeping.

The view from my reading couch on the back porch, more roses last week.

Same view, I pulled back the lace curtain so you could see the pink wisteria climbing the pink roses better.

On the mom front, she is home and settled back in.  She nearly left us in February and only returned home within the last month.  She is weaker in many ways but stronger in others. Walking only short distances and supposed to be in the wheel chair, but more interested and active in the world around her than before.  The rehab center encouraged (lack of phone really ) to figure out face book on her phone - no reception but it could talk to the internet.   Actually, they were wonderful especially given how short-staffed they seemed to be.  She is breathing better and looks good, except her hair is falling out. In great giant clumps, every morning she wakes to find her pillow covered in hair.  Her hair has been thinning for years, but nothing like this.  I have offered to hack my hair off (and grow more to hack if need be) for her to have a wig made in hair that is like what her's was & they are looking into it.

Life is short and it races by, I am glad to sit back and enjoy it for a while, and more committed to writing about it and taking photos to remember it with.  Thank you for sharing in my world. ~ Julia