Wits End

Martinmas

2011-11-11T04:41:00.001-08:00

Today is a great day to give the gift of warmth to those in need. We traditionally, take coats, gloves and scarfs to a local thrift shop that gives to the poor. St Martin also, remembers our family with warm gifts. This year it was hand knit red mittens for all.

Our breakfast table for the feast, even involved finding the hot cocoa mugs (not so easy) and serving red velvet cake.

You can read all about St Martin and learn about his devout life and service to the poor.

a stictch in time saves nine......

2011-11-04T05:05:00.000-07:00

I recently had the opportunity to peek at this book, it is a delightfully illustrated reminder of days of yore. Taking me on a journey of women who use to pause prior to throwing away a ripped sock or torn dress. It invokes simpler time when we did nto run to malls or shopping center, rather ran to our sewing baskets.........
Enjoy!

Chestnut picking time

2011-10-15T08:12:00.000-07:00

September and October brings the ripening of the chestnuts, and planning our Christmas season. A beautiful day to stomp around an orchard and make a few Christmas dollars for the children.

the world is our classroom

2011-09-01T05:20:00.000-07:00

while other young souls are climbing in school buses and sitting in stuffy classroons, we took advantage of the summer weather to frolick in the water, explore herbs growing along the Great Lake Erie and enjoy just being together.

mushrooms and cornholes

2011-08-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

I am loving these wonderful stools and tables that we recently finished making for Zelie. The inspiration came from a blog source that I can no longer locate. The stools are simple wooden bowls I had found at thrift stores, painted red and screwed to logs. The table, is plywood cut to shape and mounted to a log, so simple,. yet so whimsical to play with.

The cornhole game, painted in Steelers colors, is a recent addition, after having borrowed a set from our friends for a 4th of July party, and everyone enjoying hours of play, we made our own. I confess, I really do not get the obsession with the game, but I do love seeing my kids enjoy themselves so much.

the laundress

2011-08-11T05:58:00.000-07:00

Keeping little hands busy, Zelie hanging her dolls clothes out to dry.

Fishing on the Ohio

2011-07-31T04:44:00.000-07:00

We are not naturals to fishing, I have never fished, my husband did not grow up fishing, and yet my boys really want to learn.

Armed with fishing manuals, making us look like the true green horns we are, we have been hitting the local fishing holes-that is if you can call the Ohio River a fishing hole. WE have yet to catch a thing, seems we need to read a few more manuals, or better yet talk to some local fishermen.............

Another birthday-Flannery is 15

2011-07-30T05:28:00.000-07:00

Pizza cake

with her siblings

new boots for the fall

a little Joel Salatin reading

Happy Birthday sweet Mary Flan!

Yarn Along

2011-07-27T04:56:00.000-07:00

Joining with Ginny this week in the Yarn Along. It has been awhile since I had a chance to participate, but these gnomes of Tonya are to cute to resist.

My summer reading has been all Juliette de Bairacli. I first read her Herbal for Farm and Stable and wonder WHY I had not read her before. She was a charming eccentric lover of animals, herbalist, mother and gypsy. She is a wise teacher and herbal mentor. All her books, I have read thus far, inspire and remind me why I started studying herbalism years ago. If you are at all inspired to learn to appreciate herbs, I would highly recommend her books.

Zelie is 3!

2011-07-24T14:03:00.000-07:00

Balloons from Grammy

It was a great recycled birthday, handmade, thrifted or reused like the doctors box. All wonderful thoughtful gifts without ever needing to go "shopping"
A lovely celebration of family and the blessing of each special one.

preserving

2011-07-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

Busy days filling the larder for the winter months, makes for busy hands and happy kids.

{this moment}

2011-07-15T07:50:00.000-07:00

{this moment}

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. Photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. If you're inspired to do the same, visit Soulemama to leave a link to your 'moment' in the comments for all to find and see.

angora fleece carding

2011-06-28T04:40:00.000-07:00

sadly, this will be our last fleece from our favorite angora goat, Nanny. Nanny gave us her last fleece just prior to her leaving us for that big pasture in the sky. Angora goats are so wonderful to keep, they are friendly wonderful weed wackers and twice a year they bless you with all this glorious fibers.

Midsummers eve

2011-06-24T17:10:00.000-07:00

our family's style......

Memorial Day

2011-05-29T15:17:00.000-07:00

I hope the day finds you blessed with those you love near you, watermelon in hand and remember to whisper a prayer for all the fallen soldiers.

a day in the sun

2011-05-22T05:43:00.000-07:00

yesterday was a glorious warm day. we have so much to do here, so many gardens to catch up on after so much rain, but what did we do........

because sometimes life is to short not to play for the day............here is hoping for many more summer days of play.

chicken tractors and spring days

2011-05-20T13:29:00.000-07:00

we have been swamped with the busy day to day life of spring planting, keeping new bee hives fed and chickens happily munching on fresh grass. Grass fed animals are the goal and finding ways to make this more reasonable seems to be a constant challenge. We have chicken tractors made of wood that are great for keeping the girls in, but terribly difficult to move by oneself, leaving the girls too long in one spot quickly destroys large spots of grass. I am tickled to death with the ingenious idea of tractors made of PVC pipes, that one can literally move with one hand. Tomorrow we are going to try these out on the rabbits, if it works we can easily place these over the raised eds in the winter, put a hoop house over them and have our beds cleaned up and fertilized for next summer. It is a forever process of learning and trying new ideas; a grand life.

Mushrooms....pioppino

2011-05-07T05:25:00.000-07:00

We are delighted that our mushroom kit from fungi perfecti is coming along nicely. In this cold, wet and muddy spring, not much else seems to be thriving. These are pioppino mushrooms, it is wonderfully exciting to start a new project such as this, and have success. If anyone else is tempted to try their hand at mushroom cultivation, I will say this company has been very helpful each time I call with another novice question and/or concern,

Bon appetite!

Yarn Along

2011-04-27T03:54:00.000-07:00

Joining in again with Ginny, though I confess, I am not knitting much these days. When spring arrives on a homestead it is hard to do anything that does not involve large amounts of manure. I am still working on the same Noro hat I started 2 weeks ago, I picked this hat because it was such a quick knit, well.........
I am getting lots of reading time in, and I am very excited about what I am currently reading. I apologize for the lack of a personal picture, my budding 7 year old photographer seems to have mis placed my camera again. Anyways back to my reading, Apostolic farming by Catherine Dougherty, from Madonna House in Canada. Her reflections of her youth in Russia, families farming and feeding the poor, respecting and healing the earth are simply prophetic. This is a small, quick read, that I am busy highlighting passages from.
The second book I am reading in We Took to the Woods; old classic! Fabulous, eccentric, read that speaks to my heart.

Quails

2011-04-22T18:23:00.000-07:00

thought we would try out, a new to us incubator, with fertilized quail eggs. Not sure what we are doing, but it is a fun new project!

stay tuned........

More honey bees!

2011-04-21T20:10:00.000-07:00

Today we dumped the the bees into the hives! Here is Flannery in her veil and Dad mid dump!

Easter centerpiece preparation

2011-04-20T11:39:00.000-07:00

I picked up this adorable blue bird cage at the Goodwill, knowing it would make the perfect Easter table centerpiece. Add a few 2 week old bunnies and we will be all set.

No worries, we are not leaving them in there until Easter, we were just trying them out as we plan our Sunday.

The Winner is......

2011-04-19T05:42:00.000-07:00

Emily.........."I can't wait to read it!"
send me your address, I will get it right out to you!
molly@oliverhill.net

Give away-Made from Scratch

2011-04-16T09:57:00.000-07:00

Well, the last give away was so fun, I thought I would do another. I recently read, Made from Scratch, discovering the pleasures of a handmade life, by Jenna Woginrich and found it a fun and entertaining tale of one womans journey towards a more agrarian life style.

The beauty of the book is the simplicity it lays out, showing the success and failure of raising animals, making bread, and learning to play a musical instrument. The last chapter includes recipes and patterns that the most basic beginner can easily follow.

if you would like a chance to win this book (yes it is OK for international) leave a comment, put it on FB and twitter and you get 3 chances! Make certain to leave me a comment letting me know:)
I will leave this open until Monday night.

Yarn Along

2011-04-13T05:56:00.000-07:00

Joining with Ginny again to share what I am currently reading and knitting. My knitting these days is sadly, slow and very little is actually getting accomplished. This Noro yarn and One skein wonder book lured me back and casting on a hat for next fall.
The Dirty Life was a recommendation of Tonya last week, it is a fun read, very inspiring to keep up local food production. It will inspire anyone living this life to realize we all have good and bad days or even seasons.

Our daily bread

2011-04-12T05:39:00.000-07:00

my daughters have far surpassed me in the baking department, of our homestead. The girls have taken a real delight in baking the bread for our families needs and for gifting to friends.
When we come in from outside chores I know I can count on fresh bread to fill all the many tummys over here and I can feel confident that what they are eating is healthy and fresh.
I love home education for this reason, children are given the freedom to explore their natural interest and develop them with out the busi-ness of text books and deadlines. They are free to become bakers, artist,writers, farmers or whatever their hearts desire with out the confines of forced boundaries in learning. I am not trying to convince anyone of anything here, more so, I am reflecting on the gifts of our chosen lifestyle.

more on coltsfoot, that spring herb

2011-04-07T04:08:00.000-07:00

we found another patch of coltsfoot while out driving the other day. I could not resist picking and drying more to have available for ourselves and friends. Coltsfoot is excellent for respiratory ailments, it is easily harvested now, it loves to have it "feet wet" so look in swampy, yet sunny locations.

Small flowers are what you will find now, later in the season the leaves,that resemble a colt's foot:) will appear.

My helpful foragers.

Wooly Wednesday

2011-04-06T12:50:00.000-07:00

I love this new blog Spinspiration, she hosts this wonderful day to gather spinners together to share what on their wheels:)
I am still working, SLOWLY on this HUGE amount of purple wool. Partly the reason for the delay is I have been teaching my children to spin using this wool and my large country spinner by Ashford. Teaching children to spin is daunting, but very wonderfully encouraging to see their excitement for a lost art.

New kids.........

2011-04-05T08:15:00.000-07:00

alpine twins, one male, one female!

and the winner is...........

2011-04-04T15:01:00.000-07:00

Tonya from Plain and joyful living.

Do not be sad if you did not win, this was so fun, I am looking around for more fiber to give away. Tonya, make certain and send me your address and choice of color on the fiber.

Give away-navajo churro fleece

2011-04-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

In honor of starting this new blog, I will be giving away a choice of brown or white navajo churro fleece. The brown is in roving form the white is in batting form.
I will leave this open until Monday morning, to enter become a follower, post it on facebook or tweet it and make certain to leave me a message telling me you did so.
Post it on your blog and you will be entered a fourth time.

Thrift store finds

2011-03-31T17:09:00.000-07:00

I adore thrifting, finding treasure just waiting to bless my heart and home. This week the local Goodwill was a gold mine of goodness. First, this fabulous old Royal typewriter was acquired for 1.00! I could scarcely believe my good fortune. Then for another mere dollar the perfect new egg collecting basket, I love how it perfectly holds our eggs we collect from our white leghorns. Now to find the brown eggs from our Buff Orpingtons. Egg collecting here is like Easter morning everyday, as we allow our hens to free range and they insist on making us seek out their eggs. seems daily they like play hide and seek with us.....hmmmm maybe a chicken coop does have its merits!

Yarn Along

2011-03-30T09:44:00.000-07:00

Joining in again with Ginny to share what I am knitting and reading. I am casting on some of the yarn I spun last week to make gnome hat from the book, More last minute knitted gifts.
The book is a new field guide that will aid us in our spring foraging for mushrooms. We are pretty good at foraging for morel mushrooms, but I am hoping to expand our foraging to different types of mushrooms.

Bees are coming

2011-03-30T05:57:00.000-07:00

after many years of longing to raise our own honey bees, we have finally taken the plunge and ordered our first hives. I am so proud that our oldest daughter has developed into a real farmer mentality and she is the one who is taking on this endeavor. She went to a bee keeping course at our local county extension office, she researched and spoke with bee keepers and now, at age 14, she is our familys bee expert. I see this development in her a direct result of unschooling and allowing our children to grow into their own interest. She is truly an autodidact.
This is where we ordered from, we have heard from other locals that they are a good company, knowledgeable and very willing to help the new bee keepers, like us!
The book pictured above, I have found to be very user friendly and clear, something that this mama desperately needs. If you are interested in bee keeping for this year or in the future, I recommend checking it out.

Mushroom doll

2011-03-29T04:48:00.000-07:00

I have been drooling over certain dolls for Zelie, but they are always cost prohibitive. I love the handmade dolls, they are so soft and unique, the beg to be loved. Couple these dolls with my love of mushrooms/toadstools and you have my Monday activity! I already had this doll form, the face was an iron on kit we had in our craft stash, the dress and felt shoes are made from our abundant stash of various material. I have seen similar pocket dresses on Etsy, I just love the pockets and the mushroom we tucked into this dress.

Busy spring days

2011-03-25T06:54:00.000-07:00

I am

I am so grateful for these busy outside days, I hope and pray your days are busy with all good things.

Colts Foot

2011-03-23T16:19:00.000-07:00

While out and about today, I saw much coltsfoot blooming and perfect for harvesting. We picked quite a bit for our own winter teas and I encourage you to look around and find some for your families.
An effective demulcent and expectorant herb, coltsfoot is one of the most popular European remedies for treating chest problems. In Europe, the leaves are preferred to the flowers (which contain higher amounts of pyrrolizidine alkaloids), but in China the flowers are preferred. Both parts are taken as a decoction for chest conditions. When used as a syrup or a medicinal cigarette, coltsfoot also relieves asthma. Coltsfoot is used as a specific treatment for spasmodic coughs. It combines well with licorice, thyme, and black cherry. In China, coltsfoot is classified as a "warming" herb that helps relieve coughing and wheezing.

Yarn Along

2011-03-23T04:53:00.000-07:00

Joining in with Ginny for this weeks yarn along. Though I confess, I am still spinning up my lemon colored merino wool, in dreams of a sweater for a certain Miss Zelie.
I am reading Landscaping with Herbs, and dreaming of spring. while waiting on forecast ed snow.

St Patricks day carnival

2011-03-13T08:25:00.000-07:00

you can go here to join the carnival and have a grand time celebrating St Patrick! Lots of good ideas already.
More to come-

Spring is coming

2011-03-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

Blessed spring air! Line drying again, I love the smell and look of laundry hanging on the line. You can see the remnants of yesterdays snow.....though it is melting fast.
While the sun and wind dry our clothes, we are cooking down sap for maple syrup.

Happy spring days.

snowy days of March call for spinning more yarn

2011-03-12T05:35:00.000-08:00

and teaching the little ones a new skill.