Space jam

I am crocheting right now as I sit with D, waiting for the yogurt to finish setting.  We generally still make our own yogurt - sometimes even with some raw milk, though usually without.  We go through a lot of yogurt.  If the kids aren't eating it as a snack, we are serving it as part of the meal.  Love yogurt.

So, I am crocheting hearts and stars for the kids out of various colours of yarn.  A little Valentine from mama.  :)  Nice to use up some leftover yarn too!  My stash is getting out of hand, at least for the space we have.  I have left yarn work for a long time because I just didn't have the desire.  But suddenly, just as inexplicably as she left, she was back, knocking at my door again, begging to start a cozy stripped afghan and bring a little joy to my babies.  So here I am with new projects tucked into little corners and nooks around the place.  :)

Forgot to add this photo from Christmas time last month.  Just too cute to pass up, so I posted it now!  

The weather this winter has been unseasonably warm so far.  Many many days above the freezing mark, no snow, lots of rain.  Very odd, at least for the Canadian winters I'm used to.  You'd like this would be incentive to take the little ones out more, but I am still guilty of not taking the kids as much as I feel I should.  Fresh air always makes me feel better, but at this particular time period, I am struggling to get at it!

We rearranged some of our furniture in the main living area of the condo to accommodate a much-needed workspace for the kids.  We have a small desk for the computer, but it's full of, well, the computer!  The kids, particularly the older two, are old enough to need a space to work on their work, on their projects, or just spread out without needing to clean up for a bit.  As you can see, even baby M has her own space now under that table.  :)  Anyhow, I have more plans for that table.  I think this is something I enjoy doing every so often, the rearranging part I mean.  I can't yet decide if it's just a nice change in scenery, or if it's a bid to optimize space.  Maybe a little of both?  

This is our dog.  ;)  He is the sweetest little feathered friend!  D has trained him to lie on his back and be groomed or "petted".  Actually, he LOVES being groomed around his head.  He'll fluff right out and just zone out.  Hilarious to watch.  Really does remind us of a dog in some ways.  Little Romanos has brought a lot of joy to our lives right along with the kids!  

Anyhow.  I'll finish here because I'm just having a hard time keeping my eyes open!  Past my bedtime I think.  Sweet dreams!  

Quickie update

On Friday we got our new budgie, Romanos.  He's an English Budgie and the kids named him.  I must say it is a fitting name - he chirps quite melodiously!  :)  Thankfully he is hand-raised, so he's quite used to be handled.  I say thankfully because my older three do not leave him alone for a moment when they are awake.  (Sometimes mama has to intervene for birdie's sake!)  But he really is a good bird, very tolerant and relaxed, despite being manhandled by 3 well-meaning children.  And they love when he eats from their hands.  While I'm told he will eat anything, we've found he prefers apples and broccoli.  So far.  

D started a new contract in the new year and it's keeping him quite busy.  Otherwise, life is the same.  Except on Mondays when there is skating.  Then, there is somewhat of a scrambling to get home, eat, read a story, work on a math problem, build some Lego, and then get out to skating.    It's not terribly crazy, but it's different from our usual routine.  My crockpot is a great friend for days like these.  A nice roast, a whole chicken, chicken soup.  Bonus, I can leave the house while it's cooking to do errands.  I think everyone should have a crockpot!  :)  

By the way, the kids love skating.  First, J thought she'd be skating circles around the rink.  She was disappointed the first lesson was all about getting up after falling.  M remembered from last year's skating episode.  And he actually was able to walk/skate a bit on the ice.  With plenty of tumbles mind you.  And we love watching our babies.  Our babies that are not quite so little anymore.   

Hello, Fall!

It seems that with the coming of each season, our routine changes.  I have discovered that I don't like change very much.  At least, not when it throws me out of my comfort zone.  :)  Fall is upon us, though the temperatures have been very kind.  School has started, and while the kids are adjusting, mama it seems is still have a tough time with it all.

I can't seem to share the opinion of many parents when their kids start school.  To me, I'd rather have my babies around me.  We had a wonderful summer together.  Just wonderful.  I'm not ready to let that go.  Time is a precious gift.  It really let me connect with each child one-on-one at random times during the day.  I honestly felt that we had such a great routine going for us in the summer - profitable, relaxing, exciting and basically just right for us.  Now, I am rushing to get out the door on time without being able to truly connect with each one beforehand - at least not regularly.  I miss our less stressful mornings!

What I do love though is our evening routine.  Once they've finished any homework they have, we go outside to the park or wherever, and they run and play.  (D is great with that part!)  Then we come home, bathe if needed, get into pjs, have a snack, and cuddle up on the sofa to read.  And we read and read.  All three of them.  All over me.  Climbing, switching places, gently softing my belly, and then random conversations ensue.  Lots of questions, mental exploring, processing, revealing whatever's on their mind.  Oh, how I love that time.  I look forward to it all day.

And there are always weekends too.  In the fall, our weekends shift focus.  We are more eager to spend time together, so sometimes that means staying put.  Other times, there are soccer games, visits with family and friends, apple picking.  We've been apple-picking twice so far.  We suddenly decided to go last minute on Thursday.  So we picked up the kids from school and drove up to Dixie Orchards.  (I'm so glad for these last minute plans of ours sometimes!)  They were picking our favourite apple, jonagolds.  So we brought home a nice almost 1/2 bushel.  I suspect there will be more trips like that this month.  :)  The kiddies loved the play area and the animals.  J wanted to take a chick home!  They were only 8 days old - all fuzzy and peeping as they pecked at an apple.  How can you blame her!  

For this weekend there is food.  Thank God!  After a week of leftovers and last minute meals, there is a pot of chili on the stove.  And spinach with ground beef to serve with rice.  Like I said, thank God.  This mama is getting more tired each day.  I wish I had the energy to bake some fresh bread.  Maybe after I have a nap?  (I always say that and it never happens, but a gal can hope!)

Then again, there are so many creative projects awaiting, so perhaps I will get distracted in that vein.  Like this adorable Arctic fox hooded cowl that I crocheted in an evening.  (The yarn was super thick and worked up really fast, which I love!)  Except my youngest thinks she looks more like a cat.  What do you think?  Fox or cat?  

Joining Ginny and friends for this week's Yarn Along.  

In the studio and around the home

Lately, we have been eating lots of greens.  Not just salad, I mean.  Spinach with meat and rice (that spinach is from our balcony garden), Mlukheye (wild leaves that we boil with chicken to make a soupy dish that the kids love with rice too), stuffed zucchini, okra with onions and tomato sauce... I love looking into my fridge and seeing all those vivid greens and reds and yellows. 

Last night D went on a bike ride with the little ones.  All three of them.  Doesn't sound like a big deal until you've tried to corral three energetic monkeys on bikes going helter-skelter up hills and around streets.  Nerve-wracking for a parent.  D is as cool as a cucumber.  He offers to take them all so I can have a breather.  Do the dishes in peace.  Finish freezing some extra herbs or berries.  Maybe sit down for a minute and play a tune on the new piano.

We got a new keyboard.  It's not a true piano, but I have a hunch that isn't far behind.  There's only so much you can do with a keyboard, and pedalling is not one.  :)  However, space is an issue here, so keyboard it is for now.  The kids love it and have been begging for "lessons".  Oh yes, little ones, you shall indeed have those!

We went to the petting zoo this past weekend.  The kids love animals, so of course they loved walking around.  Favourites were the deer, the ponies and the bunny rabbits.  And the ducks.  Can't forget the ducks.

There is something about summer work that is pleasant.  Perhaps I am finding it so because D is there to help out in the evenings often, which leaves me a bit of space to plan or execute tricky details.  Or perhaps it's just that time of year and it feels right for this kind of work.  Can't wait till we get in some cucumbers for the pickles!  Perhaps next week...

There are lots of projects happening around here.  Yarn, fabric, wood, food, and music.  Everything that makes life beautiful!  The quilt is almost done.  I stayed up late sewing last night and now I only have the binding left.  I love this simple, rustic style.  It's just a mishmash of old fabrics sewn together in strips - not particularly neatly either.  It just works though.  The kids keep begging me to finish it so they can use it.  I am not sure if I shall leave it for the kids, or keep it as a Christmas gift for a certain special someone, who shall remain nameless.  Perhaps I'll just have to do another one.  And that, my friends, is a happy thought to be sure.  :)

This is a photo of that pink baby sweater.  As you can see, it is now close to completion.  I picked out some sweet wooden buttons with carved flowers on them.  And I have some simple white ones also.  I will probably keep the wooden ones for the grey sweater and use the white for this pink one.  I think.  We'll see when all is said and done.  By the way, most of the progress on this sweater came during morning swimming lessons!  Despite having all the kids with me, even little S, I managed to get at least a couple of rows per day.  Not too shabby.  Now that lessons are finished for the summer, knitting progress may slow.  Especially with all the other projects.  

I am hoping to get back into some iconography before baby arrives, so I have been preparing a few boards these past couple of weeks.  Two of them didn't turn out so well being older, and the gesso wasn't sanding smoothly.  So when the kids asked for their own boards, I was only too happy to oblige.  And they were thrilled!  As you can see, they have their own artistic style.  :)  I am hoping they will agree to a project where we can write a beautiful quote on their boards together, maybe with stencils or something like that.  Then they can give them as gifts, or keep them should they be so inclined.  (Usually I find they like to give away the things they make.  Bless their little hearts!)  

Anyhow.  That's quite an update for me.  Life hasn't been all rosy and gay.  We all have struggles alongside the joys.  In fact, these past two weeks have been particularly trying for some reason.  I find though, that even just a little handiwork is the best medicine for the blues.  Truly.  So, I've been taking as much of that pill as possible.  As you can see!  Hopefully next week there will be some kitchen updates - I do love sharing what's happening in the kitchen!

Happy weekending to you!

I am thankful

I often experience times where I am calm inside and able watch the things going around around me with a sense of wonder and thankfulness.  I am so thankful for those times and I love looking back on them afterwards too.  It helps ground me when the days are not so full of sunshine.  This past weekend was one of those times.  It was just an ordinary Monday that we spent in a park barbecuing chicken.  And I am thankful we did.  

I am thankful for little crab apple trees with branches low enough for children to climb and look around at the world from a new perspective.

I am thankful for sweet little hands to help us in our daily tasks.  I am thankful for the way they make everything seem new and exciting - even if it's only heating up charcoal.

I am thankful that we had such delicious food to full our bellies, and lots of scope for our eyes to feast on while eating.  

And I am especially thankful that spending a day in the fresh air makes kids sleep so well at night.  :o)  

Apple-y goodness

M found a snail today.  It was climbing the wall of our condo building.  It had got to eye-level - at least to a 3-year-old's eye - when M spotted it and snatched it up.  The snail wisely retreated into its shell, and M joyously poked his finger into the opening as he yelled "Look Mommy, a SNAIL!"

Honestly, I felt sorry for the snail.  Could you imagine being that poor little guy?  Some kid's finger jabbing at your eyes as you try to squeeze yourself further into your shell.  That shell probably seemed quite spirally spacious at one point.  Now, the number of spirals are nowhere near enough.  Even just one more would be oh so helpful...

Slimy (as he was eventually named) was finally rescued and placed in a clean little jar.  With a lid.  See, snails have a neat trick they like to try.  It's called "watch-how-fast-I-can-climb-out-of-this-jar".  The first snail we ever brought home tried this one on us.  One moment he was at his ease in a cozy jar.  The next minute, he had disappeared.  M found Houdini making a bee-line for the bookshelf.  (Perhaps slugs like to read...? )

Anyhow, that explains the lid.  I've yet to meet a snail who could get out of that one.  Here he remains at present.  Until we decide we're ready to take the plunge and boil him.  I'm kidding.  Escargot may be considered a delicacy in some parts of the world, but I for one cannot imagine eating a snail at this point any more than I could eating spiders.  Slugs can stay on the ground for all I care.  Same with spiders.

Apples are a different story.  I can't get enough of apples.  I tell you, truly a wondrous fruit.  They pair well with many gastronomical delights.  Salads, cheeses, meats, pies.  And cake.  Who doesn't love cake?!  That is a heavily rhetorical question, so if your answer to cake be "nay", do keep it to yourself and don't spoil my illusion.  Back to apples and cake - I had a hard time deciding if apple cake is better in Fall or springtime.  Solution?  Bake an apple cake and see!  

Out came the apples.  And the pans.  And all the fiddly ingredients that make cake!  Mixed it all up, popped it into the oven and an hour and a half later, a cake was born.  A sinful cake.  When you think "apple", even for desserts, you don't usually think "sinful".  This was sinful.  Why?  The topping.  Caramelized brown sugar with pecans and oats.  And butter.  I must confess though that I also use margarine.  It's not bad, but you'd have to be pretty hard pressed to use margarine if you've ever tried it with butter.  

My friends, there are no pictures of this cake.  No pictures at all.  Alas.  Do come back at some point in the near future when I have the presence of mind to snap a photo before demolishing a whole cake.  In one sitting.  (Such apple-y goodness...)

APPLE CRUMBLE CAKE

1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour

3/4 cup sugar

1 tsp baking powder

1/2 cup vegetable oil

1/4 cup water

1/2 cup applesauce

about 3 granny smith apples (don't fret if ye have not - other types will suffice)

1 tsp cinnamon

1 tsp cloves

1/2 tsp nutmeg

Topping:

1 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup butter (or margarine!)

1/2 - 1 cup oats

1/4 cup chopped pecans (optional)

Heat oven to 350 degrees F.  Peel apples and chop finely.  Mix dry ingredients together, save the apples.  Add water and oil and mix well.  Add apples and mix to combine.  Pour into a lightly greased loaf pan.  Bake for about 20 minutes.  Remove and sprinkle (or gently spread as the case may be) evenly with topping mixture.  Bake for another 40-50 minutes until toothpick inserted into centre comes out clean.  Let cool.

Topping: Cream butter and sugar together.  Add oats and pecans and mix well.