It Was A Happy Easter

We hosted Easter this year at our small house in Hopkins. I was wondering how to fit my Aunt, Uncle, Cousin, Cousin's Wife, Cousin's Kids, Brother, Sister-in-Law, Niece, Mother, Husband and Son into our little living and dining room. The weather gave me the solution. As it was 65 degrees and sunny we hosted outside! It was truly a gift as MN often will still have snow this time of year.

Sam, Anya, Chase and Mia (hidden behind Chase) playing in the playhouse.

Mia playing so sweetly in the sandbox

My mother's planting table became the buffet, lawn chairs plus 2 folding chairs gave the adults places to sit and the combination of Sam's picnic table and his inside table and chairs gave spots for all the kids to eat. What was the best was that the kids were happy the whole time. They started out with an Easter egg hunt, then played in the sandbox, on bikes and cars, in the playhouse, on the tire swing and lastly the BIGGEST hit of the day (have you guessed it yet?) ...drum roll please...BUBBLES. What is it with kids and bubbles? The wind practically made the bubbles for them which delighted young Chase who is only 2. They must have blown bubbles for over an hour having my mom refill their bubble trays with "bubble juice."

The bubble hour of fun!

Anya blowing bubbles on my purple scillia.

The food was fresh and oh so delicious! The ham was a nitrate/nitrite free Beeler's Ham, lovely bright veggies consisting of green beans, sugar snap peas, carrots and red peppers, sweet potatoes with pecans, a salad with avocado, onions and strawberries, fresh fruit and rolls. With cheesecake from Trader Joe's and cupcakes from my kitchen for dessert. Everyone left sated and happy with doggie bags (don't you just love getting leftovers from a holiday feast?)

I have to say it was one of my all time favorite Easters even including the get Easter where my Dad wrote poems as clues for us to find our Easter goodies that were hidden all over the neighborhood at an early 6:00 a.m. I think it was the kids who made it so great for me. Watching their joy at finding eggs and their laughter when playing with one another. Kids really make a holiday a holiday don't you think? How was your Easter?

Signs of Spring

A few signs of spring are poking up in our garden. It's so exciting to see new growth after the long winter of bare branches and piles of snow (I do like winter, but it does go on rather long here.) My mother, a gardener by trade and hobby, is so excited to get into the yard and start digging - something - anything!

purple Scillia flowers just about to bloom

This is a bulb garden I received in a pot last spring which I replanted whole and I'm excited to see how it blooms this year

We have a large prairie garden out front and a shade and vegetable gardens in back so it's a lot to care for by myself. But since my mother moved in with us late in 2008 it's been a pleasure to have someone else to work besides in the garden. Dan just doesn't have the time with a job and his own business to run on the side. We usually just ask him to do a big job here and there. For instance this year we need lots and lots of mulch for the whole yard which means many trips to the city public works for free mulch.

Virginia Bluebell leaves just starting to poke through the soil

We have lots of cutting back of old growth to do out front as well as a hedge of hydrangeas. The shade garden just needs to be raked and the vegetable garden soil needs to be turned and prepped for planting. Sam likes working in the vegetable garden the best, digging in the dirt and planting seeds. Last fall he planted lots of wheatgrass that we need to now turn over or dig out.

Tete-a-Tete Miniature daffodils giving off just a hint of color

Today is sunny so I'm hoping to get lots done before we have to go to a family birthday gathering. Sam's hankering for a walk to I'll have to end here. I hope you all have a great day and are thinking of gardening too!

Making Window Stars

Well I finally tackled a project I've been dying to try - making window stars. You know those beautiful translucent stars you see at Waldorf schools? I've purchased some in the past from harvestmoonbyhand on etsy, but I wanted so many(you know every season a different color scheme etc.) that the cost would have been prohibitive.

With the purchase of this book and some kite paper from Wonderment I was ready to begin. I did look at the book Magical Window Stars, but the stars were quite complex and confusing to my Mama fogged mind.

To start I cut my large square into four small ones and began folding each piece as per the directions.

Then I stared gluing each pieces folds down, then all the pieces into one star! It wasn't too hard and the directions were very easy to follow. Here is the results.

I made green for St. Patrick's day and for the coming Spring here in Minnesota - only 12 more days to go! Really the snow is melting and the weather is a balmy 45 degrees (I know not too balmy in most people's eyes but after being frozen all Winter with temps in the single digits and below it is a major relief!) Here are two others I made this morning.

I'm very pleased with the results and can't wait for what Sam will think when he comes home from school. I think I'll still buy the more complicated stars from harvestmoonbyhand as they intimidate me too much, but these basic ones are for me to make in the future. Maybe I'll do some rainbow ones for Sam's room? What projects have you been working on lately?

New Wand Design and New Crowns

I just finished a new wand design in time for spring (come on Mrs. Thaw push King Winter away!) Just like the other wands it uses rainbow plant dyed yarn from mamajudes for a nice soft handle as well as plant dyed wool felt. The butterfly is a rich orange , as I always think of Monarchs when I think of butterflies, with purple wing designs and body. It's stuffed with wool roving to give it some depth. I also stitched around the butterfly's body to give more contrast from body to wings. Ribbons are the only unnatural item, but all wands need ribbons to dance through the air. I find doing the blanket stitching on these wands so restful and a nice switch from knitting.

On the knitting front new crowns have also been finished in lovely spring colors. All use plant dyed wool yarn (85% wool 15% mohair - very soft) and wool felt for the applique. There's a light blue crown with a gold star and the reverse of a gold crown with a blue star. I also made one for St. Patrick's Day for my red haired Irish boy (also Scots, Phillipino, English, French Canadian, Dutch and Polish - what an American melting pot is he!) It's a lovely shade of spring green with a darker green shamrock to bring the wearer good luck! All these are now up for sale in my etsy shop - have a look.

I only had to bribe him with a fruit popsicle to get this cheesy grin. Coming up next is an orange crown with a blue star and some springtime gnomes! What projects are you up too?

Fall

Fall is my favorite season. The colors, the smell and simply the feel of the air when you walk outside. I was out taking pictures of my new Christmas Gnomes and Christmas Ornament this morning and had snap a photo of the beautiful frost.

My son Sam is enamored with my little stories of Jack "Jackie" Frost. His latest question being "Does he live here too?" (I assumed meaning our neighborhood.) Which I found funny as I never thought to mention his home in my stories. Then realized home is so important to a child that of course he would wonder where he lived. Do any of you have any fun Jack Frost stories to share?

Here are my homage to Autumn Gnomes which are available in my etsy shop and as a giveaway on Contemporary Earth Mama's Blog this coming Monday the 16th. Drop a comment on her blog for a chance to win. Bring a little Fall into your home today.

Fire, Lunch and Compost Pit

It was a gray but warmer October day - the perfect day for a fire in our little backyard. Mama was the master fire builder. Looks pretty good huh? Fires always remind me of camping, one of our favorite activities, which we don't do enough.

Lunch was a simple affair of goat cheese on Wasa crackers for the adults, cheddar cheese and crackers for Sam and apples.

Sam, who usually is all over the place during meals, focused on the fire, sat still and ate. Maybe we should have fires everyday?

I imagine Sam is thinking - "Is she taking my picture?"

The fire made a dramatic collapse after about 30 minutes.

Dan's project for the day was to dig a compost pit which we could put our compost bin on top of to increase it's capacity. We seem to always run out of room for our kitchen scraps mid winter, so this effort will hopefully solve the problem. I feel we still need another bin, but space is such an issue in our little backyard. We already have a shade garden, kitchen garden, raspberry patch, sandbox, playhouse, fire pit and tables and chairs. Oh ya, there is a bit of room left to play - thank goodness!

Before the hole was filled and covered, Sam had such fun getting in a out of it! All by himself no less - what a three year old!

Daddy and Sam together in the compost pit. I love this photo as it really captures the fun of the afternoon.

Fall Harvest Orchard

I meant to post this in September when we visited the farm, but writing hasn't been happening too much as you can very well see. We took our niece Alex and nephew Tyler to Fall Harvest Orchard in Delano, MN for apple picking and good old farm fun! It was a gray day, but warm and good times were had by all. Oddly enough when I went through my pictures of our day there were none of us picking apples. The big hit with everyone was burying each other in the corn bin and holding the baby animals. Here's a few photos:

Nephew Tyler fully buried. Later he even let his head be covered with corn.

Everyone chipping in to cover Dan.

Sam just loved the tactile quality of the corn. Hmmm...maybe we should have a cornbox instead of a sandbox at home?

Tyler, who is allergic to cats, was so enthralled by picking up the baby goats and the different breeds and ages of chicks that he just couldn't stop himself when it came to the farm cats.


Sam did manage to pick this goat up; I did not manage to get a picture of that moment.

Dan holding the special fluffy breed of chickens they raise.

We all feed the goats oats, played tether ball, ate brats, picked gourds, took a tractor ride, picked apples thoroughly enjoying our day at the farm. I wish the weather stayed warm enough so we could have gone back, but we'll just have to wait again until next year. It was a wonderful day with my family.

Oh, I almost forgot to include the ubiquitous tractor photo. Here's Alex - isn't she lovely?

Sheep Shearing Day

On Saturday we went to Misty Meadows Icelandic farm in Minnetrista, MN to watch the sheep get sheared, the fleeces skirted, and play with wool! Here are a few photos of our day.

This woman who did the shearing was amazing. She was gentle, firm and quick. Just a few minutes was all it took her to shear off a fleece and all in one piece!

Dan with the HUGE pumpkin!

Dad and Sam at the" helm" of the tractor. Where are you going Sam? It was so great to have a warmer sunny day as Fall here in Minnesota has been cold and wet this year.

Time to go home. It was a fun day and mom bought lots of yummy fall wool to make wool felt for our Centerpiece and our Nature Table. Here are the results.


This was such a fun and EASY project. We had just learned how to felt in our Parent/Child class "Seedlings" held at Sam's school Spring Hill Waldorf School in Excelsior, MN. I might do a tutorial on it for when I make some felt for our winter displays.