Beauty in Ice

Look at the bubbles suspended in this icicle! Beautiful!

Moose Tracks?

Could these be moose?

My leg warmer

I think I might have a future in making hockey socks :D

My First Baby Blanket

Kilroy was here. Can't wait to meet you beautiful Ruby!

Convertible chicken coop

I have been meaning to put these photos up for a while, but sadly I am a negligent blogger. When we moved the chicken coop into the garage for the winter, I begged SP to help make an easier way to clean it out because it was screwed down to a pallet so no critters could get in. SP is a genius. My life is so much easier! And what a great reuse of our old baby gate!

My girl

This is my daughter Pickle, aka Pickle in the middle, after Hockey practice.
Don't you just dig the outfit? lol

Eggs left after New years

Before Christmas arrived, we had a least 3 dozen plus eggs. The we had two large influxes of house guests for the holidaze. :D

We had this many eggs remaining once all our guests left.

Then there were this many

We are so lucky that the two little ladies are still laying! We are getting two a day!

Pulling splinters from my nail

Sang to the tune of the Squeeze song... OUCH!

My first mittens

Happy Birthday little Miss Boots! Loads of love to the new family!

A few of my favorite things

This winter we have a new wood stove in the basement and it is by far one of my favorite additions to the house. It provides radiant heat to the first floor. By adding essential oils to the pot of water on top I also now have a wonderful smelling house too! All those hats and mittens get dry, toasty warm, and smell nice to boot!


SP was also a genius to create a wood cart for the basement out of old apple crates. I love reusing things and making our lives more sustainable! He pulls that puppy up to the inside of the Bilco doors and then dumps two or three wheelbarrows full of wood down the stairs and into the cart. This genius cart makes loading wood into the basement not only easier but a heck of a lot less messy! LOVE! It also just occured to me that this is the last of the wood from the tree girdling project we did a few years ago. Visit those posts here, here, or here! Oh wait here
or here too!

But my favorite part of this? Having Puckstopper old enough, strong enough, and big enough to help out. Thanks Puckstopper! You are a huge help around here! XO

Saturday Sandwich

A run on baby hats

This means there are multiple babies being born. Welcome to the world Jordan! Can't wait to meet you. Now if only Dario and Bambina would make their appearance! Great job Moms!

Squirrel and Chicken Fighting at birdfeeder.

One day we will get video of this entertaining rural adventure.

The squirrel stare down and posturing at the approaching waddlers is quite comical. I need a better camera.

January 3rd 2012

In the western foothills of Maine, it's 20 degrees and no snow.

Sunday sandwich

A few of my favorite things

There are many things going on outside my bathroom window. My three boys working on the firewood. A couple of snow piles, a kayak and a clothesline. Life is good and full of hard work!

Red Neck I Spy

I spy with my little eye...

Saturday Sandwiches

Chickens and Sandwiches

Trixie

Señorita has a sister. Her name is Trixie Hermana and they get along wonderfully!

Sunday Sandwich - from our first egg!

Sunday Sandwich

Celebrating the chickens returning to the coop on their own!

Welcoming...

Chickens Willow to our coop!

My new Noro Hat

Just in time for fall colors, I made this Noro Iro hat to match my favorite fall scarf. Not that this Indian summer is giving me the weather to wear it but at least I am ready! I love it! After blocking it I had to dry it quickly so it was ready for the fair - so I thought it would be fun to show you the kitchen through out the day! :)

Introducing...

Señorita Orejas!

Silver laced Wyandottes

I bought two today!

Newest Noro Hat

I made this for my dear friend Thais. She won this hat during the silent auction portion of our hockey's golf tournament fundraiser. I love how well these colors match her beautiful eyes! Enjoy it sweet lady! See ya at the rink soon!

Sandwich from Sunday

This is my first mobile blog post.
This was Sundays breakfast sandwich after SP, my puzzle piece, returned home after two weeks in Michigan.

A busy canning weekend

5 cans of green beans, 4 pints of chutney, and two more cans of sauce! It was a very productive weekend canning and I am the proud new owner of a pressure canner!








The chutney is extra special dear to my heart - Mom's recipe but made with fresh tomatoes for the first time! It is a little lighter in color because many of the tomatoes were beautiful yellow ones.

Step one of Making Tomato sauce

Step 1. Clean your sauce tomatoes and remove greens and stems. Gently core tops.

Step 2. Place prepared tomatoes in a stock pot such as a dutch oven or this Le Creuset and bring to a boil.

Step 3. Turn down heat and simmer until tomatoes fall apart. You can also use a potato masher to assist. You will have a wonderful start as pictured below.

The next step it to run it through the food mill twice. The first time on the largest sieve to strain the skins. The second time use the smallest sieve to catch the seeds!

Then you reserve the tomato pulp and use it to make sauce, according to the recipe you choose.