Our Lady Tulip

Imagine my shock on Tuesday when I opened the sleeping quarters in the coop (to do some periodic cleaning) and discovered 4 little brown eggs. A little clutch. It appears that our Tulip is all grown up now.
So I immediately ran and got the camera of course. Then I brought them in to take some more photos. (The big one in the back is a large egg from the store for scale.) They are smallish because she still has some growing to do.
Then I took them back outside and placed two in each of the nesting boxes. Egg #5 was in the "wrong" place but she laid Egg #6 in a nesting box. Smart cookie, that Tulip.

Yes, we ate them. Yes, they were delicious.

Happy Birthday, Stephen!

The Helgren family welcomed their second baby boy in the wee hours of July 4th, yesterday. His name is Stephen Christopher and he comes just a week shy of his big brother Thomas's 3rd birthday. We are very excited to meet him this coming weekend.
Look Stephen, we made these decorations for you! Well, actually we made them for our 4th of July dessert and fireworks party, but how cool is it that you'll get fireworks on your birthday every year! Once again, we failed to take photos from the party but it was fun. Lots of kids, lots of dessert and the annual walk over to the open field to see the fireworks. This year I made fresh fruit tart, brownies, blueberry crumble, and peach cobbler. Chris made peanut butter cookies and chocolate chip cookies. The peach cobbler was the biggest hit.

I decided to try batik dyeing silk play scarves for the 4th of July party this year. First, you might ask, who in their right mind tries batik dyeing for the first time and decides to make 17 silk scarves all at once the day before 40 people are coming over? Me. Ok, so it was a little ambitious. But I have a reputation to uphold. Every year we've done this party, I've given some sort of creative, homemade party favor to the kids.

I certainly have a new appreciation for batik dyeing. The results of my efforts were nice enough, but not at all what I intended. Partly the problem was that I had limited tools and it made painting the wax much more crude and messy. I had all these intricate patterns in my mind (I know, silly me). Also, I was under the impression that the blue I used would cover the red better so I really intended these to be red, blue and white - not red, white with a tiny bit of blue. I think I didn't use enough dye and maybe didn't use enough of the fixer.

So, I won't quit my day job to become a batik dyeing professional.
Lastly, here's a view of the birds from the kitchen window while we were getting ready for the party. I'm off to Oregon tomorrow for some soil and groundwater sampling. Then I'll rendezvous with Chris and the girls in the Bay Area to visit with our new nephew and his family. Have a great week!

School's Out, Chickens Are Out

The coop is done and the chickens are out. They have been out for 4 nights now and have learned to put themselves to bed and come down from the roost in the morning. They seem to be very content. I am very content to not have stinky birds in the house.
I'm not sure why it is that the last couple weeks of school have to be so busy with BBQs, plays, potlucks, and last minute field trips. It didn't help that Sofia had her ballet recital on Saturday, which involved some extra rehearsals. She was fantastic though. After watching her Shakespeare play at school and then her dance recital, we have confirmed that she is a natural performer. And I'm so happy Grandma and Grandpa Marc came to visit this weekend. Sofia felt very special that they were there to see her. More photos over at flickr.

The chickies have landed!

We are now the proud parents of five chicks; two Barred Rocks, two Black Sex Links, and 1 Buff Orphington. I started out to get four, but the store selling the Barred Rocks would only sell a pair, whatevah!

No names yet. We are considering Greek goddess names, deceased family member names, or jewel names. Chris wants to name them Bob, Harold, Frank, Joe, etc. but I'm not so sure. Pretty silly. There are a couple more photos here and I'm sure there will be a million more soon. Peep!

Oh, hello. You still there?

Gosh, I didn't mean to go so long without a post. Spring has sprung and it's such a pretty time of year around here. We've got Santa Barbara daisies, several varieties of sage, lavenders, and every dandelion imaginable (ahem), all in bloom. We have a caterpillar named Freddie who should be emerging as a Gulf Fritillary butterfly any day now. But I guess the biggest thing going on right now is some serious yard planning and transformation. Think - lots of weeding. Think - homegrown veggies. Think - chickens! Here's how it happened...

Chris says one day recently that he wants to buy a new bike frame (you knew it had to do with cycling, right?). It's new, it's better, it has a custom Fast Friday paint job, and it's great deal, he says. It's such a great deal, that he can likely sell his current frame for the same price. Sounds great, right? So I say, as long as it doesn't interfere with my plans for planter boxes and chickens, (oh, and it doesn't involve me changing jobs), it's fine with me. Wink, wink. Chris must really want that bike frame because he's been working really hard in the yard.

We built three 4'x8' raised planter boxes, arranged them on the lawn, and re-routed the sprinklers to a drip line in each box. I have started a bunch of seeds inside - kale, spinach, tomato, zucchini, cucumber, ancho pepper, snap peas, beans, basil, catnip, cilantro. We're a little late on some things but that's ok, we're learning and we'll see how it goes.

We have also selected our coop location and we purchased some plans for the coop. We decided to get chicks and raise them because we've read they will be more docile and friendly than if we bought pullets. We're going to start with four and perhaps increase to six hens. We've been doing lots of reading and we're very excited.

I'm also stalled on a couple of cute tiered skirts - finished one but not the other. Maybe now that the girls will be back in school it's time to get back to that little project.

So that's what we're up to, how about you?

Making Ready a Plan

I find myself in between deadlines. Sure, there are unfinished projects (plenty of them), but nothing pressing. So, I am starting a new process, a new project, a new craft. I want to make a quilt coverlet for our bed to replace the tired old store-bought thing we now have. I want it to be fresh, bold, modern, clean. I want it to tell a story and last many years. I dug into flickr for some inspiration and here's what I came up with. It's sort of all over the place but it's a start.


1. Vintage Scarf Quilt by Ouno Design, 2. Birds & Blooms baby quilt back, 3. Two Baby Quilts, 4. The back of Strips and Bricks Quilt, 5. Front., 6. "Box of Chocolates" Quilt_02-25-09_09, 7. quilt, 8. "It Takes A Village", 9. blocks and stripes quilt, 10. Hideaway quilt, 11. Bridie's Quilt, 12. The Tree Quilt, 13. Waves of Green Quilted Wall Hanging, 14. Work Quilt, 15. five blocks, 16. fall, 17. 'proposal moon', 18. The Gobstopper Quilt, 19. DQS8 #1 "Think Spring", 20. Birthday Quilt

I haven't quilted before, but surely I can do this. I know the basic steps but I also know there are a million different ways to do it and infinite possibilities for the end product. I have a little less than six months. I'm aiming for 15th anniversary territory. No time (or money) for a class, I'm going to rely on the wonderful world of blogging quilters (and maybe a book) to figure this one out. Comments? Suggestions? Ideas?

Lots to report

The latest news...Please welcome my nephew Sawyer Morgan, born yesterday December 28th, after about 36 hours of labor. My sister is a trooper and gave birth to this beautiful boy. He weighed 9 pounds 6 ounces and measured 22 inches long.
I met him briefly at the hospital, he is only a few hours old here. We will travel back up north this weekend so that the girls can meet him too.

Preparations for the holidays...
Here are Sofia and Maia in their ski clothes (well, the new stuff anyway). Neither had a suitable jacket or boots to wear in the snow so I had to go searching and found these at Lands' End at reasonable prices (if I had planned ahead a little better, I would have tried to find something on ebay). They had a great time sledding. Skiing wasn't as big a success this time due to bad weather on the day we went, but more on that later.
The annual xmas card production was so much fun. I did this card using Illustrator and then printed using the gocco printer.
And finally, some Christmas twirly skirts for my favorite little skirt wearers. They loved them. Some minor adjustments need to be made (Maia's is a little big around the waist), but overall they were fun and easy to make.

I'm going to get back to unpacking and laundry for now but hope to post soon about our journey up north to Truckee/Tahoe-Donner and the Bay Area. Happy New Year!

Having a Thankful Day

But first, she sings! She really does sing! Of course we know Maia sings, we hear her all the time, but this time she sang at her school Thanksgiving Lunch. She knew all the words (of course she does), she sang so we could hear her, and she sang with a smile. So sweet. She sings - when she's good and ready to sing. And not a minute sooner. Little bugger.
After feasting at preschool, we're off to Sofia's school this evening for a Peace Feast. The Peace kids are preparing a Thanksgiving meal with the help of a mom/chef. I'm looking forward to it. This week has been difficult for Sofia. Her friend, "who I've know since I was 2", left her school to start at a different school. It all happened quickly (which is probably best) - he told her on Monday and his last day was Thursday. She's feels scared and sad and worried. I know this will pass and she'll make new friends, but it hurts to see her sad. Not to mention my carpool just disappeared. I knew it would end someday but I didn't expect it so soon. Oh well, that's ok. It does simplify things a bit - takes more of my time, sure - but I only have to worry about getting my two kids to and fro.

By the way, I brought this black bean salad to the lunch. Yummmmmy. The dressing is super tasty.

I have more to post - some cutie patootie little booties I've been working on for one special little baby coming to us in December. But must be off for now.

Yummiest Thing I've Ever Made

Grandma and Grandad came over for belated birthday celebration, on their way (further) up north. They promised a pizza dinner, and I made the belated chocolate mousse that Sofia had requested for her birthday. The mousse recipe called for Candied Orange Peel as an accompaniment. As has been my habit this week, (ahem) I failed to read the recipe thoroughly, and missed the part about soaking the peel in salted water for 4 hours.

Can't start the candied orange peel at 5 o'clock and expect it to be ready for the mousse at 7, now can you?

So anyway, it was done late, and Maia didn't taste it until this morning. But when she did, she said, "Mommy, this is the yummiest thing you've ever made". It is candy. Pure candy. So what if it's made from real organic orange peels, it's also soaked and cooked in sugar and then rolled in more sugar. I swear it tastes like Trix cereal. Not that I've tasted that for about 20 years but it brought back memories. So here's the recipe, it's from a Williams Sonoma cookbook.

Candied Orange Peel

2 oranges, preferably with thick skin
1 T sea salt
1 c sugar, plus extra for coating
1/2 c water
3 T light corn syrup

• Cut around circumference of each orange cutting only through the peel, then make a second cut perpendicular to the first through the stem and blossom end. Remove the peel in 4 segments (now you have 8 orange peel pieces).

• In a small bowl, soak the peel pieces in the salt and just enough water to cover for 4 hours.

• Drain the peel and place in a small saucepan. Add water to cover and bring to a boil over med-high heat. Reduce heat and simmer, uncovered, for 15 minutes. Drain and repeat the process. (Why? I have no idea... ) Drain and set aside to cool. Cut into 1/4 inch strips.

• In a small saucepan, over med. heat, combine the 1 cup sugar, 1/2 cup water, and 3T corn syrup. Heat, stirring, until the mixture comes to a boil and the sugar is dissolved. Add the peel strips, reduce heat to low, and cook slowly until the peel is translucent and the syrup registers 230 degrees F on a candy thermometer. Do not allow to caramelize.

• Transfer peels to a wire rack to drain (better put something under it), without touching eachother. While still warm, roll the peels in sugar on a plate and then place on a piece of wax paper to finish cooling and drying. Store in a covered container in a cool place for up to several weeks.

Yeah, like it'll last that long around here.

A Very Happy 7th Birthday

Sofia invited a few friends over for her Kings and Queens Brunch. The crowns were lovely but I didn't expect the kids to wear them much. One friend wore hers the entire time and she was an adorable queen. The crowns were made using a process similar to that described at Bitterbetty's blog here.
The kids seemed to enjoy the restaurant-like party. I took their drink orders, brought them drinks, took their food orders and helped Chris briefly in the kitchen. Then we played a few rounds of 20 questions while waiting for their food. They were very polite (mostly) and I had fun being their server. Chris did an excellent job preparing the food. We served it all at once and most of the kids cleared their plates - those who didn't had eyes bigger than their stomachs ;)
After the party, she opened some presents. Part of Sofia's gift from us was her own knitting basket with a starter skein of red wool and size 8 needles. We also gave her three horse books. Her face says it all. She was very happy.
We spent the afternoon working on a puzzle and rounded the day off with a movie and bean and cheese burritos for dinner (Sofia's request).
I've heard 7 is about the right time to learn knitting. She has been asking for a couple years for me to teach her but I have held her off. We started a simple garter stitch scarf. I was a little nervous about teaching her to knit because I'm not the most patient teacher and she's not the most patient apprentice. That and I'm left handed and she is not, so I am learning to knit right handed along with her. She seems to be picking it up pretty well.

Bike MS

We did a little Bike MS photoshoot this weekend. Maia can be a bit of a pain about photos, especially when you really need her to smile for the camera. I won't repeat here what we were saying to finally get her to laugh and smile, it was on the verge of potty talk (the things we'll do for a picture!).

Chris will be riding the Southern California Bike MS charity ride October 3 and 4 put on by the Multiple Sclerosis Society. It's a total of 160 miles. This is his second year and this year he'll ride with his cycling club, Fast Friday. Last year at this time, we didn't know that Maia had an autoimmune disease. We were still wandering through the red tape at Kaiser trying to figure it out, although we had pretty much given up on our doctors and had decided to move on. Now that we know, we have found that Maia's treatment is similar to that of other autoimmune diseases. It seems even more fitting to try to raise money and awareness for research that may eventually help Maia and people like her. For more information on how to support Chris and the MS Society, check out Chris' Bike MS page.
Ahhh, I love it when I have an idea and I'm actually able to get it done in one day. I made this tote today for Sofia to carry her ballet stuff. It's lined and cute and just what I had in mind. It's made of scraps from recent skirt and dress projects. She had her first ballet class last week and she really enjoyed it. Now she's all outfitted with a blue leotard, pink tights, pink slippers, and a really cool tote!

2nd Grader

Wow, who could imagine having a second grader. She looks so grown up. She's wearing her new uniform, which is basically khaki bottoms and several different colored shirts for the tops. We were not proponents of going to uniforms for many reasons that I won't go into because, well, it doesn't matter at this point.

This is Peace Montessori's 3rd year and as expected each new year brings changes and hopefully improvements. They've hired 3 new teachers who already seem to be working well as a team and making some positive additions. I'm most excited about the Peace curriculum, which will include conflict resolution, community building, and non-violent communication. Imagine that, teaching Peace. I love it. I have to admit I pretty much wanted to sign up for the school when I heard it was going to be called Peace Montessori, but of course there's more to it than a name and these teachers seem to be committed to providing an education befitting a school called Peace.

In a strange scheduling mismatch, Maia doesn't start school until the 9th of September, which means she will be missing her sister and looking for things to do. Chris is going to take her camping for a night, a promise he made to her last winter when he took Sofia skiing. Right now though, she isn't feeling well. She's had a nasty cough for over a week and last night she started to have some stomach issues (i.e. no one got enough sleep). Could be a virus I guess, but I can't help worry a little. Some. Ok, a lot. Is her medicine making her stomach upset? Is her cough related to scleroderma? I know it's unlikely from what I've read, but still. Then there's all the talk about H1N1. Now we have to get another vaccine? Of course, right? What if she gets swine flu? Turns out I have a lot on my mind regarding Maia. The pokes aren't going so well lately either. Four weeks in a row, she has protested quite dramatically, which makes things difficult. Chris has to restrain her and she's so tense. I suppose these phases are to be expected but it's not fun. Edited to say: Ok, so I talked to the ped rheumy fellow today and he didn't seem too concerned about the cough. Amazing what I can conjure up in my mind. Probably should have kept it to myself.

Work? What work? I'm trying to stay positive, but geez, this is ridiculous. So, I have been working on this (from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing):I meant to have two slippers ready for Sofia's first day of school (they are allowed to bring slippers to school to wear in the classroom). But I had to fiddle with the pattern, which is sized for adults, and unfortunately, I didn't fiddle enough. I finished one and it is too big. Argh. But, the good news is, I have plenty of fabric and now that I've done the pattern once, doing it again won't be hard. Famous. Last. Words.

Homemade

I have a little obsession. Making stuff. It's partly a "green" thing. You know, less packaging and transportation. Part health reasons, like fewer added ingredients, more organic ingredients. Part economics - it costs less to make things (at least it should!!). And partly it's the little rebel in me that likes to say, ha! I don't have to buy your stinkin' overpriced green-natural-organic product at the store, I can make it myself. I do believe strongly that we should be willing to pay for good quality healthy organic green products, but sometimes it's hard when you compare bargain basement made-in-a-far-off-country Target prices to those at Whole Foods. I'm no trail blazer though, all my projects have been researched on the good ol' internet.

So I've been working on yogurt. My first attempt was only partly successful. I learned that my oven doesn't stay warm very long and can't be set to under 170 degrees. Chris thinks it's a food safety concern, as in, mind-your-own-business-you-lawsuit-fearing-oven-makers-who-think-I'm-going-to-poison-my-family-with-food-heated-to-less-than-170-degrees (in my humble opinion). But I digress. The temperature fluctuations were probably to wide and the yogurt separated. It tasted fine though and I was able to use it for frozen smoothie drinks.

The basic process I've learned is to heat milk to 180 degrees, let it cool, add the starter (I used a package starter), and place in canning jars. Once in the jars, the key is to keep it at about 110 degrees for 4-6 hours. This time I used a large pot to place the glass jars in and then immersed them in hot water (110 degrees). I started it at about 6 pm when we were also cooking dinner and had the oven on. The pot stayed on the stove while we were cooking and then once the oven cooled down I put it in the oven. I checked on it a few times, changing the water once and turning on the oven for a couple minutes once. At 11:30 pm, we were going to bed and I heated the oven slightly and then turned it off and left it for the night. The water was still about 110 degrees at that point. In the morning, I put the jars in the refrigerator and let them chill for a couple hours.

The texture was great, but the flavor was um... different. I forgot to mention that I put dry milk powder in the milk heating phase. I have read that it makes thicker yogurt, but I think it also changed the flavor a bit. For the ultimate test, I served up a couple bowls, drizzled a little honey and put a couple drops of vanilla on top. Maia and Sofia loved it. So there you go.

Man, this is turning out to be a long post. I'm pleased with the yogurt making though. I can see how it there might be a bit more trial and error and how it might turn out differently each time. And that's probably ok. A couple times, I've come very close to going over to the mall and buying the darn $50 yogurt maker at Williams Sonoma (it gets very good reviews), but then the little rebel, and the little spend thrift voice their disapproval and I'm back to researching on the internet.

Next homemade project: shampoo. Yes, there have been some bad hair days going on around here, but I haven't given up yet.

I did it

Yep, you got it. You can call me Nurse Alexis now. Phewwww! I think I'm still on an adrenaline rush and it's been several hours since I gave Maia her first shot at home. It went great. In fact, best shot she's had since all this stuff started - and by that I mean there was just a little tiny bit of crying and she had basically forgotten about it within a few minutes. I don't expect that every time, but I know this is the best way for Maia and for all of us. Thanks to my nurse friends and family for their advice, my mom for her encouragement, and Maia's nurse at her ped office for all her help. I did my first shot last week at the doctor's office, and it went well, but I knew today's shot would be a big mental hurdle too - having to do it here at home without the nurse. Chris was the holder, I was the poker, Sofia provided singing entertainment. Lots of hugs all around afterward.
I started a little shirt for Maia on Saturday. It's going really fast, which is nice after that year-long sweater. I saw it first at JC Handmade, but the pattern is here.
I added a little ribbing on the sleeve to keep it from rolling and will probably do the same at the bottom. Next issue is that I will probably run out of yarn. Oops. I was trying to use something in my stash but miscalculated how much I had. Unfortunately, this yarn came from a shop in LA. So, we'll see what I decide to do about all that...

A Week of Firsts

I suppose any week could have some firsts, but this one had a few more than normal.

- Sofia lost her first upper tooth, she's a real jack-o-lantern now. One on the top and two on the bottom are missing, and two more are half way in on the bottom.

- The tooth fairy forgot to come for the first (and hopefully last) time. Oh dear. Oops.

- The first illness of the season - Maia had to miss school 2 days this week with a fever.

- We hired our first babysitter! After 6+ years of trading babysitting with friends we finally graduated to a real live paid babysitter. It worked out great. She is the 17 year old daughter of one of Chris' colleagues, and the girls loved her. I figure as long as we don't do it too often, they'll always be excited to have her come. That is if we can afford it!! I handed her $50 at the end of the night. Ouch.

- First frosty morning. We get a limited winter around here, so we really have to savor every frosty moment we get.

I have not a single picture this week, but I am busy working on Christmas cards, a 60th birthday gift, a doll cradle, and a fairy pagoda, so lots coming... I do have a picture that Sofia drew this week. It's an "interpretation" of my Pig painting from a while back. I may be biased but I think it's pretty good.