A Nice Little Snack

Does it get any better than this? I just had to take a picture of my afternoon snack today. Homemade Milk Bread, homemade Pear Butter Preserves (mentioned in a previous post) and a nice cup of milky coffee...mmmm...delicious! I feel very Laura Ingalls right now and that makes me SO happy!

Apple Picking Time

Well, I know this post comes to you pretty far after the fact, but it's been...busy....since little Toots was born and the Hubby went back to work. Hard for me to get the essentials done, in fact showering is usually far down on my to do list and I'm a woman who loves her showers, let alone try to find time to post a blog or two. But I have a few minutes right now, since the Hubby is home and has a few minutes to hold Toots before he has to get to bed and Moo is (hopefully) fast on her way to dreamland as well. So I thought I'd post a little something about our first "family trip" to Riley's Apple Orchard. The Hubby has never been "picking" and actually kind of liked it. He really enjoyed seeing Moo getting excited about the whole thing. She had a blast, by the way. I think it was nice going alone so she could really have fun doing the picking. We went last year with friends and she thought it was kind of boring since all she wanted to do was play with the other kids. But this time she was REALLY into it. She picked an entire bucket,

and tried to start on a second, but we had to stop her... we just can't eat that many apples! We already had enough for a pie and a bunch of eating apples. If you can't tell, that is Toots under the blanket attached to the Hubby's chest. I was fresh out of the Hospital and not really up to hauling around a big ol' baby for the day. So Hubby manned up and donned the Bjorn - AND carried the diaper bag...my hero. All in all we had a great day. It was a lot of fun to do something all together as a family, even if little Toots slept for almost all of it. I think spending time with my loves is such a gift. We don't get to do it often enough, so when it happens, I just treasure each moment.

Halloween!

Well, we had a really fun night! Hubby took Moo out for her first real trick-or-treat experience and he was a better sport about it than I thought he would be. He even dressed up! Moo was Barbie and even got to wear some of Mommy's real make-up. Toots was a pink kitty cat - very cute and picked out by Moo. Toots was only two weeks old so she didn't go out with Moo and Daddy, but she and I hung out in the house while Grammy passed out candy to all the neighborhood kids. All in all, it was a nice night. Oh, did I mention Moo got such a good haul that she had to stop at the house to dump her first load of candy before she could finish? And that I got to make a Halloween treat for myself? A Bloody Boozy (really just a strawberry margarita) but it was the first drink I have had in the last almost 2 years!!!! So Mommy, Daddy, Moo and Toots all had a great Halloween!

A New Addition

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting for a while, I've been a little busy. On October 9th I had my second daughter, Toots. Okay, Toots is as much her name as Moo is my first daughter's name. We like nicknames around here. So sue me. Anyway, Toots is healthy and seems to be enjoying her new home. Moo loves her new baby sister and likes singing to her and giving her big hugs (which are sometimes quite frightening for Mommy). We are all learning how to get along as a bigger family and are lucky that Daddy has some time off from work to help us all out. I had to have a c-section, so I've been slowly recovering which has made it a bit more difficult for me this time than it was with Moo, but each birth is unique (they like to tell me) so I'm making do. I can't wait to be all healed up and running around with the kiddos...right now I'm just taking it day by day and enjoying the time my new family gets to spend all together. Who knows when we'll get the chance again?

The Canning Experiment

On Friday, I tried my hand at canning for the very first time. I have to admit, I was a bit nervous. I don't know why, but if you've ever thought about canning, you probably have felt the same twinge of fear. There are so many things that you hear about going wrong with home canning...people getting sick from careless canning or the pressure canner exploding! It is terrifying! But if you actually sit down and read a few books about it (which I did to calm my nerves about the whole process) it really isn't that scary. Especially if you are just using the hot water bath canning method and not the pressure canner. I'm sure I'll have a nervous breakdown the first time I try to pressure can something.

For starters, as long as things are kept exceptionally clean and you follow the instructions, there is virtually no risk of sickness. As long as you get a good seal on the jars, they will be fine kept in a cool dark place for a few months. I was worried about the jars not sealing, one of them cracking and exploding in the boiling water, if I left enough head space, if I left too much head space, what did fingertip tight really mean? But I trudged on through and made my first batch of Pear Butter. It was quite tasty - I had to try it before I put it up, what if it was gross? It's a nice cinnamon pear flavor, much like a thick, sweet cinnamon applesauce. It will be very tasty heated on toast this winter. Mmmm. And did I mention that though it's not very pretty, it looks glorious in it's little jars all lined up on my shelf?

It took quite a while to make...about 3 hours for the pear butter, then another 30 minutes to can it, then 12 hours of sitting to let it seal. I did it at night, so the 12 hours sitting time I mostly spent sleeping. But in the end, I have 8 half pints of deliciousness sitting in my pantry that I am oh so happy with. If for no other reason, you have to give canning a try for the sweet satisfaction of doing something older than your grandmother. People have canned forever and really, it just recently went "out of fashion". My mom remembers helping her mom can. Now that I know how to do it, I will teach Moo someday. There is nothing like the feeling of pride that jumps to your heart when you hear the "ping" of that little button on the lid of a jar being sucked down, creating the vacuum you need for your preserves to keep. I literally laughed out loud when my first jar went "ping!" followed shortly by seven other "ping, ping, PING, ping!"s. It is a wonderful thing.

Cowgirl Moo

When asked to strike a pose in her new Cowgirl boots and hat (courtesy of the local Boot Barn) this is what she did. Such a ham. Perhaps I should call her Oink instead of Moo...

The Fair...again

Well, it's that time again! But this Fair was awesome...well, if you like the whole 4H part of the fair. Which is what we're all about. I just don't trust those fair rides.

As soon as we got there, we watched the Pet Parade, full of people and their dogs dressed in costume. My favorite, though it was kind of cheating since the dog wasn't really in a costume, was Mary and her Little Lamb. The girl was dressed just as the story book pictures always make Mary look staff and all, and the pup was this tiny little bichon frise (I really have no idea how to spell that). They had put a little bow and bell on her. It was darling. Moo liked the girl dressed as a picnic table complete with a dog dressed as, well, a hot dog. Also pretty cute.

We got to see all kinds of animals - goats, sheep, rabbits, horses, cows, pigs and poultry of all types. Oh there were even guinea pigs. I liked seeing all the different types of foul - average and ornamental chicken, game foul, turkey...you name it, they had it. I also have a soft spot for sheep, always have, and the little black faced are my favorite. We met a very nice 4H girl who let us pet her sheep as she was bringing her back in from showing in the ring. Moo thought she didn't feel too soft, but was very nice. She felt like a shorn sheep to me, but what do I know. If we ever get enough land, I'm getting sheep. Another treat was seeing the "messy" pony. Moo said she looked like she spilled paint allover.

Then we came to the rabbits. Moo loved the rabbits and I have to say I can't blame her. They were all so cute. We met a nice family who owns the bunny pictured and since our daughters share the same name, we were allowed to pet the cutie.

That really made Moo's day and we stood there for maybe twenty minutes petting that little doe. I have been reading up on raising rabbits for fiber, since sheep just aren't an option and may never be one for me. To see Moo so happy interacting with them is wonderful. Hmmmm...

Surprisingly, Moo wanted to sit and watch the dwarf goats in the show ring, so that's what we did. We sat and watched the judge examine each animal and their 4H girls walk them around the ring. Moo and I each took a guess as to who we though would win and guess who got it right? Moo appears to be a natural goat judge. Who knew?

After wandering around a bit more, we made it up to the rodeo ring where Moo caught up with a few of her friends and we got to watch a timed shooting event on horseback. The riders would start at one end of the course and race around a

U-shaped set-up of balloons tied to cones. The goal was to pop all the balloons in the fastest time. The girls had fun for a while, but Moo was totally into it the whole time. She even threw a fit when we had to leave while the show was still going. Her friends were long gone by then, but we had stayed until I couldn't take it anymore...did I mention that it was 108* F that day and we had already gone through two big water bottles? Oh and I'm 9 months pregnant? So Moo was a little bummed when we had to leave, but I was excited that she had enjoyed herself so much that she didn't want to leave. At least for now, she's still her Mama's girl.

Farmgirl Merit Badges

Well, as anyone who knows me can tell you, I am a card carrying member of MaryJane's Farmgirls. This is like a grown-up girlscout group for women and girls all across the country. The badges you can earn all encourage self-sufficiency, waste not want not, old time resourcefulness and frankly, they're just fun. There is an on-line chatroom where all of us farmgirls can chit-chat about whatever is on our minds and while I was checking out the chatter for today I found a post by a wonderful farmgirl (CJ) who was showing off some of her badges. I just loved seeing them as it's interesting to see what each of us does to make our badges. You see, when you earn a badge, they send you a template for it. You can then do whatever you like...embroider it, draw it with puffy paint or fabric pens, whatever! I have embroidered all of mine and CJ had hers mostly embroidered, but her quilting badge was actually quilted - genius! So after seeing CJ's, I thought it would be fun to post my badges here so other farmgirls could see them and get ideas for their own badges, like I did with CJ's.

There are badges for all sorts of things and I don't think any farmgirl has gotten all the badges yet - though I could be wrong. Each badge has a beginner, intermediate and expert level and for my badges, I am marking my level with the dotted like that circles the patch. So on the big picture of all my badges, the ones on the left side of the board are all beginners (one circle) and the right is full of intermediate badges (twice around). I haven't even gotten half of the badges possible yet and I haven't gotten "expert" on any! It's kind of fun to have little goals to focus on while doing whatever project I'm working on. I love to knit, for example, so the beginner and intermediate knitting badges were easy for me to get. Now I have to come up with a project that meets the requirements for the expert level badge! And since I don't want to make something just to make it, I have to also come up with a practical purpose for whatever it is I make. Maybe a complicated blanket pattern for a Christmas gift, or a sweater. It's really a lot of fun

and challenging too. Gives the old brain a workout.

To the left are some close-ups of my favorite badges. The lettuce I loved because I got to use a floss in multiple shades of green and I think it made the vegetable that much cooler. The Horse Dreams badge is supposed to be a pinto, but he looks a little angry to me...I don't know why he came out looking that way. And I LOVE the honey bee! Tricky to embroider because of all the tiny detail, but it came out really cute. The light bulb for Green Energy was a cute concept, I thought and the little bunny in the Backyard Farmer badge is the cutest badge to date!

Once I have gotten a few expert level badges, I will be stitching them together and putting them on my Farmgirl tote bag (since I am the leader of a local chapter, I have a lot of stuff all stashed in a big tote). The pencil lines are denoting where I will stitch them together when the time comes. I just love getting the badges and have so much fun getting them together. I hope you liked seeing them! And if you have been inspired to check out my grown-up girlscout group, you can check it out at www.maryjanesfarm.org.

My new Book!!!

It feels like Christmas over here! With my new photos for the kitchen and now my new book I just don't know what to do I'm so excited!!!! I came home from a junking adventure today to find a package at my front door and lookie lookie what I found! The brand new, as in not even in stores yet, Farm Chicks Christmas book!!! Thank you Serena Thompson for putting this book together in time for me to make this Christmas a Farm Chicks Christmas! I can't wait to try everything and I just LOVE looking at all the images - they are so inspiring. I have a few of those books, that I just go back and look through because I love the feel I get from them. The images, the colors, the overall vibe of the book is just great and this is one of those books. So if you haven't picked up your copy yet...or put it on your Christmas list for Santa, I suggest you do so right now...go on, I'll wait.

Just as a side note, that cute little vintage metal toy truck was a Farm Chicks inspired purchase I made today. In the other Farm Chicks book, they used a bigger toy truck to hold cookbooks on a counter and I thought it was so cute. Well this little guy is obviously NOT big enough for that, but it was in great shape with vibrant paint in super cute colors, I just couldn't pass it up. I'm thinking it would look really nifty just sitting on the table next to my big white farm pitcher full of flowers...adds a bit of color, don't you think? Right now it's on my mantel, Moo wants to play with it and the Hubby thinks I'm wacko, but what else is new? I just love it!

My new favorite Etsy store!

Okay, you have to go right now and check out this store! http://www.etsy.com/shop/honeyandjamphotos The greatest photos ever - and a super sweet chick to boot. I have been searching forever for some art to go in my red and blue kitchen with no luck until I stumbled across Honey and Jam Photos. What luck! Her Etsy store gives you a great sense of her photographic style, but she also gives you the option of checking out a ton of pics she has on flicker. The two I chose I found on the flicker site. I wasn't sure if I could get them, since they were listed at 8x12 and I was looking for 16x20, but I figured it couldn't hurt to ask. I'm so glad I did! In about a day, Hannah (a.k.a. photo genius) had agreed to make them both in my requested size and create a custom listing for them. One of them is the image you see to your left (please do not use this image as it is property of Honey and Jam Photos). The other is a close up of the cherry basket. I absolutely love them and can't wait to put them in their frames! I'm also looking to go back and purchase some of the egg shots she has on Etsy as well as a few of the chicken shots on flicker. I really encourage you to check her out - beautiful work and a sweet, sweet artist. Thanks Hannah! Can't wait to buy from you again!

My Little Dream House

You may remember the 4th of July trip I blogged about where Moo and I went to visit my parents in the beautiful Central Coast of California. While we were exploring around the little towns that surround theirs, we passed by this house - literally drove right past it and I, being the driver, hit the brakes, threw it in reverse and took a picture of what will (hopefully) someday be my house. I LOVE the farmhouse look, I LOVE a good covered porch and anyone who knows me at all will tell you that my dream house HAS to be yellow with white trim. I don't know when I decided this, but to this day whenever my mom and I are driving around and see one, she will point it out to me. So to the owner of this house, whomever you are, if you are reading this post and EVER consider selling your home, PLEASE contact me! I will buy it, today, tomorrow, 10 years from now...I just love it so.

Granny's Attic

After the Farmer's Market, I happened to find this great antique store called Granny's Attic tucked in a little side street in Old Town Temecula. It was something like 30,000 square feet of pure antique gold! Moo was along for the ride and not too keen on the idea of scoping out the entire store with me, but I was quite taken with a large section of the store that was devoted to old baby bathtubs and wash basins and farm tables. It was awesome! I found this little beauty there and just couldn't resist. There is a bit of dirt in the bottom because it was displayed with a potted plant in it, but it is in great shape. I love the chippy white paint on the metal base and the few chipped edges add a little character. After seeing one of these somewhere used in a party setting filled with ice and cold drinks, I knew I wanted one but have never seen one until today! I plan on putting it in the yard with a few potted plants in it for every day use, then when we have a BBQ or a party, I'll pull the pots out and fill it with ice. The place I saw it pictured even made a little pennant type banner for the front and tucked a towel in the side to wipe your drink with - too cute!

The Fair

After waking up SUPER early this morning, Moo was itching to do something...and this being Saturday, I wanted to check out a new Farmer's Market, so we headed out. While I think the Farmer's Market is a fantastic way to spend the day, Moo is not as excited about it as I am. So after spending the entire morning picking out delectable organic produce, we did some antiquing (couldn't pass up Granny's Attic - See Granny's Attic post for a pic of what I picked up there), then headed up to the fair. Now this is not a fair like you all are thinking...this is a teensy, tiny fair sponsored by a pie shop held out in the middle of a field. Just to give you an idea of just how tiny it is, it took Moo and I less than an hour to go through the entire thing, play a few games, eat lunch, get an italian ice, get a balloon animal and pop said balloon animal. Oh and admire the livestock, and check out a Civil War re-enactment battle. So yes, it was small. However, Moo and I agreed that it was worth the kind of long drive out there for two reasons. One - the Italian Ice in Da Bomb flavor. I'm not making this up, trust me, I'm not that creative. Lemon, Blue Raspberry and Cherry mixed together to make a very patriotic red, white and blue iced bit of heaven. So tasty on a 98* day. As you can see, Moo liked it too.
The other thing we really liked about the fair was all the animals Moo got to see. Miniature ponies, calves, cows, sheep, goats and Watusi...pictured below. I always thought that was a dance...hmmm....
Moo really loved the HUGE horns on this one. The other one they had used his horn to give the gate a good whack right next to where Moo was standing when she went up to say hello to him. I was afraid the tears would start flowing, but she held it in and said "That guy was really mean, I just wanted to say hi to him. He didn't have to be so sassy!" I'm just glad she didn't get gored by one of those horns! I think it frightened Mommy just as much as it did Moo. And of course, we spent a lot of time in from of Moo's namesake, the baby calves. They were all too far to the back of the pen to pet any, but Moo enjoyed talking to them and really wanted to help them find their Mommies. Too cute. And to top it all off, Moo won herself a chocolate mousse pie! After the fair we went to go pick it up at the pie shop and it looks tasty! Not a bad day.

The BakeOver MakeOver

As you know, I am into anything and everything farmgirl. My ultimate Queen of all things farm is MaryJane Butters of MaryJane's Farm fame. She has a magazine (to which I subscribe), an on-line chatroom (in which I am constantly chatting) and an on-line store (where I have made just a few purchases...). One of the ideas she has become noted for in the farmgirl community, as far as I know it, is the BakeOver. It's basically a fast, easy breakfast/lunch/dinner way of cooking that feeds your family in a hurry. You can check out her ideas and recipes on her website, www.maryjanesfarm.org or pick up a copy of her magazine found in quite a few bookstores around the country (our local Borders carries it, but our Barnes & Noble does not).

Not too long ago I ordered a small sample packet of MaryJane's Budget Mix - it's like an organic Bisquick. This is the base for her BakeOvers. So last night, after I opened my box to find this cute little pack of mix staring up at me, I had to make one. So I found a recipe in one of her magazines for a Potato, Ham and Gruyer BakeOver and set out to make it. I just had to post about it because I am hooked! Not only was it tasty, easy to cook and easy to clean up (because that is a big part of how I pick which recipes will be made again in the future...the clean up factor), but it came out looking JUST like the photo in the magazine! I've never had that happen before! Needless to say, I was very impressed with myself and the dish and though the Hubby was not equally enthused about my perfect presentation, he did enjoy the dinner. Oh, did I mention the monetary savings? The entire dinner, which fed the three of us with enough for a second meal today used one small onion, 3 potatoes, half a slice of ham and a handful of shredded cheese! Usually, that's about the amount the Hubby will eat on his own! Yet somehow, through the miracle of science or farming, we all feasted on this meager amount of food and still had half of it left for today! Hooray for the BakeOver and God bless the Queen!

Animal, Vegetable, Miracle

So as a part of my "Farmgirl experience", earning badges and whatnot through Mary Jane's Farm, I have started reading the book Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (artwork found on her website of the same name is featured here to the left). It may not sound like an exciting journey into the literary world to some, but it is quite the fascinating read. I am really enjoying it and would recommend it to everyone, not just those who are of the currently trendy "Locavore" classification. The book follows Kingsolver and her family as they attempt to eat a diet of only local food for one year. Well, why would you do that? Who cares that wouldn't be too hard...guess again. It's challenging for them, though they were a family all willing to participate together in the project. How would a normal family cope, the a banana a day family who would no longer be able to consume the South American fruit day in and day out? On my last trip to the store, I tried to go with only local organic fruits and veggies...can you believe I found only one? And it wasn't even "local". I found a pint of organic raspberries from Watsonville, Ca. Now that's about a 10 hour drive from my house...not as far as the bananas, but hardly "local". So you can see how selecting a local diet is a little harder than just running down to the store to pick up a few things. I am curious now, as to how I could find local, organic produce...I will begin researching CSAs in my area and canvassing the local farmer's markets for organic stalls...I think it will take a lot of time to get to the point where all of my food is local and organic, but it's time that I think is well spent and really makes me appreciate what's going into my mouth that much more. California is one of the best places in the US for produce, we can grow all kinds of things here - so why not go with it? I'll keep you posted on my progress as I venture into the local organic scene and give you tips on where you may be able to find a similar scene in your neck of the woods.

A New Blanket for a New Baby

When I was pregnant with Moo, I quit my job and spent endless hours daydreaming about the joys of motherhood. I'd sit on the couch, watch sappy movies on the Hallmark channel and knit little gifts for my bun in the oven. I made the cutest little hat with a big flower on the side, little booties that look like UGGS, a soft little security blanket made out of cotton chenille, well you get the picture. I continue to make new little gifts for Moo, but now the question arrises about the new baby...

What to do? I love the little items I made for Moo, but should I reuse those items for baby #2? Should I make baby #2 her own baby hat or use the one I made for Moo? I kind of think it would be nice to use the same hat, since it was SO cute, but I also think it would be nice for each to have their own "special" things. Someday when they have their own kids they can pull out the box and see their own little hats and booties and know how special they are and how loved they were even before they were born. Trouble is that I'm a *little* lacking in time these days. With Moo and the house AND the yard AND my Farmgirls AND and and...it seems I don't have time for much of anything these days. So I figured that I could still make something special for baby #2 but not knit it, since that is very time consuming...at least on a large scale. And thus, a blanket was born.

Super easy to make and I think it came out pretty cute. Since baby #2 will be born in the fall, I chose to make a nice warm, soft blanket to get her through the winter. Since she will be bunking with Mom & Dad, I picked a darling aqua & white almost animal cracker patterned fabric since that will look nice in our bedroom and the family room...I know, a bit selfish, but at the time I also didn't know the sex of the baby and wanted something that would work for a boy or a girl. So I purchased a yard each of the aqua patterned flannel, white flannel and enough satin blanket binding to cover the edges. Sewing was a cinch since the binding covered the edges - all I had to do was sew wrong sides together slap on the binding and I was done. The project took about an hour and now I have a cute, warm blanket for baby #2 with that satin binding all kids love to rub in colors that I won't hate to see hanging around on the couch for the next few years. Not too shabby, if I do say so myself!

Children's Hospital Gifts

I am the "Mother Hen" of a group of Farmgirls who meet once a month to do all sorts of crafty things - without the kids. It's like an excuse to meet other Moms to chit-chat and hang out without someone always having to change a diaper or yell "stop hitting your sister" across the playground. And since all of us like to do crafty type things (or at least attempt them) it's a great way for us to do both without "little" interruptions. At the beginning of the year we chose a charity to support for the year, a thing we have vowed to do every year. This year we joined the million pillowcase challenge and will be donating pillowcases to the kids at our local Children's Hospital. Since we all have young kids, we thought this was a great idea. So at our last meeting I hosted a sew-in and we all brought fabric and started making our pillowcases which we will donate around Christmas time. I know, we're early, but I've got Number 2 coming in the fall, then Thanksgiving and Christmas (for which I make most of my gifts) and I just didn't know when we'd have time to make them toward the end of the year. We had a fun night but only got 2 pillowcases done. Not very productive, although we all got our fabric cut and measured for the cases...but it sure was a fun night. So today I sat down with the old sewing machine and finished up. Seven pillowcases in all for me, should have been 4 but I cut one piece a little too small and ended up making that one into 4 all on it's own. Don't ask, I was preoccupied with Moo and somehow ended up with two small pieces instead of one big one. I was able to go to the fabric store and get some extra fabric, though, so all was not lost. And the Hospital will end up with some extra pillowcases, so they win big time!

The blue edging bands were supposed to be one blue pillowcase, but now compliment 4 pillowcases. I think they came out really cute, if I do say so myself. My favorite is the blue fabric with the mugs of cocoa paired with a light green striped fabric. I love it and hope some cute little girl does too!

Embroideries

When the temps are in the hundreds outside and your little ones get tired of the same old thing day in and day out, try something new. Not too long ago I bought some plastic canvas and a big blunt needle for Moo. I knotted a piece of scrap yarn, stuck it through one of the holes and showed her how to weave it in and out of the little holes. She was fascinated! She calls it her "embroideries" and she will sit for quite a while with it. She'll weave until there is no yarn left, then bring it to me to unravel. Then she starts again. She gets really excited when she accidentally makes a shape and LOVES to show off her work to whomever stops by. So for about $0.50 you can get hours and hours of entertainment, that actually will teach your kids a lot. Moo is learning the VERY basics of sewing, persistence, patience and the excitement and pride that comes with making something with your own two hands. She is not usually one to sit still for very long, so just getting her to stay in one spot for more than 2 minutes is a major milestone!

Not too shabby...yet

Well, as if I didn't have enough on my plate right now with the serious ant invasion that is currently taking place in my kitchen sink (gross, by the way), the baby on the way, the front yard in desperate need of a good weeding, the backyard in need of a miracle and Moo, who seems to have decided that since Mommy is so big right now and can't move around all that well it's the perfect time to act up. Even with all that going on, I still like to stop by my local thrift stores every few weeks to see what they have. You would think a super populated area like Southern California would have giant wherehouse-like thrift stores, well think again. The Goodwill here is smaller than the one I used to shop at when we lived in a tiny town in Washington. However we do have a Goodwill and a Salvation Army, so I guess it works out to the same square footage between the two stores.

On my last trip there, I found this cute little table for $12.00. I don't know what it was supposed to be used for, it almost looks like a child's desk but the space under it is too small for even a child's chair. As you can see it's got a lot of wear, there are quite a few scratches, nicks and even what appears to be an acetone stain (where spilled acetone ate through the finish) on one of the shelves. But for $12.00 I thought I could turn it into something fabulous for Moo and #2's room. Stay tuned and I'll show you what it looks like when it's all done...only a little sanding, priming, painting and we'll see!

The Brown Butter Cookie Company

Let me just start by saying that I have found a new love in baked treats and it's name is Brown Butter! While visiting my parents in the beautiful Central Coast of California, we took a little drive out to Cayucos to wander through the local Peddler's Faire. None of us had ever been to Cayucos before, so we enjoyed poking around the downtown area after getting our fil of the Faire. Not too far along our journey we came to the cutest little bakery ever - The Brown Butter Cookie Company - and it jogged some memory for me. While my hubby was deployed a few years back, Moo and I stayed with my parents for a few months to stave off loneliness. We signed up for some Mommy and Me classes and quite often the Mommys would rave about these cookies. Any time one of them drove to the coast for some reason, they would try to stop by to pick up a batch, or two, or three of these amazing cookies. I thought that was kind of silly, I mean how good could they really be for me to want to drive all the way out there for a box? So I never tried the famous cookies, but now that we were right in front of the store, I informed my parents that this was some type of local institution and we must try it. So in we went to buy a convenient sample pack, one of each of their cookies neatly packaged to look like a christmas tree of deliciousness. I wanted to take the little bundle back to the car to get a snap shot of it before we devoured it, but that didn't happen. So I snagged this pic from their website of a box you can order on-line and get in the mail! Yes, if you live too far to drive to Cayucos, you can order a box, or ten, to be delivered to you - which I may end up doing if we don't go to my parents house enough to keep me stocked up. Here is their information:

Brown Butter Cookie Company

250 N. Ocean Avenue

Cayucos, CA 93430

805-995-2076

www.brownbuttercookies.com

To say their cookies are to die for is the understatement of the century. The cookie they are named for is a delicious and surprising brown butter sea salt cookie. If you are a fan of the salty/sweet combo, say chocolate covered pretzles, then these mght be just up your alley. The chocolate chip are great, oatmeal, honey, peanut butter - all good. But my favorite (Moo's too) was one that tasted like a luscious nutty brownie in cookie form. I have no idea what this one was called, but it was chocolaty, chewy and SO good! Next time we go, we will be getting at least 100 of those...that should last us the drive back home. Maybe we'll get some for Daddy too. So go check them out, if you're in town or want to order them on-line. It's a sweet little company with the nicest people you'll ever meet. And those are my favorite kind of businesses to promote.

What's with this weather?

Strange weather here today in Southern California. Muggy and overcast in the morning, around 80 degrees. After lunch, took Moo down to the fabric store and on the way it started raining...oh and did I mention the thermometer made it to 90? Raining and 90 degrees! What is going on here? When we got home, I set Moo up with a movie in the family room and I headed out front for a little weeding. Been putting it off too long with the big baby bump as the excuse. Now it's to the point where, baby bump or no, I am terribly embarrassed by my front yard. So an hour outside did the yard a lot of good and me a lot of hurtin'. But one more hour out there in the next few days should be the end of it for a little while. At least until next month, I hope. I was also able to plant two agapanthas, not the one in the photo above, but I thought I'd include it because they are so pretty. So the yard is looking better, Moo got to watch a movie and I've got batting for the family room throw I'm working on. Not too bad for such a strange day.

Chalk Fun

Another fun thing about summer is sidewalk chalk. Moo loves going to Grammy's because of the huge driveways and the presence of an ever-willing artist who will accompany Moo in her hours and hours of coloring.

Moo makes an excellent job foreman and will tell Grammy exactly what to draw and where to draw it. Then she will come over, inspect it and add any finishing touches that may be needed. In this case, Ursula's eyebrows were not angry enough. Yes, this time around, she had Grammy draw an entire scene from the Little Mermaid...Ariel, Ursula, Ursula's cave, Flounder and Prince Eric, with the exception that Prince Eric be turned into a mermaid like Ariel. Grammy is such a good sport and drew it all while Moo just watched and edited.

Later, we tried to teach Moo how to do hopscotch. She was actually pretty good at it, although she got bored rather quickly. Then Grammy tried to teach her a chalk grid hopping game that she remembered from when she was little. She didn't remember the name of it, but it involved a large grid with numbered squares in which one had to jump from square to square in numerical order without falling over or missing a number in the sequence. Moo found that much more fun than hopscotch and spent a good deal of time trying to get in Grammy's way to prevent her from hopping on the right squares. Good times were had by all...except perhaps by Mommy, who is still having to listen to the Yellow Submarine song that Grampy thought would be cute to teach Moo while Grammy was busy chalking up a storm. Thanks for that Grampy.

Water balloons!

What is more fun on a hot summer day than a water balloon fight? How about your very first water balloon fight? While visiting Grammy and Grampy, Moo got to experience the joys of water balloons for the very first time. And if you couldn't tell from the one she lobbed right at me while I was trying to document this momentous occasion, she loved it. The only problem was that she was too short and not really strong enough, so the balloons were hitting the ground gently and at enough of an angle so that they skidded along the cement until they hit a rock. It wasn't until about a half hour into it that she was able to throw them straight down at the ground with enough force to pop them...right at her own feet. Throwing them at anything further away than that was a real challenge. But she had a great time and can't wait to get back up to "Grampy's balloon fighting".

Grammy's Bounty

Our trips to Grammy and Grampy's house are always fun and exciting. This time, we got to check out Grammy's edible garden - yum! She has done tomatoes and pole beans in the past, but this year she planted tiny cherry tomatoes and two little blueberry bushes. Moo is an old pro at finding the little red tomatoes hiding on the bush...

How tiny that tomato looks in the hands of a 4 year old! Needless to say that though we found quite a few tomatoes, they were all barely bit sized. But perfect for a pre-schooler!

We were excited to be around for Grammy's first haul of blueberries. You're looking at them! A whopping six, though I had to inform her that the rather reddish ones would be sour - she picked them a little too early in her excitement. So we really only got two perfect berries. Not enough for a pie, but enough for a taste. We let Grammy and Grampy each have one, since it's their garden! Moo and I will wait for the pie...maybe next visit. Seeing Grammy's little garden and how much fun Moo has exploring for edibles made me want to try it myself. The only thing stopping me is the ant metropolis in our backyard. We really have to call someone out to get rid of the things...I've tried everything and they just laugh at me. They don't seem to be going after my one edible though, my lemon tree is doing ok...no lemons yet though. Fingers crossed!

Central Coast Bounty

Wish me luck for I am off to the Central Coast for the weekend! Moo and I are headed off for a weekend of sun and fun at Grammy's house, a nice little vacation from the everyday routine. The added bonus? The Cambria Craft Fair and the Cayucos Peddlers Faire. Can't wait to see all the odds and ends on display. An ocean backdrop, antiques and vintage items galore and a happy 4 year old with a babysitter equals one happy Mama! I'll post a few pics when we get back, but until then have a wonderful weekend and a Happy Independence Day!

Put all that paper to good use...

When Moo was born, I decided that I was a scrapbooker. I have albums, literally albums plural, from the first year of her life. Then she got older and it got harder and harder for me to keep up with it. Now that we zip around from Gymnastics class, to Pre-school, to Dance class, I seem to have no time for fussing with decorating the page I stick the photos to. I'm happy I'm even remembering to take photos! And now that #2 is on the way, I'm sure that I won't have the time to keep up with this hobby that was fun, but a bit pricey anyway. I'm not too sad about having to give it up to spend more time with my soon to be girls, but giving up this hobby leads me to a problem. What am I going to do with all the supplies that I have hoarded over the years? I have enough scrapbooking supplies to last through documenting a nuclear winter and still have some leftover for a good sized wedding or two.

In a seemingly unrelated matter, I have very little wall space in my kitchen. And with one of those side-by-side refrigerators with the drawer at the bottom freezer, my fridge's useable space (which isn't a lot) is taken up by the Hubby's work schedule, a calender and Moo's artwork. I have always had a shopping list problem. I have no space to put one anywhere in the kitchen. There is only one place in my lovely large kitchen with flat wall space and it's only a foot wide and holds the light switches for the room. I finally saw an cute photo in a magazine that gave me an idea and I had to rush home and try it.

I wish I knew what magazine it was, but I was sitting in a Borders on one of my few kid-free afternoons, flipping through every magazine they carry when I saw the cutest picture of a home office. It was one of those things where I saw it, but didn't really see how I could use it until a few magazines later while my mind was wandering. The picture featured these cute little clipboards hung in a line on the wall above a desk. They were plastic and came in these really cute graphic designs that went with the theme of the room. I thought it was a cute idea, but didn't really think I would find something like that for my house. Then it dawned on me that I have all this fabulous scrapbook paper lying around waiting to be used! I went to the office supply store and bought two mini clipboards (since my wall is so small) and went to work. All I did was cut some paper from my stash to fit the clipboards, cut out some flowers from another piece of paper and a strip of polka dots from another and decopaged them all together! A few more coats of decopage to seal the deal and they are ready to organize my shopping lists! I purchased two of the clipboards and hung one over the other on my little wall. One holds the grocery list, the other holds the miscellaneous list for the hardware store or the craft store, wherever I'm planning a trip for that doesn't involve groceries. Pretty and handy, wouldn't you say?

Summer Berry Picking

One hot morning, I decided it was time to introduce Moo to one of my favorite things about summer...picking berries.

We got all sunscreened up, jumped in the car and headed over to the Temecula Berry Co. to pick some of their luscious Blueberries. First of all, let me say that no matter where you live, I am willing to bet that within an hour drive from your front door there is a small farm that either has a u-pick season or will let you pick a few berries, apples, whatever for a small fee. Temecula Berry Co. is a u-pick berry farm and while the season is short, it is worth it to get out there and take advantage. There is nothing like picking the fruit you will soon be eating fresh from the bush (or tree). Kids really love it and enjoy the hunt. At this farm, they even give a big smiling blueberry sticker to the kids so they know to only pick the blue ones, not the green or red (both have yet to ripen and are quite bitter). They give each kid a little beach pail to fill with as many blueberries as they wish...a full bucket is about 2 pints and will cost $10*. We went 1/2 way and got one pint for $5*. Some may argue that 5 is not the greatest price for berries, but consider that it took my little 4 year old Moo about 1 1/2 hours to pick 1 pint of berries and since you only have to pay for the berries (there is no per person fee) the whole family can have a day of fun for $10. Plus, you get to go home with delicious fruit that YOU picked! Not to mention the importance of helping out local farms and supporting the local economy instead of running out to the market and picking up some Colombian blueberries (ok, I don't know if blueberries are grown in Colombia, in fact I'm pretty sure they're not, but you get the point).

Not only do the kids get to have fun hunting for the perfect berry, but they get a little education in the mix as well - and they won't even know it! Visiting a farm, seeing how they work and learning the basics - fruits and vegetables grow on plants and you can pick them and eat them. Surprisingly, since so many of us just buy our produce from the supermarket, many kids have no idea how they are grown - even that they grow at all! My daughter loved seeing that plants not only produce flowers for smelling and picking, but yummy little treats like blueberries! She also got to sit on a big red tractor, climb all over scratchy hay bails and learn about how the funny looking scarecrow helped to keep the birds away from the berry bushes. A trip to a farm is a learning opportunity for any age group, and for the really young set, the idea is to have fun and show them where their food comes from.

After such a nice day of berry picking, Moo and I came home to make a yummy Blueberry Peach Pie, which was just a basic blueberry pie recipe that I threw some delicious peaches from the farmers market into because it just sounded SO good. A little dollop of whipped cream and you have summer on a plate! Fun, educational, yummy - what a way to spend a day!

A Little Something for Myself...

This pregnancy has been really hard on me so far, and I still have a little ways to go. So I thought it would be nice to treat myself to something fun. New shoes? Nope, my feet are the size of watermelons right now, I'd never be able to wear them again after the baby is born. New outfit? No, once again, I am the size of a watermelon right now. Not too long ago, I saw on one of my favorite blogs, The Farm Chicks, a post about Wrenhandmade and some of the beautiful hair accessories they sell. Well, I thought that would be perfect for my little treat!

Let me just say that it was impossible to pick a color! The blues were beautiful, the reds were amazing and there were just so many cute things, it took me forever to make up my mind. I finally decided on the set of yellow bobby pins pictured above. These are the pins I got, beautiful, handmade fabric flowers attached in some magical sturdy way to three nice quality bobby pins. They look just adorable floating around a messy bun, hidden so just the little flowers pop out. I love them and can't wait to get another set...maybe the red? Or the hot pink? Maybe both? Well, I can decide that later. What you should do right now is go on over to www.etsy.com and visit Wrenhandmade. Simply lovely!

Fear of Yo-Yos

For the longest time I had an irrational fear of yo-yos. Don't ask me why, I just thought they were VERY complicated and VERY hard to make. Maybe it's because I never had anyone in my life making them that I always thought they were some great mystery.

I recently picked up a book at the craft store that I just HAD to get...Sew Pretty Christmas Homestyle by Tone Finnanger. I'm drawn to crafty books with amazing pictures and this one is full of them. However, quite a few of the projects use yo-yos as decorations. Uh-oh! So for a while, I was just content to look at the projects and dream about how wonderful they would look in my house, if only I could make one. But after actually reading the book, I found a little tutorial on how to make a yo-yo and thought, I can at least try. What will it hurt to try it out?

So a scrap of muslin and embarrassingly an hour later, I had a yo-yo! It took me a while to get the feel for the fold and gather, the right length of stitch to create a nice small opening in the finished product and not a huge hole, but it was a grand success. So I promptly found another scrap of fabric and made another yo-yo. Now I had two yo-yos (of different sizes mind you, since I just free-handed the circles instead of using an upside down cup or something) and had to figure out what to do with my new little treasures. I was really proud of them, okay? Couldn't just let them sit around in the craft room forever. So I dug around a bit until I found a brooch backing and a cute button. Sew them all together and viola! Instant badge of honor! Yo-yo, you do not scare me anymore and I think I will use you in many ways over the coming years. My next ideas include a pillow for my daughter's room and possibly a garland for our Christmas tree...hmmm...

Who doesn't like Smore's?

Since I mentioned the Smore's cake in my Welcome post, I thought I should get busy and actually tell you about it. My Husband's birthday is in the beginning of summer and nothing says summer like smore's around a campfire. So I decided to make a Smore's inspired cake for his 30th birthday this year. Notice there is only one candle...we didn't want to burn the house down.

So the cake was just a store bought mix, your favorite chocolate mix will do. Next you will need your basic smore's supplies - chocolate bars, marshmallows and graham crackers. I also used marshmallow fluff between the cake layers which turned out to be a HUGE mistake as the fluff never sets and creates a very slippery top layer. The next time I make this cake I will just use vanilla frosting for that layer. Oh, and you will need a really good chocolate frosting.

Now all you have to do is follow the directions on the cake box, but before you bake the batter, break one of the chocolate bars (or more if you're feeling sinful) into each of the two 8 or 9 inch rounds. The chunks will get really soft but will hold their shape making for nice little morsels of deliciousness throughout the cake. Now bake the cake according to your package.

After the cake has baked and cooled, assemble like you would a normal cake using the vanilla frosting to ice between the layers. Next frost the outside of the cake with the chocolate frosting. I used large marshmallows cut in half to top the cake but you could use small ones to make a very pretty border for yours. Then I just crumbled some graham crackers and sprinkled them on top of the cake. Let me tell you now that the graham crackers are the BEST part. We were all fighting for the bits with the most cracker crumbles. Next time I make this cake I will press the crumbs into the sides of the cake in a very thick layer, since that was everyone's favorite. I think that little graham flavor is really what made the cake taste like a giant smore. It was delicious and would make a perfect cake for a child's camping themed party or any outdoor summer gathering. A hit with the 4 year old as well as the 30 year old! If you try it out, let me know how you liked it.

The first post...Welcome

It seems so strange to me that there must be a first, awkward post. Maybe a little something to introduce myself to you...maybe a little something about what this blog is about or why I feel compelled to write it. I really don't know what to say about any of those things. What I do know is that I'm a stay-at-home Mom with too many ideas and not enough time in the day to do them all. This blog is my attempt at capturing those ideas, good and not so good, tried and untried- a place for me to keep them. To inspire me, inspire you or remind us of those things that sounded like great ideas only to end very, very badly. The Smore's Cake I created for my Hubby's 30th birthday, great idea. The marshmallow fluff used as icing between the layers of the cake, not such a great idea. Marshmallow fluff never really "sets", let's just leave it at that. So hopefully, this blog will inspire you, make you laugh or at least make you realize that the effortless shabby chic, farmgirl lifestyle that I strive for is not all that effortless for some of us. I hope you have fun on this journey with me...what am I saying? I hope I have fun!