Quilt from Aunt Michelle :)

Quilt from Aunt Michelle :)
Originally uploaded by mom2rays
My grandmother passed away July 3. She lived such a full life as wife and mother to 18 children, friend, humanitarian, volunteer, teacher and so much more. It was a blessing to see her 2 weeks before her passing and spend time with her while she was so very much alive and aware.

Thankfully, her cancer didn't linger and rob her of her humanity. It was diagnosed, and then she had a short period of living with it, and then she passed.

She lives on in her 200+ offspring and is well remembered in the lives she touched.
Since we had just traveled to visit, when we had to return for her funeral we decided to take our Travel Trailer. We knew many family members would be coming into town and those who lived locally would do their best to graciously host them, but it would be very crowded at best.

We parked our TT at the family farm in my Aunt's front yard. The farm, her hospitality, family and our private accommodations were such a welcome respite when dealing with the emotional stress of grandma's passing.

We did our best to help out when we could since many of the gatherings were focused around the family farm and we were not responsible for funeral arrangements and other important details as other's were.
As a thank you, my Aunt Michelle gifted Rocky and I with this beautiful hand seamed quilt, crafted with vintage fabrics.
It is the perfect addition to our Travel Trailer and hopefully the first of many special pieces that hold memories of our family experiences while RVing.

It brightens our bedroom so much I couldn't have picked a better one.

Thank you Aunt Michelle for everything!

Camper and mini camper

Camper and mini camper
Originally uploaded by mom2rays

Charmie and Mardie had great experiences this week, but it was hard on them to be separated. They are so used to each other's companionship, friendship, and council that being apart meant they had to either become self reliant or form new alliances. Both are good for them, and both happened. They still got to occasionally see eachother at meal times and certain activities. Here they share a special moment at breakfast. They are happy, but both has a look of longing for the other. My little boys are growing up so quickly into young men!

Camp transportation

Camp transportation
Originally uploaded by mom2rays

She was pretty good at "guarding" my Tom Bihn Synapse Backpack when I wasn't carrying it.

Walking back to the rig

Walking back to the rig
Originally uploaded by mom2rays
The campus is big and Zuri has a hard time walking all over it, with us camping down below the lower field we were one of the furthest away from all of the activities so she rode a lot in her little red wagon.

camp at camp 2011

camp at camp 2011
Originally uploaded by mom2rays
Well here, goes. Yesterday we returned from 9 nights of camping at the Swananoa 4h camp with our summer camp program, Higher Ground (www.carolinacamp.com). It was an exciting year with several firsts.
Charmie was a camper for the first time. We used our Jayco at Higher Ground for the first time. My first time with just Mardie and Zuri as my responsibility during camp. My first time in a drama set to music. Our first time as dorm parents to our own child's dorm.
Camping in our Travel Trailer was very enjoyable from the added room, to the kids having their own space and toys available, to our own bed complete with memory foam mattress, ahhhh, to having our own refrigerator for snacks and beverages. Since we had along our latest family additions, our guinea pigs Buddy and Red and our puppy Princess the TT was especially helpful. Rocky and I realized after this trip, we're finally "camper people".

I think I may start blogging again. . .

I have been so busy with life lately that this blog has been neglected. I haven't meant to stop, it just happened. So much to do with schooling the kids, keeping house, being a wife, crafting and well you know, just living has come between me and the blog, but I think I would like to return to it. I think sharing is a part what makes me, me. I think I have some things worth saying and sharing. I've actually missed posting here.

So I will attempt to blog again.

Thanks Jeffmac from TomBihn forums for encouraging me. Sometimes the simplest question, "what is your blog address" is all it takes. It's embarrassing to direct anybody to come and look here. Right now this blog is a hot mess, but in some ways, it's a reflection of things for me right now. Let's hope things move towards being more calm.

For now, this is all, but I will be back soon.

To my friends who have been waiting, you can expect to see posts again on your RSS feeds.

how my garden grows

Morning baking

gingersnaps. . . yum

How does my garden grow?

So far the square foot gardening on the deck has been successful. I have been planting in spurts. I shouldn't have to harvest everything all at once.

Top of an onion. . . do I see seeds inside this pod?

First Roma tomato :)

Sweet Basil

2010 garden start

After wanting gardens but having a hard time figuring out where to put them in our yard and how to do them in such a way that they would be easier to maintain and harder to neglect we finally decided on Mel Bartholomew's SquareFoot Gardening method. I poured over online pictures, watched countless videos, read blogs and forum posts and finally presented my ideas to Rocky. He and I went back and forth but finally we agreed that we would build raised bed gardens on our deck with Mel's methods. Last week we got the first one built and partially filled. A few days later I added the Perlite for drainage and more soil mixture to fill the bed.

I'm so happy with these beds, they are a good height for gardening without bending, and they look attractive. Rocky had come up with a great design. We used mostly recycled/repurposed materials for the table with new cedar wood for the walls. Actually no treated wood is touching the soil so there is no concern of contaminants touching the soil or getting into our food.

I have been inspired to garden from Rocky's parents because year after year they have beautiful prolific gardens and a bounty of fresh food for the table.

We want more fresh veggies, especially organic ones, but they are costly. This past weekend I was able to get some advice and help with picking some seeds for our garden, and as well Rocky's mom gave me some seeds and some seedlings to get us started.

We will be planting in the beds:

onions

garlic

shallots

strawberries

cucumbers

beets

pole beans

bush beans

Roma tomatoes

cherry tomatoes

carrots

rhubarb

sage

cilantro

rosemary

basil

rutabaga

yellow squash

zucchini squash

summer squash

bell pepper

and a flower assortment that attracts pollinators

and the following in the ground:

asparagus

watermelon

cantaloupe

pumpkin

My goals with this garden are:

1. to get outside more, hopefully even daily

2. to bring more fresh organic food to our table

3. to encourage the kids to eat healthier

4. to learn and teach the kids gardening principles

5. to reduce our carbon footprint by growing our own food

Today we built our 2nd bed. I'm drilling drainage holes as Rocky squares up the sides and attaches them to the table. It feels good for us to be working hard side by side building our 2nd elevated square foot garden bed. We finished construction just before dark. Once again recycled materials for most of the table, this one had a bit more new/purchased wood though in the table part and then of course the cedar for the sides. I can't wait for my seeds to arrive so that I can get my plants started and growing! Looks like mywww.seedsofchange.com order has shipped except for one back ordered seed combination. w00t!

Earlier today I planted some onions, and shallots in the first bed. Here's a peek at both beds filled and gridded off for their plantings.

cedar grow boxes

cedar grow boxes
Originally uploaded by mom2rays

After being inspired year after year my my in-laws abundant gardens we're starting a garden again! We are using Mel Bartholomew's Square Foot Gardening principles.
Rocky built this grow box for me. Most of it is recycled. The Cedar sides are the only virgin wood. There will be another this size and one that is smaller when they are all done. We added more soil mixture and Perlite after this picture, but it still needs a bit more soil before planting. Now to order my seeds!

The last of the Snow days?

We have had snow for 3 weekends in a row. About 3-5 inches each time. This is the last snow day's remnants as it melted two days later. Charmie made a snowman, his first one ever by himself.

I'm making bread again!!!!

With some money from this year's tax return Rocky and I decided to buy some kitchen appliances to replace ones that had started to fail. We selected a Le'Quip Nutramill Grain mill.

And a Bosch Universal Plus Kitchen Machine with an additional Stainless Steel bowl, Blender, and the cookie paddles with the metal whip drive.

I cannot say how much I am in love with my new kitchen tools. They are so much more efficient and better than what I had and make what I am trying to do, that much easier!
Today for the first time I made bread again. This time I was able to make 4 loaves at once. I milled 15 cups of hard wheat berries and then followed the recipe in my Bosch book, substituting organic Agave syrup for honey.
After the dough separated from the edges of the bowl I stopped the mixer and divided the dough into my 4 pans. I didnt' get them as even as I was hoping for.

After a while they had doubled in size and then they went into the oven for 41 minutes to bake.

After baking I took them out and let them cool for a few minutes.

Then removed them from their pans to cool on the baking rack.

Lastly we sliced up the one loaf that didn't separate perfectly and had a small bit missing from it's underside. Got out the salted sweet cream butter and the kids enjoyed theirs with a few dallops of honey!

My whole house smells like yummy bread. Today was such a lovely baking day.
Special thanks to my Mommy who happened to be over here and gave some general advice as well as assisted me when my hands were too dirty.
and www.sandybosch.com where I purchased my equiptment. They have wonderful customer service, are helpful with answering and researching questions and willing to even contact Bosch Germany to find out if any of the blender and splash cover components contained BPA for me. Obviously they don't, or I wouldn't have purchased! ;)
After having owned a Kitchen Aid that was used when I got it, and a grain mill for it. I can hands down say a few things. The grain mill attachment for your KA will mill grain (pretty coarse, but fine enough to make bread) however, it shortens the life of the mixer. My mixer had started to strain over simple loads and you could smell the motor burning a bit too. For someone interested in seriously taking on milling grain to make their own bread at home, purchase a dedicated mill! You will be thankful when you don't have to replace your mixer!
Because of my cleaning kick, I'm happy to report that even though my kitchen was thoroughly used all around for making this bread, it's back clean in it's original state before we started.

My Feetz B Happy

This past Sunday a store in town was having a special sale and advertized in the local paper. I saw the flyer/coupon and asked if we coudl stop by on the way home from church.
When I went in I saw these shoes.

They had to come home with me.
I think there may even be a linkie on www.BarkingDogShoes.com, because I got a request for the pic for their blog.
These are an early Happy Birthday Pressie!

The Clean

A buddy of mine, Dibba we shall call her, has been running a clearing the clutter group that she invited me to join. I joined, but the clutter wasn't getting cleared until a week ago. I cleaned off my counter (the major dumping ground) and so far a week later it still looks like this.

Cleaning has spilled over into other areas such as the computer desk, and my dresser (other dumping grounds). My sewing/crafting area will be next for intensive cleaning. It does feel good though to make some headway and see a change from the messyness we've been living in for a while.

10 minutes to meatloaf

I'm experimenting with pressure cookers. I've never used them before and I wanted to try so enter the Deni 5qt. Electric Pressure Cooker.
I found a recipe on www.cooks.com for meatloaf in a pressure cooker. I substituted ground turkey for ground beef.
Here are the loafs in the cooker.

timer set for 10 minutes once high pressure is reached.

Releasing the pressure.

Our 10 minute meatloaf along with veggie rice and rolls.
The kids liked this meal and it was super fast and easy!

kys swap from Huggy Bear

Thank You Janette! I LOVE all of my package :)

Happy Birthday Z!!!!

zuri on strider (trimmed)
Originally uploaded by mom2rays

Two years has flown by. It's so hard to believe that it's been two years since our baby girl came into this world. She's getting to be a big girl quick, so we decided to get her a bike for her special day. This is her first time riding it outside, of course C and M are on their bikes as well riding along. She says "helmet" because Mardie at the beginning of the video needs to get his helmet on.
There will be more videos to come as she gains more skills.

Merry CHRISTMAS everyone!!!

Luke 2:6-7

⁶While they were there, the time came for the baby to be born, ⁷and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn.