December 16

Posted on | December 16, 2013 | 2 Comments

{the sunlight on our property in the winter months in phenomenal - and lucky us, we're usually just far enough away from town to get sun and not fog & clouds like all our friends}

ps: remember DPP two years ago? similar photo!

December 4

Posted on | December 4, 2012 | No Comments

{rainy day chores & conversations between the girls}

Category: chickens , Homesteading , Photo project

Professional love

Posted on | October 2, 2012 | 1 Comment

I have to apologize for the blogging lag lately - we've been working, taking care of the house before winter, visiting with family, hiking, and taking care of a bum back. I have been meaning to post some of Hazel's professional pictures we took last month at our home but alas, I haven't even ordered my own digital prints yet (hence the nine29 logo on the photos below). So despite the delay, please feast your eyes on some fantastic Hazel love:

Category: Baby , Homesteading , Oregon

This moment: 9.7.12

Posted on | September 8, 2012 | 2 Comments

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama

Category: Baby , Homesteading , Photography

Gratitude Sunday

Posted on | September 2, 2012 | 5 Comments

Gratitute Sunday

Sunday's heartfelt tradition. A time to slow down, to reflect, to be grateful. A list of gratitudes:

{Inspired by the beautiful Taryn of Wooly Moss Roots}

A visit from B's parents. Not having family around here, it's always nice when relatives visit us. I love that Hazel is getting to know her grandparents, she is particularily in love with Brad's step-dad, Dale.
My hubby and his step-dad chopping two cords of wood over just two afternoons. Strong men! Below is H helping... :)

A talk with B about our schedules and the pros/cons and conflicts that are being caused. It was nice to air everything out and discuss what we both want for the future.
I'm reading a book right now called 'Unconditional Parenting' by Alfie Kohn. It's an interesting read and has really made me examine my childhood, my husbands, and how we want to raise Hazel. It's brought up quite a bit of self reflection, and even sparked a nice phone conversation with my mother.
My guest post over at Mel's blog, Mad Passions. For some reason I got very excited about that.
Some cloth diapers I ordered from a friend for a killer price. Cloth diapering has become a bit of a fun hobby for me (wow, I'm starting to sound very boring!).
Hazel trying new foods and slowly getting more interested. Below is a picture of her first peas... it's always a party!

Inspiration to learn how to knit. I've been watching self tutorials online and am feeling confident that I can get started with basics on my own. Blog friends, how did you learn how to knit?
More books for Hazel that her nana got her. My dear H is turning into quite the book worm and gets so excited by the pictures.

Brad getting home from work a few hours early last night. We talked, had dinner as a family, and I took a bath with Hazel while Brad did the dishes and cleaned up. It was such a relaxing, uneventful evening but having him home with us was so perfect (not because he cleaned, haha). I simply love his presence, especially with how much I've been struggling with not seeing him enough.
Hazel turning 7 months old yesterday! She is really turning into such a little sweetie, smiling at everyone all the time (especially ma & dad).

A couple of better than average paychecks, seeing that we both worked overtime the last pay period but had forgotten. It came at just the right time.

What have you felt grateful for this week?

Category: Baby , Homesteading , Thankful

Tales of a wood stove:

Posted on | January 20, 2012 | 2 Comments

We purchased our dream home in April 2010 - an older home on private, wooded acreage. Not everyones dream, by any means, but it fulfilled ours. Along with it came a wood stove as a secondary source of heat, forced air being the primary. We were so excited to start using it for many reasons - obviously economical reasons, but also the ambiance of having a wood stove in the home and having a large supply of fuel on our property. Within about four months of living here, when we first started having fires, we decided to have a chimney sweeper come to clean it out. Long story short: our lovely yet archaic woodstove was not to 'code' despite that never being mentioned in our initial inspection. We accepted this and didn't fret; after all, we had a working source of heat for the winter months.

Fast forward nearly two years later, and we finally installed a properly working wood stove this past week. It is absolutely amazing what a difference it has made: once we have a roaring fire in there, the house stays warm nearly all day (as opposed to our forced air which turned on every 20 minutes, and we always felt cold - definitely something that bothered me with the coming attraction into our lives!).

I've already put it to good use with a little inspiration of some friends - Wooly Moss Roots and Cold Antler Farm, to name just two. Last night I experimented with an easy from scratch bread recipe, and I let it rise next to the stove overnight (the bowl with the towel covering it). This morning I boiled a pot of water for raspberry leaf tea, and we have also been using a kettle to humidify the area. Finally, tonight I hung a load of laundry to dry next to the stove. I can just picture our cloth diapers hanging soon (is it weird I'm excited about that?)!

So there you go: one more puzzle piece of our little homestead (at least I like to call it that) complete. Does anyone else have a wood stove - if so, please share ideas you use your wood stove for, I would love to hear!

Category: Homesteading , House

This moment: a day in the office

Posted on | January 13, 2012 | 2 Comments

{this moment}

A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. Inspired by SouleMama.

Category: Furbabies , Homesteading

A tale of returning energy, a focus on home:

Posted on | October 5, 2011 | 4 Comments

It's still green here in Oregon, but don't let that fool you. The maples have slowly been shedding, dropping gold leaves one by one on the property. My energy has returned, for the most part, just in time for crisp autumn days and the never faltering showers that turn our yard into the remnants of woodstock. Let me tell you about just one of those days.

This evening I squeezed into my rain coat, knowing it may only fit for a few more weeks (zipped up, that is). I peruse my garden, gathering small handfuls of vegetables that have survived into October: tomatoes, peppers, eggplant, and of course a medley of herbs. I shake my head, knowing with true certainty my grandfathers green thumb did not pass onto me... this year, at least. There's something about growing a baby that makes tasks difficult (am I right, or no?).

Next I turn the compost with a parade of hens surrounding me chatting, begging for bits of goodness to be dropped by this woman in a much too tight coat. Being dry, I saturate the compost and leave the top open with hopes that mother nature would aid in the watering for the next few days. The ladies then follow me to their coop and with the assistance of an old butternut squash, they enter their coop. I freshen up their bedding and put new shavings in the roost. Their is a total of five eggs in the nesting box: I quietly thank them for continuing to produce well, despite the change in seasons.

I walk a perimeter of our home, cleaning up bits of dog droppings and sticks along the way. Gus follows me intently, also cleaning up droppings (the chicken variety, so tasty). I stop and marvel at our daughter's future room and the view she will have. I truly hope she falls in love at nature the way her father and I have.

I come inside and make myself a cup of tea, steeping dried chamomile that I harvested from the garden in August. There is nothing more delicious than something you've personally grown.

The evening is concluded with my lovely whipping together a salsa from my evening harvest, and for dinner a stew with local grass fed beef, willamette valley vegetables, and of course fresh garden herbs. Delicious!

...

You see, not everyday is this simple. Real life requires long work shifts and food that isn't always fresh or local, despite how hard we try. But I truly believe that any attempt at a more simplistic life should be celebrated. This is just one of those days. <3

Category: Family , Homesteading , Nature , Oregon

Homesteading, a lifestyle of simple self-sufficiency. Aaah.

Posted on | March 8, 2011 | 3 Comments

The past seven days, I've slept at night. Can you believe it? Four years of handling emergencies at three am and hittin' the sack while others get their morning cup o' joe - it feels a bit surreal. I haven't worked very many evening shifts due to my new ten hour shift position, so we will see how the new team works (obstetric nursing is big time into the team work of coworkers - it makes or breaks your shift) come this weekend. Either way, I'm still sleeping next to the husb at night; and that alone is worth it.

In other news - we built the chicken coop over the weekend! I took the ladies out for an hour yesterday to explore close to their soon to be home, and it was fantastic. The once furry easter chicks are now teeangers raring to get out in the real world, their mother being just a ready (a dusty bathroom is not a happy one). About three weeks and they will be fully feathered young adults.

Isn't it puuurty?

In other home-steady news, I've been growing an array of seedlings over the last couple of weeks. A big goal of mine is to expand my garden and grow more edibles this year - this goal involves taking out several large ferns on the property due to their wonderful 'only sun we get in the yard' location. Here are some sugar snap peas and spinach hard at work in the dining room.

Love this photo - Emma is also aching for spring

Unfortunately my eldest cat, Eddie, discovered the dozen or so sugar snap peas I was growing and narrowed it down to about four shortly after I snapped these photos. Perhaps he's giving me a little taste of what our local deer will be like come summer? The seedling are now balancing on small high stools close to windows, no room for hungry cats to devour my hard work.

So as you can see, I'm hard at work at those new year's resolutions. I truly feel at ease living a bit more simply, and I learn something new everyday. It's keeping me level headed and relaxed before our next fertilty endeavor in May and I have realized over these last few days that I also feel a bit more in tune with what kind of mother I soon want to be - to teach my child the simple things, a down to earth approach to the day to day rhythm of life. I want her to gather eggs with me each morning and watch tomatoes grow in our soil, rich with compost we helped make with simple table scraps. I want her to see a mother and father who truly love one another, love their home, and treat animals like family.

I'm ready.

Category: Furbabies , Homesteading , House , Motherhood

A green thumb in my future, perhaps?

Posted on | September 11, 2010 | 1 Comment

Say hello to my garden!

Okay, so I may end up with a small salad in the end.

But it was fun,

a hobby for the hobbyless,

a means to sanity.

I can cultivate life,

one way or another.

Category: Gardening , Homesteading

Lovely Little Trees

an aesthetic voyager drawn to the wild, my sweet family along for the ride