Easter will be coming and that means egg dyeing. My crew haven't had much interest in dyeing eggs for a couple of years, and when egg prices were so high and the chickens weren't laying, this was not a bad thing to my mind. We still tend to boil a few dozen eggs, though, for egg salad sandwiches to have for Easter lunch. With the hens all laying again (13 yesterday, 9 today for example), I will probably boil several dozen.  And then I came across this. (credit goes to littlepinelearners.com) Aside from the hibiscus flowers, the rest I typically keep in my kitchen or can easily purchas ..read more

Have any of you read The Frozen River by Ariel Lawhon? I had read good reviews about it, so put it on hold at the library. Since I was something like 360 on the list, I figured it would be a while before it was my turn. But due to the unfathomable workings of the library hold system, I got a notice it was waiting for me earlier this past week. You just can't ask why and instead enjoy the book. Since I had just finished a book, this is exactly what I did. The beginning was really promising. I liked the author's writing style, I was engaged in the story pretty immediately, and I loved the main ..read more

So, I usually post weekly updates on Fridays when I post them. You will have noticed I shared one yesterday when it wasn't Friday. I just really thought it was Friday. It's been a week without a lot of outside obligations and J. took today off making yesterday evening very Friday like. Even after having realized that yesterday was Thursday, because J. was home it really felt like Saturday all day. So I guess I get two Saturdays this week. Which is good because it gives me a chance to work on the list of things I wanted to get done today. I could really get behind two Saturdays in a row every w ..read more

This will probably be a bit brief because there really hasn't been anything unusual or noteworthy going on here. I'm not complaining, mind you; I strive for boring. It does make finding blog topics a wee bit more challenging, though. The weather has been gorgeous. Today I sat in the sun and did nothing for an hour, just enjoying feeling warm while outside. I had brought a stack of magazines out to read, but really I just wanted to sit.  Earlier this week, I headed out to the horses to give them breakfast. As I was walking by the sheep pen, I realized that Everett had a bucket around his ..read more

Everybody loves to play with Buddy's hair. And he has a lot of hair to play with and is very good natured about it all.  ..read more

G. and L. have been very busy around here and as a result all of the seeds are started indoors and the cold hardy seeds have been started outdoors. Hooray!  In order to get those cold hardy seeds in, they also had to do some significant clearing of the garden beds as well as carting compost over and mixing it in. They have done an immense amount of work. Even better, all I had to do was provide instruction. At this rate we'll have an actual vegetable garden this year.  I'd show you the outside beds as well, but I didn't get a picture in the daylight. Plus, it currently just looks ..read more

There's not much to share this week. I'm now a little over halfway done threading the loom for the blanket, but I never seem to have quite enough time to be able to sit down and work on it. The second half always goes faster than the first half, so I'm hopeful that I will finish it within the week.  I've also been working on a commission making three feedbag market totes. I have one completely done. And the other two will be with this fabric for the lining.  That's really been about all I've accomplished this week in terms of fiber related things.  But today was a good m ..read more

We have a few March birthdays (plus a late February birthday). These days we tend to celebrate birthdays in birthday heavy months in groups. Tonight we celebrated Y.'s and A.'s and W.'s. Those who could make it joined us.  There was game playing. This was unposed. Then people decided it didn't look interesting enough so they posed for me. There was hiking. (Pictures by K.) Dinner was onion, bacon, and goat cheese pasta with pie for dessert. Apple caramel Saskatoon berry It was a lovely evening and I love spending time with my adult children. Happy Birthda ..read more

We have lived out here on the very edge of Chicago land between suburbs and cornfields for nearly eight years. While there are some things I miss about living in an urban setting (my children being able to use public transportation to get themselves around without me driving them... good grocery stores... ), for the most part we are very happy here. Every so often, though, I am still brought up short by how very different our lives are now. This afternoon was one such time. First, I spent 45 minutes searching for somewhere I could buy some chicks that wasn't going to be outrageously expensive ..read more

I'm currently reading, Shift: Managing Your Emotions -- So they Don't Manage You by Ethan Kross. I am actually speed reading it a bit since it is now overdue, and I need to get it back to the library. It's actually a really good introduction on self-regulation and if this is something you want to know more about or feel you need to work on, this would be a very good place to start. I've read more than a few things about emotional regulation and it is something I teach in both Equine Assisted Learning sessions and in parent coaching sessions. What has been helpful for me is to see much of what ..read more