Every year at the solstice I make a little cave out of rocks and we put in a representation of the reborn sun. At sundown on the longest night, we light candles and keep it going as long as we can. This year I had the idea to scatter birdseed all around and it was wonderful to watch the sparrows and cardinals perching all over, though every time I tried to take a picture of them they scattered. We’ll light... Read more

I’ve been working on this raven for a while. There’s a Native American story about Raven stealing a firebrand and bringing light to the world. Before that he’s white, and after he and all his progeny are stained soot black. My raven is holding the firebrand and is in the process of being turned black. He’s mainly made out of corn husks I dried from some summer sweet corn, along with some copper wire, a bone, and some odds and... Read more

Can you tell I’m into alliteration today? I made some coconut macaroons, and they came out so nice, I thought I’d share the recipe. Mostly they’re just a meringue with a lot of coconut. It’s super easy, which is really good. I used to be an obsessive Martha Stewart type of cookie maker, where the more complicated the recipe was the better. That was before I had two little kitchen helpers. These days, it’s either got to be quick and... Read more

I was pulling the lid off of my organic raisins the other day, and I noticed it was shaped a lot like an ornament, so I thought I’d give it a try at turning it into one. I flattened it out, and with a bamboo skewer, I drew some ornament like decorations on it. Then, to make it a little sturdier, I mixed some cadmium red paint and some gloss medium and painted it over the ornament to fill in... Read more

I’m such a sucker for a giveaway, and there’s some beautiful stuff being offered over at Design Style Guide. I follow their blog just for the eye candy. It inspires me to make my own home more beautiful. So when I saw they were having a giveaway this holiday season, I hopped right over and fell in love with this amazing hosta plate. I have a small but growing collection of earthenware and ceramics, and this would fit right in.... Read more

This is the inside of my new low tunnel. I used to have a larger greenhouse, but it was getting pretty beat up, so we decided to downsize right now. I’m hoping that eventually we could get it back up again, but we’d have to buy new plastic, and right now we’re just cannabalizing what we have. You can see above the inside of it, with leeks, mustard greens and chard. Also with a yogurt container. We have yogurt containers... Read more

Okay guys here’s my nummy eggnog for two. It’s an adaptation of Martha Stewart’s eggnog recipe, but it’s for 2 – 4 people instead of 26. 2 eggs* 1/3 c. superfine sugar 1 cup of milk 1 cup of whipping cream rum, bourbon, and/or apple jack in some combination at least a couple of shots worth nutmeg for the top *note that the eggs are raw. This means you need a good source of eggs you trust. Organic will do... Read more

My terrariums have been going for about a month now, and I’ve learned that it’s very easy to over water them if you’re trying to keep them moist. I’ve found that they dry out without a lid of some sort. This ended up being a blessing in disguise, because I ended up killing off parts of a couple of them so I went out on a moss hunting expedition with my youngest in tow around the neighborhood. I found the... Read more

It’s been ages since I posted regularly. We’ve all been taking turns with various forms of flu and it’s been enough to just keep us all fed and the house somewhat clean. Now it seems we have at least a temporary break in the clouds, so I thought I’d share a little of what I’ve been up to. The top one is a new painting called Offering. It’s not done, that’s just the first layer laid down. I need to... Read more

I made these mittens for myself. It’s taken me almost a year to finish them off. Still, I’ve gotten them done before winter, so I’m pretty happy. The best part about these mittens is that the little dots of color are actually wool roving that’s been knitted into the pattern so that the inside of the mittens is lined with wool roving. It’s so warm and fuzzy! I bought the pattern at a local yarn store, the Little Red Schoolhouse.... Read more