Ox-Cart Man

All the inspiration I've been getting lately to want to be more homegrown has reminded me of a book I used to read as a little girl. It was one of my favorites.

Ox-Cart Man follows an early American farmer through the calender year, as he and his family use the resources around them to create their livelihood and income. It's a very easy read - for younger kids really, but I think it's very charming. And it has wonderful illustrations. It shows some aspects of early American life and homesteading, speaks to the idea of being sustainable and not being wasteful, and challenges me to be creative with what I have.

Because I am a sentimental fool (and hang on to things) I was able to dig out of the closet today the same copy I read as a girl, and I read it to my son for the first time. :) He liked it too.

Anyway, thought I would share it with you. Have you read it before? What are some of your favorite books from when you were young?

Potato Leek Soup

I am so glad it finally started raining. There is nothing quite like the smell of the fresh, clean air after the rain. And there is nothing quite as cozy as a nice bowl of soup or cup of hot coffee, watching the raindrops run down your windowpane.
This is a yummy recipe I just tried for the first time today for lunch and it was delicious!
My brands are shown in parentheses, for anyone who might be interested. :)

Potato Leek Soup

6 Tblsp. butter (Kerrigold unsalted)
1 leek, sliced (from farmer's market)
salt and pepper to taste
2 cups chicken broth (Trader Joe's organic free range)
2 tsp cornstarch
2 cups potatoes, peeled and diced (TJs organic)
1 cup 1/2&1/2 (TJs organic)

In a large pot, over medium heat, melt butter. Add leeks, salt and pepper. Cook leeks in butter until tender, about 10 to 15 minutes, stirring frequently.

Stir cornstarch into broth and then pour broth into pot. Add the potatoesand bring to a boil. Pour in 1/2 & 1/2, reduce heat and simmer at least 30 minutes, until potatoes are tender. I like to break up the potatoes a bit into smaller pieces.

Enjoy!

A new species of flower: florus chroshaydus

My friend Noreen and I made a date one night last year to have coffee and "swap talents." She crochets and I knit, so she taught me and, although I'm not the best teacher in the world, I did my best to teach her. Both of us commented on how weird it feels to hold the needles a certain way when you're used to something completely different. But we had lots of fun and it's a memory I treasure, since shortly afterwards she moved to another country. That night, she taught me single crochet and double crochet. I liked the double crochet much better because it knits (ha!) crochets up faster. I was so excited to finally be learning this, I went home and practiced and practiced. When I felt confident enough to start a simple project, I knit up a small baby blanket for a friend of mine who became new mom recently.

Not long after that, I finished a similar blanket for my new baby cousin. These were both made with Nature's Choice organic cotton - my new favorite yarn. It's soooo yummy!

I'm still feeling a little timid about doing anything complicated, but I decided this afternoon to attempt something with some shape. Starting small, and taking my time, I just finished my first flower! It is such a little thing to be so happy about, but in some ways this one flower is 15 or 20 years in-the-making. I'm kind of surprised I actaully finished it. I won't even tell you how long it took me. Haha.

 

Ok, it was like 30 minutes. The video I learned from is only 6 minutes long, so... :)

Anyway, this one will go on a hat for another baby friend who will be born later this year. (Must be baby season!) I think flowers will be a great thing to crochet up quickly for fun or to add onto other projects. And it's a neat way to use up little scraps of yarn! I feel like a whole new world is opening up for me - all those cute crochet patterns that I had dismissed before are now possible...

Is there something you have always wanted to learn? Or something new you've been meaning to try?

Photo project: Seasons

This photo was taken in Lower Bidwell Park on the first day of winter

I like how it represents the cold death of winter - in the stillness of the water, the skeleton-like trees, the vague smokyness from the chimneys nearby, and the profound lack of park visitors.

...it was taken *checks her calendar* yeeeeah, over two weeks ago.

And it has taken me this long to share it with you. :)

Which gives you an idea of my pace of life right now.

Anyhoo... this is a photography project I've now started, and by the time I'm done it will be over 9 months in the making. I plan to take this exact shot on the first day of spring, summer and autumn as well. It will be fun to see how the colors change, the sunlight moves, the water becomes more and less filled with life. I have taken shots in a couple other places to and recorded in detail my exact positions and time. Looking forward to seeing it come together. I plan to display and share them kind of like a triptych, but in a set of four obviously. What is a four paneled triptych? Hmmm...

I just looked it up. It's a tetraptych. Hahaha. Well, you learn something new every day, I guess.

Anyway... It's been a long time since I've pursued my artistic ambitions outside of sewing and it feels good to do something with photography again. I'm hoping to have more posts like this in the future! 

In the chill of this winter weather, here's wishing you a warm hearth and happy new year.

Christmas time is here...

 

I just love that old peanuts song...

It's been busy-busy around here, to which I'm sure most of you can relate. I've been sewing up a storm for work, as well as gift making and shopping...decorating... baking. The list goes on! Tis the season, I suppose! Perhaps I will post pictures of my sewing projects in another post, if I can find the time. ;)

This is my third Christmas at Lil Hipsters and for the past couple of years, I allowed myself to get caught up in work so much, that I had very little time left for fun, Christmasy, family things. This year, I made a point of taking time out for that. My son and I have run several errands together (we like to look at Christmas decorations in the local shops and crafts stores), I have included him in all the decorating, we've gone to the library and checked out a couple Christmas books (The Night Before Christmas and the Gift of the Magi), we plan to make some cookies and deliver them to the neighbors, and we have done a few crafts together. Tonight we painted ornaments for the family. These may not be how my sophisticated adult, buttoned-down, laced-up mind would've ever thought to paint an ornament, but I love to see his creativity, so I give him free reign. Aren't they beautiful?

 

While on the subject of crafts.... have any of you seen the new Holiday version of the paper bags at Trader Joe's?? So clever! I forgot to bring my cloth bag one morning, and when I got home with the paper one, I noticed all kinds of decorations on the sides. Turns out that they have designed almost the whole bag to be re-used for Christmas crafts! There's one whole side that has tags printed on it - you can cut them out and use on your gifts. And two sides have festive strips, which can be cut out and used for paper chains! I liked it so much, I "accidentally" forgot my cloth bag again the next week so I could get more gift tags. ;) I think it is such a neat idea - to be able to re-purpose something and then recycle still afterward!

Trader Joe's gift tag, shown with wrapping paper from JoAnn's and baker's twine from The Twinery

So of course we made a paper chain together. That was fun. My son also wrote his first letter to Santa this morning, and I let him mail it when we were at the Post Office today. Do you know what he asked of Santa? Absolutely nothing. I asked my little boy what he wanted to write and he said "You're welcome. And have a merry merry Christmas." That's it? "Yup." I thought it was so sweet. ♥ For all the thousands of kids who are writing out their wish lists, all my baby wanted to do was wish Santa a merry Christmas. :) Oh the innocence of youth...

Speaking of Santa... I know there are several ways to approach the subject of Santa Claus. I hope this isn't a touchy subject for anyone. It was sort of a self-discovery actually for us, since this is the first year that our son was old enough to recognize Santa and ask about him. So we discussed him a little bit. I grew up in a family where he wasn't talked about at all because my mom felt that he distracted from the true meaning of Christmas. I somewhat agree, but we have decided to take a more balanced approach - allowing some of the fun and imagination that Santa can bring, without having to lie about his existence. I explained to my little boy that Santa is sort of pretend. And that people like to pretend that he comes to their house on Christmas Eve etc etc. and isn't it fun to pretend sometimes? He seemed to think it was a great idea and got a little excited about the Great Masquerade. When he gets older, I plan to get more into St Nicholas and who he was in real life. But for now, I feel that the key was establishing Santa's status in reality, which will help us avoid any crushing disappointments later. And of course, through all of this, we also talked about Jesus - that He is the Reason we celebrate Christmas, to take the time to remember his birth and how thankful we are that God sent Him to us. ♥

Our family wishes you and yours a warm, happy Christmas and a healthy, prosperous New Year!