tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-75462159271008606882024-03-13T16:25:26.611-07:00Toadstools and Fairy RingsAngiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.comBlogger643125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-7636334219478075712016-12-20T12:29:00.003-08:002016-12-20T12:29:41.201-08:00<h3 style="text-align: left;">
Hello everyone! I have <a href="https://toadstoolsfairyrings.wordpress.com/" target="_blank">moved my blog over to wordpress!</a> This is something I have wanted to do for a long time but wasn't brave enough to give it a try and potentially mess everything up. </h3>
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However, the technology gods must be smiling on me at the moment, because everything seems to have gone well, and it looks better than ever! See you over there, and thanks for reading!</h3>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-6362179155344734442016-12-15T18:03:00.000-08:002016-12-15T18:03:11.080-08:0012 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #5. Scratch Paper Snow Flakes, Christmas Origami, and Wycinanki<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG7VyHW8eFqjrM1YoOD05fmpy0ZuS7s_RU0hzBG2evb16BCTD3KazFRto-wfBZTXNTw67PXMtiHNKS13ZRCwTMOjzQu186pXYOGrwdn5CmKT34hg4FidnkhWM0MYVfftlKYjww94PKR33/s1600/snowflakes2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="478" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNG7VyHW8eFqjrM1YoOD05fmpy0ZuS7s_RU0hzBG2evb16BCTD3KazFRto-wfBZTXNTw67PXMtiHNKS13ZRCwTMOjzQu186pXYOGrwdn5CmKT34hg4FidnkhWM0MYVfftlKYjww94PKR33/s640/snowflakes2.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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We don't usually get to experience snow here in the Deep South, but it is still fun to make paper snowflakes. I love the way a snowflake surprises you with what it looks like once it's unfolded.<br />
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Snowflakes - </h3>
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Here is a short tutorial on how to fold a snowflake with scratch paper:<br />
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1. Starting here with an 81/2" x 11" piece of printer paper.<br />
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2. Fold the top corner over to the side to make a triangle.<br />
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3. Cut off the extra at the bottom.<br />
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4. Fold both corners up to the point of the triangle. <br />
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4. Fold in half, and trim the bottom edge to make it round (if you don't you will have a square or diamond-shaped snowflake). You can also use a hole-punch, or pinking scissors to make interesting patterns.<br />
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Origami - </h3>
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Origami is fun and also can be a good brain exercise. We have several origami books we've gotten ideas out of, but here are a few online resources I can share with you for a <a href="http://www.origami-instructions.com/origami-christmas-tree.html" target="_blank">Christmas tree,</a> <a href="http://www.origamiway.com/origami-christmas-stocking.shtml" target="_blank">a stocking</a>, <a href="http://www.homemade-gifts-made-easy.com/5-pointed-origami-star.html" target="_blank">a star</a>, <a href="http://www.origami-instructions.com/easy-origami-santa.html" target="_blank">a Santa</a>, (and <a href="http://www.marcels-kid-crafts.com/christmas-santa.html" target="_blank">different Santa </a>here - this is more like the pattern we have in our books). <br />
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Origami paper can be expensive, but you can make your own by cutting a piece of scratch printer paper as I described in the first step for making a snowflake. Color one side with crayon to make it a different color.<br />
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Wycinanki and Paper Garlands - </h3>
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Another fun thing to do with scratch paper is <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vytynanky_(Wycinanki)" target="_blank">Wycinanki</a>, or traditional <a href="https://duckduckgo.com/?q=vycinanki&t=canonical&iax=1&ia=images" target="_blank">Polish paper cutting art.</a> There are many ways to do it, but an easy way to start is to fold a piece of paper in half, and lightly draw out a scene. Make sure whatever is draw on the center part is half of what you want (so you don't end up with a two-headed Christmas tree or something). Cut out around the lines and unfold it. You can then glue it on a darker sheet of paper, or hang it up on the window like a snowflake. When you get the hang of it, you can layer different colors of paper together. They can be very complex and decorative.<br />
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Garlands of little Christmas trees, angels, stars, or gingerbread people are easy to make by folding a piece of paper accordion-style, and drawing out whatever it is you'd like to cut in light pencil on the front. Just make sure both sides stay connected at some point, or you will end up with a bunch of little gingerbread men or angels running around loose and not holding hands together.<br />
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In the past, I have had very little success in interesting my children
to sit down for snowflakes or other paper crafts if I get everything
ready and announce that we're going to do such-and-such. They usually
aren't interested. The best way I have come up with is to get
everything set up nicely, and sit down and start working on it myself in
an absorbed, I-hope-no-one-will-bother-me way. They will come running
in just a few minutes! <br />
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With snowflakes on the windows, it still looks like winter even if the weather is still hot and humid!</h3>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-45146424955705485542016-12-14T19:54:00.000-08:002016-12-14T19:54:56.970-08:0012 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #4. Elving<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXKaCtEWQ34kQnCQDWl9BOl6ZFRQ3ERQTtme22ZvJ1mwJZpSxdRgAIeJ5Srbfea-evJAZlmoej2qDU99VGYsevTqhxk7q_FxHJmLfIL5gyqtNZ0xQET1ofTQjdpIOS9RYzrJKTg4KPwLu/s1600/alphabet+blocks.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjtXKaCtEWQ34kQnCQDWl9BOl6ZFRQ3ERQTtme22ZvJ1mwJZpSxdRgAIeJ5Srbfea-evJAZlmoej2qDU99VGYsevTqhxk7q_FxHJmLfIL5gyqtNZ0xQET1ofTQjdpIOS9RYzrJKTg4KPwLu/s640/alphabet+blocks.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
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(Shhh....because of course we won't really have absolutely no presents this year!)</div>
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Despite what anyone who is selling something says, you don't have to buy something to make a present for someone. Thrift, a virtue I have come to appreciate more and more, is the near-magical talent of seeing what you already have, adding a generous dose of imagination, and a dash of willingness to try. It always manages to come up with something I never thought I could do, and whatever that turns out to be, it always far surpasses anything I could have bought because of the life that is breathed into something when it is handmade with love.<br />
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I know that many people will think that the magic of thriftiness is beyond them to accomplish. But the truth is that we live in a world in which almost everything has been taken away from us and delivered into the hands of merchants and manufacturers. From practical things like clothing, shoes and food, to even our songs and stories, these things once lived in the hearts, hands, and minds of all human beings, but now for some reason are left only to those who trade them for money. It is high time we reclaimed these wonderful things for ourselves, instead of waiting for them to be peddled to us by someone who is bent on making a profit.<br />
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One rule of thriftiness is to always use what you have on hand, and of course what I already have on hand is going to be different than what someone else has. Hopefully, however, these ideas will get your thrifty imagination fired up and inspire some creative elving!<br />
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<b>1. Coloring books</b></h3>
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All you need to make a coloring book is a black pen and some scratch paper that's (at least mostly) white on one side. The best part of making your own coloring book is that the pictures can be whatever you dream up. I usually make a list of about 10 ideas for each of my children. Then I lightly sketch the picture in pencil before blacking it in with a marker. If the idea ends up being too hard to draw, I just skip it, or replace it with a different idea. Scenes from fairy tales, favorite stories, fantasies, friends, pets, and every-day objects make wonderful coloring book scenes. The pictures don't have to filled to the brim, but are actually better if left fairly simple.<br />
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I know that 90% of people think they can't draw, but you don't actually need to draw very well to make a coloring book your children will adore. I made some, very hastily, one Christmas. They didn't turn out very well, but I thought I might as well wrap them up and put them under the tree. To my surprise, my children LOVED them, and begged me to draw more pictures for them to color. I think one thing they really liked was that I chose things they really loved to put into the pictures. There were a few really bad pictures I had done in a hurry that turned out to be very comical and funny. So even if it isn't perfect, it is still going to be fun.<br />
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<b>2. Paper Dolls</b></h3>
Just like coloring books, paper dolls can be so fun. Draw a basic doll out of stiffer paper, or thin paper glued to cardboard. Then you can make all sorts of different outfits - make sure to leave the little tabs that can be folded around the doll so that the clothes stay on. <a href="http://kiddley.com/2006/12/12/dress-up-paper-doll-and-ornament/" target="_blank">This </a>is a fun resource for making paper dolls.<br />
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3. Story Books</h3>
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Make up a short story and write it down on printer paper/scratch paper folded in half. There are several ways to make the binding, either with a stapler, or punching holes along the fold and tying it with string or yarn. You can also sew the pages together with needle and thread. Stories can be something that is just made up, an adventure you child would love to have, or even something funny that happened in real life.<br />
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4. Mad Libs</h3>
Mad Libs are the best way I've found to teach basic parts of speech. Otherwise, why else would you need to know what a noun or an adverb is? And it is so easy to come up with your own!<br />
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Write a short paragraph, such as a description of something you have around the house, a bad habit someone has, a family misadventure, etc, and replace some of the words with blanks, with whatever part of speech has been removed labeled in parenthesis underneath the blank (verb, noun, adverb, adjective, part of the body, and plural versions of these seem to be all that most Mad Libs ask for).<br />
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5. Story Cards</h3>
Draw pictures of different scenes or objects on note cards, or even just plain scratch paper if you don't have any cards. The cards are used in a game to create a story. It can be played alone or with other people, and in several different ways:<br />
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<ul>
<li> You start by a card and begin making up a story from what ever is on the card (a cooking pot, a stone, a girl, a dog, a tree, a path, a house, etc). Draw more cards to progress the story along.</li>
<li>Draw a certain number of cards, and arrange them into a story.</li>
<li>(for multiple players) Everyone draws a card and a story is created together with each person having a turn to work their card into the tale.</li>
</ul>
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This is a very creative, imaginative, and fun game! The stories are endless.<br />
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<h3>
6. Math Books</h3>
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(See picture below). I am making these for Rose this year, who is learning her times tables. Little accordion books made from scratch paper, with all the times tables written out on them up to 12's. <br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79hAx3ozvomu97p6iuQtjqTAGcY5Lc-RRiKNko5RYD4k2I4MwP9wevxMINY8dfr8WwSDkooaWMkFQqh1L8NjQ3QFRZIc0ZIII3bG4-PUnybNetMAS9fINILnQUgidXrrClmq-agChRPRY/s1600/mathbook.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj79hAx3ozvomu97p6iuQtjqTAGcY5Lc-RRiKNko5RYD4k2I4MwP9wevxMINY8dfr8WwSDkooaWMkFQqh1L8NjQ3QFRZIc0ZIII3bG4-PUnybNetMAS9fINILnQUgidXrrClmq-agChRPRY/s640/mathbook.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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7. Repair Favorite Toys or Clothes</h3>
We are always having things break or tear around here, and the repair pile gets backed up. This is a great opportunity to repair these things. Getting a favorite toy or dress back all fixed up again is almost better than getting something new, because it is already loved.<br />
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8. Be Creative - What Do You Have On Hand?</h3>
Look around you for what is needed and what you have. Paper, scraps of cloth, or pieces of wood are all you need to make all sorts of things. Scavenging in nature can also be fruitful - acorns, twigs, leaves, pine needles, and feathers can surely be turned to good use. <br />
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For example - Clo is really wanting to learn her letters right now. I really wanted to buy her a Montessori self-teaching letter set this year, but of course I can't. We had some scraps of wood lying around that seemed crying out to be made into something. I cut them into 2-inch lengths, and borrowed Mirin's wood burning tool to draw little pictures of things that matched the phonetic sounds of the letters. I chose things that I knew she would like, mostly animals whenever possible, and I made sure only the short vowel sounds were represented. I colored them by painting them with non-toxic kid-safe watercolors (the same ones they paint with!) and finished them by rubbing them with broken pieces of last year's tallow/beeswax candles. (if I hadn't had the wood burning tool, I probably would have used a pen or marker to draw the pictures).<br />
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With a little imagination, some scraps of wood destined for the burn pile have become a lovely Christmas present!<br />
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What can you find that is neglected or unappreciated to transform into something beautiful, useful, and fun?</h3>
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<br />Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-2289869389548449752016-12-12T10:17:00.003-08:002016-12-12T10:44:53.735-08:0012 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #3. Volunteering and Charity<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsPczqdt5HRy1_2ShnKcAfd9xePCN5IG_occ1o_AWMyTMAFcSntATfAfVjdqfLPu5ZlbTJ5Y974WuyriOBm7NgrVDr0aH0dAt372TObiOAwQnlDL9yNbNqS4_wkM4AtPadT6ivqOoBgWy/s1600/sugarplum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhUsPczqdt5HRy1_2ShnKcAfd9xePCN5IG_occ1o_AWMyTMAFcSntATfAfVjdqfLPu5ZlbTJ5Y974WuyriOBm7NgrVDr0aH0dAt372TObiOAwQnlDL9yNbNqS4_wkM4AtPadT6ivqOoBgWy/s640/sugarplum.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This year I decided to volunteer for Rose's ballet school. I sewed
beautiful table runners for the Sugar Plum Tea, which helps raise money
for Pofahl Studios, an excellent local dance school that does a lot to support
the young dancers in the community.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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They say that giving to others makes us happier than when we receive things ourselves. One of my favorite things about Christmas is giving thoughtful gifts to the people I love and seeing their happiness and delight. But even money can't buy the gifts of Love and Joy, or the small daily kindnesses that cultivate those two treasures.<br />
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Even if you have no money to spend on material things, you can give time, love and energy to your family, friends, and community in ways that will not only bring you joy and happiness, but will also make this crazy world of ours a better place.<br />
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The gift can be any size you choose. Here are a few ideas:<br />
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<b>1. Smile and be kind.</b> This sounds obvious and not like much of an idea at all, but I am always surprised at the unhappy, impatient, and suffering looks I see on random peoples' faces this time of year. People get stressed out and try to do too much, or meet too high of expectations, and that makes them rude and nasty. Little kindnesses, patience, and smiles really do make a difference!<br />
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<b>2. Help a friend or neighbor.</b> Everyone struggles in some way during their lifetime, and creating a community that shares and helps each other
is a blessing that not only creates peace and happiness on a local
level, but by virtue of our global human interaction also touches our
whole world.<br />
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In my experience, people are usually more comfortable accepting help if you have already formed a friendship with them. You might have to wait for a good opportunity to make an offer of help.<br />
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If you are local to the Gainesville area, <a href="https://www.facebook.com/groups/436900346446968/">the Garden Sweat Equity Work Parties </a>(SEWP)
is a great way to lend a hand in the community, and also puts your work
hours towards hosting your own group work party. A great opportunity
to learn from others, meet interesting people, and have help with
projects that require more than one set of hands.<br />
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To offer some ideas, these are a few opportunities that have presented themselves to us:<br />
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<li>For a long time we had an elderly woman with health problems living next door to us, and we made sure she knew that we were there to help her if she needed us. We took out her recycling, unloaded her groceries, and checked on her often. She even called us right a few days before she passed away at a care center, just to say hello and to talk. We are so glad for the chance to know her and to make her last few years happy with cards and gifts from the children, and just knowing she had someone living next door that cared about her. </li>
<li>After a friend had her second baby, I offered to have her oldest child over a lot to play. Her son loved coming to play with friends, and it gave her some much-needed time to rest with her new baby and catch up on things.</li>
<li> Last week Ethan offered a ride to a neighbor who lives alone and had to have someone drive him to the hospital for a procedure. He also picked him up after it was finished, and we checked on him for a few days to make sure that he was comfortable and doing ok.</li>
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<b> 3. Volunteering in the community.</b> If you look around, there are usually many charitable organizations that do wonderful things in communities that rely on volunteers as their lifeblood. Shelters, groups that feed the hungry, or cheer up elderly people who live in care facilities and might not have family to come and visit them all need volunteers. Here are just a couple ideas for volunteer work in the Gainesville area to get you started:<br />
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<a href="http://gracemarketplace.org/">GRACE Marketplace </a>serves the community in many ways by offering food, shelter, counselling and clothing to the needy. They need volunteers for diverse jobs that range from serving food to the hungry, to giving hair cuts.<br />
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<a href="http://www.foragefarm.org/">Forage Farm </a>does wonderful work to build a local food system through a heritage seed collection, farm to restaurant programs, and youth programs that offer after school gardening. Every second Sunday they have volunteer opportunities for work either on the farm in the community.<br />
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<a href="https://www.aclib.us/jobs">The Alachua County Library </a>not only offers education, learning, and entertainment resources to the public, they also host many excellent programs, from children's programs to English lessons, and it's all for free.<br />
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<b>Whether your gift to the community is large or small, in some way it will touch a heart and shine.</b>Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-61206124329052692392016-12-06T08:24:00.000-08:002016-12-06T08:24:10.241-08:0012 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #2. Curling Up With A Good Book<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKJaN2r08N6xMWUdg5jV6ALnLnmi7WBV5BnJ-hMgpD8PRXIp0t-lOesHvY4HzhdZMTou3-0_cW1Xon_gFxD7KQRaVFY_IxCJzitLEraT7ZwRTXYqTHFRC4xfalDS8NZ2N_aCnxh98mEoE/s1600/readingbycandlelight.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgYKJaN2r08N6xMWUdg5jV6ALnLnmi7WBV5BnJ-hMgpD8PRXIp0t-lOesHvY4HzhdZMTou3-0_cW1Xon_gFxD7KQRaVFY_IxCJzitLEraT7ZwRTXYqTHFRC4xfalDS8NZ2N_aCnxh98mEoE/s640/readingbycandlelight.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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The darkness fills the corners more and more as we lean towards the solstice. The short days, early dusk, and long nights give ample opportunity for reading a good wintertime tale. Stories, in fact, have shaped the way we celebrate this season. <a href="http://mobile.nytimes.com/2005/12/25/opinion/nyregionopinions/how-christmas-became-merry.html?_r=0&referer=https://duckduckgo.com/">Here</a> is an interesting article about it.<br />
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How sweet and cozy it is to snuggle up with loved ones, a cup of peppermint tea in hand, and a good book read out loud! <br />
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My favorite part is that enjoying a good book doesn't have to cost anything. The local library is a great place to look for lovely winter stories and won't cost a penny. If you have a computer with internet, <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page">Project Gutenberg</a> has so many interesting old books available for free.<br />
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Otherwise, browse through the books you already have. It doesn't have to be a Christmas tale to be fun to read! I keep a special section of books on our shelves to get out after Thanksgiving. Getting out the familiar, loved stories which haven't been read all year is almost like opening presents on Christmas morning. Everyone gasps and holds up favorite books, calling out, "Let's read this one first!"<br />
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Folk and fairy tales from the North, stories about celebrating the season, and old-fashioned tales of Christmas are what we have been enjoying lately. Here are a few of our favorite books from the Christmas shelf:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1o0xXfaK_wxv7NwXlsRSWprSYC6bjgBZ9p-z-NsbRqJFhWGfHABiVgWOl8BNfMMkD0DcGqiKTtn8lO_Pf1A51mB2e95YxGtHBvBkWU1R3KbMPiFIiKlN9fHmHzoc_eOgB47c8ovyPDyW/s1600/kirsten.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEik1o0xXfaK_wxv7NwXlsRSWprSYC6bjgBZ9p-z-NsbRqJFhWGfHABiVgWOl8BNfMMkD0DcGqiKTtn8lO_Pf1A51mB2e95YxGtHBvBkWU1R3KbMPiFIiKlN9fHmHzoc_eOgB47c8ovyPDyW/s1600/kirsten.jpg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Kirstens-Surprise-Christmas-AG-KIRSTENS-SURPRISE/dp/B0029HRI1Q/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481033734&sr=1-2&keywords=kirsten%27s+surprise">Kirsten's Surprise</a> (one of the American Girl series books)</h3>
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A story about a Midwestern pioneer girl who immigrated from Sweden, and makes her family's holiday special by celebrating <a href="http://www.whychristmas.com/cultures/sweden.shtml">the traditions of St. Lucia</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgkDS5yryVeeVwN_EWv91J167hl2xoDU7G2VrqX0Zh5igy7Q5gWHa5ADTtnV2Icn_ooAtv-X0RhBdhDBL9_mzIZ3aZuaJOoFEVLD1qxrdCWQQ7BuQ_2dUVDO8XO9gcAXSZOg_a3HCkpH-/s1600/wales.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDgkDS5yryVeeVwN_EWv91J167hl2xoDU7G2VrqX0Zh5igy7Q5gWHa5ADTtnV2Icn_ooAtv-X0RhBdhDBL9_mzIZ3aZuaJOoFEVLD1qxrdCWQQ7BuQ_2dUVDO8XO9gcAXSZOg_a3HCkpH-/s320/wales.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Childs-Christmas-Hardcover-Author-Thomas/dp/B00FNSFCKC/ref=pd_sbs_14_7?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=VGTQV0V0KMZMDY0BDAKC">A Child's Christmas in Wales </a>by Dylan Thomas</h3>
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This is an especial favorite, very funny and poetic descriptions of annoying the snoozing uncles, and snowball games.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MUrSbrpGpoxRXOuaKoZNGjFVo_TL75dEhsd2ObLDgoL85UbTzqCnxWXQCccGMrP3FviodOKSI-MMxrBl6-_mS2-lqvnZYj_F0FDrNhas0nM8h5CDsPIlhpN8WoMf-N2wgrVjtK3_aDCK/s1600/annascoat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh2MUrSbrpGpoxRXOuaKoZNGjFVo_TL75dEhsd2ObLDgoL85UbTzqCnxWXQCccGMrP3FviodOKSI-MMxrBl6-_mS2-lqvnZYj_F0FDrNhas0nM8h5CDsPIlhpN8WoMf-N2wgrVjtK3_aDCK/s320/annascoat.jpg" width="255" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/New-Coat-Anna-Dragonfly-Books/dp/0394898613/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481034628&sr=1-1&keywords=A+new+coat+for+anna">A New Coat For Anna</a> by Harriet Ziefert</h3>
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Unable to afford a new warm coat after the devastation of WWII, Anna and her mother start at a sheep farm and cleverly trade with skilled neighbors, gathering berries and dyeing the wool themselves to make a beautiful new coat. I love their resourcefulness, and also looking at the labor and skills that go into a garment.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdmGmfEPEGi-G1Dyfnj_Yq08t03gUzZkV_lUaKDvkVPz6NX-61NYqkW1hq_Q56TILo2GaEpj_a5pj8hlUqSLVYPzI0ZQcW4e9GVB1bVxqbQMxYQK6nJBs8BmRoAlA-Y6tGLCAuKqAXuWN/s1600/bently.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdmGmfEPEGi-G1Dyfnj_Yq08t03gUzZkV_lUaKDvkVPz6NX-61NYqkW1hq_Q56TILo2GaEpj_a5pj8hlUqSLVYPzI0ZQcW4e9GVB1bVxqbQMxYQK6nJBs8BmRoAlA-Y6tGLCAuKqAXuWN/s1600/bently.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Snowflake-Bentley-Jacqueline-Briggs-Martin/dp/0547248296/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481037443&sr=8-1&keywords=snowflake+bentley">Snowflake Bently</a> by Jacqueline Briggs Martin</h3>
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A true story of a man who first photographed snowflake patterns - the first person who discovered that snowflakes are unique.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFBJ4OA9r39AUqx5kcnvxuFmi5xUYmmoCQt8zZgEcjDbrNsRdUSNXMhIKEG9Gk0jMLX8qOpI7inCQroM0fCpcDGfPFggwUVjvgOSPkyQ08syV83i78JeGU8ECP6bQ4oHStZFy43eQMrH6/s1600/snow+queen.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhsFBJ4OA9r39AUqx5kcnvxuFmi5xUYmmoCQt8zZgEcjDbrNsRdUSNXMhIKEG9Gk0jMLX8qOpI7inCQroM0fCpcDGfPFggwUVjvgOSPkyQ08syV83i78JeGU8ECP6bQ4oHStZFy43eQMrH6/s1600/snow+queen.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Snow-Queen-Hans-Christian-Andersen/dp/0996560637/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481033564&sr=1-3&keywords=The+Snow+Queen">The Snow Queen</a> by Hans Christian Andersen</h3>
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Classic story, and a fun adventure.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nOI2OGX4G_HNtHhj5YfgRqkV2eoUWrmTf1iDTyu03G64HJ4Cu2Y2oOO7t1OIklfaoLyXMIr78T0RonNjYhNum6I3MH_PwGwbyKrLyAz2NbQWRncHQ0dsfxxKd7o0VLBbhyphenhyphenoDTa1_MkoT/s1600/nils.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg0nOI2OGX4G_HNtHhj5YfgRqkV2eoUWrmTf1iDTyu03G64HJ4Cu2Y2oOO7t1OIklfaoLyXMIr78T0RonNjYhNum6I3MH_PwGwbyKrLyAz2NbQWRncHQ0dsfxxKd7o0VLBbhyphenhyphenoDTa1_MkoT/s1600/nils.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Wonderful-Adventures-Nils-Further-Holgersson/dp/1572160365/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481034726&sr=1-3&keywords=The+wonderful+adventures+of+nils">The Wonderful Adventures of Nils</a> by Selma Lagerlof</h3>
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This story was used to teach geography to Swedish school children. It is a diverse and imaginative collection of tales of a bad boy who finds himself suddenly very small and travels around Sweden on the back of a migrating wild goose. Among the adventures, there is an interesting story of a broken-hearted mermaid which became Stockholm, in a very similar theme as the Selkie myths from Ireland.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHkJkFsh9QmB1HNw1nL4aTg9OJzBavLAhsLruM7Zr9vprCgsDTo3dXuUGfMc7npMwClhfw3W2NoxJawufqG9GlGErVhsCYX8iG2hfBAANqagdde567kL9o3HNN07L9NmWJSkMsKhK6jZwb/s1600/lamp%252C+ice%252C+boat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiHkJkFsh9QmB1HNw1nL4aTg9OJzBavLAhsLruM7Zr9vprCgsDTo3dXuUGfMc7npMwClhfw3W2NoxJawufqG9GlGErVhsCYX8iG2hfBAANqagdde567kL9o3HNN07L9NmWJSkMsKhK6jZwb/s320/lamp%252C+ice%252C+boat.jpg" width="320" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_3_10?url=search-alias%3Dstripbooks&field-keywords=the+lamp+the+ice+and+the+boat+called+fish&sprefix=The+Lamp%2C+%2Cstripbooks%2C221">The Lamp, the Ice, and the Boat Called Fish: Based on a True Story</a> by Jacqueline Briggs Martin</h3>
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The story of an Inuit family who went along with <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vilhjalmur_Stefansson">Vilhjalmur Stefansson</a>'s 1913 expedition to the Arctic to study the plants and people who lived there. The father helped the expedition by providing meat he hunted, the mother made climate-appropriate clothes for everyone, and their two children came along.<br />
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One of my favorite things about this book is that it really helps re-frame any sort of hardship we might have. One of the children on the expedition was a 2-year old - <i>I cannot imagine being on an Arctic boat expedition with a 2-year old</i>. <br />
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After their ship is broken and sunk by the ice, they walk/climb 100 miles over sea ice to make an igloo on a frozen island. The family and a few other explorers barely survive there while Stefansson and others walk <i>200 miles </i>to Siberia to get a rescue party.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Dancing-Fox-John-Bierhorst/dp/0688144063/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481035473&sr=1-1&keywords=The+Dancing+Fox">The Dancing Fox</a> by John Bierhorst</h3>
An amazing collection of fascinating and captivating Arctic tales of animals, shamans, and brave people.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Polar-Bear-Son-Inuit-Tale/dp/0395975670/ref=pd_sbs_14_1?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=MZ0FY2H5JE8X013F5GZ0">The Polar Bear Son: An Inuit Tale</a> by Lydia Dabcovich</h3>
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I'll admit that this story made a few tears come to my eyes. A lonely, poor woman adopts a little polar bear and he provides meat for her when he is grown. They love each other, but the other people don't like him, and insist that they part.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Russian-Fairy-Pantheon-Folklore-Library/dp/0394730909/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481033212&sr=8-1&keywords=russian+folk+tales">Russian Fairy Tales</a> by Aleksandr Afanasev</h3>
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Favorite stories, and lots of Ivans. Ivan the Rich and Ivan the Poor has a very funny plot twist, and we liked it so much we made it into a play for Mirin's boyscout troup a few years ago as a homeschool project. There are lots of other great stories, like Ivan and the Sunbird, Vasillisa the Wise, and Baba Yaga in her house on chicken feet.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6lgyZUWx-TtgAIrC5uJWZ-8mkUQz19e-YtNRKI6DYbUPzWyTkE6A9AOMDJApW2_xh0Mes-MlB-DEd7yiGKzXwZKn_Fo5pfCT8mkTxKqCu2_H3jGigFkYDABOsVfS0KLMmx103djhrJ_y/s1600/trollheart.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgH6lgyZUWx-TtgAIrC5uJWZ-8mkUQz19e-YtNRKI6DYbUPzWyTkE6A9AOMDJApW2_xh0Mes-MlB-DEd7yiGKzXwZKn_Fo5pfCT8mkTxKqCu2_H3jGigFkYDABOsVfS0KLMmx103djhrJ_y/s1600/trollheart.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Troll-Heart-His-Body/dp/0395913713/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481034894&sr=1-4&keywords=Norway%2C+home+of+the+trolls">The Troll With no Heart in His Body</a> by Lise Lunge-Larsen and Betsy Bowen</h3>
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Wonderful stories from Norway.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPxm_uSftSKovKcXuvNctmIKhZlrdSDv2LpJ5LCsb6CBN_yKPmibRk0RC2NylgyU8Aqz02dCDhvF_Y4i4CYATam6GIBMj6k_OqzmhkhKlz3zv-Riwk9reEzkh2kDdiSSp4bCLOV29SCdbc/s1600/solstice.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPxm_uSftSKovKcXuvNctmIKhZlrdSDv2LpJ5LCsb6CBN_yKPmibRk0RC2NylgyU8Aqz02dCDhvF_Y4i4CYATam6GIBMj6k_OqzmhkhKlz3zv-Riwk9reEzkh2kDdiSSp4bCLOV29SCdbc/s320/solstice.jpg" width="241" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Return-Light-Twelve-Around-Solstice/dp/1569243603/ref=pd_sbs_14_6?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=WJQRZYXH7B3RG77HFRYM">The Return of the Light: Twelve Tales from Around the World for the Winter Solstice</a> by Carolyn McVickar Edwards </h3>
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A really lovely collection of solstice stories - the story from the Northwest coast about Raven, as well as the Norse story of Ragnarok are two favorites.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3cr3hBT4nYUfl7QjSZnEZgiD_rA_zeO5UAX6QWdgPoR6nJSjLeJ-ncpBkxbVhUWZHGlUl3aqt8lB1NI8js8AK_sEqqfVQa8hw6TS-eTbilEVM0QI1YI8RhHGtaNOmeiDM55Ta682Xz7X/s1600/christmasroses.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgd3cr3hBT4nYUfl7QjSZnEZgiD_rA_zeO5UAX6QWdgPoR6nJSjLeJ-ncpBkxbVhUWZHGlUl3aqt8lB1NI8js8AK_sEqqfVQa8hw6TS-eTbilEVM0QI1YI8RhHGtaNOmeiDM55Ta682Xz7X/s1600/christmasroses.jpeg" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Roses-Legends-for-Advent/dp/9197169226/ref=sr_1_11?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481033864&sr=1-11&keywords=The+Christmas+Roses+Book">The Christmas Roses: Legends for Advent </a>by Selma Lagerlof</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiIgZriITlzQqoGQbZUyrcwJ0gcZBZ7yqe3VypwDFN6M38X9F3sq2kZNh8SsfjRaXcLzfzGNk-xkRLH7SGfmZdHUnpqflAwtkgE-kII6YwITQ0b6TraR1YOVfxjmscJ8mtdloMZ35BrZs/s1600/christmascarol.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNiIgZriITlzQqoGQbZUyrcwJ0gcZBZ7yqe3VypwDFN6M38X9F3sq2kZNh8SsfjRaXcLzfzGNk-xkRLH7SGfmZdHUnpqflAwtkgE-kII6YwITQ0b6TraR1YOVfxjmscJ8mtdloMZ35BrZs/s320/christmascarol.jpeg" width="212" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Christmas-Leatherbound-Collection-7-Sep-2013-Hardcover/dp/B012HVZED2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481035913&sr=1-1&keywords=a+christmas+carol+and+other+christmas+stories">A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Stories</a> by Charles Dickens</h3>
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A Christmas Carol is probably the most famous, but Charles Dickens wrote many other good stories about the holiday.<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Little-Women-Mnemosyne-Classics-Unabridged/dp/1534967907/ref=sr_1_4?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481034481&sr=1-4&keywords=Little+Women">Little Women</a> by Louisa May Alcott </h3>
Wonderfully, this story starts with a destitute Christmas! The March girls are poor, and have to make-do and make things cheery for themselves, which they do with imagination and creativity.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgst_cIZ5DNajUG7l6x73gjO15JQDMNQDsFWHMnnJmyHRsfTKnEHNJkx6TxJg4aGcYgbHMjebzAM6BXu-3L9aYLEknHMRMyoJTyNnQzGfIbRZx2yWzjH87Srywx1oH2mnJeg4xDEbt8eKep/s1600/xmas+treasury.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgst_cIZ5DNajUG7l6x73gjO15JQDMNQDsFWHMnnJmyHRsfTKnEHNJkx6TxJg4aGcYgbHMjebzAM6BXu-3L9aYLEknHMRMyoJTyNnQzGfIbRZx2yWzjH87Srywx1oH2mnJeg4xDEbt8eKep/s320/xmas+treasury.jpg" width="205" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Louisa-May-Alcotts-Christmas-Treasury/dp/1589199502/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481034545&sr=1-1&keywords=Christmas+Treasury+louisa+may+alcott">Louisa May Alcott's Christmas Treasury </a></h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1wMSnkF3i5YgSt-YXBrVh77L154NBlnAZiU6CIdzKTuJ1TPFvBVVvsEn-3NWCIfhNiE7nTT2h9aJGgD8g7WX5pwRO22Rx-fn3ut-KQsJ-QbVfFMXQ5yV0BnQ05AHKFfovlxX3JiMChl1/s1600/irvingxmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG1wMSnkF3i5YgSt-YXBrVh77L154NBlnAZiU6CIdzKTuJ1TPFvBVVvsEn-3NWCIfhNiE7nTT2h9aJGgD8g7WX5pwRO22Rx-fn3ut-KQsJ-QbVfFMXQ5yV0BnQ05AHKFfovlxX3JiMChl1/s320/irvingxmas.jpg" width="207" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Old-Fashioned-Christmas-Day-Illustrated-ebook/dp/B01IKSB1T2/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481035741&sr=1-1&keywords=Washington+Irving+an+old+fashioned+christmas+day">An Old Fashioned Christmas Day</a> by Washington Irving (this is selected from his book <i>The Sketchbook of Geoffry Crayon, Gent</i>)</h3>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kBM8SCfu3v50yWCQP_Vpu9hPchLhxK-sMwps8MCYcAbO7sF6xsEVkPzCpF39xTCB3mhyottKTzc3_VUB-GX0J8MZYT_T_W1-nUxiU990RTn8uHQWShSX1dP4i_uiziEiLPAW7vNV2Jla/s1600/oldxmas.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj2kBM8SCfu3v50yWCQP_Vpu9hPchLhxK-sMwps8MCYcAbO7sF6xsEVkPzCpF39xTCB3mhyottKTzc3_VUB-GX0J8MZYT_T_W1-nUxiU990RTn8uHQWShSX1dP4i_uiziEiLPAW7vNV2Jla/s320/oldxmas.jpg" width="213" /></a></div>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Old-Christmas-Sketch-Washington-Irving/dp/160355078X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481036359&sr=8-1&keywords=Old+Christmas+Washington+Irving"><br /></a>
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Old-Christmas-Sketch-Washington-Irving/dp/160355078X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1481036359&sr=8-1&keywords=Old+Christmas+Washington+Irving">Old Christmas: From the Sketchbook of Washington Irv</a><a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">ing </a></h3>
<a href="https://www.blogger.com/null">These, according to the article above, are what helped inspire how we celebrate Christmas today. All of these stories are on Project Gutenberg. </a><br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Grinch-Stole-Christmas-Classic-Seuss/dp/0394800796/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481034821&sr=1-1&keywords=the+grinch+who+stole+christmas">The Grinch Who Stole Christmas</a> by Dr. Seuss</h3>
Of course a Christmas book list would not be complete without this one!<br />
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<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Church-Mice-at-Christmas/dp/1848770650/ref=sr_1_2?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1481035390&sr=1-2&keywords=The+Church+Mice+At+Christmas">The Church Mice at Christmas</a> by Graham Oakley</h3>
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All of the church mice books are very funny, but this one just happens to be a Christmas book.<br />
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<h3>
<a href="https://www.amazon.com/Twas-Night-Before-Christmas-Nicholas/dp/0763631183/ref=sr_1_6?ie=UTF8&qid=1481040578&sr=8-6&keywords=the+night+before+christmas+book">'Twas the Night Before Christmas</a> by Clement Clarke Moore</h3>
<br />
Last, but not least, because of course we always save this one for Christmas Eve. The images of Santa flying around on a sleigh were apparently preceded and inspired by Washington Irving's Christmas tales.<br />
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<h2>
What are some of your favorite books to read for the holidays?</h2>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-12055255256961965292016-12-05T08:49:00.002-08:002016-12-06T06:09:41.091-08:00Ambrosia: A Local Food Recipe<div style="text-align: center;">
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Ambrosia was originally the food and drink of the ancient Greek gods that gave them immortality, but in modern times it mostly refers to a fruity salad. It is one of those recipes like gravy, in which everyone has their own version.<br />
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It can vary from a wholesome salad of orange sections, chopped nuts and yoghurt to something covered in Cool Whip and garnished with Maraschino cherries and tiny green marshmallows.<br />
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As my passion is for local, preferably home-grown or wildharvested food, my recipe reflects what is seasonally available here. Oranges and grapefruit are abundant in the late fall and winter, when the pecans are ripe. This tends to be our calving season, when we have no milk, and therefore no cream, so I don't include dairy, making it a Paleo-friendly recipe as well.<br />
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My dad does butterfly research in South Florida, and will often bring home big bunches of coconuts, in various stages of ripeness. Coconut palms are a common South Florida landscaping tree, but the coconuts are usually cut off and set out on the curb for the garbage pick up (Here is a place for that saying, "One man's trash is another man's treasure"). We will often have fresh coconuts lying around, waiting for a patient hand to crack them open. However, if you don't find your own fresh coconuts, dried coconut works very well and soaks up the extra orange juice.<br />
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<h2 style="text-align: center;">
Ambrosia</h2>
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2 Grapefruit (I had one pink one and one white one on hand)</div>
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3 Oranges</div>
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1/2 cup chopped pecans </div>
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1 cup grated coconut, fresh or dried - if using fresh coconut, pour off some of the citrus juice, as the dried coconut will absorb it. Otherwise your salad might end up too soupy.</div>
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1/2 cup dried wild plums, pits removed (or dried sour cherries)</div>
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1-2 Tablespoons honey, optional</div>
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1. <a href="http://foxgrapefarm.blogspot.com/2016/12/sectioning-citrus-useful-skill-when.html">Section the oranges and grapefruit</a> into a salad bowl.</div>
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2. Add other ingredients and toss. It is best if you make it 2-3 hours ahead of time for the nuts, cherries, and coconut to soak up the citrus juice. </div>
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<b>Notes: <i> </i></b><i>This salad will keep pretty well in the fridge for a couple of days. </i></div>
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Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-86027259586434899102016-12-04T17:00:00.004-08:002016-12-04T17:11:23.059-08:00Sectioning Citrus: A Useful Skill When Handling Too Many Oranges<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnyztYdW9IsfuCGAWIqC5ZBi-bK4RH26rpZzvfpv51hyzSfpvmTT5WcwSBu-34C5yh-CjzpNsmohAmoH7Ix5DkiISRKh9advpldhcATuwRugpB5gae2bD-CAC8lJrklRgW9Qxm3eOmbD3/s1600/citrus+peels.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPnyztYdW9IsfuCGAWIqC5ZBi-bK4RH26rpZzvfpv51hyzSfpvmTT5WcwSBu-34C5yh-CjzpNsmohAmoH7Ix5DkiISRKh9advpldhcATuwRugpB5gae2bD-CAC8lJrklRgW9Qxm3eOmbD3/s640/citrus+peels.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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Citrus sections are a delightful way to eat up the abundance of oranges and grapefruit this time of year. With all the pithy white and membranes removed, even the pickiest of eaters will delight in a bowlful. When I first had sectioned oranges at my in-laws' house, I wondered how on earth they had spared the time to de-membrane each little piece. So tedious!<br />
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There is a trick to sectioning citrus efficiently. It isn't difficult, and it makes the most elegant dessert: <br />
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1. Start with fresh citrus. The closer to it having been plucked from the maternal tree, the better, as the whole process is easier when the peel is fresh and crisp, and not soft and leathery as it will get after awhile.<br />
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2. With a sharp knife, cut off both ends of the orange or grapefruit.</div>
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuqZ0yhuI-hMDCjG8NW7Em3TuR3JmuCq4cHYvbdx3PR7WrOMrfdPyjRWix8IyrOti8apJTEztAg4WE9kNSVQvgyoBt7S__FqLBn076Mi3IrpD0UVYGi_IXD9Ya4SjQHUSciigSjU5-g3r_/s1600/grapefruit.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjuqZ0yhuI-hMDCjG8NW7Em3TuR3JmuCq4cHYvbdx3PR7WrOMrfdPyjRWix8IyrOti8apJTEztAg4WE9kNSVQvgyoBt7S__FqLBn076Mi3IrpD0UVYGi_IXD9Ya4SjQHUSciigSjU5-g3r_/s640/grapefruit.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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3. Beginning at the top, cut away the peel on the sides (in one long
curl if possible. It looks so impressive when you are done!). Be sure
to cut down through the white pith to the very edge of the fruit. Now
you are left with a naked grapefruit/orange, the sections exposed.</div>
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4. Over a bowl (this is a fairly juicy process) insert the knife
carefully between one of the sections and the white membrane. For the
first section, you have to cut on both sides where the membrane is
clinging to. After that, you usually only have to slice on one side of
the membrane, and the section rolls away into the bowl, as shown below:</div>
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<div style="text-align: center;">
You can either stop along the way to pick out seeds, or pick them out post-sectioning.</div>
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Repeat the process with as many fruits as you wish, and soon you will
have a big bowl of fresh citrus sections! Don't forget to give the
husk of the orange a little squeeze afterwards. There will still be
lots of juice left.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-63963579248474479342016-12-03T18:04:00.000-08:002016-12-04T07:51:35.152-08:00Real French Dressing<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_n-A67DteYLUaeE_iwhOyiaay7dUrPrL3_-zx1gwhAjYzRTvHUY23m6lSLGOOkQXdJSxJq2ub_OvypaHYepBz-W00IWoSBYZVE2gGrfwdrUY1-anUUG5hVxhnGgThoOM-7dnq3K9H-0h/s1600/lemondressing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjx_n-A67DteYLUaeE_iwhOyiaay7dUrPrL3_-zx1gwhAjYzRTvHUY23m6lSLGOOkQXdJSxJq2ub_OvypaHYepBz-W00IWoSBYZVE2gGrfwdrUY1-anUUG5hVxhnGgThoOM-7dnq3K9H-0h/s640/lemondressing.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">This beautiful bowl was given to me by my friend Savannah, and was hand-made by her father - Thanks so much, Savannah! It will have a treasured place in my kitchen.</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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I'll never forget the moment I stepped inside Tata Gabby's apartment building in France. The beautiful wrought-iron grating clanged behind us as the door shut out the streets of Nice and the bright summer's day. We were enveloped in dimness as we walked up two flights of beautifully tiled stairs. I struggled to drag my heavy luggage up the steep staircase, breathing in the smell of stone and old cement. It was the year I turned eleven, and this was the first time I had travelled anywhere without my parents, and one of the first times I had been on an airplane. My grandmother, who I usually only saw briefly on holidays, was to be my sole caretaker for this terrifying stay abroad with relatives I had never met and who spoke no English.<br />
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The long flight across the Atlantic made the light pouring in the large windows of the tiny apartment too bright for my tired eyes as I looked down into the small garden behind the building. The foreign sights and sounds baffled me with their strangeness. Loud school children shouted to each other in French, and even glanced up at me from the playground behind their school. This was the school that my grandmother and her sister had gone to, until they were forced to give up schooling and take up jobs with a dressmaker to help ends meet during WWII.<br />
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My cousin Aurore soon arrived, confidently kissing the family and friends who had crowded around the tiny but stylish glass table in the living room. Older by several years, she seemed impossibly confident and grown-up, and I did not have much to say to her attempts to practice English. She went into the kitchen to help with lunch, and I was urged by my grandmother to go along. It seemed more comfortable than being stared at and talked about in French by the old relatives, so I followed behind.<br />
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When I bashfully peeked around the corner of the kitchen door, my cousin was mixing things in a salad bowl.<br />
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"Do you like French dressing?" she asked me.<br />
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I immediately thought of the sweet, glossy reddish stuff that is poured over iceberg lettuce here in the States. It was my favorite salad dressing when I was a kid, probably because it is so ungodly sweet. "I love French dressing!" I said.<br />
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Aurore seemed very satisfied with that, and I watched her make the dressing. When it was finally time for lunch, I looked over the unusual repast and served myself a big bunch of salad, thinking I would at least feel at home with it.<br />
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To my utter surprise, French dressing in the States bears no resemblance whatsoever to what that salad was dressed with. Instead of the high-fructose corn syrup-saturated glop I was accustomed to, a spicy, tangy flavor overwhelmed my fragile American taste buds. I had never, ever had a salad dressing like that! I have remembered it all these years, and here is the recipe to share with you:<br />
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<div style="text-align: center;">
<b>Real French Dressing</b></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
1/2 cup olive oil (the real stuff, now, not the flavorless "salad oil" or sunflower oil marked up as being from real olives)</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
<b> </b></div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
1/4 cup fresh lemon juice</div>
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A dash of salt</div>
<div style="text-align: left;">
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<div style="text-align: left;">
A grind of pepper</div>
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1 Tablespoon good mustard</div>
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<div style="text-align: left;">
1 garlic clove, grated.</div>
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*Mix all ingredients with a fork, pour over the salad, and toss*<br />
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<b>Justin Handville added this note on Facebook: </b><br />
<br />
<i><span><span><span data-ft="{"tn":"K"}"><span class="UFICommentBody"><span>Note
regarding technique: this is an emulsion. The mustard acts as the
emulsifier. Mix the polar ingredients first (everything except the
olive oil). Then, slowly, while stirring continuously, drizzle in the
olive oil. This emulsion will hold together for an hour or two, so it's
best to make it just before using it.</span></span></span></span></span></i></div>
<br />
Emulsifying it this way makes a very fine dressing, and this would be the proper way to make it, but if you don't have the time, just whisking it with a fork before tossing it into the salad works, too.<br />
<br />Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-72865539658017868242016-12-01T09:10:00.001-08:002016-12-05T08:52:30.458-08:0012 Ways To Celebrate A Destitute Christmas: #1. Scrumping Citrus<br />
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There is a sort of transcendental peace about poverty. I usually find the holiday season fun, but very stressful. The crush of shopping, making sure all the favorite holiday things are celebrated and everyone will get what they want, and all the worry about planning the holiday make me anxious.<br />
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This year, when Black Friday rolled around, we spent the day working quietly together. On Cyber Monday, the computer was off, and we were outside enjoying the beautiful weather. Quiet days they were, filled with family and pleasant work, because there will be no shopping for Christmas. There will be no presents for Christmas. Our gift is one of the greatest ones this holiday - the gift of us all spending time together. How many other families are so blessed? <br />
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Just because we can't afford to buy things doesn't mean our holiday won't be filled with love and joy. This is the first of a twelve part blogging series I've been inspired to do about celebrating this season with no funds.<span class="rendered_qtext"></span><br />
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<b>Celebration #1: Scrumping Citrus</b></div>
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Naturally this only applies to the Deep South, where orange trees are often planted as landscaping features. Of course it would be neighborly to inquire first before filling up big bags from a tree in someone's yard. It is amazing how many citrus trees are neglected because people are afraid of eating something that didn't come from a store (and I'm sure they still buy the bland store orange juice). </div>
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Even if they love citrus, the loaded grapefruit tree in the elderly couple's yard usually outproduces what they could possibly eat. Often there are orange trees, laden with fruit, that are re-grown root stocks from select citrus trees that were frozen back in cold winters. It is worth trying them, as they usually have excellent flavor and can be made into <a href="http://nourishedkitchen.com/morrocan-preserved-lemons/">pickles</a>, <a href="http://foxgrapefarm.blogspot.com/2016/12/ambrosia-local-and-real-food-recipe.html">ambrosia</a>, <a href="http://foxgrapefarm.blogspot.com/2016/01/new-years-calamondin-cake.html">cake</a>, <a href="http://foxgrapefarm.blogspot.com/2015/11/key-lime-pie-real-food-recipe.html">pie</a>, <a href="http://foxgrapefarm.blogspot.com/2016/12/real-french-dressing.html">salad dressing</a>, lemonade and popsicles, or juiced and frozen in ice cube trays for fresh citrus juice year-round. </div>
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Just from asking around the neighborhood, we have scored all the citrus we could possibly want. Grapefruits, lemons, limes, calamondins, oranges, and even pink pomelos cover the table. They are the fruit of the season, and save on grocery money. </div>
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If whatever citrus you have on hand is tart, you can make excellent <a href="http://www.mommypotamus.com/homemade-gummy-stars/">sour gummies</a>. The recipe says lemon, orange, or lime juice, but any old flavorful, sour citrus is great. Often we make several flavors for fun. If you don't have a fancy mold to make them in, and are too poor to buy one, you can pour the gummy mixture into a glass pan and cut it into chunks or even strips like fruit roll-ups. In the photos above I am re-filling chocolate advent calendars with sour gummies. You can get many years of use out of a chocolate advent calendar this way.<br />
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If the citrus you find is really, truly unpalatable, you can even make <a href="http://www.makermama.com/2014/12/citrus-garland-and-ornaments.html">ornaments out of it. </a></div>
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So forage around and fill your table with the golden glow of fresh citrus! It will keep your spirits up, the vitamin C will keep you healthy, and good food with grace your table instead of being wasted.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-89801429637746080782016-11-29T11:02:00.000-08:002016-12-04T06:13:54.858-08:00Barley And His Wives<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtw_6GVltZQcE8fPrQV8cFxZw0LZYDMfqtscz0ib1SD64A9uFAdtfpuy_hRZt6QGyZYHAvgT_hDTtpqIXUPpC9klezf9XMFcb0mfivJlaebWBahIfcrQOC6sM1KgEizsqXNumgeIGMx_mo/s1600/Barley+and+Wives.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtw_6GVltZQcE8fPrQV8cFxZw0LZYDMfqtscz0ib1SD64A9uFAdtfpuy_hRZt6QGyZYHAvgT_hDTtpqIXUPpC9klezf9XMFcb0mfivJlaebWBahIfcrQOC6sM1KgEizsqXNumgeIGMx_mo/s640/Barley+and+Wives.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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This year turned out to be "The Year of the Rooster". It had nothing to do with the Chinese zodiac, mind you. It was because everyone unloaded roosters on us.<br />
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One day a neighbor showed up, shortly after the incident that led to the goats being jailed indefinitely behind permanent fencing (the neighbor to the North had caught them on wildlife camera destroying his corn field). We took a deep breath when we saw the pick-up truck pull up, and wondered what priceless food crop they had eaten <i>now.</i><br />
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But instead he wanted to give us ten roosters. His elderly mother had ordered a bunch of straight run chickens to start a laying flock, and half of them grew into a rowdy bunch of roosters. They weren't sure what to do with them, and hoped we could take them off their hands.<br />
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We didn't have the time or funds to raise meat chickens this year, so a bunch of free roosters destined for the pot was an attractive prospect. Arrangements were quickly made, and we found ourselves with ten roosters all of a sudden.<br />
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A week or two before they crowed their last crows and fought their last petty battles, one of Rose's friends made the unpleasant discovery that a little pet chick that was supposed to grow up to be a backyard laying hen was actually a loud, obnoxious rooster.<br />
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Barley was just barely out of the awkward adolescent pin-feather stage when we got him. He was still peeping, but nonetheless was able to screech out a surprisingly powerful peep-crow with his little beak gaping open. It would have meant death to put him in with the other chickens, so he was kept in a separate coop in the orchard until he grew up.<br />
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Once the other roosters were out of the way, he was moved to a moveable coop, which he had all to himself. He would get so excited to see us arrive every day. His crow gradually got less squeaky and more polished and professional. He added some extra doodle-doos in there at the end, too.<br />
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Just after I planted my starts in the winter garden, we started having trouble keeping the hens in their moveable coop. The cows were in the next paddock on hay, and Sappho (nicknamed Sapphole), kept jumping out, bumping the lids off, and then going to check out the neighbor's cornfield that the goats had already ravaged. The hens were all over the place scratching up bugs and roosting in stupid places. Miraculously, none of them went missing - at least none that we noticed, since they all look exactly alike. Meanwhile, they ate my entire winter garden and scratched up all the beds.<br />
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It took a week or so to finally round them all up, and they started ranging quite far. One of them made it all the way through the garden to where Barley was housed. Confused by seeing the other coop, she bobbed cautiously over to check it out.<br />
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As soon as he set eyes on her, Barley go SOOOO excited. He flapped and crowed and did little dances and raked out his wings. After his long, monastic celibacy, here was a gorgeous female (well, sort of - she was in the middle of a molt, but I don't think he was so particular) coming right for him! It was his dream coming true.<br />
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Ethan caught the stupid hen and popped her in the coop as a sort of revenge for eating all our vegetables. Barley went insane with joy. He was so excited he couldn't stop dancing around in a little circle. The hen was bewildered and not super thrilled about being the object of his attentions, but it was too late - she was stuck with him.<br />
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A few days later, another hen ranged over that way, and in she went. Barley could hardly contain himself again. This was beyond his wildest dreams.<br />
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In just a few days, his breast became noticeably more puffed and his strut got more swagger. His toes barely touch the ground now since acquiring not just one, but <i>two</i> wives.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-54019299300063385562016-11-23T08:25:00.001-08:002016-11-23T08:29:12.072-08:00Cassava Stuffing - An All Local/Homegrown Recipe<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECjgQWmUHvo7QEmNI1CPazrXG547eOw1R_BrfQRHuowmQ0NHRrF864-qwc5C-NJYCIf2RHmp65kVwBGULsnyav1ctnbSdvmjnz-s4BsJNMhC3o_MqE9XWmcubWkhcBXFuEXZnpKVPxJ2S/s1600/cassavastuffing1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiECjgQWmUHvo7QEmNI1CPazrXG547eOw1R_BrfQRHuowmQ0NHRrF864-qwc5C-NJYCIf2RHmp65kVwBGULsnyav1ctnbSdvmjnz-s4BsJNMhC3o_MqE9XWmcubWkhcBXFuEXZnpKVPxJ2S/s640/cassavastuffing1.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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There is nothing to inspire thankfulness and gratitude more than sitting down to a meal that is all home grown. When all the sweat and worry is yours, when you have watched the seasons turn as small seeds became large plants, as chicks became pin feather-studded adolescents, and finally a flock of magnificent birds with copper-trimmed feathers, you know the fruits of labor and the incredible workings of nature that support our lives. <br />
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The Thanksgiving stuffing tradition in my family was always from store bought wheat bread. My grandmother always used chestnuts from her tree in the back yard, but the rest was bought at the store. Since we have been growing our own food, it always seemed strange every Thanksgiving to be roasting a home grown bird, with all home grown and local side dishes, and then to use stuffing made from ingredients grown who-knows-where and made in a factory.<br />
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Last year was an abundant year for the cassava, and I was inspired to create this grain-free, Paleo-legal stuffing recipe to reflect our locality here in North Florida. All the ingredients can be grown locally and are in season.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4x9p80QJdqWOkrIFJNnvnfE09AAohMd7F6HBYMXNt3foHp44oPytQj2BaVKoFcQJFRn6uVqn3BFhP9t592uHAywrkoKBXwygLx-qkbpkuUR-ys547pmyhC-6eubPkQTVRWzUcrHedMY_V/s1600/cassavastuffing3.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="360" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj4x9p80QJdqWOkrIFJNnvnfE09AAohMd7F6HBYMXNt3foHp44oPytQj2BaVKoFcQJFRn6uVqn3BFhP9t592uHAywrkoKBXwygLx-qkbpkuUR-ys547pmyhC-6eubPkQTVRWzUcrHedMY_V/s640/cassavastuffing3.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
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<b>Cassava Stuffing</b></h3>
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<b>2 quarts of water</b></div>
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<b>3 cups of cassava (also called manioc, or yuca) , peeled and chopped into bite-sized pieces</b></div>
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<b>2 cups peeled chestnuts or pecans, chopped</b></div>
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<b>1 large onion, or a few smaller ones, chopped</b></div>
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<b> 1 cup dried wild plums, pits removed (raisins or dried unsweetened cherries or cranberries can be substituted - or even pieces of <a href="http://foxgrapefarm.blogspot.com/2016/11/roselle-mock-cranberry-sauce.html">roselle</a>)</b></div>
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<b>1 cup butter, ghee, or lard</b></div>
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<b>1 clove of garlic, grated (or 1 teaspoon garlic powder) </b></div>
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<b>1 teaspoon dried thyme</b></div>
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<b>Salt and pepper to taste</b></div>
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<b>1 Tablespoon Chopped fresh parsley, or 2 teaspoons dried </b> </div>
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1. In a medium to large pot, bring the water to a boil and add the cassava pieces. Cook until they are tender, about 20-30 minutes. Drain and set aside in a large bowl.</div>
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2. Melt the butter in a frying pan and gently sautée the chopped onion, dried wild plums/raisins or cherries, and chestnut or pecan pieces.</div>
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3. Meanwhile, season the boiled cassava with the garlic, dried thyme, parsley, salt and pepper. When the onions are soft, pour the butter/onion/nut mixture over the cassava and mix well.</div>
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4. Use like regular stuffing - stuff into a roasting bird or you can also bake it separately in a pan for about 20 minutes at 350F.</div>
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<b>Note: </b>The chestnuts are easy to peel if you cut them in half with a sturdy knife and boil them for about 5 minutes. Drain, and immediately slip them out of their peels. There is more information on preparing cassava <a href="http://foxgrapefarm.blogspot.com/2016/02/soakingfermenting-cassava.html">here</a>.<br />
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<b>Wishing you a wonderful holiday!!! Thank you for reading here!</b> </div>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-57885577231115906932016-11-22T08:37:00.000-08:002016-11-24T08:02:47.524-08:00Painting and Whitewashing<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VGI2Q6U1qiPgzhDFBX0sAQs9iqYUjgcM2FQV8bRudhM9MjYm1PsYQUsgiElQRS-BtnoFdrXdxUPV7ajOuDW5b8VLjHv3SHNOz00kynTtCZsBXyCOhfYJ1pYiQbyS7PoE5OVkzhJsf17m/s1600/whitewash.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj7VGI2Q6U1qiPgzhDFBX0sAQs9iqYUjgcM2FQV8bRudhM9MjYm1PsYQUsgiElQRS-BtnoFdrXdxUPV7ajOuDW5b8VLjHv3SHNOz00kynTtCZsBXyCOhfYJ1pYiQbyS7PoE5OVkzhJsf17m/s640/whitewash.jpg" width="360" /></a></div>
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One thing that we had been meaning to do for way too long was to paint the inside and outside of the barn. It was sheathed mostly with recycled plywood we salvaged from the brewery that supplies us with small loads of malted barley mash for the pigs. Bare wood in Florida does not last very long, and we've been anxious to do something to preserve it better.<br />
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The problem was the paint. I really didn't want to use toxic paint, not only because I don't want to be exposed to the volatile organic compounds (VOC's) that are so deadly, but also because I didn't want anything toxic to be brought to where all of our food comes from.<br />
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Non-toxic paint seems to be worth its' weight in gold, especially because the "local" corporate hardware stores don't supply it, and the shipping is very expensive. The next option was to get "Zero-VOC" paint from Home Despot and hope it wasn't too toxic (none of the employees could give me any information on the toxicity of the paint other than provide advertisements that flaunted the Zero-VOC label). All the major brands seem to offer a no-VOC version, so it wasn't a special kind or anything.<br />
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We got one gallon of the cheapest brand of the exterior paint, in white, because adding color adds VOC's like crazy. It didn't need a primer, but required two coats. One gallon, for more than $20, barely covered the trim, and we realized the real cost of painting it all.<br />
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So this was where we started looking into some DIY options. Milk paint was tempting, but we don't have any milk right now, and we didn't like the idea of spending money on someone else's skim milk. <a href="http://www.earthpigments.com/traditional-swedish-oil-paint-for-exteriors/">A Swedish oil paint recipe</a> caught my eye, and we crunched the numbers and realized how much cheaper it would be - one coat, nearly all ingredients (except for pigment and zinc sulfate/ferrous sulfate) to be obtained locally and not shipped, the long life span of the paint even under harsh conditions. The catch was that it had to be on a vertical surface of bare wood, and can't cover previously painted surfaces. This was exactly what we needed to paint, so we got everything together and looked through all the pigments to find the least expensive one, which turned out to be brown ochre.<br />
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Making paint was amazing. You start with a big, boiling pot of water and as you add the other ingredients, it becomes more and more like paint. The brown ochre, rather than becoming more pale and mild as we had expected, took on the dark lustre of a chestnut. It painted on beautifully. The one recipe covered the entire outside of the barn, with a gallon or so left over.<br />
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The color was far too dark for the inside, however. We decided to try whitewash for the inside, which was historically used in barns, kitchens and dairies.<br />
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Lime, salt, and water are all that are needed for whitewash. It doesn't last as long as regular paint, and has to be redone every so often. Still, one 50-lb bag of masonry lime cost us $11 and we used only a small fraction of it. Unlike regular paint, which will mold and mildew unless it has very toxic things added to it, whitewash is naturally anti-microbial. When you wash the brushes and paint-dishes off, it sweetens and mineralizes the soil instead of poisoning it.<br />
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It was a challenge to actually find the right kind of lime, the "local" corporate hardware stores having a clever trick devised where it is listed on their websites, but it is kept perpetually unavailable (perhaps it would compete with their deplorable paint choices?). In the end we had to drive outside of town to a family-owned hardware store to find it.<br />
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It was easy to mix up, but there was some anxiety when it was finally brushed on. It didn't cover very well. It looked transparent and was barely white at all. I thought perhaps successive coats were necessary, but once I turned my back and it started to cure it turned a uniform bright white. It was like a pot boiling. I couldn't detect the change if I watched it (yes, I was watching paint dry).<br />
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Whitewash, still curing. It became much more white and uniform.</td></tr>
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The character of the wood was preserved, however, as you can still see knots, or the distinctive swirls of the grain. The lime releases oxygen as it cures, and the barn felt so airy and light and clean. It was such a different experience than the freshly-painted part that was the regular paint, which was also white, but could certainly not be called "fresh" or "airy".<br />
<br />Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-46676921422086119142016-11-21T07:45:00.004-08:002016-11-24T08:37:09.035-08:00Before The Frost<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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The first frost last night prompted us to glean what we could from the remainder of the summer garden - mostly roselle, small eggplants, and fiery-hot peppers. A beautiful magenta amaranth plant that had volunteered in the winter garden was harvested for soup greens. Ethan pulled up the entire hot pepper plants to finish harvesting after dark at home. There were just too many little peppers.<br />
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The greenery on the pepper plants was just beautiful. It was too bad the frost came before Thanksgiving, because it would have made such decorative garlands with the little peppers still on it like fairy lights.<br />
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The first radishes and greens were ready to pick from the winter garden this week. We covered the entire winter garden last night before the sunlight had faded. I've had so many seasons before when a light frost came and killed the entire garden - even things that are supposed to be winter-hardy, like Arugula and Siberian kale.<br />
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It is always a little sad to say goodbye to a garden - this was the final end of the summer garden. All attention is now turned to the winter garden, and looking forward to spring, when it will be time to have all the summer plants starting again. In a month, it will be time to start tomatoes already. And the frosts will make the winter greens and radishes mild and sweet.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-85404490273104638612016-11-16T07:00:00.000-08:002016-11-24T08:22:37.892-08:00Wedding Lace<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last night I cast-on for my first-ever knitting commission: lace for a friend's wedding. This pattern is one of those lace patterns that doesn't have the easy row of knit or purl between lace rounds, but it is a nice challenge. Lace can feel so tedious, even if it is not so many stitches long across the needles, but this pattern (Valenciennes) is complicated enough that it keeps it interesting.<br />
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I had the hardest time trying to figure out where I had bought lace yarn for the first lace knitting, and ended up getting some of knitpick's Curio yarn, and I'm glad I did. The first lace yarn was almost like dental floss - I think it had been starched flat. It looked fine when knitted up, but this yarn has a pretty shine to it, and a nice feel.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-55425082761982029232016-11-15T08:26:00.002-08:002016-11-24T08:23:26.369-08:00Roselle Mock Cranberry Sauce<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Roselle is one of those garden plants that hardly anyone knows about. I first saw it growing at Karen Sherwood's farm about ten years ago, and was impressed as much by its striking appearance as I was with the flavor of some homemade soda Karen had made with it. <br />
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It is common and well-known in the Caribbean, Southern Asia, Southern India, and North Africa. Nutritious and medicinal, roselle is related to okra and cotton. It needs a long season to grow and is one of those wonderful, multi-use plants. The stalks have strong fibres that can be used to make rope, the leaves are also edible and can be cooked like spinach, and all sorts of different things are made with the fleshy red calyxes that form after the flower has bloomed, from tea to jam. <br />
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Here in the South, Roselle was often called "The Florida Cranberry" for the tart, cranberry-like flavor of the calyxes. A very convincing "cranberry" sauce that is simple to make a can be made from it with all local and home-grown ingredients. I hope this might inspire you to consider making your Thanksgiving a local-food feast!<br />
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<h3>
<b>Roselle Mock Cranberry Sauce</b></h3>
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First of all, the red calyxes must be peeled away from the green seed pods on the inside. They are slightly prickly and uncomfortable to handle, so you might want to wear gloves if you have sensitive hands (not me - I garden too much). If you are shucking A LOT of roselle, a roselle corer is easy to make and makes the task go much faster.</div>
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The corer on the left in the photo was made by gluing a 3-inch piece of thin brass tubing to a piece of wood with a hole bored in the middle. </div>
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<b>Now you are ready for the recipe:</b></div>
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2 cups shucked roselle calyxes, very freshly picked</div>
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1/2 cup water (you can also use fresh-squeezed orange juice instead for a more citrus-y holiday flavor, or add sliced kumquats, etc.)</div>
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1/2-1 cup honey, depending on how sweet of a sauce you like</div>
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1. Put roselle and water together in a sauce pan. Bring to a boil over a low flame with the lid on. Cook until the roselle is soft.</div>
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2. With a blender or food processor, blend up the sauce. Add honey to taste. If the sauce is too thin, you can cook it down over low heat. It will gel in the fridge if it is cooked down enough.</div>
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<b>Notes: </b>Salt and pepper are interesting additions to this sauce, and give it a more savoury, almost ketchup-like flavor. It goes well either way with all kinds of meats.</div>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-87901514360865667962016-11-09T08:14:00.001-08:002016-11-24T08:37:26.841-08:00Autum Colors<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">One of the Marina di Choggia pumpkins we pulled out of the garden in August</td></tr>
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Thai Red Roselle</td></tr>
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Down here we don't get the stunning fall leaf display the way it happens up North. There are beautiful leaves to find, but the landscape is never lit up with brilliant reds, yellows, and oranges. Instead I am enjoying the beautiful fall colors coming out of the garden right now.<br />
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Sweet, starchy, and pungent are the flavors and foods of late summer and fall in Chinese medicine, so perfectly aligned with what is ready to harvest in those seasons - cassava, corn, millet, spicy peppers, pumpkins, sweet potatoes, and super-sweet persimmons.<br />
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We finally got around to roasting one of the big blue Marina di Choggia pumpkins. I've wanted to grow them for years, but they never made the short list of pumpkins until now. They are so ornamental, I've had them sitting around on side tables as decorations instead of eating them. This one was getting a little grey around the edges and finally made it into the oven. I can finally confirm the seed catalogue's glowing praise. It roasted up well and was very tasty. It wasn't as sweet as the Seminole pumpkins, but it made a great savory fried pumpkin dish as leftovers. <br />
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We got the last few bags of non-astringent persimmons from the <a href="http://gainesvillenursery.com/">Jonesville Persimmon Orchard</a> last week. They are almost too sweet, and taste like caramel candy. I mentioned that I wished people gave out persimmons for Halloween, and Mirin piped up that he has compared persimmons to candy and come to the conclusion that the persimmons are actually sweeter. We had been eating them in quantity (who needs candy?), but they are being strictly rationed out between us now that the season is over.<br />
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I chatted with Ken, who owns the Jonesville Persimmon Orchard, while we were picking over the last bins of persimmons and trying to supervise Clothilde as she played with Possum, the fruit guard dog (he barks at the birds). I was trying to commiserate on the season being over, but Ken said he finds it to be such a relief not to be picking any more! I laughed because I can totally relate. It's so easy to drift in and pick some up, not even thinking about all the work that goes into tending the trees and harvesting.<br />
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He showed us some interesting persimmon trees that are crosses of the native wild persimmons and and Asian variety. It resembled what you would imagine a cross between an astringent and non-astringent persimmon would be like. The fruit was a deep, glowing orange, but round rather than elongated like the astringent varieties. There were other interesting fruit trees, too. Cold-tolerant bananas and mangoes, blueberries and blackberries. He is always trying new varieties and has carefully selected ones that thrive here in North Florida.<br />
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The roselle is finally in full production, ready for turkey season. I am determined to attempt an all home-grown Thanksgiving this year, with cassava stuffing and roselle "cranberry" sauce (stay tuned for more on that coming up!).<br />
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Ethan is struggling with the sheer abundance of the hot pepper harvest this year. There's only so much hot pepper sauce one person can eat in a year (no one else in the family regularly douses their food with it), so he is almost at the stage where he will be begging people to take it away.<br />
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The weather is growing cooler, and the winter garden gets taller every day. Soon the frost will bite back the bright colors and radishes and greens will fill our table.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-22394612963904498422016-11-08T07:26:00.000-08:002016-11-24T08:24:39.795-08:00Work Getting Done<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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No paying work, but meanwhile there is plenty to accomplish. It's a wonderful feeling to come home and cross off all the things that have been done from the to-do list. We were actually <a href="http://www.wcjb.com/local-ne%E2%80%A6/%E2%80%A6/10/whats-growing-living-land">on TV</a> a couple of weeks ago, talking for a few seconds about work!<br />
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We had mostly talked about our pig classes, blogging, the French recipes, seed saving, the Dudley corn etc, for the interview, so were sort of disappointed that the few words we said about working hard were picked out to be showcased on television to point out to the ignorant masses how insane we are. I guess it has to be watchable, and there's nothing watchable in presenting people with an opposing lifestyle that is fun and rewarding. <br />
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(It is puzzling to me how Americans always do lip service to working hard as a patriotic value, but then sneer at something walking themselves to the corner store or growing your own vegetables because there's some physical work involved.)<br />
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And consider how many newscasters (for example) get to eat amazing grassfed steak every night? There's definitely a work-to-benefit ratio. Putting on layers of make-up and reading words that don't even reflect reality off a screen on camera sounds like the most awful job to me. I just couldn't do it, even if I looked fine in photographs and got a decent salary in compensation. I would much rather be throwing some hay/manure on my garden, or snuggling my face into Matilda's silky flank while I hand-milk us some grass-fed raw cream, butter, yogurt, kefir, and cheese.<br />
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Of course it all comes down to personal preference. Work is not hard work if it is done with love and joy. What is that lovely line from Kalil Gibran? <a href="http://www.katsandogz.com/onwork.html"><i>"Work is love made visible."</i></a><br />
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After a long work day yesterday, Ethan and I ended up stuck playing a terrible board game with the girls that evening. They had begged to play, and even set up the board, but shortly into the game they found they would rather wrestle really close to the game board where dozens of sharp, tiny plastic pieces were precariously set up.<br />
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Despite her former enthusiasm, Clothilde was bored, and when she is bored she is
BAD (and this is why we intend to homeschool her!). She spent most of the game throwing herself at the little plastic
pine trees where the clues were hidden, throwing the dice like she was
pitching a baseball, and trying to do somersaults over the board. It
was more like being her gymnastics coach rather than playing a board
game.<br />
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Ethan and I agreed afterwards that the board game advertisements in magazines inaccurately represent the reality of family game night. A realistic photo would depict the parents nearly drooling on the table with fatigue and boredom, and the kids would all be slightly blurry. Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-6004151126187651772016-11-02T06:25:00.000-07:002016-11-24T08:25:03.904-08:00Yarn Along: Lace<div style="text-align: center;">
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<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The cat <i>insisted</i> she be in the photo - I swear I didn't set it up around her. It was all I could do to keep her from sitting on the lace.</td></tr>
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I mentioned in a previous post that I had tried in vain to find lace knitting patterns on Ravelry. I found a few, but I had expected there to be lots. I finally broke down and went on Amazon, and discovered many books about lace knitting, including this wonderful book by Barbara Abbey (with an introductory note by Elizabeth Zimmerman!). So I have been happily knitting lace ever since.<br />
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I am new to lace knitting, so I picked a simple pattern (Fern Leaf Insertion) to try out. It's been fun! I am enjoying seeing the pattern emerge row after row. However, it isn't Sociable Knitting, like some projects can be. I really have to focus on what I'm doing or it gets into a horrible mess and lace stitches are nearly impossible to pick up once frogged. I made the mistake of taking it out during a birthday party once, so one panel turned out slightly different. I managed to rescue it without having to rip it out, but it was headache-inducing.<br />
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One thing that is a little brain-twisting about Barbara Abbey's lace patterns is that she uses a different notation than I'm used to - 0 for YO, / for right-leaning decrease, 1 for K1, etc. I tried using her notation for the first rounds, and then switched to translating it into the terms I'm used to.<br />
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Clothilde has been sitting on my lap as I typed this, and she wanted to say:<br />
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baseqwrt</div>
Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-86233999509595544502016-10-31T06:31:00.001-07:002016-10-31T08:52:55.257-07:00Tired Puppies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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We picked up two Great Pyrenees puppies on Saturday. They are still little roly-poly bundles of fluff, but I could tell that they had grown since we had visited them just two weeks ago. Everyone was so excited. Puppies to play with! We have never had a puppy before, having gotten our previous dog Belle as an adult dog.<br />
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We also had a wedding to go to that day, so we didn't get to play with them much when we got them to our house in town. We made them comfortable in a dog kennel with hay in the bottom, and made sure they had plenty of food and water.<br />
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We left the wedding early and let them out to romp and play a little before putting them up for the night. They are very calm as puppies go. They mostly sniffed at things and poked around. They discovered our cat Teasel, who was NOT happy to meet them, and seems to think we have been cheating on her. There was a bit of yelping as Teasel made everything very clear about her availability as a play-thing, and after that she just sat off to the side and stared aggressively at them.<br />
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After an hour or so we tucked the puppies back into the kennel and got them comfortable again, and went to bed.<br />
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Around midnight, we were woken by loud whining and yelping. I ran out to make sure the puppies were okay. I let them out, and they peed and romped around a little. They seemed to be lonely. They have just been weaned from their mother, and I think they are missing her. I stayed out with them for awhile, listening to a loud game party a few streets down that shrieked with laughter, horrible music, and the stupid things that drunk people shout loudly to each other in the middle of the night. A surprising number of cars drove by. After awhile I was tired and the mosquitoes were biting, so I put them back and went to bed again.<br />
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It's always hard for me to get back to sleep again after being woken, but I managed to until I was woken out of the middle of an anxious dream by whining and yelping again. Ethan and I both got up and went to check on the puppies. We let them out again, and they peed and sniffed around. We tried putting them back in the kennel after that, but they immediately started whining again. This time it was the time of night when everything is very, very quiet - except for our puppies.<br />
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They clearly didn't want to be in the kennel, and seemed to have boundless energy, so we put them in the back yard and secured the gate, thinking they would be happy to explore. That lasted about ten minutes back in bed before they were yelping and carrying on again. At this point, it was somewhere around 5 am, and so Ethan decided to just get up with them. He sat outside with them and watched the sun rise. By the time I got up around 8, feeling more sleep-deprived than I remember being with newborn babies, the puppies were exhausted and flopped out on the driveway. Mirin was up, and tried to play with them, but they moved away from him and went back to sleep.<br />
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We took them out to the farm after breakfast, where they napped most of the day. Just before leaving we tucked them in with the baby goats and drove away, happy with the thought of what a good night's sleep we were going to have without them!<br />
<br />Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-17692788652200465682016-10-21T09:47:00.003-07:002016-11-24T08:37:42.929-08:00Planning For Abudance<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week I finally got the first part of my winter garden built and planted. The surviving starts were settled carefully in, and radishes, turnips, and lettuce were seeded.<br />
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This year, above all other years, I am planning for abundance. We need it. This lean season has felt leaner than any season before - the cows and goats dried off at the same time, chickens moulting, us without an income.<br />
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These days are anxious, full days, and the little green glimmers of the brassica seeds unruffling their tiny heart-shaped leaves gives me hope. Rows of greens, rows of radishes and roots. I hope that these things will see us through to better times.<br />
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The pigs have been a big help in the garden this season. The summer garden gets so jungly, with impossibly high woody weeds, like small trees. You have to fight your way through just to walk across, and clearing it is an impossible task. In previous years, we rented a bushhog (yes, that's what it takes). But why rent a bushhog, when we have bush hogs?<br />
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The rabbits have already been less of a problem because of the open ground. A few evenings ago, I was milking the two remaining lactating goats at dusk when a huge, old owl flew down and perched on a pine tree that looks over the East side of the garden.<br />
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The pigs are also revealing all the cracked 5-gallon buckets I had used to transport compost to the summer garden. Gosh, I had no idea I used so many. I recall many times reaching for another bucket from our stack of retired "compost quality" buckets when the one I had been using had seemed to vanish - probably swallowed by the choking gourd vines or something. Well, now I know where they ended up.<br />
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The bare ground will not be exposed for long. The pigs will soon be moved elsewhere, and clouds of rye, oat and radish seeds will be sown on top to eventually make way for the summer garden of next year, which I am already looking towards with a scheming and thrifty eye.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-27853879434391361972016-10-21T09:47:00.002-07:002016-11-24T08:26:39.979-08:00Rose's Ninth (And A Nausicaa Dress)<br />
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Today is Rose's ninth birthday. She has the last birthday of the year in our family, and it is always so hard for her be last. I think that's why she always insists on a little extra celebration - like <i>two</i> birthday cakes, instead of one (they are the <a href="http://nourishedkitchen.com/buche-de-noel/">same kind of cake</a>, at least, so I just double the recipe and use different fruit in the filling - actually much easier than Mirin's ice cream cookie dough cake.)<br />
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She set a precedent this year by making a little treasure hunt with clues for Clothilde's birthday, which Clo loved. Ethan made a treasure hunt for Mirin's birthday so he wouldn't be disappointed (it was at the farm and David the buck ate one of the clues. We know it was him because the half that was left had buck-shaped teeth marks in it). So Ethan made a treasure hunt for Rose, too.<br />
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She was worried that she wouldn't get any presents this year, since Ethan lost his job. Luckily, I spend all year collecting ideas for birthday presents, and buy them ahead and hide them away. I always go with "Something to wear, something to read, something she wants, something she needs."<br />
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Usually there are a couple of extra things that land in the "something she wants" category, but it keeps it simple and narrows it down to presents that will be surely loved and used. I can't tell you how nice it is to have a birthday without the distraction of having too many presents! (There really is such a thing). <br />
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A few years ago, Rose saw the film <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nausica%C3%A4_of_the_Valley_of_the_Wind_(film)">Nausicaa</a>, and was captivated by the strong character of the princess of the Valley of the Wind. This led to her having an argument with some other little girls about what a princess really was! (The other girls said a princess has to have a fancy dress and a crown, but Rose said that a princess wasn't just dressed-up, it was someone who was a leader of their people.)<br />
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She has been reading the Nausicaa comic books by Hayao Miyazaki, and asked for a Nausicaa dress for her birthday. I haven't sewn anything since Clothilde was born, for obvious reasons (just the idea of having the iron out around her gives me heart palpitations). I thought maybe this would be like a Disney Cinderella costume that is easy to find and fairly inexpensive. But no....a Google search revealed that Nausicaa costumes are over $100!! And they usually only come in sizes for adult women who are into dressing like Manga characters.<br />
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Rose insisted I also look up "home made Nausicaa Costume" online, and we found a couple of blogs of crafty mamas who had put together Nausicaa costumes. One was just different wardrobe items put together, the other was actually sewn from various patterns, one of which was no longer available.<br />
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I was going to say sorry, we'll just have to put one together from what we already have, but Rose was SO disappointed. So I said if she watched Clothilde while I was sewing, I would try. Besides, we are studying measurement for homeschool, so it was a perfect real-life learning opportunity.<br />
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Although my grandmother was an incredible seamstress (to help support her family in wartime France, she left school after 8th grade and worked for a dress-maker), I never learned from her - one of the biggest regrets of my life. I have had to teach myself sewing. I am terrible at following sewing patterns, because I learned sewing by copying clothes I already had and drafting my own patterns. I have a distrust of other people's hem margins. Every time I've tried sewing from a pattern, it always comes out funny.<br />
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This task was daunting. The costume has a collar, complicated appliqué, belt loops, and a helmet. I have never done any of those things! I warned Rose that this could turn out to be a big disappointment, but she (said she) didn't care.<br />
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We carefully picked out the right shade of blue fabric, made sketches based on the comic book drawings, and started measuring her and drafting the pattern.<br />
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I honestly don't know how I managed to pull it off (no one in my family realizes how incredibly hard of a task this was....they have not hand-drafted and sewn a pattern for a specific person from a comic book drawing before). The collar was a challenge, the appliqué gave me a headache, and the helmet was only saved from being too small by a few scraps of cloth I had saved out. But Rose is just delighted with it, and after all, it did turn out to be recognizably a Nausicaa dress.<br />
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I'm afraid this might set the standard for birthday presents a little higher than I'd like it to be, but I am glad to have been able to make something she loves so much. And it was nice to do some sewing again - it gave me hope that my sewing machine and I could collaborate more in the future.<br />
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Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-26333156715397432652016-10-18T06:58:00.003-07:002016-11-24T08:27:12.356-08:00Piglets and Puppies<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week we brought all the piglets to their new home at Full Circle Farm. They were able to duck under the electric fence, and had been becoming more and more of a nuisance. It was cute having them drift around like a group of little spotty sausages, but they <i>would </i>get into mischief - they knocked over potted plants, got into the garden, and rooted everything up around the sink. Ethan had to cut one of them out of the electric netting one day, I had to dramatically scare them away from the milking area on a regular basis, as they could easily slip through the gate. BAD piglets!<br />
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They got harder and harder to shoo away because Clothilde has been gradually taming them. They used to squeak and run away like the Big Bad Wolf was after them if anyone without a bucket got close, but since she started "scaring" them back inside the fence, they quickly learned that it was no big deal and became bold and fearless.<br />
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They were fairly easy to catch by putting a dish of food down inside a dog kennel, but then had to be caught and lifted into another cage in the back of the truck. I worked the cage door, and Ethan did the really hard part of grabbing them and being deafened by their horrible squealing. They really don't like it when their feet leave the ground. Our friend PJ was also helping, and recorded it as a ring tone for when her family calls.<br />
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I was worried about the squealing upsetting their mama, Star, but she was busy making more piglets right then with the boar, Tresspassers William. She was DONE with this particular batch, and had been trying to wean them. She wouldn't lay down for them any more, but they would still stand up and nurse while she was eating and distracted.<br />
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After dropping off the piglets, who seemed none the worse after their long journey (perhaps a little dizzy), we looked at some Great Pyrenees puppies. We are going to be bringing one home in a couple of weeks as a new livestock guardian dog. And oh my! I did not expect them to be so incredibly roly-poly cute! We have never had a <i>puppy</i> before, having gotten our previous dog, Belle, as an adult. So much fun to look forward to, but I think the challenge will be to still have a livestock guardian dog, and not a pet.<br />
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Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-6280240938530764232016-10-09T07:06:00.000-07:002016-11-24T08:27:29.256-08:00School and Homeschool<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Mirin has so far survived two weeks of his new charter school, and has even gotten to experience a hurricane day.<br />
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This charter school has some great things about it: project based, creative, drama class on Fridays with an old acquaintance of mine, Capoiera instead of PE. There is a lot of good energy behind this school, and his former homeschooling friend we met at a co-op meeting is also attending.<br />
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Mirin was initially very worried about being in school. His spelling is not good, and he is a slow reader. He knew we wanted him to have higher standards than he was being held to in homeschool, and more discipline and focus.<br />
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He has so far said he really enjoys school. He has already made friends. He is delighted that there is actually less discipline and less rigorous academic requirements than in my homeschool. A lot is done on computers, with games, so he is enjoying this distraction that would not be tolerated at home. There are copious amounts of junk food he has also been enjoying immensely. <br />
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And in homeschool, Rose is now flourishing. It was always very difficult to try to get Mirin to focus on his studying because he was always provoking the little sisters into fits of rage or tears while I was busy with one or the other. He would spend all day being a nuisance, would accomplish absolutely nothing except a lot of whining and complaining, I would be completely drained of energy and fed up with him, and the sisters would be fractious and close to hysteria from being pestered so much. It has been so nice to spend time with my girls. <br />
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I also LOVE not being responsible about his education (or actually the lack of) any more. This was a big issue for me. We have lots of concerned family in town. The harder I tried, the less he seemed to care. I spent hours pouring over books about different education techniques. I scoured the internet for fun ideas. I invented stories and games just for him. Everything was geared to appeal to him as much as possible, to cater to what he wanted, what he liked, and as a result he hated it all and scorned it.<br />
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And when he refused to learn, it wasn't <i>his</i> problem - it was my problem. Everyone came to me - I wasn't trying hard enough, I wasn't qualified. I wasn't doing enough. It was my failure, not his. This was very unhealthy for both of us. I feel freed from this, and I was glad to hear my dad lecturing him about trying harder in school. <br />
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(Another thing I have realized is that my homeschool is actually quite good. The Math he is learning in school is stuff we were reviewing this year from two years ago. He claims that what I considered minimal effort for 6th grade level was actually much more rigorous than is expected at public school for writing and thinking. Maybe instead of Standardized Testing, the schools need concerned relatives breathing down their necks to improve standards. It gave me such a sense of inadequacy, but it made our homeschool standards <i>sharp.</i>)<br />
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On the other hand, he is very, very stressed out. He comes home snarling and swearing. He does nothing creative, he only craves the screen and idle distraction. He has lost his mature homeschooler demeanor for an obnoxious manic blabbering and erratic jumping around that I have observed so often in kids just let out of school. I was not expecting this change to happen so fast. I think part of this is because the 6th grade class is notoriously badly behaved, and every day I hear stories of how a teacher just gave up on the class, there was a fight, someone was expelled, a teacher was in tears, he couldn't hear what the teacher was saying because the class was so disrupted. So while he is not being bullied, like our last school experience, but I am also not happy that he is surrounded by such strong examples of disrespect and disorder.<br />
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So we are really not sure about this change. I am very glad he is so happy and making friends, but it is not providing what we wanted: more discipline or higher educational expectations.<br />
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(I want to clarify that the other grades at this school are reportedly not like the 6th grade at all. This class is particularly rowdy for some reason, and is giving the staff a big challenge, so please don't form a bad opinion about this school just based on our experience of the 6th grade! It is a great school, and there are great people working there with wonderful ideas. I think they will sort it out, but they have only just gotten started as a school.)Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-71979349911698602122016-10-07T16:38:00.002-07:002016-11-24T08:27:44.995-08:00Weathering<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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I am writing from the blustery aftermath of the dreaded Hurricane Matthews. Obviously, I have power still, which is far better than the last hurricane that came through, although the media excitement wasn't as built up the last time.<br />
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Yesterday my mother called me in a panic, insisting that her students were claiming that Matthew was a massive hurricane that was due to hit right down the middle of the state and wipe us off the map. I managed to calm her down, and reminded her that her students could hardly understand the rudiments of biology, much less a hyped-up media report. <br />
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We did tie down the chicken coop lids this time, and we stocked up on hay and water for the animals. Otherwise, I am fairly sceptical of the melodrama about storms hitting this area. Don't misunderstand me - I know the damage was quite bad in other places. Here in the middle of the state, we tend to be spared the worst.<br />
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Since I slept through the whole of "The Storm of The Century" at age eight, way back in the 1900's (ok, it was only in 1993, but I like the sound of "back in the 1900's"), I just don't get that excited about them. Of course it sucked to have our electricity go out last hurricane, and when Mirin was a newborn in 2004 we had no power for a week - but that was less a testimony to the powerful winds than it was to how pathetic the transformer is on our line, and how incredibly incapable the utility company is when it comes to hurricane preparedness (why are electrical lines not buried in hurricane areas? It seems so obvious).<br />
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The storm was supposed to hit us around 1:30, so we made plans to go out early to do the milking. Of course we are late everywhere, so the timing turned out for us to arrive at the farm at 1:30, rather than be inside, safe and dry, at that point.<br />
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As we got in the car to head out, Ethan turned on the radio to check on the storm announcements. The voice on the radio was saying how you should not, under absolutely no circumstances, be out driving on the road, and went on to emphasize that there <i>had been</i> a <i>tornado watch </i>in the next county, and anyone who went out driving today was just asking for it. We shrugged and turned off the radio as we pulled out of the neighborhood. Ethan did swerve around the road a little while driving, but it was only because he was trying to drink coffee at the same time, rather then because of high winds. There was hardly any rain or wind, and most people seemed to have taken the radio announcer's advice, so there wasn't any traffic, and I actually felt fairly safe on the way, except for the aforementioned swerving.<br />
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At the farm, in the very teeth of the storm, the cows and goats were placid. The cows were lounging under the oak trees, ruminating, and the goats were all excited about a pine branch that had fallen in their paddock. <br />
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The chores went well - the baby goats were convincingly pathetic from under their shelter, so I gave them an extra scoop of feed. The worst part was having my head rained on, because I have misplaced my amazing Chinese cooly hat I always wear, and I hate having my head rained on. We are just getting over a nasty head cold, and my hair gets all musty.<br />
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Even during the most exciting blusters, I gauged the wind to be about a 5-6 on the Beaufort scale, which is only "gale" and at least six degrees south of "hurricane". I am beginning on my second year of helping with weather journalling for homeschool, so I am fairly adept at it now. I have been out doing the chores in worse storms that were merely summer thunderstorms, and at least it was cool, the rain was intermittent, and there was no lightening. I don't mind hurricanes, but thunderstorms are terrifying.Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7546215927100860688.post-18279975424393608432016-09-28T06:59:00.001-07:002016-10-07T16:04:47.949-07:00Searching And Working<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
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Last week some huge changes have hit our family. The first one came last Tuesday, and it was that Mirin was accepted to a new charter middle/highschool. He had been #2 on the list at the beginning of the year, but we didn't expect him to be accepted so soon. He started Monday for the first time ever at a "real" school experience.<br />
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The second and biggest change came on Friday (exactly like the Fox in Chanticleer). Ethan was laid off from his job. Usually his pay is cut back during the winter, but this came as a complete surprise. He has worked there for eight years, and has been heavily involved in designing the systems his company marketed. It wasn't, as is to be expected of the corporate machine, personal. They also laid off most of the other people in his department. He was told to leave immediately, and had to return hours later after the rest of the lay-offs had been to the chopping block with HR to get all of his tools he had been letting the company use for years and say goodbye to the friends and co-workers.<br />
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We have spent the past four days trying to process what has happened, working as hard as possible on all the work that we have been behind on with the farm and around the house. We have been enjoying being together, feeling grateful for each other.<br />
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Now we find ourselves facing survival in the face of the unknown. A death of our old life. With growing our own food and being very thrifty, we were fairly comfortable with our upper-poverty-class lifestyle, but in many ways we wanted this change, but it was the fear that held us back. We have three children we are responsible for, and their experience of childhood is important to us.<br />
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We are trying not to get stuck in the shock part, not to be stuck in the anger, frustration and fear. Instead, this is a freeing opportunity, a cleansing moment, a step onto a new threshold from which we can't turn back.<br />
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One thing seems clear - our old life is gone. We will never have it back. This is not the time to be looking over our shoulders and mourning what we have lost, but to be looking forward and drawing on our experiences and skills. When old things are taken down, when old structures are shattered, when the routine is broken - what is left but to love each other, be grateful for what we do have, and to delight in the way that <i>anything could happen</i>. Angiehttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09910115740106342834noreply@blogger.com3