A week (well, ten days in total) of battling the stomach flu kept us pretty much inside for most of the last long while. One of us would get hit hard with this bug and be flat on our backs for two or three days, and then the next family member would get ill. On and on it went...and so did the laundry piles. Oh my! However, in between our convalescing and cleaning and sleeping, we ventured not far from our front door into the kitchen garden which is just beside our house. We also visited our broiler birds newly... Continue reading

Sunshine set herself up with a fingerknitting station There are these moments that I like to wrap my heart around, to linger over and bring peace and happiness to those days that just seem to, well, go on forever. The last few weeks have seen a lot of goodness, and a lot of challenge. And while those difficult times certainly do help clarify the beauty of one's life, I certainly have no photos to record these milestones...like my sweet girl traveling far, far away with my husband to Children's Hospital for her quarterly visit; my grandmother passing (at the age... Continue reading

These past few weeks have been a little frantic around here...in a good kind of crazy way. Not only was the weather teetering from hail to sweltering in the span of a few days ~ making us play musical chairs with our starts in and out of the house, under cover and out in the open ~ but our little homestead has evolved into a small farm of sorts. Now, to be honest, both my husband and I are feeling a little self-conscious using the word farm in relation to our place...but truly, that is what it seems to be... Continue reading

Huckley getting to know a young Icelandic ram named, oddly enough, Leif. We are very keen on getting some Icelandic sheep next year...but first, I want to spin a little of their fibre. These past few weeks have been as busy as can be...visiting a friend's farms, acquiring critters for our own little farm (more on that later), spending some time at the local skatepark with some homeschooling friends, and celebrating a special cousin/best friend's birthday. And at home... My big boy is fascinated with outer space right now. He wants to be an astronaut and often will ponder what... Continue reading

A little milo knit up with my hand-dyed, homespun wool that I mentioned here. The colour really reminds me of the spring sunshine on our valley river. From this bridge, we dangle our feet over the waters that wind, run, or surge (depending on the season). We spend a lot of time tossing rocks, sticks, ideas and dreams into this here creek...mostly side by side, sometimes only in the company of our very own thoughts. It is peaceful here...and yet, also full of rippling energy that we can hear inside our house, even with the windows closed. This summer will... Continue reading

With winter becoming a memory, and before the bugs descend, we live to be outside. This year I am noticing how easy it is for mama to be working hard in the garden and the three littles busy being, well, little. While I have been turning over turf and creating new beds for the Big Garden, my three children have been by my side for little bursts of help, playing with worms and toads and snails and slugs, helping Papa build the chicken coop, setting up bike trails and jumps, climbing trees, splashing in the creek, and exploring this new... Continue reading

homespun onion skin dyed wool soaking before the indigo bath the indigo bath appears green ~ oxygen makes the blues come out ~ reminds me so much of watching each of my babies pink up with their first breaths of life wool roving dyed with indigo on the left; the roving pre-dyed with onion skins then indigo on the right One sunny afternoon, my lovely Friend From Across The River invited me over to show me how easy it is to dye with indigo. I had already dyed some homespun and some roving with onion skins beforehand, anticipating a green... Continue reading

Lately, I've been so busy here on our little homestead and trying to get many projects started (and some finished) before the growing season takes off and time is shared between so many new tasks. We have some critters arriving here in the next few weeks and there is so much to do...luckily Papa has been home, though he is so busy pounding nails and putting up fencing that if we want to spend any time with him, we are outdoors, too. And so, with the surge of sap water running up the trees, and the sound of our creek... Continue reading

Around this time of year, when we trade indoor coziness for outdoor ruggedness, the homesteading projects seem to pile up on each other and threaten to topple over. Not that we mind all the wonderful visions we have for our little parcel of land, quite the contrary ~ they rather fill us up. However, trying to manage visits with friends and yardwork and homesteading can be a juggling act that always leaves one aspect compromised. A few weeks ago, I had the unexpected pleasure of sleeping in ~ which really means I was secretly lying awake, pretending to sleep but... Continue reading

It was a beautiful morning here, with Papa home (for good!) and the feeling of magic in the air. It was so very exciting for all three littles to delight in mama-made bunnies, a book for each of them, seeds to start, and a plant for their garden. This year the Easter bunny generously left a single, mini chocolate egg and because it was such a treat, they savoured every lick...and tried so very hard to squirrel little morsels away in the coloured foil, only to be brought out again moments later and licked once more. (I couldn't help but... Continue reading

Outside... mud season is upon us...now we have a set of clothes in the entryway to throw on just for romping about the yard, splashing in puddles, and squelching in sticky mud We met some friends at the local nature park for a sun-kissed afternoon on the riverbank...the children had so much fun with their hands in the sand and their backs warmed by the sun...spring is here! And then we wandered over to our pond to see how it fared this winter. While the level is low, with a little attention, we hope to have the pond filled this... Continue reading

Just in time for the first day of Spring, our friends called in the morning to tell us some babies were born recently and needed to meet some other kids. As we had nothing lined up for the day, we hurried over for a lovely visit in the sunshine. And oh! what fun it is to play with baby goats...the very goats whose mamas bless us with their fresh milk twice a week ~ such a treat! I'm so happy it is the season for farm fresh milk...around here we call it liquid gold. And it couldn't come from a... Continue reading

Beginnings are so much fun. Everything is exciting and fresh...little snowdrops peeking above the snow, bare patches growing in square footage each day, birdsong floating on the spring breeze...how can you be anything but excited for the beginning of the new gardening season? And my oh my, we do have some big plans for our little homestead here. We hope to finally fill up our pond to the top and stock it full of critters (turtles and fish and ducks, oh my!), to build a few more raised beds, to prepare a site for a newer and better greenhouse, to... Continue reading

My littlest boy wishes he were bigger. He doesn't like to be called "my baby" anymore...he corrects me and tells me he's my big boy. He doesn't cling to my legs like the other two did at two and a half years old...he's gone in a flash with a purposeful stride after his older siblings. He is growing older faster than I'd care to admit...and I catch my breath sometimes wondering at these fleeting moments that I wish I could bottle up and stash away on the pantry shelf. He needed a new sweater as his green cardi fits him... Continue reading

March arrived here more like a lamb than the proverbial lion. The snow is slushy, heavy and wet and as it recedes daily, green grass is poking through. The snowdrops are pushing their heads up through the ground a full twelve days earlier than we've ever experienced before. And most telling, we are falling asleep to the drip, drip, driiiiiiiiiip of spring melt on our roof. We have been continuing with our homeschool tasks, happily forming our week around the daily lessons and chores and details that form our family's rhythm. Thank goodness for our rhythm! It keeps me buoyant,... Continue reading

My lovely Minstrel and I are happily getting acquainted. Any questions I've had, I just had to call up the wonderful folks at Pacific Wool and Fibre who are ever so helpful and kind. Doesn't that make all the difference? Surely this husband and wife team are two of the kindest people I have had the pleasure of speaking with in a long while. Last week, I made my first bobbin full of hand-carded wool I blended from some white Corriedale, brown and pink merino, and some decadent silk/merino roving from Ashford. Since then, I made a second bobbin to... Continue reading

Over the past few weeks, we've spent a little time visiting friends here and there. We greeted a new baby into the world and Huckley met a new friend (a little mirror image to himself), and Sunshine had lots of quiet moments holding a one year old friend while Forrest bonded with the big sister who he's known since he was a wee baby. A favourite cousin came for an unexpected visit outdoors and we marveled at the melting winter revealing shoots of snowdrops only to be gifted the next day with snowflakes falling from the sky that were as... Continue reading

A few weeks ago, on a whim, I decided to sell my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel. Afterall, I inherited an heirloom spinning wheel that came to North America from Norway before my granny was born. It is the quintessential fairy-tale wheel, though I am waiting for my littles to grow up a bit before I bring it out of storage ~ our house is not that big! The Ashford is similar and I was thinking about getting a smaller, more compact wheel with double treadles and a double drive. After much research and helpful advice (thanks Sara!), I fell (hard)... Continue reading

I'm happy to be joining Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for the weekly gratitude*sunday. All week long, this little practice brings me into a quieter place of heart-filled appreciation. This past week, I have been grateful for... ~ my husband unexpectedly coming home from work in the middle of the morning on Valentine's Day! We haven't had a Valentine's Day together in years, so this was a most welcome treat. ~ the seed start table my husband finished building just in time for the first seeds of the season to be planted ~ manifesting the beginnings of a dye garden...so... Continue reading

Aside from mothering and homeschooling and all the regular tasks that seem to fill our days with joyful rhythm, you might find me right now with my nose in one of these books. Do you see a theme here? How about if I mentioned that I sold my Ashford Traditional spinning wheel a few weeks ago? A very special delivery will be arriving next week and I can hardly wait! But in the meantime, my busy hands were feeling rather idle (in between all the aforementioned mothering and homeschooling and busy-ness of Life), so I pulled out my drop spindle... Continue reading

A favourite request by my children is to go see the horses. Our neighbours (no pun really intended), who are dear friends to us, have two horses just across the road below our place. Usually, it is Papa who wanders down there with the three littles, often hooking up with our friend's two children. But with Papa away so much, we have been making the horsey pilgrimmage a few times a week...these photos are from two separate trips. I can't describe the heart swells of happiness I had watching my sweet girl haul her brother around for most of the... Continue reading

February is here with the drip, drip, driiiiiiiiiip of melting snow, the chattering of chickadees, and the discovery of muddy ground showing through here and there. Where we live, it'd be foolish to think Old Man Winter has packed up and headed north, but this pleasant interlude between flurries is most welcome! This week, we headed to a local epic sledding hill with another homeschooling family. Forrest tried a real snowboard and was up and going...all that practice on a No-Board proved very helpful. Forrest's No Board is on the right...you simply step onto it like a skateboard on snow.... Continue reading

I'm joining the yarn-along with Ginny and friends today. There are so many good projects being shared, so if you have a few moments, it's worth a peek. Sweet Sunshine is my most appreciative knitting recipient. I can make her anything and she is delighted. When she saw my Odessa from a few months ago, she was so complimentary that I knew she needed a matching one. I used some leftover wool from her vest (which, for some absurd reason makes it feel like it's free, though I know I actually did pay money for the yarn). My first attempt... Continue reading