Hello friends out there! After six years of blogging here, I have decided to make the move. You may find me here now, and I hope you come and visit! See you soon! xo Jules Continue reading

A month ago in the Big Garden... Mid-February in the Big Garden... My husband took the boys up into the mountains to do a little snowboarding down a logging road. They rode for nearly 3km and despite falling lots, they had a wonderful afternoon. When Sunshine and I returned from ballet in town, the boys had cut some pussywillows for me. Pussywillows in February!!! This is a few weeks earlier than I've ever had them before and it is such a treat to have a freshly cut bouquet on the table...the season has begun. And what a difference a month... Continue reading

Yes, look at the calendar...it is still February! But by the sounds of the creek rumblings, spring melt has begun. The snow on half our property has receeded to reveal the ground beneath, with all the promise of spring on its way....like the first snowdrops! The boys managed to find an icy patch on our mountainside for a little outdoor fun on some newly inherited snowboards from their cousins. They were out before breakfast but came tromping back indoors rubbing their behinds...they need the sun to soften the ice a little and will try again after lunch. Huckley can hardly... Continue reading

When you live in the mountains, you get used to unexpected weather coming up over the ridge and settling in the valley bottom. Then you turn your back for a moment, and look out again, and there are clear patches up above which grow into a great blue sky...showing just how fickle the weather can be around here. Our little local airport is known as Cancelgar for you never know til your plane has come or gone if you are getting out that day at all. Chances are, you won't be. Things change rapidly and where we are in the... Continue reading

In our house right now, this is most often how you'll see Sunshine. All 5 of my sheep in one frame...success! Our mid-winter days consist of a fairly predictable routine. The phrase "plodding along" comes to mind, but it isn't at all mundane or uneventful. As the days are just beginning to noticeably lengthen, we may appear more home-based and quieter. Breakfast, farm chores, and homeschool work take us to late morning, at which point I'm often in the kitchen, making up lunch. After we eat, we read a bit or do some handwork, then head outdoors for a walk... Continue reading

Another journey round the sun brings us back to the beginning of the calendar year. And yes, it is the middle of a snowy winter and our gardens are under a heavy, wintry blanket...but that doesn't mean I'm taking a break from gardening. While all around outside seems dormant, my mind is awakening to the possibilities that the growing season ahead may bring. Seed catalogues are arriving, our seed stash is pulled out, and all of us are thinking of the good food and flowers we will grow. I have yet to finish planning the rotation of crops in the... Continue reading

Inside it's little protective casing, a baby pussy willow was asleep...they're coming soon... When cabin fever sets in and it seems like my children have turned into monkeys climbing the walls, we layer ourselves up and head on out. Often, we just go a-wandering about the property as there is much to see here...the pond, the upper morel patch, the sheep, the woods, the creek. But some wintry days require a little longer of a walk. A walk that results in tuckered people settling back into a quieter rhythm upon returning. A walk that allows mama to find a little... Continue reading

Winter is a wonderful time for wool! I might add that, in my humble opinion, any time of year is a wonderful time for wool! But when the cookstove is chugging away, trying to warm all the corners of our home, we are nestled within arm's reach of each other, with wool in our hands. Sunshine, at age 7, has picked up her doll she began two years ago. She has completed three of the seven squares and is getting more excited with her progress. On my wheel right now is wool from one of my very first sheep, a... Continue reading

they don't realize they have an audience ...and a flock of snow sheep with a little lambie ~ she loves this so much! So much snow that the house wears a snow skirt! Once in a while, we hear a crunching slide, startling all of us, and then a huge "whuuummmmmmp!" as it falls to the ground below. All the fenceposts wear hats of sorts and we are walking around so high above the garden beds. Nyla likes to keep dry in the soft bedding she made in the hay. We keep the hay in our greenhouse for now, close... Continue reading

This post ought to really be called Holiday Hats, because that is what I knit and knit and knit for 6 weeks straight leading up to the gift-giving days. And knitting 6 hats in 6 weeks is a little, um, tedious...at least for me. But the end result was worth it for everyone likes their hats, arriving just in time for the cold, snowy winter we are having here. Warm noggins makes for happy loved ones! And without further ado...the holiday hats... Frannie's Butterfly Hat another Butterfly Hat for my sister-in-law my old stand-by Ribby Hat by Soulemama...I've made at... Continue reading