Having lived in the Pacific Northwest my entire life, I have limited experience with snow. I would describe a snow storm as something rare, fun, and fleeting. If you drove into town it might all have melted when you got back, and everything would be green again like it never happened. The snow storm that hit us in February was definitely not like that. On Sunday, February 24, we woke up to a ...
Homesteading
A Mountain Hearth in Autumn
Autumn has finally rolled around again, and since I haven't posted in a while, I thought I would share a snapshot of what this hearth is looking like this time of year. In many ways it's a snapshot of my life right now. It's a little busy, and a little messy, but that's how it goes, and lots of good things are always in the works. Cider is fermenting away in three different flavors (plain, ginger, ...
The Farmhouse Clothesline
The farmhouse clothesline plays an important role in the grand scheme of things. Not only does it save energy and give you a handy place to hang up wet camping gear, it offers a few moments of peaceful meditation not often found in our busy lives. Pinning the clothes on the line and taking them down once they are dry and smelling like sunshine has always been one of my favorite parts of a hot ...
Spring Equinox
Spring Equinox is a time of balance. Darkness and daylight get their equal time, the seasons shift from winter into spring, and things reach an equilibrium between extremes. Just when you're surveying the landscape and thinking things look rough, a bud starts to pop out here, or a flower is suddenly blooming over there, and you notice birds singing in the trees where all had been quiet and still. ...
An Oregon Homegrown Holiday Tree
In the pouring November rain, we suited up in our rain gear like real Oregonians, and went out to find a homegrown holiday tree in the clearing at the top of our property. It's getting to be a little more of a stretch every year as the crowded grove of Grand fir and Douglas fir keep getting taller and taller, and we're topping some mighty tall trees to fit below our 8 foot tall living room ...
Golden October
October is a golden month. The hard work of the summer is finished on the homestead, food is harvested, canning is done, and root cellar is full. It's a time to stop and catch your breath, and take a moment to look around and appreciate everything. That burst of activity in the late summer and fall is well rewarded with the leaves changing color and the crisp, cool nights and mornings. After our ...
Harvest Moon in the Pumpkin Patch
That big harvest moon the other night had me dreaming of giant pumpkins, and I was inspired to needle felt this wool wall hanging of a pumpkin patch on a full harvest moon night. I made one similar to this that I traded with a crafty friend a couple of years ago for a beautiful sweater she knit for my newborn niece. When I was working on this piece, the wild, witchy woman out in the filed ...
What’s Happening on the Homestead
The homestead life is at its finest in the summertime, and also at its busiest. The chicken run is working out beautifully for the chickens and the garden, and not so much for the slugs, which was the main goal. The results of this chicken moat are a great garden this year where we get to hang out with the chickens while we water, weed and harvest. The chickens have been enjoying ...
Emergence
When you think about it, the shift from winter to spring is a pretty incredible one. No mater how much you know about plants and what's going on within them, how all their processes work, and their chemistry, it feels miraculous to watch them unfold from snowy ground and bare twigs. There are so many lessons here that we can take away from observing this shift in the seasons, but one of the most ...
Chicken Coop Deluxe
After growing up with chickens throughout my childhood, and keeping chickens for over a decade of my adult life, I've known a lot of chicken coops. My first chicken coop was a very important place on our little farm, and will forever hold an important place in my heart. That's where I would go hang out with Maude the chicken on rainy days, and even though she usually ended up pecking me, we were ...