With spring art fairs coming up, I've been busy getting crafty and stocking up Mountain Hearth Handcrafts. One of the things I like to have ready for our Waldorf school's May Faire is a colorful assortment these flower fairy dolls. With posable arms and legs, they are great for creative play. My kids and I have had a lot of fun with them over the years, and I enjoy passing that fun along to other ...
Spring Housekeeping
I've been working on some spring housekeeping and updates around here, and am pleased to announce a few new additions to the site. You may have noticed the new banner with my photo of the Three Sisters taken near our home, and some new links underneath it where I added an "About" page, a link to my Mountain Hearth Handcrafts Etsy store, an updated reading list, a farmhouse recipes page and a ...
Quiche. It’s What’s for Dinner.
Spring is a time of new growth, longer days working out in the garden, and for those of us who keep chickens, many eggs. Sometimes it takes a lot of creativity to come up with more egg recipes to keep up with the girls' production, but my tried and true go-to is quiche. Quiche is for breakfast, quiche is for lunch, and quiche is for dinner. It's a creative food. You can put just about whatever you ...
Spring
"Spring is nature’s way of saying, "Let’s party!" ~Robin Williams ...
A Basket Full of Nettles
It's nettle season, and I have been working on gathering my yearly supply. I currently have a basket sitting in my car, and have been enjoying their very green aroma. Although nettles can be a bit prickly and off-putting, I can't help loving them. They are incredibly rich in nutrients and just plain GOOD for you. From fresh eating, to drying for tea and powdering to add to my Wild Nettle ...
Drifting on the Mckenzie River
For my newest wall hanging, I was feeling inspired by the beautiful McKenzie River watershed I now call home, so I decided to focus on some uniquely local elements. Wooden drift boats are a frequent sighting along the McKenzie, dating back to the 1930's when they originated here, and so common in fact, that their likeness appears on road signs for launch sites. There is an annual festival held at ...
One Raised Bed at a Time
Raised beds are handy. They're easier to weed, ergonomically nice for working in, and ideal for some plants that just need their own space. I like to keep things like rhubarb, strawberries and asparagus in their own raised beds because you know exactly where the crowns are when things die back during the winter (in the case of rhubarb and asparagus) and once they take over the bed (which ...
Bare Root
It's tree planting season, and we made some exciting additions to the homestead orchard this year. With mature apple, Asian pear, and Italian plum trees, we had a really good start but still needed some of the basics. Last year we planted Stella and Royal Ann cherries, and a D'Anjou pear. There were still a few specific varieties of things I wanted, but when I visited the nurseries around ...
Upcycled Throw Pillow Project and Some Thoughts on Re-Purposed Art
There is a lot of fun to be had in re-purposing something old into something new. I may not be a great seamstress, but I have enough basic sewing skills to act upon my creative ideas when I see just the right something. I found this quilted calico appliqued wall hanging stretched on a hoop at a second hand store, and immediately re-imagined it as a homestead-themed throw pillow. It was so easy ...
Egg Rainbow
I am pleased to announce that this is what we're finding in our nesting boxes at the end of the day! After a few years of selecting chicks each spring with egg color in mind, our girls are collectively laying an egg rainbow. That tiny one on the right is from one of our bantam hens who occasionally produces a miniature egg. Not only is it exciting to get this many different colors of eggs, ...