Nearly every day now, Tom Brombadil the rooster, and the Little Red Hen boldly scale the high wall of the chicken yard and escape out into the yard together to roam free. They wander around the yard together making happy little clucking sounds and scratching at little bugs and seeds they discover together in the green grass. They seem to just want to be alone together. Perhaps they share a spirit ...
A Baker Beach Day Hike
One cold, frosty morning in February, my family woke up early, not minding the wintry weather, because we were headed for the ocean. As we crossed over the coastal mountain range, it became sunnier, and warmer, and before we knew it, we were in Florence and it was 60 degrees outside! We decided to explore a part of the beach we had never been to before, and held a long-standing curiosity about, ...
The Runaway Bunny
"Shucks," said the bunny, "I might just as well stay where I am and be your little bunny." And so he did. "Have a carrot," said the mother bunny. -Margaret Wise Brown This needlefelted wool wall hanging was inspired by one of my favorite children's stories, "The Runaway Bunny." I love how every time the little bunny comes up with an elaborate plan to run away, he is outwitted by his ...
Collecting Beach Stones for Making Felted Wool Pouches
If you've been wanting to do some wet felting with wool, creating a pouch using a river rock or beach stone as a form is a fun project to get started with. This is a great project for adults and children alike. It involves a nature outing as well, which is an added bonus. I usually go to a river with rocky gravel bars when the water isn't too high for them to be exposed. This can be ...
The Farm Pantry in Winter: Enjoying the Fruits of the Harvest
I knew that this house was our home when I opened a very unassuming door off the back porch and laid eyes on the pantry. While I had been on the fence about the house up to that point, that tipped me over the other side. When I was a girl reading Laura Ingalls Wilder's Little House books, my favorite passages were always descriptions of the food storage rooms in the fall. I loved the Ingall's ...
Beneath the Harvest Moon
Beneath the harvest moon, pumpkins grow ripe, round and full in the fields... Moonlight sparkles on a dancing brook and patches of chanterelle mushrooms reflect the warm colors of autumn. It's just the right time for a moonlit walk to find that one, perfect, magical pumpkin. ...
Welcome to Mountain Hearth Handcrafts!
When I started my Mountain Hearth blog, I fully intended to focus on writing about the outdoors and homesteading. I decided my crafts needed a space here too, just like the craft room in my house. My creativity needs lots of room, after all. I will probably not post to this category as often, but I am already cooking up many ideas, so we shall see what unfolds. I am looking forward to sharing ...
An Interview With ReWild Eugene
I first heard of Matt and Anna Bradley when they taught my children animal tracking at a summer camp. My kids came home and told me they had learned to track animals from professional trackers that day. Professional trackers? This sounded like a wonderful thing to be. I was intrigued. Then I had the pleasure of watching Matt and Anna create fire without matches at a Kalapuya traditional skills ...
Wild Teas From the Siuslaw River
On our most recent no-school day, our family decided to go on an adventure. We headed out to the Siuslaw River Road, a Backroads Scenic Byway that runs from Lorane to Whiteaker Creek through the coast range. Our plan was to find some nice creek bottoms to play in. We turned off on one gravel side road along a tributary stream to have our picnic lunch, and found a patch of newly emerged green ...
Of Love, Dreams and Old Farmhouses
"Just an old house with the roof fallin' inStandin' at the edge of the fieldWatching the crops grow like its always done beforeNobody lives here anymore....Old memories come whistling like the windThrough the walls and the cracked windowpanesAnd the grass is growing high around the kitchen doorNobody lives here anymoreOnce there were children and few hired handsA hard working woman and a bone ...