urban earth mother

It's time to start the garden! Sunflowers sprouting This year we started  some herbs and flowers inside. We, that is to say the Child and I, have planed lots of sunflowers. Round two is peaking up here in the kitchen. Round one has already gone outside to the big patch of contaminated dirt that formerly had a willow tree. The tree came down twice in two separate storms so we though it best to chop it up rather tan wait for it to get really big and come down on top of the shed.  We would really like to plan something nice like a blueberry bush there but after having the soil tested, we know we can't grow any food there until the soil has been  cleaned. Enter the sunflowers. She's two, it's time to put her to work Apparently, sunflowers are very good at removing containments from the soil.And as long as you don't then eat the seeds or put the plants into your compost, they are an effective and quite cheap way of cleaning up decades of crap that has buil...

I finished it last week and she's worn it twice now.  It is VERY warm! She probably doesn't need the liner in her jacket with it.  But it should be good for cool spring days and,  as you can see, there's room to grow.

I managed to score some beautiful llama/alpaca yarn at the winter farmers market a few weeks ago. I only bought two skeins and that seemed enough for a sweater for the sprog. I'm making it a bit long do she should be able to wear it next autumn and winter as well, provided she stays tall and skinny (clearly she didn't get that from me). I'll post when I finish and she's wearing it.

slightly crappy webcam photo I've decided I'm just not cut out for scarves. Not that I don't have a variety of very nice ones, it's just that they don't seem to entirely work in the cold weather. Both scarves and neck gators seem to have the fatal flaw of leaving bits of skin exposed either above or below and letting the wind whip right through. Enter: The Dickie. I admit, I got the idea of knitting dickies from watching Big Bang Theory with Howard's ever-present neck accessory, but it seemed like it might be quite practical. I whipped out one on some random circular needles with some yarn I had in my office (what, you don't have yarn in your office?) and after wearing it once I was sold. Dickie #2 (pictured) I made for Spouse. I used two stash yarns at the neck, switching just to the blue for the tails. This one has a particularly long front so that it can be tucked in to a wide variety of necklines. The double bulk at the top is exceptionally warm ...

Last week I made some candied peel in preparation for plum pudding and mincemeat. After boiling the citrus peel in sugar water for over an hour, I spooned it out to dry and was left with a sweet-tart syrup. Just the right thing to go in the Christmas beer. Yes, Christmas beer! Last year I made dozens of mince pies - homemade mincemeat in shortbread crusts - some of which Spouse brought around to the neighbors. It was his way of introducing ourselves (well, himself. I shyly stayed home) and sharing a bit of British Culture. This year I suggested that in addition to mince pies we give a bottle of homebrew, hence the Christmas beer. I've only recently gotten back into home brewing, thanks to Northern Brewer's one gallon kits . They make just enough for a one-beer-drinker household. For a holiday brew though, I needed to not only make more, but to work without a net kit. I had previously bought some crushed grains at Homebrew Emporium with the plan of making custom one gallon...

Child is helping

So the summer is ending and, while it wasn't a lot, we did manage to grow some things this year. The most recent item to appear was a cucumber plant. I didn't even know I'd grown one! This plant was doing well but I really didn't know what it was (a good reason to label your seeds when you plant them) until the blossoms started to turn into fruit. Cucumber Next up, the tomatoes! We do have a couple "larger" tomatoes, but the cherry tomatoes (did not know we had those, but I got the plants second hand) have turned into a bumper crop. The red ones aren't lasting long as we tend to munch them pretty quickly. Cherry tomatoes The potatoes, which I really though would go well, are a bit, um, small. These are the Marris Pipers that we grew in the container. I had anticipated at least 10 pounds but we only got enough for a small colander. They're tasty though! The other potatoes are even fewer (and many still in the ground), but given the ...

This is a bit of a catch-up on some knitting. I joined a knit-along Google Group and hadn't made anything (wasn't really into the patterns) until June. The June pattern was this market bag . It also allowed me some stash busting of random acrylic yarn. The handle did end up too long for me (stretches a crazy amount when full) but it works for Spouse. For July, I suggested an Aran sweater tea cozy . It wasn't chosen, but I decided to make it anyway. Here is the Sprog showing it off. And a close-up of the front And here's the back. This one used some wool I bought at a farm shop a few years ago. I only had one skein so was limited to a small project. This seemed the perfect user for it. And I think the tea pot looks quite dapper!

Our very first radish!

And here's the video I wanted to post with the garden pictures but apparently I can't post videos from the mobile app.

I'm trying mobile blogging this time,  so it's a quick post The potatoes are doing so well!  It's almost time to add more soil to form hills. The peas are coming up too. And the tomato and peppers are still alive. The big news from my seed planting is the beans are starting to sprout. The child's garden is coming along too, in spite of her sitting in it.

sage The front of our house has a small bed that I dug out and reserved for perennial herbs last year. I had tarragon, thyme and sage but only the sage really lasted. And not just lasted but THRIVED! Thrived like a nuclear-fulled lizard in 1960s Japan. thyme Sadly, the tarragon, the one I really, really wanted there, did not make it. But the thyme does seem to have survived, even if it didn't flourish like the sage.  There were a couple of leafless plants in the back that I transplanted into the front without knowing if they were perennials too I think one came back. Mint? Maybe? So I think this random thing is the mint Spouse planted. I plucked a leaf and it was very mity, but there are many groundcover pants in the mint families too, so I'm not sure. with luck, whwn it gets bigger I'll be able to propperly identify it.

So I haven't posted in a while. We are still dealing with the child's lead poisoning. Her levels went up again, coinciding with he warmer weather and more outdoor time. One possible reason was that the sunlight and vitamin D were expediting the transfer of stored lead from bones to blood. The other possibility was lead in the soil. Maybe the driveway isn't the best playground But then the backyard is suspect too        We started her back on basic iron supplements, but also had the soil tested at the state university. One concern was that the soil in the raised beds was suspect, but there was also an open dirt patch where a tree went down and we were working on getting the stump out. I thought that the front would actually be the most contaminated, but as it happened`that and the raised beds were fine but the back was at medium levels, which is still unsafe for growing food and, to us, playing. Future home of sunflowers Spou...

We started the Bay Rum aftershave tonight. Here am I, disheveled from work, and very sleepy child making the concoction.

Over the past few weeks I've used my crockpot more than I had in the previous year or so of owning it. It's a tiny one with only one setting ("On") but it got us a good batch of Hoppin' John on New Year's day, some okay "baked" beans, and most recently I've used it for easy seitan! I haven't eaten land animals in decades but I do like a chewy, "meaty" mouthfeel in food. So far, the best homemade seitan recipe I have found is from the now defunct blog A Veg*n for Dinner. It's the Seitan Fillet Mignon and I probably should have taken a peek at it before making seitan last night. Still, my batch, based on a ratio of 1 part vital wheat gluten to 3/4 part liquid, was pretty tasty. The biggest boon, however, was simmering it overnight in the crockpot. TONS of flavour and no hassle! I flipped it over in the broth once a few hours after putting it in but other than that I didn't touch it until this morning when I remo...

Spouse built me shelves. A few months ago I posted about some decorating ideas . This included building some shelves in the pantry as well as getting some counter space. Well my wonderful husband has shown himself to be a wonderful carpenter as well. Here is the reveal on the pantry shelves he built and installed as a Christmas present. He worked through the night for several nights and ALL Christmas eve, so his camera work isn't exactly the greatest. But you get to see both the pantry and the island

Well, the deleading is finally underway. We're required to be out so are staying with friends nearby, which  is the best thing that has happened with this whole thing. We're all together, even the cat, with plenty of room, kitchen and even closer to the T than our house is. Still, I want my house back soon. When we do get to move back, which, if we're lucky will be next Monday, it will be like moving in all over again. We had to move out as much as we could so our shed and basement are full of packed books, clothes, food, furniture, etc. Everything left in the house was put into the center of rooms and covered with thick plastic to keep them dust-free during the work. Once we are back we will finally be able to begin painting and really unpacking. Only six months after buying the place! Spouse wants to take thing slowly, and I think I agree (although also want it all done NOW). My first room to attack will be the kitchen. We still need to move the cupboards up but once ...

So I made this today. It's a no kneed recipe I found online that I made with sourdough instead of dry yeast.  t came out very nice but the flavour is a bit too sour for Spouse (who said it tastes like snot.) the Sprog and I like it though. I'm not giving up on the recipe though and will do the next batch with honey in the dough. I think the child is old enough now for honey, plus it will be baked so it's not like she'll be eating it straight.

So I made a table. We really needed a kitchen table, in addition to other things in there that will be coming later, and Spouse and I disagreed on they style. I wanted a formica '50s jobbie like I used to have years ago and he preferred a farmhouse style. The ones I like, however, are rather expensive. So I went with farmhouse and decided to make it myself. I found the Ana White site, which has TONS of plans of every level. The Narrow Farmhouse Table was the style I was looking for, but not the size. Fortunately the plans are very clear and I was able to alter it to make the table the size I needed. table legs and apron I decided to go for a cheaper wood for the bottom of the table and paint it. My main concern was just that it be sturdy so I went for poplar. In retrosepct, I think I should have gone for something heavier as the table top is oak which is incredibly heavy. All the planks were purchsed in standard widths and cut to the right length at Home Depot. That sa...