The October Report

 

Medford is a mecca for free/inexpensive produce.

If you know the right people.

I know a guy, who knows a guy, who grows squash.

I gleaned all of those pumpkins and squash.

For free.

The corn stalks are from the garden.

I also picked up some butternut squash. 

Which my kids love.

Actually, they really hate it.

More than anything.

Possibly more than time outs.

I tend to not care.

I picked up eight of them.

My fall mantel.

My friend gave me some crates and the other things I’ve picked up at….garage sales.

We are all shocked and amazed.

A close up.

I have a collection of Daphne De Maurier.

I think she is the essence of October reading.

Speaking of which, does anyone out there have my copy of Frenchmen’s Creek?

Elizabeth got student of the month.

And so did Adeline.

Bryce had Columbus Day off so we went on a local 2.5 mile hike.

I’m not really sure who let Meg wear white shorts on a dust riddled hiking path…..

At the top.

Hope your October is going well.

Katie

Dining Room Chairs, Again

Before

Actually….I’m sure I’m fooling no one into thinking this is what the seats of these chairs looked like before I re-covered them.

Three years ago.

White fabric.

Four kids.

In fact, it’s safe to assume no amount of cleaning or Scotch Guarding can undo what these chairs have been subjected to after countless babies, meals involving spaghetti sauce, chocolate, strawberries, mud?, tomato soup, etc., dirty hands and stinky feet.

They were dis.gus.ting.

They are the real heroes of the family.

I decided to do them in some vintage-y, happy oil cloth I ordered off line, which for the record, is way cheaper than any store I’ve seen it in.

Now I can just wipe them off and they won’t be advertising on craigslist looking for a more mature family.

In other news, I saw a peregrine falcon trying to take out one of my chickens this morning.

I’m not sure about the new morals for birds of prey.  Really, at 9:30 in the morning?  No scruples.

Have a good weekend.

Katie

I Think You Ought To Know…

That Spencer can say ‘Mom’.

Has been able to for a while now.

He used to be able to say ‘Dad’ but now it’s all ‘Mom’.

But he doesn’t just say it.

He yells it.

It sounds more like a crow cawing than a little boy searching for his mom.

He caws it when he can’t find me,

while he’s looking for me,

when he’s found me,

when he’s right next to me,

when he’s patting my leg after he’s found me and standing right next to me,

when he wants up,

when he wants down,

when he wants in the bath,

when he wants out of the bath,

when he’s in the car,

when he’s mad,

when he’s awake,

when he’s getting his diaper changed,

when he’s hungry,

when I’m hungry,

when I’m in the bathroom,

while I’m making dinner,

when I’m tired,

when everyone else is yelling at me.

Yup.

Never gets old.

Sometimes he can say chicken.

We’re all about well-roundedness over here.

Katie

curtain addition

Before

After

I wanted to do something with the curtains.

I want my house to feel light and airy.

Apparently, that can translate into white and boring.

From where I sit in the dining room during dinner time, I have a perfect view of the curtains behind the couch.

I was so sick of seeing just the plain, unobtrusive, white panels.

I was desperate for a change.

It turns out if I have money, I spend it.

I bought this yellow graphic pattern at Joann’s.

The rings at Wal-Mart

and I had the navy blue fabric for the ties on hand.

At the cutting counter, I almost stopped the lady from cutting the fabric.

It’s a little different from my regular curtain purchases.

I still don’t know how I feel about the it.

I love the change, I just don’t know if it’s me and if it really goes with the rest of the room.

Thoughts?

Bryce and I purchased this old school bulletin board at an estate sale.

I’ve had it hung up for a while, it just took some motivation and planning to get the 8x10 pictures printed up and everything else going.

I think it looks a little busy, but Bryce likes it.

I love seeing the candid photos of our family.

I tried to find words that described a family: cooperate, coexist, cohere, compact, complain, comrade.

I have a couple other projects churning around so hopefully I’ll have some more things to share.

Hope you’re having a good week.

Katie

Camp.ing

 

We went camping.

Spencer face planted it.

I started laughing.

Someone snapped a picture.

I gave him a cookie.

He’ll need a lot of future mental health therapy.

Katie

CAN IT

{not always original, just predictable}

Here are some pictures of some of the produce I’ve canned this season:

a week’s worth of green beans from my garden,

{the least photogenic}

I always think it’s amazing that from a $1 packet of seeds, there can be so much harvest.

{not pictured, the additional 7 pints in my fridge that didn’t seal}

apple juice made from apples off my neighbor’s tree,

70 quarts of pears gleaned for free from our church’s orchard,

and apple butter.

I’ve also been making peach leather which my kids are inhaling, which is surprising since they can’t really stand fruit roll ups.

*side note, other weird things my kids won’t eat: jell-o, pudding or home made freezer strawberry jam on their crepes.

To make fruit leather, specifically peach since that’s the only kind I’ve made, have you noticed I’m not terribly well-rounded?:

peel and pit ripe peaches

puree in blender

add sugar to desired sweetness

pour onto a non-stick cookie sheet or one lined with saran wrap

I use saran wrap

(your oven won’t be hot enough to melt the saran wrap, just make sure it’s trimmed and not touching the rack or sides of oven)

I do about a quart’s worth of puree per batch, it’s about the right thickness

bake in oven for 10-12 hours at oven’s lowest temperature, mine’s 170 degrees

12 hours is a bit too long for my temperature setting and the thickness of my leather

remove from oven, roll up and cut

I put mine in the oven in the evening and let it cook all night.

Hope you’re having a good, awesome, great, tolerable, energetic, productive, above average week,

Katie

New Acquisition

I bought those red polka dot bowls from a garage sale this weekend.

I love them.

The end.

Katie