fourth

interdependence day

we had lunch

watched a small community parade

had dinner outside

and checked out the fireworks

and today we scooped our daughter up after she spent three weeks in wisconsin. 

all is now right in our world!

i hope your holiday was just what you wanted it to be, 

whether out in the world, at home, in nature, with family, or alone. 

climbing out of the sinkhole into the cicada sun

a negative sinkhole was developing today with my four year old hurling a torrent of unsavory phrases at me. this is nothing new, and sometimes it can be quite a challenge to rise to the occasion and redirect things. but once i do manage to redirect things, his sweet heart usually opens, and there is no end to the hugs, enthusiasm, and terms of endearment.

snacks help, especially when served outside. there were a few of his favorite things: blueberries, mango, and goat cheese. and a few of my favorite things: goat cheese, garlic scape pesto, hummus, and olives. a loaf of french bread from the bread machine rounded it out. 

have you tried garlic scape pesto? some dear friends gave me a sack full of scapes from their garden recently, and i've been making batch after batch from the recipe at the bottom of this link. 

served with a refreshing glass of nettles infusion = wellness!

sometimes when there is a lot of negativity coming out of the small one, it is really difficult for me to want to play with him. i know that probably i just have to get over that, but some sort of craft or cooking project is often a good middle ground. 

today we made sun prints. we collected blossoms, leaves, cicada wings, stems, and toys! 

arrangements were made and sun prints were developed. and there was a much rejoicing. 

then dad came home and they set out for an adventure while i made dinner. phew!

all of our outdoor activity at home lately has unfolded before the cicada symphony. nothing like real life catches the height of volume these critters have reached the last few days. the buzz is amplified!

hello to lucky 13

our new years eve was quiet. we had some dear friends over for a fantastic spread of greek afelia, winter squash risotto, and black eyed pea salad, all recipes from cookbooks by tessa kiros. our meal was followed by some bubbly, some gifts, and dessert, and then our friends moved on to their next stop. 

 

we brought the midnight hour in lazily, by the fire, watching new years eve tv, munching on biscotti, lined up on the couch with our laptops. my brother danny is visiting from new york city, thus making enough people for a rollicking game of quao.

the next day we slowly woke up and prepared for another celebration with families from our playgroup, and a few other friends with small children. our house was buzzing with the play of children aged almost-four to four weeks! and the food! there was vegetable lasagne, gratin made from home grown potatoes, black eyed pea sausage stew, chili, homemade bread with goat cheese chutney, smoked salmon, guacamole, cake and cookies and stout beer and spiced cider. it was a hearty welcome to 2013.

wishing you all a fabulous 2013 full of positive things. keep smiling!

p.s. today is my daughter's 15th birthday. 

FIFTEEN! 

i can hardly believe it myself. tashi is the bright beacon that paved the way for us as a family. 

she amazes us with her brilliance, her creativity, her groundedness, and her humor. 

we love her beyond language! happy birthday tashi!

more on our celebrations next entry!

friday with friends

playgroup has been such a highlight for tristan and i, an opportunity for us both to play with others, share food, crafts, and conversation. every friday we meet in the warm home of our friend, and the hours unfold. we have open play. circle time. snack. a craft or activity. and lunch. 

in celebration of autumn eve, we made thumbprint trees today. the crafty crow leads the way again!

the food, oh the food! when you get a bunch of health conscious mamas together 

you can bet the food will be good. 

i contributed this tasty very green avocado tahini dip, a recipe i found on my friend britt's 

have fun do good blog.

the cat even came out of hiding today. i think she's getting used to our raucous playgroup crowd.

tristan took a nice nap when we got home, and i spent a good chunk of time searching for recipes that used poblanos and ground beef, since i had both on hand. i found this recipe video for making poblano beef ricotta lasagna. i had ricotta left over from the skillet lasagna i made the other day, so went right to work on this one. tristan woke up mid way, but was happy to stir the bechamel sauce and munch on some spare lasagna noodles. it was delicious, if i must say so!

tristan wasn't a big fan of the mildly hot poblanos though.

once i separated them out from his serving he remained skeptical, but in better spirits.

wishing you a happy friday and a very joyful weekend welcoming autumn.

a new day. . . maybe

i am now ready for spring. i love me some dramatic weather. the snow is awesome. but the record for largest cumulative snowfall in virginia is now broken, and it's time to move on. power outages have their romantic side, but after another six hours of it yesterday, i found myself quite ready to be romantic with the lights on and the water running.

all of this is said knowing that our problems are like a grain of sand compared to the problems in haiti, and really we've got it good, so incredibly good.

have i mentioned how much i love our woodstove? i don't think i will ever be able to live without a woodstove again.

banana cupcakes, baked using dan's grandma's recipe, are also nice to have around, especially when you've managed to bake them between outages.



the new issues of the day are a car that won't start, we're guessing due to a failing alternator. and my back, which suddenly has decided to act as if it is having its 100th birthday. do you think the mechanics can fix that too?