Category Archives: Life

Lil Shepherd in the Rain

In an otherwise dry summer, I feel as though we’ve had a whole season’s worth of rain over the last week. There were points when I was convinced that the entire house was just going to bob up and float away. I would lie in bed at night in semi-consciousness listening to the torrent all around me and get the impression that I myself was being washed away. In a way I kind of adored it.

I made Seraphine a Lil Shepherd vest a couple of weeks ago when I needed a break from tiny sock needles and thin fiddly sock yarn for bitty socks. She likes the vest (I think it’s the pom-poms) and the socks, which is a huge boon for me because more and more often lately she’s been telling me that woolen items are not soft and that they “hurt”. She’s very fickle. There are some items that I consider rough, but she accepts without question and others that are soft as can be and she turns her nose up at them! Very frustrating for a mama-knitter. It seems to help for her to see me knitting them. She always wants to know what I’m making and who it’s for. Then there is a build up of excitement about this special bit of clothing just for her. I think that may have been the saving grace of the vest and socks.

I just started reading A Circle of Quiet by Madeleine L’Engle. I can’t remember who recommended it?

The salad above is kale with chicken, avocado, black olives and that vegetable cheese I’ve been making (it’s similar to this, but we have our own way of doing it). That was nice, but I’m terribly disgruntled about food in general lately and sick to death of everlasting elimination diets, which I’ve been on various variations of for the better part of 16 years now. And I just seriously need a big long vacation from the whole darn thing. Unfortunately, vacations from eating don’t tend to work out well. I know there are plenty of ways to make it exciting and delicious, I’m just too everlasting busy and tired to, a) be that creative and b) actually have the time to make it all. And the times when I do manage to make something novel and interesting, it takes hours to create and disappears in mere moments because there are so many people digging in. Alright, end rant. Moving on. Here if not in my head.

I’ve experienced a very unexpected knitting/wardrobe windfall! I had this theory that my best bet, as my kids get older, for insuring that they quietly and happily keep wearing my knitted goods was to be as discreet about their home-made nature as possible….classic men’s wear colors, simple designs, nothing that’s going to call too much attention. In passing Iain mentioned liking brown, so I was thrilled when a shade of brown went on clearance in my favorite, go-to, everyday yarn (the color is “Doe”. It’s now sold out in worsted, but still available in DK weight for $2.81 a ball, which is a pretty fabulous price for superwash merino!). I ordered enough for a sweater and started planning my simple, non-threatening, fingers-crossed teenager approved, palatable classic.

Imagine my surprise when a week after the yarn arrived he told me he wanted me to make him something “wild” and unlike anything he owns, with as many colors as possible! Preferably loud, bright, attention grabbing colors! I guess the joke is on me with that one! That’s more than alright because the consolation prize for being way off base is that I’m getting a new autumn sweater after-all. The full coverage warm sort of one that I had in mind, though in a different color and pattern than planned. I never would have bought the yarn for myself, but since it’s already here… And I also have the unique, endearing and amusing task of working up a wild and crazy sweater for my son’s seventeenth birthday. Not a bad deal at all.

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By Melody

August 5, 2016

baby things, Books, Food, Gardens, Kids, Life, Yarn Crafts

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Around the Garden~ Summer 2016

We are having a crazy year from a wildlife perspective. Not that we don’t usually have our fair share of wildlife, but for the most part is hasn’t interfered with our gardening. Not so this year! I feel like something must have been thrown out of balance with our local Eco-system. There is some kind of work going on in the woods up the road, that seems a likely cause.

The grey foxes came every evening at dusk for a while. And now the male of the pair comes alone, presumably seeking food for his mate and kits.

We had a porcupine coming every night for a while as well. We blamed it for an entire bed of strawberries, razed to the ground, the disappearance of all of our Swiss chard and many of our beet tops, as well as the nibbling down of our newly planted gooseberries and currents. But the morning after one such incident we spotted a deer family around fifteen feet from the garden, so who knows?

One morning we were hearing strange sounds and discovered a young bear throwing rocks at the house! He broke a chunk of board off the storage area under the deck. That was the same morning that all of my daffodils disappeared. Every last one, back yard and front. We found nothing but large holes and a few scattered leaves. My family is sick of me walking around mournfully, repeating the phrase, “every single daffodil…” in disbelief, again and again. So I have tried to stop, but I am terribly sad about that one.

The following week we found most of our straw paths burrowed under, turned about and generally topsy-turvy. We suspected a skunk, until the next morning dawned to reveal the remaining paths in disarray and the true culprits: 5 mischievous raccoons.

For the first year ever my parsley and basil did absolutely nothing. Nothing! And what is a summer without fresh basil I ask you?!? Most of our sunflowers disappeared in the night, like so many other plants, and the few that survived are rounding up to knee high. The chipmunks stole all the fruit from our fruit trees.

Most of our garden is suffering from extreme neglect. Apart from a few optimistic bursts of productivity, we’ve really done very little with it this year. And I think all that is happening is the same thing that always happens any time a patch of earth is left unattended; nature reclaims it. Sometimes very rapidly!

Still there are some garden highlights; it’s been a great year for brassicas. Our kale and collard beds are overflowing. I wish I had planted more broccoli. It did very well. Our winter squash are thriving and starting to set fruit. We’ll be pulling up our garlic this week and I’m anticipating our usual hearty harvest. A few of our cranberry plants are completely covered in little pale green berries. Others- the ones being shaded and starved out by weeds- less so.

Most of the front flower garden is lovely and a great comfort to me. The peonies were magnificent this year, but you will never know it. I was waiting until they were at their absolute peak to photograph them and that very morning Mairi Rose and Galen decided to surprise me by filling like eight jars and vases near to bursting with them! Hence the rather bare and patchy specimens you see pictured here.

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By Melody

July 31, 2016

Gardens, Herbs, Kids, Life

And it was summer-

warm, beautiful summer. ~Hans Christian Anderson

After dinner swim…

This girl cracks me up. This is the funny face you get if you ask for a smile…

Maybe some peek-a-boo?

I made BBQ Pizza with Chicken, Bacon and Cilantro. We used our own crust recipe. I omitted both the cumin and the maple syrup from the sauce and switched out the apple butter for pumpkin puree. It was very good. I think it may be even better with the apple butter: motivation for putting up extra jars this autumn.

Mairi Rose has been all about popsicles this summer. This left me scrambling for some sort of popsicle mold. I could not bring myself to buy the plastic ones. These stainless steel ones look great. But when you add up the per person price for as many people as we have? Eeek. Steep. Finally, I spent $10 on a set of made-in-Spain tempered juice glasses. We fill them up, pop in a spoon which we already have, freeze and voila! A couple minutes on the counter and they pop out perfectly. The ones I got are actually a little big for this purpose, which of course everyone is seriously thrilled by.

I had a conversation years ago with a friend who was trying to build an ecologically sound, healthy house. He was talking about how in the name of recycling and conserving resources you could go out and buy an incredible artisan crafted sink made of say, reclaimed copper for thousands of dollars. Or you could go to your local salvage shop and get a previously owned sink for $30. I often try to think in those terms. There isn’t always a simple, less splashy and obvious solution, but often times there is.

I’m reading The Secret Garden to the younger children. I used to read it aloud ever year, but it’s now been several years since I have. Long enough that they don’t remember it. The older two, of course, could probably tell you the story inside and out!

Another pair of toddler socks done and her looking like a wee, woodland sprite in them. The yarn is leftover Stroll Sock Yarn, from Elijah’s vest, in “Peapod” and “Forest Heather”.

The world….I don’t know what to say. It always seems almost vulgar to post about quiet, sweet everyday life in the face of so much suffering. To say my thoughts and prayers are with those who are in pain seems both trite and obvious. Like most people, I don’t have any answers.

Edited to add dress details because a couple of people asked.

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By Melody

July 22, 2016

baby things, Books, Food, Kids, Life, Yarn Crafts

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An Open Letter to Sufferers of Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome, POTS, Lyme Disease and Chronic Illness in General

Because I am sometimes contrary, in the very post after I stated that I rarely talk about chronic illness in this space, I’m now talking about just that.

I often get asked for advice about living and cooping with chronic illness. In the most recent round of emails I felt like I was talking to more than just the person I was writing to, so I decided to share some of my thoughts here.

No matter how alone you feel, know that you are not actually alone. That there are many people who know your pain. Too many people.

Creative thinking is your best friend. Think about all of the things that you love to do and the things that you need to do, the most important things, and find ways to make them easier. Readers of my blog know that for me one of those things is knitting. Supporting my elbows on a nursing pillow has helped to eliminate a lot of strain on my body. Perhaps a special mat at the kitchen sink or stove would help to alleviate pressure on your joints? Maybe you really do need that air conditioner or extra pillows to support yourself during sleep or just a really comfortable place to sit and rest. Seemingly little things can make a big difference in quality of life for us.

Make your home and life accommodate you in as many ways as possible, not just in what you surround yourself with, but how you approach tasks. For example being in the garden might be easier during certain hours. For me that’s before the sun breaks the treeline or after it sinks below it or on cooler, overcast days. Instead of bending or kneeling to work try sitting with all of your tools in reach, maybe on an old folded up blanket for a cushion. Weed or plant as far as you can reach and then slide over to the next spot. Find ways to keep doing what you love.

Nature is the great healer. Seek solace in the great outdoors. I say this full well knowing how complicated that statement is for those with Lyme. A stunted half-life confined indoors with fear is often harder.

If your children are affected, forgive yourself for not knowing sooner, for not understanding what it would be like. Guilt can not help them now, only love and commitment can. Forgive your own parents for not having or seeking the answers. In most cases, they just didn’t know.

A hot bath can take the edge off of many kinds of pain (just be careful not to pass out getting out of the tub!).

Diet makes a huge difference for myself and my family. My husband could eat a brick and his body wouldn’t notice, while the rest of us have to turn away many healthy foods because we can’t handle them, never mind the junk! It’s hard. Very hard. But it keeps us going.

Try to find ways to manage your pain. You won’t always be able to tough it out. Hurting people tend to be angry people and angry people tend alienate the ones they love.

Sometimes all you can do is hope that tomorrow is a better day. That’s ok. It might be and it might not be, but never lose hope. Never lose hope in the future. Never stop trying to find ways to improve your quality of life, but (!) do not wait until that miraculous “someday” when things are “better” to start living your life. This is the one body you get. The one life you get. Use them both to their fullest.

Try to take the time to find beauty in life and be grateful for something everyday. Some days this will be hard. Some days it will be impossible because you won’t be awake for long enough or lucid enough or able to tolerate your pain. Keep trying. The first day that you can is, in and of itself, something to be thankful for.

Resist the temptation to define yourself by your illness. It is an aspect of your life, perhaps even a very large aspect, but it is not who you are. Chronic illness takes so much from a person, do not let it take your identity as well.

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By Melody

July 15, 2016

EDS / POTS, Life, Mama Care, MCS

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days of pink lace

I’m still reading and enjoying The Summer Book.

I’m trying to pull myself out of a long standing food funk. Breakfast one day last week: Cinnamon-Raisin Meatballs, broccoli from our garden and half a Japanese yam.

I’ve gotten out of the habit of making sauerkraut, even though my children love it and it’s excellent for them and good too just to have around to pad out meals. After years of successful kraut making, we were experiencing problems with mold growth. It was frustrating and wasteful and at some point I just gave up. This time I used this method, packing it in a Fido Jar to ferment and it turned out beautifully. We get our jars at our local Farmer’s Supply, but you can also find them here.

I’ve also been experimenting with making vegetable based “cheeses”. I added some fresh herbs from the garden to the batch above.

Speaking of the garden, these purple radishes have grown amazingly this year. I wish I could remember what variety they are!

The first pair of little toddler socks are done and seriously a more adorable, little, rosy, lacy pair of tiny ankle socks has never been seen. I always want to nibble her toes when she wears them. They are made of yarn leftover from this dress and bonnet. Would you just look at her perfectly precious, tiny baby self? Darling little love of my heart.

There are so many small projects going on all the time here, but little to no time to share them.

The chicken coop is well underway! So far we’ve managed to use all salvaged materials. Once we get to the siding I think we’ll be investing in some local rough-cut lumber.

Someone discovered her old Moses basket!

Do you know the trick of blocking hats and bonnets over an inflated balloon? Just blow it up to about the size you need and balance it on a bowl. Or, as in this case, with a very tiny bonnet, a large mug.

One of my oldest and dearest friends just found out that her fifth baby is going to be her first girl. If that isn’t a reason to knit a pink lacy bonnet, I don’t know what is! (you can’t tell me that there is never a reason. I simply won’t believe you.)

This is my Flora Irene pattern again (also here and here). I have three patterns either ready or almost ready to go out to test knitters. But the test knitting process requires my being ever available and quick to answer questions. And as my over-flowing inbox will attest, that is *not* in the cards at the moment. frustrating.

Oh, have I mentioned it’s reversible?

I often get asked why I don’t talk more about chronic illness and how it effects our lives. I guess the simple answer is that there is enough heartbreak and sorrow in the world. And I’d rather devote my precious little time to trying to put some beauty and joy out there.

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By Melody

July 13, 2016

baby things, Books, building, Food, Gardens, Kids, Life, sewing, WIP, Yarn Crafts

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The Handcrafted Wardrobe: Thinking Ahead

I’ll have a new project to share soon. Having spent the better part of this last week feverish and swollen and snotty, posing for pictures did not rank high on my agenda. Besides, I’ve already shared a “Thinking Ahead” project.

I knew going into this project that it was going to be a hard sell. The majority of my readership consists of mothers. Convincing mothers to take the time to make things for themselves? Talk about themselves? Think about themselves? Post pictures of themselves?? I smile and nod at all the lovely women I know who tell me that they plan on joining in, knowing that most of them will not get around to it. And that’s ok. We all know how it goes! But every week I get emails and comments from people telling me that they have been inspired by these posts. And there always seems to be an interesting dialog going in the comments. It’s a good thing. I want to hear more voices and see more people get involved. I’m very grateful to those of you who have bravely shared your projects thus far!

To answer a couple of questions and just as a reminder…..

* Anyone can join this community! Male, female, young, old, all are welcome! In my opinion, the more diversity, the better. This whole project is about discovering and sharing your own unique sense of style and no two people are going to have the same thoughts or projects to share, which is the true beauty in this.

* You do not have to post a project. You can share an idea, thoughts about fabric, inspiration, plans for the future, musings on self care and your own process of cultivating your own personal sense of style.

* You may add photos to the link up from a blog, Facebook, Flickr and I believe, Instagram. If you’ve never done it before, the process is really quite simple. If anyone needs help with this, please feel free to contact me.

Our next challenge is July 25th – Luxury, now you know you want to get involved with that!

I am very excited about next week! As I mentioned at the start of all this, from time to time I plan on bringing in a guest blogger to talk about style, sewing/knitting, the process of self discovery and anything else that might come up along the way! My first guest is very near and dear to my heart, so I am hoping you will give her a particularly warm welcome!

And you? What are you working on/dreaming about/discovering this week?

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An InLinkz Link-up

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By Melody

July 11, 2016

Life, Mama Care, sewing, The Handcrafted Wardrobe

5 Replies

And so it begins…

My allergies have been awful this year. I’m the human equivalent of a machine gun, sneezing in rapid-fire succession, with Seraphina chorusing, “Bless you Mommy! Bless you, bless you, bless you, bless you!”, one for each and every sneeze like a courteous echo.

It’s a funny thing to have a family of dancers. Seraphina saw one of those photos above and casually said, “That Galen flying.” As if one of her siblings taking to flight is the most natural and expected thing in world.

I just started reading Tove Jansson’s The Summer Book. It seemed fitting. Recital season is over and now the summer begins in earnest. We had our first pond trip of the year.

I’ve been knitting little toddler socks. The Violet-Girl needs socks and I thought that if I used bits of yarn leftover from other projects and knit a pair here and there over the summer, by autumn she could have a nice little stash of them tucked away.

I was asked about a recipe for the chicken soup in this post. I’m afraid I don’t really have a recipe! I never do for things like soup. It just cut up whatever veggies I have about that sound good. Usual for this sort of soup would be carrots, onions, celery, yam is nice, parsnips, perhaps some turnips or Jerusalem artichokes, maybe some cauliflower. Add the chopped up veggies to chopped up chicken, cover with home-made broth (that part is important, it makes all the difference in the world), add some freshly crushed garlic or finely chopped garlic leaves and let it simmer until everything is soft. At the very end I’d add in lots of greens, kale in this case. Salt to taste. For this particular soup I stirred in coconut milk and lime juice after everything was cooked. Fresh cilantro makes a nice addition as well.

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By Melody

June 25, 2016

Books, Food, Kids, Life, snapshots, WIP, Yarn Crafts

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Summer Solstice

The children found a fallen and abandoned nest in the woods, nothing very out of the ordinary about that, but this one happens to be lined with a lock of Mairi Rose’s hair!

Breakfast fixin’s from the garden: garlic scapes, onion tops, sweet thyme, mint, pineapple sage and regular sage to season our sausage patties. Lemon balm for tea. Once the sausages were cooked I tossed all the greens from the bottom of the basket; collards, kale and the last of the bolting spinach, in the pan with the juices, added a bit of broth, then covered them and steamed.

We usually have a Solstice celebration. Last week I was thinking about how I wanted to do something special, but I never really got beyond that thought. The day of, on my way up to put the baby down for a nap, I told them all to come up with a plan while I was away.

This is what they came up with: A picnic dinner in the garden. Burning the Swedish Torch that Iain made a few months back. Baking and eating strawberry-rhubarb pie (as we are not currently eating any sweetener or grains and they made up the recipe themselves, this part was kind of gross, but they seemed happy with it anyway!). And launching rockets. I added a sun inspired craft and our celebration was complete.

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By Melody

June 22, 2016

celebrations and festivals, crafts, Food, Gardens, Herbs, Homeschooling, Kids, Life, snapshots, Waldorf

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knitterly

It’s been unseasonably cool this last week. I wore my new cowl, made a giant pot of chicken soup with lots of greens and garlic leaves from the garden and made angel baby a new bonnet. I was cranky about the lack of muffin-like things in our current diet, until I found this recipe for Morning Glory Muffins and was somewhat appeased.

I’m working on the cowl pattern now. I don’t like it when I design things that I then have to model. It’s awkward. Perhaps I should stick to writing children’s patterns?

I haven’t been doing much reading, just listlessly paging through random books from time to time, preferably the kind with pictures.

Oh, and I don’t think I ever posted a full length picture of Mairi Rose’s birthday dress, so there is one above.

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By Melody

June 15, 2016

baby things, Food, Kids, Life, my knitting patterns, Yarn Crafts

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The Handcrafted Wardrobe: Mother-Son Sewing and Apron Inspiration

Elijah has decided he’s going to start making all of his shirts, since he can’t find styles that he likes in his size. After a long couple of days last week, when we woke up to heavy rain, I declared a sewing day. I even changed my plans and opted for a project in a similar color to his so that we could share the sewing machine without having to re-thread. He completed his entire shirt that day, while I only manged cutting out the majority of my project. It must be nice to have so few responsibilities! Still, sneaking in a seam here and a seam there, I made slow, but steady progress.

On the very day I wished to wear it, shortly before leaving the house, I resolved to quickly finish it up. Dear reader, this is how almost all of my projects are completed, if they are ever to be completed at all.

At the very, very last minute, I decided that unless I was planning on picking up work as a serving wench, the neckline was much too low. When Steve walked in on me standing at my sewing machine- because who has time to find a chair?, in my underwear- I can’t very well alter a dress that I’m still wearing, now can I? sheesh. He paused momentarily, taking in the scene, before seemingly coming to the conclusion that this was perfectly normal behavior for his wife and without a word went back to packing the car.

My dress is a very heavily altered Washi, but I think I’ll have to save the details for another post because this one is already going to be a long one!

Our new challenge for June 27th is “Comfort”. Two potential ways of approaching this challenge are the creation of clothing that is comfortable to wear or crafting that is a comfort in the making, perhaps using a favorite pattern that is so well known to you that working with it becomes almost meditative. I’m sure there are many other ways of working with this theme as well.

Don’t forget, we’re looking at aprons next week! Here is a selection of free apron patterns and tutorials to intrigue and inspire:

Gathering Apron

Harvest Half Apron

Yet another style harvest apron

Clothespin Apron

PDF Booklet Featuring 27 Vintage Apron Patterns

Romantic, Regency Inspired Country Apron

Edwardian Apron

“Best Worn Barefoot” Smock (a good option for maternity wear)

Recycled Men’s Shirt Apron

Japanese Style Cross-Back Aprons: tutorials 1 and 2 and a child-mother matching version

No patterns, but tons of inspiration can be found at The Vermont Apron Company’s shop and blog.