Pavlova, Mustard & Silhouettes

This week my mustard intrigue was finally satisfied.  I called the people who own the ranch below us and asked if we could snap a few photos of Grady in their mustard fields.   After a reluctant yes, we drove down and picked up our photographer-neighbor-friend and he took photos of G frolicking in the mustard and a few of us as a family.  The light was amazing around 7 pm.  The above shot is one Steve took and I think it captures our little guy perfectly.  Happy, glowing little man.

The picture above is of our house -  the green, yellow, blue, pink & teeny-tiny green one.  I have been admiring this mustard field for about a month and soon it will all disappear.  I just had to get down there and have the pictures taken.  It's absolutely gorgeous and I can't wait to see what Scott captured on film.

Grady and Steve worked on new signage for our Fisherman's Festival this weekend.  It helped G with spelling, reading and following directions.  He decided his pink playhouse needed an accessory.  I think it looks G-ood.

My sister's birthday was on March 26th, as well as another good friend of mine.  I decided to attempt a pavlova and used my new, beautiful cookbook Apples for Jam by Tessa Kiros that I purchased used on Amazon.com for $6.  I've never made a pavlova (meringue, really) and it turned out a little broken and deflated, but tasted really good.  I topped with whipped cream and berries.  I liked it so much that I attempted another one for a dinner party I was having Saturday night.  I doubled the recipe and really beat the heck out of the egg whites.  Well, let me tell you, it was the biggest pavlova I've ever seen!  I stewed the fruit, so that I'd have a bit of a sauce (and I wouldn't do this again because it gummed up the crunchy meringue underneath it).  It was good and I learned what to do and not to do in the future:  

1.)  Beat the eggs until your arm feels like it's going to come off and the mixture is almost climbing out of the bowl, as instructed - but neglected on attempt #1;

2) Have Steve beat the heavy whipping cream to perfection; and 

3.) Just use fresh berries on top (and maybe a light splash of chocolate syrup for color contrast and flavor).

We spent a lovely afternoon in our weed garden eating fruit, playing with animal figurines, reading books and taking a short nap.  You can see G in the background of this picture.  It was such a special day and now that Spring is here, we will definitely be spending more time lounging, playing, laughing and having picnics in our yard.    

On a very exciting note, we hired a friend who is a landscape architect to help us design an outdoor dining area, as well as rid the yard of old, dying plants, rotting wood, dead grapevines, decrepit garden beds, old carpet used as ground cover and junk.  I'll post an after-picture when things are near completion.  We've done so much work on the inside and really need to give some TLC to the outside.  I still plan on planting a salad garden and kale for the chickens, but needed help on the bigger picture.  We'll see how it goes.

Okay, how much bigger can Grady's hair get?  We cut it at the beginning of the school year and he has been reluctant to let me cut it again.  He had his Opening Day for T-ball last weekend and decided that he needs it cut so that he can see better.  Whatever works.  This look is actually growing on me, but I will be happy to shave it off in the garage later this week and marvel at his transformation.

Lastly, I found this amazing store on Etsy called Diffraction Fiber.  You send the artist a profile picture of your child and she creates a silhouette image of said child on fabric.  Using contrasting fabrics, she makes a beautiful pillow (with your fabric choices) and, voila, a personal memento of your child that you can use every day.  She also can create a brooch using this same method.  Genius!  It's going to be my mother's day present to myself and my mom.   I wonder how big Grady's head will look?

Green Week - Trees, Leprechauns & A New Thrift Store

We started the week off with a CRACK!  One of the huge pine trees behind our house collapsed on St. Patrick's Day.  Luck would have it (pun intended) that it didn't hit the water storage tank, any cows, any people or leprechauns.  This was major excitement for our little lane in Valley Ford.  I immediately called Beulah (our neighbor/llama farm owner), as it was her property.  We put on our slicker boots and trekked out back to explore.  At the base of the trunk, the tree was completely hollowed out from wood beetles and there were quite a few wasp nests disturbed and they were buzzing around.  Grady climbed the fallen mammoth pine tree and looked for leprechauns, of course.
We ended the week by going to the California Academy of Sciences in San Francisco and meeting Grady's adopted Grandma, Linda Lou.  What an amazing building (totally green) filled with information about the environment, fragile ecosystems, the rain forest, our oceans, Africa and so very organized.  We purchased a membership, so that we could take it in slowly with Grady and attend lectures, etc.  over this next year.  I highly recommend going, if you haven't done so already.

Of course, the icing on the cake for Grady was purchasing a small African penguin figurine and these fine, fine patches that I ironed on his air-conditioned-at-the-knees jeans.  Just another green way of prolonging the life of his clothing and helping him continue to make his fashion statements.  Lovely.

Speaking of fashion statements, I also found a really fantastic women's consignment store in Petaluma called the Red Umbrella.  I'm not usually a designer label person, but love finding labels at consignment stores (totally inspired by my friend Jill).  It feels like you're almost stealing something.  Charles David pumps $15, Enzo silver flats $14, Born wedges $15.  I mean, come on, I had to buy all three and a few other things.

I rounded out the week by celebrating the first day of Spring cleaning my house.  I was worried my love affair with 20 Mule Borax would wear off, but it didn't.  I actually was reading a blog this week called Shelterrific and she had a contest question:  How did you celebrate Spring?  I commented about my use of Borax and guess what?  She notified me via email that I won the Snap Pea Spring Cleaning Kit from Mrs. Meyer's.  I was more than excited.  I love to win things (and by that I mean buy things at silent auctions and claim that I won).   

Things on the horizon:

1.  Garden renovation project starting this weekend (with the help of a landscape architect)

2.  Chicks arriving as soon next week!

3.  Continue reading these amazing books/cookbooks (Apples for Jam, A Handmade Life & Made from Scratch)

4.  Experiment with desserts (pavlova & homemade sorbet) 

5.  Try to make butter (?) - just because I never have and it could be funny

I am thoroughly enjoying my domestic life and want to soak it up as much as I can - for as long as I can.  I feel so much closer to my boys, my house, nature and to my true self.  Simply grateful for each day.

Full Moon, Dancing & Parenting 101

We had the most beautiful full moon last week, as well as a gorgeous sunset.  The best of both.  Steve was out in the yard finishing up the chicken coop (all we need now are the chicks) and I tried to capture it, but this image just doesn't do it justice.  We called down to Scott & Jill in the hopes they could glimpse it too.  Sweet evening at the Ponderosa.

My mom's birthday was this week and I made her this little care package of dinner, dessert, homemade bread and a bottle of pinot noir.  What more could a girl ask for?  She was in the process of moving and moving is NEVER fun.  Especially for my mom, as she is the Queen of Everything (or Miss Knick-Knack Paddy-Whack as I like to call her).  She possesses lots of stuff that she loves and no place to put it all.  She could open a Linens-n-Things storefront.  I'm.  Not.  Kidding.  Anywho, I wanted to do something nice for her because moving sucks and I didn't help her much.  Feeding people makes me feel good and now I know it gets me out of manual labor too.

Grady's first baseball practice was this week and was to be a father-son affair.  I went to town to run errands and discovered that I had both of the car seats and it was too late to get back home and get G to practice in time.  He was SO disappointed.  My mommy-guilt kicked into high gear and I decided to take him to the Valley Ford Hotel to listen to Arann Harris and do a little dancing.  My kid was wound-up tight and grooved it out on the dance floor (video above and he's in the white shirt).  Consequently, he's been telling everyone he sees that he missed his first "real" baseball practice because my mom forgot my carseat, etc., etc., etc...(ouch, it all hurt).

On a happier note, when I was out driving around enjoying the scenery that night and running errands, I ran across an Orowheat wholesale store in Cotati.  It was a pastry wonderland and I left with muffins, pita, flour(s) for my new breadmaker, jams & boxes of Entemann's pastries.  Carb-overload.  All was not lost that evening.

Grady decided to pull a few of his books about dogs and make a collection on his bed.  This is just a small sampling of what he has and it made me smile.  I love his passion for the things he loves.  Dogs, farm animals, books, bottle caps, seaglass, rocks, pink markers, t-shirt of the week and nature in general.   We are going to pull a collection of Spring books this week, as well as research and select the chicks we are going to welcome into our family.  Big week coming up - stay tuned.

G received his report card and was so proud of himself for making improvements and strides in several areas he's been working on.  We celebrated with a banana split and all was right with the world.

Top 3 Grady Vacation Requests for this Summer:

1. Antarctica (to help save the polar bears before it's too late);
2. Hawaii (and could he please bring Jack & Harry); and
3. The desert where dingoes live (Australia).

I've been very inspired to create and work on projects lately and reading a few of the blogs referenced in the blog roll below. One of them is  Amanda Soule.  She is a stay-at-home, working mother with four children (and she home-schools them) and is quite amazing.  She has two books out right now and seems like such a wonderful person.  Check out her blog if that kind of person inspires you, too.

Have a great week.

Bookmobile, My New Breadmaker & Borax

Okay, I am officially addicted to the Marin County Free Library Bookmobile. It's true. I still can't get over the fact that you can order books or DVD's, get them delivered to our remote area and the librarian starts to see your patterns and starts "saving" books for you for your next visit. Brilliant.

Steve started work reinforcing an old gardening shed into a chicken coop. He disposed of over 30 wasp nests and sealed up the perimeter of the roof (where they were getting in). Check out the view from inside this chicken coop. They should be very happy chicks indeed.


I've been thinking about making bread and buying a breadmaker after reading the posts on digthischick's blog and reading Animal, Vegetable, Mineral by Barbara Kingsolver. As I stumbled into the Tomales Post Office last week, there was a posting for a previously loved breadmaker being sold by a woman in town. I called Judy and we arranged a date to meet. She has lived in Tomales for over 40 years and owns four breadmakers. She gave me a tutorial, notes, books, photocopied a manual for me and gave me samples of flour, yeast & gluten to get me started. She let me borrow her "bread machine bible" with the promise that I'd return it promptly. She was another nice reminder of why I love living in this small community on the Sonoma Coast. I mean, really, would this have happened in San Jose? Maybe, but not to me.
In any event, I tried the recipe listed on the above blog and it turned out short, squatty , dense & delicious! I was so proud. G helped pour all of the ingredients in the machine and when we woke up...voila! Bread. Since I was on a breadmaking high, I decided to make pizza dough too. It turned out okay, but not great. I think I need to perfect this recipe and try it again. We had the pizza for lunch with amazing pea shoots from George Marcos (aka - Farmer George) at Earthworker Farms on top & drizzled with champagne vinegar, olive oil, salt & pepper. George delivers his veggies directly to your doorstep weekly and they are fresh, beautiful, pesticide-free & grown with a lot of love and care.


Okay, so now I'm going to bore you a little with my green cleaning discoveries this week. I've used the last of my bleach, soft scrub, windex, etc. I'm only using what my grandma used to use: 20 Mule Borax, white vinegar, hydrogen peroxide & non-toxic cleansers. I decided that with my year of staying at home, I should really be cleaning my own house. I mean, really. Being the Virgo that I am, you would think I love to clean. Wrong. I am really good at putting things away in a closet, drawer, desk, outbuilding, etc. Where I lack the skills is in the down and dirty cleaning part. Well, no more! 20 Mule Borax has re-inspired me. I'm not kidding. This stuff is awesome and does so much. The box tells you all of the things you can use it on (i.e., porcelain, pet stains, wine stains, cookware, hardwater stains, fiberglass, and on, and on, and on). As long as I had a pair of plastic gloves on, everything porcelain got a once over with Borax. I had no idea this would excite me so much. We'll see how long it lasts.


G had a banner week and here are some of the highlights:

1. Helping Dad work on the chicken coop;
2. Assisting in the kitchen as my sous chef;
3. Received word that his first baseball practice is next week (he listened to this message five times on speaker phone & just lovingly stared at the keypad with a sweet smile on his face);
4. He told me he was getting too big for me to sing him his bedtime song (but if it made ME happy that I could still do it);
5. He tried to reason with me about leaving him home alone while I went to the market because he was "tough and brave enough to stay home" (nice try);
6. He received an amazing music box from our friend Patty and he is so taken with it. He's bringing it to his weekly "show & tell" at school (video clip of him eating breakfast and trying to make himself cry?); and
7. West Marin Citizen published Grady's "Home Is Like My Blanket" poem, along with a picture of G in a pretty cute get-up (cowboy boots & all).

Mustard Season, Mud & Chicks

I pulled over on the side of the road heading into Sebastopol to snap this photo. The mustard is sprouting up everywhere and I absolutely love this time of year. Normally, February is all about the mustard - but since we're having a late Spring and the rains are finally here - the fields of mustard are still in full swing. I took Roblar Road to Santa Rosa yesterday and there was a sea of yellow as far as you could imagine.
The finished wine/linen/whatever closet! Yay for me!!! Steve painted the inside of the closet and it houses approximately four cases of wine. He did the flooring to match the bathroom and it's such an efficient use of space for our small pad. Good job husband.

My goal this week was to find soil for my gardening beds. I spotted a large mound of soil on my way to Tomales this week and will have to wait for it to dry out before I shovel it into my step-dad's truck. Right now, it's just a mound of mud. I need it to amend all of my raised beds and then add straw to prevent weed growth before my Spring planting. I feel sneaky about the soil and don't know why... it's not really stealing, but maybe it is?

My asparagus are already popping out of the ground. I'm going to cut them down today and start enjoying the little devils this week. Nothing compares to fresh asparagus. The kind you find in the store can be a little woody and lack flavor. I'm so thankful the previous tennants planted this when they were here, as we can reap the benefits for 20+ years, if we take care of it.

Here's something interesting. Someone told me this is a "voodoo lily" and smells like death. Hmmm, interesting. It does wreak, but it sure is beautiful and perhaps a little falic? Since we've weeded out a few areas, the bushes are much larger this year and are exquisite to see. Similar to a calla lily and apparently very old (accordingly to a botanical artist).

It was another week of entertaining friends, attending birthday parties, client dinners, playdates and neighbor visits. Everything I love about our small town living.

It's been raining most of the week, but I did get in one day this week to garden a riased bed that is behind our house and will be Grady's responsibility. We are going to plant carrots and strawberries, so far.

I've been doing some chicken research and can't wait to order same. Steve is going to work on fixing up our old greenhouse, so that it can accommodate our flock-to-be. On a side note, my mom found a cute cottage in Tomales that has four goats and a llama, as well as an amazing barn (that has housing for chickens). She might move in next month. It would be so great, as she can pick up Grady from school and there is a trail from her house to the elementary school. Grady is in love with the goats already and is quite sure they are in love with him too.

Grady ended the week with a visit from Future Farmers of America at his school. He milked a fake cow and thought that was so cool. They did bring real goats and now he wants a goat or a ram for our homestead. Steve is still not on board with the goat thing. I think tackling the chicken coop is the first order of business and then we can work on coercion in the goat department.

Never thought I'd type the last paragraph in my lifetime. Wow, how Valley Ford has changed me.