Old Rag

We spend a lot of time at Shenandoah National Park.  One of our favorite spots in the park is an overlook of Old Rag.  For at least a year, our eldest has been asking to hike Old Rag.  This summer, The Woodsman and The Girl finally went.  Our youngest had absolutely no desire to do this hike.  I wasn't the least bit disappointed.  I love to hike, and I'm not afraid of doing some huffing and puffing to get to the top of a steep slope, but Old Rag is more rock than trail.  My heart was in my throat most of the time they were gone - why is it that mother's has such keen (and bloody) imaginations -, but I'm glad they went.  I know what a wonderful bonding experience it can be to hit a difficult trail with your Dad.  This hike is a memory they'll share forever.

 

 

Goodbye Summer Serenity.... Hello Frenetic Fall

On my way home tonight I saw some beautiful maples changing color, and I realized that summer is really very close to an exit.  So before the days slip into October let me share our summer trips.

 

New York, NY

This spring, while helping Lily clean her room I discovered several "run away" bags.  They were packed with the essentials in case a quick get away was needed.  I'm sure that some parents would have been horrified.  I, however, understood.  I think we all need our own version of a run away bag.  For years my version has been the ability to get on a train, leave my family behind and head to Manhattan.   

 

This summer, after many promises that they really, truly were old enough, and a great deal of apprehension on my part - I let the rest of my family (The Woodsman and both kids) run away with me. 

 

They entertained themselves on the train.  They were quiet when our host was sleeping in the morning - even though they were full of energy and ready to hit the town.  They coped well with walking many, many city blocks (even when they were carrying luggage).  They listened to directions, stayed close to us, walked properly in crowds, and held our hands when we deemed it necessary (even though the 10 year old really felt too old for hand holding).  They even passed restaurant behavior 101, and learned how important it is to stay back from the curb while waiting to cross the road - an impressive skill for children who live on the kind of Mayberry dirt road which invites dogs to nap in the middle.  Props have to go to The Woodsman here too.  This was his first trip to NYC; he does not hold deep affection for big cities, but by the end of our trip he was navigating like he'd been to the city a dozen times before.

 



 

Half of a GIANT Corned Beef and Pastrami sandwich at The Carnegie Deli

The view of Central Park - half way up 30 Rock,

On our way in to see Wicked



 Going to NYC also expanded my kid's worlds.  We read a lot, and we travel a lot.  However, most of our adventures take place in the great outdoors.  Traveling to NYC put my family in an entirely new kind of wilderness.  I can't even begin to list all of the cultural experiences the kids absorbed.  There are so... many... different... people.  From Japanese tourists, to young talented street performers... From women in saris, to homeless men on the street....  From illegal corner watch salesmen, to mourners at the 9.11 memorial.  Their world is bigger because we spent a week in Manhattan. 

View of Manhattan from the New York Water Taxi Tour

Lady Liberty (our host, tour guide extraordinaire and my best friend from high school is in the back)

Outside of Jekyll and Hyde - a MUST if you're taking kids to NYC.  I love how the bossy older sister and the silly younger brother personalities shine through so clearly in this picture.  She was trying to get him to PAY ATTENTION AND LOOK AT MOMMY!

The fountain in Central Park

Coq au Vin at Rue 57 - I can't even begin to describe the joy of this dish.   I tasted as good as it looks.  Can you smell it?  Intoxicating isn't it?

 They fell in love with New York.  And, to my surprise, I fell in love with having them there with me.  Lily is already planning a birthday trip (a full day at the Museum of Natural History with dinner at Jekyll and Hyde), and I think Danny is still dreaming about the Pastrami.  I guess in the future, we'll be running away together.

Neil and Norma - our new favorite dogs

 Chincoteague

We ended our summer like we always do - playing in the surf and sand at Assateague National Sea Shore.

Sunrise - doesn't it look like the sun beam is coming right from his heart?

Kite flying - Hooray!  He could do it himself this year.

This is where she was for 80% of the time.

Good Bye Summer Serenity - Hello to Fall's mad rush.  I'm so thankful for you Summer.  You give us time to reconnect with ourselves and with each other.  Help us to hold the peace of a summer's day through today's busy reality.

Late Summer Kitchen News

 

August is such a busy month.  There is so much happening in the garden, and so much transitioning happening with the start of school. It's overwhelming and exhausting at times - but gardening, processing and cooking is so much a part of the fabric of who I am.  I wouldn't want it any other way. Summer is just too busy for blogging.  It's hard to keep a record of our days- time seems to flow very quickly.  Late August is always a nesting sort of time for me.  I can see the storm  of our busy September and October calendar approaching - so I try to do what I can now in order to save myself time later.  This time of year I try to add at least two meals to the freezer for every meal I make.  It's less work to make one big mess with several meals to show for it.  I like to think of it as banking time.   So, on that note here's what I've been up to in the kitchen this summer. 

 

Here's what I've canned so far this year:

 

Strawberry Rhubarb Jam - 12 half pints

Rhubarb Cinnamon Jam - 11 half pints

Strawberry Jam - 9 half pints

Peaches -49 quarts

Summer Applesauce (Rambo and Ginger Gold) - 44 quarts

Nectarines - 7 quarts

Dill Pickles - 10 quarts, 4 pints

Salsa - 43 pints

Tomato Juice -6 pints

Whole Tomatoes - 9 quarts, 1 pint

 

 

The freezer is almost completely full of frozen vegis, fruit and ready made suppers and lunches.  I'm not as good about keeping track of what goes into the freezer - so here's an approximation.

 

Beans - 2 Gallons

Sliced Peaches - 5 Gallons

Berries (Strawberries, Blueberries, Blackberries, Raspberries) - 20 quarts

Broccoli - 1 quart

Zucchini - 1 quart - chopped

Zucchini Bread - 10 loaves

Chard Enchilladas - 2 pans

Cheeseburger Casserole - 2 pans

Quiche - a plethora of different kinds

Soups - too many to keep track of

Black Bean Pie - 2 pies

Corn Bread and Chili Casserole - 5 pans

Greens and Rice Casserole - 2 pans

Pizza Muffins and Corn Dog Muffins - for lunch boxes

I know there are more freezer meals, but I can't remember what I've made. 

 

 I've also been drying herbs (mostly basil) and doing a bit of fermenting (kim chee, sauerkraut and kosher dill pickles).

 

It gives me a warm cozy feeling to know that when students come next week, and when time becomes short on nights with practice and classes, the freezer and canning cupboard are full of meals in minutes.  I can't imagine the stress of trying to figure out what to make for dinner when I got home - or having to find the time to actually make dinner.  This way I'll be able to enjoy my family- and hopefully still get to bed at a decent hour.  What strategies do you use for surviving back to school?

 

 

 



Chard Enchiladas, Corn and Cucumber Salad

We've been eating a lot more meat this summer - pretty unusual for this mostly vegi family.  Reading Girl became a bit obsessed with Hebrew National Hot Dogs as evidenced by the hot dog face painting at the library reading party.  I love her quirky personality.

Chicken Cacciatore in the Crock pot

Finally, finally bringing in loads of tomatoes

Slow Going: Garden Almanac July 2013

After such a promising, and bountiful spring - the early summer garden isn't very impressive.  Everything seems so, very, very slow.  It was really wet and cooler for a long time; now it's just humid.  Of course, it could be that the garden is performing about the same as normal.  We're around a lot more this summer, so it's easier to be impatient.

The strawberries are done, but they're sending out lots of runners so I should be able to fill in many bare spots come fall.  

The early corn is short, but putting out tassels - I anticipate small ears.  Not surprising as that is the poorest soil in the garden.  

The peas are done and those beds are ready for my fall planting.  This week I'll put in broccoli and cabbage seed in one bed.  Then, in a few weeks I'll do a winter planting of kale and winter lettuce.  As we get closer to fall I'll cover them with double row cover.  

The beans are doing well, but are covered in bean beetles. I've managed to freeze about a gallon and we've eaten fresh beans multiple times.   I'm attempting to have a no spray garden this year.  I always use organic methods - but this year I'm trying to see what happens if I don't use any pesticides.   I'm hoping that the beneficial insects will be more bountiful and in the long run I'll have less bug damage.  So, for the moment I'm just squishing the bad bugs and removing eggs.  I may crack and spray right before we go on vacation.  Have any of you done a pesticide free garden?  How did it go?

Bean beetle in the pupae stage

Bean beetles in the larval stage.

Scarlet Runner Bean Tipi - loaded!

 The tomatoes are loaded with green tomatoes.  I did pull two plants that looked like they had late blight, and I sprayed with liquid copper.  Late blight is terrible.  A few summers ago it killed all of my tomatoes.  This summer has been so wet - perfect breeding conditions for late blight.  Hopefully, a weekly spraying of copper will keep it at bay.  Just one summer I would like more tomatoes than I know what to do with.  Maybe this one will be it.  I'm so eager for that first real tomato.  But, so far, only green.

The garlic has been harvested and the lettuce is finished.  I planted fall beets, carrots, turnips and parsnips last week in their place.  Those seedlings are up and looking great.

The onions, look pathetic - they're all very small.  Blah... guess I'm buying onions again this year.

The Swiss Chard is performing better than anything else in the garden.  We've been doing a lot of chard based dishes.

Only a few of the sunflowers germinated this year (old seed).  But the ones that did come up look great.  I don't think there's anything that's much more optimistic or joy filled than a sunflower against a blue sky.

 The sweet potato vines are growing like crazy.  I hope that means that there are lots of sweet potatoes under there.

The eggplants and peppers look great.  I'm just waiting for the fruit to get bigger.

The cukes and winter squash have taken off.  We should be harvesting cucumbers in a few days, and it looks like the winter squash will be a bumper crop.  That is if I can keep the squash bugs at bay.  Hands down squash bugs are my most pernicious pest.  I hate them. They are so hard to kill, and they reproduce so rapidly.  At the moment I'm winning.  I'm going out almost every day to remove eggs and squash the squash bugs.  The summer squash and zucchini are not doing well.  They both looked good at first, but all of the rain started causing the fruit to rot before it could grow large enough.  Now, something is killing my zucchini.  It's not squash bugs or squash borers, and it doesn't look like any disease I've had before.  At this point, I'm hoping that one of my local garden friends will have too much zucchini and they'll share because I think those plants are gonners.  I haven't totally given up hope and ripped them out yet, but I think their demise is imminent.

We've been harvesting a little bit of broccoli, and a very little bit of cauliflower. I think this is the last year I try to grow cauliflower - it just doesn't do well for me.  I'll load up at the farmer's market in the fall instead. The cabbage is almost ready to pick, and the bok choy is growing fantastically.  Looks like there's some sauerkraut and kim chee in our future.  Soccer Boy will be thrilled.

The potatoes will be ready to pull in the next week or two.  I've already dug into the ends of the hills a few times so that we could have new potatoes.  They are so, so very delicious.  Last year's potato harvest was pathetic.  I'm hoping for a few bushels from this year's planting.  We returned to the hill method, so hopefully the crop will be good.

Most of the eating corn did not germinate, and it was too late (and too wet) to replant.  However, the dent corn (Bloody Butcher) came up fantastically. We're going to try to eat some of the dent corn green, and see how it tastes.  If it's a bit too corny and tough then I'll just have lots of homegrown cornmeal this year - nothing wrong with that.  Farmer Dan grows much better corn than me anyhow.  I'll just stock up on my end of summer trip to the farm.

Optimising my space:  Three Sisters Hills growing in the bare spots in the strawberry patch.  I allow milk weed to grow for the bees and the butterflies (especially the monarchs).

Egyptian Walking Onions - I'm hoping eventually these will solve my onion issues.

We're still getting a few red raspberries, and some of the bushes look like they'll set a fall crop.  The blackberry bushes are humming.  We're picking those every other day, and lots of berries are making it into our mouths and into the freezer.

I haven't done much canning or freezing yet.  I've put up a few quarts of sugar snap peas and a few freezer meals (mostly quiche).  Overall, the garden looks good - I'm just impatient to be have enough to harvest for most of our meals.  Hopefully it will pick up soon.  I'm eager to fill that freezer and replenish the pantry.  How's your garden growing?

How in the World Did It Get to Be the Middle of July?

I can hardly believe that it's already the middle of July.  The summer has just flown by for us.  I feel like it's just gotten started, when summer is over half-way finished.  I think it has something to do with the fact that it just hasn't been hot around here - I am NOT complaining!   The coolness, and even the rain, has been just fine by me.  Any day around here that we don't hit the mid 90s or higher is a blessing.  Here are the highlights of our summer so far (I'm excluding most garden and processing updates - that will have to be in another post).

 

Strawberries

For the first time in memory, we had loads and loads and loads of berries.  We ate to our heart's content, made dessert, put them in cereal, on  and in pancakes, over brunch souffle, made jelly, made strawberry daiquiris and still froze a ton for the winter.  I'm still in awe.  Even if the rest of the year's harvest winds up being pitiful I'll be grateful for strawberries.

 

Gram's Strawberry Rhubarb, Rhubarb Cinnamon, Strawberry



Six Gallons in one picking

 Family and Fishing

Right before school let out my cousin (Auntie Flip Flop) came for a weekend stay.  Really, she was the highlight of June.  We just can't get enough of her sunny presence and easy going personality.  We went to Soccer Boy's next-to-last soccer game, then took BBQ chicken and Reading Girl's Potato Salad (the winner of our Family Potato Salad Cook off) to our local state park (Trout Pond Recreation Area) for a picnic and a swim.  Welcome summer!

 Then, when my cousin headed home, my parents arrived.  They stayed for over a week.  It was a wonderful, relaxing and fun filled visit.  We talked and lingered over good coffee in the morning, and good beer around the campfire at night.  We also went to The Frontier Culture Museum.  The Woodsman and I were still working, so on one of our work days Pap Pap and GeeGee took the kids to Luray Caverns.  This is one of their special trips.  The kids had been begging to go again for a long time.   In between all of that Pap Pap and Soccer Boy got in some serious fishing.  We paddled the North Fork of the Shenandoah (A guardian angel must have been with us on that trip - the river was really running high. I thought for sure we would all go for an unintended swim in some very cold water.)  They also spent quite a bit of time fishing from on Lake Laura (flatter, safer, calmer, not so hard for the angel). 
The day my parents left, another cousin and her family arrived and spent an overnight with us on the way to the beach.  The girls had a great time running around playing with the chickens and the rabbits. 
Finally, a few days after my parents left our house, we headed their way and spent a day fishing the Raystown Branch of the Juniata in Western Pennsylvania.  We stayed at the farm for a visit and family reunion with my Godparents, their children and grand kids. 
Over July 4th we headed to PA again and visited with another set of cousins (my "Uncle" J and "Aunt" M).  We spent the day with them at Hershey Park.  We rode almost all of the coasters, and no one got sick.  I must say though, that I enjoy amusement parks so much more now that they kids can ride almost everything without me.  There were a few times when I sat out for a needed brain break.   Hershey has definitely been the highlight of the summer to date.  I think we all could go there once a week.



Soccer Boy decided it was time for his summer hair cut.  Despite my (and his sister's) begging and crying to please, please, keep the curls, he shaved it all off.



Breading the fish - flour, salt and pepper



A frying lesson from Pap Pap



Mittens make good hand protectors when working with hot bubbling oil



Happy 69th Daddy!  Reading Girl made that cake all by herself.  I didn't help a bit.



Monkey Berry (blueberry banana) pancakes with a favorite cousin

 

Swim Team

We're not usually around enough to do swim team, but since we're not doing much traveling this year the kids decided they wanted to compete.  They had a great time.  They really learned to be better swimmers.  We enjoyed watching them compete and improve their individual times.  We also absolutely fell in love with our coaches.  You couldn't have asked for two more caring, understanding teachers.  The one negative with swim team - time.  Practice ran four days a week for an hour (which really meant a 2 hour time commitment till you factored in drive time).  Then there were the meets (six of them - all four hours or longer).  I got really creative at packing dinners that could be made and heated at home, then kept fairly warm until they were wanted in between races.  

After the first meet.... ribbon showing



Next to the last meet - ready to swim



Post season pool party with the best coaches in the world.  Go Ducks!

 A New Cat

So, we had a cat adopt us.  I know - it looks just like the other cat.  But trust me, it's not.  This is Toliver (so named because he was an orphan - like Oliver Twist, but with the T added because the kids thought he was so tiny).  He's a real lovey.  Twines around your ankles constantly, but he doesn't purr much and he's still very scared of fast movements or loud noises.  I think eventually he'll relax. 

 Home Improvement and Household Chores

We have...
 - redone the kitchen:  ripped up the old linoleum (1970s special with olive green and bright orange), scraped and sanded the floor until we thought our arms would come off, peeled off the old wallpaper (more of the 70s show), sanded the walls, spackled the holes, primed, painted, put in new tile and then cleaned, cleaned and cleaned until all of the sanding dust was gone.  Finally, we moved all of the kitchen furniture back from its temporary home (in the living room and hallway) to its rightful place in the kitchen, rehung all of the pictures and sorted out all of the mess left behind from two and a half weeks of a non-functioning kitchen and home office space.
 - We replaced rotten boards on the deck, then cleaned and re-stained the whole deck.
 - We finished several more raised beds in the garden.
 - We completed some minor repair on the chicken house.
 - We tore up the floor in the master bath and prepared it for a tile job to be completed later in the summer.
- We bought school supplies and got ready for the madness that is September.
 - I've deep cleaned, and de-cluttered most of the house.  I've managed to take a lot to the dump and the thrift shop, and there's more to go out the door.
 - The Woodman has split almost all of the wood on the property - he says he thinks he's set for four years.  I told him that's great - now we can travel the next four summers!   He didn't answer me - that's a yes, right?


She did so much better with this stencil project than I would have thought - I actually let her take over after a few practices.  I was very willing to get down off the ladder.

Summer School and Family Time

The kids are both working through Summer Bridge Books. These are, for the most part, review books they can do themselves. Both the kids and I like them.  They're not so easy that they get bored, but yet not so difficult so that they're frustrating.  The activities are varied and interesting and broken down into an easy to follow format.   Both kids are doing Word Study work with me (Reading Girl is doing Greek and Latin and Soccer Boy is doing Complex Consonant Clusters), and we're trying to do at least two writing workshops and science experiments together every week.  They're also both doing math work with Daddy.  Then, for some creative learning, they're doing Perplexors (mind puzzles).  Piano practice also happens most days - but certainly not with the kind of regularity we have during the school year.

 

We're doing Genre Studies as a family this year.  Everyone picks their own book from the same Genre.  So far we've done Fantasy, Biography and Historical Fiction.  We have Mystery, Realistic Fiction and Informational left.  We've all really enjoyed this.  It's pushed us all out of our comfort zone and has given us a reason to do some book talking together.

 

Of course, our favorite things in summer are the simple ones.  Soccer Boy and I have a regular cuddle date in the early morning.  Reading Girl and I have long chats before bedtime.   There's almost always time for a game or another chapter of the read aloud.  This is what I love the most about summer - time.  Time to spend without rushing from one task to the next.  How about you?  Done anything wonderful this summer?



19th Century Living

So, earlier in the month, The Woodsman and I were at a teacher's meeting where the presenter was talking about taking a class for teaching in the 21st century.  Sure, that's where we are most of the year - lives full of modern technology - running a million miles an hour - in full swing with the rat race.

Well, friends, summer is here.  So for the two of us, that means returning to a simpler and less technologically advanced time.  No, I haven't given up electricity and indoor plumbing, but you'll see me in this space less because I'm much too busy in the garden, out on the mountain and hanging out with my kids.  The Woodsman spends his days out on the property cutting, hauling, splitting - gearing up for winter.

I like to think with my 19th Century brain in the summer.  A lot less screen time; a lot more just being time.

I'm sure I'll put something up here from time to time, but it won't be much.  See you in September!

Long Mountain Trail GWNF 5.26.13



 


 It took me a really long time to be content with not having any more children.  But, eventually, I realized, that as my kids get older - although I have more time commitments with their activities; I also have more opportunities to spend long stretches of time pursuing interests of my own.  One of my favorite activities to do is to hike. 

 

So last Sunday, I skipped church, left the kids with a to do list, told them they would have to find lunch on their own and headed out on the trail.  I'm determined to do this more for myself this summer.  So, to that end, I bought myself a much needed, and rather expensive (at least by my standards) pair of trail runners.  These shoes are so bright and comfortable that they make me excited to get out there.  I hope my current motivation continues.  I plan to get out on the trail several times a week once school is out. 



 

Long Mountain has been one of my favorite trails for years.  The first part of the trail is wide, almost flat, shady, full of Mountain Laurel and grassy.  It makes a great trail run or a nice easy stroll with young kids.  As you continue down the trail it becomes more narrow, more rocky and the decline becomes greater.  Just before three miles you come to a creek crossing.  There the blazes (yellow) become hard to spot and the trail becomes hard to track.  Keep your eyes open - there are several rock cairns which are helpful - just don't try to do this section too fast, or at dusk.  At the three mile mark you come to a sign post where you can turn on to the purple trail and head two miles to Trout Pond (a U.S. Forestry Recreation Area), keep on yellow to head four more miles to Trout Run Road (a nice option if you have someone to pick you up) or turn around, retrace your steps and head back up the mountain.  I chose the third option.

 

Sunday was a perfect day.  The temperature was just right for hiking and the flowers were really beautiful.  The wild azalea were still blooming, the Mountain Laurel were just starting to open and as an added bonus I found a whole hillside of Lady Slipper.  Remember - Lady Slipper are rare and take a long time to grow.  Never, ever, ever, dig or pick flowers.  You'll be depriving everyone who comes after you of their beauty.

Wild Azalea

Lady Slipper

Mountain Laurel

I spent about three hours away from home.  When I returned the kids had completed their chore list and we were ready to spend the rest of the day together.  No guilt.  No fuss.  Just some much needed time to reconnect with God's great world.

Want to hike where I like to be?  Go here for a PATC map.