The Banana spiders are at their height these days. They are full size and in incredible numbers. They are especially all over the front of the milking shed, where they catch the pesky yellow flies off of Matilda. I love looking up while I’m walking and spotting their crazy high-up webs stretched from treetop to…
Author: toadstoolsfairyrings
In the Kitchen: Pumpkin Crisp
There are only so many times you can heat up half a left-over baked pumpkin before it starts getting boring. I love pumpkin pie, but the wheat crust is always a little iffy for us. I made up this recipe last year when we had too many pumpkins, and it immediately became a favorite. My…
Sisters
They are so close, these girls. It warms my heart, and re-affirms my lifelong wish for a sister (instead of the annoying little brother I got). If Rose does anything, Clothilde will immediately copy her exact tone and movements. It’s so cute, but I hope for Rose it does not get burdensome any time soon. …
Dreaming of Fall
We got rained out again yesterday. It rained so much the ground was spongy and there was standing water in places that look too sandy to have standing water. I harvested the rest of the watermelons, because the vine had died. One had already exploded from all the rain. No picture, of course. It was…
Handmade Times Ten
For the past two years now, my sewing machine and I have occasionally looked longingly at one another. Sometimes we write letters, but the hard truth remains that while there is a crazy toddler in the house, there will be no sewing. When Clothilde was small and immobile, I managed to sew three baby bloomers…
Nature Finds from the Midwest
Ethan had to travel to Minnesota for work again. It was really difficult with him gone, because there was no one to hold Clothilde while I was milking Matilda. Matilda is large and doesn’t like things that are loud or different, and she is always ready to kick, so having her right there with me…
Kids Who Like Kelp
Ethan took these pictures of Clothilde eating kelp and signing for more.Yes, my children love eating the kelp we keep for the animals. Free-choice kelp is supposed to be good for all kinds of things – trace minerals, offspring vigor….wait, maybe that’s why Clothilde is so exhausting! We are going to slaughter the first meat…
In the Garden: Watermelons, Pumpkins and Peppers
We’ve been pulling watermelon after watermelon out of the melon patch. They are finally ripe this time! The first one we picked sounded perfect, but when we cracked it open it was still only pale pink. It was still very sweet, which is something I like about this variety. These melons are perfect – one…
Free Pattern: Cabled Archery Cuff
Mirin asked me to knit him a special cuff for protecting his arm when he is practicing archery. If the bow is not drawn correctly, the string can snap back on your wrist. I made a pattern for it and added a pretty cable (there was some good math I got Mirin to help with…
Nature Finds: Bugs
Something about the air yesterday had just a hint of fall. The peach and black cherry leaves are turning beautiful colors already and the autumn flowers have buds. It is still very hot and humid, but there was just a little breath of change underneath it all. We found lots of good bugs…
Welcoming August
July was rough. I am so glad for August to be here, just for a chance for improvement. It’s not going to get any cooler weather-wise for at least another two or three months, but it has been dry. Thinking back through July, it was a month of desperately trying to get too much done…
Toadstools And Fairy Rings 