Church of the Old Mermaids is on Amazon.com!!

Just when I was feeling uninspired, unamazed, and ready to hibernate through the winter, my favorite author, Kim Antieau (whom I know I've posted about before on here), has self-published her book Church of the Old Mermaids. I mentioned the Old Mermaids back here when I talked about our garden "seashells", but I've been following the stories for some time through the blog. These stories are... beauty in words. Beautiful words. I don't know, but I know what I like when I read it.

I feel my tail sprouting. Must. Go. Splash into this book. I hope that some of you will join me because I know the journey will be well worth it.

Homemade Gift (Kinda Sorta)

Annie absolutely cannot stop drawing and crafting. She wants to do it all day long, every day, and she brings at least 5 drawings or projects home each day from school. For her birthday, then, I decided that she might appreciate her very own art box. This way she doesn't have to ask me to get the crayons for her (which are put up because a certain 2-year-old has covered every single downstairs wall with doodles), and I got to introduce some new craft items to her that have been stored in my cache.

In total, this gift cost about $20 because there were a few items that we don't generally keep on hand in the house that I wanted to add especially for her. The box itself is actually my old Caboodle that I kept my makeup and accessories in as a teen. In the box we have:

3 craft punches (dog, cat, and paw print for my little animal lover)-- From my scrapbooking stash

Mini stapler-- Bought new for use in making her own booklets

Large eraser-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Pencil sharpener-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Two pencils-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Glue stick-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Safety scissors-- Bought new since we only had one pair in the house

Heart shaped paperclips-- Bought new (and grudgingly)

8 Glitter glue pens-- Bought new; the most expensive new item, but I knew she'd love them!

Crayons-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

White sketching paper-- I looked all over for a mini sketchbook that would fit, but couldn't find one. Instead, I cut up some larger sheets we already had at home.

Construction paper-- Again, small sheets cut from larger sheets we already had

Pipe cleaners-- Gathered from the kids' art supplies

Beads-- Bought new

Elastic thread for beading-- Bought new

Cinderella stamp and pad of stamping paper-- Received in a party gift bag earlier in the year

Phew! I think that's it. As her skills improve, we'll add things gradually. For now, this keeps her plenty occupied. She makes magic wands from the pipe cleaners, bracelets and necklaces from the beads and elastic thread, and has covered every sheet of paper in glittery doodles. Fun stuff!

How I SHOULD Have Prepared My Garden For Winter

Yesterday we were a little surprised to get quite the snow flurry. It was wet, packing snow too. Mondays are errand days for me, so I was out and about and thinking of all the things I still haven't done to prepare my garden for winter. Between the kids being ill, me being ill, and the rain we've had for the last week or so, I am sorely behind. Still on the to-do list:

-Rake all leaves (which only ceased falling a couple of days ago) onto garden beds
-Cover compost piles
-Find something to do with the billion and a half pebbles filling the children's sled and every single plastic pot I own
-Wash all outdoor toys and bring to basement for duration of winter
-Clean patio area
-Move large rocks from backyard to frontyard for border
-Remove hose from spigot and store
-Clean all garden tools
-Mulch blueberry bushes with pine needles

We're supposed to get more snow Sunday, but I hope that this slight bit we have now will melt before then so that I can get my behind in gear! How is everyone else doing on winter prep?

The First Snow

Okay, I admit it. I've lost my will to blog. There are things that I could be posting about, like the fact that the twins have turned 5, the few "thrifty" things I got/made for their birthday, my foray into making apple cider vinegar, my insane journey into trying to really connect with my home and redoing our master bedroom, or the battle that is waged every year around this time between me and... everyone else.

But I just. Can't. Make. Myself. Do it.

Yesterday, however, the first snow of the year fell, and it felt like the kind of thing that needed to be put down somewhere. You know, recorded for posterity or some such thing. It started as rain, but by the afternoon, it had turned into a very wet, light snowfall. None of it stuck, and it wasn't the sort of white fluff that makes pretty pictures. But, well, now you know that it's snowed here. :)

I hope you're all doing well out there in the ether...

Now back to hibernating.

Our Ohio

I'm not a magazine person. In fact, I don't have a single magazine subscription in my name (The Husband and the kids are a different story). "Our Ohio" is sent to us as a benefit of membership in the Ohio Farm Bureau, however, and I thoroughly enjoy its bi-monthly editions. It's a great way to learn about various local farms, vineyards, businesses, and events. It also has a recipe feature with each edition, where one ingredient (usually seasonal) is featured.

The reason I'm sharing this little treasure of information with you now, though, is because the November/December issue featured a couple of "alternative cooking" methods that is right up the alley of any homesteader. The recipe theme was campfire recipes (which you can find online at Our Ohio), which was preceded with a short, sweet article entitled "Fun With Campfire Cooking." There's also another article called "Fire it Up" about hearthside cooking lessons in Lucas County.


Unfortunately, I won't be doing any hearthside cooking anytime soon. That loverly picture to the left is my "hearth," a non-functioning, capped gas fireplace which we haven't even come close to restoring yet. After a dreadful Yuletide ice storm in our apartment years with 1-year-old twins in which our electricity (including our electric heat) was knocked out for days, we purposely looked for a home with a fireplace... just in case. Once we had it, however, The Husband was so worried that the twins would be burned that he had his step-dad cap the gasline going to the fireplace and remove the fixture. Then the worry was that the twins would climb the chimney, so our fireplace was turned ever so stylish with the addition of a lovely baby gate to the front. That was a long way of telling you that I don't have the proper equipment for hearthside cooking. ;)

Annnnnnyway, check out "Our Ohio" if you have the chance, especially if you happen to, uh, be in Ohio. If you don't have access to the mag but the idea of hearthside/campfire cooking has intrigued you, check out The Magic of Fire by William Rubel for another jumping off point. Happy cooking!

Civic Duty--Done!

I've purposely kept this blog free of my political leanings as much as possible, which I hope you all appreciate. I'm not at all afraid of entering into political discourse, but this election has been so LONG and drawn out that I figure we all need a place where we can take a break. So, never fear, today's post is not about who I voted for or why, simply that I voted at all.

We voted quickly and easily today. Oh, how I love small towns! I had to wait about 5 minutes (maybe less) for a machine to open up, but that was it. The machine gave me no problems, and I checked the paper print to make sure that everything was cast correctly. Airius voted with me because he liked my candidate best, but Annie and Callie voted with their Daddy. We're all proudly sporting out stickers. I'd love to show you some adorable pictures of the kids taking part in democracy, but my camera battery died just as we were done voting. *sigh* I definitely need to pay closer attention to that.

The kids are both home from school today because their bellies aren't feeling completely well yet. I had to pick Annie up from school yesterday because she spent all but 15 minutes out of an hour and a half in the bathroom, so they won't let her come back until she's symptom free for at least 24 hours. The Husband's home too because, well, he has a flexible schedule and really wants to watch every. second. of. political. coverage.

Soooooo... that's what I'll be doing for the rest of the day. Cleaning up bodily explosions from my children and listening to non-stop, blaringly loud election coverage. Did I mention that The Husband is an old man? :)

Belated Beggar's Night Post

I didn't know if we were going to make the trick-or-treating rounds this year. The girls, The Husband, and I had all finally stopped vomiting, but now the girls were making explosions from the other end. Oy. I could easily envision the mess that would happen in front of some poor neighbor's house when we couldn't get back to the house in time...

But we decided to go when the girls seemed to be taking a break from illness. The Husband always insists that we make the hour drive out to his mother's house to trick-or-treat there, where he feels most at home and comfortable. At least this way his mom gets to see the kids all dressed up. This year we walked for about an hour. Normally, it's a much shorter jaunt, but the kids are getting older and are much more capable of convincing Daddy to keep going--er, I mean-- they're much more capable of making the walk.

As you can see, Annie was a witch, Airius was The Incredible Hulk (he's never even seen the movie or cartoon), and Callie was Tinkerbell. Traditionally, our costumes are homemade, but this year was different. The Husband, my great eco-saboteur, decided to buy costumes for Annie and Airius without asking me first. We already had the Tinkerbell costume, given to Callie by Daniel's mom for Christmas, I think. I'm not bitter, I swear. ;)


Finally, bags bulging with sugary goodness, we headed back to my mother-in-law's home for a quick dinner and then... THE CANDY GORGE. Yes, I'm a bad mother. I don't often give my kids candy, and we're not a "dessert" type of family simply because I haven't perfected my cooking/baking skills yet. So, the holidays are a sweet time for my kids. Beggar's Night especially, I let them eat their fill of candy (after dinner, of course) with no intervention from Mom. Airius is always the first to stop and Annie is always the last. After the initial gorge, though, Mommy confiscates all candy and, with a wave of my magic wand, it all disappears. :)

What do I do with all the candy? I snitch a few of my childhood favorites, and the Husband, who has a huge sweet tooth, eats his fill. I sort through for things that will last awhile and stash that in a secret place (secret from The Husband AND the kids) to stuff stockings at Yule where the gorge will be repeated.