Apple Hand Pies

 Whenever I have pastry made for baking I always have this urge to make little hand pies with it but I never follow through thinking it's going to be way to much work fiddling around with them. Not long ago though when I was grocery shopping I found this cute little mold for making apple shaped hand pies that would be just perfect for using with the apples we had left from picking and I knew my daughter would love it to :)

 With our chilled pastry and floured rolling pins in hand we started rolling and placing our dough in the press.

 Why do these little things always look like they are going to make the job so simple but it's never quite so?! The instructions said to use the outside of the press like a cookie cutter to get apple shaped pastry pieces that you then laid inside with the filling and  pressed together to make your hand pie. 

Of course this totally didn't work when the pastry started to slide into the indentations on the inside of the press while needing the strength of He-Man to make the crimped edges show up. All this was definitely giving me flashbacks to a pierogi maker I tried using years ago that squeezed all of the filling into a doughy balloon that got stuck in the crack of the press making an awful mess *grin*.

Needless to say we tossed those instructions in the trash can! LOL.

In the end we just cut our pastry into rectangular shapes and layered them in the press with our sliced apple filling sandwiched in between and it worked out so much better :) L rolled and filled while I pressed them as hard as I could until we ran out of pastry.

 

Oh my goodness were they delicious!!! We sprinkled a bit of cinnamon sugar on top before baking them and when they came out of the oven and cooled enough so that we could hold them they were nice and firm and the perfect treat for a chilly fall afternoon.... not sure how soon I'm going to attempt making them again though *grin*.

Hugs,

Rosina

Drawstring Bags, Stamps & Jute

 Every year we participate in a wonderful Waldorf themed holiday stocking stuffer swap with families all around the world and this year was no exception! We made 10 sets of hand carved winter stamps full of acorns, snowflakes, gingerbread men and snowmen to send in little handmade muslin drawstring bags stamped with one of the stamps found inside each bag :)

They turned out even cuter than I had envisioned with their little jute drawstrings *grin*.

 We finally got them all packaged up earlier this week and sent our box of goodies on their way down to the US and in a couple of weeks our box will make its way back to us full of new surprises :) In past years we have received beeswax candles & decorations, aprons with wood burned wooden spoons, playsilks in seasonal colors, gnomes, knitted animals and so many more wonderful things. 

Are you participating in a seasonal swap? I would love to know what you are making :)

Hugs,

Rosina

Celebrating Martinmas

Yesterday we celebrated Martinmas or St. Martin's day :)

I wanted to replace last year's paper mache leaf lanterns with some pretty new star shaped ones so we spent the morning cutting out our cardboard stars, gluing in yellow vellum paper to create the star shaped windows and adding wire handles so that we would be able to carry them on our lantern walk in the evening. They turned out beautifully and were perfect to go along with the special story I told them of needing a little home to keep Autumn's spark safely within during the dark and cold months :)

As it grew dark and we had finished our dinner I had each of the children bring their lantern so I could place a bit of spark (LED candles) in each of their lanterns and off we went through the dark. It was pouring rain outside so we weren't able to go outdoors this year but instead we turned off all of the lights in the house and made our way from one end to the other a few times singing our lantern songs *grin*. So much fun!

We made a special recording of the song we used this year so that we could look back next year and I thought it would be nice to share it along with the words with all of you as well :) The original German song is called "Ich geh mit meiner Laterne" and this is an English version of it. (You will have to click through to my blog to see it if you are reading this via email)

I go outside with my lantern, my lantern goes with me
Above the stars are shining bright, down here on Earth shine we.
The cock does crow, the cat meows, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.
‘Neath heaven’s dome till we go home, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.

I go outside with my lantern, my lantern goes with me
Above the stars are shining bright, down here on Earth shine we.
So shine your light through the still dark night, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom
‘Neath heaven’s dome till we go home, la bimmel, la bammel, la boom.

As I looked for the tune to sing it to I actually came across quite a few versions but really liked this one and you can even find a video that shows the sheet music to go along with it here :) The other song that we sang was "Glimmer Lantern Glimmer" and you can hear it in a video here.

 The sunlight fast is dwindling,
My little lamp needs kindling.
Its beam shines far in darkest night,
Dear Lantern, guard me with your light.

Happy Martinmas!

Rosina

Hello Fall ~ Apple Picking

 Fall is definitely settling in for an extended stay :)

The leaves are turning beautiful reds, oranges and golds, the mornings are cool and crisp, even the evening fog that creeps through the fields at dusk has reappeared but the real highlight is that the apples are finally ready!

 With our baskets in hand we made our way down the lane to the apple trees that my dad has been tending for over a decade.

 Why is it that the best apples are always out of reach :)

 With an apple eye view L got busy picking the biggest apples she could find...

 and passing them down to her brother...

 who was waiting below hoping to fill up his basket first :)

 For the really hard to reach apples my dad has this really great tool that has rake like prongs on the tips to catch around the stems of the apples and then it pulls them off the branches and they land gently on the foam pad inside the basket :) So much better than trying to shake them off of the tree *grin*.

 The children waddled home under the weight of their apple basket with giant smiles on their faces and thoughts of all the ways that we were going to be able to eat them.

 Apple muffins, apple pancakes, apple slices dipped in nut butter, apple pie...

oh it's apple heaven *grin*.

Hugs,

Rosina

Happy Belated Canada Day

Our Canada Day weekend was spent camping :)

Hubby packed up our trailer along with the two boys and headed out to the lake to meet his parents while L and I stayed home so that we could attend my sister's baby shower on Saturday and then join them the following day. When we arrived at the lake on Sunday they had everything set up.

The boat had been carried down to the waters edge and they had been enjoying rowing it around when the water was calm enough. It got quite windy at times creating to many waves so in between the rain showers and windy bouts they would jump into their life jackets and dash in and out :)

The kids had fun hunting for old train rails and spikes that they played with while we were there. In the past the logging companies used to bring their logs right down to the lake where they were dumped into the water. In fact quite often when we travel this way we will see the loaded trains full of logs being shuttled in and out of the forest as they still move them by train today.

Of course we couldn't have a Canada Day without any sort of fireworks! To our delight the neighbors let off a few...

and the kids had fun waving gigantic sparklers around in the dark :)

I hope you all had a great Canada Day and to all my lovely American friends I wish you a wonderful Independence Day tomorrow!

Hugs,

Rosina

Summer Solstice 2012

As we celebrated Summer Solstice it was a perfect sunny day, kissed by a light breeze as it swayed through the fields of tall grass surrounding our home. The wildflowers were all bursting heavenward in multitude and beauty as their new life that had sprouted in early spring is finally coming into its fullest :)

And just in time to!

We picked clover, buttercups and daisies to decorate our sun shaped solstice cake with.

The children enjoyed cooking hotdogs over hot embers as the fire burned low...

and warming toes chilled by running through damp grass that wasn't quite dry from the wet days before.

No one really wanted to wreck our cake by cutting into it but you know that didn't last long *grin*. I think a few even had seconds and perhaps thirds LOL.

But all the extra energy was quickly burned off by having a snowball fight in June. Oh how I love the fluffy ball shaped clusters of flowers that my snowball tree provides and they really do make for a fun summer snowball fight :)

 

As the sun finally dipped below the mountain range, streaking the sky with pinks and purples, we waited for the darkness to come so we could stoke up our fire and sit in its glow...

keeping warm, roasting marshmallows and setting our sticks aglow :)

Hugs,

Rosina

May Day Celebration

I am just bursting with joy today as I reflect on the amazing amount of fun that we had yesterday sharing in the celebration of May Day and the welcoming of Spring with a nearby Waldorf school that so generously allowed us to join in with their families.

We had never been to the park that we were all to meet at and I wasn't quite sure what to expect as we made our way down a gravel path leading behind the industrial buildings along the roadside. Not far along we crossed a wooden bridge with a small creek running below it and just beyond was a wide open field surrounded by forest.

It was as if we had stepped out of the city and directly into a country field as the surrounding brush and trees closed out all signs of the bustling streets beyond.

  

There were colorful blankets placed around the field with a cluster of children and parents in the center busily working together creating flower wreaths to be worn in their hair. The children and I found strings of ivy that had been cut into long lengths just perfect for creating the sturdy bases of our wreaths and we settled on a rainbow colored blanket to weave our ivy and flowers into wonderful floral creations to wear :)

It was so cute to see all of the little ones running around and playing in the sunshine with their flower crowns on and as everyone finished up we joined in a large circle around the May pole to get started. The littlest children in kindergarten were first as they sang and weaved around one another, sometimes into each other, but so bright were their faces as they performed what they had learned for the special day.

As each group of children took turns skipping around the May pole and winding up the ribbons in different patterns it was finally time for any visitors or parents with tots to join in and my little guy in the photo above was beyond excited as he had thought he wasn't going to get a turn *grin*.

My oldest son even took part in one of the rounds with his crown of flowers upon his head :) 

He's 13 years old and growing up so quickly but I'm so thankful that he still enjoys joining in with the younger two and has fun doing it.  

When all of the children had taken a turn around the May pole it was time for just the adults to try something a little trickier. We were all numbered either a '1' or a '2' and then both groups moved in different directions around the pole as we weaved over and under one another as the waldorf teachers sang White Coral Bells. What a challenge that proved to be *grin*. Once in a while there was a little mix up but we all giggled and smiled as we fudged through it while creating a lovely braid down the May pole.

With the festivities winding up for the afternoon we shared a lovely snack of fresh fruits and veggies, raw brownies and other goodies and made our way back home where the children have been talking about it ever since :)

Hugs,

Rosina

Betty Beefsteak & Sir-Loin Alot

It would seem that I've been sleeping, breathing and obsessing over calves for the last 4 days. Monday morning the little heifer was not quite herself and was completely uninterested in her bottle of warm milk which was a huge sign that something wasn't right and her bowel movements had been looking pretty runny. I checked the cupboard for the emergency electrolyte and mineral replacement powder that I try to have on hand all the times for calves that get the runs to help replace what their bodies loose with all of the loose stool and I was so happy to see that I had some.

By the time I returned she was lying down making little moo noises as she lay her head on my lap and really did not want to get back up. I was really getting worried that I was going to loose her :( So I spent most of the day in and out of the barn trying to get her to take sips of the electrolytes which was going painstakingly slow but a little is better than none. You shouldn't underestimate how fast one of these little guys can dehydrate but I had one more little trick up my sleeve to help her to feel better and that was to give her 30cc's of pepto bismol with one of those little baby medicine syringes every 4 hours. Some people swear by using pepto for calves with the runs and others will say it's an old wives tale and doesn't do anything at all but I have used it a few times in the past and it always does the trick!

Later that evening she was ready to take her bottle of milk again, drank a little more than she had managed in the morning and was back on her feet again. Yay! Over the next few days we continued our regime of electrolytes and pepto and I am so relieved to say that today her appetite is back and growing in leaps and bounds and her bowel movements are all back to normal :)

Sometimes the change from being moved to a new home, or the switch from fresh cow's milk to a milk replacer can trigger the upset or even the stress from so many new faces and hands wanting to pet her can do it to them but all is well in the barn again and oh by the way that's her up in the first photo... Betty Beefsteak herself. All bright eyed and bushy tailed today as she bounced around *grin*.

Heehee, don't you just love her name?! Hubby came up with them :) Well actually first Betty Beefsteak was going to be T-bone but we didn't think it was girly enough and the little boy has been named Sir-Loin Alot :)

There never seems to be enough milk for the little guy either! He makes the cutest little face when he's finished with the tip of his tongue hanging out...

but watch your backside or front side for that matter *grin*. When the bottles are empty they sometimes look for more and bump you in some not so nice places LOL. Yeah, we're going to have to break them of that habit :)

Hugs,

Rosina

Catching Up & A New Magazine

Somehow the few days I had intended to stay off the computer during the Easter holiday have turned into nearly 2 weeks! The days are flying by me at great speed but we had a wonderful holiday baking cookies, making and sharing in big family dinners, chasing down clues hidden all over our property for our easter hunt and getting ready for the new members of our family to arrive :)

No we're not having another baby although I really really want one *grin*, but we're adopting two new baby calves just barely a week old that we're going to bottle feed and raise. I think I may be more excited than the kids!! I just melt over their little doe eyes LOL. So we've been cleaning the cow barn and doing some repairs to it that were needed and as soon as hubby gets home from work we're going to load up the trailer and pick them up. Yay :)

I had wanted to share some pictures with you tonight as well but for some reason Flickr's new photo program Aviary and I are just not getting along and it wouldn't work for me :( I'm crossing my fingers that it's just some sort of glitch and I can get back to business soon but in the meantime I wanted to share with you this really great homesteading e-magazine I found.

The Homestead Community Post is a brand new online magazine published by the Harrison family over at Homestead Drying Racks and right now they are offering it as a free preview for anyone and totally worth checking out!

It's 40 pages long and looks just like a professionally laid out magazine unlike some of the newsletter type mags I've seen and it is full of stories, helpful tips and tricks, recipes and more. You can click on the link below to go directly to PDF of the magazine or save it to your computer or ipad to read at your leisure and check out their website as they are having a fun giveaway to kick of their magazine to :)

Homestead Community Post ~ Spring 2012

Hugs,
Rosina

'NO to Enbridge' Pipeline Protest

Today we were radicals and joined in with fellow protesters at the Comox 'Our Coast, Our Decision' rally against the proposed Northern Gateway Pipeline :)

There was an amazing turnout with people coming in by the bus loads from all ends of the island, Vancouver, Powell River, Quadra and so many more.

We had a great time cheering and singing, listening to the speakers and checking out all the fun signs people brought.

One very special speaker was 11 year old Ta'Kaiya Blaney who is Sliammon First Nation. She created the song Shallow Waters in the youtube video below last year to bring about more awareness to the pipeline and you've got to listen to it. It's really good! I didn't know that she was going to be speaking but I'm glad that my son who is only two years older got to hear her speach as she is such an inspiration that being so young she is accomplishing and doing such amazing things.





I'll leave you with one last video tonight of all of us singing along today with Tina Filliponi :)

PS. if you are reading this via email you will probably have to hop over to my blog to see the youtube videos.

Hugs,
Rosina

Notes From The Garden

All of my tomato seedlings I planted February 10th have finally sprouted and are really starting to take off. I was a little worried when only half of the seeds sprouted in the first couple of days after planting and even a week later many had not yet broken through the soil. My seeds are quite old but they all finally popped out of the dirt and their true leaves have appeared. In the next couple of days I'll get them transplanted into larger containers, burying their stems deeply so new roots can grow where the stem is now covered.

The last four inches of snow that fell last week has finally melted and I can get out into the garden and start digging again! I can't complain though. The freezing and thawing helps lift the soil and loosen all of the weeds making the job so much easier :) I'm about half way there. Little by little I'm getting it done *grin*.

This weekend was Seedy Saturday and I found all sorts of goodies :)

There were loads of organic and gmo free seeds, mason bee cocoons and their houses, potted plants, fungi plugs, fruit and nut trees, seed potatoes, worm castings and bins, informational seminars and booths and so much more! I love seedy Saturday. I came home with new sprouting seeds, all my favorite salt spring island seeds, garlic heads for spring planting, organic seed potatoes, some really interesting magazines from the Certified Organic Association of BC and more.

Now I just have to map out my garden plan and figure out what I want to start next :)

If you're curious about what other gardeners are up to right now check out Ginny's garden journal link up and I'd love to know what you are planting, digging or dreaming of right now to *grin*.

Hugs,
Rosina