right now, I AM

...thankful to be home with my backseat full of precious kid cargo.
236 kilometers (roughly 146 miles) later we have made a round trip to the city through heavy morning fog and icy conditions this evening. Everything is glistening outside tonight and we are sure to awake to a carpet of prickly white in the morning. What a pretty sight it will be :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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Yarn Along

A post of my current read and what is cast on my needles ~ Inspired by Ginny over at {Small Things}



I stumbled across Ginny's blog and her lovely 'yarn along' meme and it was the perfect inspiration to finally cast on some stitches and stretch my rusty knitting skills :)

I found this gorgeous chunky merino wool at the little yarn shop in the city and I thought the colors would be just perfect for a fall pixie hat for my little guy. So far I've only finished two rows of an alternating knit purl pattern that will make the ribbing of the hat but this is the first time my knitting has gone so smoothly in I don't know how many attempts. Maybe it's my new wooden knitting needles or maybe I've just learned to relax more while doing it *grin*.

The second part of the meme is to share what I'm currently reading and lately I am enamored with poetry. I've got an open copy of Moon Crossing Bridge which is full of beautifully haunting and heartfelt poetry by Tess Gallagher. If you get a chance check out some of the other yarn along participants. There are so many lovely blogs to peruse :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Think Globally... Act Locally

K's grade 6 social studies this year is all about being a good global citizen and how to "Think Globally and Act Locally" and it just happened that on Saturday the Plastic Pollution Coalition aired a live broadcast all day of it’s TEDxGreatPacificGarbagePatch conference. We both watched on and off throughout the day and it was SO INSPIRING to hear about how people around the world are banding together to end plastic pollution and just as equally scary to see just where our plastic garbage is ending up.

So we decided that we would start a project that would take us through recycling everything we possibly could and doing a weekly weigh in to see just how much plastic, tin, bottles and so on that we actually use every week. Through this we will be able to track our consumption, work on using less and help us to make smarter purchasing choices to further reduce our plastic waste!!

Our goal is to chart our findings with bar graphs from now until the end of May which is when we usually wrap up our school year and get everyone involved and caring about what is happening in our trash and shopping baskets. My 4 year old has been keeping tabs on what we are putting in the trash to make sure we don't accidentally throw away something we can recycle *grin*. It's great!

I love what J.D. Russo said..
"We need to raise CARE, instead of AWARENESS".

Everyone knows that they need to recycle, reduce, reuse and so on but we need to get more people to really feel it and to care about why they should be doing these things. If you've got a minute you should check out his short talk below... He's 14 years old by the way :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Sunday Lovelies

I just had to share with you the newest holiday issue of Inspired Ideas!!!! It's chock full of great Christmas crafts, printables and ideas :) The perfect eye candy for a Sunday afternoon. If you liked the first edition then you are going to love this one even more *grin*.

It was a rainy day here today so the kids and I snuggled up on the sofa with our blankies all afternoon and ate popcorn and watched the Sunday movie which happened to be the Princess Bride. I just love that movie :) I can't believe that we are already in November to! With the time change last night it put us in total darkness by 6pm this evening. It's definitely starting to feel like winter *grin*.

One of my winter projects that I want to tackle is brushing up on my knitting and teaching the children how to do it to. I know how to do the basic stitches but have a habit of knitting my stitches on the needles so tightly that I end up unable to get the next needle through them to go any further *grin*. I must have some unspoken inner tension that I try to work out while knitting! LOL. Small things is hosting a yarn along and I have been checking out the links and all of the fabulous things that others are up to and I can't wait to put needles to yarn so that I can join in to :) I really want to make some little elfin hats for the children so if you know of a pattern preferably free that shows how to make knitted elf shaped hats I would love to know :)

I hope you all had a wonderful Sunday.

Hugs,
Rosina

Rotkohl

I am enjoying the cabbage we picked from our garden earlier this week immensely! Well actually we all are *grin*. I brought one of the heads into the house right away for dinner. I had to strip away some of the outer leaves that were loose and bug bitten and extract a few little creatures but those are the joys of organic gardening LOL.

I was laughing to myself in the kitchen as I was cutting it in half because I was more interested in photographing it and studying the intricate pattern hidden within the head than getting down to business and chopping it up!

Hubby had just returned home from work and I had great plans of making Rotkohl and bratwurst as a special meal and with all my shutter bugging it ended up taking me a whole hour longer than I had planned to get things out on plates *grin*.

As a child I remember having the most delicious rotkohl that my Omi made and it has been years since I had tasted its sweet and slightly sour flavor so when I ran across a recipe for it I just had to try making it. Mmm, so good!! The kids all loved it to and I knew they would because it really is like eating candy *grin*. Regular sauerkraut made with green cabbage is quite strong and has a very strong vinegar taste but this is the completely opposite end of the spectrum and the kids don't question what it is then LOL.

I'm thinking that this will be the perfect way to use up all of the red cabbage so that I don't waste any of it. I have never canned cabbage though before so I still haven't found out exactly how I need to process it. If you have any experience canning rotkohl please let me know! This would be such a special treat to pull out for sunday dinners :)

Hugs,
Rosina

Pretty Potholders

Look at the gorgeous potholders that arrived in my mailbox yesterday :) My lovely swap partner ended up being from right here in Canada and I just LOVE what she created for me. The cute little quilted christmas tree is actually made with same fabrics that I used for my partners potholders! Great minds must think alike *grin*.

I adore the stitching on this potholder, the way it created hills and valleys around the little squares of fabric... so crazy creative!! It actually reminds me of a game of pac man *grin*. They are perfect for my kitchen as it is red and the polka dot binding is just fantastic :) I don't think that I can bear to use them though in fear of staining them so I think that I'm going to use them on my coffee table for resting a candle jar on. That way I can enjoy them all throughout the holiday season and they won't get any pot roast or pie stains on them *grin*.

Along with the potholders came this super cute little felt christmas tree decoration to. Again more stitching so lovingly placed all over it. It will be a perfect addition to the handmade ornaments that the children and I have made for the tree :)

Thank you so much Val!!!
Hugs,
Rsoina

Batten Down The Hatches

We've started to winterize the house.
Garden hoses have been removed and drained, water valves closed tight and a tool kit is being placed on the wall right above our water pump for emergency removal when the water starts to rise in our basement. The kids did a sweep of the yard and brought in any stray toys out in the field, bikes were brought closer to home and the ride on mower was tucked safely in the garage.

Last year we nearly lost the bikes and the mower when everything went under water and the swift current pulled things down river as we flooded on November 16th, and with the last flood in January still fresh in our minds we're being proactive and taking care of business now, not when the water is already knee deep *grin*.

Our house was built in the 60's and still has the original aluminum single pane windows which are notoriously drafty. Brrr is an understatement! They actually grow solid ice more than 2 inches thick on the inside of the windows during a cold snap and I remember as a kid sleeping with my touque on just to keep my ears warm LOL. So to combat the cold and prevent heat loss Hubby and I have been putting up shrink wrap plastic to act as a thermal barrier for the last couple of years. Awesome stuff!!

You run a strip of double sided tape all around the window frame and then stick on a piece of the plastic sheet....

...hit it with the heat gun and it magically shrinks up the plastic so it is super taut and it keeps the heat in. No more ice on the windows and no condensation either!!

The children's rooms and ours are all done along with our laundry room and now I'm considering seeing if we can find some that is large enough to do the giant bay windows in the family and dining rooms. We already notice the heat staying longer and it keeps us from burning to much wood which is our main heating source :)

I've got some old denim that I've been saving in my craft closet and over the next couple of weeks I think I'm going to sew some draft stops for the bottom of the doors starting with the porch door by my computer desk. My feet are freezing as I sit here *grin*.

How about you, what sort of things do you do to winterize your home?

Hugs,
Rosina

right now, I AM

...enjoying solitude, a moment, a snippet of time, entirely my own, no sounds, the room is empty, the beds are full and I can reflect on a day well spent.

Solitude is soul’s ‘solo’
Without it heart is hollow
~ Mula Veereswara Rao

Hugs,
Rosina

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Last Vegetables in the Garden

The nights are growing colder up our neck of the woods and with a few frosty mornings lately I thought that maybe we should head out to the garden and pick some of what is left still growing out there :)

Any bits of lettuce and radishes that were left behind have now gone to seed but we have a row of red cabbage that is flourishing in the wet weather. I think the kids were quite surprised to find that they had grown so big!

Everyone had a turn tearing off the large bug eaten outer leaves and pulling the heads, roots and all out of the soil :) Harvesting is sooo much more fun than weeding! I don't remember seeing so much enthusiasm when it was time to pull chickweed, thistles and other weeds *grin*.

Here's one of our larger ones. It must have been around 8 inches in diameter and quite heavy. As I had my little mini photo shoot with the kids you could see that their arms were getting quite tired from lifting them up *grin*. They're such good sports for their mama LOL.

All that's left now are the leeks. They are doing fabulously despite being completely surround by weeds *grin*. We stopped weeding a while ago. Part laziness, part master plan as the weeds were covering the soil and keeping it much more moist than when the dirt was open to the sun and then it dried out so quickly. Haha, see there is a method to my madness!!

I'm not quite ready to pull them all as there are way to many to just eat so I would have to blanch them for freezing so I think I might mulch them and see if I can prevent them from freezing and be able to pull them fresh from the garden as I need them :) How long do you leave your leeks in the garden?

Hugs,
Rosina

Preserving Fall ~ Canning Pumpkin

I couldn't bear to let our carved pumpkins go to waste so I had the kids bring them inside to me this morning and I got to work chopping them up for canning :) I just LOVE the smell of freshly sliced and grated pumpkin and this will let me enjoy this time of year just a little bit longer. There's nothing like cooking up a pumpkin pie in those dark winter days and triggering wonderful memories of fall :)

They have a bit of a tough skin to peel but as you get going I find that it gets easier. You start to get the feel for the right pressure you need to apply to your knife while keeping your loose fingers clear in case it slips *grin*. I'll admit it slipped on me once and it sort of give my heart a jump start! LOL.

I had already washed some of my pint canning jars in hot soapy water with a splash of bleach to disinfect them as they had been sitting in the crawl space all year so once I had all my pumpkin peeled I cut the pieces into 1 inch thick spears roughly the height of my jars but short enough to leave the 1 inch head space needed for a proper seal. What at time saver!! When it was time to pack the jars all of the spears were the exact height so there was no need to mess around trimming them to fit :)

I thought that I would share with you how I can pumpkin just in case you want to try doing it with your pumpkins to :) Pumpkins are a low acid vegetable and very capable of growing botulism if processed improperly so make sure you use a 'pressure canner' and NOT a 'water bath'.

When you have collected all of your jars, sealers, rings and have your pumpkin peeled and sliced it's time to prep you pumpkin for packing into your jars. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees Fahrenheit and place all of your pumpkin spears into a large stock pot and cover with water. Bring the pot to a boil and let it gently boil for a couple of minutes only. You will see that your pumpkin spears are starting to turn brighter orange as they start to cook and you only want them to be barely fork tender. You are going to pack your jars hot so even if you don't think they are quite done turn off the burner anyways because as you pack your jars the ones in the pot will continue to cook while waiting to come out.

Put on a clean pair of rubber gloves and grab a jar :) Your rubber gloves are going to be your body armor as you grab hot spears of pumpkin out of the pot and pack them in as tightly as you can vertically into your jars without mushing them. As soon as you have filled a jar, use a ladle and pour in enough of the hot water from your cooking pot to cover your pumpkin spears and make sure you still leave that 1 inch of empty head space at the top of the jar. Wipe the rim clean with a cloth so there are no bits of pumpkin where the sealer will touch and pop the jar into the oven to keep warm while you pack the rest of your jars :)

As soon as you have all of your jars filled with pumpkin and liquid it's time to get your sealers heated. I usually use Bernardin sealers which recommend that you only heat them to 180 degrees. Check the directions on your box as they may be different and if you happen to have old sealers you may find that they still say you can boil them for a full 5 minutes! I must say I sure do miss the old sealers that you could just pop in the pot and boil without worrying about over heating them *grin*. Once your sealers have been heated as directed, remove your jars form the oven with your rubber gloves on again and put on a hot sealer one at a time placing the finished jar each time directly into your pressure canner.

With your pressure canner fully loaded clamp on your lid, place it on your stove top burner, and turn the burner on high. As soon as your canner starts to 'vent' out of the steam pipe time it for a full 10 minutes and when the time is up shut the valve or place your weight on the steam pipe depending on which model of canner you have.

Process your batch at 10 pounds pressure for 65 minutes and that's it :)

Now if you don't have a pressure canner or just don't want to do all of that work *grin* then you can definitely freeze your pumpkin! I had way to much for my canner and I only wanted to do one batch so I grated up what was left of my pumpkin.

Our favorite cake and pie recipes call for two cups of pumpkin so I measured out 2 cups into each of my freezer bags so when I want to use one it will be exactly what I need :) You can also freeze pureed pumpkin, pumpkin butter and pumpkin pie filling as well.

Three pumpkins later I have 18 beautiful pints of canned pumpkin, 6 packages of grated pumpkin for the freezer and 1 blistered finger from all of the peeling *grin*. If you have a favorite pumpkin recipe that you would like to share with me I would love to hear about it :)

Hugs,
Rosina

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