Bliss Beyond Naptime

New Beginnings

 It's such a monumental year for me; turning forty, weaning my last baby and wearing lipstick again. This has brought on much reflection on what my passions are and how to best celebrate them and share with family and community. It dawned on me that what I really wanted was a suped up blog. I asked the Universe to deliver me a Kyla Roma from the Freckled Nest and the Universe delivered.

Kyla is so incredibly touched in this blog designing business and she turned my blog into what I've always envisioned but could never quite put my finger on and delivered this fabulously designed home for all my crafty musings. I can't express how truly happy I am with this look and layout!

Take some time and look around a bit. I have an exciting new navigation bar up there that will hold your hand over to my etsy shops, a stunning about page that Kyla whipped up that literally made me cry from happiness (it's very reminiscent of my wedding album and not just because of the wedding photo) and last but not least, my Start Dreaming page.

The Start Dreaming page is what I'm particularly excited about. Here you'll find more information on and sign ups for my first e-course, Backwoods Mama Spring Sew Camp, and also details on the dream consulting service I'm unveiling for the first time today.

Also coming down the New Beginnings pipe; my spring collection. It's mostly organic, custom dyed, all Backwoods, a little downtown and just about ready to show off. Just waiting now for this wintery blizzard to subside for a semi-spring flavoured photo shoot! Luckily, I can just sit here and stare at my new blog and I get all warm inside. Awwww~!

 

SS Wednesday - The Kath's Pajamas

Normally the SS in SS Wednesday stands for Sustainable Style but this week it also stands for Super Snotty thanks to the nasty cold Kale and I both caught this week. We've been laying low in our pj's all weekend, and been eating loads of chicken noodle soup and now we seem to be over the worst of it. 

But you can still be sick and look 'sick' (like cool, style-ly sick). Then I suppose my uniform these days fits the sustainable bill for this Wednesday feature:

pajamas: These are by far my favourite jammies. I bought both the fabic, a lucious organic stripped cotton flannel, and the pattern as well (which just so happens to be on sale right now!) over at Near Sea Naturals.

toddler: One of my favorite accessory by far. I get tonnes of compliments on this one. One hundred percent organic and locally raised. This one was a collaborative project between Craig and I. I like to think I did most of the work though.

 

I was just about to write 'well, Craig and Edie seemed to dodge this drippy bullet' but then Edie just piped up "I think I'm catching a cold now". It was inevitable, really. This was a messy one! Need to whip up some more Homemade Chicken Noodle Soup. This will be batch number three this week. It's so yummy the kids devour it and, as the South American Proverb goes, good broth resurrects the dead. This is how I make it:

When I first notice Kale coming down with the cold I saw that we were super low on our chicken broth stash in the freezer so I roasted a chicken for supper that night so I can make more.

After supper I picked out any leftover meat from the carcass and stored it in the fridge. The chicken carcass I put in a large stock pot and covered it completely with water. I then bring it to a boil, turn it to low, cover and leave it at a slow simmer until morning.

In the morning I saute in a large pot a chopped onion at low heat for about twenty minutes and sprinkle with salt. I then add chopped carrots and celery. After a few more minutes I pour the strained stock over the veggies to fill the pot. I bring to a boil while I chop a small potato. Throw the potato in and leave uncovered at a simmer for about twenty minutes.

Meanwhile, it's noodle making time! Sift together one cup of flour and a teaspoon of salt. Stir together one egg and a half cup of cold water. Make a well in the flour mixture and pour egg mixture in there. Stir together with a spatula.

I don't have a spaetzle maker so I just do what my mama always did. I place the dough on a cutting board that is without a ridged edge and kind of cut and scrape it off in small bits with the back of a knife into a pot of boiling salted water. Boil for about two minutes after all the noodles have been immersed and then drain and rinse with cold water. 

Place noodles in your soup pot, along with some leftover chicken chunks and season with salt and pepper. Then say 'see ya' to that nasty bug! Do you have any cold busting tricks you want to share?

Craft Fun and Cow Puns

Ugh. I got a cold. My first one of the year so that's not so shabby I suppose. First Kale got hit now it's my turn. See what happens when you leave the homestead? How about we take this opportunity to see what I've been busy with on the three major crafting fronts, hmmmm?

In the knitting basket: I'm just finally getting around to stitching up my 2010/2011 sweater. I can smell spring in the air (or at least the defrosting cow patties)so the challenge is to finish it in time to wear it some while it's still technically winter.

This is the beginning of  the Oatmeal sweater. I was inspired by Soulemama's Oatmeal. She made one in the summer because she's smart like that. And, yes, kind of lame, but I had to make it in the exact same colour as her. I just fell in love with the whole shebang though and I'm totally going through a yellow kick.

Out of the sewing room: Finally the winter pink corduroy pillow covers I've been promising the family since, oh, November. I snatched away the spring/summer pillows, Mommy Dearest style again, saying they were not to be seen again until May and Mama's going to hop right on making us some lovely winter pillows. This never happened leaving Craig and I tug and warring over the two measly pillows I left on the couch all winter long. Now we have four whole pillows to lounge on while we feed each other grapes again ~ sweet comfort and harmony. Yay, crafting saved our marriage again!

Through the spinning wheel: I can't keep my fingers off that organic merino roving! Here I am spinning more up into that softly spun thick and thin yarn that's now available in my shop. I want to whip up enough so I can knit up a scarf to replace my beat up hay covered one I've been wearing  when I go to milk sweet Daisy.

Speaking of milking, I've been playing with that shaky footage I spoke of on the vlog episode and it turned out not too shabby after some fancy editing (using Muvee). I find milking super relaxing and watching the video I kind of get that way again. So, see if you can get yourself in some kind of lotus position without hurting yourself, or at least sit cross-legged, place your hands on your knees, palms faced up, thumbs and pointer fingers softly pressed together, turn up the corners of your lips towards your ears ever so subtlety and take a moment to bliss out:

 

This Moment ~ Spinnning Like Mama

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

Sustainable Style Wednesday - Backwoods Mama

Can I just tell you how much fun I'm having with this new SS Wednesday feature? It's extra fun now that I have the timer setting figured out on my camera and have mustered up the gumption to lug out the tripod. What a marriage saver!

 

Here's a little sneak peek into the spring collection I have brewing up . The theme is Backwoods Mama. The philosophy is a mama who is tied to the homestead with hermit tendancies but is still compelled to express her playful sense of style. Particulary, Backwoods Mama likes to drape herself in handmade threads made up of sustainable or reclaimed threads and, in some cases, custom dyed to her liking. Spring collection debuting soon!

Hat: my good 'ol ganomy

Smock: my soon to be debuted spring utility smock - my own design! Good for keeping the rest of your hermit gear clear of critter mucous and moonshine dribbles.

Dress: an organic cotton ruched empire waist dress; also part of the While Jupiter Dreams spring 2011 collection soon to be unvieled. Hee, hee.

Pants: some culottes I whipped up with some thrift score velvet. Best score ever. I get so many compliments on these pants.

Boots: tsubo

Scarf: I've had this forever now. I spun it up with some of my flora yarn way back. It contains about two pounds of hay in it now though because it kind of turned into my milking scarf.

 

And there I am just sitting in the forest. With my tripod. Luckily I'm part Backwood Mama or else the neighbours would think I'm crazy! Leave a link to your sustainable style if you want to play along. I'm looking at you, Dana Z!

Happy Vlogentine!

Happy Valentine's Day to you all! We've been celebrating all week with heart art, a couple of failed attempts at heart shaped cookie making and then Smokey Sunday rolled around which turned out to be the coup de grace with a stellar stack of heart-shaped pancakes. I  read on some famous blog somewhere a couple of years ago (can anyone remember?) about a technique to make shaped pancakes and, finally, I gave it a whirl. Well, more like a squirt.

The original tutorial calls for a squirt bottle which you use to drizzle the pancake batter into whatever shape you want and then once that outline sets in a bit, you dollap the rest of the batter to fill in the middle. I don't have a squirt bottle but I do have a cake decorator (he works alongside my interior designer - kidding) and I poured the batter in that there tube and squeezed it on.

For new readers, every Sunday is  Smokey Sunday in parts because we whip up a pancake feast some sort of pig product. One of which makes the whole house smoke up. This results in pretty sunbeams busting through the windows for the rest of the day making the house seem extra biblical on this glorious day of rest.

Here we go,  I have a little surprise for you. My first attempt at a video blog post ~ or vlog, if you will. Ugh! I'm having a heart palpitation from the oncoming stage fright from sharing this nerdy side of myself. Just going to hit 'publish' now and see what happens. Off to enjoy a glass of wine now to take the edge off. Enjoy!

 

 

 

This Moment - Painting With Friends

{this moment} - A Friday ritual. A single photo - no words - capturing a moment from the week. A simple, special, extraordinary moment. A moment I want to pause, savor and remember. ~Amanda Soule

SS Wednesday: Uggin' It

Wow, you can really see the sleep deprivation! Kale's teething, or something, and wakes up during the night like a little puppy asking for something to chew on ("Toes? Toes?" ~ that's him asking for toast). So, this is day three of spacey no sleep feelings but day one of having warm toes (not toast) again. I've been living in my Sorrels since the snow's been knee high pretty much all winter here but some paths are wearing down enough that I can luxuriate in my Ugg puppies once again.

Speaking of puppies, thank Sweet Baby Jesus for our decision to put up deer fencing on three acres surrounding the house. Before the magic of fencing we had a herd deer thinking they were our newly adopted pets and the neighbour's dog repeatedly kept coming over to steal just one of my Uggs from the porch. Yeah. That was precious.

hat: my good 'ol Gretel

undershirt: my winter staple from Kootenai Clothing Company. Made from merino wool. I honestly feel naked without it. Like, I'm so cold I might as well be naked.

dress: I made this using a vintage pattern from the seventies and some chambray fabric I scored at a yard sale

scarf: I made a long, long time ago when I was still a city slicker. My friend Amy owned a yarn store and I signed up for a crochet class. This is what we made in the class. Might I add I was the slowest one to learn there.

leggings: I'm on a legging making kick! I'm not kicking your leg! This one is made from a lemon-coloured jersey. I just put some organic ones up on my Jupiter shop that are suped up with built-in leg warmers, just so you know.

legwarmers: from lovely, lovely Artish from such a fun swap we had last year

boots: my scrumptiously warm Uggs. Now available with no dog slobber!

Custom Batt Giveaway!

Don't you just want to lick it? A seriously talented fiber artist, and online buddy of mine, is wanting to give away a custom carded fiber batt to one of my readers! That means any colour or colours you want.  Shannon, who blogs over at the Spun Monkey, is hoping to raise awareness to a dream project of hers and how you may even be able to help her actualize it. She wants to start up a fiber studio in her home at rural Vermont. She's so crafty that she's going the route of Kickstarter to help make things happen. Here's her Kickstarter page. Kickstarter is an awesome site with the concept to help fund creative and lofty endeavors, and, in their own words: is powered by a unique all-or-nothing funding method where projects must be fully-funded or no money changes hands.

Shannon says, "Some of the rewards for backers I'm offering are handspun yarns, hand dyed fibers, yarn and fiber club subscriptions (yarn in your mailbox every month...yay!) and such-like. Every little tiny bit helps...even $5 gets ya somethin'. So, you know, everybody wins! Wheeeeee!"

Shannon says "Wheeee!" alot; just like me! So, please leave a comment below (feel free to just write "Wheeee!" if you wish) to enter the draw that will close on Friday morning, 9:00 PST (international breve drinking time). Winner will be announced Monday morning. At breve time sharp!

Thank you, comments closed now! I'll announce the winner on Monday morning. Have a great weekend!

True Random Number Generator Min: Max: Result: 11 Powered by RANDOM.ORG

That makes the 11th comment (not including mine), kristieinbc! I'll email you right quick. Congratulations and have fun!Love, Kathy in BC :)

Hope This is to Your Viking

 There is a little boy, same age as Kale, whose blond braids are screaming for a Viking hat to go with. I only wish the horns turned out a little, um, perkier?  I used the Chili Con Carne pattern available here for free with some modification for toddler sizing by casting on 88 stitches at the beginning.

Viggo, the soon to be Viking, is my best friend's boy. Cheechum is one of the most beautiful, angelic and alluring women you could ever hope to encounter.

I remember meeting her when Edie was only about three months old at an attachment parenting playgroup. She was standing across the room with her three month old daughter attached to her. I thought it was so cute because Cheechum had her signature 'do' on (kind of like Princess Lea buns  but higher up on the head, like cute ears) and she was looking around the room looking, as usual, beautiful and regal like a blonde native princess. And then, out of the sling her little daughter's head was poking out - complete with matching hair do and expression. It was so cute and intruiguing! So I had to go over right away and introduce myself and Edie. It was kind of like love at first sight.

We hit it off and quickly discovered we both had Craigs and only lived about a fifteen minute walk from each other. This led to many long walks with our babies in sling saying "well, my Craig this...", "well, my Craig that...".  Back and forth, back and forth. So much fun.

And then our family moved out here to the sticks but Cheechum and I continued our long chats on the phone. Like, alot. And then we we were pregnant with our second Craiglettes at the same time so the chats turned into daily 'so, what are you craving like crazy today?" and "if you were to spontaneously bust through my front door right now I would whip us up some...". Half the time I don't know what she's talking about because she's fancy foody like that, not to mention her vocabulary is big and good. See how homeschooled kids turn out?

Ugh! I miss you buddy. I'll see you in the spring. Hat's on its way. Love you so much!