Where's my catalogs?!!

Everyone is getting their garden porn except me! (she says with a whine and stomping feet!) Where, oh where are you Baker Creek Catalog I covet so this time of year?   Look below, it's pathetic this year: on the top of the photo are the tons of what I call the "junk" catalogs, and below that, only 2 have arrived that I look forward to for real inspiration and ordering.  

Needless to say, I hopped online and actually requested a copy of the Baker Creek catalog.  Their site says if you haven't received one by now and are a regular customer, they apologize and please re-order, so if you are one who relies on that catalog for your "adult entertainment" and haven't gotten it yet, you aren't alone :)

In lieu of vegetable seed art, I present you with this lovely:  there's really nothing better than a lamb gyro smothered in tzatziki and feta, mmmmmmm!

Look fast before I delete it, a photo of me!  I just had to show off one of the awesome scarves I got for Christmas!  This one was made by hubby's sister and the colors are divine, and I'll have to post another photo one day of the gorgeous twist cowl my other SIL knitted for me, I'm a lucky girl this year, handmade gifts are the best, and I hope we have enough cold days so I can enjoy them!

Random:  A boy and his dog...

Note to self: more RED peppers need to be harvested this coming summer!   Don't you feel bad for the lone red pepper in that stir fry?

I don't really want to start making lists and ordering until I get those few catalogs that I always wait on, but I finally got out "The Famous Binder" and am ready to dig in and start inventory!

I keep a planting calendar with notes every year, something is telling me with the way the climate has been the past year I should just burn it, eh?!

Picture catch up...

The weather here is rainy and chilly, kind of has me in a funk!  Doing more things related to organizing rather than what I wanted to do, which is garden planning.  I am trying to get back into regular blogging, even if I have nothing earth shattering to report, however!  I know that before we know it, we'll all be having tons of things to report on with seed starting and spring planting coming up, so that keeps me hopeful.

One good thing about dreary weather... comfort food!

Potato Soup and Biscuits

Here's a good one from the other day...

Yep, that's snow - we went from 65º one day, these pathetic flakes the next, then up to 71º the next!

Spotted at Finn's school the other day... Finn introduced me to "the new kid" at lunch, my mouth was agape as I met this kid who sat down with his salad and even ate it!  With the lunchroom filled with McDonald's bags, Chick Fil-A, "Lunchables", strawberry milks and other horrifying stuff I wanted to cry seeing this, gives me hope that there are indeed other parents out there who care enough to teach their kids, and that the kids are actually listening!

And with the new year, change is in the air!

That's my thick old mop before...

and after!

Not sure why I even grew it out, other than laziness.  I think this was probably the longest my hair has been since age 4?  I don't even own any "power tools" for hair, so it's not like I ever did anything with it other than the same old ponytail every day.  Tired of washing it and having it still be wet that evening, tired of it in my face, tired of hair in the drain, hair on my shirt, blech, I was not cut out for long hair, so it's gone!

I am finally out of my lazy stretch I think, I actually have bread in the oven!  Hope this is the start of a new season of motivation :)

Happy Birthday, Finnegan!

After the ordeal we went through to have Lochlann, never in our wildest dreams did we think we would ever be so blessed with a repeat performance, but we were - and his name is Finnegan!  Our little guy turns 7 today!  Lucky for you readers this won't take an hour to read, since most of my photos are jumbled up after what happened to the old computer, but I did find a few!

Everything was funny to him, he was a very happy guy :)

Finn makes us laugh, even when he's not trying!

Thanks for being a good sport about all the getups, pumpkin!

We thought we were geniuses when you were naughty and we put you in the "time-out" boots so you couldn't walk off... you even thought that was funny!  I guess it was :)

 

Thank you for being "the one that eats his vegetables".  Your creativity with Mr. Potato Head parts is legendary.

 

 Thanks for keeping Loch busy answering all your questions, mommy's brain needs a break every now and then!

Also legendary:  your sense of style...

Remember your first snowman?  The one that was twice your height and you told mommy you made it "all yourself"?  Well, it's awesome... too bad daddy and Loch didn't help you :), they would have had fun.

We were amazed with the ease and speed in which you embraced the "at the cabin" filth mentality, I hear there is an ice fishing shack reserved with your name on it already!

You love your brother fiercely, even if you won't admit it.  Guess what?  He loves you too even though he won't admit it, either.

You have a patience level no child should have to endure, waiting for daddy's deployments to end.  We are so proud of you, and the best part of daddy's deployment is coming home to you and your brothers' happy faces.

As a blogger, I have to say thank you also for being so darn photogenic!

You are the best kind of garden helper, one that actually eats what you grow!

...but you are still weird for eating all that basil and parsley when we are working out there!  It seriously looks like caterpillars attacked my plant after you spend 5 minutes with it.

p.s.  I apologize for making you wear Crocs, that was before I realized how stupid they were :)

You dig the best holes.  I know, I know, I'm supposed to bury those tomatoes deeply, right?!

You are an excellent student, you love your brother (mostly), love your family fiercely, you are kind, you love your dogs, you are creative, funny, and generally a fun guy to be around.  I can't wait to see what the future holds for you!

Now you are 7 and you dress yourself a little better but you have no front teeth.

Thanks for taking us all for a ride on the Finnegan train, can't wait to see where we'll go next!

It's really growing!

I think I have mentioned it before, but our fall/winter so far have been terrible weather-wise for growing fall stuff, even though it was 28º this morning, Saturday it was 70º!  I had all but given up on my lettuces ever sprouting, but we finally have liftoff! 

As long as it doesn't warm up and bake them to death again we just might get half a salad for one person...

The rest of the garden is an absolute mess.  I'm coming out of the funk I've been in and starting to look forward to cool days spent working on cleaning it all up out there.  Things are growing despite my inattentiveness, however...

The scallions above I was too lazy to pull, but now we are enjoying pulling up nice sized onions from them :)

Did somebody say it's January?  You'd never know it from all the DILL sprouting from fallen seed!  If I had known it was going to be so warm I would have tried winter cukes LOL... I can never seem to time that dill with the cukes... or the cilantro with the tomatoes for that matter.

And this?  I don't even remember what it is, Texas something or other... citrus outside in January?!

Speaking of messes... how is everyone doing on all the home canning consumption?  I bet I win for messiest cabinet!  The canning supplies were all so neat and orderly in September, now everytime I do dishes I am just flinging empty jars and lids into there, I think I better organize it before I have broken glass to pick up!

As far as New Year's Resolutions go, I've got nothing spectacular.  I have barely even had time to register that it's a new year yet.  I'm thinking the usual, finances, budgeting, garden, family time... rinse and repeat - Happy New Year!

I wasn't prepared to post tonight but wow - did anyone else watch Discovery Channel's first episode of  "Alaska: The Last Frontier"?  I normally never post links to video or tv since I myself find some of the stuff droning on about being "green" and "sustainable" to be lacking in any true substance and I just get annoyed by all the "talk but no walk", but these folks are the real deal - no running water, 600 acres of wild frontier, plenty of hunting and firewood and smart parents and children.  Unfortunately, I spent the first part of the episode flipping through magazines and not really paying attention, (my expectations of reality shows have soured the past few years!) but after what caught my attention the latter part I will definitely be going back to watch it in its entirety!  This family is truly self sustainable on large acreage in Alaska, and after the real-deal humane and heartfelt butchering scene where they butcher the 17 year old family milk cow in order to save the meat since it surely wouldn't make it through the winter, I feel so much joy in that there really are regular people out there practicing real world ethics, not just for the sake of "appearance".  Sometimes I get very frustrated by the portrayal of "tv & magazine ethics" and just long for real world stories, that's why I like homesteading blogs :)  Anyway, check your listings, I'm sure they will rerun it,  or find out if you can watch it online, I haven't checked yet, but do it quickly since I'm sure some organization will try to get this off the air (we know who).  As a family who has ties to both Alaska and Minnesota, I found this show to be very true to a harsh northern get-it-all done quick, summer's short, hunting/homesteading/hard work kind of life, and the family portrayed look like some of the most sane people I've seen yet on a tv reality show, I'm sure America's typical tv audience will not appreciate it though, right?!







Interestingly enough, I found out just now the featured family is the singer Jewel's extended family, with the patriarch of the family in the show being her father.

A Quiet Christmas

Although we were sad to not be traveling home to Minnesota this year, there is always this to be thankful for...

At least we weren't part of the throng of cars trying to leave the Beach last week!

Instead, I used up a lot of my home canned tomatoes and sauce, peppers and onions to make a big batch of chili.  Low stress, and we ate off it all weekend!  The kids were very happy to see that Santa could still find them even here in Virginia LOL.

Yesterday we had a great day out riding on some of the nearby trails.

The weather was a fantastic 48º, perfect for riding.  I'm hoping those higher temps will stay away for awhile now, I don't care for warm winters at all -  it was 76º last Thursday!

It's raining and windy today so I'm using the time to catch up on the extra helping of laundry Santa seems to have left me, but am hoping to get sewing or reading this week, and to go out and check to see if the greens I planted are going to do anything.  The past couple plantings didn't work out at all, with either rain washing the seeds away, or having them sprout in nice 55 degree temps only to have them yell "uncle" when the next few days rose to almost 80.  I'm giving up for the remainder of the season out there and will be planning for springtime instead very soon!  Hope you all had a great holiday!

Merry Christmas!

Much love to all of you this Christmas Eve!