Our Yellow House

Best. Cider. Ever.

 

Hundreds of pounds of apples had been collected by a handful of households and on Saturday were brought to the site of...

the Improv'd Buckeye, a beautiful, restored cider press. This machine was a sight to behold.

Labor was shared by all. Someone was cranking. Another pressing. A few were cutting the larger apples to size. The wheelbarrow full of the slop was emptied to the compost pile. Children were supervised. Cider was drunk. And this was no ordinary cider. The tastiest. The sweetest. The yummiest. Best. Cider. Ever.

Matt made a yeast starter and brought it to inoculate the cider on the spot. We should have hard cider in about five weeks.

About thirty five gallons were pressed.

This was such an incredible experience for me and I am so thankful my kids could be there to see it all. Thank you to everyone who made this happen.

Still Sick

Kiddo number two came down with the sickness too. I am not at all surprised. I am doing everything in my power to avoid it for myself by downing Emergen-C and tea. So there have been many more hours of snuggling and reading. Frannie's book of choice is Everywhere Babies.  We have read it countless times this week. Good thing I love Marla Frazee's illustrations!

And good thing for nursing and my very large sweater!

I haven't taken off my Sans Souci in days. Frances likes it to be her "tent."

I hope you all have a happy and healthy weekend.

Oh yeah and... if you haven't done so all ready...go check out Rae's fantastic giveaway. Her cookbook is wonderful. We use ours often. In fact we did this morning for muffins.

and...Sam has a giveaway too!

How Do You Like Them Apples

Matt came home from work the other day with approximately 150 pounds of apples. They were all bagged up like this in front of a house (under an apple tree) with a sign saying FREE. Yoink. They are Red Delicious, which aren't my favorites, but still are quite tasty. You might ask "What the heck are they planning to do with all of those apples?" Here is the super cool part. There is a couple in our neighborhood who own a cider press and have invited us over to do a pressing on Saturday. They have a ton of apples too, even more than we have.  It'll be a party!

Here's hoping we'll all be healthy so we can all take part in the event!

Sick

Helping Eleanor feel better...

:: Miso soup

:: Bottomless cup of juice

:: Breathe Better Butter (by Inspired Mama)

:: Hot bath with eucalyptus and lavender essential oils

:: Little Bear episodes

:: Lots of snuggles

:: Long naps

:: Every meal in bed

and my personal favorite...

:: Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl

Chapter and after chapter. We can't stop.

Keep Them Coming

Our raspberry bushes are giving us just what we want!  Raspberries! Our bushes didn't produce any berries earlier this summer so they are producing like gang busters now. I pruned them way back last spring which I won't do next year. As much as I like getting these tasty morsels now in the fall, raspberries are best when enjoyed warm on a hot sunny day. Don't you agree? We are learning.

My Pirates

I have to say I didn't get any good photos of the girls on Halloween. Evening lighting and sugared up children make for very blurry photos. But we had another opportunity to put the costumes on today for a birthday party. 

Here are my thoughtful pirates.

I made only two parts of these costumes this year. Fran's striped vest and a eye patch which nobody wanted to wear because it makes it very hard to see. Time spent...under an hour.

We had a pirate theme going this year for Halloween mainly because of the jacket that Eleanor wore. I made it for my youngest sister many years ago and this was the year that it fit Eleanor.  The jacket has a story. Here it is. After I graduated from college and moved to Buffalo to be with Matt, I worked at a costume shop. This costume shop was hired to make a lot of Captain Morgan uniforms like this one and this one. I may have even sewn a seam or two on this guy's. That year at Halloween my sister announced that she wanted to be a female Captain Hook so I offered to make her a jacket just like the ones that I had been sewing at the shop. I am glad I made it then before I had kids of my own because I don't think that I would have had the time, patience, or coordination to do anything quite that involved this year. It's lined and has pleats in the back. I don't think I could do that now even if I had a week to work on it!

This costume gets used quite a bit around here. Here are some photos taken a number of months ago during a tea party that show it off (a little bit) better.

 

It was even worn a few weeks ago to my mom's birthday party because E needed something "fancy" to wear. I am sure it will be used for years to come.

Making

Sorry I haven't been around here much this week. I am not quite sure where the week has gone. We have been making (and finishing) a lot of things though. Here are a few.

Three pairs of striped woolies. The two pairs of black ones were custom. They were dreamy to knit. Lots of alpaca. And the other pair equally dreamy with yarn by Karin (Note: Her incredible yarn also has incredible yardage. These new pants were knit with the same skeins as these.) are in the shop.

Brownies from Rae's book Cooking Fun. This recipe is posted here and is sooo good and quick. I am planning to make them again this afternoon. 

A doll quilt for the swap. One present down seven more to go. If you haven't checked the sidebar, I posted all of the swappers over there.

And this little girl. No she wasn't made this week. But check her out in all of her big kid cuteness.

What are you making?

Hula Hoops

Eleanor and I had a date on Saturday. We went to a Hula Hoop workshop at GSCA. We each got to make our own hoops using 3/4 inch PVC irrigation pipe and decorated them with colorful electrical and cloth tape. Our teachers were great and were really good at hula hooping. They showed us a few tricks to practice.

With a lot of practice you can do this. I think I am a little behind on this whole hula hooping thing. While searching through youtube I found a ton of hooping dances to music and interviews on the philosophy of hooping.

Another Year Another Stocking Stuffer Swap

Let's do it!

I was thinking about skipping the swap this year but then I began thinking about all the cool stuff that I got for my kids' stockings last year including these Lumpkins made by Sarah. We received bean bags, playdough, a pencil roll, and a pinwheel. I had so much fun filling the girls' stockings with treats made by Santa's helpers from all over the country. So...here is the deal.

Sign up to make items that are small enough to fit into a stocking. I think six kids is a reasonable size group but if there are more people than that who are interested then fear not. I will split up the lists into smaller groups. Leave a comment if you are game, then email me your mailing address and the name and age of your kid(s). I will organize the lists and send them to you with all of the information. We will aim to have packages in the mail during the first week of December. I have two talented moms who are already interested (Rural Mama and NapKnits). I am really excited. I have been making things pretty steadily these days and I am having a lot of fun with it. I am excited about a deadline and a goal. I will keep openings until Sunday October 25 so you have a few days to think about it. Oh yeah...and you don't have to have a blog to join.

This will be fun!

pencil roll by another Sarah.

Montessori Aprons

Eleanor's teacher at school asked me to make some aprons for a new polishing work that she was planning to introduce to the class. She needed an apron for each of the five materials : plants, wood, glass/mirror, metal, and shoes. Here are what the materials look like from Montessori Services and here are the aprons that I made to go along with them.

 

They are made with a double layer of muslin and bias tape binding to match the color of each polishing box. The applique pictures are made with felt. These aprons are easy for the children to put on and fasten with velcro.

I have made quite a few kid aprons over the past few years but have never made this shape before. It really makes a lot of sense. This is now going to be my go-to apron pattern.

I had the most fun making this log.