Lavender Jelly

 When Gordon and I were planning our wedding, we decided to have jams and jellies for each table as gifts for our guests.  And so I spent a year and a half making jelly and jam.....and what I discovered is that I LOVE making jams and jellies.....and more than that I think I'm pretty good at it.

The wife of Gordon's mushroom guy suggested that I make lilac jelly because that was what my flowers were going to be.....and I found a recipe on a website and I made it....and I had one of those moments I've been having a lot of since I met my sweet husband....the moments that I find that little bit of passion.

My friend and goat mentor suggested that I maybe start making botanical jellies....and that planted a seed....and I'm sure to her frustration.....I waited....and let the thought fester......and then I met another friend who rekindled the "maker" in me....and I made some Green Tea Ginger Jelly....which I shared with people (used them as beta testers) and the maker in me grew even more.

This morning I woke up to sunshine....and when there's sun and the feeling of Spring.....and Spring is 3 days away.....I decided I wanted to make some botanical jelly.

But alas.....March in Western Washington is not known for having flowers growing....except for daffodils which I can't imagine would make very good jelly.....and so I raided my pantry....and what I found was...

 Lavender Wind Whole Culinary Lavender.....and so I soaked the bag of lavender in 4 cups of hot water for about 6 hours

And then I strained the lavender into the cooking pot.

 And I added 2 packets of liquid pectin.....and brought it to a boil.

And then I added 8 cups of sugar and brought it to a boil for 1 minute

And then I put the jelly into jars and put in my hot water processor for about 20 minutes.....and voila!!!  Lavender Jelly from Wabi Sabi Hill using local Lavender.  

What I have learned is that it is very sweet....so I think we will cut it lemon next time...but here it is....Lavender Jelly.....look at that color!!!!

Wabi Sabi Afghan

So....I threw my back out last Sunday.....I'm 86% sure I did it because I danced to C+C Music Factory....but it was bad, and I experienced the most back pain I have ever experienced in my life, and I have had back surgery.

Of course....I did this during the most beautiful week we've had this year, and it killed me.  I was home from work and had nothing to do but sit and watch TV.  The first day I didn't leave my bedroom because I didn't want to know it was such a beautiful day.  But my soul was aching....I wanted to be out in the sun planting or digging....or being with my creatures.  I couldn't even climb the stairs to my "Making Room" so I could do something up there, or at least water my veggie starts that are growing up there.

BUT....I have a basket of yarn....yarn from projects like "cheater knitting" a hat and scarf for Gordon, or my niece years ago....yarn that I learned to crochet with and the yarn I used to crochet 2 scarves for me, after I began to learn to crochet.

I am a novice when it comes to crocheting, and so I really don't know how to do anything more than the squares I've crocheted or the 2 scarves I made, but I thought "I want to make a blanket out of my yarn"

And so....lying in bed.....and eventually sitting on the couch....I began my project using stitches I made up because they worked.....I still don't know the name of them....or if they are even stitches....but I did....I made a square using the pinkish yarn I used for my first scarf, and then crocheted around that using the orange yarn I learned to crochet with....and as I did that I realized my square was crooked (I didn't really count).

But I realized that the blanket was Wabi Sabi....Perfectly Imperfect....the whole philosophy Gordon and I base our lives on....and so I worked on this piece, realizing that everything about it was imperfect....but it was still beautiful....and it's made with yarn I have loved and kept over the years....even a small piece of the first yarn I ever spun....And like this life I live with my husband, our scary cat....or old dog and our little dog who doesn't know how to be a dog....and our  goats who really are perfect, but live in a house that is not, this blanket is also not perfect.  It would never win a prize at the fair....I wouldn't even know what to say the stitch I used was....but it's beautiful to me, because of the imperfections...there are missed stitches and I'm sure I connected the yarns incorrectly but it is mine....it's the work I started.

And yesterday, I used the last of the yarn I had, and I decided to not go to the craft store to get more yarn....I have decided that my blanket will be a work in progress, and when I find yarn for projects, or find fiber that I spin myself or other yarn that just speaks to me, I will add it to my blanket.....my Perfectly Imperfect blanket that is a reflection of me, my "farm" and the life I share with my husband and all our creatures here on Wabi Sabi Hill.

And it will join the afghan made by my Mother-In-Law....the one made for us by Gordon's Aunt Ida as a wedding gift and the one my best friend's girl friend made for him years ago that somehow wound up in my collection....and it will be proud and treated as well as any piece of art that adorns our little sunlit living room.

Daffodowndilly

She wore her yellow sun-bonnet,

She wore her greenest gown;

She turned to the south wind

And curtsied up and down.

She turned to the sunlight

And shook her yellow head,

And whispered to her neighbour:

"Winter is dead."

~AA Milne

It is with a joyous heart that I announce that our beautiful daffodils are blooming on Wabi Sabi Hill.  It is an important event in our little herd.....not only does it mark that Spring is on the way....and I plan to celebrate by planting potatoes in tubs this weekend....but it also is the 1 year anniversary of our sweet girls' life with us....the anniversary of when we truly became a herd.

Certainly we have learned a lot in the last year....and we are not in the place we envisioned when our girls first joined us.  We have no pregnant girls....or kids.....or Layla.  But I think we are on track of where we need to be....and we are wiser.....and in love with these girls in ways we never thought possible.  

And so on this Friday Night, I celebrate the daffodils in my yard....and now in my vase.....our beautiful girls.....our crazy cat, and this beautiful life filled with lessons and moments of sheer joy.

Making Room

When Gordon and I were "keeping company" he would talk about "passion"....I would always wonder what my passion was.  If someone had asked me, I would have said, "Keeping kids safe and giving them the childhood they deserve."....but when Gordon and I started seeing each other, I was unemployed, and I really didn't feel like that was my passion.  And so, he would talk about it, and I would wonder, "What is MY passion?"

And so, the thought was placed in my head, and I wondered......"What is my passion?"

Fast forward to now....this life I live with my husband, and what I know is my passion is nurturing our place, our creatures, and of course....the children in my charge.....and now through all of this I seem to be nurturing the creative side of me....the side I really didn't think existed, but because I love a man whose passion is very evident....I feel that he is nurturing MY creative side.  And so I have begun working on my "Making Room"....it is not Pinterist Worthy....but it is mine....and it's more than a Sewing Room....it's where I have fiber, and stamps, and all kinds of things in it and I think I am feeling more creative because I have a space to create.

Anyway.....I am so excited about my sweet space where I can make things, and grow things and enjoy our sweet space.....and make it prettier.

My Chef

I'm grateful for my husband for so many reasons....but this weekend it hit me as I was sitting at the table at Gordon's on Blueberry Hill with a woman I've known since childhood, her partner, her daughter and grandchildren and I watched everyone at the table savoring every bite....sharing....enjoying.....and I thought, "This is my husband's work."  I think I forget....or at least take it for granted that every bite you eat of his food is amazing....his knowledge and understanding of flavors....his inspirations.....his passions....all come together to soothe and awaken your palate at the same time.

And I don't think it's because they were there with me.  I meet people on the street and they find out who my husband is and they say..."Oh my....we LOVE Gordon!" and then they'll tell me what they're favorite meal is.

Not only is he a good "cooker"....he's also a teacher and mentor to every kid who's ever come in for a job, and who could make it through the back breaking labor of working in his kitchen.  He cares about them, trains them, helps them.....and when the time comes, watches them "fly away" from their "little nest".

If Gordon weren't my husband, I would still love his food, and want to know him, and the mind behind his amazing meals.

I just wanted to share what this talented man brings into this world.  (Not to mention he's also a first class dog carer, goat wrangler, and wife helper.)

Letting Go

I've been spending time with a new friend, who is a spinner, and she has been teaching me about fiber.  Last week I went to her house and she let me sit at her wheel and try my hand at some spinning.  As I sat there, with the fiber in my hand, pushing the pedal she said to me, "You have to let go."  I looked at her and said there is something so spiritual about that, and she said absolutely.

And so....this week I've been practicing that....feeling what it feels like to let go....and I have found that there really is a lesson in that.  There are so many things we have to "let go" of.  For me it's the dream of a little "Baby Stewart".....that Charley is not 3....and some day will have to leave us.  It's that 3 year olds LOVE the word "No"....and that's their right.....that MS is part of my life and none of us have any guarantees.

I think really, our whole lives we have to "let go"....we let go of the illusions we have of lovers.  We "let go" of what we thought our lives would look like.....we "let go" of our childhood, we watch our parents age and we realize we need to "let go" of the idea that they will live forever, and we switch places, and eventually are the care givers.

And in this "letting go" we realize we gain so much more....if we are patient we learn that there was something so much better than we ever imagined.

And so, today, I am thankful for the things I've had to "let go" of have come back to me in ways I never thought possible, and I enjoy that the act of "letting go" will all in all make me a better spinner.....and for that I am grateful.

I Did It!!!

I have always wanted to knit or crochet....I've had some people teach me, but it never stuck.  And so...when I went to the Spin Off and saw people spinning and came home and told Gordon I wanted a spinning wheel, he told me I should probably learn to knit or crochet.  And so I went to You Tube and tried to learn, but it still didn't work.  And then one night when I couldn't sleep, I saw the way crocheting worked....and it made sense and I tried it, watched the video again, and I did it.  It took me 3 weeks to make my first dish cloth, and then I thought "I crochet" and I looked at some patterns and realized I had a lot more to learn.

And so I practiced dish cloths....

And then I found a tutorial for a scarf....and I tried it....and I made one!!!!!!

And so....me the girl who loved fiber but only could felt now has a skill that she can use to make things.  And I feel proud.

Both my sister and my mom are good artists....I can't draw to save my life....and so as a result I've never thought of myself as artistic....I can cook and bake but I'm not creative, I can follow a recipe.  I sew, but it's the same thing, following a pattern and then you get what you want.

For some reason this makes me feel creative and artistic....I've built something with my hands....and it's one more skill that allows you to simplify....and so I also realize that sewing and writing and eventually spinning require the artistic talents I thought I was lacking....artists come in all shapes and sizes....I've learned that from my own artist husband.

And so tonight I celebrate that I have a skill that I've wanted to have my whole life....and tomorrow when I'm freezing my bum off with my co-workers, I will have a scarf that I made to keep my ears and head and neck warm....and I will be proud.