Clean.

Soft Stars Shoes - Remade.

When Sage was little he had a favorite pair of red shoes that we all referred to simply as his "starry-stars". I still love them. So does Sage. We couldn't wait for them to fit Lupine. They are now her size, and I brought them upstairs a few weeks ago and placed them in her shoe box.

But Lupine has her own taste. And the starry-stars didn't make the cut. No amount of sibling or parental enthusiasm would shift her opinion.

I thought it was ridiculous to pick up another (more girlie) pair of starry-stars to suit her pink and purple preferences, but our current shoe scene is pretty grim. She looks past the soft-soled, foot-healthy shoes in her shoe box and heads straight to her costume bin for the hard soled shoes that were thrifted as "dress-up play shoes." Second-hand girlie shoes. Shoes that are, according to Lupine, "So pretty - and so owie!"

But this is my girl. The one above in the thrifted crown. She loves fancy. Sparkly. Pretty. Pink. Girlie. The daughter of a tomboy, and she's wearing a tiara. I'm not sure when it happened, but someone clearly snuck in and programmed her when we were all sleeping. 

Alas, I love her for all of her girlie sweetness. Its adorable really. My boy is all in camo and Lupine is prancing around the house like a fairy in my silk slip. So to satisfy both her girlie-ness and my healthy-shoes only rule I set to work on the starry-stars. To girlie-fy them.

No, they aren't rhinestone studded or gooey pink now, but they are CUTE!

I changed out the laces for some pink velvet ribbon and then covered a few buttons with Japanese mushroom and snail fabric. What do you think?

Really, polka-dot mushrooms and velvet ribbon can make anything yummier. I don't think you can go wrong with that combo.

And now? I can't get them off her feet. They are fancy and they feel good. What more can a little girl ask for? (Or her mama for that matter.)

P.S. We'll be offering a giveaway of a Soft Star Shoes gift certificate in a few weeks. I'll keep you posted!

Jasper.

I recently got an email asking if we had any pets (besides the one-eared cat). I realized that I've never introduced you properly to my first child - Jasper. My loyal, gentle, sweet, affectionate, patient Jasper.

Jasper is the fourth dog I've referred to as "my dog" in this lifetime. He the second dog to join Pete and I as a young family, and the only surviving canine in our clan. And Jasper is my first true-love pup since Mutzie, our childhood mutt. Jasper is, as my mom put it, my "forever dog."

Jasper has been with us since I met him at the humane society when he was a puppy twelve years ago. I had no intention of getting a dog. Just a half-hour to burn before an appointment. But really, I think he called me there.

He was lying on his side in a big raucous pen of puppies, quietly gnawing on a tennis ball as his brothers and sisters barked, romped, jumped, stepped on his head, played, rolled, and made rowdy mischief all around him.

"That is my dog." I said out loud. When I lifted him out of the pen he let out a great sigh and rested his puppy head on my shoulder.

He was my dog, and I was his person.

I love you, Jasper. Thanks for being tolerant to the parades of cats, kids, and mail carriers all these years. I hope you stick around to scare the UPS guy for a long time to come.

 

Hooray for Homemade!

I am feeling increasingly encouraged to end my relationship with the garbage and recycling men. (I mean that in the best way.) We are sending far too much down the pipe in the form of bottles, jars, bags, and packaging, even for our almost-homemade existence. It is the vinegar bottles. The beer bottles. The bulk bags from the coop. The occasional box of crackers. While we don't buy shampoo or conditioner anymore (we use our LuSa soap and an apple cider vinegar rinse) and we make our own toothpaste and deodorant, we still generate unnecessary waste.

So this weekend I put two new projects into motion to reduce our footprint: cloth bulk bags and homemade vinegar. (Next week we'll revisit our homebrewing past and put an end to the majority of what remains in our recycling bin.)

Cloth bulk bags have been on my to-do list for ages. I often bike to the coop but not for my big weekly shopping. For that trip I haul our glass pantry jars to the coop to refill so I drive. Really it's a ridiculous trade off. One green choice for another? I'd rather bike and use recyclable containers that I have the strength to haul home in the bike trailer.

I sewed the bag above out of a pair of thin cotton thrifted capris and a scrap of Amy Butler fabric. I attached a hair binder towards the top as a closure and a grosgrain ribbon towards the bottom for writing bulk bin numbers. The ribbon is easy to find (even on a half-full bag) and erases well so the next bulk number can be added when you return to the coop for a new item.

I've only made the one so far, but I'm prioritizing a few more (large and small) before next week's shopping trip.

The second quick, simple project was vinegar. (The recipes come from Wild Fermentation, by Sandor Katz - a book that you should go and get your hands on right now if you don't already have a copy. Amazing stuff in there.) I have two batches in the works: Pineapple and apple. All told I think I spent more time chopping the pineapple for the kids to eat than I did prepping the vinegar.

Pineapple vinegar was a good excuse to indulge my kids in a pineapple (a source of weekly exotic produce begging). It is simply a fermented blend of fruit peels, water, and fresh local raw honey (thanks, Heather!). I'll report back in about a month with how it tastes.

Mothers Day.

My Mothers Day was mellow and sweet. Some flowers from Pete, a little sleeping in, a couple of hours with my girlfriends at the flea market, and some time to sew (alone!). Oh, and oatmeal-chocolate chip-macadamia nut-peanut butter cookies bakes up by my three lovelies. Yum!

The flea market was the highlight of my day. I don't often thrift without my kids and it is a delicious treat to wander the isles talking to friends instead of chasing my little people.

I've had three thrift obsessions of late: chickens (vintage roosters in particular), farmer folk art, and vintage bluebirds. But I never buy any for fear of having several half-thought collections cluttering up our already busy space. On Sunday my girlfriends talked me into several of each to combine in one grouping to make big art out of small pieces. Here is the finished product, wrinkles and all (I ironed it, really!):

What do you think? Do smalls really combine to make a large? I'm still on the fence. Here. Take a closer look at all that vintage sweetness...

It is amazing to see the combination of bluebirds and farmers on one piece and roosters and farmers on another. Love. What is your second-hand weakness?

~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~

Happy mothers day to each of you who've embarked on the journey of motherhood. We are changed forever for the transformation. Each of you is an inspiration.

In Appreciation of Quiet.

Lupine is an amazing spirit. She is strong. Wise. Opinionated. Hilarious. And, um, often extremely loud. She has found her voice and found a way to be heard among the play of children much older than her. She yells. She talks big. She screams. She puts on a good show. This child is larger than life.

But as i looked through my photos from our recent trip to Minneapolis I notices an amusing/telling theme:

We live in a quiet world.

Lupine's reality only contains one loud thing: herself. And being in the city among trains and buses and sirens and horns and traffic and drums - it was all a little much for her small ears.

Since we came home to our little house on this quiet street in this sleepy town I have only seen her cover her ears once: when I was reading a story that she suspected was taking a questionable turn. 

Our wold is safe, quiet, and secure. She is blessed to be the loudest part of her own world.

Ramp Pesto Recipe and Ramp Goddess Dressing Recipe.

Wow! You all got fantastically worked up about that chart yesterday. I thought it was pretty common knowledge but in reality it isn't exactly, well, posted on the wall at the coop. Ahem.

The chart hasn't been updated since 2007. I wonder what the next edition will bring. Edited: Thanks for the links! I updated the previous post with the new version. Lara Bars and Honest Tea and a few others are added. Sigh.

In the spirit of self-sufficiency and as a celebrate local eats, here are two wonderfully simple recipes for you to create using ramps, purchased or foraged. Ramps are an wild onion and have a garlicky-oniony flavor. You can eat the ramp, bulb, greens, and all. It is easy to identify as it is the only lily-type plant with an onion smell when you crush the leaves.

If you don't have ramps in your region feel free to substitute a bunch of flat leaf parsley, a clove of garlic, and a small onion for the ramps. Or better yet the leaves of the invasive species Garlic Mustard. That makes a wonderful pesto and you'll be doing the forest a service when you remove it. (Be sure to take the flower heads with you or the dead plant will still set seed.)

I chose to use sunflower oil, sunflower seeds, and honey (instead of olive oil, pine nuts, and sugar) in the recipes below to make a more local pesto and dressing. Go with what you've got!

Hot Ramp Pesto

I make big batches of pesto and freeze it in ice cube trays. Then I transfer the cubes to a jar or bag and we're set for the season. 

Ingredients:

Three handfuls of ramps (maybe 30 or so ramps), sliced across the grain into thin 1/2" strips(greens, necks, and bulbs)

1/4 C sunflower or olive oil

1/4 C sunflower seeds or pine nuts

1/2 tsp Coarse Salt

Place sunflower seeds in food processor or blender and process until chopped finely. Add ramps, oil, and salt and process again until it has a smooth, pesto-like consistency. Taste. It will be HOT in comparison to basil pesto. If it is too spicey for your palate, add a big handful of raw spinach. The flavor mellow when it cooks (on pizza, in bread, etc.).

Wild Goddess Dressing

Ingredients:

1/4 C apple cider vinegar

1/3 C tahini

3 Tb soy sauce

1 Tb honey

3 Tb ramp pesto (recipe below) or minced ramps, with greens

1 pinch of salt

1 Tb lemon juice

1 Tb plus 1 tsp honey

1/4 C sunflower oil

2 Tb fresh parsley, chopped

1 Tb fresh chives, chopped

Combine all ingredients except oil, parsley and chives in blender of food processor. Process until smooth, then add oil in a thin stream. Taste and adjust flavor as needed. Add chives and parsley if desired and quickly pulse in. Serve on your favorite salad, wild or tame. Will keep well in the fridge for several days.