Working and Playing

Just wanted to share some glimpses of our lives over the last couple of days.

~Sarah and Abraham playing with the sawdust from Mike drilling out the birch branch pencil holders~ (We are planning to build a workshop this spring so this will not have to be in our home soon.)

~Abraham helping Mike apply the natural beeswax/oil finish to the bottom of our walking blocks.

~So much fun can be had with a simple paper bag... Abraham growling away, pretending to be a scary monster.~

Warm wishes, Tonya

Beeswax and More Bunnies

We have been busy finishing up the winter activities such as dipping our beeswax candles. We always light a candle for our supper meal and we use our own hand dipped candles. They are made from organic beeswax that Mike barters from the apiary just one mile down the road. He helps out with maintaining the hives and processing the honey. Our plan is to buy a hive of our own now that he feels comfortable with the process.
In order to dip multiple candle pairs at once, I needed a place to hang them as I alternated dipping them. I came up with this very simple stand using two logs and a scrap piece of wood on top. I am also busy sewing wool felt bunnies both for our children’s Easter baskets and for sale in our shop. The pattern for these cuties came from the spring 2009 issue of Living Crafts.

Warm wishes, Tonya

Bunny Knitting Pattern

Just wanted to share the pattern for this little bunny can be found here - a beautiful online magazine. Enjoy!

of twigs and wool for spring

This is an easy little something to make for your spring nature table or seasonal shelf.

I gathered the ends of some birch branches and used some bits of wool roving to create this little wreath with a bird's nest filled with three robin's eggs and some greenery with little pink blossoms glued here and there.

Spring is coming!

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Snow in Northern Vermont!

I know for many of you this is not an unusual sight this winter, but for us it is! Way up here near the Canadian border we just received our biggest storm of the season - probably about 16 inches. Until today, we have only received 2 - 4 inches at a time, a very unusual winter for the north country.

So I will bore you with pictures of the white stuff which is not boring to us at all. Although if it keeps up I am sure we will soon have had enough. But in the meantime, we are enjoying God's beauty!

...how to get the heavy middle on the snow person....

...looking down our driveway... where do we begin to shovel?

Warm wishes,

Tonya

Simple Play Corners

Keeping with our philosophy of very rarely buying new and when we do supporting small businesses, as well as making as much as we can with our own hands, I want to share some of our young children's favorite play things.

Our building branch blocks are a favorite. Our family makes them for our children and we also offer them in our shop and at Hip Mountain Mama.

Here is a little nook under our stairs.. the branches form fencing for the horses....

One purchase we made about 6 years ago was to buy a wooden kitchen. This kitchen has been used nearly every day and is right in our kitchen which offers pretend play while I am baking, cooking or cleaning.

This mop has become a daily favorite. A bucket is filled with warm water with just a touch of Murphy Soap and they get busy mopping our floors. We made the mop with a branch handle and hand crocheted cotton mop head that is removable to wash.

I enjoy knitting bunnies, gnomes and balls for our children as well as for sale.

Bunnies are filling our home, some to stay and some are hoping to find a home of their own.

What are your young children's favorite play things?

Warm wishes,

Tonya

How To Make Yogurt Cheese

I am sure there are other names for this, but I have chosen this very simple name as it is so very simple to make and all you need is whole milk plain yogurt and then garlic and/or herbs for flavoring.

It is delicious on breads and crackers. And, did I mention - soooo simple!

To start, dump your quart of yogurt on a porous material. I used some clean unbleached muslin, but several layers of cheesecloth would also work.

Tie it up quickly as the whey will start to drip through and put it into your draining contraption.

This is what I made up using what we had available and I hung it from a hook in our kitchen ceiling.

Drain the whey in the bowl (it is the liquid from the yogurt) so that the bowl doesn't get too heavy.

Leave over night and in the morning take out and put in a bowl. Add the flavorings. For a healthy fight the germs winter version, add fresh cut garlic. As spring approaches you can add herbs from your garden - chives will be one of the first I will use and that will make a great spread on bagels.

Store refrigerated (it will keep for at least a week) and enjoy!

Warm wishes,

Tonya