AAAAACCCHHHHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

I think I might be coming down with something!!! could it be this????












Perhaps my little friends can help me get my house work done so I can rest










ha ha! Actually I feel great, Happy Halloween!

What we have been up to

lots of knitting, mostly for our family and one gift for a far away friend and her new baby. I found a hat pattern that I love on Raverly. Directions for sizes from baby to adult large. easy to make and looks great. Its the one Harland is wearing and the one on the needles.
A 99% recycled material(only the screws are new) desk for Gaynor(Mike ROCKS), one end will be for their computer. It seems to still be in my kitchen. That is dangerous because it is a great sewing table.
And yes, that is a cat having a bath. A baking soda, peroxide, Dawn dish detergent bath to be exact. I wish you could hear the sounds that were coming from her. She spent the rest of the day in the sunny window by the wood stove sleeping and drying. Maybe, just maybe she will stay away from skunks now.

oh, our mini vacation to Massachusetts was wonderful. Relaxing and fun. Just what the doctor ordered. I, however did not bring my camera. Sorry. Think man in a Paul Revere type outfit walking through the streets of Boston shouting, Mike being a good sport about being a tourist in a city he basically grew up in. Yummy, REALLY YUMMY vegan food, board games and knitting. It was great.

Ocotober 13th and ummm.........................................

2-4 inches??????? That is what the Weather Man Said! I have been digging out boots and snow pants and trying to settle down crazy wound up boys. I don't know how I feel about this. The dogs aren't sure either. First snow they have ever seen. They have been smelling, licking and staring. Cracking me up.






These are the pictures I had planned to show.





Lots of school being done every where. Forrest took the littles across the street to collect leaves to press into Harlands Science book. The orange hats kill me. Safety before style I guess. It is moose hunting season after all. The weekend was glorious. Crisp air and falling leaves. The boys played in the hay fields for hours then moved to the tall grass and woods for hide and seek. I still feel nervous(quietly of course) when they are out. We have had more bad bee luck. Harland was down in a ditch on our land (he is absolutely not allowed down there) and stepped in a yellow jacket hive. He tried to run, lost his shoe and still had to climb out of the ditch with the bees all over him. Gaynor was with him as well. He had about 16 stings. He cried for over 6 hours. That is two times in two years this has happened to him. I slept with him that night, he whimpered and swatted bees away in his sleep all night long. It was horrible. He is a pretty strong kid, but one can only take so much. So now they always have a phone or a two way radio with them.
Any way. This weekend is just another reason I love Maine. We finally lit up the wood stove. I love the smell and strong heat. We moved our circle time to just in front of the stove so as to start our morning roasty toasty. We went to the ski sale and picked up cross country boots for two boys and new downhill boots for Forrest. He seems to have grown a foot this year. We are hoping to outfit the entire family in cross country skis. We will set up the covered sled to tow a little one and hopefully have some fun outings.

Gaynor has been using his calligraphy pen to write out the 10 commandments. He seems to be really enjoying his work. Forrest less so but he is plugging away. I'm not sure about all this hard course work with no real guidance. I never took chemistry and Algebra and I, well, are not good friends. His Bio-tech teacher at the Technology center is also a chemistry teacher and has been helping him out which is wonderful. Ok well I'm off to make chocolate covered pretzels and cocoa.

Here are some recent pictures of the pups. The bigger they get, the more I suspect they are not Great Pyrenees. They look more sheep dog, or wolf hound to me. But we will never know and it really doesn't matter. We made the pony/donkey enclosure into a dog wonderland. The big animals have found a new home. We miss them terribly but their owners had a lot going on and didn't have enough time for them. Any way, the dogs really love it out there. It's great. gives them and me a break. They have a barn to go in and a huge pen to run and play in. If they are inside for too long, they "politely ask" to go out to their pen. The boys are still walking them twice a day for 45 minutes each time. The morning walk is now at 5:30am and in the pitch dark because of our new schedule. I bought them headlamps so they could see. My boys are so hardcore. unfortunately, dogs don't understand that it's not a school day or that its the weekend so the latest they will sleep till is 6:00. Just think what great training this is for my boys for their future.






Sarah and Andy came this weekend for our first annual Garlic Shucking/Movie Night. We watched Monsters Vs Aliens and shucked all of the garlic to be planted at Marble Family Farms this fall. We then, of course, ate yummy food and had plenty of desert including cowboy cookies and mocha cake.






This is my very first time "putting food up" for winter. I have over 30 cups of shredded zucchini, 12 cups of frozen corn kernels, a ton of chopped celery, processed basil, chopped kale and so far, 12 cups of pumpkin (more to come this week). Then in the pantry I have a quart of condensed tomato soup and a quart of salsa, a bunch of honey spiced peaches, apple sauce and apple butter. None of the jam actually lasted long enough, we ate it all right up. But any way, I'm feeling pretty proud. I should mention none of it would have happened without Sarah. Sarah totally rocks! and she can do anything. We processed most everything together. A good portion coming from her farm. She also showed me how to can. I was always too scared to try. Thought I would screw it up. It's really not hard if you have the right equipment, and a good teacher of course. The apple butter recipe is for the crock pot, super easy and you can find it here. If you don't want to can it, put it in the fridge. I doubt you will have any problem eating it all right up.







Its a big weekend in our little corner of Maine. Last year we rode the lift up Sugarloaf Mountain and hiked down. Way harder than you think! The view was amazing but the little kids didn't love it. This year we are doing something just for them. Down the rode from us is and old Narrow Gauge Railroad. They are having a "Ghost Train" this weekend so we are going for a ride. You may know, my little boys are obsessed with trains and are going to have a great time! We are working on a little late-fall festival to have here at our home. I'm thinking bonfire, luminaries, making music and telling stories. Any other suggestions?

Next weekend is my big vacation to Boston. That really sound so weird. Me, vacationing in the city I grew up 30 minutes from. But seriously I can't wait! Imagine how much knitting I am going to do on my 4+ hour car ride with.......NO CHILDREN!!!!

Have a great weekend!

Our very first nature table

We collected leaves and acorns on the library lawn in town. Sort of funny since we live on 186 acres here. But we had some time to kill while we waited for the library to open. The little "masks" were the craft at story time. We purchased the roving for our "tree" at the Common Ground Fair. I sent the boys out for the branch with Forrest, I am still looking for something bigger with more branches.The pumpkin, is of course, from Sara and Andy. I think it's called Cheese pumpkin? we will cook it soon and make cookies and muffins, but it was so darn pretty! The kids really loved putting the table together. Indigo loves taking it apart even more though. I am finding acorns and corn kernels everywhere!

Changing Pace

As you many know, last year we purchased a "Waldorf Based" Curriculum for Gaynor and we Love it! This year I purchased one for Harland as well. I decided to go with a layed out curriculum because we are so new to the Waldorf ways. I also struggled with purchasing the Kindergarten set instead of the first grade set. Harland is only 5 but pretty much reading and writing(all on his own). Waldorf schooling does not start reading until first grade. But they feel very strongly about not pushing the child but giving them plenty of time to develop in other ways as well. So I purchased the kindergarten. Well, so far it is wonderful. It has been so great for me to focus more on the little kids. We do circle time daily and lots of drawing and painting. We have also changed our evening routine quite a bit to include more stories, songs and a bed time snack. It seems to be just what the doctor ordered for these boys. We were having endless fights and tantrums. Things have gotten much better. The boys do chores with me, fold laundry, make beds, wash dishes, sweep and bake.

The one thing I am struggling with is finding a consistent rhythm to our day. As much as I want this, it is very tough for me. We are working on it.
Handwork is a big part of the Waldorf day as well. Harland has learned to finger knit, and I taught Gaynor to knit this week too. He picked it right up and will be busting out winter wear and toys before you know it.

The fall is in full swing here. The foliage is glorious, the air is brisk, and it seems to have given new enthusiasm to everyone. My Brussel sprouts, cabbages, kale and carrots are going strong. Everything else has been killed by the hard frosts. Tuesday we saw a moose, right across the street. She stood there forever just staring at us while we stared at her. It was amazing! You just can't understand how huge they are until you see one in real life. Crazy! I know the picture is horrible but i was so excited and my camera is not great but i posted it anyway. It appears smaller than it was too. I think it was a young moose but still pretty giant in my eyes.
Our favorite meal right now is taking advantage of the last of the delicous fresh heirloom tomatoes we will have this year. English muffin pizzas. So SOOO yummy!


I am looking forward to getting our nature table set up. I'm thinking pumpkins, fall leaves and acorns to start. I have also started working on some new knitting....See so far.....

All this and tent making too.


Hope you are all enjoying your Autumn!