Some Sewing

Today's sewing project is a cozy bunting for my newest grand baby, Gypsy. This is a mauve double sided flannel with a herringbone pattern that looks just like wool. Maybe it will keep her warm and toasty this winter!


My other granddaughter, Pepper, likes to wear dresses. This jumper is a pretty simple pattern that I made up with 3 coconut buttons on a raspberry corduroy.


Next week, dresses!

Flower Power Pumpkin

Howie surprised me one day with a beautiful, bright orange gift. The problem was that he had just begun a recording project so our time together being creative and artistic was spent in the music room, not with knives in our hands.

Shea came to visit today with the Etzel kids which presented the perfect opportunity to have Mercy carve a pumpkin with me.

I had an idea to do flowers so we began carving the top. Next we tried to peel the design from the skin. This was the first time I've ever tried this and it was pretty exciting to watch the design break out of the hard skin. Then light ! It needed to have openings for the light to shine through.


I think that you will agree that this makes a cheerful and colorful lamp! What I like the best is the way the light plays on the walls. Plus it is 100% recyclable.

Now I am convinced - carved lanterns offer plenty of opportunity to be creative, artistic and functional.

The Moon at Dusk

Today is chilly and rainy. The leaves lay resting on the earth, wet and fragrant. The sky is cloudy and the sun is about to bring darkness. It's quiet, but there is a certain tension, maybe it's tiredness in my body right now.

This time of year
This time of day
This time of change
Reminds me of the uncertain future that we have here on Earth.

Knowing Jesus is a comforting warmth to my soul!

On a happier note, Howie is busy recording the "Good News of Christmas" CD. It is vibrant and exciting.

Christmas

A time of hope and the fulfillment of hope.

Today the moon is full at dusk

Road Food

Traveling for 5 months in a van can present some challenges for eating healthy. Oftentimes, people resort to eating in restaurants, or worst yet, fast food stops. We try to avoid eating out all together, replacing it with some natural healthy alternatives. Here are a couple things we have been doing:

Sprouts! Alfalfa, clover and radish seeds.
It is very easy to grow a jar of fresh sprouts in just a few days while traveling. All I need is 1) A big jar 2)mesh to cover the opening - I use bridal toile 3) cheese cloth to cover the opening and keep the sprouts from drying out 4) water!
Cost about 20 cents per jar

Sprouts are very nutritionally rich, because they contain much of the energy the plant needs to grow up. Alfalfa sprouts are high in vitamins A, B, C, E, and K, along with an assortment of antioxidants and amin0 acids. In addition, alfalfa sprouts contain substances known as phytochemicals, that to benefit your health - A perfect road food.


Yummy, fresh rolls (I grind the flour and bake during our stops at peoples homes), California grown organic fruits, and yogurt. I was given a culture last year that works at room temperature. We pick up a half gallon of hormone free milk and make fresh yogurt 2 times a week.

Sun tea!
These bottles have rooibos/spice in one and mint in the other. We can make fresh tea in just a couple hours on the dashboard of the van.
A word about rooibos: Research by Healthy and Natural Journal suggests that rooibos antioxidant qualities are up to 50 times more potent than green tea's.


My grain medley!
Actually, I shouldn't claim this as my grain medley because the idea came from Howie's mom. Green split peas, brown, green and yellow lentils, long grain brown rice, wild rice, millet, barley and quinua all mixed with onion flakes, garlic, oregano and celery leaf.


Of course it requires some cooking ~ that is what a coleman stove or campfire is for.

Of course we still take our vitamins. GNLD!

We are still exploring ways to enjoy great food in a van. I had this wonderful idea! When we upgrade to a larger vehicle, like a bus, it would be so cool to have a hydroponic garden. I was reading that the Aztecs and Incas amazed the Spanish conquistadors with their floating gardens. A floating hydroponic garden is easy to build and can provide a tremendous amount of nutritious vegetables, and best of all, hydroponic systems avoid pest problems commonly associated with the soil. We can build our own floating hydroponic garden $40.00. But then we will need to figure out a way to keep it stable in a vehicle.
What do you think?

Decending Custer Peak, SD

After being on the road for 2 months and traveling over 5000 miles we were feeling a bit road weary. It was good to take a couple days to ourselves.

We camped two nights in the Black Hills of South Dakota. The campground was very noisy, so Howie and I decided to spend our only afternoon there hiking a trail up Custer Peak. Not knowing how long the trail was and not having any food with us, we never made it all the way to the top. Instead, we took our time and found many adventures along the way.

A butterfly posed for us

Huge animal prints in the mud

A beautiful granite rock

We stepped up on a stump and I said to Howie, "Wither thou goest, I will go. Where thou lodgest, I will lodge. Your people will be my people, and your God, my God. Where you die, there will I die also." He said to me, "You are flesh of my flesh and bone of my bone, taken from my side. Therefore I call you woman. My woman."

Commitment Stump

With that we hopped off the tree stump and lite down the hill. Just rounding the corner we found a beautiful blessing. There curled into the brush was a baby fawn.

It smiled and wiggled its nose as we took it's picture.

It was a beautiful day in the Black Hills.

Jiaozi or Chinese Dumpling

When we were in Memphis, TN we worked with the Chinese community for 8 years plus. Our ESL students would often have us to there homes for "jiaozi" making parties. All would stand around the central table and using rolling pins without handles, we would make dozens of these dumplings. The idea was to make them beautiful. Beautiful is not a typical food description for the average American family, but it is one I have tried to adopt.

Here are my "beautiful jiaozi" neatly lined up for Feng Shui effect.

2 cups of ground turkey
1 cup finely chopped nappa
1 finely chopped yellow onion
2 tsp. garlic powder
1/2 tsp. salt
1/4 tsp. black pepper
1 tsp. sesame oil

Mix well - put 1 tsp. into each dumpling skin. Use a dip of water to moisten edges and shape dumpling. Take care to make them beautiful and evenly pleated.
Boil 5 minutes.
Serve with hot black sauce.

This sauce is delicious! My friends from Linyi, China taught me how to make this.
In a sauce pan bring 1 cup of oil to "hot" in that you can see the surface begin to move - this in not boiling! Have prepared minced green onion and minced red chili pepper. Toss onion and pepper into the hot oil and cover immediately (be careful as the oil will sputter and if you have a lot of pepper fumes will make your eyes water - sometimes its good to take it outside at this point!). After a few minutes, add 1T. honey and 2T. Chinese black rice vinegar and 1 T. soy sauce. Drizzle over your dumplings.
Yum, Yum, Yum!

I love linens

I love linens. As a young girl, I began a collection of hand embroidered linens. These are so plentiful - nearly every thrift store and rummage sale has a pile. They hearken to a day when women produced beauty with their hands that was shared with others and had lasting value. After all, many of them are over 50 years old and they are still beautiful.

Spring is around the corner and feeling inspired I helped some old linens found a happy home, and these same linens seem to help create a happy home.