The Farm Chicks

A Little Holiday

Summer is winding down for the boys and I'll be taking a little holiday to share this time with them before school begins again.

So, I'll be away for a wee bit. (I plan to connect again sometime around September 5th).

This summer has been as great as I could hope. Here are a few things I've loved to pieces this season:

Sylvia's Quinoa Cakes (My favorite favorite summer meal):

Image: Feasting at Home

These super fun games that the folks at Zume sent us. They actually got the boys excited to run around outside more. One night, we had tons of boys outside playing Zume games until 10:30 pm. What could be better than boys being crazy and having fun?

Image: Zume

These beautiful bracelets that Heather introduced me to. And they're recycled too!

Image: Heather Bullard

Note: I have a call in to the maker of the bracelets so that I can provide you with her contact information in case you want to purchase your own. I'll provide contact information for the maker here if I'm able to do so. Stay tuned...

So, farewell until September...

Love,

me

What If...

What if we were to look at things in a different way?

What if these weeds could be seen as

*pretty*

What if these nuisances of the field could make a

beautiful bouquet

Or clover could be

as cute as a bug's ear

Or prickly thistle

seen as really soft and beautiful, completely opposite from their stem

Beauty is in the eye of the beholder.

 

Big Boy Wants to Visit You!

Meet Big Boy. He's just returned from a little trip to California.

You see, it all started when Lisa sent Heather a box containing some items from The Farm Chicks Show. Unbeknownst to her, Big Boy was in there too. So Heather, being the California ambassador that she is, took him around to see some everyday sights and have some fun, California style. Juice cleanse anyone?

Now Big Boy has come to live with me and my family. But turns out, he'd really like to travel all over the world. Would you like him to come and visit you?

We'll be sending him to any state in the U.S. and any country in the world, if you'd like to host him. He's already been to Washington (his home) and to California. Where will he go next? It's up to you!

Here are all the details:

1. If you would like to host Big Boy, quickly leave a comment here on the blog, telling me which U.S. state or country you live in. Since he will only visit each U.S. state or country in the world once, the first person to comment from each state or country in the world will be the host.
2. We will email each host to get a mailing address (he will be traveling to each locale in the order the comments are received).
3. When Big Boy arrives to your home, show him around and take pictures of what he's seen and done. After a few days with your family, you'll mail Big Boy back to us, along with the pictures of his journey and I'll share them here on my blog.
4. Big Boy's journeys will continue through the end of April, 2013.

At the end of his journeys, I will let the readers vote on which trip they liked reading about the best and that person will receive a brand new Instax Instant Camera from me! Hooray!

Big Boy will then make a final appearance at The Farm Chicks Show in June where he'll showcase where he's been in a special display.

Where in the world will Big Boy be next? What will he see?

It's up to you. :)

Log of hosts:

1. Heather (Heather Bullard, Heather Bullard Lifestyle)
2. On his way now to: Jackie in Florida     Then....
3. Jamie in Idaho
4. Camille in Louisiana
5. Colleen in Pennsylvania
6. Marti in Colorado
7. Shelly in Georgia
8. Amy in Ohio
9. Heather in Michigan
10. Kelly in Nebraska
11. Cat in Texas
12. Gwen in England
13. Deanna in Utah
14. Di in Wales
15. Wendy in Australia
16. Julie-Ann in New England
17. Merielle in British Columbia
18. Amy in Montana
19. Catherine in France
20. Liv in Spain
21. Heather in Maryland
22. Brenda in Tennessee
23. Tammy in Minnesota
24. Carrie in Kentucky
25. Heather in Indiana
26. Amy in Illinois
27. Christina in Missouri
28. June in North Carolina
29. Kingsley in Virginia
30. Darcee in Oregon
31. Marieke in the Netherlands
32. Karen in Ontario
33. Jennifer in New York
34. Heather in Massachusetts
35. Barbara in Wisconson
36. Tina in Arizona
37. Sylvia in Arkansas
38. Tauna in Hawaii
39. Jackie in Oklahoma
40. Courtney in Nevada
41. Barbara in Alaska
42. Amy in Germany
43. Sue in South Carolina
44. Courtney in Alabama
45. Sanna in Sweden
46. Erin in Vermont
47. Who's next?!

A Little Bit About Love

Today is Colin and my wedding anniversary. I always feel so reflective on these days, thinking about life and what has happened along the way. And naturally, I've been thinking about love and how I really consider it to be one of the greatest gifts we have - the ability to give it with all our hearts.

I remember when I was in the thick of things with the boys, three of them in diapers at the time and one had become quite a turkey. It seemed he just couldn't be tamed and day after day, he was becoming more of a wild thing.

Climbing up onto the dining room table and dangling from the chandelier, sneaking lotion into his bed and proceeding to wipe it all over himself, the bed, and the wall. And so on. I was really at my wits end. And then one day, it occurred to me while talking to my sister-in-law, Allison. I told her I was going to just flood him with love, more than ever before. More holding, more hugging, more attention. More love.

And miraculously, it worked. Such a simple little thing.

He was transformed into the most gentle little soul.

Now today, if you were to talk about love and its special gifts, you'd probably get laughed out of the room. And I think that's sad.

If only we could all just show a little more love, love our children, love our world, and each other, we could change it.

Really we could.

Call your mom and tell her you love her.

Send a note to a friend telling them how much they mean to you.

Bake a pie and give it to your neighbor.

Give your son an extra hug today.

Take your daughter's hand and lead her on a little walk. Tell her what you love about her.

Donate to charity.

Thank your husband for the life you've created together.

Play a board game with your children.

Pay someone a compliment.

And love yourself.

............... and the world will feel your love ................

 

Aprons From Vintage Sheets

One of my favorite uses for cute and colorful vintage sheets is as material for aprons.

Just like old tablecloths, vintage sheets are made from great quality cotton and you can find them frequently at yard and estate sales and thrift shops too.

Before you get started, make sure to launder them in hot water and if there are stains, soak in OxiClean. If stains persist, simply avoid them when you lay out your pattern pieces.

You can find this and more fun projects in my book: The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen.

Hanging rack from Forget-Me-Not Shoppe, Coeur d'Alene, Idaho.

Image by John Granen.

Make Your Own Dishtowels

I always found it hard to pass up pretty old tablecloths spotted at yard sales. Some had holes, others stained beyond usability. But this old material is the best cotton and linen that you'll find anywhere, so into my buy pile they'd go.

So, what to do?

Turn them into colorful little dishtowels, using the fabric that isn't damaged.

Simply cut into your ideal shape and trim with bias tape. If you want to get really fancy, like we did here, make your own bias tape with contrasting fabric.

You can find bias tape makers at your local fabric shop, and they come complete with directions on how to make your own.

Your kitchen will be smiling in no time.

You can find this and more fun projects in my book: The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen.

Images by John Granen

The Mountains

We headed to the mountains in search of some huckleberries and inspiration. The air is cooler here and the silence different than anywhere else.

The snap of a twig. A gurgling stream. Hidden paths of dreams.

Sunlight dapples. Huckleberries are found.

 

Inspiration abounds.

A Granola Update

My Crunchy Granola is such a family favorite of ours, but I've been avoiding it for myself lately as it does have a bit of oil and I've not been eating much oil lately. But after coming home with a big flat of peaches, and they were just screaming for granola, I decided I'd try tweaking my recipe a bit.

I found that I could get away with eliminating the oil completely and we still love the results. Of course, there is still a bit of peanut butter in there, which adds its own oil.

Colin and the boys didn't even notice the difference. :)

You can find my original recipe here, and in The Farm Chicks in the Kitchen cookbook.

If you want to try it this new way, just skip the oil and do everything else the same as described in the recipe.

Source:

My beautiful bowl is from Kimberly Taylor.

Where in the World is Serena?

The summer is flying by and I've been happily pretty much off the grid. Time spent mostly with Colin and the boys, enjoying this fleeting time in their childhood, and a few quick trips with friends.

This weekend found me in San Francisco.

Chinatown is just as wonderful as I remember it.

  
  

 

The Ferry Building was full of tasty treats:

 

  
  

All in all, a great weekend in the city.

P.S. You can read more about our weekend on Heather's blog, here.

We also made it to the flea, where we met up with Cathe. You can read about that here and all about Heather's finds here.

 

The Best Homemade Ice-Cream

Homemade ice-cream is one of the dreamiest parts of summer. Just ask Lucas. He loves Huckleberry.

Homemade ice-cream wins my boys over every time.

You can find my recipes on Country Living's website here.

You can also read my reviews of many different ice-cream makers on the Country Living site as well. Click here for the reviews.

Happy summer! Happy treats!

Images of The Farm Chicks homemade ice-cream by Ray Kachatorian, via Country Living Magazine.