Snowflake Images

I saw this article on http://spaceweather.com/
Beautiful, aren't they!

SNOW FLAKES: The industrial district of Marl, Germany, isn't known for its natural beauty or outdoor photo-ops. But maybe that's because people just haven't been looking closely enough. On Dec. 18th, resident Martina Borchert discovered this scene in her own backyard:

"These crystals landed on top of a rusty old bird feeder," she says. "Normally they would have melted instantly, but the temperature outside was -4 C, and that gave me time to arrange a photo shoot using my Canon EOS 350D and a 60mm macro lens. Two hours and one cold nose later, I stored more than 800 snapshots on my hard drive!" Here is a selection of the best: #1, #2, #3, #4

It's Nice to Have Help Raking Leaves!

Around our house, one of the most fun of all chores is the annual raking of the leaves. Of course it usually takes 4 times longer than it should because of all the help we get! ...That will make sense when you watch this:

Spring Fats/ Fall Fats

This is an extremely good article!
http://health.msn.com/nutrition/articlepage.aspx?cp-documentid=100245164
I'll quote part of it here:

"While researching a book on omega-3s, I realized that the essential fats—the omega-3s and their close cousins, the omega-6s—change with the seasons. It might sound like a small idea, but it may soon fundamentally change the way you think about food.
First, let's start with omega-3s, what I'll call the spring fats. These are likely the most abundant fats in the world, but they don't originate in fish, as many believe. Rather, they are found in the green leaves of plants. Fish are full of omega-3s because they eat phytoplankton (the microscopic green plants of the ocean) and seaweed. In plants, these special fatty acids help turn sunlight into sugars, the basis of life on Earth. The spring fats speed up metabolism. They are fats that animals (humans included) use to get ready for times of activity, like the mating season. They're found in the highest concentrations in all the most active tissues: brains, eyes, hearts, the tails of sperm, the flight muscles of hummingbirds. Because fish have so many of these fats in their diets, they can be active in cold, dark waters. These fats protect our brains from neurological disorders and enable our hearts to beat billions of times without incident. But they are vanishing from our diet, and you'll soon understand why.
Next up are the omega-6s, what I'll call the fall fats. They originate in plants as well, but in the seeds of plants rather than the leaves. The fall fats are simply storage fats for plants. Animals require both—omega-3s and omega-6s—in their diets and their tissues. But omega-6s are slower and stiffer than omega-3s. Plus, they promote blood clotting and inflammation, the underlying causes of many diseases, including heart disease and arthritis. Omega-3s, on the other hand, promote blood flow and very little inflammation, which may prevent things like heart disease. The proper mix of these two fats helps create tissue with the right amount of blood flow and inflammation. But because they're in constant competition to enter our cells, if your diet consists of too many omega-6s, your body will be deficient in omega-3s. And that is what's been happening to us as we've been eating more and more seed fats in the form of soybean, corn and other vegetable oils."

Continuing with this line of thought...
The notion of seasonal foods is certainly not new. Cycles and seasons have been celebrated and honored throughout the ages. It is only recently that we have forgotten why. Globalization has made any food available at any time, anywhere on Earth. Our modern heated houses mean our bodies are no longer stressed in the winter cold and so no longer burn winter fat. We have quite effectively removed the seasonal cycles from our lives and our bodies suffer the consequences. Artificial lighting has disrupted day/night cycles creating a sleeping disorder pandemic, lighting also interferes with lunar/menstrual cycles in women, and the seasonal lengthening and shortening of the days is obscured by modern artificial lighting. Chickens will lay eggs all year, cutting their life span in half as a result. In humans, it contributes to the growing (pun intended) obesity pandemic and high blood pressure, heart disease, cancer, diabetes, ...
How much healthier would we be if we simply brought our bodies back into the natural rhythms of nature?

Snowy Winter

I haven't posted in a while. But it's winter, so not much gardening is going on at the moment! We are having a lot of fun, though. We've had ridiculous amounts of snowfall, and the guys are getting buffed shoveling all that snow! Be sure to click on the pictures to see them full size.

Meet Orion, our new puppy. That's right, puppy. He's more like a baby bear than a baby dog! He's a malamute mix according to Spokanimal (our city animal shelter). I think he looks like he may be part Arctic Wolf! He is so lovable and playful. He and Dori get along great, though he wears her out!

Christmas was relaxed. We didn't go crazy with shopping and cards and cooking and gifts and stress and headaches and sleeplessness and... blah blah blah.

So as you can see from the cats, we had a very pleasant Season.
When we went to cut our tree, there had been very little snow. People at the tree farm were commenting on how strange it was to cut Christmas trees without snow on the ground. But not long after our tree-cutting trip, it started snowing, and it has never stopped! I'm not sure what our total is, but we've got a couple feet out there! I have really enjoyed it, but I'm starting to get itchy for Spring! I'll start starting seeds soon! :) YAY! I am SO looking forward to a great year of gardening!

First Snow! WOW! Winter Wonderland!!!

Our first snow!! We had 3 maybe 4 inches! Dori was so cute in her red sweater that she loves to wear so much! We need to get her some littel boots to wear out in the snow. We let her stay out for a little while, but I just had to make her come in before her paws got too cold. The second picture is (left to right) Nef, me in back; Dori, the one with paws; Bianka, Nef's friend next door; and Skylar, a long-time friend of Bianka's and a new friend/ interest of Nef! EEEK! We all had a blast playing in the snow. I got a couple of video clips you'll see in a composition a bit later.

This morning when we got up everything was a winter wonderland. The sun was shining, the sky was that deep winter blue, and everything glittered and sparked in wintery- crowned glory! It has been a BEAUTIFUL day! :) --And more snow on the way tomorrow!!! YAY!!

Happy Thanksgiving!

We had a great Thanksgiving and a huge meal with all the trimmings. Hickory smoked turkey! If you've never had smoked turkey, oh you simply MUST give it a try! We are absolutely spoiled for smoked turkey. I think this is the 7th or 8th year we have had it. Next year though, we will have our own smoker and we can smoke our very own! I wonder.... can we keep a turkey in town? Hmmm.... maybe I should stick to buying one from one of our local farms.
I'm so proud! I made the most perfect pumpkin pie ever! The recipe I use is from The Spice Hunter, their Pumpkin Pie Spice Blend. Just a sniff from the jar is enough to send you to memory lane and thoughts of the holiday season. The pie was so pretty I had Don take a picture for me while it was cooling on the counter. Unfortunately, we were having such a good time that that was the ONLY picture we took all day! So I have no more pictures for the blog. Sorry :( I'll try to do better through the rest of the holiday season. :)
That's my mom's home canned pears and bread and butter pickles there on the counter with the pie. :) Better than anything you could ever hope to buy from a store!!! :P

Merry Maybon!

Maybon, or Second Harvest, is an ancient holiday feast from Northern Europe held on the Autumn Equinox. Since we just moved, and aren't even finished unpacking, we don't really have much to harvest. :( But that didn't stop us today!!! :)
Don suggested we go to Steptoe Butte. We had a super fantastic day! And what a harvest! :)
First we came across the wild apple trees growing in the ditch along the east side of the road along the edge of the wheat fields. They were LOADED with small, plum-size apples! We all picked handfuls and loaded Grif's backpack. I'll use them to make apple jelly! Then on the opposite side of the road we picked some cattails and wild oats to make a fall wreath for the door. Nef decided to pick some fresh mullein leaves to dry for the medicine cabinet. On our way up the butte, we stopped to have a look at the rose hips. The bushes are absolutely covered! They are still orange and hard, not quite ripe yet. They won't be ready until after we have a good hard freeze. That's when they get really sweet! YUM! And we'll make tons of rose-hip jam! -A great source of vitamin C during the winter!
We saw more apple trees, more mullein, lots of butter-n-eggs, and Grif (always prepared ;)) used his handy pocket snips to cut some teasel heads for more decorations... probably that wreath! But the best part of the whole day was V THIS GUY V we saw on the way home!

Bayberries!!

This bayberry candle comes from a friend
so on Christmas eve burn it down to the end.
For a bayberry candle burned to the socket,
will bring joy to the heart and gold to the pocket.

When I was a little girl, one of my favorite books was The Little Mailman of Bayberry Lane. Ever since, I've always loved the thought of making my own bayberry candles. Now that I'm home and am putting down some roots, I can finally make that little dream come true! On our south fence I'm going to put a row of bayberry bushes. They'll make a beautiful hedge, and with any luck, I'll have a ton of bayberries to make a few candles! To make the candles is pretty easy. Just boil the berries and the waxy coating floats to the top. Pick up the wax when it cools, remelt it with 20% beeswax (Bayberry wax alone is too brittle and will crack), then pour into candle molds or dip tapers. Voila'!
Northern Bayberry is native to the East Coast, but it is hardy and adaptable to a wide range of conditions, so I should be able to grow it here without much effort. There is a high demand for real bayberry candles, and they are quite expensive, so maybe I can even make a few dollars!
Here's the bayberry in Summer dress and decked in Winter silver! Such a beautiful bush! I can't wait!