A Boy And Girl

I’m so thankful for the bright sunshine that lured me outside and told me to ignore the temperature. I went for a lovely long walk today, a quiet stretch of country roads I discovered yesterday and plan to make very good use of.
As a nod to my sister Laura’s recent series, finding a rainbow of natural color during her walks in the woods, I did my best to compile a similar rainbow (although due to my surroundings, a bit less organic than Laura’s).
Red

Orange (well, rust)

Yellow

Green (I think this time of year makes me so sick of seeing brown and gray that I’m always so happy to see this lush foliage cropping up from the drain pipe.)

Blue

Looking forward to more sunny, bundled walks soon!

Josh and I took a quick little trip to Montreal a few days after Christmas and it was a perfect little getaway. Montreal is just under 7 hours from us, which means you can be there in time for dinner and actually enjoy it, because the drive really isn’t too bad (that being said, I drive to Kentucky very regularly and have a high tolerance for long car trips). We stayed at the Hotel Sofitel because I’d found it for a good rate, and it turned out to be a great location- within walking distance to lots of shopping and restaurants.
Right off the bat we noticed, wow, it’s pretty cold there. Not in a “wear lots of layers” way, like I’d imagined, but more of a “wear sensible, functional footwear” kind of way. Neither of us had packed boots, and the first few minutes of exploring the city, it was decided that we would both need a pair.
I found a great pair on sale at H&M and Josh found an awesome pair made by Sorel.

Warm feet are such a luxury.

It was fun to hear French being spoken everywhere, and within the first few minutes of being there, I learned that “solde” meant “sale” and picked up lots of helpful French words along the way.
Like crêpe aux pommes…

We went to the movies three times since it was relatively cheap and Montreal has fantastic theaters. After much research, I’m about 85% sure they use real butter on their popcorn.

On the last day of our trip we ate brunch at The Burger Bar. I got a fried egg burger and Josh got the Hundred Dollar burger, which was not $100 but did have fois gras and other fancy toppings. Needless to say, we didn’t need to eat for the rest of the day…

We had a really great time together and enjoyed seeing a bit of the city, I think we’d both love to go back and see more (preferably when it’s a bit warmer outside). But still it’s always nice to come home, especially when you’ve been missing this guy:

Happy New Year!

We are still recovering from all the celebrations, but here’s a couple images from my phone that sum things up pretty nicely:

Hope everyone had a great Christmas!

I’ve taken a couple thursdays off, but I finally had some fun stuff to share so I put together a post.

-First of all, I made this stove top macaroni and cheese for the second time in a week and as I noted on my pinterest post, it’s dangerously convenient- one pot, no pre-boiling, any type of cheese. Dreamy.

-Secondly, I’m really pleased with this festive little corner in my kitchen. I found the church (it lights up!) at Tuesday Morning, and I love the symbolism because I have very happy memories of the Christmas Eve service at my church (which was next door to my house, since my dad was the pastor) and the lovely family time we spent together afterwards that night. There is still something so thrilling for me about candlelight Christmas Eve services.

-Thirdly, the Post Office has some really cute stamps right now. I just thought I’d tell you. I could spend a fortune there.

-And lastly, I wanted Josh to take nice photos of this project but he’s busy so I just went ahead and took some myself. I made these family silhouettes for our hallway, so they’re kind of the first thing you see when you walk in the door. I got the frames 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby and just used cream and black felt. I figured I’d share now since there’s still time to make some as a Christmas present, they’re simple to make and pretty adorable. (The portrait on the left is our rabbit Jackson, standing… I realize it’s not the best…). Still, they make me super happy every time I come home!

Today was perfect weather for getting our Christmas tree!

We picked a Frasier fir, noticeably “leaner” than our tree last year.

As always, I get embarrassingly excited about beloved traditions…

I’m totally in love with the vintage ornaments I scored for $2 a pack at the Kutztown flea market I went to with my sisters and mom a few weeks ago.

And I can’t get over how tiny Finn looked in last year’s Christmas photo!

I had a fun morning making these fragrant, natural candles, and I decided to do a tutorial for you here, since I hadn’t found any that were that great (and learned a few things myself, along the way!).
Here’s what you need:

A clementine (an orange won’t work, I’ve tried), olive oil, a sharp knife, and matches (long matches if you have them! These were all I had and worked fine, but require patience).

Step 1: Slice through just the peel of the clementine, dividing the peel into 2 halves.

Step 2: Run your finger between the peel of the clementine and the fruit, to loosen it.

Step 3: Gently pull back the “bottom” half of the peel and set aside, this will become the lid.

Step 4: Run your finger between the top half of the peel and the fruit.

Step 5: Gently pull back the top half of the peel, and cut away any fleshy strings that may be attached and in the way.

Step 6: Begin pulling away segments, trying to keep the bit of white strands that run down the middle of the clementine attached to the peel. (I took care to make these extra long, like an actual wick, but the part that burns and holds a flame is closer to the base of the peel anyways).

Step 7: Admire your wick!

Step 8: Remove any bit of stem, to help the clementine balance better.

Step 9: Fill with a tablespoon or so of olive oil.

Step 10: Slice a shape in to the lid you set aside earlier.

Step 11: Very patiently, and hopefully with long matches, begin lighting the wick. It took me 4 or 5 matches per wick… it would light and then burn out. Once it seemed to be staying lit, I blew out the wick so I could re-light all three at the same time, later tonight when I have company. They don’t seem to last for long, maybe 20 minutes, but they smell great (especially when they have their lids on) and flicker appealingly while they burn.

Hope you enjoy!

Worth noting this week:

-I have a very patient dog. Do you like my new cowl? It was a birthday present from my friend Debbie, who brought it all the way from the United Kingdom! I’m just sharing because pit bulls need to stay warm, afterall.

-My sisters are coming next week! They decided last minute to visit with their kids and I am super thrilled!

- I’ve been experimenting with some new recipes lately- did you know it’s super easy to make roses out of apples? It is!

Aren’t they lovely?
After making this recipe, I have to add that I would probably skip the buttermilk cream and replace it with this, as one of the comments suggests, so it’s more like a fancy danish than a tart.

-I’ve been working so much on our house that there’s almost always paint in my hair. It doesn’t always come out in the shower. I’ve been wearing a lot of hats lately.

So, as I mentioned in the previous post, Abby and I checked out a local farm today for some fresh delights. Introducing Klein Farms.

Whoops.. that’s my Jeep again. Silly me (LOL). Well, you can see some farm stuff in the background.

Anyway, they got cheeses and milk products, and veggies and you know, the typical farm stuff – which reminds me, I have my chocolate sMOOgurt in the fridge yet. Brb.

*snap*… *gulp gulp* Ah, that’s better.

So one thing I noticed on the counter between the raw honey and the preserves were ice cream cones with seed looking things in them with a sign reading “Feed the goats. 25¢.”

“Good afternoon.”
“Hello”
“Will that be all?”
“Um.. Yup. The milk, eggs, and the sMOOgurt. … Wait a second. Abby, grab one of those goat cones.”
“That’ll be nine dollars.”
“Here ya go.”
“Thank you. The goats are around back. They’ll come right out when they see the cone.”

Yes they did. Klein’s farm has a lot of neat stuff for everyone. They make cakes, cheese, sell all types of produce, have a play area for kids, a corn maze, and lots of different farm animals. You first walk by a pen of ducks, chickens, and even peacocks. Then behind them there’s goats, turkeys, and sheep.

When we got up to the pen, all of the larger animals were in their shelter, but as soon as those crafty goats saw that cone, they came a runnin’. I barely got my camera out before the one snatched all the goods away from Abby.

I thought the technique was to pour some seed/grain mix into your hand and feed the goats one by one. I guess that’s not Abby’s technique. Anyway, makes a funny picture. I guess goats aren’t known for their eating etiquette.

Here’s some pics of the other animals.

What would a farm be without some farm dogs right? These guys followed us all around… until I accidentally stepped on the one trying for a better angle with my camera. Sorry farm dog.

So, I sold my car about two months ago and ordered a new Jeep. I won’t get into all the details of why I traded in a car less than three years old for another one – Abby let me get it so that’s that. ROCK!!!!!

Abby was great at the dealership when we picked it up today. Took a bunch of great photos. After waiting for two months for it to arrive, needless to say, I was a bit anxious.

We took a short ride around some back roads together and I pulled over in a small park to snap a few shots.

While we were still out we decided to find a nearby farm Abby new about cuz I’ve been hankering for some raw milk ever since my last trip to Kentucky and Abby’s sister Katie had some. I wasn’t too sure where to park when we pulled into the farm, so I just pulled over on the edge of this field and took a couple more.

Abby doesn’t care much for my plans to make the Jeep overall bigger and badder, but I’ve been glued to this one forum since I placed my order reading up on lifts, tires, bumpers, locking differentials… you know, guy stuff. Lot’s of people get Jeeps and do what only Jeeps can do with them, namely ‘rock crawling’. The Jeep Wrangler, the vehicle people typically picture when they hear ‘Jeep’, ia a very specialized vehicle capable of pretty much going anywhere, through any conditions. I, however, don’t plan on building mine into an obnoxious, madmax-style, vicious 4×4, but rather a comfortable expedition type vehicle enabling me to go and see many places on this continent and take great photos! One can wish…

Wooooooo I just can not wait!

Hurray, internet! I have 6 matching chairs and I love love love them so much! I have been looking for a matching set for over a year, when I could no longer stand the mismatched set we’d been using. Since then I’ve been scouring for chairs, used and new, and was never able to find just what I wanted. Happily, finally, last wednesday I found an awesome set of 6 (!) with a table at Salvation Army for $50! Better yet, I was shopping with my mother-in-law, Terri, who bought them for me as a belated birthday present! How nice! Thanks Terri! They came with pretty awful fabric, but I knew that would be an easy fix- yesterday I found a great print at Hobby Lobby on sale for $11/yard, and today my mom came over to help me recover them (actually she did the whole thing, she’s a pro). Thanks mom!

Our kitchen has come a long way since last fall… so far we’ve replaced the light fixture and the ceiling fan, added a working dishwasher (my favorite thing, ever), changed the cabinet hardware, installed granite countertop, painted the walls and trim, and swapped out the bi-fold closet doors with modern ones. These chairs are the icing on the cake, I love sitting in my kitchen now and I think I’m finally ready for company!
Here’s the closest thing I could find for a “before” photo:

And here it is now!:

Does Finn like the chairs, you ask?

Yeah, they’ll work.