homemaking
Kairos
Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”
Drought
Despite the best watering efforts of my sister while we were away last week, we came home to a garden completely ill equipped to deal with a week of temperatures exceeding 100 degrees. These extreme temperatures withered our plants and brought out a volume of insects that I have never before experienced.
These conditions are reminders of just how fragile life is, that without rainfall, nothing can survive. I try to push these ideas from my mind as I quietly tend to my plants, watering them from the city water that we are blessed to have at our disposal during the worst drought this area has faced since 1988. But as the days pass, clouds loom overhead, but not a drop of rain falls, and these thoughts become more and more difficult to cast aside.
I pray for an end to this dryness, and for the heavens to open up and give the earth some much needed nourishment.
If you have a suggestion for Japanese beetle removal, I would greatly appreciate it! Feel free to leave a comment on this post for all to see. I have the traps set up along the far perimeter of our property, but the sheer number of these insects is staggering.
Superior
The last day of our vacation was not one that I will soon forget. I woke up early to find both of my little ones sitting silently in the cabin, waiting for Mommy, Daddy and Great Grandma to wake up. They were so, so, so quiet. That alone was truly amazing…ha 🙂
That morning Grandma had a wonderful idea. She was wondering if we would join her on a little day trip, about an hour and a half further north, to visit Lake Superior. I have never seen this Great Lake, nor have my girls, so we were game. And oh my goodness was it ever a surprise! It was absolutely breathtaking. So far as I would venture to say one of the most beautiful places I have ever seen in my lifetime.
We parked at Little Girl’s Point County Park, the park in which my husband’s grandmother use to take her children vacationing once a year when they were young. We walked along the beach for over two hours collecting rocks, sculpting little projects out of the clay dripping down from the embankment, and dipping our feet in the crisp, cool water. What a fabulous adventure!
Retreat
It seems like ages since I have visited this space to share with all of you the goings on of our little family. I hope all of you had a wonderful Independence Day and are staying cool, despite the incessant heat.
This past week, we spent our days immersed in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. Every time we begin our journey five and a half hours north, our stresses seem to melt along the expanse of highway. When we finally arrive in Manitowish Waters, we find ourselves already a little lighter, less burdened and receptive to the fun times that lie ahead of us. This place is our sanctuary. Our retreat. Our place of reconnecting with nature and all that this beautiful earth has to offer us.
I think this wonderful journey of ours is best shared through images that I will forever hold in my mind from this trip. Enjoy.
July 4th
Wishing you all a very happy 4th of July! I hope you all enjoy this wonderful day of celebration with your family and friends!
Putting Food By: Pickled Beets
Despite the extreme heat we have had the past several days, our beets seem to be absolutely thriving. In fact, they seem to be the only thing in our garden these days that are not being absolutely devoured by Japanese beetles. Ug.
But enough of the negative and on to the positive…these beets. Yum. We pulled up our first round of beets this week and we were thrilled to find they had filled out nicely beneath the thick layer of soil. My favorite way to eat beets is to pickle them, so I used a very easy pickling recipe from Putting Food By (listed below with a link), and before I knew it we had jars full of tart and scrumptious pickled beets.
***
Some of our favorite home preservation books are:
Putting Food By by Janet Greene, Ruth Hertzberg and Beatrice Vaughan
Animal, Vegetable, Miracle by Barbara Kingsolver (There are some great canning recipes scattered throughout the piece.)
The Big Book of Preserving the Harvest by Carol W. Costenbader
Kairos
Kairos—“a right, opportune, or supreme moment in which something special and unique happens”
Fresh
Each morning I make a lovely cup of piping hot coffee and stand at my kitchen window overlooking my garden. Even in the dead of winter, when the garden is buried beneath layer upon layer of snow, I do this. It allows me to view one area of the earth, each day, and observe all of the changes that take place and often go unnoticed.
Yesterday, as I was conducting this every day task, I noticed that the mint in my herb garden had reached an all-time-out-of-control-I’m-goiing-to-take-over-everything state. I now had more mint than any human could ever even dream of consuming. I twiddled my thumbs for a bit, trying to think of what in the world to do with even a small bit of this mint. Then it came to me. On our trip to Champaign this past weekend I indulged in this exquisite homemade, flourless cake that was served with fresh mint ice cream. Yummy. So, that was it…fresh mint ice cream!
I used my normal ice cream recipe, but this time I added fresh, finely chopped mint at the stage when I add the vanilla. I covered the pan with a ceramic plate and allowed the mint to steep in the mixture until completely cool. This allowed the lovely, fresh flavor of the mint to infuse into the ice cream.
Enjoy!
Family
When we moved back to Rockford (the hometown of both myself and my husband) four years ago this July, we pledged to make the move “worth it.” You see, we adored living in Champaign. We loved living in a city that is home to a major university, and all that comes with it. We loved our teaching jobs, our students and our co-workers. We loved our home, our neighbors and our neighborhood. But the longing we both felt for our families far outweighed all of that.
We told ourselves that if we moved away from this fabulous city in order to be closer to our families, we must make every attempt to see our families, and see them often. Although all of us have busy schedules, and it can often feel overwhelming to squeeze in time with everyone, we are so, so, so happy to be home.
Our summer “Tuesday Night Dinner” tradition is one we truly love and it makes us so very thankful for how full our lives are. Full of family. Full of love. And always full of laughter 🙂
Making of a Home 