LAWANA-COUNTER CULTURE!: countryside Montana

Wednesday, July 13, 2011

We Slept In!

My family is split this week. Three of us are at a big 4-H event and four of us are home. We are kind of taking the week off from some things. I was blessed by a friend with a BIG pile of groceries including some yummy quick fix items. So, I am not cooking much this week. The kids are off from school (we usually do some school year around) and we are taking it easy for a few days. Tomorrow we start preparation for the Farmer's Market but last night and today we are playing.

Here are some of the things we have done and are doing. We slept in! Woo Hoo! Until 8:30 when my arthritic knee, er soccer injury, refused to be quiet. I had gotten up at 4:00 to open the house up to let cold air in. That is how we air conditon our house. We open it up in the cool of the morning and then "trap" the cold air in to keep the house cool most of the day. It works splendidly so long as we get a few hours below 60 degrees at night or in the morning. At our house, we don't have screen doors and the doors with their low thresholds let in much more cold air than the windows, so sometimes there are visitors. So far it has mostly been moths and domesticated animals. In the back of my mind though I half expect a skunk!

We got up and did our chores and went to town to the free lunch in the park where the younger crowd ate a ham and cheese sandwich, chips and and apple. Ezra harvested a little plantain for me while we were there. After a little play time at the park, we went by the store to pick up supplies for making Jalapeno fudge for the Farmer's Market. While I was there I bought a bag of fudgesicles These are necessary as we are making knitting Nancies this week. My friend Susan introduced Grace-Marie to the knitting Nancy yesterday. The little one though is a bit cumbersome for little hands, so we are making some with the tubes from the foil box and popsicle sticks. Look here to see many kntting Nancies. The one we are making is almost at the end. http://www.waynesthisandthat.com/knittingnancys.html I want to teach fiber arts to my younger chldren and having a snake knitting contest with these little Nancies sounds like a fun way to start.

Tomorrow we will bake breakfast bars, brownie bites, gluten free cookies and we will make Jalapeno , He-Man (4 alarm jalapeno and cayenne ) and jelly bean fudge. I will finish a batch of Meadow Magic salve and we will be packaging,printing, cutting and attaching labels to everything. Friday, we will be picking beets, lettuce, spinach, chard and radishes. But for today our biggest challenge is finding some friends to help us eat 8 fudgesicles so we can make our kntting Nancies.

Hope your day is blessed!

Lawana

Lawana

Friday, June 24, 2011

Green, Green, My World is Green

Due to a very cool wet spring where I live. Everything is uncharacteristically green for this time of year. I am enjoying the color and the mild weather. I am thankful that I am able to live in a beautiful area.

We haven't had to irrigate our yard yet and it is very green, as are the hills and pastures around us. The mild weather has been good for the animals and it should help reduce the numbers of grasshoppers we have. For three years, the grasshopper hoardes have gotten most of the garden. They are supposed to dislike cool, wet weather. I sure hope so.

Many people are chosing to go green these days. I have done some of that. I recycle, reuse, refill as a part of my thrifty lifestyle. I also eat grean living things. The Lord has also draped my family with green this year. Next year may be browner and not so lush, so I am enjoying the blessing of green this summer.

Lawana