Happy Halloween!

Don't know when I became the mama who dresses her baby to match the holiday, but here I am. She does make a mighty cute pumpkin, though, doesn't she?

First "crop"

One of my goals for this fall was to replace some of our sad, neglected houseplants with edible plants--and then not let them get sad and neglected! So we've been picking things up at the farmer's market: a beautiful potted thyme, and then a loaded hot pepper plant. This past weekend, while hanging out with a houseful of guests, our hands were busy--as they always are in the fall--storing food, and this time, it was from our indoor "garden." Andi picked all the ripe peppers off the plant, and I strung them on thread with a needle. I love how they look hanging in our kitchen, and so do the kids: "What's that flower?" "Are those spicy peppers?" "Are we going to eat them?" "Can we eat them now?"

(Also in this little corner of my kitchen: a decoupaged light-switch cover I made years ago, and a vintage sewing card that was a gift from a friend.)

Autumn in a basket

Better late than never, right? I'd wanted to pull out a collection of autumn children's books on the equinox, but didn't have time to fully search the shelves until this weekend. Oh, well, we have a nice collection of them out now, decked out with an "autumn" sign by one of the four-year-olds. This afternoon, I'm planning to take the basket outside for reading on a cozy blanket amidst the leaves.

What we're reading this fall:

Autumn by Gerda Muller. I love this seasonal wordless series, and use them regularly to decorate our seasonal table.
Now It's Fall by Lois Lenski. I'm collecting this series, too, because I love its sweet old-fashioned style. Heavy on the mainstream holidays, but so cute, I include it anyway.
Autumn Story by Jill Barklem. I'm in love with the detail in the illustrations of the Brambly Hedge books: larders full of tiny food, trees criss-crossed with elaborate tunnels, nests fully outfitted as a house, etc. This story of a girl who gets lost is just suspenseful enough to be great fun for the kids, and so satisfying when she's found again.
Fall by Ann Blades. I have a few from this seasonal wordless board-book series, and they're somewhat odd, but sweet, too. I love all the glimpses of animals in the woods, and the simple pleasures of playing in the leaves, watching a train go by, etc.
My First Halloween by Tomie dePaola. The kids request this book over and over, probably because it so well reflects their experience of the season: carving pumpkins, decorating with simple cut-outs, putting on costumes, trick-or-treating.
Georgie's Halloween by Robert Bright. I remember loving Georgie as a kid. He's a sweet, shy, gentle ghost, and the stories about him are equally sweet and gentle. Nice in the midst of a holiday that can be frightening.
Apples and Pumpkins by Anne Rockwell. A simple story about going to pick fruit at a local farm. Pretty obvious why I'd like it!
Pumpkin Pumpkin by Jeanne Titherington. A simple description of the life cycle of a pumpkin. Love the close-up illustrations and insects shown throughout.
The Little Old Lady Who Was Not Afraid of Anything by Linda Williams. Just the thing when kids want a "scary" story. The repetition and suspense here are just right.
Play with your Pumpkins by Joost Elfers and Saxton Freymann. Not a children's book, but inspiring and fun to look at.
Chipmunk at Hollow Tree Lane by Victoria Sherrow. A chipmunk prepares for winter. I love this idea of preparation in this season, because that's what we're doing, too, and it's cool for the kids to see us as part of that natural rhythm. For the same reason, I love
The Busy Little Squirrel by Nancy Tafuri. I adore her illustrations of animals, too.
Let's Find Out About Fall by Martha and Charles Sharp. Part of the "Let's Find Out About Science" series, which I love in their vintage form (much more than the newer versions). I got this one at that recent great library sale.
Apple Farmer Annie by Monica Wellington. The kids love this story about Annie, who grows apples, makes many things from them, and sells them at the farmer's market. I love the local-food aspect, and all the signs to read in the illustrations.
The Ghost-Eye Tree by Bill Martin, Jr. and John Archambault. Another great scary one. I once heard Bill Martin, Jr. read this book, and it was incredible! I aspire to tell it as well.
Pumpkin Circle by George Levenson. A completely different approach to the pumpkin life cycle, this time with photographs.
Skeleton Hiccups by Margery Cuyler. This one gets hysterical laughs from 4-year-olds.
Flower Fairies of the Autumn by Cicely Mary Barker. These fairies have gotten way over-commercialized, in my opinion, but I still appreciate their beauty and the idea of introducing all these plant names through their appropriately-garbed fairy folk.
The Little Scarecrow Boy by Margaret Wise Brown. The more I read of hers, the more I think she was wise indeed; she knows just the right tone to keep children's rapt attention. This one's fun because it's about getting to act scary and big.
Frederick by Leo Lionni. While we're preparing for winter, I love this reminder that art, too, is necessary.
The Bear's Autumn by Keizaburo Tejima. We have bears who travel through our yard, so bear books are always a hit here. This one, set in Japan, has beautiful woodcuts.

When in doubt, make more longies

There hasn't been a lot of sewing going on around here lately, what with the miserable colds we've been having, and lots of company (thus the lack of posting, too). But this week, I found myself with a bit of time. What to do? Well, there's always a need for more diaper covers. Not very exciting, but very practical.

Needed right now: longies. In cold weather, it's much easier to dress Lucy in a diaper cover that is also pants than in diaper, cover, and then pants on top. And the rule right now is dark colors, because she's crawling all over the place, and they get filthy fast.


(She didn't want to stand up for a photo, but these look super cute with this dress when she does.)

So first up, a pair of plain brown longies. Remember that shrunken cashmere sweater from a friend that became a bum sweater? I still had most of it left, so I used the sleeves to make legs. But this time, rather than add an elastic casing as I usually do, I used what was left of the sweater's waistband to make a waistband for the pants. I pulled it very taut as I sewed, so it would be snug. I love how it worked out, because it resulted in pants that come high up on her waist, keeping her tummy from being exposed in the cold. I left these pants very long, because I don't want to waste this lovely fabric; I want them to fit for a long time.



Next up, a beautiful patterned turquoise pair. I found this sweater ages ago, and have been saving it (I think I bought it before she was born). It's too bad it's so grey here today, because this photo does not do them justice. I love these! The buttons at the bottom look so cute (though for the moment, she has to wear them rolled up). And as an added bonus, I was able to use the buttoned neck of the sweater as the waistband, so you can open them to get them on, and then button them up snug. This pair is really thick and warm, and will be great for the winter.

I've fallen in love with the look of a baby in longies and a dress. And I love all the funky, mis-matched but somehow just right outfits that result (for example, because diaper covers get rotated as they get wet, later in the day she wore the turquoise, patterned ones with the purple floral dress, and it looked great!) I wish I could find a super-gigantic gorilla-armed sweater so I could make a pair for myself; they've got to be the perfect winter pants!

Independence Days challenge, week 26

Time again for Sharon's Independence Day's Challenge:

1. Plant something: No. Starting to think I never plant anything.
2. Harvest something: Eggs. Kale, Good King Henry. 2 bushels apples from Quonquont Farm.
3. Preserve something: Dried celery greens, 2 pecks apples. Froze 3 qts. spinach. Canned 18-1/2 qts. applesauce.
4. Waste not: Nothing new here.
5. Preparation and storage: Stored parsnips, carrots, sweet potatoes from Farmer's Market. Added pasta to storage. Stored 2 bushels apples. Started taking an online Kids & Herbs class.
6. Build community food systems: Signed up for our CSA for next year. Took my mother-in-law apple picking for the first time in her life! Made applesauce with the kids in my early childhood program.
7. Eat the food: I've been serving the kids "green eggs" about once a week lately, from our yard (yay!).

Too tired for more than pictures

Independence Days challenge, week 25

Time again for Sharon's Independence Day's Challenge:

1. Plant something: Nope.
2. Harvest something: Eggs. One last basket of tender greens and herbs from the garden. 3 bushels apples from Quonquont Farm.
3. Preserve something: Dried comfrey and carrot tops to feed the chickens. Dried the last bits of sweet cicely, lemon balm, bee balm, feverfew, mint. Dried 1 watermelon, 2 pecks apples. Canned 3-1/2 qts. pickled bean salad, 4 qts. potato-leek soup (this is the first time we've tried pressure canning). Froze 4 lbs. cauliflower, 2 lbs. beans, 1 qt. stock.
4. Waste not: Favorite fall trick--I use an apple slicer to cut and core apples for the kids, and I hate to throw away the big core it leaves. I put them in a bag in the freezer, and they'll get added to our next batch of applesauce. It's amazing how quickly they add up to something useable.
5. Preparation and storage: Stored 1 bushel apples, 1 crisper drawer full of carrots.
6. Build community food systems: No.
7. Eat the food: We've eaten a ton of potato-leek soup and apples this week. I've also been trying my newly-dried goldenrod as a tea for my cold. And we've been using tons of the elderberry syrup I made.