It's that time of the year, when it feels like an easter egg hunt every day!
Here's a great recipe
eggs,
little milk
little flour
(basically a pancake batter)
and any veggies you like
Oil the bottom of a pan lightly, toss all together and bake at 425F for 15 minutes, shaking the pan after 10 minutes (no earlier, otherwise it will loose it's crispiness)
Voilà, easy easy !
Here's my apple tree. The trees on our property can keep us quite busy and well nourished too! I don't know what kind it is, because it was here when we moved in. However it was already a few years old and had never given apples yet! Now, 5 years later, and nicely fed with alpaca and rabbit "fertilizers" it is fully flourishing to our hearts content! And we have 3 more like this on the way for next year.
During the season, lots of apples fall off the tree during different storms, and every so often we pick them all up, to fill a 5 gallon bucket.
These are perfect apples for none other than Apple Puree. I make huge batches at once, and freeze up to 3/4 of it for winter months. Apple puree happens to be the first and most important ingredient to my all time favorite "Homemade fruit gelee" ! That's my all natural (no refined or artificial sugars added) soft candy, made in collaboration with none other than Mother Nature herself ;)
Stay tuned for "how to make Homemade, All Natural, Fruit Gelee" ...
Three years ago, my mother and I planted 6 raspberry bushes. Last year, barely making a full basket at any given time, I thought to myself "next year should be good". I then proceeded in fertilizing with our alpaca compost...
I never expected this!
Yesterday we picked enough to fill 2 x 1 litre baskets!
Today I picked enough to fill this little basket, but I only used 1/2 a plant! I have another 11 baskets like this to fill , just today !!!
I can already see the next little green blossoms on their way! Supposedly I should be expecting a second flourishing season in the fall !!!
I love raspberries! They are my favorite fruit, now I've got to get to work, and transform this into yummy treats!
And I thought I could take it easy today ! Ha!
Raspberry jam, raspberry soft candy, and of course frozen berries for winter months... Here I come!
Then of course there are the amazing properties of raspberry leaves...
Raspberry Leaf Tea can be made by the infusion of 1 ounce of the dried leaves in a pint of boiling water. Often taken cold, the tea can give immediate relief to mouth and stomach problems.
Alright, I've been a little absent here. A little too much in manual production and craft show preparations.
So to liven this blog up a little I will be adding a weekly "Nature tip".
This will be about something and anything (cooking, organic gardening, animal care, beauty...)
Here's my "Natural beauty tip" of the moment:
Living without Shampoo!
What? You say? You like all those chemicals going through your scalp pores! Right into your blood stream! Oh than, please ... don't even read on! lol ;)
First take about a half tablespoon of baking soda and mix in your hand with water, until it makes a thick paste. Wet your hair, and work it into your scalp. Let stand 1 minute than rinse.
Next you can either squeeze lemon juice over your head and work into the tips of your hair or apple cider vinegar. Lemon smells better , however the smell of apple cider vinegar will vanish once your hair has fully dried. Let stand 1 minute, then rinse! You don't need more than a table spoon here either
Voila! You will save bundles of cash! And your hair and scalp will thank you.
It will take you a few washes to start seeing the difference, your body chemistry and oil glands will adjust to these non invasive products. After 1 or 2 weeks, your hair will for ever be soft and RADIANT !
And a little bonus... It will bring out those natural highlights... YOU NEVER KNEW YOU HAD!!!
Hum!?! My path to being a fiber artist. I fall asleep now, thinking of my next project.
Laying the fibers out flat, debating colors, moving them around.
Playing with fabrics and fibers, considering choices...
It reminds me of painting, sculpting or even photography. All art forms that I've amused myself with, since a very young age.
Framing, meshing, mixing media... I thought the textile art world was new to me, and as I grow into it, I realize it's been a part of me for a long time...
The greatest surprise is after it dries... I can never truly predict what my scarf will look like!
When I first bought our 2 angora bunnies, I thought no way will they live in tiny 2'x2' cages! So we added onto the barn! Nothing to complicated... Just cut a door through the wall, closed off a small interior part of the barn, added a fence outside, and we used the old siding of our above ground pool as the roof! Everything I read about raising bunnies mentioned cages, so I went with my instincts on this one...
Yes bunnies are territorial, if they have a tiny territory!
At first my 2 bunnies, having always lived in cages, growled at each other.
Yet having a 9 x 8 foot exterior playing ground, and another 4x 12 foot interior "living quarters", seemed to give them enough space not to care about the others territory. Within a few days, they seemed at peace with each other and their new home.
The only real important factor is to keep the males separate from the females.
Now with a total of 11 bunnies, we've separated the space in half and the boys are to the left and the girls to the right!
My bunnies are for angora fibers, so I will not be breeding anymore. I have enough for what I need!
In the meantime, they get to live a happy, comfortable life, within a social group and room to roam.
Not a lonely rabbit's lifestyle...
Here's a little video, of our doe feeding her kits.
They only feed for about 2 minutes every 24 hours! In this video you see the last 52 seconds...
