Wednesday, April 22, 2015

Magical drawing, backyard foraging, and GLV history.




In the wee hours of this morning, when I was dutifully with the before school children, I was given a delightful surprise! E, our writer-in-residence announced that she would draw me something. 
From her brain came the fortune telling owl. How succinct. She is the most inquisitive, creative, soulful 7 year old, I have ever met.  This gem is getting framed. 


When my students are off in their classrooms, I head home to my lavender house.  The rest of my morning and early afternoon was spent in a rather inspired fashion, I finished a two year old jewelry project and foraged for wild edibles in my backyard. 




These two butterflies were found while out hiking and have been waiting patiently for this new life. I'm having trouble deciding which one to give my mom for Mother's Day. 



Violets for jam.
Viola Sororia

I then collected wood violets from my yard. At the very beginning of Spring, we had the pleasure of seeing Siberian squill covering our backyard and now we have carpets of violets. I love this house and even though there are many, many hours of yard work that have yet to be done, I am thrilled by it all. Good riddance, Gaslight Village! No longer do I need to worry about minions chemically spraying, trampling,  or mowing over my green spaces. I am the steward of this land. 

After seven months, I finally went on a recon mission to our old place. Not all of my plants had been destroyed by the new sidewalk, as I had feared. At first, I wanted to dig up every single one of my plants but now I'm going to just liberate my bleeding heart and my ghost fern, if it reappears. The installation of that sidewalk and the shock of seeing my garden destroyed, was the catalyst for us to finally move out of a teeny albeit magical treehouse and into a real house.  So, thanks, Universe. You're a tricky one. 

Stay tuned, my audience of one? two? for the completion of the violet jam. 


Lavender House among the squill.
Scilla Siberica








Friday, April 17, 2015

Cream of Nettle Soup




Stinging nettles have a horrible reputation. It is warranted and the name says it all. Stinging. They will definitely sting you and you will not like it. The way I avoided it was by using scissors. I cut the stalk and then used the scissors like tongs and placed them in the bowl. It was a painless experience. 

After the nettles have been boiled, they lose their stinging hairs and become nutritious greens. They are especially rich in Calcium and Vitamin A.

Here is the recipe I used:

I used original flavor coconut milk and I wouldn't recommend it. The coconut flavor is too sweet for this type of soup. Also, don't do what I did and add too much water. Follow the recipe. 

Wednesday, April 8, 2015

Anniversary

C and I celebrated our 10 year anniversary today! I had prepped the table and was only missing flowers. When he walked in, he was carrying a bouquet! It is funny how in sync we can be.

A few of my students made us Anniversary cards/ drawings. So sweet.
The desserts were made by Sweet Raw Joy out of Cedar Rapids, IA. 

Papaya. strawberries.
cakes. 


Trail Mix

Edamame 
Almonds
Raisins 
Walnuts
Ginger Chew


        Cheers to us!