I've since learned that the term is an oxymoron.
There can be no such thing.
That is why we shall move to the country as soon as we are able.
No neighbors in the country who tell you to move the chicken coop you've just put money, time and lots of sweat into.
They are right. We will move it. Well, we can't move it. We'll have to build a new one.
Apparently there is a city ordinance saying coops need to be 25 feet away from anyone else's property. Why couldn't they have talked about it with us while we were working on the coop? It's not like we put it up over night. They did all this research before coming to us. Research is good, but so was the feeling of completing such a great project before summer.
I need to invest in
a saftey pin.
Every week I have 1 hour and 45 minutes to myself. Wednesday mornings Hazel's mom takes both my girls so I can clean the house, run errands, etc... Some days after I drop them off, I can't bring myself to face the kitchen or the grocery store. This morning I used my free time to make these:
I made them out of Hazel's mom's old shirt she was taking to Goodwill. Knits are not the easiest to work with, but it was a bit easier than the last pair of pants I made for Lydia:
These were made from a wool sweater I found at Goodwill a few months ago.
The saftey pin would have made putting the elastic in much easier. I ended up using a bobby pin to pull it through.
I can't wait to show Margo!
Every week I have 1 hour and 45 minutes to myself. Wednesday mornings Hazel's mom takes both my girls so I can clean the house, run errands, etc... Some days after I drop them off, I can't bring myself to face the kitchen or the grocery store. This morning I used my free time to make these:
I made them out of Hazel's mom's old shirt she was taking to Goodwill. Knits are not the easiest to work with, but it was a bit easier than the last pair of pants I made for Lydia:
These were made from a wool sweater I found at Goodwill a few months ago.
The saftey pin would have made putting the elastic in much easier. I ended up using a bobby pin to pull it through.
I can't wait to show Margo!
Urban Farm
It's finished!
We let the girls play inside before everything was covered in poop. What fun!
Rosie, our youngest cat, now spends most of her days lounging outside the coop.
We let the girls play inside before everything was covered in poop. What fun!
Rosie, our youngest cat, now spends most of her days lounging outside the coop.
The girls have been spending their days in the run. We've been bringing them in at night as it is still chilly and the coop is not quite ready for them.
Death to the slugs and snails! I found this one making its way up to our vegetable bed yesterday. I gave it to the chickens but they didn't know what to do. I think it was too big for them.
Sahara is ready to join me this summer on roller skating adventures. We'll be the dynamic duo, mama and daughter rolling down the street!
Death to the slugs and snails! I found this one making its way up to our vegetable bed yesterday. I gave it to the chickens but they didn't know what to do. I think it was too big for them.
Sahara is ready to join me this summer on roller skating adventures. We'll be the dynamic duo, mama and daughter rolling down the street!
Fabric Fort
We had the funnest afternoon yesterday.
I pulled out some boxes of fabric and we sat on the floor in Lydia's room for over an hour looking at them, talking about them, imagining what we could sew them into. We made a hammock out of a long piece and swung Lydia until our arms grew tired. Later, Sahara made a mini fort over a chair I had put down on the floor, as Lydia likes to climb up chairs now, stand on them and reach for things that are purposefully put up, so as to be out of her reach.
She did that in the kitchen a few days ago and fell off the chair, pulling all sorts of items down with her.
I pulled out some boxes of fabric and we sat on the floor in Lydia's room for over an hour looking at them, talking about them, imagining what we could sew them into. We made a hammock out of a long piece and swung Lydia until our arms grew tired. Later, Sahara made a mini fort over a chair I had put down on the floor, as Lydia likes to climb up chairs now, stand on them and reach for things that are purposefully put up, so as to be out of her reach.
She did that in the kitchen a few days ago and fell off the chair, pulling all sorts of items down with her.
What is for dinner?
I made this casserole a few weeks ago and will make it again tonight. It was really good. Worth holding onto the recipe.
Brown Rice Casserole via The Greens Cookbook
4 cups cooked brown rice (1 1/3 cup raw)
half a block of tofu (8 or 9 ozs)
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 green pepper (I omitted)
2 medium zukes
6 ozs mushrooms
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 cup mush. broth, veg. stock or water
6 ozs grated cheese (jack, muenster, cheddar, gouda, etc.)
pepper
parsley or other fresh herb for garnish
Cook rice if you don't happen to have leftovers. Drain tofu. Chop the onion, carrots, celery, pepper and zucchini into pieces that are roughly 1/2 inch square. Chop up the mushrooms too and lastly the tofu, all about the same size.
Heat the olive oil and butter, and fry the onion over medium heat until it is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, nutritional yeast, cumin and salt. Stir until blended and cook for 1 minute; then add the carrots, celery and green pepper. Add 1/2 cup liquid, cover the pan and braise the veggies until they have begun to soften, about 5 minutes. Then add the zuke and the mushrooms and cook another 7 - 10 minutes. The veggies should be nearly cooked. If the pan gets dry during the cooking, add a bit more liquid.
Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the veggies with the rice and cheese. Season with salt and ground pepper. Gently mix in the tofu and put everything into a casserole dish that has been lightly oiled or buttered. Cover with foil and bake for 1/2 hour. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes. Serve garnished with herbs.
* As noted, I left out the green pepper. I did add a bit more zuke and mushrooms, and maybe celery too. It was more liquidy than I thought it would be. Because of that I cooked it longer with the foil off.
For the mushrooms I used leftover a shitake/button mix that I sauteed up with shallot the day before. Both Pablo and I noted how yummy the mushroom flavor was as we were eating it, so we'll see how it turns out tonight when I follow this recipe more closely.
Oh, and I almost always double the garlic quantity in recipes.
Brown Rice Casserole via The Greens Cookbook
4 cups cooked brown rice (1 1/3 cup raw)
half a block of tofu (8 or 9 ozs)
1 large onion
2 medium carrots
2 stalks of celery
1 green pepper (I omitted)
2 medium zukes
6 ozs mushrooms
1 Tbs olive oil
1 Tbs butter
3 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
1 tsp nutritional yeast
1 tsp ground cumin
1 tsp salt
1 cup mush. broth, veg. stock or water
6 ozs grated cheese (jack, muenster, cheddar, gouda, etc.)
pepper
parsley or other fresh herb for garnish
Cook rice if you don't happen to have leftovers. Drain tofu. Chop the onion, carrots, celery, pepper and zucchini into pieces that are roughly 1/2 inch square. Chop up the mushrooms too and lastly the tofu, all about the same size.
Heat the olive oil and butter, and fry the onion over medium heat until it is lightly browned, about 5 minutes. Add the garlic, nutritional yeast, cumin and salt. Stir until blended and cook for 1 minute; then add the carrots, celery and green pepper. Add 1/2 cup liquid, cover the pan and braise the veggies until they have begun to soften, about 5 minutes. Then add the zuke and the mushrooms and cook another 7 - 10 minutes. The veggies should be nearly cooked. If the pan gets dry during the cooking, add a bit more liquid.
Preheat the oven to 350. Combine the veggies with the rice and cheese. Season with salt and ground pepper. Gently mix in the tofu and put everything into a casserole dish that has been lightly oiled or buttered. Cover with foil and bake for 1/2 hour. Remove the foil and bake another 15 minutes. Serve garnished with herbs.
* As noted, I left out the green pepper. I did add a bit more zuke and mushrooms, and maybe celery too. It was more liquidy than I thought it would be. Because of that I cooked it longer with the foil off.
For the mushrooms I used leftover a shitake/button mix that I sauteed up with shallot the day before. Both Pablo and I noted how yummy the mushroom flavor was as we were eating it, so we'll see how it turns out tonight when I follow this recipe more closely.
Oh, and I almost always double the garlic quantity in recipes.
May Faire
It was a wet and windy May Faire this year. The children didn't seem to notice at all. Great fun was had by all.
This was our seventh year of cake walks. Perhaps by the time the girls graduate we'll have won a cake!
Hazel and Sahara enjoyed catching butterflies.
Here is the pair at the Faire two years ago.
This was our seventh year of cake walks. Perhaps by the time the girls graduate we'll have won a cake!
Hazel and Sahara enjoyed catching butterflies.
Here is the pair at the Faire two years ago.
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