Green Kitchen: Craft Blog, etc.

Apple Tree Grafting

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 23:20:00 +0000

I wrote up a little basic instruction for apple tree grafting as shown to me by my friend, Geoff, a stand up guy who braved a near-miss highway accident, cranky kids, and bad weather to teach me (and my boy, H) to graft and help plant twenty-six trees — his mission: to spread the apple love. I share it with you over here at flickr. Note: This photo essay is told from the novice perspective. Enjoy.

Playdates

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Tue, 09 Feb 2010 22:29:00 +0000

Why is it that playdates are rarely as creative and carefree as the one we had last weekend? *This* is what I thought it would be like to have kids and kid friends. We've only reached this lovely, harmonious place a few times — really, I can't even remember the last time. Is it an age thing? Are they finally old enough? Is it a micro-managed childhood thing? Should we be throwing them outside and locking them out to work it out on their own? Do I just have a difficult child, or two, or is it the company they choose? If I had time, I'd think and write more about this. Maybe it's the fact that play time has been reduced to playdates. What are your thoughts?

More photos over at flickr.

Owls in the Family

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Tue, 26 Jan 2010 01:41:00 +0000

If I were a witch my familiar would be an owl. In my life I've been lucky enough to find three owls (two Barn Owls and one Burrowing Owl) who all needed a little helping hand — the last one was last night in our hallway. I think it flew down the chimney. It was a Harry Potter-ish kind of night. I caught him in an alcove, now to be renamed the owl-cove.

Feathers of a different sort — a Dora Snow Princess dress from Santa — as requested. Here he is as an owl many moons ago.

And, if you ever get a chance you should read Owls in the Family by Farley Mowatt. I hope my next owl encounter is a fledgling that needs a good home.

Things are pretty Spiffy

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Thu, 21 Jan 2010 22:32:00 +0000

Every kid needs a kid, especially a bottle-fed one in the house.

I'm starting to feel like I'm living the movie Babe, except there's a vacant mobile home cropped out of my frame.

Add sheep midwife to my resume.

The lamb was accepted by the mama after I brought her back up the hill. She'd rolled down a few tumbles right after being born, still in the amniotic sac. That's her twin brother in the foreground.

We've acquired twenty eight animals in three weeks! I know what you're thinking, "Rookies." Well, I wouldn't say we were totally Green Acres — I mean, we do own a feed store, which makes us a little less green don't you think? I bet you didn't know that little tidbit.

Here are the recent additions:
6 Ewes (two pregnant)
7 Lambs
4 Lambs born at our house
9 Laying hens
1 Rooster
1 Bottle-fed goat named Spiffy-Lu

Things are Spiffy at the Ranch.

Little House-ish

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Thu, 07 Jan 2010 22:20:00 +0000

We were gifted six ewes and seven lambs the day after Christmas. It's a co-parenting sort of thing because our friend's grazing land wasn't exactly coyote-proof. We're working on some serious fencing at our ranch. For now we have them close to the house with a view of them from our bedroom window. I'm already smitten — We got to see one set of twins be born. Amazing.

The sheep are a Suffolk/Hampshire cross, I think, with some Mexican hair sheep thrown in.

Totally brightening my day yesterday was this gifted wood stove, as well as the time spent with a good friend. The stove lived its working life in a log cabin in Twain Harte, just recently retired to my living room until I find a place to hook it up. Thank you, Matthew!

It's in his blood

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Sat, 28 Nov 2009 01:19:00 +0000

A certain someone turned seven this week.

He had a ranch-themed party for eighty! I think over sixty showed up. There were at least twenty five cars -- and some horses, of course. Here he is on maybe his fourth horse ride of his life.

It's in his blood.

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Some of our old family photos of folk with horses.

Stuff I'm Up To

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Sat, 07 Nov 2009 00:32:00 +0000

Mushroom hunting
Sigh. I don't get enough days out in the woods, but did manage to score all these within a ten minute local jaunt. Today brought us no mushrooms, but we did meet some beekeepers who also love the funghi -- a promising contact for bee questions. I'm hoping to start some hives this spring.

Canning
Did some real canning this year, a hobby that has been on hold while having small children. I always shoot for as many quarts of tomatoes as possible. I think I got somewhere around 17, not nearly enough. Varietal chile salsas were a first for me. I worked without a recipe and they turned out great. I fire roasted red jalapenos, as well as a red Padrons, added some vinegar and garlic -- heavenly, or maybe it's hellish. Since my husband likes the hot stuff, I also made a fermented chile pickle with ground mustard seed, cayenne, and ginger from this Madhur Jaffrey's book. This pickle inspires me to want to make more fermented foods.

Thinking about sheep
My friends over at Mariquita Farm are downsizing their livestock and we may be the proud new owners of seven ewes and a ram soon, like this week!

Photo Essaying
over at Mariquita during my two hours a week of kid-free time. It's close to preschool and Julia and I like to cook, talk, and get some farm chores done together. We did pumpkins into puree and roasted peppers over an outdoor fire.

Reading
Omnivore's Dilemma. It puts all my feelings about food and agriculture into words. I know I'm late reading it, but for all the other stragglers out there, Go Forth and Read!

My First Mohawk

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 22:55:00 +0000

Happy Halloween y'all. My first mohawk (lice-inspired, at age 41 — woot!) reminds me of this funny thing from The Onion. We did his and her mohawks for the grownups. And because the kids got buzzes I made this for the little guy. I think of you guys a lot. XO, Michelle

Princess: The Dog

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 23:07:00 +0000

Named before we got her. Found in a desert with a horse. A perfect fit for the ranch.

Did I tell you we are living without internet?

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Tue, 18 Aug 2009 00:19:00 +0000

So in my few minutes online at my mom's house I'm just putting up some pics.

Cleaning tack.

Tightrope walking after reading Mirette on the High Wire.

Learning basic horse care and braiding with grandma.

Cowboy Barbie princess with push broom.

Wrestling during an after dinner walk with the uncle.

There are good days and there are bad ones — they're all beautiful.

Thank you for all the comments on my last post. It's strange being so removed from my old, online life.

You Know You've Moved to the Ranch...

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Mon, 03 Aug 2009 21:22:00 +0000

when your drive home passes by huge agribusiness, a power plant, and a junk yard, as well as a marine refuge, a working harbor, and a slough.

when your first attempt at ridding the house of flies nets you forty dead in a matter of minutes.

when your average for killing Black Widows is about one a day, including the two you found in the kitchen.

when amplified Mexican Polka is de rigeur.

when you find three gopher snake sheddings in the front yard.

when you unearth someone's rock collection under the olive trees and it's full of fossils and obsidian and lava rock and lots more to be learned about.

when there is at least one or two owl pellets on, or near, the front walkway daily.

when you go to the local market and the checker and bagger laugh at the guy before you, after he leaves, because he bought soy creamer.

when the nearest natural food store is 23 miles away.

when you no longer wear your cute, homemade skirts because of the foxtails.

when you buy your knew wardrobe at the hardware store (20% off all Dickies).

when you dig a hole in the front yard just to entertain the kids.

when your six-year-old starts to teach himself to groom the horses by standing on the fence and reaching over.

when your kid can make a bike track that goes around and around the house.

when you have so many things needing fixing, so many weeds to manage and fences and water leaks to mend, so much housework and fly killing to do; while at the same time your children are undoing things done, and your six-year-old has skipped childhood and moved onto sassy teenager, and the kids hit each other and you contemplate hitting them; and you read Charlotte's Web out loud, barely making it through the end because you're crying too much; and your oldest tells you that the new house has more yelling; and the weeds grow and the buildings deteriorate faster than you can keep up — that you wonder if you like your life.

when right after you wonder about liking your life, you have your own George Bailey moment.

when your kid doesn't come running like he's supposed to after you blow the conch shell (and he always comes running)

when your littlest is wishing for magic to find his brother.

when you call your husband to say you can't find your kid.

when you've searched all the buildings and have only the driveway that leads down to the speedy road left to look at.

when you spy some knees sticking out above the weeds that belong to your child who has fallen asleep while waiting for the dinner guests to arrive — bike helmet and all.

That is when you know you've moved to the Ranch.

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Photo by the talented jo ann manolis. Thanks, J.

Still Here

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 20:35:00 +0000

Just busy doing ranch stuff.

I have yet to take one photo. Luckily my sister takes some.

Stash-a-Go-Go and Other Things

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Sat, 27 Jun 2009 04:04:00 +0000

My aunt and uncle came to help us move. Along with demolition, engine repair, and stove cleaning, they also got the very important task of stash transfer.

Their VW has the very cool Suburu conversion.

Getting bigger everyday. Father's Day scramble all by himself.

Full princess mode continues.

Before I grew children I grew plants. 2001 was the last year I saved seeds. Let's see if there's a spark of life in any of them.

Moving

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 02:17:00 +0000

Lifting boxes,

raising my spirits

by driving through here

and listening to this.

Nothing like fire to get you all excited

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 20:57:00 +0000

We had a little excitement down at the ranch yesterday — a fire, one property away.

The California Department of Forestry planes were there within minutes to drop flame retardant. B took this picture from the ground with a point and shoot. They were so close. It was awesome.

A helicopter dropped huge buckets of water.

This shows some flames and gives a sense of how low these huge planes were flying. Ghost, the stallion, stands by — the only one of four horses to even notice there was danger near. We were truly lucky that the fire was downwind. It made quick work of a barn and 10-15 acres. Had the wind been blowing the other way, the fire would probably have made it to our property.

We are ill-prepared for horse evacuation, so this was a great wake-up call. After twenty some odd years of no horse contact, I quickly reacquainted myself with halters and lead ropes; have learned that putting Vick's Vapor Rub in a stallion's nose will make him not able to smell the mares, thus easier to manage in an emergency situation; and know that we need to quickly to remedy the shortage of horse trailers on the property.

My friends really came through in the emergency with childcare. One friend took C away from the ranch, so I could stay until my mother-in-law came. We board the horses for my MIL.

Check out this little video clip of one of the planes. Thanks, B, for thinking of taking the pics.

Wow! That was scary. I heart firefighters.

I call it Rancho Fake-o

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 04:17:00 +0000

because of the house's 70s Spanish style "architecture," which includes an arched facade that serves no functional purpose that I can determine. I hear it used to sport serious shag carpet and a wrought iron room divider, too. Luckily, the land is campo — not fake-o at all — and totally awesome for all sorts of animal and vegetable adventures. I've collected about 70 owl pellets, seen Hooded Orioles mating, and identified a dead weasel. Good times.

This is the view from the side yard, taken by my sister. Click here if you want to embiggen.

Speaking Yardage Wise

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Fri, 05 Jun 2009 17:15:00 +0000

We interrupt the seemingly endless — and not-so-great-smelling — job of scraping off 30 years of kitchen grease for a sun-kissed, vintage fabric interlude. Take a breath of this:

French Babar from 1968, pink flowers on Swiss Dot, blue flowers on Seersucker, five yards of Border Print, and other tasty goodies. Thanks to my mother-in-law and an awesome rummage sale. It was a welcome respite to this moving business.

Add it to the pile of things to do.

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Fri, 29 May 2009 06:50:00 +0000

Maker Faire this weekend.

For my friends named George:

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Wed, 27 May 2009 14:35:00 +0000

and for the ones who don't know Shel Silverstein, yet:

God, the interwebs are cool.

Craft (book) Stash

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Tue, 19 May 2009 15:54:00 +0000

Getting ready for the move.

The Everything Post: Sewing, Moving, Wonder Twin Powers & Fabric Porn

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Mon, 18 May 2009 15:47:00 +0000

Since I can't seem to write a proper post these days I'm just going to put down some random bits. I have been slightly more active over at Twitter if you want to follow me there, too.

Everything Tote
I sewed the Everything Tote from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing and I love it! I pack it full of clothes, food, sunscreen, and take everything everywhere. The Joel Dewberry, decor-weight exterior is holding up well, as is the cute, Japanese Bambi twill lining. At Quilt Market Melanie Falick told me that it really helps book sales if people review books at different times, not just when they are released. I'll keep posting as I sew all the cute stuff Heather designed. I did just break my fabric buying freeze to get some of her Far, Far Away before it's all gone. I follow WhipStitch Fabrics on Twitter and couldn't pass up a 15% off code (I think she's out of FFA). Am currently wondering if a 41-year-old woman can pull off a purple unicorn tunic. And from the shameless self-promotion department, did you know my blog is mentioned in the inspirations section of Weekend Sewing? Guess I need to get to work! Wonder Twin powers activate! Shape of an inspiring craft blog!

Without a dressform
Frustrated with always having to do major adjustments to store-bought patterns — and wanting to copy a specific and deceptively simple-looking child's dress from Mini Boden, but not having a proper dressform — I decided to do a self-draping. It took three labor-intensive drafts (wrapping myself in fabric, pinning, basting, taking apart, making adjustments, and drafting paper patterns) but I'm very happy with the result. It's so fitted and comfortable in the bust that I can imagine making my own non-stretch bras like in the olden days (I've been having boob trouble from underwires). The hardest part of the pattern making process was having to rip out the sewing on the last, well-fitted version, so that I could make the final pattern. Here's a funny, jazz hands picture with me wearing the final dress for Lorimarsha's visit.

Do you own, rent, or live with your parents?
Seven years and two babies later, we're finally moving out of my mom's house (the house I grew up in) and down (30 miles south) to the ranch that used to belong to my husband's grandparents. If you can pull it off, I highly recommend trying the multi-generational household. Imagine the foundation of love, when every day you have your mom, dad, grandma, and auntie available for hugs, as well as help.

Our plans have always been to move to our cabin in the woods when it finally gets a bathroom and a kitchen (still not done). During the ten years we've been remodeling, our family has outgrown the 600 square feet before we ever got to live in it. We'll be looking for a very special person or two to rent it, someone who will love it as much as we do.

While it will be sad to leave the auntie and grandma, we are looking forward to exploring the ranch's ten acres of coastal scrub, having adventures with horses, cleaning out the greenhouse, learning about animal care, native plants, and bees, and generally having the physical space to match the endless energy of two active boys. I see bike tracks, forts, archery, and lots of general digging and hacking in our future.

We'll be near this awesome place.

Like I need more fabric.
Next weekend, Susie Bright — famed writer of sexual politics, erotica, feminism, and popular culture, who also just happens to be a fellow craft blogger, dressmaker, and neighbor — is de-stashing! Makes me all hot and bothered just thinking about it.

Me be a princess, Mama?

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Sun, 03 May 2009 17:30:00 +0000

Fabric store purchase = $70*

Staying up till 2:30 a.m. wrestling with FOE and nylon/spandex fabric = $ At least 30 new gray hairs — perhaps years off my life

Fulfilling birthday boy's only wish (a pink dress) = Priceless

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*Don't worry, I purchased more than just the dress fabric.

Photography and model = My sister

The Chicken's FOE tutorial, which I should have read first.

Me & Johnny

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Wed, 29 Apr 2009 00:25:00 +0000

This:
Plus this:
Equals this:

An insomnia-induced, Johnny Depp makeover — it's what happens to me after taking late night facebook quizzes. Next time a less smiley pic, per Wax & Wool's suggestion.

The Patchwork of My (Future) Life

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Sun, 19 Apr 2009 21:32:00 +0000

I sew in the kitchen. The iron cord really does frequent the butter dish. I hang my works in progress on the curtain rods or tack them to the cupboards. From the counter you can see that we like: toast, preferably from vintage toaster; juice from the Champion (beet and carrot, mostly); two different ways to make coffee. Things you can't really see are: the yellow salt cellar filled with sea salt (I like to add it in pinches) and the "coffee grinder," which actually has ground dried chipotles in it — it's like fairy dust for food. Yum!

I showed a sneak peek at this wip here. It was going to be a full circle skirt, but after holding it up I knew I'd never wear it — it's definitely not flattering to my body type.

After a short-lived idea that it might serve as a heavily-varnished floor mat, my mom's suggestion as a table cloth seemed like, duh, of course it's a table cloth.

While sewing I was thinking about our new, possible/probable home down at The Ranch. It's a long story, hopefully to be told in an interesting way, here, in the future. For now, look closely at the patchwork and you'll be able to get clues about it: the palm tree, the car racing, the fruits and veggies, the animals!

I've got about a half circle done. I find it so satisfying looking through the scraps — some vintage, some contemporary; each tells a story. The finished project is definitely more than the sum of its parts. The serger and rotary cutter made it so easy! The kitchen and meals did suffer during construction, though.

Here's a preview of how it will look as a table covering.

Easter Window

blog@greenkitchen.com (Green Kitchen) — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 21:55:00 +0000

Ran across some vellum in the paper stack and loved the results. I couldn't master my camera to capture how much the vellum glows. Regular construction paper, too. Same window, different holiday.