Park Classes

I am having fun taking my babies to the preschool classes at the Metro Parks. This is a series of photos of the Windy Ride at Sharon Woods on Good Friday. I scheduled the ride thinking about what a beautiful Spring ride it would be around the park. But I forgot that I live in Ohio. So that Spring day turned out to be windy and raining with a high of 48 degrees. On a good note, Craig was able to come. He saved me. I don't handle to cold well, and I don't think I would have lasted through the ride and crafts with both babies by myself.

Calvin and I ran to the car when I could no longer stand the cold, and Craig stayed behind to help Ebie finish her wind socket. I think Craig enjoyed himself, and I think Ebie had a good time too. You can always tell how much fun a kid has by how messy they are.

By the looks of her, she had a blast.

Beautiful Evelynn...

My beautiful Evelynn Louise celebrates her second birthday today. I don't know where the time has gone. It seems like it was just yesterday that I was holding the prettiest newborn little girl I had ever seen in my arms. The bonds we made on that first day have only gotten stronger these two years. I pray that they will grow even more as the years go on, and that she will never know a day when my love for her is doubted. She is so precious to me. Thanks be to God for choosing Craig and me to watch this beautiful little girl grow up.

Calvin

Just plain cute!

Getting Ready to Plant My (portable) Garden

The heirloom tomato plants I purchased for this summer are sitting in the front window waiting to be placed in their permanent portable home.

Nothing is being planted in the ground this season, because I would like to take the fruits of my labor with me if we move. We have tomatoes, peppers, carrots, herbs, zucchini, cucumbers, and beans all to be planted in portable planters, so we can still enjoy fresh vegetables in the midst of the uncertainty of things.



This is the one I am really looking forward to, an 1800's purple tomato!

Bird Nests

Calvin and Ebie have been attending preschool classes at the Metro Parks here in Columbus. Classes are held at many of the different parks and the subject matter is usually about whatever animals you would expect to be active in that certain park, or just in the season in general. For instance, it's spring so one of the classes we attended was about birds and their nests.

The naturalist spoke a little about birds' nests, read a picture book about nests to the kids, and even showed them real nests that had been collected in the park. We sang a few songs as a group about birds' nests and then at the end each child got to fill a baggy with materials that some birds might use to build a nest. They were told to put the materials in a mesh bag and hang it in a tree in their yards. It might take a few weeks for the birds to find it, they were told.

Ours has been hanging in the small tree in the back of our yard waiting for the birds to find it for about 6 weeks now. It has been close a few times. Once we even put tortilla chips in the bag with the material to help things along. They ate the chips and left the material. But it still hangs there. Every so often, when we're outside Calvin will go up and check on the bag. He runs up excitedly, and when he sees that all the materials are still there his shoulders drop and he sighs. I'm thinking I'm going to have to do something about this.

Liberty Cabbage

There is sauerkraut fermenting in my kitchen cabinet. Through my research into healthy diets I have come across a book called Wild Fermentation by Sandor Ellix Katz. Mr. Katz writes about our bodies' need for traditionally fermented foods. Foods that have been fermented without heating hold on to their nutritional value and aid digestion by cultivating good bacteria. Commercially canned food is basically dead, he says. Yes, it gives us calories, but that's about it.

So I am making my own sauerkraut, Katz style. I chopped up a head of cabbage, and sprinkled salt on it each time I added some to my big glass bowl. I also added a little pepper and some onion powder. Then I punched it down with my fist, and set another bowl on top with two pitchers of water inside to weigh it down. The next day as the "brine" (or water that the salt had pulled out of the cabbage) had not covered the top of my cabbage, I added some salt water as per Mr. Katz directions. Then I set my sauerkraut on the counter to ferment. It is supposed to take about a week.

The evening of the second day, Craig came home to me wandering through the house trying to find a dirty diaper that had been left behind somehow. I had repeatedly asked Calvin if he needed to go to the restroom, so much that he was getting irritated with me. I had checked Evie's pants so many times, she started backing away and saying "No, Mommy!" whenever I walked by. But still there was this faint odor, and I couldn't figure it out. Craig dropped his briefcase and said, "Meg, it's your sauerkraut."

Since that second day, the house has been fine though. I put the kraut in a cabinet so it would be out of the way, and when I open it up to check it, it smells wonderful! I even made another batch from red cabbage that is currently being weighed down by the first batch. It all should be completely fermented by this weekend, so I can take it to my parent's house to share my homemade/fermented kraut with my family. I wonder who will be brave enough to try it...

The Look of Spring

It looks like spring here.

Flowers are blooming.

And it's always raining. I am impatiently waiting for it to stop, and for the temperature to warm up so we can get outside and enjoy the end of winter. Still, the view out my windows is beautiful!

Life Is Good

(Ebie drawing with chalk, on the front porch, on one of the many days it has rained here in Columbus)

Life is good here. The weather is getting warmer so my babies can go outside and play. I am planning gardens, both indoor and outdoor, and searching for the best ways to feed my family (more on that later). I am also starting new and exciting hobbies, at least they are exciting to me (you'll get to here about them soon), and restarting old ones. One of those old hobbies being blogging ;). Craig is loving his new job. Our family is growing mentally, spiritually, and at least in the case of the the two babies, physically. I see them everyday and am surprised how grown up they look!