I'm freezing here...

Well, not really. I've just been putting things into the freezer. The weather is bright and almost all the snow is gone but it is very windy here today. The two big girls are outside now, and Pippa was in and out all day (she's asleep right now). The bulbs are popping up all over, and I expect crocus in about a week.

I put up low-fat oatmeal cookies today - very good, they use applesauce instead of butter - baked a dozen and froze about three dozen. They are handy to have around like this - not so easy to eat out of the cookie jar, and yummy to have fresh baked out of the toaster oven. Yesterday I made pork potstickers - Phil’s favorite - and we had those, chicken and mango soup, and rice for dinner. And then I froze about two dozen of them.

The idea is to have lots stowed in the freezer against days I don’t feel like cooking so we don’t waste money on convenience food. Tonight, for instance, I plan on making one batch of enchiladas to eat and one to freeze. Some things don’t freeze well - I’ve had no luck putting potato soup in the freezer, for instance - but since I have both the small freezer on the frig and a big upright in the kitchen I may as well use them!

It looks like we may be getting Guinea Hens this year. Initially Agway said they had to have an order of at least 30 to send off, and I don’t want that many! We only want about 10-15. Well, someone else came in and said they wanted a few, and a former client of ours (who is giving us a couple of bunnies) said she wanted another 10-15, so I think the order is going to happen. Time to build a coop. Phil suggested we get peacocks, but I think he was kidding... Anyway, we want the birds to keep the tick population down. Pippa came in one day last summer with twelve ticks on her. Not biting, but still on her. Yech!

In other farm news, the first lettuce is appearing in the cold frame out front. Dad has covered the little lean-to greenhouse, and has plans to raise catfish in there. Pippa planted her “Baby Strawberries” the other day, and I suppose I ought to put some seeds in my flats, too. I still can’t quite believe spring is on the way, I guess.

The girls are doing well with school, Glady's my big reader, working her way through the Chronicles of Narnia right now. Juliet is reading small chapter books on her own now, she has definitely gotten more comfortable with reading since the beginning of the school year. And Pippa is learning how to read now! She can read little words like cat, but today I noticed that she was identifying words in a picture book by looking at the letters in the word instead of just guessing from the picture. Their Aunt Lee sent them a picture book - a read-aloud that is tons of fun, Skippyjon Jones. About a siamese kitten who decides he must be a chihuahua, and the adventures of El Skippito Friskito begin. I love the way Phil sings the songs in perfect mariachi imitation, and then Juliet goes around for days after singing them, too. He was telling the girls about his childhood in San Diego when they used to go to a Mexican restaurant, complete with a mariachi band.
I need to go start those enchiladas now, I think.

let's see...not much

We went shopping for Phil's birthday last night - the girls and I sent him and Johann off on their own while we picked a couple of things out at the clothing store for him. Poor Papa, he never gets a real surprise for his birthday! Then we took the kids to KB toys and let them each pick out a toy with the money Nana had sent. Glady found a baby doll, Juliet a DigiPet, and Pippa a color-on-Bear. Johann was more of a challenge, but he finally reached for a blue, bumpy football and said "Bee, bee!" which is how he says please. It is amazing how far five dollars can go in that store.

Funny how exhasting two stores can be with all four kids - I was really happy to get home after all that. I helped the kids clean their room so they could play with their new toys, and I was about done for the night!

It may officially be spring, but it is sure snowy and cold here!

Oh - the other day, after the snow, Dad put out bird feeders in the pear tree, in adition to our usual feeders and we had a pair of Grackle. The first time we've seen them. And we think he saw a bluebird, and Phil saw Mr. and Mrs. Cardinal. Of course, we had the usual suspects, chickadees and sparrows, jays, titmouse, Slate-sided Junco... I've really come to appreciate bird-watching.

Puddles!

63 degrees, Lovely!

Brrrrr

It is cold and blustery outside! Hope all of you are warm today....

The Answer

Cedar Sanderson, May 29, 1977 - Thirty years ago!

And the funny thing is, Johann looks exactly like I did.

Guess Who?

answer tomorrow!

Juliet wrote me some poetry

"I love dogs
I love cats
I love you, too
I can eat
Cats can run
Dogs can't climb trees
I love you
(love, Pippa)
I love cats and dogs
That is me
And that is that"

By Juliet, Feb. 27, 2007

She wrote that in the whiteboard yesterday along with a cute monster illustration at the bottom yesterday. I think it started with trying to teach Pippa to read and write.

Just a little

I'm going to try and post more often - not much to tell today. I've had a couple of really busy days, and today was pretty routine. Phil had a show in the afternoon, and I took a nap :) Other than that we worked in the office together for a change, finishing our library letter. The kids played in their room with legos most of the day, and hung out with me in the kitchen the rest of the time. Glady helped me make lunch after Phil left - the girls were having fish sticks and I made myself flatbread to spread hummus on. It struck them that I was really making tortillas ( I have got to find a real pita recipe) so they asked if they could make fish stick tacos. We shredded Napa cabbage and drizzled a little lime juice on the fish sticks and served it on warm whole wheat tortillas, Yummy! and the hummus was pretty good on them, too.

The pictures are from Glady's 8 th birthday party! A month ago already, I can hardly believe it. Phil's 43rd is coming up fast on the 25th, and I must remember to send Juniper a card. *sigh*

Life is normal - Busy!

Phil, having taken on a second job merchandising (you know all those silly coupon machines that spit them out at you in the store? well he's in charge of those, and a lot more, in about a dozen local stores) is out and about. Glady is up to no good with her Easy Bake Oven http://www.familyeducation.com/whatworks/item/front/1,2551,1-10149-3114,00.html?detoured=1
I just found her a couple of recipes for mixes, since the ones at the store run about $4 each, which is outrageous. The above link is really funny - about how I feel about the silly thing, except it isn't something I had as a child. I learned to cook - real meals, for the whole family! at 9. I remember a triple-layer german chocolate cake from scratch that year... Speaking of firsts, I made my first cheesecake ever last week.

Why does this always end up about food?

Everyone is well - at least for a while. Who knew that four kids could have the stomach flu twice in ten days? Poor Johann was sick for almost a week. He lost weight, which my skinny little guy couldn't afford to do, but today I noticed that he is plumping back up nicely. He's learned a word for food - Cookie! - which is what he says if anyone has something he wants.

Glady and Juliet have vacation this coming week, and Phil has a heavy schedule, so we girls should have some fun - the weather has warmed a bit, too. Maybe sledding and baking are in order!

Love to all - sorry I have been away so long.

Christmas Saga Part Second

I am sorry - I know I promised this yesterday, but I got caught up in the cleaning and show prep and didn't finish it all, so here it is...


In the morning when Dad went to put the dog out, we found that someone had left us four big bags of gifts - one for each of the children. Whoever it was had spelled the kids’ names correctly, and, as we found later, each of the girls received their favorite toys. Dad and I brought them in and added them to the stack in front of the tree, and the kids went wild for a little while.
Traditionally, we had stockings and breakfast together. Dad and Phil got monster sized stockings from Santa, because the little ones that had been hung out were too small. We took Phil’s to him in the hospital when we went to see him later. The girls got excited again after breakfast and we started on opening gifts. Highlights... Glady got her e-z bake oven, Juliet got a spiderman build-a-bear, Pippa got lots of art stuff. Johann got a Tonka truck from his Papa that is bigger than he is. As soon as he got the paper off of it he climbed in and started to rock his body back and forth and make motor noises. So far as I know, he’s never seen anything like it before - how do they know?
Grampa gave them the biggest gift of the morning - a computer! He picked up and original iMac for twenty dollars, but they love it for what it is - not what it cost. Phil was on the speakerphone through the gift opening and he promised the girls that he would get it up and running as soon as he got home.
The Secret Santa bags turned out to have new coats for each of them, clothes, and a couple of toys for each. The living room was full of flying paper for a while, and when it cleared, the sectional couch was full from one end to another with stuff. I have a feeling this will be the wildest Christmas they will ever see... as they got older and the toys get more sophisticated there will be fewer of them, and calmer children, too. Glady already was pretty good about waiting her turn, unlike Pippa who got very excited about the whole thing. Juliet was very cute - al she wanted to do was help her brother out.
Once they were done opening presents I let them each take a toy and go into their room. Grampa and I sat in the living room and took a deep breath for a few minutes, then opened our gifts. Nana and BoPop had sent down their gifts to us, so we had a few. Dad got me a little vacuum sealer, and I had framed a photo of his tent I had taken in the woods this fall. Nana gave me a set of Sundae glasses that came out of a Midwestern pharmacy - a hundred years old, and heavy enough to endure. Dad got a cast iron teapot that must weigh twenty pounds.
After clean-up I made the rolls I had promised Nana and got ready to go up there. We left the house a little later than planned and went to the hospital to visit Phil, taking along his stocking and a couple of gifts. We weren’t able to stay long, but that is just as well, with the kids so excited about Christmas. From the hospital we went to Nana’s for more gifts and dinner.
It was a very nice day, all in all. I regretted Phil missing all of it. But we did get to see him.

On Tuesday after Phil saw the doctor he was told that it would be Friday before they let him out. Then that afternoon he was given an ultrasound from tummy to toes, which ruled out a deep vein thrombosis - very good news. Tuesday the girls and spent in cleaning and organizing their room, and Tuesday night I went up the Steele Hill to substitute for Phil at his regular gig there. So now it is Wednesday morning. I have much to do, but mostly I think I’ll play with the two little girls and Johann until Glady gets back from Toad Hall.

Happy New Year!

Christmas Saga Part First

Merry Christmas to all!

It has been an eventful one here in Sanbornton (and Franklin, and New Hampton). It all started last Tuesday. Phil got sick. The flu, we thought, and Juliet came down with it a day later. Not a big deal - they ran high fevers and I nursed them thru it until Friday, when Phil was feeling much better - but he thought he’d sprained his ankle and pulled a muscle in his thigh getting up at some point that week. Juliet was feeling much better Saturday morning, and Grampa offered to take me out shopping, since I hadn’t left the house since Phil got sick and I needed groceries and last-minute Christmas stuff. So off we went in the van, leaving Phil home alone with his feet up.

Saturday afternoon, home in time for lunch, after the kid hurricane had settled and kissed Papa and retired to its room, Phil announced that he didn’t feel well and maybe I should talk to Jean (our doctor). So I call, and am told that he should go to the ER, as they don’t like to prescribe antibiotics over the phone. OK, fine, I’m happier having him seen anyway, as I had been trying to convince him to go see Jean all week. So off he and Dad go to the Franklin Hospital - around 4:00 pm. About 6:00 pm I get a call from Dad to tell me they think it is an infection, but they are busy and have not yet drawn blood to be sure. Around nine he calls again to tell me that it is an infection, they have put an IV in, and they’ll be keeping him at least overnight. He heads for home shortly after that.

Sunday morning I talk to Phil and he tells me that the doctor is going to keep him in ht hospital until Wednesday. The girls are upset - especially Juliet, who is devastated that Papa won’t be home for Christmas. They all talk to him on the phone and feel better for that. Then we get started preparing to go and visit Papa before we go to Christmas Eve Service with Nana and BoPop that night. In the midst of our day, BoPop and Uncle Austin drop by to drop some things off, and I actually have the house clean enough to invite them in! I feel really good about that. So off we go to visit Papa - taking along a couple of presents for him to open. I made him (with lots of help from the girls!) a bathrobe, and we also took a picture of Pippa that Nana and BoPop had taken and framed that was her gift to us.

At the Christmas Eve Service I spent most of my time in the fellowship hall beneath the church taking care of Johann, who had decided it was his personal mission to say HI! to everyone in the church, starting with the priest. He had come out behind the congregation, and since Johann was sitting on my lap facing me he saw him first. His eyes got big as saucers when this man stepped out in shiny gold robes (I’m guessing they were special for Christmas). Then he waved and called Hi! to him. So after we sang a carol with Johann sticking his hand down my throat every time I tried to sing, and he decided that now was the time to drop the shy act and say hello to everyone, we went elsewhere. Dad says the girls were good, though.

That night after we got home Dad and I finished wrapping the last gifts and made all ready for Santa. The girls had gone out into the pasture and picked reindeer moss, so in addition to cookies and milk for Santa there was salad for his deer! Too cute. Anyway, I was in bed by nine-thirty, and Dad says he was down by ten, but at some point in the night someone quietly shut the outer entryway door - the one that sticks and has to be closed just so.... and left inside the entry....


Well, I am exhausted. More on this later!

Long time since I wrote...

It has been so busy - the few times I have sat down at the computer I have been writing marketing materials and had no time to blog. But, finally, I am seizing a few minutes to update you all...

Let's see - going way back, Thanksgiving! The meal was good, as always, and it was a blessing to spend my day calmly cooking and playing with the kids. I felt as though we had turned back the hands of time as I stood at the sink washing dishes in the early afternoon and they were playing with a top on the floor behind me. Phil had a twisting gig from noon to three, so we ate late. Actually, we started nibbling as soon as he got home and stopped eating around 8:30, so no-one went without! We had our usual Cider-brined Turkey center stage, which was so moist and good even Phil liked it, and he isn't a turkey fan. I could'nt believe how easy my day went. I did most of the cooking on Wednesday and had everything clean - even the dishes - by the time I went to bed Thursday.

On the Saturday after Thanksgiving both Phil and I made our annual trip to the Loon Center open house and he twisted while I face-painted. What a fun gig. We were busy right up to the end, but Phil was out of balloons, so we had to go.

Let's see - since then we have been getting back to the routine of school and getting the Holly Jolly Magic Show launched. The Happy Birthday, Jesus! show will go out on the 12th, so I have a little breathing space to start marketing for January. I have to keep on that - we have decided that we have to refocus the 'business' end of our business. The performing end is doing well, but without marketing, advertising, and publicity we are dead in the water. So - I labor in the office. Actually, it is kind of fun. I like coming up with new ways to tell people what we do, and trying to talk Phil into different shows like the anti-bullying show we did last year that is still being asked for.

The kids are well - mostly. Johann has a head cold today, poor little bud. He was up about four times last night fighting to breathe through his nose and coughing. And then, about 3 this morning, we ran out of oil, thank goodness the checks from this weekend have cleared. We'll be getting a drop this afternoon. Pippa is off with Nana and Bopop, they took her with them to Portsmouth yesterday and kept her overnight. Juliet and Glady are at school at the moment. Glady has a special event coming up - her class is going to carol at the Veteran's Home on Dec. 12.

Well, I'm going to put a loaf of bread in the oven to keep the kitchen toasty. My fingers are having trouble typing while cold!

Little Kid Funnies

Last night, as I was putting yet another basketfull of laundry away in their room, I asked the girls "How can four small children need so many clothes?"

Glady's fast reply was "Because we like to be dressed!"

And the other night, as we all had Family Movie night and were watching Return of the Jedi, Pippa's reaction to one exciting moment was to exclaim "Awesome Kadassam!" which made all of us laugh out loud.

Happy Halloween!

Here are my little trick-or-treaters as they headed out after a quick dinner and face-paint! Pippa is a Princess Dragonrider, Juliet is Strawberry Shortcake, and Glady is Glowgirl. Even Bebe got into the act as Wondercat!

The First Haircut

As Dad was getting ready to travel to Paul's wedding he asked me to trim his beard and hair for him. After I was done making him look as tidy as possible, I took a deep breath and .... Gave Johann his first haircut!

He's so cute! He has very little hair, but it was getting really long in the back. Now he's neat and looking more boy-like than babyish.












I don't think he's even noticed, but his sisters had. Well, speaking of that, they are off on the bus and Pippa is sitting on the floor playing. Time for me to make breakfast for Phil and I and get started on the day. The Halloween show still needs work, and I have office work to do as well.

It's been a busy, busy week

I am telemarketing for Halloween - not my favorite task, but daycares respond better to a voice on the phone than a letter in the mail, so the phone it is. Normally, I end up in the office from 9-3:30 which is a long day to be on the phone. Poor Pippa and Johann have been missing me, too. PHil has taken over the house, the sweetheart. The last few times I've done this I was trying to do everything and that didn't work.

Well, next week is going to be a repeat of this week, but right now I have to go get Phil ready to drive up to Conway in nasty traffic - he's leaving an hour early.

The girls are all up and playng with Johann in their room - he's discovered the joys of legos and they are all buliding happily together.

Poetry Morning

For a moment the house is still.
Awaiting, like me the day.
Washer hissing, coffeepot purrs and gurgles.
Soon there will be the soft patter of feet
Announcing warm bodies with sleepy eyes.
They all like to snuggle, even the littlest one.
Who cries Mum? Mum? from his crib for me.
And if sometimes I wonder where they
Came from, these tall bodies and eager minds
It isn't that I regret... Simply that I feel
Amazed and bewildered by the passage of time.

Laboring all Weekend Bears Fruit...

Let’s see... Labor Day weekend. Well, we had planned on ribs - Phil’s special all-day smoked ribs, glazed in the last few minutes of cooking with his made-from-scratch barbecue sauce. So Saturday we started up the grill around nine, and had the ribs on by ten - and we ate at seven thirty. Ummmmm..... Ribs, fresh bread, summer squash from the garden (sautéed lightly), salad, and of course, corn on the cob. We don’t eat like this but twice a year, and it is worth waiting for.

The kids and I found the swale (in the pasture where the spring is) full of blackberries. We picked almost two quarts of big, juicy ones - they are in the frig waiting to be made into jelly (or jam, if I can figure out how to deseed them). Then reason they are waiting is I am out of sugar. Phil brought me ten pounds, but I am still out, because also on Saturday Dad went canoeing on the Pemi above Newfound Highschool, and came back with two grocery bags full of elderberries. Then on Sunday he went back to dig a couple of plants for establishing a grove here on the farm and brought back two more bags.

So - four bags of elderberries... what to do? Well, the first thing I did was make two loaves of bread with 3/4 cup of whole raw berries in them. The berries turned the dough a lovely shade of purple and added some sweetness and a little extra crunch, too. Then the three of us (Phil watching in amusement as he tended the kids for me) stripped three bags of berries, leaving one for Sharon to take home and dye reeds for basket making. Three bags = 37 cups of berries, in case you were wondering. I boiled the berries for about 10 minutes to release the juice, then left it to cool overnight.

Monday morning we strained berries, finding as we did so that the juice will stain hands slightly, but nothing else. It wiped clean off floors, table, and stove - also Johann’s face. In the end, I had 17 cups of elderberry juice. One gallon and a cup. Whew. Dad brought out his hexagonal jars and added them to my half-pint jars, and Sharon found some cute, short ones at Walmart and added them to the mix. I jellied like mad for the rest of the day, trying two different recipes, three separate batches. The first recipe used honey in addition to sugar, the second recipe was in the Sure-jell package (this is important later).

All told, when the steam settled in the kitchen, I had 40 jars of jelly on the table cooling. They were sizes ranging from 8 oz to 12 oz hexes to a couple of pints, so I have no idea actually how much jelly we made. All of them were hot-water bath processed for ten minutes, something I had never done before, but it seems to be the new protocol for putting up jams and jellies. I used to simply hot-pack them into the jar, lid, and let cool until it sealed. In the past, housewives simply put them in jars and covered them with paraffin. Funny how things change. Have we become more paranoid, or was it really a problem?

That night we made a batch of fluffy pancakes and some scrambled eggs for dinner, and opened one of the pints to use as elderberry syrup. Wow. Everyone devoured the cakes, and the syrup was super. Not only that, I found in my research for recipes that elderberry is edging out echinacea as a cold and cough remedy. Yummy - I’ll take my medicine this way!

Tuesday morning was a small setback, though. None of the jars of jelly had setup at all. I have forty jars of elderberry syrup. Well, even with following the instructions on the pectin box I haven’t made jelly. Not sure why, but I’m happy with syrup. It is great on pancakes, hot cereal (we tried that this morning) and I am going to try topping ice cream with it, and flavoring seltzer water, too. Elderberry soda - there’s a concept. So all in all, I am happy with the end product. Oh, now the blackberries will have to wait, because I used all the ten pounds of sugar and then some. Oh, well. Another day, another adventure!


Elderberry Syrup (Hah!) Recipe

3 c elderberry juice
5 1/2 c sugar
2 c honey
1 box pectin
1/2 c lemon juice

Bring juice, sugar and honey to a boil stirring constantly, stir in pectin. Bring back to a full boil for one minute stirring constantly. Watch it! It foams up wildly! Take off the heat and pour into jars, leaving 1/4 inch head space. Lid and hot-water process for 5-10 minutes, depending on whether your jars were sterile or not. (mine were, but I went longer, anyway.)
Cool.

Phil’s Phluffy Phlapjacks

4 1/2 c Self-rising flour
2 tsp salt
3 tbsp sugar
4 eggs
4 cups milk
2/3 c vegetable oil

Beat wet ingredients into dry ingredients until perfectly smooth. Put spoonfuls onto med-high greased pans (or a griddle if you have one). Once the top is full of bubbles, turn over and cook until springy when touched in the middle. Serve at once, with butter and Elderberry Syrup. Serves 8 hungry people.

Elderberry Crunch Bread

3 c white flour
1 c whole wheat flour
3/4 cup wheat germ
3/4 c whole, ripe, raw elderberries
2 tbsp sugar
2 1/4 tsp yeast
1 tsp salt
1/4 c oil
1c water

Put dry ingredients (elderberries too) in the cuisinart, pulse a few time to mix. Pour wet ingredients in slowly as the machine is on, until a dough is formed that ball together and does not stick to the sides. Process for 60 seconds, remove from the machine and from into two loaves. Allow to rise in warm place for 15-20 minutes, then bake at 350 degrees until hollow when tapped on top. About 30-40 minutes. Serve warm with butter. Lovely shade of purple.

New Hair-dos

Yesterday we took all three girls to have their hair done for school. All of them were looking rather shaggy. Phil had his cut while we were there, too. I took before and after pics of the girls.

Oh, and can you guess who had Papa's Marx glasses this morning? Isn't she adorable?

Getting ready for School

We have two very excited little girls here who are looking forward to Wednesday, when one of them is officially a first-grader and the other is a second-grader. Pippa, of course, is at home with her brother and I, but we are going to do kindergarten together, because she is already teaching herself to read and write - she can write her own name, and she did a pretty good job of writing Nana the other day (she says to me about a lowercase 'a' Mama, it's a turtle with a tail)

Johann is off and walking! He took his first steps on Thursday, and now his sisters take his hands and walk him all over the house, both of them pleased as punch. He is such a sweet little guy. When he first gets up in the morning, he likes to snuggle for a while before he starts to play. He talks to us, but he can't speak much English yet, so we have to interpret :)

Well, the house is stirring and we are going to take all three girls for haircuts early this morning, so I am off to make breakfast and coffee.