What a very strange winter we’ve had around here. January felt like spring with hardly any snow to speak of, and then March came blustering in leaving the ground more snow covered in the first week of its arrival than we had nearly all winter long. We wondered what this very unusual winter would do to the maple syrup season.… Read More »Syruping Time
Once upon a time… Isn’t that how many of the most wonderful stories begin? I think my life is worthy of “Once upon a time”. Once upon a time, there was a little girl who dreamed of far away lands, castles, cottages, knights, secret gardens, beautiful long dresses, and fairies. The little girl grew up and married Prince Charming, and… Read More »Once Upon a Time
I saw a pin that caught my eye. It was this: Wouldn’t that catch your eye? So I clicked to see what it was. Turns out it was a prize in a contest. Now, I’ll tell you, I never win contests. Ever. If you ever want to win something, ask me to enter against you. It will increase your chances… Read More »My Kind of Contest
Today was the first day back to normal. No more baking, no more Christmas preparation, no more post Christmas lazy days, no more husband home from work, no more time off school work. I’d love to be able to say that we started the day early, did chores, had a homemade breakfast before hitting schoolbooks. The reality is that I… Read More »We Now Return to our Regularly Scheduled Programming
I’ve often said that my least favorite stages of childhood are teething and potty training. It’s true, these times can be frustrating and tiring. And when you’re in the middle of them, it seems like those days will never end. My husband and I have been blessed with a very unique perspective. Our seven children range in age from 4… Read More »The Curse of Parenting
I don’t usually make New Year’s resolutions. I look at my life to see what’s working and what’s not working on a pretty frequent and regular basis and try to make changes that make sense when they’re needed. I think a lot of the New Year resolution frenzy is because we let ourselves go the last couple of months of… Read More »Happy New Year
We had our early snow in October, and now again, we have snow. It’s the day before Thanksgiving, but it looks more like Christmas outside to me. We’re expecting another 10 inches or so. My heart is so happy to sit inside my little cottage all snug and warm when it’s snowing and blowing outside. The fire is burning in… Read More »Holiday Snow
The recent, unseasonal snowfall (10 inches!!) has been met with joy, confusion and dread of things to come in our little home. Zach and Maddie danced with glee when they heard that the expected inch or so that wouldn’t stick had turned into a Winter Storm Warning. Gather the boots! Get the sleds! They gathered and waited. And waited. And… Read More »October Snow
It’s pretty amazing how time works. You know, how when you’re counting down the days until something exciting happens, it seems like time just drags on. You can almost count the seconds, and they drag on endlessly. But when you’re looking back at something, it seems like time has flown by. And you wonder where it all went and how… Read More »Two Months
The family has been fighting a bit of a cold – the first of the season for us. Wouldn’t it be very nice if it were also the last cold of the season? So, for dinner I wanted to make something warm and healthy. Restorative Roasted Garlic Soup is exactly what we needed. I used this recipe, given to me… Read More »Restorative Roasted Garlic Soup