Rainy Spring

I've been postponing planting our garden. Yes, we are now in Hawaii and for the most part it is warm throughout the year. So why not plant any old time? I'm nervous. It's rains quite a bit around here, which is a good thing, but this is not a nice gentle rain. It will be sunny one minute, then suddenly we are faced with a torrential downpour! Man does it come down hard. In an effort to not drown my seedlings, I've decided to wait just a wee bit longer. Maybe till mid or late April.

I've been very antsy about this whole planting thing, (must be all the gardening catalogs) so I planted a few papaya seeds, my potatoes (which were bought from the health food store, it seems only sweet potatoes are grown here. We'll see if these grow.) and some almost dead lemon grass from a friends neighbor. Heather makes the most amazing lemon grass tea, so her son pulled a plant for us to take home and plant but I waited too long and it pretty much died. I trimmed it back and planted it with hopes that it will revive itself! See below... pathetic I know!


lemon grass before planting

White pineapple planted back in October

Bella and Noah with Chickens.

The kids are still crazy for the chickens. These poor gals get chased around the yard constantly. It's amazing that in about 4 short months... they older girls should be laying! Noah has become quite good at catching them, and is working on taming the less friendly ones.

Last night I made a long list of things I'd like to grow and shared it with Jaime. He basically laughed and said he wonders where am I going to plant all of these things? He has a good point... I may have to turn over more of the yard. I think my biggest hang up has been switching over to a tropical garden. Most of my left over seeds are for things that enjoy Seattle's much cooler climate. I'm very excited to try melons, peppers, and eggplant. I may even try to grow some peanuts! There are so many heat loving plants... the switch over shouldn't be to difficult.

Playing Favorites?

We are not supposed to favor one over the other...right? We are supposed to love them all equally...yes? And I do, I think. Most of the time. Or maybe everyday I have a new favorite? There are enough to have a favorite for each day of the month. Thirty one to be exact. Thirty one little chickies. Some living in a temporary coop in our carport, the others a bit younger and living in a cardboard box on top of our dryer, with a lamp to keep them cozy.

Our first batch (26 of them) arrived in early February. Two were dead on arrival, and within the next 48 hours, six more died. We later read somewhere that you can expect 25% of the day old chicks to die within the first couple of days. So there you have it. When the girls were about three weeks old, we had them outside in a run while we were in the house. I heard some major chirping and freaking out, I looked out the window to see a mongoose running to the bushes with two of our chickies. I could not save them, I was just too slow. We were down to Sixteen chicks. A good friend of ours adopted five, so we are left with eleven. A very manageable sized flock.

We have:

3 Buff Orpington

2 Rhode Island Red

2 Black Star

2 Barred Rock

2 Araucana

Araucana (my favorite for today)

We loved our little chickies sooo much, we went a little crazy! You see, we thought we needed more. They are just that cute! Not to mention very entertaining. Oh and did I tell you how much the kids love them? Bella begs to carry them around all day long. When I say no, I have to deal with major tantrums. You know what else?? They eat bugs. Yep, lots and lots of them. They especially seem to love the little roaches around here that totally creep me out. So, UMMM yeah, we ordered more. Twelve more.

They arrived late February. All 23 of them. Yep, we ordered twelve, and received twenty three! The second batch was from a different Hatchery, one that they guy at the feed store recommended. They sent the twelve that we ordered, plus eleven males (didn't specify the breed) for warmth. We lost only three of them. HMMMM Now we have all these little boys running around here. Guess we're gonna have to eat them.

In the second batch, we have:

1 Silver Spangled Hamburg

3 Araucana

3 Buff Catalana

3 Rhode Island White

Silver Spangled Hamburg (also todays favorite)

The girls get lots of love around here, and the older ones are becoming quite tame.

We should have our first eggs in July (crossing our fingers).

(Blogger completely re-formatted my post, so it's all squished together. I'm to Html illiterate to fix it... believe me I tried! Doing more harm than good)

Where has the time gone?

I can't believe I have let so much time go by!

The move to Hilo from Seattle was tiring, as moving usually goes, but we are now settled in and starting to feel a bit more at home. Yes, it took nearly half a year! There is too much to get caught up on, so I will just start with what is happening NOW. Otherwise I will continue to procrastinate and this blog will be a thing of the past.

Black Sand Beach

Bella is very much into decorating, and body art! Thankfully these are washable markers. Guess I should bring out the henna for tattooing that I've been saving for just the right time.

The new garden plot. Nothing has been planted yet, but hopefully I'll get it started soon. It is very exciting to 'start a new garden in a new place'. Wooo Hoooo, I hope things grow. This will be my third year gardening, but my first year gardening in Hawaii.

We have added to the family... baby chicks! We have 16 as of now, and are expecting another order of 12 very soon. Some we'll keep, others will go to a friend.

Noah in the garden with the Chicks. These are Buff Orpington. Out of the bunch, this breed seems to be the friendliest. Rhode Island Reds are not far behind. The least friendly??? The Araucana, which will hopefully give us beautiful greenish/blue tinted eggs. I'll talk more about the girls at a later date.

That's it for now, hope everyone is safe and healthy!

Bike Track

There is this great little bmx track very near our home. It looks so easy!! But after one lap, I'm a bit winded... could it be that I'm getting old and out of shape?? Naahhh..

It took Noah a while to be comfortable enough to try it out for himself. After some older boys showed up, and said how nervous they were... they decided to take it slow. That was enough for Noah. I have to admit, for someone his size, this track could be a bit intimidating, but he handled it fine. He even caught some air on one of the jumps... and landed it. PHEW!

Happy 4th of July!

Crazy Weird!

Last night as Bella and I (Noah is no longer my sidekick in the kitchen, he'd rather play with his friends... go figure) were preparing dinner, I began to dice a tomato... and noticed something wasn't quite right. The seeds were sprouting, and some even had the first two leaves! Inside the tomato!! It was so weird, but in a very fascinating sort of way. I guess there is a first for everything. Can you see?

Beautiful

We have had nothing but Beautiful weather the entire week! Is it a sign that summer has finally arrived? I sure hope so, although I wouldn't be surprised if the rain returned again next week. Wait, I take that back, why jinx myself???? I've been told that summer doesn't 'REALLY' start until after the 4th of July weekend here in the Pacific NW.

Here are a few recent garden pictures. HMMM the shade was moving in on me when I took these photos, enlarging them might help you see better. This year I'm most excited about my celery. I read it was too difficult to grow it here. I also read that you shouldn't direct sow... I did and it is growing. I have little celery plants, and when they get a wee bit bigger, I'll try to capture them on my aging digital camera. (It feels like most of my photos are very foggy or blurry, time for a new camera.)

see the baby broccoli? sooooo exciting! Yeah, I know, maybe I need to get out a bit, but seriously...isn't it so cute? I think so.

Today is the First Day...

that our house is on the market!


We have decided to sell and move to Hilo, on the Big Island of Hawaii.
If you've never seen our house and you'd like to... check it out!

I am so excited, and eager to start the next chapter of our lives! I am also a bit sad...these decisions are never easy ones. I will miss my garden the MOST! Looking at the bright side...I can garden year-round in Hilo.

Wish us luck!

Cousins

Noah and Olivia

A couple of weeks back we ventured on a little road trip to Mount Shasta, California. It was relaxing, beautiful and warm. Noah and Olivia haven't seen each other since we were all in Hawaii more than 3yrs ago, and they were both still toddlers.

Thanks Marci for the adorable photo!

Peeling back the layers of time

Literally.

One side of my bedroom wall had textured wallpaper, which was damaged when our roof leaked a couple of years back. The bald spot has been covered by a fish patch quilt given to Bella when she was born. Today I decided to strip all of the old wallpaper so I can paint it and get rid of my lavender walls. I've never really liked them. It's just not my color.

After patiently removing the first layer of wallpaper I discovered, to my surprise... another layer of wallpaper. Not sure why this was a surprise, I think it's quite common to find several layers when removing wallpaper in an old home. Lucky for me, there where ONLY two layers. I don't think I could have handled another. Under my lavender textured walls, I found brown and white flowers, all over the wall.

Interesting. As I peeled back this second layer, there were also several strands of hair. Gross I know... but I couldn't help but think of the person, whoever he or she was, that took the time to put up this interesting wallpaper. How old is this person now? Where is she/he? I really wonder what year it dates back to. It smelled of old smoke. Amazing how old wallpaper can absorb and hold on to a smell for so long. Then again, I seem to have this keen sense of smell. No one else could smell it.

Peeling away a bit of history, and creating a bit of our own.

Now... what color should I paint the room???

Decisions, decisions.

There is a RESET button? DUH!!

Depending on how long you've reading this blog, you may know that we've had more than a few house issues since moving in two and a half years ago. Most of them occurred 6 months after moving in. It was frustrating and annoying, but we had them fixed, draining our savings account in the process, and moved on. One of the smaller annoyances was the garbage disposal. After a few months of use, kaput, it died. We decided not to fix it. I thought it was due to the fact that I may have accidentally let some rice go down the drain. I assumed the rice turned to sticky glue and ruined the disposal. I was sure of it. Maybe... maybe not.

For nearly two years, our sink has been a real pain. Clogging, and filling up with icky, stinky water when the dishwasher was run. Last week I begged and pleaded for Jaime to do something, anything... just please fix it. He agreed, he has had enough of sticking his hand down the drain, and plunging it.

Step one, research how to replace the disposal. While reading this article from Popular Mechanics, he learned of a RESET BUTTON. Yes, really it is true. After reading the paragraph below, he located our RESET BUTTON, and what do you know? It works. After two years, all we had to do was push the RESET BUTTON located at the bottom of the disposal. We got a good laugh out of this one.

Jamming is so common that every disposer comes with a wrench and an on-board circuit breaker, so don't assume your disposer has failed simply because it stops working. Use a flashlight to check for foreign objects lodged in the perimeter openings of the drum. Remove any obstruction with needle-nose pliers.
If you see nothing obvious, insert the wrench into the motor spline, found at the bottom of the unit, and twist right and left. If the motor spins freely, check that the circuit breaker hasn't tripped and then try the reset button. If these measures don't work, and your disposer's warranty has expired, it's time to replace it.

Happy Memorial Day!

snowballs
We hope you all had a wonderful weekend!

Our weekend was spent preparing for a little road trip to Mount Shasta, California. We are so excited to have a vacation away from home. It's always nice... isn't it? To have a change of scenery. Is it equally as nice to drive for 9hr 11min with two young children? HMMM, I'll let you know when we get back. =) It's been a long while since we've had a family getaway, so I'm sure it will all be worth it.


Constantly working in the garden has given me the opportunity to meet several of my neighbors that I otherwise would probably have never met. Noah has even made two new friends, just from hanging out in the yard! One very sweet neighbor, the mother of Noah's newest playmate, surprised me with snowball flowers! They are so cool!! I love them. Another neighbor offered me some of her delicious rhubarb. I have never cooked with it before, and have eaten it only a handful of times in the past. This afternoon I made a little Rhubarb Crunch for the car ride. It's so delicious! Half of it is nearly gone. I'm grateful for the kindness and generosity of all those around me.

Shiso

Have you ever tasted Shiso? Me neither, until about 3yrs ago in a tiny sushi restaurant in West Seattle. Weird,... I thought, but interesting. I couldn't decide if I liked it or not. I still can't decide. A few weekends ago at our local farmers market, the apple cider guy had this cute little plant on a side table. It was being completely ignored, so I made my move. I snuck in, picked it up and sniffed it. HMMM, this is it! It's that strange herb? that I had tasted a few years back... I think. I sniffed some more. Caught in action, the apple cider guy walked on over and suggested I pinch off a leaf and taste it. Man!!! It makes me so nervous when they offer me taste tests! Really it does, couldn't tell you why. So... I declined. I quickly tried to walk away. Sometimes I get a bit shy, but I was still so curious. So I asked... 'what do YOU use this with?' He didn't have any great ideas, but told me he sometimes cooks it with rice. I couldn't resist the temptation of having my very own Shiso plant, which he told me grows into a nice size bush. In the sun it will grow big, in the shade it will be more flavorful.

I have no idea what I'll use it for! The novelty of having something unique and different in my garden got the best of me, as it usually does.

Fragrant

As I walk along the side of our house, entering our backyard, there is a smallish bush/tree with branches sticking out, nearly poking me as I walk by. Lilac. It is so fragrant! I swear I can smell it 15 feet away, before I can even see it. Over the past 3 springs (that's how long we've lived here) it has changed so much. Our first spring... nothing. We thought it was just another part of our overgrown, unkept property. The second spring, it had one blossom, I clipped it and brought it inside to display on our table. It smelled so wonderful in our house. My neighbor was kind enough to bring me several more blossoms. This year, our third spring, we have more blossoms than ever! I love the smell a slight breeze carriers into our kitchen, granted the weather is warm enough to have the windows open. Ahhh... spring!

That's a Garden?

UMMMM, yes. Things haven't really taken off yet, well except for the weeds. I blame the crazy weather this spring. Warm, Cold, Hot, back to warm. Some things sprouted, then froze. Others have been trampled by children (despite the obvious barriers), or dug up by the neighborhood cats. Yes, they think I have the absolute perfect litter box. Can you see my booby trap? It's working to deter cats for now.

On the bright side, lots of things ARE growing, you just can't see them that well, because Momma has been too busy to weed. That will change this week. Potatoes and strawberries are doing very well. Celery and zucchini... where are you??

This past weekend Noah decided to help cut some lettuce for dinner. He planted a few things between the strawberries, and his things are growing very well. While he was cutting greens for us, he called Dad over to show him. 'Look Dad, I growed this Kale!' Thanks to Noah, we actually have some Kale and Pac choi, because mine got eaten by slugs. He loves the fact that he has had more success than me in growing several things. Jaime smiled as he walked away. Noah leans into me and says, 'Did you see that smile? He must be getting hungry for some Kale in his stomach.'

It would be so awesome to have a small farm! Now, if I could just get the rest of the gang on board! Check out these farm blogs for a bit of inspiration.
Hamakua Springs Country Farms
Tiny Farm Blog

Sunshine!!

We actually had an entire weekend of sunshine. It was hot on Saturday, I actually braved it and bared tons of skin in only a tank top and shorts!! WOOOHOOOO Sunday was a bit cooler, but still a nice day, and we headed down to the water. Noah and Jaime enjoyed a nice bike ride while Bella and I hung out on the rocks. She loves to pick through them.

Never A Dull Moment

When the girls are home alone, and the guys are out and about (school & work), there is never, ever a dull moment. Seriously. I mean, how could there be?

There are dishes to wash, floors to sweep, counters to wipe, teeth to brush, dirt to dig in... the list goes on and on. I love how every little thing is fascinating. Even if it has been a thousand times, and will need to be done a thousand times again.

Update

I've had so many things that I wanted to share these past two weeks, but... my computer decided to throw a hissy fit, and refused to communicate with my camera. Apparently they've worked it out, with no intervention from mom. Phew... let's cross our fingers, wish on our lucky star, that they (my computer and camera) can continue to get along.

I have a few photos I'd like to share:

Noah and Jaime went on their first father/son snowboarding trip. I was very excited about this!!


Jaime found a Robin egg (I think??) in our backyard. It is now sitting on top of our fridge and I'm panicked, checking it a hundred times a day to see if we have a baby chick. It has such a beautiful color!


Noah turned 6!!! What a little, I mean BIG, boy he has become in this past year. He is starting to read and has matured quite a bit. I am very excited to experience all of the wonderful things this next year has in store for us.


We attempted to make a roulade cake for his birthday, but it didn't turn out. It looked more like a giant smashed chocolate burrito, than a birthday cake. It may have not been pretty, but it sure did taste great!! I think I know where we went wrong and we'll try again.



Although it is Spring, and has been for a while now, we are still freezing up here in the Pacific Northwest! We marveled at several hail storms this past weekend from the coziness of our little house. If you have warm weather, please send a little our way. I'm ready, we're all ready.

Independence

PLEASE!!! Do not peel and slice a banana into rounds. Do not cut into small sticks for easy handling. It will be rejected!

Instead, slice through the tip and pass to grunting, anxious toddler.

It will be peeled with careful fingers.

The peel will be tasted and explored.

A banana will be enjoyed.

School Auction

For this years annual auction, I asked my mother-in-law to make a Hawaiian Wall Quilt. She graciously accepted, and a few months later sent us this beautiful Ulu (breadfruit) design, framed in a matching bamboo frame. It was tough to let this go. I sat for a very long time staring at all of those teeny tiny stitches. I'm not sure if you can see the detail, but it is all hand-stitched.

Dang Crows!

For the past month or so, I've spent the majority of my free time outside prepping the garden. The crows usually swoon in and gulp up grubs and earthworms as soon as I head indoors. So... the other day I planted a handful of my onion starts, and wouldn't you know it, the crows had a field day pulling them out of the ground. See below. They've done this twice now...GRRR They don't eat them, just yank them out.

It was cold today, really cold. You can't tell from this photo, but we had a little snow this afternoon. It melted immediately. A little spring snow. Bella seems unaffected by the weather, swishing her stick around in the ice cold water. Warm weather, please come our way soon, very very soon.

Rainy Day Blues

What else to do on a dark, rainy day besides sit on the porch and catch the rain?

Ahhh. waiting for warm, dry weather!!

Magical Morning

So much happiness and fun, all before 8am!

Bella woke up really, really early this morning. I don't want to talk about HOW early, because...well, that isn't the magical part. Or maybe it is?

Since we were up soooo early, I had time to bake popovers, which Noah loves to eat before going to school. Or so I thought. Okay. I won't talk about that either, because he and Bella both refused to eat them. On to the magical part of our morning.

Noah woke up in a great mood. I can't tell you how rarely this happens. He played so sweetly with Bella, without me insisting he do so. He helped her put on her new ladybug rain boots. They make her so happy.


Next he took her to my room, helped her onto the bed so that they could have a 'jumping dance party' while listening to static-y music from a new alarm clock radio. She didn't even fall off of the bed this time!


Ahh yes, bed jumping is a favorite past time around here. So much fun!

Happy Aloha Friday!

J-J-JER-KY

The other weekend we hit the farmers market and purchased various cuts of grass-fed organic beef from a local farm. The piece I was most excited about was this roast. After cooking, it was bone dry and resembled Jerky more than the succulent roast I had envisioned. UGH! I'm not very good with roasts. It looked so bad, we opted to leave it on the stove and go out for sushi.


The thought of throwing it out really bothered me. I knew no one in our family would willing eat it. So... I turned it into Picadillo. I've never made it before, but this was so good! We wrapped it with tortillas, but it could also be served over rice.


There are hundreds of recipes for Picadillo out there. I made a Cuban version, but used shredded beef instead of the ground beef most recipes called for.

Picadillo
Chop and saute in a bit of oil
-1 onion
-1 green bell pepper
- 6 cloves of garlic
Add meat (1.5 lbs) and cook, drain fat if needed
Add
-Pimientos ( I used 2oz jar)
-1/2 cup raisins
-2 T capers
-2-3 bay leaves
-1/4 cup dry white wine
-28 ounce can crushed tomatoes
-tomato paste ( I used half of a small can)
-1/2 tsp cumin
-1/2 tsp oregano
salt & pepper
Cook for about 25-30 minutes. Sooooo good! Serious comfort food for these cold winter days.

While I cooked, Bella kept me company by rolling around on the kitchen floor. She thought this was hilarious! I can't tell you how many times I nearly stepped on her.