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More Time at the Horse Stables

January 24, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

{A} has loved every minute at the stables with the horses, and learning every bit she can take in. The trainer said “She’s a natural.”

I am looking forward to her horse riding outside, come springtime, when she continues some lessons. When there will LIGHT and COLOR. And WARMTH. That will make for prettier photos, I think. These lessons have been nothing less than frigid. Even in the arena….just bitter cold. We leave with numb fingers and toes. And there’s always a smile frozen on {A}’s face, too.

She has to clean her horse’s shoes every time, before she rides him, as well as brush him. It can be a real task cleaning his shoes well, but thankfully he’s a co-operative horse. So that makes it easier than it could be.

He’s all ready to dress and ride. Handsome boy, isn’t he?

{A} has learned to ‘post’. Which is that bouncing you see English riders do, when the horse goes into a bit of a gallop. Once she learned how to stay in the saddle while ‘posting’, she was all set.

She’s been wearing her Daddy’s gloves to try and keep her hands warmer. Come to think of it, that’s my jacket she has on.

Yes, spring photos will be so much better.

These stables have little birds flying around all over the place inside. I forget what kind of birds they are. {A} would know, but she’s asleep at the moment. What a nice shelter for them though.

They also have a couple of rabbits. I approached their cage slowly, but I could tell my camera made this little guy nervous. He probably wet the hay a little, when my shutter went off. So I just took one shot. I heard rabbits can have heart attacks rather easily, and I sure didn’t want to be responsible for that!

Hey-Guess what??

On Monday I am going to start posting, intermittently over the following days/weeks, our Christmas Crafts reveals. Anybody been waiting for that? I posted the kids busy crafting gifts, right along through the pre-Christmas season. But now will come photos of the finished products, materials, tools and techniques used to make them, and where to get everything you need! We’ve been waiting to post it all, so we’re excited. Lots of COLORFUL PHOTOS and FUN!! So all you who may want to do some lovely crafty-gifts this year, for Christmas or anytime, get out your notepads! We’ve got at least a few ideas coming your way that we think you’ll enjoy. We sure enjoyed making them, and giving them to the people we love.

Until then!!

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Hot Cider Drink Recipe – Wassail

January 22, 2009 By Laura 6 Comments

hot cider recipe

Many of you did indeed request the hot cider drink recipe, that was simmering on our stove the other day. Also known as Wassail. I must say, our kids can’t get enough of it. We all started a WICKED FUN project out in the bitter cold and snow today. (That’ll be coming up in a few days or so, on the blog here.) Soon after we came in to warm up, we decided to make another batch of this cider to enjoy. It smells and tastes SO good. We hope you enjoy the recipe as much as we do.

Please note: The ingredient amounts listed below must make one-big-batch! We’ve been making it by halving the amounts, and it’s been plenty enough for at least 2 cups each, for our family of 6. But for many more people, it might be best to make the whole batch. This WOULD be a GREAT treat to serve, if you are entertaining a small party. I think guests would be impressed with such a delightful warm beverage, and appreciate it coming in from the cold too. So here it is. If you make it, let us know what the verdict is at your home!

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Spiced Cider Wassail

(Makes about 4 quarts)

2 quarts apple cider

1 quart orange juice

1 quart apricot nectar

1/2 cup fresh lemon juice

6 broken pieces of cinnamon

1 tablespoon whole cloves

one orange, sliced thin

one lemon, sliced thin

whole cloves

In a stainless steel pan, bring to a boil the cider, juices, cinnamon and cloves. Simmer over low heat for 20 minutes. Transfer to a punch bowl if you’d like. Stud the orange and lemon slices with whole cloves and float them in the wassail. Serve in punch cups or small mugs.

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I must admit, I haven’t used the word ‘Wassail’ yet. It’s a bit too fancy for my simple tongue. Not to mention my simple mind, because I had no idea what that word was. So since I was posting the recipe, I thought it might be wise to look it up first. Here’s the definition, for what it’s worth. But just feel free to call the drink whatever you want, like I do. : )

Main Entry:: ¹was·sail
Pronunciation:: \ˈwä-səl also wä-ˈsāl\
Function:: noun
Etymology:: Middle English wæs hæil, washayl, from Old Norse ves heill be well, from ves (imperative singular of vera to be) + heill healthy — more at was, whole
Date:: 12th century

1 : an early English toast to someone’s health 2 : a hot drink that is made with wine, beer, or cider, spices, sugar, and usually baked apples and is traditionally served in a large bowl especially at Christmastime 3 : riotous drinking : revelry

CHEERS!!

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How to Make Chocolate Dipped Pretzels

January 21, 2009 By Laura 8 Comments

We thought you all deserved some nice treat ideas. So we’d like to share some steps on how to make chocolate dipped pretzels!
It’s a fun treat to make and eat!

Last year for our Christmas gathering with some family, we made these pretty pretzel rods drizzled with chocolate. Our visiting family even wanted to get in on the fun, and make their own! We simply melted chocolate, and drizzled it over the rod, slowly turning it as we did so. Then we sprinkled on some of our favorite decorative sprinkle balls!

This year, we’ve done something similar (a few times!), but with a TWIST!! : )

Participating Ingredients.

Get it?? With a TWIST?? (ROFL…..perhaps by myself. I should probably get up now.)

3 Ingredients!:

Mini Pretzel Twists
Hershey’s Chocolate Chips
Decorative Sprinkle Balls

These are SO easy to make, and your kids will have SO-MUCH-FUN helping!! Our kids sure do! Here we go……

Get some water in the bottom portion of a double boiler pan. You want to put the burner on MEDIUM, and wait for the water to be ‘just about ready’ to boil. Once it’s to that point, it’s good enough to turn it down to LOW, and put the top portion of the double boiler pan on.

Now pour in the top pan, a small amount (maybe equivalent to a couple of handfuls…but exactness is not that important) of chocolate chips into ONE SIDE of the pan. You kind of want them in a small pile, so that it makes dipping easier.

Use a spoon, and keep stirring the chips, letting them slowly melt, until the chocolate is really melty and smooth. Once it is, you’re ready for ……..

….some dipping!!

Bring the just dipped pretzel (or 2, if you can do 2 at once) over to a counter space, and sprinkle your sprinkles onto the wet hot chocolate.

We suggest doing this over an empty container. They are very bouncy……so otherwise you’d be finding them all over the place until Easter 2012. You can also re-use what you catch in the container for other pretzels, over another container.

Simply place them on a wax paper lined cookie sheet – spaced nicely so they don’t touch each other.

Just another photo, because I had to take it.

Repeat this process of dipping, sprinkling and laying, adding more chips to your pan as needed, and giving it little stirs to keep it melty and smooth as you go.

Once a tray is full………

….pop it into the refrigerator. (And begin a new tray, of course!) Putting them in the fridge will help the chocolate harden. Generally speaking, they need to be KEPT cool, until they are popped into your mouth, or the chocolate on the pretzels will get melty on your hands. (unlike m&m’s….and we know why. They do not have that hard candy shell. lol) (These don’t talk either. Sorry.)

We think they are pretty enough (and tasty enough) to give as little gifts too! We used these nice little clear bags, found in the stores where they sell chocolate melts, and supplies to make chocolate lollipops, etc. (In our case, our local Michael’s Arts & Crafts) We tied them off with silver twist ties. Who doesn’t love chocolate? Warning though: the sweet then salty thing going on, may keep you popping more in your mouth than you meant to!

Sweet, huh??

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Our Cozy Long Weekend

January 21, 2009 By Laura 10 Comments

We’d like to gush just a BIT more, about how much we are enjoying this wood stove. Honestly, I may never get over the sheer joy, of having it. We have gained a room to use in the winter! It’s open to our living area anyway, which is open to the kitchen, which is open the school/eating room… so it’s a perfect extension to the main space of our home. So cozy, and so beautiful too look out our windows, that surround us. We all just spend a lot of time in there — schooling, playing games, reading, chatting-all by the fireside. It’s been lovely!

This past weekend, we had a major shift of plans. We were supposed to have ONE more Christmas celebration on Sunday, gathering with my side of the family-all of whom live long distance. We were all so looking forward to it! But….the snowfall predictions put an end to everyone’s travel plans.

So instead, we had a relaxing weekend alone, together. There was plenty of good food to eat though, as we had just shopped for our big gathering!! So the eatin’ was good for days!! Still is, actually! lol

See that pan on the stove top? That is a delicious hot drink we have simmering. Want to peek inside??

It’s a hot cider drink, and we had no idea how delicious it would be. I got the recipe from another blog, but I’ll be darned if I remember where!! I must say though……I wasn’t sure I was going to love it. Or even like it. But just the thought of the citrus aroma it would likely fill our home with, was enough to encourage me to make it anyway. SOMEONE would probably like it.

We were all set to give it a sip or 2, when it was ready. But it had to simmer for awhile first.

Meanwhile, we had a few things we could get done. Like…..undecorate our very Christmas-sy home, perhaps?! Yes, our tree has been up all of this time! Along with all of our other decorations (of which many of you have all probably seen, with all of the photos I took and posted. BOY that was FUN!!) And we really enjoyed them. But…we were ready for them to get packed up again for awhile! I must say…..our home looked a little….naked….for a day or so after wards. But it seems normal again now.

By the time that packing up was done, our cider was ready!! It sure smelled good. But still….I was leery. Mine was a very cautious first sip. One of the ingredients is orange juice….and the thought of warm orange juice was making me cringe a little bit. But as it turned out…..we all LOVED IT. Everyone had TWO cupfuls, and they all want to make it again very, very soon.

We brought the woodpile in, to keep it dry. Which I didn’t mind much, because I love woodpiles. Remember? We were wondering if any bugs would thaw out in there, and come come scurrying out! But none ever did, thankfully. Nonetheless, we’ll be thinking on better wood-storing ideas, when the time comes to stock up on a huge amount of wood.

The snow was really coming down some parts of the day, and it was nice to have no place to go, and just watch it….

and sip some more.

I’ve got to tell you a little bit about this pot on our stove too………

….. Since we talked a little about treasured family pieces, this is one of our own. It was in this home when we bought it. As I mentioned earlier, we had an inset wood/coal stove in a brick wall we knocked out when we added this sunroom, (and a school room/ eating area…..and a whole second story….). It was a black iron stove, inset into a brick fireplace, with a stone hearth. I did love the look of the whole stove/fireplace, with our crooked brick mantel, but we only used the stove itself a handful of times. Reason being, there were issues with the chimney, which really needed work, if not rebuilding! We felt it posed a possible fire hazard in the chimney. It let awful smoke in the house too. What’s more, it would have been very difficult to keep little ones away from it through those years, being dangerously hot to the touch. They are older now, and know better, of course. Anyway, we never invested in getting the chimney fixed, because we were holding onto our hopes and dreams of remodeling our home anyway, which we really needed for a family of 6. We were finally able to do that, and it has been our little dream come true….even though we still haven’t finished it. (But the journey has been gratifying!) So, the day that excavator ripped that old chimney, entire wall and stove off of our house….we saved this pot of course, before it was buried in the rubble. (My 3 kids, who were 4 at the time, napped right through that event, and woke up to a HUGE gaping whole, where the wall and stove/fireplace used to be, and into their suddenly very messy yard!) I love that the pot is L.L. Bean. That company has great stuff, but we never purchase anything from them because they are beyond our budget! But…we do have this pot!! I should add…..we only keep it filled with water, and it puts some moisture into the air.

My. That was a long paragraph.

SO! Here’s a really easy COMMENT assignment for you:

Say ” I “, if you’d like me to post this DELICIOUS CIDER RECIPE for you. It smells and tastes wonderful!! And you don’t even need a wood stove to make it…..any stove at all will do. It’s a perfect winter treat!

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Baptism by Fire – Our WESO Wood and Coal Ceramic Stove

January 18, 2009 By Laura 55 Comments

If you’ve been a visitor of our blog for awhile, you may have noticed that we just get silly-excited, about the darndest things. About lots of things, all kinds of things, and sometimes most anything. : ) That’s just how we are. Sometimes, those things have to do with accomplishments with our home. If you knew the transformation our home has taken, and what we’ve been through to make it happen, you’d probably appreciate that more. That’s another ‘post all it’s own’, but needless to say…..it’s been a very long, but very exciting journey. And having done most of the work ourselves (which is still a work in progress), every single ‘check off the list’ is a big deal to us. So indulge us, won’t you please? Because we’re jumping up and down here with excitement!

ONE of our home projects has been to get this wood/coal stove vented to the outside. It’s a WESO Ceramic Radiant Heat Wood and Coal Stove.
And it’s a family piece. More on that in a bit.

1_WESO-wood-coal-stove

Except….we needed a chimney, since our old one was knocked out with a wall, and was falling apart anyway. The sun room this stove is in now, is in it’s place. So…..hooking up this stove, and getting a proper chimney up, that would pass inspection of course, was a major project. We had a deadline goal to get it done by, that was really important to us.

It was BEFORE LAST WINTER began!

Obviously, we missed that goal by a long shot! But it did get done, in all thanks to my husband, who can do all things, when he decides to. And he’s ambitious.
😉 He cut a hole through the ceiling and roof just so, got everything squared away and boxed in, and patched up the ceiling in no time at all. Well….a few days. lol His brother in-law did send one of his roofing guys over, to do the roof part properly. (Thank you BIL!!) But my husband even assembled the mile-high chimney on the roof all by himself >>> during the 2 absolute coldest days of the winter so far—in the single digits. Crazy I tell you.

I know…we’re looking a bit like Willy Wonka’s Chocolate Factory now. (Actually, that wouldn’t be an entirely bad thing, if it were true. lol). But hey…..it gets the job done. And it meets inspection standards.

I have a thing about woodpiles. I think because they mean FIRES ARE GOING TO HAPPEN! I have always loved fires. Well….the good ones. Wood stove fires. Camp fires. Those kind. And our whole family really enjoys them together whenever we can. It’s a such a big-fun-deal to the kids, when we build fires outdoors, just to sit around and chat….which we do quite a bit in the summer and early fall. Sometimes we even have s’mores! Plus….woodpiles are so…country-ish. We just love the smell of wood burning, too.

1_WESO-wood-coal-stove

Back to the stove (and re-using this photo). We’re not only SO excited to be having a real wood/coal stove for our home, because we love having fires to gather around, making our home cozy, and just adding to the comforts of home feel. But this stove in particular, has meaningful family history. It’s a WESO ceramic wood and coal stove, made in the mid 1970’s, and it was Michael’s (my husband’s) grandparent’s stove. They had it up in their home in Maine, practically for all of his childhood.

That makes it really special, because Michael was really close to his Nana, and spent a lot of time up there. Even his school vacations, if he could. He often brought one of his friends, all of whom took him right up on that offer, because his Nana was cool! So he essentially grew up with this stove. It was there all the years I knew his Nana, and visited her with him, as well. When his Nana passed away (about 8 years after his grandfather), the stove went to his parents home, where he grew up. By then of course, he was no longer living at home. We were planning to get married by then. But nonetheless, it was there in their home, where we often visited and gathered, for years into our marriage and having four children, until his parents sold the home and moved.

That’s when we took it, in Nov 2006. And we’ve been waiting to make it part of our home, ever since.

The older we get, the more family pieces mean to us. To have things around our home that have family history, is just such a blessing. We don’t have a whole lot. Lots of little things that are just as precious. But this stove is a treasure to us. It’s a beauty!! And it was finally time to start her up!! Heading into a bitter cold weekend, too.

This corner, and just to the left of it where our french doors into the rest of our home are, is the only parts of the room that are windowless. This room is pretty much all windows, and a sliding glass door out to the deck. LOTS of natural light. We are essentially surrounded by the outdoors, but inside. We have spent A LOT of time in here……even though it is no where near decorated or furnished as it will be. The kids just LOVE this room as well, and spend a lot of time in it too….until the winters came. It just got BITTER cold out there. The stone tiles were like ice. So when we come in the front door, we kick off our shoes and get through the french doors and into the house as soon as possible. It’s been a 3 season room.

But not anymore. It’s finally a 4 season room! I have to say…..it’s been one very enjoyable, very snowy, and very cozy weekend for us, here in our home. We’ve spent much of it in this room…..surrounded by a winter wonderland, but warm as can be. Just gathered together as a family, hanging out by the fire. Right where we love to be.

We’ll be back to tell you more about our cozy weekend really soon. Meanwhile, if you have any really treasured family pieces as part of your home, we’d love to hear about them! It doesn’t matter what it is, big or small, pretty or not…..if it matters to you, it matters! Please feel free to share family pieces with us if you have a moment.

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CHEERS!!

Sweet, huh??

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