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harvest

Can you feel it? The way that summer is slowly drawing to a close? I can. The nights are slightly cooler, the greens are a little bit duller, and the biggest tell-tale sign, my allergies are acting up. But there is another more picturesque thing that will tell you summer is almost over. The grain harvest. 

Grandpa and Gran had us out to their place a week or so ago when their neighbor was harvesting their grain.

We've seen it before, (last year) but it is still fascinating!

There are lovely big tractors to see.

And Combines to watch...

...and ride in if you are lucky! (I spy a Little Guy, on his Grandpa's knee...)

We also learned a neat thing from Gran and Grandpa. 

You get yourself a head of wheat.

You rub the kernels in between the palms of you hands. 

Then you end up with a handful that looks like this. 

Then you have to blow on it to separate the wheat from the chaff. And then you can pop the wheat kernels into your mouth and chew them. And they turn into a sort of tasteless, chewy gum. (all thanks to the miracle of gluten, she says sarcastically) It doesn't taste good, but it is oddly satisfying, and the activity itself is fun. 

On a side-note, I'd like to comment on how my child is dressed. Which is like a miniature redneck with access to a Mall. My point is that I have been letting him dress himself. And also make some decisions about the clothing that we purchase. And since he is six, he favours superheros and lego marketing tie-ins. Oh, and he has a soft spot for fluorescent green. And while I like Lego and Spiderman and fluorescent green, its all a bit much for me. If I had my way, it'd be a bit more, erm, stylish, and logo/movie character free but I'm letting him go for it these days. Just sayin'. Oh, and also, he's kind of a maximalist in terms of accessories and embellishments. Note that he has added Hallowe'en cat stickers to his sunglasses, and refuses to take them off. They are his favourite sunglasses. Ah well, his outfit might make me wince, but his pride in his new hat and Lego themed shirt warms my heart. And there was a lot of beauty out in the fields that day. 

The exquisite whorl of the blossoms on the Queen Anne's Lace.

The geometric beauty of the freshly shorn wheat field. 

And this beautiful lady, who is somehow as golden as the wheat itself. (We miss you Gran and Grandpa, come home soon!)

weekend fun, aka: the search for fish

Well, that was lovely. Just had a great weekend with some friends who came up to our neck of the woods to stay and play and relax and eat stuff. So, so nice! I was mostly busy having a good time, so I didn't take that many pictures, but I did manage to document what I shall call The Great Fish Quest of August 2014.The Little Dude was adamant that we should catch some fish. And our visiting kid-friend/honorary cousin was very keen on the idea too. Their initial strategy was to scoop a bucket into the water as quickly as possible in the general direction of fish. It didn't work very well. 

So we headed to another location. 

There must be fish down there. And there were. But they were out of bucket scooping range, so we had to adopt another strategy....

...at a third location! Good ole' fishing poles at the dock. It was a good plan. There were lots of fish. we could see them. But they were very, very sneaky fish and snitched the worms off our hooks almost as fast as we dangled them into the water. 

The Little Guy had his own "fishing rope". FYI, it was not very successful either. 

But while were not not exactly catching fish by the bucketful, we were having a lovely time sitting in the sun on the dock, watching the sun sparkle on the water and daring each other to be the next to put a worm on the hook (we particularly missed you at that moment Grandpa)

And finally, FINALLY, after waiting and trying and trying again we managed to catch a FISH!And a fairly big one at that. Note the heroic pose of the mighty fisherman. And this poor guy didn't catch anything! (insert sad trombone noise here)

But here's the thing we all learned while fishing. Its not really about catching fish. 

fort additions

Every now and then, when Hubs had a day off that is not spoken for with other commitments/odd jobs/art projects our fort gets a new addition. Roofs, doors, random steering wheels, and finally the other day, a crane!

I can't tell you how excited the boys were about this. Hubs put it together up in the garage/shop and then brought it down an installed it in the fort. 
Its one of Hubs classic made-from-some-junk-I-found-lying-around specials. 

The boom is made from part of a pair of old cross-country skis (the middle part, the tips were used to make a bow, but that's another post).

And the pulley is made from, oh I don't know, some random pulley that Hubs found in a junk yard somewhere? And I realize that I don't have a good picture of the seat, but I believe that it is a stripped down skate deck that was lying around. 

Anyhow, it is never-endingly fun to crank a log up, up, up, and then let it go and watch it noisily wind itself back down.

Now, maybe his little brother will get a turn. One of these days. 

Rhubarb Cream Pie

Ok, I made this a couple of weeks ago, (probably more like a month ago now!) before we went to BC, so these are old photos, but I had to share it with you anyhow, because if you do one thing this week, you should make this pie! I'm serious, you will NOT regret it.  This is pretty much hot out of the oven. Which sounds all nice and picturesque, but is not ideal in terms of pie. 

Because we could not wait to cut into it. 

But this is what you get when you cut a hot pie into slices. They are not really slices, per se. We call them schlices instead. Because they are schloppy.

But luckily, they still taste amazing. Seriously, I think this is my favourite kind of pie. Right up there with Peach Pie and Pumpkin Pie. Its hard to choose a favourite pie, and really, under what kind of cruel Sopie's Choice-like circumstances would you have choose anyhow? Its like having to pick a favourite child! Not possible. My vote is for having a slice of each.  

Also, note the pair of mittens in the foreground of the above photograph. And this photo was taken in late July. I'm telling you, the Little Guy LOVES his dress up mittens. The only reason he was convinced to take them off was that the pie was going to be messy. Like his mother, this kid will do anything for pie. 

Anyhow, now that' I've gone on about pie long enough perhaps you want to make one, so here is the recipe. Handed down to me by my Mom who got it from a friend who got it from, who knows where. Don't get all hung up on provenance with this one, just make it and enjoy!

Rhubarb Cream Pie

Filling: In a small saucepan melt 2 tbsps of butter and add 2 cups of diced rhubarb and 1 cup of sugar. Cook slowly over medium low heat until rhubarb is tender. 

Combine 1/2 cup of sugar

                2 tbsps cornstarch

                2 well beaten egg yolks (reserved the whites for the meringue later)

                1/2 cup of light cream (half and half works nicely)

                1/8 tsp of salt

Add to rhubarb mixture and cook until thickened. Seat aside to cool.

Meringue Topping: For a lovely full meringue use three egg whites. (use the two left over from making the filling, but add another, because everyone loves meringue) Have the egg whites at room temperature. Beat them with a hand mixer until frothy. Add 4-6 Tbsp of sugar, one at a time, depending on how sweet you like it. Beat well after each addition until the meringue is glossy and slightly stiff. 

You can make your own pie crust (good crust recipes can be found all over the internet, but I like this one, or the basic pie crust recipe from The Joy of Cooking) Blind bake your empty pie crust at 325 degrees for around 22 minutes. Make sure to prick it thoroughly first and also weight it with large dried beans (like kidney beans) or pie weights. Let it cool.

Pour filling into a pre-baked pie shell. Top with meringue. Bake at 350 degrees for 15 mintues. Try your best to let it cool completely before cutting it into slices. But I will understand if you don't. 

one question at a time

*note: this post will include anatomically correct words for human genitalia. If that freaks you out, you are reading the wrong blog. 

Yep. So. Just had the ENTIRE where do babies come from talk with the Little Dude (6 years old), while the LIttle Guy (three years old) listened in. This important information was conveyed by me to them in the car on the way home from the drug store. A 10 minute car ride, and we pretty much covered the miracle of life. Now THAT is what I call efficient parenting. I don't even know how it started. One minute we're pointing out construction equipment on the side of the road, the next minute we're talking about the meeting of sperm and egg. 

I remember reading an article about how to explain this whole deal in most accessible way for your child, and the best piece of advice was to just answer the specific question the kids is asking, not go into a whole lot of stuff that might be too abstract for them. One question at a time. So we covered the clinical side of things: Women have eggs inside them. Men have sperm. When then sperm and the egg combine, that starts making a baby. Then that baby grows in the Mom's uterus (we also discussed the word "womb" and how that this is not in her stomach, but next to it sort of) until it is too big to stay in there, because there is not enough room. And then it comes out when the Mom gives birth.

He thought about that for a second and then moved on to the next logical question: "How does the sperm from the Dad get to the egg in the Mom?" 

Now, I've thought about this moment. And this question. We are no longer talking about babies and birth. Now we are talking about sex. And I was not going to wimp out on this and be weird and awkward and hedge around it or suggest that someday, later he'd be big enough to understand it or to talk to his Dad, or something like that. Nope, if this is where my kids are going to first hear about sex, (and I'm very happy that it is) I'm going to be straight forward with them, and not give them the non-verbal idea that this is weird or embarrassing or something like that. And so we forged on. "The sperm comes out of the Dad's penis. He puts it in the Mom's vagina, and then it goes up into her uterus where the egg is." And pause. And wait for that to be computed by his little brain. 

I wish I had had a tape recorder running (do they even still makes tape recorders? That seems like a really 90's sort of thing. Is that what people use now? Or is there some sort of iPhone app now? But I digress.) because I honestly cannot remember the whole conversation verbatim. But we went on from there along these lines. Q: Where does the sperm come out of the man? A: From the end of his penis. Q: Does the baby have to crack out of the egg to come out? A: No. Its not like a chicken egg. Its a little tiny, tiny squishy egg, sort of like how fish eggs look. Q: How does it grow into a baby? A: The egg and the sperm together make a cell, and our body is made of millions of cells, so that one cell keeps dividing and making more cells until there is a whole little tiny human being inside the Mom's uterus. Q: How does it get out when the Mom pushes? A: All the muscles in the Mom's body have to work together to push it down the birth canal, which is like a tube from the Uterus to the Vagina. And then it comes out the Vagina. 

So far so good. And I was feeling very proud of myself for doing this so well, and accurately (I hope) and being so matter-of-fact and casual like about it. But we were not done yet. "But Mom," he says "why would the Dad put his penis in the Mom's vagina?" Right. Good question. Getting right to the heart of the matter as they say. "Don't screw this up!" my brain is saying to me, as I try to get all the words in the right order, and quickly, so that I don't sound like I'm hesitating because I'm freaked out, (though I might be, just a teeny, tiny bit freaked out). "Because the Mom and Dad love each other, and it feels good, and its something that they like to do together because its fun and it makes them happy." And exhale. But only internally. So the kids can't hear. "And sometimes, when they do, it makes a baby start inside the Mom. But not every time. Just once in awhile." And just for safety's sake. "But only grownups do it with each other. Kids don't do it. Not until they are grown up."

By this time we are in the drive way, so I can turn around and smile at him. He's still got that look on his face like he's computing. But that seems to be it for the questions. "Ok?" I ask, as in: "got any more quesitons kid?" "Ok." he says, gathering up the lego and books that he brought with him as we get ready to leave the car. 

The last thing in our big conversation was from the Little Guy, who, silent up until this point, piped up. "Did I like it in your Vagina?". To which I answered "Well, you weren't in my Vagina. You were in my Uterus. And I think it was nice and safe and warm in there. But one day you got too big to stay in there anymore and you wanted to come out and meet me and Dad and we were very excited to meet you. So then I pushed and I pushed, you came down the birth canal and out my vagina. And then I said 'What a beautiful little boy! Let's call him James!' And there you were." Which got a big smile, and he said, "Yeah! And also, you could call me Michael!" 

I realize now though, that I never gave him a word for what IT was called. I never said "sex". And I wish I had, because its simpler to have the right words. Ah, well, I'm sure it is not the last conversation we will have on the subjet. I'll get another chance to introduce the correct nomenclature. And in the mean time, I get to cross another one off the old parenting list!

Oh! In re-reading this I have just now remembered how we got on the topic of reproduction and birth. It was via Star Wars! Naturally. And the question was: "Did Luke Skywalker and Princess Leia have a Mom?" Which they did, and when asked who it was I supplied them with the information that it was Princess Amidala. "And Darth Vader was their Dad, right?" Right. So basically, during that whole conversation he was probably picturing Darth Vader and Princess Amidala having sex. As Lego Minifigures I'll bet. And now I'm laughing hysterically (in my mind again, so the kids don't hear and want to know why I'm laughing). Who ever said parenting was boring? I'm telling you, this is the craziest job ever. 

we're jammin'

My apologies for the corny post title, but really, we could not stop singing the Bob Marley the whole time we worked. Because, you know, we were making jam. 

And I'd also like to apologize for my absence recently. We were away, you see. I should have told you where I was going and when I'd be back, but this was our first real trip together as a family and between the packing and the stress of last minute worrying I totally forgot. Anyhow, more on our trip later. The short version is that Hubs' family lives in BC and we went out there for a long overdue visit. We haven't been out there in, like, five years! Great Grandma has never even met our Little Guy, which is nuts, but you know, plane tickets don't grow on trees. 

Anyhow, while we were there we had the pleasure of spending a day with my sister-in-law's two oldest daughters, who are almost exactly the same age as our Little Dude and Little Guy. It was such a great time, as they kids really get along. Which is a good thing because the weather did NOT co-operate. It rained and drizzled and was grey all day. Eventually we could not stand being inside any more and decided to make a run for the park. Which was just as wet as everywhere else. No sliding or swinging unless you wanted very wet bums. So we wandered from the park into a nearby field for a walk. And guess what we found!
Blackberries! Just miles upon miles of wild blackberry bushes bordered every field. It was kind of amazing. After picking all we could hold in our hands, we headed home (because also, we were wet) and then sent Hubs back out with a plastic bag.

Which he proceeded to fill.

So many berries! Enough for jam, clearly, so I sent hubs out to the stores for jars and sugar and got to work with the kids. 

First we gently washed and rinsed the perfect little berries. 

And then we all lined up to get a turn at mashing. 

We didn't have aprons, so we MacGyvered up some impromptu smocks with tea towels held in place with chip clips. They have a certain sort of South-of-the-Border flair. 

Jam making is such a great activity for kids because you really can't screw it up. We make the no-cook freezer jam, for which you can find the instructions printed on a paper inside any box of Certo pectin crystals (I used the measurements from the Raspberry Jam recipe, because they did not have a Blackberry Jam recipe, and it worked out just fine). I like the Certo Light, because it calls for half the sugar. But we do go ahead and use real sugar. Though you could also use Pomona's Universal Pectin and make it with honey. That totally works too, and is a bit more natural. Just suit yourself. But basically you just wash the fruit, mash the fruit, stir in the pectin, wait half an hour, stir in the sugar, and slam it into some jars. Easy peasy, mac and cheesy as my kids say. You really can't make a mistake. Though it is very, very possible that you will make a mess. The blackberry juice will stain the counter if you are not careful. Just use a little baking soda made into a paste with water and scrub the fresh stains, and they will come right off. 

Also, it will stain your fingers. Not much you can do about that. It wears away in a day or two at the most. No biggie. 

The Little Guy soon figured it out and was mashing away with his most intense mashing face, just for good measure. 

His cousin wasn't quite so sure about the mashing to start with...

...but with a bit of encouragement she was soon mashing away like a pro!

The Little Dude, he was born to mash. 

Then, after the pectin was stirred in, it was time to wait. And what better way to spend the time, than with a little reading. We started in on "The House at Plum Creek" and got about three chapters in before we tired of it. 

And then we were off to other books and games. 

And before we knew it, it was stirring time again.

Stir, stir, stir.

Everybody got a turn. 

Luckily you can't overstir jam.

And in the end there was even a little bit of beautiful fresh blackberry juice, from the bottom of the bowl of clean berries. The weight of the layers of berries had sort of juiced some of the bottom ones. This stuff turned out to be very popular. There was only about a half a cup of the stuff, but we divided it into little tiny toy tea cups....

...and drank it with great gusto!

And here's our finished jam! I know, it doesn't look like much, but these are not really jam jars, but half quart canning jars, so if these were actually jam jars, there would be six of them. Which is a respectable batch of jam. 

But that jam, it was SO GOOD, that we decided to do it all over again, and this time strain out all the seeds and make jelly. But we needed more berries first.  So Hubs went out to brave the brambles again! (Look at those legs! Like he was attacked by a gang of feral cats!) But it was worth it.