The Dreyer Family Band

The best family CD, ever! That's my review.
Our good friends Annie, Matt, Mac, Emmett & Silas, (the West Coast Dreyers, is what they call themselves) just finished this wonderful collection of beautiful songs with the (East Coast Dreyers). It was so lovely to see it all come to fruition last night at their CD release party, held at Plum Pottery. I feel like I was there at the birth of these songs. Last year when I would see Annie in the school garden, or chat on the phone with her, she would sing me lyrics as she wrote them. I would get goose bumps all over my body and warm fuzzy feelings in my heart, I just knew the songs were going to be something special. Well, a year or so later, here it is ! A beautiful gift to us all.... Go listen to it, buy it, and celebrate its messages with your family.

The Dreyer Family Website

Fava Beans

I have been spending my Thursdays at Chloe's school taking her class out to the school garden to dig, plant, grow and harvest food. I can't tell you how much I have enjoyed doing this. So far this year we have been continually harvesting salad greens, radishes and carrots. This past week our bounty included two big bowls of fava beans that we planted back in October. First the kids picked as many beans as they could ( it was a fava bean frenzy I tell you !) and then we all gathered in a circle on the grass and passed around the bowls to see how heavy there were. We then proceeded to shuck the beans. The kids talked about how well they worked as teams to pick them, and they really loved pealing back the green flesh to find big fat fava beans inside.



This was the first time I attempted cooking in the garden, good thing I had that handy camp stove ! Before cooking the beans, there is still one more layer to remove, and most people boil them for a few minutes then transfer to ice cold water before removing the layer that gives you the yummy green bean that is eaten. Since we were running short on time, we skipped the boiling step and we sauteed them in their shells with a bit a garlic and olive oil. The heat made the bean pop out and we separated them just before eating. Everyone ate them and really liked there taste. Their are still more beans to harvest and share.




Some of what we have learned about Fava Beans:

~They are a great source of protein & they taste good.

~They are really fun to plant, but way more fun to pick !

~ They take about 4 to 5 months to actually produce the beans, first come beautiful flowers, and they are edible to.

~ Fava's are considered a cover crop, which means you can plant them to cover soil that is not being currently used for another crop and it will keep your soil productive as well as "fix nitrogen" into it. Fixing means the plant actually takes nitrogen from the air and feeds it back into the soil. It as a great plant to put in the soil that you usually grow tomato's in during the warm months.




For more detailed info you can check the Wikipedia entry here, and there is a nice article with recipes written here.

P.S. The last two images above were taken by Emil @ erb photography, I love the fava's in the air !!

Smiley Faces

Our little guy Blake has pretty much put holes in every pair of jeans he owns, with all the work he does as a rambunctious boy. I have spent hours ironing on and sewing patches onto all his pants, only to find that where the patch is not, is where a new hole emerges. We found these smiley face patches and Blake really loved them so I put them on last night, knowing they will only last long enough to take a really cute picture in the school garden with them. Hooray for Happy Faces !

The Potters Produce

Chloe's school has a kiln now, very exciting indeed. The first project was a pinch pot, the one above is hers. She presented it to me with a flower in it. How sweet and beautiful, especially the smile she had on her face when she handed it to me. The one that says " I am so proud I made this!" Chloe was sick the day of her next project so her Art Teacher gave us some clay to take home to complete it. Hanging plaques, which will be hung around the school on art night in May, even Blake made one, next week they will glaze them.




I was very happy to bring home my first set of respectable mugs this week from my class. I can't tell you how much I loved making these. I think the best part about bringing home new pieces is that I leave them on the table for Chloe and Blake to find in the morning, they get so excited, and want to use them right away. They are my biggest fans ! What a gift that is. There will be more mugs to come, I am on a roll !

Happy Valentines Day

We celebrated yesterday, with a party in Chloe's second grade classroom. There were so many sweets and treats it almost felt like Halloween, except there was the lovely colors of red, & pink all around. The theme was to have red food. So there were strawberry's, in different versions of dipped chocolates, white, dark, even strawberry's atop mascarpone cheese in a little tart, yummy. We also had red grapes, red peppers, red apples and strawberry yogurt. What a spread it was !



Our contribution to the spread were some very delicious chocolate butter cookies with melted white chocolate and red sprinkles on top. I got the recipe in the Holiday Baking edition of Cooks Illustrated. I found the recipe printed online in another blog here. One note, I didn't have expresso powder, so I just used instant coffee, and it worked great.



Chloe made some sweet little handmade Valentines. We kept it pretty simple, she cut out hearts from red cardstock, and put a wise saying on it, one I am sure you all know well, we sing that tune around here often.



Hope your day is filled with Sweet Love !!

The Radishes are Ready !!

There is nothing like 3 days of California Rain to finish off the Radish patch & make the greens grow in our winter garden bed! Let me tell you, they are pretty tasty and really fun for the kids to pull out of the dirt.



We have been picking just enough each day to eat. Time to plant more seeds...

Happy Nappy Time

Blake and Eddie, snoozing after a busy morning of crashing cars and trucks into each other, while staying home from pre-school with a yucky cold. How cute are they?



Photo's taken with the I-phone, as you can see, the click on the camera made them stir...

New Pillows

I finally got around to making some new pillows for our very boring dark blue hand me down couch. I am so into green these days, particularly a chartreuse type green, mixed with orange. When I found the fabric I used on sale at Repro Depot, I was in love, especially with its modish vibe, I only wish I would have ordered more.

This was the first time I made a pillow with an invisible zipper. The installing of a zipper into a garment in general is always very scary to me, since I rarely do it. So, when it came to this one, I found a video tutorial online that helped me through it. Its a good one, but I found myself telling the lady to speed it up a bit, while being thankful at the same time that she was being extremely detailed in her description. I think after doing a few of these, I feel less intimidated now. Oh, how I do love the Internet, and all the sewers out there that take the time to put together tutorials, & blog posts, all in the name of sharing their skills so someone like me can find the sense of satisfaction and accomplishment that comes with learning and successfully completing a new technique.

Plus, now that my pillow covers have zippers, I can take them off and throw them in the washer when one of them gets soiled, and we know that will happen very soon !

Happy Birthday Blake

I can't take credit for this sweet image, it was taken by our good friend Emil, at erb photography.

Our little Blake is 5 today, and we are off to Legoland to celebrate, then back to our neighborhood to eat sushi at Blake's favorite resturant, and last but not least a stop by San Diego Deserts for a yummy Birthday Cake.

Holiday Recap

Happy New Year everyone !! I have been meaning to get some blog posts here during the Christmas break, because there is lots to report, but I was busy just enjoying our days. Days that are warm in the mid morning to afternoon with California sunshine, and chilly in the evenings and early mornings, giving me the feeling of winter, the kind that I can bear. Oh, and in between, some very nice and well needed rainy days, a few just in time for Christmas eve, which justified staying inside all day, baking bread and a nice juicy ham for dinner, while sipping Bailey's & hot tea. Yes, this Christmas and New Years was a much more improved version than last years. I made a commitment to not overdue it, and to start early on the buying and making of things. It worked. Smile

So, here it goes, the photo recap .....


The Holiday Bread Wreath, complete with bits of thyme and sage inside, straight from the herb garden.




Blake had a ton of Happy "I can't wait till Santa comes energy", so I gave him some tools from my jewelry making kit, and some wire and showed him how to wrap it.



You can see his masterpiece behind him, I added a simple bead and a leather cord, then it became Grandma's handmade Christmas present, a one of a kind. She was thrilled !



These are Chloe's beautifully made, and hand painted clay pendants, before the leather cord. We had a great time at pottery class making them together a few weeks before. She gave me that pretty yellow and red star.



The soap dish, or whatever you want to use them for collection, from my tuesday evenings at pottery class. I wrapped these along with some handmade soaps from Summers Past Farms. I think they were a hit. I sure had fun making them !





Pendants I made for Chloe & Blake, I have been known to wear them to...



Aprons for Aunt Sandy & Grandma Elva



The Crochet Hook Clutch for my Mother



Our small pink tinsel tree, which took many tumbles this year, which might be its last, we just sort of gave up toward the end and stop putting the ornaments back on. Next year, a real tree !!



We had visitors from the blistery cold Midwest this year, Grandma Elva & Grandpa Myles, and my brother Uncle Andrew. Snow birds we call them.

Christmas Eve Dinner



The movement of Christmas Morning



Andrew soaking up the California Sun before he had to go back into hibernation



The only picture, but the best I have from New Year's Eve. Our friend Ashley, with another friends lovable canine companion, Mini, part chihuahua, part jack russel. If we were to ever have a little dog, it would be just like Mini !!



Wishing you all the best in 2009 !!

Merry Christmas !

From Alvin & the Chipmunks....

Just 4 years Ago

I took these pictures of Chloe & Blake in December 2004, I think I sent them out with Christmas Cards that year, and since I have not done a Holiday Photo as of yet this year, thought I would share these. For those of you who remember my post about the Solstice Tree in my next store neighbors yard, well right directly underneath is where these images were taken.













The Poncho, Sweater and Hats were knit by my Mother.. I just loved them, they are definitely in the keepsake box now, except for the poncho, Chloe still wears it four years later. Thanks Mom !

Chloe Art

Chloe made me these tags to go on the aprons I made for the Winter Boutique last week. So not only did the ladies receive a nice handmade apron, they got a little piece of artwork as a bonus. Thank you Chloe !





I did the back, with a very thin lined pen, really helps when you have not so great writing, (micron's, the pens, highly recommended).




I encouraged Chloe to make some slightly bigger pieces to sell herself, this one was my favorite. Our friend Annie was the happy recipient. Chloe really enjoyed using her earnings to play some games and get some treats.



I really enjoyed meeting some of the other Momma's that create and sell their art. Some very cleaver and beautiful things. I don't have very good pictures of our table or the others, it was quite windy and the sun was in a funny place, plus I was to busy gabbing away with friends !! All in all it was a fun day, and I was really glad that Chloe came along, it just might be the beginnings of a budding Poppy Heart business for us!!