Relax

I'm groggy from all the good relaxing that was had today! A very peaceful day with only 3 childcare kids (2 in the morning, 1 in the afternoon). The boys made a make-shift ramp for Reed's scooter. They are wanting to make a real ramp that Clay can also skateboard on, so we're on the look-out for free plywood (and instructions on how to do this!). In the mean time, this will have to do:
Once our little friends went home, we drove 45 minutes out to Hot Springs and hung out at Becca and Chris's new house (which is SWEET! Congratulations you guys!) Reed had a good time trying to catch a backyard chicken:


We had a special dinner of chocolate chip pancakes and roasted veggie frittata (yum!):
And then scooted right off to the town's namesake, the hot springs. It's pretty cool that they kept the ruins of the old hot springs. These used to be a huge reason people were even in Asheville. Back in the old days, people would come through Asheville or vacation from all over the mountains to the hot mineral springs for it's healing properties. Nowadays, it's not actually too widely publicized, I don't think, but it so nice for a soak! Here's a look at the old springs area:

Now it is piped in to private hot tubs ... ahhhh ....
View from the tub:
Reed and his friend didn't want to get out, even as the tub drained, they stuck it out
Max and Reed at the firepit outside the hot tubs ... peace out!

Doughday

Gray day outside = creative day inside ... I've been baking all our own bread products for a while lately (crackers, sandwich bread, roll, pizza, tortillas, etc.). My friend Amanda lent me this great book to give me some new ideas - it's pretty fabulous! It's the idea of making a very moist dough that can sit in your fridge for a couple weeks and you can pull a bit off and make beautiful breads anytime. (scroll down to see a pic of the beautiful bread I made!)
Got a great curb score this weekend - I actually almost bought one of these from the thrift a couple weeks ago :) Just a perfect size for the early toddlers.
New bean tee-pee with Jacob's Cattle Beans.
Reed's lucky day! I am a member of an online survey company that occasionally sends out surveys in the mail and usually sends cash in the envelope. This was the first one for one of the kids. Reed was all too happy to actually get paid a two-dollar bill for doing a survey about gum and candy! If anyone reading would like to join this company's website, comment or email me and I'll hook you up with the link (of course I not only get paid for surveys but for referrals :)
Reed was on a money high and decided to do some chores to get some more cash (he has an actual payday on Fridays and a tally of chores, all optional, posted on the wall). He's saving for a LEGO set right now, i think *sigh*
Oh my goodness - this bread is SO beautiful - the picture doesn't do it any justice! This is officially my new favorite bread cookbook.
It was perfect for dinner, accompanying an egg scramble with portobellas mushrooms, garlic, feta and spinach ... yum!!
and to leave on a pretty note - my fella is so good to me ~~

Much love ~ Julie

All Go West

Saturday started out pretty sunny, got some nearly-too-pretty-to-crack-open eggs from a friend

and admired the random selection of sprouts soaking up sun (peanuts and baby corn, anyone?)

We headed to West Asheville for the All Go West Fest, that ended up getting rained out and relocated to neighborhood indoor venues. But the kids had some fun in the rain!
Extreme Hopskotch:
Walked through one of the coolest public gardens in Asheville




Even rainy weather is fun to play in... I did feel bad for this band. It's Brushfire Stankgrass, they were pretty rockin. Unfortunately, most people left from the rain.
Can't wait for more festivals and trips that warm weather will bring. LEAF is in only a couple weeks!!! Hope everyone's enjoying Spring...
Love ~ Julie

Friday Farm Adventures

I didn't forget that President Obama is in Asheville this week, I just didn't think it was SUCH a big deal ... sheesh... it took us 1/2 hr to go through downtown. The interstate ramps in downtown were blocked, so everyone was smooshed in little tiny downtown. We finally got out of traffic and made it out to Warren Wilson College in Black Mountain.

At the farm we met a few mamas and their new babies - if I had to nurse that many little ones, I'd be making the same face.
But they were so darn cute, some spotty, some brown, some pink ... ahhh ... piglet love...

BIG papa!

Lovely ladies who were very protected by their cock-a-doodling menfolk...
Walked down to the river ... ah, I love where I live, beauty everywhere you look:

Anybody home?
The throne tree:
A big effort for something that's about to be thrown in the water!

Reed trying to surf on the log:
My boys just went home with the other boys in these pics (thanks bryce!). They'll have two sleep-overs in a row, so I can go out early yard-saling tomorrow and have some fun tomorrow night. Have a lovely weekend everyone!
Love, Julie

Scenes from the day

This is pretty much a typical day for us - I'm a very lucky gal to love what I do all day!

These twin brothers come twice a week for a couple hours and are definitely my boys' favorite youngins to romp around with!
Snack time - oatmeal muffins using leftover oatmeal, with carrots, hemp seeds, and for a special treat (cause mama's craving chocolate today) some chocolate chips :)
A friend came over and brought his DS, since it's the boys' electronics day, this is pretty much what they looked like half the day:
A lovely 9 year old friend came over today and had a blast (and was a great help!) playing with this little cutie:
My personal project today was to do one last greenwood project... It was supposed to look like this:
Not quite as pretty, but still very functional - to cover an incredibly sentimental hosta plant that the kids are unintentionally trampling. (this is a split from the same hosta that's planted on our dog Scarlett's grave - I've transplanted and left a bit of it at 3 houses now)
We're loving the rain and hoping everyone else is revelling in this greening up of nature as well! love, julie

Mead

First attempt at making mead yesterday. We used the "Traditional" recipe in my favorite homebrew book - Charlie Papazian's "The Complete Joy of Homebrewing".
1-1/2 gallons of honey watered down - golden and sweet!
The brains behind the operation :)
Other little ingredients from the homebrew store:
in the glass carboy waiting to cool so we can add yeast and put the airlock on for fermentation.
It will stay in this carboy for about a month or so, I think. Then we can make an herb or fruit tea to add in, if we like and bottle. Will stay in bottles for a long time and then we'll definitely have good refreshments for Summer parties! Nectar of the Gods!
Have a great week ~ love, julie