Parkrose Permaculture

Back to posting

Tum Tum and Brenna watching squirrels in the yard this morning.

My apologies on being absent for a bit – we’re once again struggling with sick kids, especially Firecracker, who has had multiple trips to the doctor and the ER in the past few weeks because the colds are wreaking havoc on her asthma.

That, plus my first time hosting Thanksgiving for extended family, and now scrambling to prepare for our church’s Women’s Christmas Breakfast at my house this coming Saturday (ack!Â that’s less than two days away!!), I have hardly been on the computer.

I’ll be back tomorrow with a string of posts about the beginning of our Advent celebration.

Blessings!

(And and extra special thanks to my dear friend, Trish, who has been tirelessly experimenting with new banners for me!)

Pieces of our Saturday

A morning spent baking a pecan pie thank-you.

An early afternoon spent planting hyacinths and digging earthworms with the girls.

A late afternoon of immense blessing – We have been given an enormous maple loom, made right here in Oregon.Â Â We spent about two hours getting it dissassembled, carried up our narrow stairway, and reassembled.

It will need a good bath, a shuttle, some new pegs, but it is a beautiful, beautiful thing – an amazingly generous and precious gift.Â The girls and I can’t wait to get her in working order and teach ourselves how to weave shawls and rugs and coverlets – our minds are full of anticipation and possibilities!Â (Firecracker would like a superhero cape!)

And now we are off to our homeschool co-op’s end of the semester Open House.Â Â We have been looking forward to it for weeks (Little Hen is in the theatre class, and Firecracker will be singing in the choir).Â Â We’re so glad Grandma and Aunties and Cousin can come down and join us.

Altogether, a truly blessed Saturday – every piece.

Strange beauties

I found these other-worldy fungi while mulching our future veggie garden on Saturday (these are a species of Inky Cap).Â The children were resting, and the sun was shining, so I dashed out to work on our sheet-mulched, mounded rows that will be next year’s kitchen garden (the garlic, shallots, onions, leeks are already in the ground, hiding out until spring under thick blankets of straw mulch).

In the unplanted rows were whole villages ofÂ mushrooms covering about 30 sq ft in total, busily converting the manure and kitchen scraps into black gold.

My friend, Sara, who is passionate about mushrooms,Â says that these little guys are a type of cup fungus.Â Â There are hundreds, and range from the size of a nickel to the size of my open hand.

They’re not the quaint little toadstools in gnomey tales, but they are definitely strange and fascinating beauties.

Quiet spinning

A quiet afternoon yesterday – now all of us are feeling under the weather and we are doing our best to cultivate an atmosphere of peace and foster wellness.Â The girls were snuggling in their bed, reading Highlights and Ranger Rick,Â and Tum Tum was napping.Â A rare opportunity to enjoy a cup of coffee in the front room, watching the rain fall.

Also a perfect opportunity to get out some spinning (because anyone who knows me knows I can’t just sit and sip coffee without some handwork at the ready).Â I’ve been so busy knitting socks, I’ve gotten behind on my spinning, and frankly, my hands are tired of double-points and need a rest.Â So, I grabbed a basket with some mystery pencil roving (from the large bag of fiber that was thrown in on my Craigslist purchase of a fixer-upper Louet S-10) and one of the drop spindles my dad made me a while back.

I like spinning standing up, so I can spin a much longer length before I have to wind it up, so there really was no “sitting and sipping coffee” about it.Â But I find spinning a very restful, meditative experience, even if I don’t put my feet up.

This spindle, made of maple, has a large whorl, but spins very evenly, and is one of my favorites.

The fingering-weight singles.Â I’ll ply it when I’m done for a heavy sport-weight that will become more gift socks.

Wishing you a peacefulÂ and productive afternoon as well.

Making the most of our time

We are feeling a bit like hermits, cooped-up in the house for days and days – the little ones are still wrestling with sickness, and we had to miss church again this week.Â Little Hen, still healthy, escaped to Grandma’s house for the weekend (a BIG thank-you to Grandma for inviting her up!).

After homemade pecan-chocolate pie for breakfast (hey, we’re sick!), Daddy read to us from The Lightning Thief, which is turning out to be an excellent choice for Firecracker, who is captivated by Greek mythology.

Another good thing is that I’ve been able to get quite a bit of Christmas-gift knitting done (and give the dog a hair cut, and mop the floors…).

We are trying to make the best of our isolation, and finding we are blessed by the quietness today.Â Firecracker is getting up from a rest, so I’d best go, so Daddy can read a few more chapters to us out of The Lightning Thief.

Some Greek Mythology Resources we love :

D’Aulaire’s Book of Greek Myths

Jim Henson’s The Storyteller: Greek Myths (although, the stories are re-imagined a bit)

Classic Myths to Read Aloud

Greek Myths for Young Children

The Adventures of Baron Munchausen (well, it has a smidgen of Greek Mythology in it, with Hephaestus and Aphrodite, and we like it)

By Jove, a board game

and we’d love to find this board game and try it out.

Tossing their branches

The two younger children are still sick, but Little Hen is perfectly healthy, so we dropped her off at homeschool co-op this morning.Â On the way home, the rain was pounding and the wind was whipping the trees about.

We came home and curled up on the sofa – me with a mug of coffee and Firecracker with a tangerine and some hot cocoa, and we watched the rain pound, and the wind blow the leaves off the neighbor’s walnut tree.

As we snuggled together looking out the window, I was reminded of something John Muir said –

“A few minutes ago every tree was excited, bowing to the roaring storm, waving, swirling, tossing their branches in glorious enthusiasm like worship.”

Firecracker said, “It’s pretty cool to think that the trees worship God when the wind blows.”Â I can’t see a stormy day and not think how the trees can offer up worship in the midst of being battered by the wind – I am reminded that in all things we are to glorify God.Â No matter what storms toss us about, we can still praise the Creator, who is the Father of Lights, who delights in us and will light our way through the darkest, most turbulent times.

Thrifting for dollie dishes

My husband had Veteran’s Day off of work, and stayed home reading the last book of The Chronicles of Prydain to some sick little kiddos.Â I took the opportunity to make a quick run to the thrift store and the craft store.

PACS is hands-down the best thrift store in Portland.Â I am never disappointed when I make a trip there.Â Wednesday’s trip (which happened to be their half-off sale day!Â Woo-hoo!) was no exception.Â I picked up some little china dishes (the polka-dot sugar bowl and saucer and the flower tea cups are 1950’s Japanese lustreware, I believe.) Â The girls’ dolls will receive them as Christmas gifts.

Total cost for all of the dishes = $ 2.12!

My favorite piece is this little Delft blue mug/stein, about 2 1/2 inches tall, which will be a Christmas gift to my mom, who collects blue and white china.Â I think it’s quite old and well loved.Â It will look very pretty tucked on some shelf, holding a few sprigs of sweet alyssum and some violas.

And speaking of Christmas giving, I’d better get back to working on those socks for my dad!Â Maybe Little Hen will want to read to the family out of Highlights while I get a few inches knitted.

Sick Days

This autumn has been the hardest on our health of an season I can remember.Â It seems at least part of the family has been sick almost every day since September.Â We can’t seem to get a break of more than 3 days without someone being sick.Â Right now, we’ve all got a bad chest cold, and Tum Tum is by far the worst off, running a fever 4 days going and struggling with a crackling deep cough.

Life right now consists of tackling mountains of laundry, comforting sick children back to sleep many times in the night, making Lidia’s stracciatella,Â and soothing the short tempers that often come with feeling ill.Â We have neither the time nor the energy for much in the way of baking, crafting and enjoying the autumn outdoors.Â Instead,Â we’ve been snuggling up on the sofa with lots of blankets, reading books/listening to books on tape while we drink hot tea, hot cider, hot cocoa – anything warm and soothing.Â And back rubs.Â Lots and lots of backrubs.

And for Mama – some sock knitting, Survivor (we have no TV, but I just found out I can watch it on the computer, so I’ve been catching up!) and marionberry brandy late in the evenings goes a long way in helping maintain my sanity in this season of seemingly-endless illness and injury.

I know that this, too, shall pass, and we are by no means alone in having a difficult fall when it comes to sickness.Â Â I hope and pray for full restoration to health for everyone – that we can enter into a time of Thanksgiving with joyful hearts and healthy bodies.

The joy of a nursing toddler

Oregon is a wonderful place to be nursing a toddler!Â Tum Tum is nearly 18 months old, and I am very grateful to live in a place where doing what is normal and healthy is culturally accepted as normal and healthy. Â Granted, this being my third nursling, nursing past the WHO minimum recommendation of 2 years – and comfortably nursing an older baby in public – is an accepted reality for our family.

The other week, we were out at the library, Tum Tum was tired, cranky, and it was naptime, so I sat down to nurse him while the girls looked at books. Â A woman actually came up to me and said, “Way to go on breastfeeding your toddler.Â I breastfed my daughter until she was 2.Â Keep it up!”Â Â Seriously, I love Oregon.

I am glad my son and I can continue to share the benefits of breastfeeding as long as it mutually benefits us both.Â (By the way, did you see the CDC’s recommendaton? – Keep breastfeeding to protect your child from H1N1.).

If you haven’t checked out the classic, Mothering Your Nursing Toddler, and also Hilary Flower’s book, Adventures In Tandem Nursing, both are helpful resources.

Tum Tum highly recommends Breastmilk Makes My Tummy Yummy by Cecilia Moen.Â 🙂

I’ll leave you with one of my favorite Scripture verses – I love how God uses the imagery of a nursling and his mother to show His comfort, peace and provision for the people of Israel.

¹⁰” Rejoice with Jerusalem, and be glad for her,
all you who love her;
rejoice with her in joy,
all you who mourn over her;
¹¹that you may nurse and be satisfied
from her consoling breast;
that you may drink deeply with delight
from her abundant breast.^“

¹²For thus says the LORD: “Behold, I will extend peace to her like a river,
and the glory of the nations like an overflowing stream;
and you shall nurse, you shall be carried upon her hip,
and bounced upon her knees.
¹³As one whom his mother comforts,
soI will comfort you;
you shall be comforted in Jerusalem.

– Isaiah 6: 10-12

5 years

Look who celebrated a birthday over the weekend!Â Firecracker turned 5 years-old on Halloween (which is why I’m so late posting – what a busy weekend!!)

My sweet girl, Mama and Daddy are SO glad you are a part of our family!Â You bring such enthusiasm, such big feelings, and so much delight wherever you go.Â You have the best laugh ever – you laugh with your whole self.Â Your exuberance is contagious, and we are blessed by you every day!

(Classic Firecracker – pink prairie girl meets tomboy – she’sÂ in her new bonnet and with her new fan (birthday gifts), a girly girl thrift store dress, along with wellies, while taking a break from riding her scooter and playing “Zombie Pirates” with her sister in order to pose for the camera.Â Gotta love her.).

Addicted to Candleflame

Sigh… I’m getting a bit repetitive in my blogging and my knitting both, but I can’t stop knitting candleflame shawls!!Â I think this pattern is this fall what Toasty was for me last winter (and I’m still cranking those out for Christmas gifts again this year).Â It’s easy to memorize, easy to knit while doing other things, and I love the results.

This time, I’m going to keep the shawl for myself.Â Pink is not a favorite color of mine, but the shawl is so warm and big and cozy, I can’t part with it.Â It’s knit in Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky, Victorian Rose (and that does go nicely with brown, which IS my favorite color).

It was very economical to knit (less than $12 worth of wool), because I used sec onds .Â There is a slight color variation throughout (not sure if it shows up in the pictures), so the yarn was very inexpensive, despite taking nearly 4 skeins.Â Knit on size 11’s, the whole shawl took less than two weeks including blocking, with several other knitting projects going in the background.

I hate to say it, but I’ve already begun another shawl, in gold 50% mohair 50% wool ( I picked up a 2 lb cone at an estate sale a few years ago for $2).Â I already know who it’s going to when I’m finished.Â It will be interesteding to see the contrast between the heavy pink shawl and the airy, lacy mohair version when it’s finished.

Do you have a knitting pattern you love to knit up over and over?Â ( Please share!Â I’m NWKnitterMama on Ravelry.)

Cider Pressing

Some pictures from the cider pressing party last weekend.Â It was also my husband’s birthday – I’m so glad he had a great time! (We all did!)

Most folks brought apples from their own trees and also gleaned many from abandoned orchards along country roads.

Apples were washed, wormy parts and bruises removed, and then cut in half or quarters to fit into the grinder.

Ground apples in one of the two presses on site.

Little Hen was strong enough to crank the smaller press. (The electric grinder is the wooden box behind her on the back end of the press – SO much quicker than the hand-grinding we did in the past!)

The girls carrying the pressings to the wheelbarrow (they’re heavy!).Â The pressings will eventually to be buried back in the orchard, although while we were there, the deer kept snacking on them.

Tum Tum liked to hang out by the wheelbarrow.

Pressed cider, waiting to be strained through cheesecloth and bottled.

A small fraction of the finished cider – most folks froze theirs, but I canned mine, since our freezer is pretty well full.

The girls even got a chance to ride the zip line (thank you, Jody!!), which they have been talking about nonstop since. ( I’ve been informed by Firecracker that I need to plant some really fast growing trees, so that we, too, can have a zip line in our yard. )

Thank you for a wonderful time, Teacher Linda!

Cannelini and Butternut Stew

I’m feeling so much better – and very grateful that none of the rest of the family became ill.Â Â In an effort to get back into the kitchen and make something nourishing and comforting, Firecracker and I started with something easy but wholesome and cooked up a big pot ofÂ bean stew.Â Here’s my recipe –

Larksong’s Cannelini Bean and Butternut Squash Stew

2 cups (approx 1 lb) dried cannelini or lima beans

6 cups of water

1 large onion, finely diced

2 ribs of celery, finely diced

2 cloves garlic, minced

1 medium butternut squash, peeled, seeded, and cut into 3/4 inch cubes

large handful of kale or spinach, chopped

6 cups veggie or chicken stock

salt and pepper to taste

Directions -Â 1.Â Approx. 1 – 2 hours before you want to begin the stew, quick soak the beans in the 6 cups of water.

2.Â In a large pot on med heat, sautee the onions and celery in olive oil or butter until translucent and caramelizing slightly.Â Add the garlic and cook 5 more min.Â Â Add the squash, increase the heat to med-high, and cook, stirring every few minutes, until the onionÂ and squash are nice and caramelized on the outside.

3). Drain and rinse the beans, and add them to the pot, cover with the stock, cover the pot and allow to simmer until beans are nearly fully cooked, being careful not to stir too often (so as not to break up the squash too much) (approx 1 hr).Â Add the kale, salt and pepper, and let simmer 10 min more.Â Serve with a loaf of rustic bread – I like rye.

Enjoy!

Please bear with me

I may not be posting much this week – I have come down with a probable case of H1N1, and am feeling pretty low.Â Â Thankfully, no one else in the family appears to be getting it yet, and hopefully no one will at all.

Also, my blog will be undergoing some aesthetic changes this week and next – Trish at This Lucky Family is working hard to make some improvements to the layout and give me a custom banner.Â (Trish, you’re the best!!)

Okay, so back to the sofa, where I can keep an eye on my very energetic children, who are currently making a fort under the dining room table, using every single pillow and blanket they can round up.

Stay healthy!

Princess and the Pea

We’re back in our old stomping ground – on the Central Oregon Coast – this weekend.Â Some dear friends are having a cider pressing party, and we wouldn’t miss it for the world.Â The weekend trip is also a gift to my dear husband, who celebrates his birthday today!Â So, we’re staying in a yurt on Beverly Beach and I have promised the girls roasted marshmallows over the campfire.Â (I hope to write a bit about our trip when we return home.)

We wanted to bring a little something for our friends who are hosting the party – she was the girls’ preschool teacher, with an amazing gift for connecting and communicating with young people – I learned SO much about relating to my own kids from watching her and feel very grateful the girls could have her for their preschool teacher and friend. Â So, we decided to make something for her classroom -Â a Princess and the Pea playset.

We used Soule Mama’s playset (and also Tree Fall Design’s) as a launching point, but used a fall color scheme and scaled it down, so little hands could hold the pieces more easily.Â Â I also added a lined drawstring bag in which to store the set.

The girls and I selected fall colored fabrics from my fat-quarters stash, and whipped up some mattresses, a blanket and pillow.

We originally thought of making a paper doll, but the girls and I decided to make a cloth doll instead, since we had the fabric and the time.Â Now, I am absolutely not a skilled doll maker, so she’s a little rough, but Little Hen helped pick out the fabrics from the scrap bag, and helped me fashion her hair out of some merino roving, and I’m pretty pleased with the results.

She’s all cotton, except for the hair, her vest, and the stuffing, which are all wool – oh, and a little bit of velvet trim on her skirt.

The pea, made of felted roving.

The princess gets tucked in, but oh, she can’t get any rest – she tosses and turns all night! That pesky pea!

The girls and I had SO much fun making this set, and I hope to make one for Firecracker (whose favorite fairy tale is this one) as a Christmas gift.Â Â It was joy to make something for Teacher Linda – we have been so blessed to know her, and definitely stitched our love and gratitude into every piece of this play set.

I hope you have a perfect autumn weekend – I know we’ll be pressing cider in the coastal drizzle and enjoying the company of truly exceptional folksÂ – definitely a perfect autumn weekend if you ask me!

Little Knitter

Look who’s knitting on two needles!

We are all recovering from a pretty awful family-wide bug, so the past two days we’ve taken things very easy.Â Sunday afternoon, Little Hen said she wanted to get some knitting done and set to work on her first real “project” -Â a little wool cape for her beloved Waldorf doll, Princess Rooth.Â It’s going to be a simple garter stitch rectangle made from purple heather worsted-weight wool (from my stash) on size 8s. Â We’ll lace a purple velvet ribbon through one side when she’s done to make it into a cape for her doll.

Firecracker had fun sitting next to her big sister, pretending to knit for a while, but eventually moved to the dining table to doodle monsters and princesses and such.

Even the baby took an interest – attempting to disassemble the shawl I’m working on.Â 🙂

My ambitious girl has said next she’d like to make a scarf for her sister.Â Â Just like her mama, she’s already thinking ahead to the next project.Â I think we’ve got another knitting addict in the family!

Feels like Autumn

The wind and rain have settled in, and the nights are getting pretty chilly.Â It is finally feeling like fall, so this morning the girls and I did some dusting,Â got out a few fall decorations, and put the autumn cover on the duvet.Â I hope to get the window hangings and more decorations out by the end of the week.

Many of these items would normally go on the nature table. We are still figuring out how best to have a nature table with a toddler in the house.Â He puts everything in his mouth, and loves to “deconstruct” things with glee.

Our current compromise is to put all of the chokeables and breakables on “high shelf nature table”, where the girls can reach if they use a step stool, but the baby can’t.Â Â Â So, here is the first incarnation of our fall nature table, and as the leaves continue to fall and we do more autumnal crafting,Â I’m sure it will grow and change and reflect more of the girls’ creative character.

How is your fall nature table taking shape?

Blocking

Another Candle-Flame shawl off the needles.Â I had just enough alpaca yarn left from the first shawl to make another.Â This pattern is so addictive and simple – it makes a heavy, warm shawl, especially in this fluffy alpaca (the original pattern calls for Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Bulky 85% wool, 15% mohair), although there is a cone of deep gold mohair in my stash that may end up as a lighter-weight version of this shawl sometime soon.

A good shawl blocking tutorial can be found at See Eunny Knit! If you’d prefer to use blocking rods or are interested in the dental floss technique (which I think I’ll be trying next time) see Deborah’s blocking page. I couldn’t find my blocking pins, and just used straight pins from my sewing drawer.Â Hopefully, all will turn out well.

I have a few things I wanted to share in the upcoming days, but we’ll see how things go – this is going to be a very over-full week, which includes prep for and teaching two different knitting classes amongst a host of other projects.Â Oh, and thanks to a broken tooth, I have to squeeze a root canal in somewhere this week and next. (How do other homeschoolers make it to appointments?Â This is a continual issue for me – I’m never “free” during the day while my kids are in school, so making time for dentist appointments, doctor visits, errands and coordinating childcare is tough! I know I’m by no means alone in this, and would love to hear how other folks with little ones manage!)

We’re looking forward to a break from the craziness the weekend after next – we’re traveling to visit with dear friends on the coast (where we used to live).Â We all need some relaxation pretty badly, and I think a little yurt camping, a little cider pressing, a little wave-watching, and a lot of good conversation will be exactly what we need to recharge.

Opal Socks

We are having absolutely glorious fall weather, and so have been spending a lot of time outside the past few days, working the gardenÂ and making chalk drawings on the front steps.Â The yard work has been a bit daunting – hazelnuts to coppice, wheelbarrows and wheelbarrows of manure and mulch to spread, garlic and leeks and shallots and onions to plant, beds to prepare for the ridiculous amount of spring flower bulbs I’ve ordered.

However, today, while the baby takes his afternoon nap, I think I’ll let the yardwork go, and just sit in the sunny window seat and watch the girls race their scooters around the driveway.Â Â Â And, I may attempt to finish these socks.

I think it’s best not to put too many things on the “to do” list for a Friday afternoon, don’t you?

I hope you have a relaxing Friday afternoon as well, and a peaceful and refreshing weekend.

Base Ten Blocks

Little Hen tends to rotate through phases where she really enjoys worksheets (which I can respect, although I don’t understand it!).Â Her auntie has stocked her with books and books full of math worksheets, and I generally pull out a stack of the ones that match the topic we are currently studying, so they are available to her.

Right now, we’re working on the concept of place value and adding two and three digit numbers.Â Daddy brought some wooden Base Ten Blocks that he wasn’t using at work (he’s a math and history teacher), and they have been a wonderful tool in helping both of the girls develop an understanding ones, tens, and hundreds.

What math tools have you found meaningful and useful as your kids explore math?

Paper crafting – freestyle

The past month has left me feeling stretched pretty thin because of obligations and responsibilities to my family and others.Â Â Â Â Tackling domestic duties andÂ “home schooling” the girls while my non-stop motion toddler “explores” the house into a distaster zone has also been a challenge.Â Crafting has been particularly tricky – Tum Tum either attempt to eat or destroy anything the girls are working on – and he’s especially good at climbing up on the kitchen table and flinging art supplies across the room in a lightning flash.

This day, he took a nice long nap after lunch, so as soon as he was sleeping,Â I quickly whisked out some craft supplies for the girls to do a little fall paper crafting.Â We didn’t have anything in mindÂ – I put out some supplies with a vaguely autumnal theme and let the girls’ creativity lead them.

We had a huge pad of fall-coloredÂ scrap book paper (on clearance for $3 this past summer at Michaels),Â paper scraps, some oatmeal and coffee tins, glitter glue, sequins, etc, chrysanthemum and maple leaf punches (I am addicted to the Martha Stewart craft punches – whenever they have one of those 50% off the sale price ” coupons and the Martha Stewart items are on sale, I snatch one up.).Â After punching out some maple leaves for them, I went into the kitchen to make brownies, and let the girls explore on their own.

I love what they came up with – Little Hen’s (left) is a “treasure box” (it’s hard to see in this shot, but she wrote “treasures” on it) and Firecracker’s is a bank for “collecting coins for Heifer”.

We saved the last canister for Tum Tum, who was happy to turn it into a drum after he woke from his nap.Â 🙂

Note : I hope to get back to some more regular posting by the end of the week.Â Life has been a bit overscheduled I just haven’t found the time to sit down at the computer much the past few weeks.Â We have some family birthdays, out of town company, and a trip coming up, so I hope to squeeze in some blogging late at night!!

World Forestry Center

Over the weekend, we took advantage of the Smithsonian’s annual free pass day to visit the World Forestry Center, located right across from the Oregon Zoo.Â The building is light and open, and the exhibits are well designed, educational, and attractive to children.

There were displays appealing to many senses – here Firecracker is smelling the oils from different culinary trees and trying to guess their origin.Â Â Euclayptus had her stumped – she said it smelled like “Burt’s Bees something…but that’s not quite right.”

Little Hen played the tongue drums for a LONG time – and has been reminding me daily how “if we ever find any tongue drums on Craigslist, maybe we could get them.”

Of course, all Tum Tum cared about was the MACHINES!Â That boy signed “more car” and made engine revving sounds all morning.Â “Driving” the timberjack and the jeep totally made his day.

Little Hen spins a Tibetan prayer wheel.

Hope you get a chance to visit the World Forestry center – for my kids, it was a chance to try their hand at some really fun virtual experiences – like parachuting as a smoke jumper, running a timberjack, river rafting and riding a jeep in Africa.Â But, it was also a chance to learn more about good stewardship of our resources, the importance of conserving forests, and the blessing that their products are to us and to people all over the world, and the value in renewing those forests for future generations.Â A very nice little museum -I’m glad we got a chance to visit.

Family Bed and Cloth Diapering

Some friends recently asked how we share sleep with our youngest while he’s in cloth diapers.Â Overnight leaks are a worry, even with doublers and the “good covers” saved for night time.Â To safeguard the mattress, we don’t use expensive wool mattress pads (which sound fabulous, but are way out of the budget) or those awful rubberized crib pads that don’t breathe a bit.

Our simple solution is to use some thrifted wool blankets that I ran through the wash a few times in order to felt them up nice and thick (from twin size down to about 3 x 3 1/2ft).Â They are breatheable, natural, and very waterproof.Â I double up just to be safe – and wash on warm, tumble dry.

It’s that easy!Â I’d love to hear any tips on how you make the family bed work for you!

Vaux’s Swifts

Kortney at One Deep Drawer told me about the congregation of Vaux’s swifts in NW Portland, and this week we made it over to the Chapman School to see them.Â Â For a bird nerd like me, it was a huge thrill.

We set up early, with hundreds of other families, enjoying our picnic dinner (homemade hummus, Greek yogurt, tomatoes, flatbread, pear sauce), and reading books until the sun began to set.

The school had some well-made signs up about swifts – with sections at the bottom geared for children.Â One sign suggested we tryÂ tracking one swift in the sky as long as possible before losing it in the swirl of birds (which we did!).Â We learned from another that a single Vaux’s swift can eat 5000 bugs a day!

Then, the swifts began to congregate, and we got out the binoculars to watch.Â It was truly breathtaking to watch the birds spiraling together and hear their constant vocalizations.Â Â And the evening only got more spectacular as a Cooper’s Hawk attempted (and finally succeeded!) to catch his dinner from the cloud of birds.Â Â The crowd reacted in unison to his swoops and dives – it was quite a show!

I wish I had a better camera that could have captured just how stunning the whole display really is. Â If you’d like to learn more about Vaux’s swifts, and see some better images of their temporary residence at the Chapman School, check out this segment from Oregon Field Guide –

Oregon Field Guide – Vaux\’s Swifts

Safari Girls

We’re studying Africa off and on lately, primarily because the girls’ interest in the continent was sparked by their favorite musician’s recent work in Malawi.Â I picked up this felt Africa playset at the thrift store on sale for a quarter, and it was a big hit. Â Along with Dana’s music, we’ve been listening to some African music while the girls played with the felt set and throughout the weekÂ – Acoustic Africa, Ladysmith’s Long Walk to Freedom, and the girls’ favorite Gift of the Tortoise.

The girls decided they would take turns setting out pieces for the other sister, who would then have to arrange the pieces and tell a story.Â I think it was a great idea!Â That way, they both had a chance to be to be the storyteller.

(Please excuse my pajama-knee in the shot.Â Yes, I was still wearing my PJs after lunch.Â It was Tuesday, which is technically PJ day at our house, although the girls decided to get dressed anyway.)

Firecracker’s favorite was this baby antelope, by the way.Â She wanted to be sure it was included in this post.Â 🙂

We’ve been watching The Life of Mammals bit by bit, a few afternoons a week, to supplement the study of Africa’s wildlife.Â I highly recommend it.Â Although it covers mammals from all over the planet, the girls have gotten a lot out of it, and we’ve stopped to focus on, and discuss the mammals of Africa as they are presented.

For children’s books on Africa – here are a few we recommendÂ –

The Field Guide to Safari Animals

DK Eyewitness Africa

Bringing the Rain to Kapiti Plain (on of my childhood favorites)

I Lost My Tooth in Africa

Akimbo and the Snakes

Africa for Kids

Why Mosquitos Buzz in People’s Ears

Jungle Dreams

Hungry Planet

After we finish The Life of Mammals, if the girls are still interested, we may watch Michael Palin’s Sahara.Â Who knows, maybe that will be a doorway into ancient Egypt – a topic they have yet to discover – or perhaps deserts in general, which could cover Antartica, the Sonoran, Death Valley, Siberia, Australia as well.

Or perhaps we’ll stay where we are, taking in some more of Africa.Â I love that we can just marinate in a subject for weeks if we want, learning all we can discover!Â For now, we’ll continue to explore the richness of Africa’s peoples, culture and wildlife (and of course, several other subjects on the side!)!