Nature Walk

Our first assignment for the Green Hour Challenge was to take a 10 to 15 min nature walk, look and observe and upon returning discuss 2 things observed, maybe learn a bit more about them. So, for our walk we hopped in the car & took off for Big Lagoon State Park. Half way there I remembered there was a park entrance fee, ugh, I had no money on me and I was nowhere near my bank. OK, so we turned around and ventured home. We live in a cul-de-sac, lots of houses, very little nature...or so I thought.

It was beautiful outside and we decided to stroll the cul-de-sac to see what we could see. We found so many things that I have seen my whole life but had no idea what they were. We chose 2 to identify upon returning home.

First, this is a seed from a Sweet Gum Tree.

Second, this is such a sweet smelling flower, my girls were sure it was a variety of honeysuckle but I'm fairly certain it's not. We have yet to identify this flower. Any guesses? I can't seem to find them in any of our field guides.

But I was so excited about the Sweet Gum Tree. The kids all had a blast and have asked to go for a walk every day since. We haven't made it out that often but that is my fault, not theirs. They collected treasures, I love displaying natural materials in the house. They did a great job and had a lot of fun. The girls took turns taking pictures and then were quick to post on their blogs here and here about their view of our walk.

I am a little behind because I think assignment #2 is well under way. My head has been in crafting mode lately and I need these nature challenges to get out of the house, breathe some fresh air, and remember why I love living in Florida. I get so involved in my obsession du jour that all else is forgotten. I am glad to have these challenges so I will be sure to get out and see what is happening in the "real" world.

On a nature related note, we are currently studying the moon in Astronomy so the girls used their blogs to post a narration of their experience and knowledge of the recent lunar eclipse. You can read that here and here.

Wordless Wednesday

green hour button

green hour button
Originally uploaded by HarmonyArtMom

Check out HarmonyArtMom and her new Green Hour Challenge. For those of us Nature Study impaired this could be just the thing to get us to take that first official step. Let me know if you are joining in. I'll post more as we get our first challenge underway.

Strange Brew

Strange and bizarre foods are brewing in the Cashen kitchen and I thought I would share...

First of all we have found a fabulous source for fresh from the cow milk and I have had kefir grains waiting for just this kind of milk. So what do you do with kefir grains?

Make kefir of course...

What is kefir? Check out The Happy Herbalist for lots of good info explained so much better than I could. I'll just tell you it's delicious and very good for you.

OK, so now I've made kefir, what do I do with it?

Well, the options are almost limitless. Substitute kefir for yogurt, milk, or sourdough starter. This is what we are making with our kefir:

Luscious Kefir Cookies
And if your eyes are good, here is the recipe:

Cream cheese and whey

The cream cheese will top our yummy bread and the whey will be used to make fermented carrots and sauerkraut, yum!

"Quick" SourdoughBread

The "sour" in this recipe comes from the kefir. "Quick" means you don't have to wait 7 days for a starter to ferment, just overnight.

Aside from kefir, we also have kombucha brewing on our counter. When we are very, very good, this replaces the junky, sugar-filled sodas we sometimes indulge in.

Whole Wheat Sourdough Starter, this is something new for me. I have never successfully made my own sourdough starter. It should be ready on Saturday so I'll keep you posted.

Here we have soaked hulled buckwheat, drained and rinsed. It is in day one of sprouting so no visible sprouts just yet. We will use this to make a living granola in the dehydrator.

Recent finished projects

Abby has been enjoying trying her hand at different handicrafts. She made this sweet bag for 2 yr old Katy...







...and knit this little hat for Autumn as Valentine's gifts.

And this is my first completed knitting project. I know it's hideous, but I learned sooo much from doing this. First, the weight of the yarn really is important. The pattern called for a lightweight cotton and I used a heavy boucle because I had it on hand. It is supposed to be a lightweight summer top but it works better as a winter vest. Second, it does make a difference if you knit 1 row, purl 1 row & then switch to purl 1 row, purl 1 row even though the directions do not tell you to switch, oops! Third, in my important things learned, it does matter if the front & back sides line up. Fourth, I really should measure a few things every now and then, such as, how far apart the shoulder straps are versus the size of her shoulders. And Fifth, but most important, I found that I really like knitting and the feeling of accomplishment at a finished project is very satisfying. I am eager to try something new & put in to practice the many things I learned on this first knitting venture. Oh, btw, Lori, I embroidered the buttons. And as a side note, please don't tell Katy it's hideous, she loves it, I couldn't be more pleased!

How was Your Valentine's Day?

Our room

We have this room, I love this room, I have great plans for this room. We had a room like this in just about every house we have lived in. This is our multi-function room, it's our school room, our craft room, our office room. I always dreamily plan wonderful days spent in this room. The problem is that this room always holds our clutter, our junk, the stuff I don't know where else to put it gets dumped in this room. So we never actually enjoy this room, it is always stressful and disappointing to see the potential of this room wasted on junk. Well, I finally decided, "NO MORE". I spent countless hours over the past week and a half throwing away, sifting through, organizing and making this room what I want it to be (within reason, lol). I finally finished this afternoon. I feel so relieved that the hard work is over. There are still some minor things to organize but it will be a cinch compared to what I just went through. Here are a few shots of our ROOM...

This is the view as you walk into the room. You are looking at our school books and resources. And Katy is enjoying playing with the wedgits in the corner.

This is our craft nook, the craft shelves look messy but they are organized and each shelf holds different craft mediums.










This is our office space, nothing fancy but it is organized, clean, and usable.






So now that this room is neat and tidy I would like my sweetie to build some bookshelves, you can never have too many books or bookshelves. We are also going to bring in a table to use for crafting and schoolwork. That is at our other house, we should get that in the next few weeks. I can't wait to hit the books with the kids on Monday now that we know where everything is and where it goes when we are finished. I am so pleased!

Wordless Valentine's Eve Wednesday!!

A big girl bed for Katy!

I know it's really a crib mattress on the floor but she's proud of it. She ran around showing it to everyone and anyone who would look. "Das my!" She was so excited to climb in and snuggle with her stuffed animals and look at her books. She fell asleep and slept all night in her new big girl bed. My baby is growing up! And Daddy could not have been happier, finally there are no babies in the bed, lol!

Busy Hands

We have been in crafting mode lately. The girls are trying their hand at sewing and knitting. This is a true hands-on learning experience for them because I am such a novice at this myself I am really only able to give suggestions rather than teach them. I am very impressed with their accomplishments and I thought I would share a few...


Erin decided to make a sundress for Autumn, I was so proud of how thoughtfully and carefully she planned out the whole venture.






Erin completed her first knitting project and the first gift for baby Naomi. I hope it's still chilly when she finally receives it.

Here's Abby's first completed knitting project. She did such a nice job & caught on so quickly.

Both girl's are ahead of me, I have yet to finish my first knitting project, I've been working on it for about a month.

One of my big reason's for wanting to sew is to make cloth diapers for my little's. This is my first creation complete with sew many mistakes. It looks cute but this made me decide to follow a pattern for the next diaper. This is an AIO (all-in-one) with green fleece hemp as the liner & PUL pink w/ seashells as the outer cover. Definitely learning...

I can't wait to see what these little hands create!

Wordless Wednesday