Five Green Acres

Not Paper towels

fivegreenacres — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 16:35:30 +0000

Here’s a little something I’ve been meaning to share for awhile. I wanted to see if we could go without buying paper towels. I got tired of buying them, or more specifically, dreaded going to the great, big, bustling Mega Grocery Store that is at the exact opposite end of the Shopping Experience spectrum from my [...]

Halloween Recap – 2009

fivegreenacres — Mon, 02 Nov 2009 15:35:36 +0000

Halloween morning presented the perfect opportunity to finally carve our pumpkins. The chill of the pumpkins’ cavernous innards was nicely tempered with the persistent warmth of the kitchen wood stove. The floor was awash in pumpkin detritus. A modified Dorothy costume made its way into our Halloween festivities after all. This was for the best, I [...]

The Mayor of Emerald City

fivegreenacres — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 15:25:59 +0000

The Wizard of Oz is on my mind this morning, after sending off The Girl to her Preschool Halloween party not in the Dorothy costume I made for her, but the dragon costume I bought at Goodwill over the weekend for $4.99. I had bought it as a dress-up costume, for everyday play, but realize [...]

The Annual Garden Report

fivegreenacres — Tue, 27 Oct 2009 17:30:18 +0000

After last years’ less than successful Intro to Big Country Gardening, we approached this growing season with a pretty hearty measure of realism. We had a new baby, only weeks old, not many openings in the calendar, and we could still feel the sting of last years’ lack of success. So we decided not to [...]

Barn Dance

fivegreenacres — Tue, 20 Oct 2009 16:04:54 +0000

When I told Isadora that we had gone to a barn dance the night she spent with Grandma and Grandpa, she replied with a puzzled, “isn’t that just for animals?” Indeed, we had read a book about a midnight barn dance, where the animals paired up and stole out of the barn to partake in [...]

Tiny Desk Concert: The Swell Season

fivegreenacres — Wed, 14 Oct 2009 14:43:34 +0000

This is making me really, really happy right now. If you like it, check out the whole Tiny Desk Concert via podcast or YouTube.

Flowers dried.

fivegreenacres — Tue, 13 Oct 2009 15:34:33 +0000

Nasturtium flowers, snatched from the garden before Jack Frost descended with his prickly white blanket. What to do with these? I haven’t decided. Calendula blossoms. These represent only a fraction of the calendula that grew in my garden this summer. I had intended to harvest much, if not all, of it. But didn’t. Which is a [...]

Tomato Math

fivegreenacres — Mon, 05 Oct 2009 15:54:47 +0000

Tomatoes have been the thrumming beat moving us steadily through the days of late September and early October. Some stretches of milling, peeling, or canning have been marathon-like, blocking out all else on the To Do list; others have been snuck into the regular workings of the day like rags plugged into a drafty window. [...]

Mr. Dapper Man

fivegreenacres — Tue, 22 Sep 2009 15:37:14 +0000

A family wedding provided the perfect opportunity, er, excuse, to sew Errol a nice party suit. It was a prototype of sorts, crafted while he slept, with only some measurements and other clothes of his to use as a fitting guide. It’s about 90% perfect; a bit tight around the hay-belly, as you can see, [...]

The Camp Hat, or THIS IS WHY I KNIT

fivegreenacres — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 15:26:38 +0000

I think this story is straight out of the DIY Homesteader’s Handbook. Or it should be. Let me set the scene for you. We’ve just arrived at our campsite. Baby is juggled, Girl is happily riding her bike. Captain Daddio assembles the tent, the cots, arranges the tent layout, almost single-handedly. In a rare moment of baby-nursing, [...]