trillium mama

October

I love October for many reasons. Fall is in full swing, and Halloween is just around the corner. I have always made my daughter's costumes, but with a new job and school still dragging on, thins year I did it a bit differently. She told me what she wanted to be, and I put together a costume. It's not a pre-packaged outfit, and I'm even sewing some elements of it. The hard part comes when she wants me to dress up with her. I haven't had time to think of how I'm going to do that.

Halloween is by far my favorite holiday. It doesn't have obligation attached to it, and it is creative and fun. Vintage Halloween items are particularly admired items, such as the postcards I've posted here. Maybe I will channel a bit of vintage charm when designing my costume. What will you be for Halloween?

Time has passed quickly. It has been months since I last posted. Things have changed for me a great deal in recent months; a new job as a parking enforcement officer and Montessori pre-school five days a week for my little one. She is not so little any longer, but when I look back four years from now, she will seem little in comparison. I can hardly believe that enough time has passed between her lovely water-birth in our cozy home, for her now to be toting a lunch bag up the front steps of her school.

I have been trying to decide on what things I most want to be doing in my spare time. It's difficult to juggle things, and will only be more-so when I begin a statistics class Monday. I have found that I'm not crafting at all lately. I even all but quit taking photographs this Summer, which should be a crime.

Transitioning into Fall has made me think more about sitting around all cozy, knitting socks and sipping cocoa. Not that knitting socks is really on my list, because it isn't. I have half a sock that has yet to be completed (I started it 2 years ago). I do really enjoy making things for my daughter, and decorating our home. Both of these things need to be put back at the top of the priority list.

Although this blog is not always at the top of my priority list, I do intend to keep it more updated over the next few months. I'll even try to take more photos to share. I hope that my faithful readers will come back and visit, and maybe even comment once in a while.

mini beach vacation

It's funny how every time that I refer to the Oregon Coast as the "Beach", someone has to make the correction this it is not actually the "Beach", it's the "Coast". I don't live in California, or Mexico, or Florida, so I can call it whatever I like. So there.

The other day Andy, Ava, Lily and I headed over to the Beach for the day. It was spur of the moment-something that we don't do often enough because there is always a window to replace, rooms to clean or whatever the home project of the moment is. I decided to put that all on the back burner and suggest a leisurely day in the sand.

We started with a yummy lunch at Rogue, where I dined on Kobe Blue Balls (nice name) and a tasty salad with blue cheese crumbles, craisins and toasted walnuts.  Andy had a burger, which I'm sure was good too, but mine just sounds better to write about.

While looking out over the bay, my brilliant daughter recognized the location far, far across the water, where her friends Big Flat and Big Roll live. Big Flat and Big Roll are sea lions that Ava discovered on a recent trip to Newport. She and Big Flat have a camaraderie of sorts, she makes this odd horse-like sound, and he starts the whole crew in with their awful-I mean beautiful-sea lion noises.

Of course after she recognized what town we were in, we could not escape without a trip down to the docks to look for him. Sadly, he, Big Roll and the ladies were out swimming, or sunning on some rocks. Maybe next time.

After miles of driving trying to find a stretch of sand that was neither covered by water (oops-high tide) or covered by people, we found a nice secluded beach. We played, walked in the sand, read books, took a cat nap, and all of the other beachy things there are to partake in. We then decided to walk just down from where we were planted to look for shells. On our way back to our spot, it happened. First it was just a wiff- slight yet disturbing. The smell got stronger and soon the whole family smelled it (I always smell everything first). I began scanning the area trying to find what greusome thing could be wafting that horrid smell toward me. I began to gag- trying to hold down the blue balls was becoming difficult. I scanned the water once more and there it was. A dead, bloated sea lion. Gross (and by gross I mean poor sea lion).

I managed to make it back to the towel with the blue balls still in my belly. We all survived the incident though we promptly decided it was time to leave. The frst half of our drive home consisted of "Why did the sea lion die?" and "It wasn't Big Flat was it?" and "But, WHY did it die?" over and over. Thank heaven for portable DVD players.

hello summer, goodbye chickens

It really feels like summer here in western Oregon. Our vegetable garden is full and growing. Strawberry hunting season is open, and eager young hunters are out on the prowl.

It's also a sad intro to the season for us this year.Our beloved flock of hens have contracted a deadly and debilitating disease called Marek's Disease. It is extremely common and because of our experience with it, we will be starting our flock over next year with a batch of chicks that have been vaccinated against it. So today we went out and said goodbye to our chickens who will all be leaving this afternoon.

 

Hello summer, goodbye chickens.

spring sewing

Today I got to hang out with my friend Lindsay and her adorable daughter Daisy at the Purl District. We tackled a hand sewing project making these pin cushions. We made as much progress as could be expected with two children under the age of 4 assisting us, and a short time limit.

Chatting about sewing and working on this project inspired me to come home and work on some spring sewing that I've been putting off. I whipped up a couple of these lazy days skirts in just under an hour. I first saw these here on Amanda's blog. Give me another hour and I'll whip out three more!

 

I sewed these on my tiny Ikea dining table and used a vintage radio cabinet to lay my rotary mat on. This might not sound strange to some of you, but I happen to have a large craft/sewing studio that my amazing husband put together for me, and I never use it. I take that back-I have used it to brood a few batches of chicks, and my fabric, scissors, buttons, and thread are now all covered with a fine sifting of dust because of this fact. Honey if you're reading this, I promise I will clean my craft room soon, and put it to good use.

Random chicken photo of Ella our silver laced wyandotte hen.

belated birthday

My birthday was last month. I may have delayed this post because now I have officially moved into the 30's, and I have been a teensy bit annoyed at this fact. Whatever the reason for the delay, I thought I would share some of the highlights of my birthday weekend.

We went to Manzanita and stayed at Nehalem Bay State Park in a yurt. Andy had never stayed in a yurt, and I'm not sure why. It's kind of strange since before I met him, I stayed in them multiple times during the year. I guess since he is so darn good and setting up a tent and campsite, I no longer needed the idiot proof camping experience that a yurt offers. Anyway, when I made reservaI didn't want to deal with the potential wind and rain when I made reservations, so we stayed in a yurt.

 

We had a relaxed weekend sitting on the dunes, building sandcastles, and walking through the amazing coastal forests nearby. The final book in the Twilight series, Breaking Dawn, came to the door just before we left Saturday. I got to sit around and read my book for two whole days, listening to the surf and the wind in the trees. It was perfect.

Usually I'm ready to leave the coast after a few days, but I had such a good, relaxing time, that I wanted to stay longer. I'm already trying to plan a way to go stay another night soon. I had the best birthday I have had in a very long time thanks to my amazing, supportive husband and my sweet daughter.

 

penny pinching breakfast

 

 

I'm still working on the casserole experiment post that I promised. It was dead week for me this past week, so I didn't adhere to my strict casserole making schedule. Excuses, excuses. Anyway, I thought I would share a simple, delicious, gluten free recipe that costs next to nothing to make: Rice and Egg Pancakes.

I sometimes call them patties, as they resemble burger patties more than a pancake, but you get the point. They are simple to make, and so yummy. Here we go...

2 cups cold leftover rice- white or brown

2-4 Tbs sugar- I tend to go a little heavier on the sugar, but I don't use much syrup

1 dash of salt (unless you salt your rice while cooking, then omit salt)

2 eggs

Get your griddle (or whatever you use for pancakes) hot- I set mine to 350. Stir all ingredients together until well incorporated. Use a large spoon to drop a bit of mixture on the griddle. Flatten out slightly-this makes it cook more evenly, look better, and packs the rice together for better hold. Cook until there is a hint of brown. Be very careful when you flip them. I use a thin metal spatula and another spatula to kind of hold the end of the patty from sliding as I scoop.

Serve with whatever you like. These can be savory- you can even add some herbs and browned sausage to the mixture before cooking. I like fruit and maple syrup on mine. They are very versatile. Enjoy!

cooking experiment

Randy Mayor; Melanie J. Clarke Cooking Light

Last week I embarked on a cooking challenge of sorts. My husband and I have been on a mission to eat healthier and cook more. I love Cooking Light for a wide variety of tasty light recipes. For five nights last week I made crock pot recipes. I will link you up to them and write any notes of things I changed, if I liked or disliked them, ect.

Monday: Beef Daube Provençal

I made this recipe close to how it was written except for the following exceptions. I used dried thyme instead of fresh and I added a can of condensed low fat cream of mushroom soup. I like my stews a little bit creamier than it was, so this was an easy fix. It was so good that I counteracted the "lightness" of it by gorging myself on the beef chunks.

Tuesday: Enchilada Casserole

I changed a couple things on this recipe. I didn't use egg beaters, I instead used two whole eggs. I also used 1/2 finely chopped yellow onion instead of the green onions. 

This recipe was a hit with the whole family. My husband said his mom used to make something similar and my daughter loved it. We will be adding this to our bi-monthly recipes.

Wednesday: White Bean and Chicken Chili

I made this to the exact specifications. This is my new favorite soup/chili. It is not really a chili in my book, but I froze the leftovers and have devoured a bowl for lunch three times since we had it for dinner. It was a crowd pleaser-even my soup picky daughter ate a hearty serving of it.

Thursday: Slow Cooker Char Siu Pork Roast

I made this pretty much how it was written except for one important thing. I could not find five spice. Apparently (a fact since learned) our supermarket puts five spice under Chinese five spice. Lesson learned.

Anyway, it still turned out good, but I would really like to try it with the five spice next time. I served it over rice with a shredded iceberg salad with smashed ramen noodles on top and sesame dressing.   

Friday: Vegetable and Chickpea Curry

This has quite a few ingredients but it was yummy. I omitted the serrano chile (because they terrify me) and instead added some red pepper flakes. There was a chile incident last summer, gloves and all, that traumatized me. 

Overall it was a very good experience. We ate some delicious food with leftovers for lunch the next day. I loved putting to food together in the morning when I still had my wits about me. This week I am working on a casserole experiment. Stay tuned.

welcome to the jungle

The other morning Andy and I were sitting drinking coffee, and thinking about a walk or something. We decided to get bundled up and drive a short distance to a beautiful state park full of waterfalls. Upon arrival our daughter exclaimed "We're in the jungle"! As you can see from my photo montage, it does look like a jungle. While I didn't get any good waterfall photos, I did manage some good shots of the family. Enjoy!

 

 

 

 

Most of you may not remember that I used to raise and show rabbits. I was an avid 4-Her and I showed in ARBA shows- the rabbit equivalent of the AKC for dogs. I have missed having rabbits in my life for about13 years now, so I have been working on getting some back into my life. We currently have mini rex, which are a sweet, compact mellow breed with velvet soft fur. We recently had our first litter of black otter mini rex, and I thought I would share some of their cuteness with you all. Enjoy!