Fixer upper

 This adorable little house has only been on the market for a couple months. Would make the perfect first time home for two little love birds looking to establish roots in North Idaho and start a family :-)

Collapsed!

So much snow this winter....The old grape arbor just couldn't withstand the pressure anymore!

It finally gave way yesterday afternoon after the last big snowfall.

Looks like a new Spring project will be underway!

Winter project

I love taking pictures and always have! 

Up until now, I have been a point and shoot kind of gal. With encouragement from my big sister, I took a huge leap and bought a big girl camera... 

A Nikon d7200 to be exact ;-)

I have taken some time on these quiet winter days to learn more about photography... Better yet, I learned how much I need to learn about photography!

The snow slowly drifts and flitters around outside but I am perfectly cozy and content inside learning about this whole new world of imagery.

This Lesson was all about learning and understanding the basics of fstops. 

 with a smaller aperture, the f-stop number is larger and my depth of field is wider allowing my little fruit in the background to be in focus, showing off those cute little dimples.

with a larger aperture, the f-stop number is smaller which makes my depth of field smaller, in turn, making my little fruit in the background softer and out of focus.

It took me a bit to grasp the concept that larger equals smaller and the vice versa smaller equals larger, but I finally got the hang of it!

Have you taken on any new projects this winter?

Canning Suprise

Today was the day...

After saving my pennies, I finally splurged and purchased a brand new American Pressure Canner this past Summer. 

Well, Summer came and went and this beauty sat in the box unused until today.  

After making a Turkey dinner and boiling the remains down, there was more than enough stock to can.

After canning was complete, I was shocked when I opened up the canner..... to find the brand new racks and inside had been discolored black...

I certainly wasn't expecting that and quickly headed to the internet to make sure I hadn't ruined my new canner after it's maiden voyage.

 It looks like it's pretty common and can be cleaned with Vinegar or Cream of Tartar.

This canner is a BEAST!

I really appreciate being able to double stack and ended up with 12 pints of Turkey stock.

Healthy Choices

It's up to you today to start making healthy choices. Not choices that are just healthy for your body, but healthy for your mind -Steve Maraboli

Our recipe was adapted from Taylor Farms SpinachWaldorf Salad recipe. 

We subbed chia seeds for the walnuts, shredded the apples and tossed with Lemon juice. This was really sweet and think we will cut back on the honey next go around, but overall we loved it!

Letting it slide!

Checking in on the chickens this evening I happened to catch this little guy in the chicken feed...and I let it slide!

Going into winter this little ones mom had a pretty serious injury to her hoof and at last sight of her, the hoof had fallen off and healed over. 

We knew winter was going to be hard on her as we observed her nightly ritual of bringing her baby in to feed on apples from the trees in the backyard. 

It isn't always easy to observe natures way...

Today momma deer was nowhere in sight, and I still secretly hold out hope that she will make it through the winter.

Every gardener knows

" Every gardener knows that under the cloak of winter lies a miracle" - Barbara Winkler

As Day turns to Night

I am patiently waiting for the quiet days of Winter to pass.....

Quiet days turn to quiet nights, one by one they silently slip on by....The Gardener idly waits for Spring!

Getting organized

Taking a little time to get some organizing in now that the Holidays have passed....

First up sorting and organizing my seed case.

The box always gets tossed around and rummaged thru during the gardening season. It's nice to take a moment and get it all straightened out before the upcoming gardening begins.  

I make notes of any seeds I may need...

The only seed needed this year is Zucchini but I will still be window shopping all the seed catalogs, of course! 

Something Peaceful this way comes...

My garden has been covered with it's first thin blanket of pure white snow....An eraser of sorts, a time for rest, a time for peace and a time to reflect on just how "Thankful" I am for this little plot of earth.

Always something to be Thankful for...

I am so thankful for the opportunity to finally get my hands in the dirt again. There is just something about playing in the dirt that seems to bring me a sense of inner peace.

Life can get out of balance at times....

Being in my garden, smelling the fresh earth, the feel of the friable soil between my fingers as the brisk autumn rain dashed acrossed my face has eased my worries away.

I have found my center again!

As I pulled up spuds today, I was excited to see some real "Biggies" in the pile. The Largest ones have been sorted out to be eaten first.

The regular sized ones will be stored in an underground bucket in alternating layers of spuds and garden dirt as a makeshift micro root cellar. 

I still need to toss a plywood lid over it and add an insulation layer and it will be good to go.

The "bitties" were replanted back in the dirt to overwinter for next years harvest.