Enchanted Mama

Weekend Surprise::

A surprise trip into the city to see the Peter Pan ballet.  

There were four excited children.  A delicious meal at a retro modern diner.  A chance to dress-up.  Time to walk by moonlight in the city before heading home.  

A great time was had by all.  

 

 

 

Weekend::

Images of a quiet weekend...

:: A scarf that I knit for my friend's birthday.  Then ripped out.  Then, re-knit.  Then gifted, even though it wasn't done, and I didn't leave enough yarn to finish it, yet she loved it anyway.  It is beautiful yarn!  So she ripped it out, with my urging and blessing of course, and lovingly re-knit it.  She has been wearing it almost everyday since.  Yes, I offered to knit it again for her but she thought it looked like way too much fun and decided to do it herself.  So, essentially I gave her the yarn...."Here's your present, now knit it."  Wow, and it worked!  

:: Breakfast ala the Big Daddy.  Delicious.  

:: A bird on my wee one's head, who turns nineteen months today!  It's the only clip I can seem to keep in her hair right now for all of about two minutes.  She's not a fan of the adornment, I see.   

:: Ginger Cake...yes, again.  I know.  

:: Sunset Show stopper.  

:: Cozy hat for my sister-in-law.  Love that she appreciates hand-knit gifts.  The yarn is so luxurious that I find I'm knitting slower to make it last.  Is that wrong? 

:: Interesting fountain in town that gurgles water out of his mouth in the Spring and Summer.  There's something very intriguing about it.

There was also some skiing.   A late night Downton Abbey watching session, or early as the case may be. Sniffles, coughs and a clean up of the backyard.  All of which I did not take photos of but happened none the less.  

Hope you had a weekend full of moments, Won't you tell me about a few? 

 

For the love of ginger::

This weekend we welcomed a few friends over for dinner.  They are expecting a baby in a few months and we happen to have a few baby things to share.  So, it seemed the perfect opportunity to have them to dine and dessert with us.  

This Ginger Cake recipe was given to me by a friend long ago.  She made it for a baby blessing for my youngest boy.  It was delicious.  Nauseous as I was, the ginger in this cake was a life saver.  Since then we have had it a handful of times and every time I wonder why I don't make it more often.

I thought of you, my friends, and knew you would love it.  Remember the fresh whipped cream on top, it's so worth the extra time.  oh man.  

Hope you enjoy it!

 

Gingerbread and Ginger Cake ---

This recipe makes enough for our family of six to enjoy with a bit left for the next day. If you are expecting company, as I was this weekend, I would suggest you double the recipe.  

1/2 cup Butter

3/4 cup Sugar (add 4 more TBSP for ginger cake)

1 Egg

1/2 cup Molasses (sweet un-sulphured)

1 cup Whole Wheat Flour

1 cup White All purpose Flour

1/2 tsp. Salt

1 tsp. Baking Soda

1 TBSP Ground Ginger

1 tsp. Cinnamon

1/2 tsp. Ground Cloves

1 cup Boiling Water

 

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Butter and lightly flour a 9 x 11 baking dish or the dish of your choice...I used a bundt pan.  Baking time may vary depending on the pan.  

Mix the butter and sugar until creamy. 

Add egg and molasses and mix well. 

Sift dry ingredients and mix with previous ingredients until well blended.  

Stir in boiling water, carefully, and then pour quickly into a baking dish.  

Bake for 35 minutes, or until a toothpick comes out clean.  

Serve with fresh whipped cream (Heavy Whipping Cream + A TBSP of sugar + eager children to use the hand whisk = yum!).  

Then, ENJOY!

 

Let's hear it for baked goods on a Monday morning...hip, hip, hooray!!!

 

Over the Mountain::

Over the mountain and through the woods we went to find our Christmas Tree.  

It's become an annual adventure.  This year I was unsure if we would make it due to the "back situation" with the big daddy.  Mostly because he's the one who hikes, cuts and carries the tree down.  

With a bit of re-figuring and the help of the older children we found, cut and put the tree on a sled all the way down the mountain.  New tradition perhaps?   

We arrived at the site and found that we were the only ones there.  It's extremely quiet in the forest when there isn't a soul around.  So we hiked, hauled the sled, and wound our way up the mountain.  

The big daddy right away found what he thought would be our tree.  Think Dr. Seuss....Long trunk big bunch of pine needles on top.  It really did look like something Dr. Seuss would have drawn.  

Uuh-hum, it didn't come home with us though.

After hiking for about an hour we found two trees that we liked.  We all sat down in the snow to admire one and see if this was the one to come home with us.  

Now, I'll tell you our littlest one loves to shake her head "NO". The Big Daddy decided to ask her if this was our tree.  She looked from him to the tree and back to him and shook her head emphatically "YES".  

So we knew this was the tree for us.   

 

The big daddy commenced with the cutting and then the older children had a chance with the saw, cringe, which made them both very happy.  

Soon she was set on the sled and we headed down the hill.  Traversing tree stumps and rocks the whole way.  We made quite a merry party of six tromping down the hill through the snow with the tree happily bouncing on the sled, the four year old in the lead and the two older children guiding from behind.  Our littlest girl even had a small ride on the sled at the very bottom of the hill with this mama running along beside.  Fun. Fun.  

 

This site happened on the way back down the mountain and I just had to share.  A motor home painted like a log cabin?  Have you ever seen such a brilliant thing?  It did require that the big daddy double back and go all the way around so I could get a picture but it was worth it don't you think?  

 

Then, home to set the tree up and get the lights put on.

 This I can say I have "Tom Sawyered" my honey into doing.  I've done it for years but last year he "volunteered" and I loved that I didn't have to do it.  So, this year there was a lot of "oh my you did such a nice job on the lights last year" and "wow you make that look so easy it must be because you are so talented" and a few "You are a professional!" thrown in and he did it again!  yes.

I hope to have officially passed on that tradition.  After all he's now done it for two years why not three?!??  Right?

 

On to the decorations after bath time.  I've shown you in past years our trees and ornaments.  I love that eighty percent of them were made by the children.  It makes me smile to see over the years how we can now fill a tree with them.  

 

One of the highlights this year was our littlest girl and her fascination with the tree.  

She LOVED it.  

In fact, she was very interested in putting the ornaments on and pulling them off.  She would put one on and pull three off.  It made the decorating last just that much longer.  

Since last night the bottom of the tree is quite bare and I'm thinking that the ornaments may have to move up the tree a bit.  Though to tell you the truth I'm enjoying her excitement when she toddles over and brings me a handful of ornaments.  At least handmade ornaments means they are more durable.  

 

So there she is.  Our lovely, skinny, charlie brown tree.  One that has it's own pine cones growing on the branches and as of this morning has begun to drink water like a fish.  

It feels officially like the holidays now with the house spruced up with decorations.  This morning I'm off to knit and sew with all due haste as this week marks the final week before vacation.  And, this mama has a few things to do...

How are your projects going?  OR are you already done?  

 

 

I Love Sundays::

...that's all I wanted to say.  

 

Whirlwind::

This past weekend we took a "whirlwind" trip.

The type of whirlwind trip where we picked up the children from school, told them they had ten minutes to pack two of whatever they needed, and to meet us in the car.  An hour later we left, oh well, all excited for a spur of the moment adventure.  

A road trip to see the trees.  

A road trip to see a town most of us had yet to lay eyes on.  

A road trip that would land us in the midst of a Wool Festival.  

Convenient or planned?  I'll never say.  

With four chidren trips on the whim can be a bit, challenging?  But, we did it.  We all had favorite moments over the time we were gone.  

Even despite the freeway closure at eight o'clock p.m. on Sunday that provided a fourty five minute delay, the "oops, I forgot I had homework" and the funny sound the car was making...We did it.  

We saw some beautiful country and spent time as a family and really how can you beat that?  

 

Any "whirlwind" in your lives these days?!!??

 

 

The Weekend::

This weekend brought the Gypsy Farm Market to town.  Local indie artists with amazing creations to share.  Inspiring.  Fun.  Amazing weather.  Time with my children as we attended both days.

Treasure was found. 

 

A double rainbow, in the middle of town, over busy traffic, with the entire arc visible.  

I'm not sure I've ever seen one/two so beautiful!  We stopped and parked.  We watched and participated in its "AWESOMENESS". 

In terms of rainbows, this was a show stopper as far as I'm concerned.  

 

A latte.  A scone.  My two oldest and the wee one together.  

Knitting.  More knitting.  Some angst about thumbs in mittens.  A Pride and Prejudice viewing.  Plus, time to change my blog header.  whoa. 

Overall, a great weekend was had by all.  

It's beginning to feel alot like Fall....

 

How was your weekend?  

 

 

 

 

Staying In::

It rained here this weekend.  All weekend.  We nestled inside and had a lovely-relaxing-rainy-the-children-got-along-kind of weekend.   Fridays sunshine made the weekend seem even more cosy and romantic.    

We tucked in.  Everyone slept just a little bit later.  The children created a new game together and played it all weekend long.  There were paper wallets made and houses constructed.  Dress-up clothes worn and most of all they laughed.  Contagious laughing.  They didn't cry, bicker, or annoy each other.  whoa.  

The big daddy created the most delicious shredded chicken dish, yum.  I had time to sew, in the middle of the day no less.  I created and thought about plans for our girl who will be twelve at the end of the month.  

The baby was happy to watch her siblings.  She also started dancing.  A back and forth up and down kind of movement when you sing or she hears music.  There was lots of singing by her big brothers to get her to do it again and again and again...

After a busy time last week it was really nice to have time to relax.  With four children this kind of calm doesn't come often and you have to be ready to enjoy it when it does.  It felt like a real weekend and all of us soaked it up.  

How was your weekend?

 

 

 

A weekend to::

:: Play at the Makerie with the multi-talented Lizzy House and finally take her class, that I have wanted to take for two years, on Pattern Design.  wow.

:: Meet local creative women and sit and chat and create together.  

:: Find handmade treasures at the Firefly Market by some very talented artists.  

:: Enjoy a meal with Stefanie Japel a very talented knitter and lovely all around lady.

:: Soak up all the gorgeous blue skies and sun at Chautauqua.   

:: Expand on some creative ideas I have brewing.

:: Spend time with my family at home eating delicious meals a'la the Big Daddy.

:: Rest after creating, and crafting, and being inspired.

:: Dust off the old sewing machine and get her going once again.  

 

Hope your week started out well.  

Happy Monday!  

 

Miles and miles::

I have in this past weekend tucked a fevered child into bed for two days.  Warmed chicken soup too many times to remember.  Suggested water would be a good idea.  Pulled out games to be played while wrangling three other, thankfully, healthy children.  I have watched a boy play in the sandbox.  Listened to cello being practiced.  Sat with a cooing baby.  And, knit on the big daddy.  

No not our big daddy but the name I have dubbed the sweater I gave him for christmas.  The "big daddy" sweater that was wrapped up so sweetly with a note that read something like...."To my darling, patient husband."

No I didn't finish it in time.  Yes, I have been working on this forever.

You know the Who song "I can see for miles and miles and miles and miles...."  Yeah, that one. I have been singing that song to myself for the last week every time I pick up this sweater. 

It is an Elizabeth Zimmermann seamless-hybrid for those of you out there that knit.  As you know that name is either met with "Wow, that woman was brilliant" or "Man, what was that woman thinking?"  One or the other.  You will never hear someone with a middle of the road view of her unless of course you have no idea who she is...the godmother of knitting.  

So, I have every faith that she made a brilliant pattern here.  As I sit with this pile of wool on my legs I feel that.  I'm sure when this is done I will say to others who have not knit her patterns before, "Man, this woman was brilliant."  

Right now?  Ummm...

In this moment I just feel confused.  Mostly confused as to why this could possibly take so long.  Confused as to how no one at my local yarn store has ever knit this sweater.  Miffed that they haven't so that they could explain why and how to make the shoulders come out when knitting a seamless saddle shoulder decrease.  

 

Yes, it should be easy I'm sure.  When I figure it out I will of course say, "brilliant" but until then I sit with this sweater and wonder if I will indeed EVER finish this thing.   

Of course, I'm being dramatic.  This I know.  This I'm okay with.  Once I figure it out I will be quite humbled I'm sure.  

I just hope that moment comes soon.