a gypsy caravan

little one

Tess at 8 months

simple woman's daybook-march 28

::The Simple Woman's...Daybook::

Outside My Window...

There are some green buds on the trees which means that sugaring season is over.  Yesterday, we spotted the first robin running across the grass, cocking his ear to the ground.  Spring has definitely arrived!

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I am thinking...how grateful I am for each of these little ones that call me Mama. One with recently pierced ears. :)

 I am thankful for...big sisters who like to do little baby's hair, some new pretty things for the bedroom, packages that come in the mail :)

From the learning rooms...

We no longer have a room set aside for learning and lessons.  We do most of it at the dining room table these days. :)  Minn of the Mississippi has been fun.  We've had a lot of opportunity to study geography, turtles and numerous other fun topics.

 

From the kitchen...
lots of fresh produce, a pot of vegetable barley soup made this weekend.

I am wearing...

tan cargo pants, a pink hooded sweatshirt, running shoes, silver jewelry.

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I am creating...

menus, chore charts, an entirely fresh and updated home management binder.

 

I am going...
to the grocery store this afternoon to stock up for the week. I've been mainly eating a raw diet for the last ten days or so which really makes eating simple for me but has completely diminished my desire to cook for the rest of the family. 

 

I am reading...
about how to construct a rabbit hutch and a compost bin.

On my mind...

the soapmaking process, where to acquire bees and all the equipment needed to keep them, whether or not to buy laying hens.

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Around the house...
have farmed out many of the chores (that weren't getting done regularly) to the boys who have stepped up to the plate nicely. It's nice to see things shape up a little bit around here a bit.  Still lots to do after moving last year during pregnancy and having a new baby.  Tess is eight months old now and I am just beginning to get my bearings straight.

One of my favorite things...

 Polish Pottery bubble mugs. :)

A Few Plans For The Rest Of The Week:

There is much to be done in the next few days.  Family is arriving from Virginia on Thursday, Ben is leaving for D.C. on Thursday and he also makes his Confirmation next week.

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A Picture thought I am sharing...

Typepad is being quirky today. More daybooks at Peggy's

Have a great week everyone!

 

a few of my favorite things: baby rubberband wrists

birthday greetings-snort snort

Today is my 41st birthday. Ben woke me early, before going to school, to make me a french toast breakfast, sweet fellow that he is. Then I shamelessly went back to bed since everyone was still asleep, only to be awoken two hours later by Christopher who had made pancakes. I sure have thoughtful boys. I am full to the gills with angel food cake, strawberries and whipped cream.  I also had a nice serving of Haagen Dazs "Five" ice cream (lemon).  All of these desserts my mother brought after treating us to Chinese carryout for dinner. So. Very. Stuffed.

I know, I know. It is Lent.  I am apparently weak and sentimental about celebratory foods and bad at saying "no" to well meaning relatives. :) Honestly, it feels as though all I did today was eat.  Which might explain part of the 25 lbs. that I have packed on since Tess' birth.  Here is a recent photo of me as proof.  

Heading to barn bed now.  Goodnight all!

yum

Yesterday, I made Pioneer Woman's Lasagna. And it really is The Best Ever...very meaty and cheesy and deliciously hearty!  There is one caveat...it is far too salty if you use the amount she recommends. And even when I cut the salt in half, it was pretty darn salty. So if you make it, don't add the salt to the cheese mixture, just to the meat mixture and even that you might want to cut down.  Unless you are in love with salt. 

And, because Sundays are a "little easter", I made Mary Ellen's Gingerbread Cake, which I have raved about in the past.  Every time I make it, I thank God both for Mary Ellen and for whomever invented gingerbread. :) Scrumptuous!

The only problem is that there is a piece left and it keeps staring at me when I walk through my kitchen...today, on this very-clearly-a-fasting-day-of-Lent-and-no-longer-a-Sunday-in-Lent.   

 

a few of my favorite things: my piggy bank

It has a bit of a gypsy flair to it, don't you think? :)

more maple syrup and sugar

Today the kids and I decided to take the baby out for a stroll.  She has never been in a stroller and we thought she might think it a fun time to take a ride in one and get some fresh air.  So we drove up to the village square where there are sidewalks on which to push the stroller.  The square is only a couple of minutes from our house by car and there is much activity there this time of year.  Every Sunday in March, many town locations offer all you can eat pancake breakfasts, served with maple syrup that was made from the sap of the village's maple trees.  In fact, the village gets pretty excited about it all.

In the center of the village square is a log cabin that has stood there for many, many years.  It is both a working sugar house where the sap is boiled into syrup and also a store that sells maple products. 

Buckets hang on all of the trees in the village and sap is brought to the square to be boiled down at the log cabin. The men who work there are very efficient and boil down the sap at a much faster rate than normal because they put the collected sap through a reverse osmosis filter which removes much of the water, making a more concentrated sugar level.  They have been making approximately seven gallons per hour, working ten hour days.  Seventy gallons of syrup a day is quite a lot of boiling since it takes approximately 40-50 gallons of sap to make a single gallon of syrup.  

Below is a photo of the boiler.  The hose you see in the left side of the photo is bringing sap from a holding tank to the boiler.  The boiler is heated with wood and the sap boils down, creating much steam in the room as the water burns off. 

Most grocery store brands of syrup do not contain any real maple syrup anymore.  Brands like Log Cabin or Aunt Jemima are mostly corn syrup and coloring.  Real maple syrup is quite expensive, obviously because of the time consuming process to make it. Sorry for the blurry photo but people often ask how much a gallon of syrup costs...

The store sells large amounts of maple syrup and maple sugar candy.  Maple sugar candy is made by bringing the finished syrup to a temperature of 210 degrees in a large double boiler.  The liquid is then whipped with a hand mixer which adds air while it cools. Then the liquid is poured into molds and cooled completely.  An eleven gallon jug of maple syrup makes 8 lbs. of maple sugar candy.  

We have been known to come into the village a couple of times a week to buy a tiny piece.  Small maple leaves like you see above are $0.75 and there are larger pieces of candy that cost up to $3.00.  Maple sugar candy melts in your mouth and is really quite addictive.  Someday, I'd like to try a hand at making it ourselves.

Maple sugar candy makes small children (and mommies) very happy. :)

Our little Teresa had quite a busy afternoon and enjoyed her walk out of doors.  This time next year she can enjoy sugaring time by having a little piece of maple sugar candy all to herself. :)

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Speaking of maple sugar, those of you who have young boys might enjoy the book The Biggest Bear by Lynd Ward.   The story centers around a boy who befriends a bear cub by feeding it maple sugar.  And many adventures follow. :)

Have a wonderful day today and thanks for stopping by! 

~Rebecca 

a few of my favorite things

Sometimes, as I go about my days, I realize there are things around my home and life that I am fond of and that I'd like to share with you.  So I've decided to post them one at a time and share the stories behind them...sort of like an online "Show and Tell". When I was a little girl in elementary school, we had Show and Tell on Fridays.  So, in keeping with that tradition, I will post one of my favorite things each Friday.  It would be nice if you'd like to do it too.  I don't have a clue how to make a blog button or use a Mr. Linky. But if I did, it would be fun to collect all of our posts in one place so we could have Show and Tell together.  

The first thing I'd like to share with you is a photograph of my grandfather's tool and die shop.  

I think this photo was taken around 1935-1940.  The man on the far left is my paternal great- grandfather, Johann, who immigrated from what was then Austria-Hungary.  He spoke seven languages fluently and came from a family of Hungarian gypsies, hence the name of this blog. When he came to America, he founded the General Die and Tool Corporation which thrived in the Cleveland area for decades before closing in the 1960s. When my great-grandfather passed away, my grandfather, John, took over the business.  John is second from right in the photograph, wearing the vest and tie.  His younger brother, Bill, is on his right.  My father often worked there as a young boy, sweeping the floor and learning drafting skills.

My grandfather John lived in a large brick house near a pond.  He and I often walked down to the pond to feed the beautiful swans that made it their home.  His home and property was a magical place to me with so many happy memories and places to explore.  My grandfather's people were very musical and he was no exception. I vividly remember him walking around his home serenading me with his violin or accordion.  He allowed me to sit on the bench beside him while he played the organ.  He often played Strauss on his old Victrola.  He wore his ever-present three piece suit and I stood on his feet while we danced to the music. 

I have the photo of the tool and die shop on display in my home.  It is in a wooden frame which has a pencil glued to the bottom. I found the pencil in my father's apartment when he died.  It reads: "Don't Settle for Less, Get the Best at General Die and Tool Co., Quality, Service, Satisfaction."   It also has the company's phone and address.  The building no longer stands at that address.  It was razed in the 1970s. 

I remember my grandfather often using those leftover company pencils when I was a little girl.  He sharpened them with his pocket knife over a metal waste paper basket.  I am so glad I still have one in my possession.  Together with the photograph, they are a little glimpse into my family's history.

Thanks for visiting me today and sharing some of my favorite things!    

simple woman's daybook-march 3

Outside my window... bright sunshine on sparkling white snow.  It appears we only have a few inches left that hasn't melted.  And BIRDS! The beautiful sound of the birds singing as the sun came up this morning.  Such a welcome sound that spring is on its way! 

I am thinking.....about raspberry bushes and strawberry seedlings, about spinach and peppers and maybe even brussel sprouts.  The kids and I have been planning our summer garden.  Such fun to think about. :)

I am thankful for.... recent acts of kindness, thoughtfulness and love. 

From the kitchen....chai, hot blueberry muffins, fresh fruit.

I am creating.....quite a bit from upcycled felted wool sweaters: mittens, brooches, handbags and a lot of other fun things.  Here's a bag I made for Mary Kathryn.

 

I am wearing...charcoal grey warm up pants with a white stripe down the side, charcoal grey t-shirt, bare feet (sorry Flylady), a silver miraculous medal, a bracelet with my children's names engraved on it, little silver knot earrings.

I am going...out to the garage to see if we caught a possum in the catch and release trap.  I went out to put the cat away the other night and found a possum sleeping in the cat bed.  Aaah!

I am reading....The Shack by William P. Young.  It was a Christmas gift.  Not sure how I feel about it yet but I'll let you know when I'm done.

I am hoping....for a few days of warm weather so I can paint the bedroom. I am painting it blue.  And those of you who have been to my home know that is out of the ordinary.  Because every room in my home(s) for the last fifteen years has been a warm shade of sage green, warm yellow or dark red.  But blue is calling me and I am pretty excited to make the change.

I am hearing ...the girls playing in their bedroom, the birds singing in the rhododendron bushes, Tess babbling her sweet baby sounds as she crawls around the room. 

Around the house ... spent yesterday cleaning the storage closet, organizing games and puzzles.  We bought a high chair for Tessie and assembled it.  Feels good to accomplish things in spurts as the baby gets a little older. 

One of my favorite things ...a photo of my grandfather's shop.  More on that later. 

A few plans for the rest of the week: swimming at the YMCA, making potato kale soup, working on Mary's First Communion album, knitting when I can catch a chance. :) And happy that Ben is finished with his wrestling season so we'll be seeing more of him after school this week.

Here is a picture thought I am sharing~my recent knitting project.  A bramble stitch shawl in teal mohair.  Perfect for a summer evening. :)

More Daybooks at Peggy's. 

sometimes...

...when I reread some of the posts that I wrote years ago, I feel sort of squirmy and ill inside.  My hands get a little clammy and I want to loosen my collar.  I think I sound pretentious and know-it-all-ish, downright pious and unfriendly. Ugh.  Honestly, I am debating deleting many posts.  Or maybe just unpublishing them.  I touched on these feelings here.   Much time has passed since I wrote that post, likening my little, personal transformation to the Velveteen Rabbit.   Yet, I still feel the same way, on an eternal quest to be genuine.  I stopped writing things that could be construed as advice, things that made it appear that I have it all together. Because the problem with giving advice is that, in the very act of giving it, we make the assumption that we are qualified to do so, even though that may not be our deliberate intention.  

Much of what I write here is intentionally unimportant.  Though, I guess "unimportant" isn't exactly correct. It is not about writing drivel or meaningless chatter, about wasting time or writing fluff and stuff.  I want to write about things that are important to both my family and true to myself.  And while I am glad you are here to share them, they may not be important to you.   They are the comings and goings of my children, our activities and our photographs. They are birthdays and celebrations and milestones.  But there will be no nitty-gritty "how to" posts on anything. Because things that were once set in stone can change with the wind. Just. Like. That.

I don't post about homeschooling philosophies or marriage or childrearing or housekeeping tips or politics or even much about my own personal faith in God.  Why? Because I have been misunderstood many a time. And because I stumble and fall on my face much more frequently than I get things right.  And then, stubborn fool that I am, I sometimes I lie there on my face for a long while before I am willing to get up.  God is working on me in a way that is not pretty or poetic.  I know that pretty and poetic is popular.  And while this little blog doesn't generate stats in the thousands or dozens of comments, it is a comfortable place for me to record my thoughts and memories and, hopefully, a place for my children to visit years from now to reminisce.  

If you stopped by my home,  I would offer you a cup of tea and we could sit and talk. But since that isn't possible in most cases, I want to thank those of you who continue to visit me here, who enjoy seeing the smiles of my little ones and reading about the stuff of our life. I am so glad you are here.