We have been busy around here. A local film maker John Nilles (hope I spelled that correctly) shot some footage here on the Homestead. They built an amazing castle that of course turned into an amazing play area for Asa and Axel, and well me too. Asa was so enchanted by the knights he saw that he decided to make his own knight costume DIY style. That's my boy.

We have also been trying to institute a family journaling time every evening with new pencils, from Walking Stick Toys, and some creative juices- wine for me, tea for the boys. It was wildly popular for the first two nights, but the enthusiasm has dwindled a bit. I'm confident that it will return. It is getting chilly around here, so we are now beginning some wintery projects. I started knitting, well last year, but have yet to complete anything. I keep starting a project, but can't seem to finish. Mainly because when I make a mistake, I don't know how to fix it. I was invited to join a knitting group, and I do think I should do it so that I can finish some of these stinkin' projects... Anyway, hope to get some amazing pics this weekend. Happy Samhain.

BOO!
Pretty
Fiercest Knight of all...

Knights on the Homestead
Castle on the Homestead
Root Cellar awesomeness...
Axel journaling...
Sculpture by Asa

unnamed work...

Halloween, All Souls Day, Samhain 2008

Asa has finally decided he would like to be a Viking for Halloween. He was vacillating between Norse God, Devil Skeleton, or just Devil for awhile. But then we passed by the window at Betty's Divine, where he saw many Viking Helmets and it was decided! So, we asked Aimee if we could borrow one of those oh-so-awesome helmets, and she said yes! I think we may be able to use some of that fur from his eagle costume that we made last year, which you can view down below, for his Viking threads this year. And, we already have a foam sword. I'm sure we can fashion a sheild, and maybe make a fake beard (oh my, I can hardly wait!) and we should be good to go! I decided to post some pics from last Halloween. Oh, and by the way, Asa thinks Axel should be a Viking too. teehee. And, I'm quite sure Axel would absolutely LOVE being anything that Asa was being, so that should work out just fine. We'll get creative. I'll be sure to post this years Halloween/Samhain pics for comparison! OH, and I posted a more recent pic of Axel because it was cute.

Last Halloween....10/31/08 Asa and AnnabellaAxel E, being a leaf!! soooo cute.

my little pacifist. present day. 10/2/09

More Fall Gathering photos, and probably more to come.

Goodbye, or Hello?

Thanks friends! You rule. We couldn't have had fun without you...

super awesome kid made bird feeders. goats ate 'em. oh well.

Fall Gathering

Well, we celebrated our annual Fall Gathering yesterday, as close to the Harvest Moon as we could get! And, it was my dad's birthday to boot! The morning started out beautifully, the weather was gorgeous, blustery winds, blue sunny sky. It took all morning to set up. We got the cider press out and buckets full of apples, we set up tables for food, beer, raffle items. We prepared a little area in front of the house for kids to plant bulbs and make bird feeders. We were so busy from sun up to well after sun down, that I completely neglected to take ANY pictures. not one. bummer. Because one of the highlights of the day was when a mysterious SUV pulled up, and a man got out and said to me, "I've got a spinner for you." Naturally I was a bit surprised, but mostly confused, and then I took a peek into the back of his rig, and out comes a lovely lady in a purple sweater with a spinning wheel and a whole basket full of raw wool. She came to spin for people. How totally cool is that? Just one of the many awesome displays of this most homesteady event. She sat in front of the old milkhouse spinning away. And I didn't get even one photo of it!! So, I am on the search for anyone who did, and when/if I find that person, i will be sure to post some pics of her on this site. Oh, man so many other great moments like that. The real theme of the party was wind though. It was very windy, and bit chilly, so a lot of lil ones ended up here in our cozy teeny tiny house, my kids included. My fabulous father took some photos of the event, and I asked him to let me post them, so here they are!

We are all gearing up for some cooler temps around here. So ready for it. Loving the idea of slowing down a bit, or so I hope. We are preparing for our annual Fall Gathering up here on the Homestead. This Saturday we will host a big party. We will bust out the 100 year old cider press, make cider from our dear old orchard apples, worms and all, and have a Montana good time. It's actually my fathers birthday, and he will be joining us in all the fun. My dad, the best in the world. He is probably why I have this innate desire to be a farmer, or at least pretend to be one. He farmed his whole life, even when it wasn't making him any money. He recently retired, and moved to a little fishing town where he decidedly is not farming anymore. But, we intend to call upon his fence fixing expertise when he gets here, and I think he will like it, even if secretly.