Pink Zebra Birthday Bash

This weekend our thirteen year old daughter and six of her friends (plus her little sister) celebrated her birthday with a pink/zebra print themed pool and slumber party.  We used Memory Mixer scrapbooking software to make the party invitations.  Surprisingly, I lucked out and actually found the tablecloths, centerpieces, plates, and cups at the local Dollar General store, which had an amazing selection of zebra print and pink items.  Our daughter wanted typical teen foods that I normally would not purchase, such as pink sodas, fudge striped cookies, and chips, which I did indulge in.  There were also strawberries and cherries with fudge dip, freeze pops for around the pool, and pizza.

The walls and doorways of our farmhouse kitchen were decorated with pink zebra print birthday banners and black streamers, which were also found at Dollar General.

I stood on our kitchen table on my tiptoes and prayed it would not break while hanging pink stars and more black streamers from the ceiling around our black chandelier.

We have an old fashioned (and not so attractive) coal stove in our kitchen.  I tried to give it a makeover by covering it with zebra print wrapping paper.  In the center, we filled a basket with individual bags of popcorn and an assortment of zebra print, pink, and black socks for the girls to wear that night while watching movies and eating their popcorn.  This is also where we put the gifts.  The gift wrap and socks were found at Dollar General.

I discovered a recipe for a Nutella Crunch Ice Cream Cake on Pinterest that my daughter wanted me to make.  Because I do not have a springform pan, I had to leave it in a regular cake pan, which is not nearly as attractive.  I was attempting to make zigzag patterns with the extra Nutella crispy pieces, but it did not look quite the way I had hoped.  I tried to jazz it up with zebra print cardboard cupcake toppers (from Dollar General) and black and white candles (purchased from Giant.)  No one was disappointed in the taste, however.  This ice cream cake is simple to make and delicious.  The recipe can be found at afamilyfeast.com.

By 9 PM, my husband and the boys were settled in at our cabin, and I took our six year old daughter upstairs for the night.  I left the teen girls downstairs with their new socks and popcorn, old movies, and nail polish for a night of slumbering.  Not including the food, the entire party cost less than $50, which I thought was quite a bargain for seven teenage girls.  It was also fairly simple, low-stress, and fun to prepare.  Dollar General is not usually my store of choice, but in this case, it had everything I was looking for---and more--- at low prices.  

Growing the Gardens: Summer Project #1

We filled our SUV with flowers, herbs, and pepper plants.

In order to offset the costs of feeding a large family organic food from the supermarket, and as a learning experience for our children, we grow some of our own fruits and vegetables in the summer.  In years past, we have had as many as six different gardens filled simultaneously along with some berry patches and grapevines.  However, just as we have reduced the number of animals we keep, we have also reduced the number of gardens, at least temporarily until we can keep ahead of the relentless weeds that always get the best of us by August or September.

Right now we have one garden below our pool containing comfrey, sugar peas, radishes, green onions, and some surviving flowers.  My husband is responsible for the edible plants; my 13 year old daughter and I planted the flowers.  Even though the spinach and Swiss chard did not come up, the rest of his plants look much better than mine, and we have already had the privilege of sampling the first peas and radishes.  The comfrey is for our goats and sheep and is a perennial, so it requires no work from us.  The sunflowers, zinnias, gerber daisies, cosmos, and marigolds, on the other hand, have required much effort to keep alive in our suddenly summer-like heat.  Even with daily watering and weeding, we probably lost half of what we planted, which is very disappointing.  I had high hopes that we would have rows of lush, beautiful flowers visible from the pool that would hide from view the less attractive vegetable plants that my husband always plants.  For most of the years we have lived here, I left all of the planting up to my husband because I was too busy caring for babies and toddlers to help much.  This year, I decided I would take a more active role, and I wanted vegetation that was beautiful, not just edible.  Instead, I have to admit that he is a better gardener than I, and there is much more involved than a morning shopping at the local nursery and dropping some seedlings into the ground..

This was our garden 3 weeks ago right after the flowers were planted.

All is not lost, however, and I have learned some valuable lessons from this experience:

●No matter how perfect the plants look at the greenhouse, without proper care, they will be brown, withered, pathetic skeletons within a week.
●Well water does not compare to rain water.  Although I have no control over that one, I was guilty of not always watering in the morning or watering enough.
●I mistakenly thought I would not need to add any fertilizer since this garden spot temporarily housed our chickens a couple of winters ago.  We also threw our scraps there for the chickens, so it was essentially a composting bed for awhile.  Right now, though, it is dry, brown, and rocky with barely an earthworm in site.  My husband took composting straw bedding from the barn to put around his vegetable seedlings, but I did not want to take this step, partially because it was more work and partly because I did not want straw with bits of decomposing sheep and goat droppings around my colorful flowers that were for everyone to look at and admire.
●Finally, I planted about two weeks before we had a huge pile of mulch to put down.  Within an hour or two of watering, the ground around my flowers looked bone dry again.  Additionally, even though my flowers were shrinking in size, the weeds growing up around them seemed to multiply and spread every time I glanced down there.  I would pull them up,  but the next day there would be more.  With all of my other responsibilities, I did not have time to spend hours in that small garden each day.  Mulching immediately would have definitely helped.

At this point, I admit that my husband's section of the garden does look ten times more aesthetically pleasing than mine.  I never would have imagined that would be the case when I informed him a month ago that I was taking over the front, visible part.  I have not given up hope completely, however, because most of my herbs in the herb beds have survived, as have some flowers planted in another flowerbed next to the house.  I figure if all else fails, I will put in a picket fence around the front and sides of the garden.  At least I know I will not kill that.

The garden now with my pitiful flowers in the foreground, and my husband's  green onions, radishes, peas, and comfrey behind.

The Grand Finale: May Recitals

We spent the last day of May at our final recital of the school year.  Life with five children still at home means a myriad of activities and sports throughout the year, culminating with recitals and parties before summer break.  This month our family attended a choir performance, an art show, an instrumental recital, and finally, two dance recitals.  These were in addition to track, choir, and judo parties plus class field trips and field days. We now look forward to a relaxing summer where we spend our days barefoot in the dewy grass, wading in the creek, floating on a raft in the pool, making smores over a campfire, and just daydreaming under a summer sky.  For now, I won't think about the weeding, harvesting, canning, dehydrating, and mowing that will also occur in the next three months. Instead, I will focus on the slower pace of summer that refreshes me for another busy school year in the fall.

Summer Traditions #2: Mountain Picnics

As a child, one of my favorite summer activities was getting together with my cousins on Sunday afternoons for picnics in the Allegheny mountains and at various state parks.  The men grilled hot dogs and hamburgers, and the women brought everything else.  Our family typically brought Pringles potato chips, Jello, and a version of Cherries Jubilee that consisted of graham cracker crumbs, a cream cheese filling, and cherry pie filling spread over the top.  We ate until we were overly stuffed, and then we ran around playing wiffleball or hide-and-seek.  Eventually a bunch of us would go for a hike, and if it was the right time of summer, we could pick huckleberries.  Later in the day, we would uncover the leftovers and eat some more.  No one was concerned about botulism then, even though the picnic tables were full of meat, deviled eggs, potato salad, and sliced watermelon.  If we stayed late enough into the evening, there might be a campfire and  the younger children would catch fireflies.

Our family continues this tradition on a smaller scale at our farmhouse with friends and extended family throughout the summer.  We heralded in the beginning of my favorite season with a picnic/cookout on Memorial Day.  I tried to stick with the traditional foods of deviled eggs, cut veggies and watermelon in Tupperware containers, barbecue potato chips (not Pringles though,) hot dogs and hamburgers with all the usual condiments, brownies sprinkled with red, white, and blue M-n-Ms, and Arnold Palmers, Samuel Adams beer, and Vodka Tonics.  We also had some pita crackers and red roasted pepper hummus, which my family would have never even heard of back in the seventies.

We shared our picnic area with various mountain farm animals, including a couple of hens and cats who kept waiting for food to drop.

This interesting moth also shared our space after emerging from its cocoon earlier in the day.  I believe this is a polyphemus moth, but please correct me if I am wrong.

Our children and friends were able to swim before and after eating dinner this past weekend.  When I was growing up, we were thrilled to wade or swim in a local creek.  One park in particular had a zipline that ran from one side of the creek bank to the other, allowing you to drop off in the middle of a deep wading hole.  There was also a thick rope hung from a tree that you could swing and jump from if you were brave enough.  Since our pool water is still not quite 70 degrees, we adults just watched our children have fun in the pool.

Here's hoping that this summer allows us many more opportunities to keep this tradition of mountain picnics alive.

Summer Essentials for Preppy Mountain Living

Summer in the Allegheny Mountains is my favorite time of the year, but there are some aspects of it that are less than enjoyable (ie. ticks, mosquitoes, deer flies, sunburn, etc.)  These are the products that our family has found to be the most beneficial on a mountain farm.  Beginning with the aloe vera plant at the top and moving clockwise:

1. 10 Year old son's Aloe Vera Plant and Aloe Vera Gel.  Breaking off a tip of the plant and squeezing the juice onto a burn works wonders.  We use Fruit of the Earth brand pure aloe vera gel for sunburns.  Even though we use sunblock, the redheads in our family do occasionally get a sunburn in early summer.
2. Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Dry-Touch Sunscreen with helioplex (SPF 70).  The adults in our family use this on our faces since it is a little more pricey.  It is dermatologist recommended for those who have had skin cancer and for those of us who are hoping to avoid it.  We have additional children's sunscreen in SPF 50 for the children.
3.  Calaclear Lotion for poison oak, ivy, and sumac, and sometimes for bug bites as well is a must-have in the mountains.
4.   Mechanixwear  padded palm bamboo Gardening Gloves for protecting my hands when pulling up thistles, brambles, and stray raspberry shoots from gardens and flower/herb beds.  These are also a must for avoiding getting mud caked under my fingernails.
5.       Citronella Candles and Now brand 100% pure Citronella Essential Oil for combating gnats, flies, and mosquitoes.  The essential oil is used in various oil burners or greatly diluted with almond or grapeseed oil to be dabbed onto the skin.
6.    Trader Joe's Coconut Body Butter feels incredibly luxurious on your skin.  We used it in the winter when our skin was dry and cracking, and we use it now since the chlorine from the pool is so drying.  It is made with coconut oil, shea butter, and vitamin E, and is the best body moisturizer I have ever used.
7.    (In the center) "No-Bite-Me" All-in-one Preventive and After-bite Creme.  This is Deet free, paraben free, and alcohol free and is safe for children.  It is made from a blend of essential oils and a moisturizing base, and it can be used as bug repellent before going outside or used on bug bites afterwards.  It is not pretty, and it does have a rather pungent fragrance, but we have found it works better than the leading brands of family-safe bug sprays.  It is supposed to be effective against black flies, mosquitoes, fleas, and ticks.
8. Burt's Bees Honey Lip Balm with Vitamin E is terrific for people like me with chapstick addictions.  It truly moisturizes and heals dry lips and smells delicious.  Fortunately,  I have not noticed that it attracts bees or other insects.
9.      O.P.I. Nail Lacquer in Lucky Lucky Lavender and Nicole by O.P.I. High Shine Top Coat are not exactly essential to mountain farm life, but they are to preppy mountain living.  Since I like to wear sandals or go barefoot on our farm in the summer, the nail polish hides any grass stains or dirt that might be on my toenails.  It is easier than scrubbing my toenails with a brush every evening, and it is a beautiful color of summer.

Summer Traditions: Making Ice Cream

One of my fondest memories growing up is attending ice cream socials where every family would bring a different flavor of homemade ice cream.  We also attended annual barn dances where everyone would do the same and sample the flavors after square dancing.  My family had both an electric mixer and a manual churn, and we always felt the hand-churned ice cream was the best.  I have tried to revive this tradition in my own family by making a variety of flavors throughout the summer, especially when we have cookouts with friends and family so everyone gets a turn to churn.  We sit on one of our porches, the patio, or even poolside with our feet in the water during the really hot days of July.  Sometimes the adults even multi-task by imbibing in a Gin & Tonic while churning.

It all starts with our nanny goats and their babies.  We milk the mothers first thing in the morning, and then their babies get to be with them the rest of the day.  That gives us plenty of milk, and no one has to bottle feed the kids.  Of course, cow's milk works too; we just have goats, so that is what we use.  We find that the Nigerian Dwarf goat's milk is so rich that we do not need to use whipping cream; we simply make our ice cream with their milk, leaving the cream in it.  Our churn is a White Mountain ice cream churn, which we are very happy with.  We were able to purchase ours from a local store that carries many Amish goods, but other brands can also be found in the Lehman's catalog.  So far we have made the standard flavors of vanilla, chocolate, and strawberry, but we have also made peach, cherry, black raspberry, blueberry, Heathbar Crunch, Oreo cookie, and coffee, just to name a few.  Everyone takes a turn churning, even the youngest.  It only takes about 45 minutes, and then we place the churn in the shade with a blanket around it for insulation until we are ready to eat.

Below is the recipe we use.  No cooking and no eggs required.

Basic Vanilla Ice Cream

8 cups of goat's milk with cream intact; 2 cups sugar; 1/4 tsp. salt; 3 tsps. vanilla

Warm (but do not boil) 2 cups of the cream over low heat.  Keep a watch at all times so it does not scorch.  Stir in all of the sugar and salt until dissolved.  Chill in refrigerator overnight.  Add the remaining milk and vanilla with it into the canister of the ice cream freezer the next day.  If you want other flavors, add these at this time too.  Alternate layers of ice and rock salt around the canister and churn.  We check it after about 30 minutes or so to see if it is the desired thickness.  You can usually tell when it is done because it gets much harder to churn.  Ours is typically the consistency of soft-serve ice cream after 45 minutes.  If there are any leftovers, they go into a container in the freezer.  The ice cream is much more solid by the next day.

From toddlers to grandparents, everyone gets a chance to churn!

Ready for Summer---From the Perspective of a Middle-Aged Preppy Farmer

     This past weekend we pulled my well-worn lounge chair out of storage and opened our pool, which means it is officially the start of summer for our family.  Unfortunately, local schools are still in session for a few more weeks, thanks to the numerous snow days we accumulated this winter. However, with temperatures in the eighties daily, the children usually swim after school and on the weekends.

     Although I am not much of a swimmer myself, I have always loved sitting by the pool, reading a good book or some magazines.  For many years, I could not do much of this because I always had babies and toddlers who were only happy if I pushed them around the pool in some flotation device while I sang to them.  Now that the youngest is six, I can actually relax on my chair while the children swim, splash, dive, and do cannonballs into the water.

     As I gathered my pool gear together yesterday, it occurred to me how much of it is meant to cover up or protect.  Gone are the days when I threw on a swimsuit and spent hours lying next to a pool with a book or music.  Now being in the sun involves putting on a myriad of things in an attempt to avoid more wrinkles, further macular degeneration, and skin cancer.

• First, there is the thickest beach towel I can find in the closet to cover up the fraying lawn chair. 
• Second, there is the Land's End swimsuit and paisley swim skirt to cover my middle-aged middle. 
• Third, I use the Neutrogena Ultra Sheer Sunscreen in SPF 70 (I shudder to think that I used baby oil back in my teen years.)
• Fourth, I buy the cheapest sunglasses because I lose or break these annually.  If I am going to read anything, I actually have to wear my tinted prescription glasses since my arms are just not long enough anymore to hold the small print far enough away from my eyes.
• Fifth, in addition to the sunscreen and sunglasses, I often wear my big straw hat from our honeymoon in the Virgin Islands for even more sun protection.
• Sixth, I must have a plastic cup filled with our mountain spring water with a slice of lime to stay hydrated.
• Finally, there is the canvas tote (also from our honeymoon) filled with reading/browsing material since it is too bright to read any of my downloaded e-books on my tablet.  Yesterday's collection consisted of the latest L.L. Bean catalog, the Lehman's catalog, and an old issue of Country Living.

     Now I just need to find an hour before 10 AM or after 4 PM to avoid the sun's peak rays, and dodging those pesky evening thunderstorms we tend to have would be a good idea too.