Note to Self:

Alpine lakes & trails are still very snowy late May. While hiking you will fall into snow pits as high as your waist, many times. You will not be able to see the trail because it is buried. Everything is white and you will get lost, many times. It is cold at the lake and the kids are wet (extra socks would be good.) You cannot start a fire because all the wood is wet. The fish are not biting so don’t bring your fishing rod. You will hear an avalanche!

In other words- Please don’t go hiking at higher elevations in May ever again!

Priceless treasure

Today some neighbors trimmed there hedges and we found this little fellow very exposed. I knew the family would not return to the nest out in the open, so we claimed it. This is a real treasure to our family, we are very excited. We marvel at the complex and laborous work. Over the last few years we have become bird watchers. It is like a treasure hunt looking for birds. You have just a brief moment to observe & memorize some features before they fly off, and then try to identify them in your book. It is a fun challenge.

Mouthwatering Rhubarb

If you have rhubard, you know it is growing CRAZY right now. Here is my favorite rhubarb recipe. So easy, so yummy.

Rhubarb- Strawberry Crisp

Stir the following together in a bowl:
4 cups diced rhubarb
4 cups halved strawberries
¾ cup sugar
2 tsp orange zest
2 TBL cornstarch
¼ cup orange juice

Pour into a greased 9x13 in pan. For topping, cut together:

9 TBL cold butter
1 ¼ cup flour
¼ cup brown sugar
¼ cup sugar
Pinch of salt

Spread over fruit. Bake at 375’ for 45 minutes. Top with cream or ice cream. Enjoy!

Chopper man

A good part of each day is spent following this fellow around with his real hammer and ear protectors. Yesterday we actually got out to the fabric store and can you believe he found a hammer for sale at the fabric store? I never knew. Well of course I had to buy it. It was destiny. It is smaller and safer looking then our others. He keeps me laughing.

fairy fun

I had lots of girls at my house today so I kept them busy making fairy furniture. They loved it.

I'm Dyeing

I saw this really cute quilting project I wanted to make. It takes various shades of solid yellow fabric. Well I haven’t had much luck finding a variety at the stores so then I started wondering if I could dye my own. I got a few books from the library about natural dyeing and it sounds soo fun. You can try just about any plant (dandylions, flowers, moss) and sometimes get very surprising results with the colors. This might become my latest little hobby. There are various techniques but I want to try setting them in the sun in glass jars on hot days. The Native Americans were very good at this, (they would use buffalo gallbladder for a deep yellow.) Do you know why purple was always a color for royalty? Because it took 10lbs of mollusk shells and 30 days just to dye a yard of purple fabric. There is also vegetable dyes too, (I have started saving my onion skins for a pot.)It will be fun to experiment with berries and such. My husband smiles and tunes me out when I start telling him all this and calls me “Mountain Woman.” So many projects, so little time!

All I need to know I learned from Trees

• Its important to have roots.
• It pays to branch out.
• Dont pine away for old flames.
• Dont be afraid to go out on a limb.
• Be flexible so you dont break when a harsh wind blows.
• Sometimes you have to shed your old bark in order to grow.
• Grow where your planted.
• It okay to be a late bloomer.
• Avoid people who want to cut you down.
• Your cant hide your true colors in the autumn of your life.

Happy Earth Day!