"Home" or soon to be!

This tiny little town on Kootenay Lake (the largest natural lake in BC) is such an unbelievably stunning place. There is so much beauty in so small a place that it is hard to know where to start..but here is a taste of some of the lovely that i have found..

wall art..

All you need to make these ridiculously cute and simple wall hangings is fabric that you love and wooden embroidery hoops.. i added buttons to mine because, well. i LOVE buttons.

It is such a fun way to display special fabric and a really wonderful way to add something to a space without spending any money (the hoops are thrift shop finds.. and the fabric i already had around the house..)

These circles adorn our eating area in the kitchen.


These ones are in our living-room in a corner above a play area.. The pink one is made of a sweater that i found at the thrift shop. i loved the print but i rarely wear pink..or prints for that matter.. so up on the wall it went! Im making little pants with the sleeves..

Elwynn made this painting on earth day and i plan to reproduce it on a hoop using cloth and embroidery (something i have discovered i enjoy very much!) because it is just so incredibly beautiful, and i want something that will last forever. "i will take care of worms" *sigh*

And button tacks! i saw something like these on ETSY one day and thought..we have tacks and buttons. lets make some! here are the results.. i couldn't find very many different sized or coloured buttons(because i still have yet to sort out my mountains of craft supplies...)
but the little ones had a great time with this craft anyways!

First Harvest!

The little ones and i picked our first harvest of rhubarb today!

I am ever so happy. It seems like just last week it was only starting to show itself to the world, and now it is overflowing with delicious red stalks.
It grew very quickly with the recent spring rains and warm sunshiney days.





Now the yummy part! what to make with it.
The options are endless.
rhubarb Upside-Down cake....or Stewed rhubarb..
rhubarb Crisp....Sorbet?
Or i could cut it up and freeze it for another day......

A piece of Bright!

This wee daffodil flower was a lot of fun to make!

Its been a long while since i did much in the way of making beautiful things, unless you count the bread that ive been baking a few times a week. its beautiful in its own right, but not quite as sweet or bright as this.

The stem is a pipe cleaner wrapped with florist tape, then wound with green wool yarn. The rest is wool felt (brown, green and two shades of yellow) and a piece of wool batting for the inside.
SoOoO incredibly Simple! There is a flower girl who goes with the flower...i'm working on her..but i may make a few more flowers first!

The pattern can be found in the book Making Flower Children by Sylvie Adolphie

Spring!

With bated breath & some tiny bit of uncertainty, because you never can tell what mother nature will do next, i can say that i really truly think that spring has finally decided to grace us with her warm and green presence!

Clearwater is for the most part free of snow (with the exception of a few sunless patches here and there) and slowly but surely growing springier ever day! robins are out in force, green buds are popping up and even some leaves are slowly showing their tiny selves to the world. my rhubarb is budding out all ruby red and sweet! and Ive discovered a huge patch of raspberries which I'm itching to get to. they need to be pruned back and thinned a wee bit...but it looks like we will be drowning in raspberry jam & other yummy things come summer!

Easter came and went in a fury of cut-out-cookies and icing, dyed Easter eggs, chocolate and sunshine.. our Easter tree is still adorning out kitchen window and in leaf too! we chose a piece of red willow tree and sure enough its doing its springtime thing too, just in our kitchen.

Seedy Saturday was amazing..the ski-lodge where it happens every year was full to brimming with friendly, smiling faces.. seeds and plants and good things to eat and smell and touch were all around. it gave me more than a bit of nostalgia, thinking of leaving this town..and i may even be re-thinking it. it is hard to know why my feet get so itchy every spring, but i may try to talk myself out of leaving just now. not only that but it looks like Kaslo is a bumping place and there is nothing available in terms of homes for us there. it wouldn't be so bad staying here, planting a garden..maybe getting our chickens finally! i dint know for sure, but i think for the summer at least i can safely say that we will be staying put. i kind of dread spending another winter here, but on the other hand Kaslo has just as long and cold a winter as here. maybe we just need to find a house with a wood stove!
i bought a bunch of new varieties of tomatoes to try and and some wild Italian arugula! a few new house plants..a wandering Jew & an angel wing begonia. Ive always wanted one!
mm..and some vanilla goats milk soap. divine.
I'm so looking forward to the farmers market starting up again so that i can see all of my favorite folks again. winter gets lonely!

Yesterday we spend a beautiful day visiting a local sheep ranch with Elwynn's school. Aveley ranch has been in Vavenby for 103 years! and you can feel the wisdom and love for the land when you step foot there. I was completely and utterly (hehe!) taken with the place. something about hundreds of tiny lambs does that to a person.

Our day was full-to-brimming with information about sheep and lambs, and how wool is processed.. the kids got to try out hand and drum carders and spinning wheels and what-not. we watched a lamb being born out in one of the fields, right up close! it was a very new experience for some of the children! we had a hayride all around the land, which is vast and stunning..there were scones and tea in this neat old pioneers shack, a museum of sorts all about the history of the land and family and then they all make sweet wooden boats and raced them down a fast flowing little stream. it was such a great time! i think that the favorite of all was the snuggling and feeding of the newborn orphan lambs. i could have stayed there forever!
here are a few photos of our adventure..

Spring Cleaning & Thoughts On Moving..

Since we have been away from home (visiting family is far off places) i have been thinking a LOT about "home" i love my home. no other place feels just right for us..but what is home?.. its not the place,at least not for me..its what anhd who is in it..that is what makes it cozy and homey and yours. we move a lot and are thinking of moving again..well not thinking. we will move again. how soon and where is still up in the air. right now we are really strongly considering Kalso, BC. Not all that far from where we are now..i thought a few months ago that i was here to stay. that i had found my home sweet home..but a lot has changed, if only in my head, that makes me feel like this is not so. there is a lot to desire in a small town like clearwater, and honestly im getting restless and bored here. but the home part is something i can and will take with us everywhere we go. i visit family & friends and their homes are theirs.. and it makes me long for mine. I guess im not the dusty foot traveller that i once was. its hard being far from home with 3 little ones and all of the things that go with us. and now that my head is in moving mode im thinking of all of the things that need to be done before we pack up and fine a new place to make ours..things to fix, things to sell, things to give away. things to paint and mend and burn. its exciting and gives me butterflies in my stomach thinking about doing it all over again.
and we need to find that place too! im trying to manifest the perfect place..close to town, spacious with wood heat.. clean & bright with a garden for veggies..someday soon we will find our next home..and with all of these words on my mind is this..“Have nothing in your house that you do not know to be useful, or believe to be beautiful”

Im on ETSY!

I finally Opened shop a few weeks ago!
Im not having much luck selling yet, but i'm slowly working on new things to stock the shop with..
It is exciting though, none the less! I feel like even getting up the courage to do it, seeing as i'm mainly single parenting my 3 small children, is an accomplishment. I'm trying to be positive about it all, which isn't always easy.But who ever said the easy way is the best way?

There are so many wonderful sellers on ETSY. If you have not checked it out yet, you should!

Here is the link to my shop. Check it out. Heart me and feel free to buy something!
All proceeds go towards getting our Pup Finn neutered!

ApatchWorkHeart

Love & Revolution,
Fern

happy heart day

we don't do a huge "valentines day" thing since in not big on corporate holidays..
but i do like days that are special, that we can celebrate our little family and all of the love we have for each other. for me its not about buying stuff, so we do it our way.

to celebrate we had a pancake breakfast which we shared with my momma and her adopted son. i made egg free pancakes (allergies) shaped as hearts.. of course! lots of butter and organic maple syrup. they were too good to be true.

then we had a beautiful walk in the bright winter sunshine down to the river, and i forgot my camera, as always..it was so warm that we shed our jackets and gloves and hats and played on the few feet of beach beside the river that wasn't covered with snow..the little ones had such a nice time skipping rocks and setting ice flows free down the slowly running winter river. it was heaven on earth. truly.


elwynn was being especially lovey with his sister rue that day.

here are a few photos...

new&green

i am ever so happy!

i have my new & green laptop. its wonderful..better than wonderful even.. i have finally been able to get all of my hundreds of pictures off of my camera..ive spent an hour looking through them and sorting them out. editing (i love the red eye fixer!) so many images! so many memories. *sigh*

here are a few of my latest hand-made creations..

oh..and speaking of new..i am opening up an Etsy shop! i have yet to post anything for sale, but when i do, i will surely blog about it...

Happy Birthday..Happy Birthday..Happy Birthday!

We have celebrated 3 birthdays in the past few months!Ngaio had her 3rd Birthday in November Elwynn turned 6 in December! and Yesterday, January 24th, was Rue-bee's first birthday!

I remember in vivid detail each birth... each day before and after they were born.
how much i wanted to meet them and the tiniest inklings of fear that something might happen and i may never know them.. i feel very blessed and very thankful that these small people chose me to be their mother and that i have had every day for 6, 3 and 1 year to get to know just who they are.. inside and out. i look forward to growing along side these beautiful beings for ever and a day..

i try to live in awe and remember to see the world through their wide open eyes. if we could all see and experience the world the way children do, it would be a much happier existence for all.

thank you for choosing me! you are my universe.
~mamafern

a moment in time

i just have a second, but here are a few pictures of rue...her first birthday is nearing!

this involves knitting!

really..truly!



so today at the library(where i wrote my last rambling post) as i was checking out, i spied..not one, but TWO new knitting books! i have to say that I'm utterly in love with my librarian. she is a bit prickly to begin with. in fact the first year i lived in Clearwater i was sure she outright despised me (well more like my rowdy kids).. but i found the way to her heart.. yes. knitting! it took me a while to notice that all of the best books in the library were fibre related..but lo and behold i have a kindred spirit! she is the head librarian here, and so with her magical book powers she orders a Lot of beautiful knitting/fibre books, and magazines.. including spin off, and interweave and vogue knitting and more..and LIVING CRAFTS! she hadn't heard of it but when i brought the winter issue in to show her she was soOo excited and ordered a library subscription on the spot. *gush* she knits and felts and sells her wares at the local farmers market AND has agreed that we Must start a knitters and weavers guild in Clearwater come spring. so much fun.

okay.. but back to the books.. the first is called "i love to knit socks" let me just start with "holy mother" these socks are sexy and beautiful and nifty and just wow. Ive come to the realization that my weeks of insomnia root from the need to knit socks. for me! yes.. all for meeee. I'm not one to knit myself anything much, so this is a big step. anyways.. if you love tm o knit socks.. or even look at socks you MUST see this book.. it has legwarmers too! second book. "knit to be square" all of the patters are knit in squares.. domino knitting? its a technique Ive never before used, but the patterns in this book are so lovely. i will learn! there is a pattern called "two block hat" that is just absolutely to die for. its pixie to the tree tops and just so sweet! im searching for a picture to add to this post..

winter..winter..winter...

I'm so sad. my hopes and dreams of posting regularly on my blog have been dashed since my computer crashed and died in December.. i had high hopes that it would be fixable, but no such luck. i did get an old computer given to me, but alas its a heap of crap, and every time i try to a) install flash player b) download pictures from my camera.. it restarts and acts all glitchy. so until i get the guts up to shell out mad cash to buy a new computer.. a laptop I'm thinking.. ill be blogging rarely. i suppose that i could still write, but somehow it feels so much less fun when there aren't pictures to post along with the words, because face it. my words are less than eloquent these days.. but since its been..well nearly two months since my last post i thought i had better say something!

my last post pail-o-snails.. well, i did make one, but i never did make a pail full. one day! i really tried to craft this winter, but having a 9-10-11 month old baby, a 3 year old!! and a 6 year old! makes it fairly difficult..especially since rue-bee is a mama's girl through and through..and pretty clingy these days to boot.

news..
ngaio turned 3 on November 28th.. it snowed that day, the first real snow of the year.. which is amazing because she was born on the first snow of that year ('05) it felt magical and special. after a snail cake with bees wax candles! and a special birthday party where she wore our new felt birthday crown and her snaily outfit i bought her from etsy we bundled up and had an evening of tobogganing in the dark snowyness.

i love that feeling of the first real wintery day when it all feels so wonderful. by now after 4 feet of snow..-36 temps and now rain and slushyness.. well, winter feels like it will never end!

more news..
elwynn turned 6 on December 26th.. the day after Christmas is a hard day for a birthday, but he did amazingly well, all considering. we had a small family party and..honestly its kind of a blur. but he was happy. birthdays are so strange. its a happy time, but also kind of sad for me. i cant believe that i have a 6 year old son! i mean.. really. that's pretty wild. he is so sweet and smart and artistic and independent. he is a person of his own. and a pretty wicked one at that! and my niece haeven had her 6th birthday on December 5th. i didn't get to see her but i was thinking of her lots that day. i remember when she was born. i became an auntie that day!!

rue is going to be 1 in a few weeks. she isn't yet walking, but is close! she says lots of words.. mostly mama, dog, ball, dad, gentle, up, down, hi, bye..im sure there are others.
life is a lot of fun with her in our lives.. much more so than i could have envisioned a year and a bit ago when i found out she was growing in my belly. having 3 kids is very rewarding, challenging for sure, but if anything its renewed my faith in the world and i know that i will have at least a few more some day. crazy? no!

and in other news, timothy got a new job as a baker at our local grocery store. he found out on the first of january. a very good omen! he seems to be enjoying it despite having to be there at 4am.
he is living in a house just a block from us.. im really happy about our family dynamic now. we get on great, have our space and have fun when we are together, which is what we lacked when living together. this year is proving to be a great one already.

happy winter solstice..happy new year..
love, light & wisdom to all.

fern&folk

Pail-Of-Snails!

Ngaio, my nearly 3 year old daughter, Loves Snails..
it all started when we got her this Pull-Along Plan Toys Snail..
she calls him "snailey guy" that was when she was just 2 but maybe younger... the years blur!

For her birthday, which is coming up on the 28th of November i am making her a snail themed party.. i was sort of kind of thinking of making a snail cake and im going to make a giant snail so the kids can do Pin-the-feelers-on-the-snail.. and i found wonderful snail print fabric on etsy that im going to sew up something with, as well as this beautifully made skirt and pinafore set from 3lilmuses which i splurged on for her.. because its just so lovely, i couldn't resist...but there real reason i'm writing this is because in my search for snailey crafts to do with the kids i found this so wonderful knitting pattern for these wee snails and slugs. im almost finished making my first one and its just sweet and so simple.. i had to share! as soon as i am..ill post a picture. my plan is to knit a whole bucket full and give her a pail of snails...

with love and snails,
fern

halloween

we had a pretty great halloween this year. there were all sorts of fun events and happenings..here are a few pictures of the kids. elwynn was a knight in shining armor for school, and ngaio was a faerie. rue was a snowflake.. evening costumes..elwynn as a pirate and ngaio little red riding hood (yes, it looks like she was eating chocolate, but no.. hehehe).
not the best photography, my camera battery was dying.. always at the worst time.
elwynn drew this most amazing skull and we carved it out as a jack-o-lantern.. it was very cool. this photo does not do it justice.
also, a picture of our very own black cat..

the days are certainly getting shorter quickly...night time falls and its black and cold. so far no snow in clearwater yet, but we are having very hard frosts.. it feels a lot like winter. but despite that the days are crisp and beautiful! we are taking lots of walks down the leafy streets, checking out the river and beach in all of its autumny glory. its my most favorite part of the year. i love the smell in the air especially. i love wearing mittens and hats and scarves and cozy sweaters. i like my leg warmers too!

we just got back from a trip to a forming eco-village about 5 hours north of here in and abouts the kakwa provincial park.. its a stunning part of BC.. the fraser river surrounds the property making it almost an island.. we hiked around the whole perimeter, close to 500 acres i think. it was pretty beautiful. wild and foresty. there is a herd?flock?murder? of alpacas and llamas on the land too. they are SO CUTE! im so mad at myself for not taking pictures. i was going to go find the sunday morning before we left, but the rain was falling in big fat drops and my camera isnt a fan of precipitation. a friend did take a bunch of pictures thoiugh, so when he sends them to me ill post some. they are really like faerie tale creatures. so graceful and... fluffy! on our way home we ended up breaking down, our veggie oil system failed us for the first time since february, when installed. timothy got it sorted out, but it was pretty worrisome for a few minutes. being stranded in the cold and rain on the side of an almost dead highway, in the middle of pretty much nowhere. not a great feeling. especially since i had stayed up till 2am talking with some of the most rad folks ive met for a long time. .i felt rather hung over and headachey, and kids stuck in cars..well, im sure most of you know how that is. but we got home.. no moose sightings to speak of (boohoo) rain and fog and snow didn't deter us. it was a trip to remember for sure. this map shows the vision for the eco-village.. so far there are just a few cabins and a farm house, a barn and pastures, a garden (certified organic) but this is what it will one day look like.,.

today was a beautious day.. here are a few pictures of our walk in the leaves.
in the pictures are..ngaio, rue and our sweet friend milo!

not working..will add pictures later..

5th october.

Autumn has fallen hard and fast here.. the rain has come, the mist and the falling leaves and sweet heavy smell of change in the air. i Love this time of year...the farmers market is overflowing with a rainbow of yummy things.. & the trees!.. i think that i missed out on photographing a lot of it this time around..we go on so many walks, and i forget my camera, and every day things are a bit different, different hues of orange, yellow and brown..less green, more leaves scattered on the grey concrete.

i especially love cooking at this time of year..its that comfort food thing. squash and beets and yams and potatoes, fresh meat & herbs! everything is so fresh and abundant in october! but there is this looming knowledge that soon enough the snow will fall and ill be left wishing for and missing the days of salad greens and kale and corn on the cob..but we make do, and spring is just around the next few corners, right?

on the homefront..my sister, and room mate has been gone for the last few weeks..we have inally adjusted to it and she arrives home tuesday.

ngaio has started her preschool program at the local elementary school. i didn't quite know what to expect but i'm totally blown away. the teacher "amy" is just wonderful. she isn't trained at a Waldorf teacher, but she is.. she is just lovely. the room is full of draped fabrics and there are fabulous wooden toys, and beautiful pictures and plants..nature tables and water tables and wheat berry play stations. i couldn't hope for anything more, honestly..and its free and close to home..5 days a week for 3 hours a day. and rue can also come with us, since its a parent partisipation group. im going to do some felting crafts with the kids which im so looking forward to, but so far, i'm just having fun exploring the new space and people with ngaio. they are making an "im precious" book these days with hand and foot prints and artwork about who they are. its really perfect.. they have outside time everyday around this big old willow tree on the side of the school.. bubbles and stories and jumping and playing...Oh, and the school is starting construction on ajn artificial wetlands project on the grounds..which all of the children will be a part of creating and maintaining. they got a grant from a wetlands conservation group. its just so cool! im thrilled with this town!

rue is crawling & fast these days.she is into everything. its fun to watch her explore the world..but she is a bit under the weather, and so a bit sad these days too.

so, its not as easy as i thought it would be..

i figured that having the computer at home would make it easier to keep up with everything onliney but its proving harder than i imagined!

our days are full of lots of not much of anything, but it leaves little time for me to sit at the computer and really write anything. i finally downloaded all 786 pictures from my camera today! it was very exciting re-looking at pictures from the last 6 months or so...i can't even believe how much elwynn, ngaio and rue have grown up and changed! ngaio looked like a baby when rue was born..now she is all long and girlish, and not a baby much at all. elwynn has shorter hair and is getting big, finally..some days a few years past i thought he would be 2 feet tall forever.
rue is all movey and eatey these days...its flashing before my eyes. i don't want to blink and have my babies leaving home. ak. its a scary thought..well, i admit some days i wouldn't mind less mess and less noise, but mostly i do enjoy it, and i'm trying to just be in the moment and not miss anything. i recently read a blog of a mom who was in a plane crash with her husband.. they survived, but are in really rough shape. life as she knows it. changed. forever.
it can happen so fast.

i had a moment like that today. ngaio, rue and i were out on a walk and our dog finn ran out into the road and a car came so fast, even though it wasn't going very fast at all and HIT him. i was stunned. he got up and ran to me, but i was so scared. for that split second everything went in fast forward and slow motion at the same time. we were on a quiet country road where all of the dogs and kids run around on the road. ive never seen anything/anyone hit that close to me. it shook me to the core. he just has some damage on one of his legs and paws..he isn't in pain, i gave him rescue remedy right away and took him home to rest..but he could have died! it could have been one of the kids.... it was one of those life changing moments. not a huge thing, but something so small can change us forever.

so its 7 and almost time to do the bedtime thing.. i havn't been sleeping well..there is so much to lie awake and think about. i admit living without timothy is harder than i imagined it to be. mostly its okay but i get moments of panic and loneliness that feel pretty terrifying. its all just a lot to cope with alone. but ium trying and hoping that its just a temporary thing while we both regroup and do some healing and work..

on another note, i have become pretty obsessed with bach flower remedies.. i have about 10 books out from library and on loan from friends and im reading and reading any second i have the chance. its very fascinating..a lot like homeopathy (well it is homeopathy really) which is another passion of mine.. ive ordered the set of 38 remedies and im dreaming of making remedies for everyone i know.. waiting on mail is a hard thing to do!!

well, baby is sad and snotty and nursey, so ill be off,

love and revolution!

fern

pictures..finally!~

sphats falls, just a few minutes from our home

timothy & the girls

almost crawling!


rue-bee & mama

rue learning to sit..51/2 or 6 months old..

elwynn & ngaio enjoying a lollipop @ the school playground..it was a joyous occasion as they have never been allowed one before.

elwynn, aug.2008@ spahats falls

rue & the umbrella, taken in dunster @ the Robson valley music festival aug 23rd.

rue-bee, 7 months old! sitting in her play corner in our new living room..

re-connected!

so finally, after more than a year! im back online. we live in a rural part of a smallish town on the north thompson river aka. clearwater.. sadly, our home isn't "in" town so we only have access to dial up..but i've never been happier to have slow internet in my life. anything will do. our days of getting out to the library are so few and far between that keeping up with anything on the web is nearly impossible. actually, we go to the library often, but im usually in search of good bedtime stories and something to occupy me on the off chance i have a minute to read to myself.. not to mention ngaio who has her hands in everything she shouldn't as soon as we pass through the doors. and rue who decides that she is famished whenever we aren't snug at home, namely in the car or at the library. but, no more complaining..as far as summer has gone (really almost gone, we are having hard frosts already..) we had a pretty good one. we moved, yes. stressful..but since then our days have mostly consisted of playing at the river (the raft) and just enjoying the time together. we have enjoyed saturday farmers markets, most especially the strawberry festival. all you can eat local starwberries.. pure and utter bliss! and we (timothy, ngaio, rue & i ) went to an amazing music festival just a few hours from here in the robson valley. it was such a sweet weekend.
a really family friendly, amazing music, wonderful folks good time.
i think i have a bit of a summer hangover today actually. *sigh*

i have much to do here today, school just started for elwynn and there is always piles our house stuff to do. but i wanted to take the opportunity to just say a few words here, just because i missed it so much..

im trying to DL pictures, but its proving difficult with this connection.

till next time,

fern