Summer Sunrise

A few summer's ago we started this beautiful tradition of a summer sunrise on the beach.

We take a light breakfast (and hot tea for mom) and a blanket and go across the street to the beach.

It is always the best part of day, cool breeze and not too many people. We lay down our blanket and watch as the sky evolves from grey, to light pink to orange.

It is so serene and energizing. I always say ,"We'll do this again." But, we never do, until the next year.

Down in the Meadow

I came across this sweet little blog and thought I would send the info along to you. She has beautiful items & a wonderful blog. Check out her blog and market

down in the meadow market

I have created this meadow market swap shop for all those who love to browse through markets and find treasures...Down in the meadow market you will find knitted, felted and fabric toys that are Waldorf inspired . I hope to add goodies for Mama's too. I also spin so I will have natural handspun wool to swap. I am open to trade with other things. Tea's, edibles, cards, fabric, knitting needles etc.... We can exchange names and addresses and wait eagerly for our parcels to arrive.

A weekend away

My sweet girls went for a weekend away with Grandma. She took them a few hours away to see their cousin.  These are the bags they decorated to hold their lunches for the road!

It was a quiet few days, but a much needed break for me. And, it was almost a get-a-way weekend for my and my hubby. Thought we stayed right here!   We went out to dinner, went to a movie and walked on the beach...no babysitter needed  *wink*

Homemade Pickles

This year in our garden I decided to add a few pickling cucumbers so we could make sweet bread & butter pickles. We have had quite a crop coming in, so it was time to get to it. I have never canned anything before, so I checked out Youtube and watched it step-by-step.

Here is what we did.

 Chop pickling cucumbers about 1/4" thick. Then put in a large bowl and cover with ice
and Kosher salt. Let stand about 3 hrs.

When the 3hrs is up, rinse and drain cukes. Pour 4-5 cups white vinegar into large pot. Add 2 1/4 cups sugar, 1 Tbsp mustard seed, 1/2 tsp celery seed, 1 tsp turmeric. Bring to a boil and add the cut cukes.

Get your canning jars ready!

Boil water in another large pot and carefully drop in jars and lids. Boil a few minutes then very carefully remove. There are special canning tools, but I don't have any- yet.

When your cucumbers start boiling again & looking like green pickles (about 15 min) they are ready!

Fill jars with a slotted spoon within 1 inch of the top. Then, add liquid brine to the top, add cover & screw on lid tightly. You are done!  If you are planning on canning a lot and not refrigerating the cans, then do one more step. Put filled & lidded jars back in the boiling water and boil 10 min more. Water should cover jars by 1/2".  Yum!

Simple Living Giveaway

The Waldorf Connection is participating in the Block Party on Simple Homeschool so check it out! There are some great prizes

Waldorf- Celebrating Summer Solstice

Summer Sunset- from Circle Round

Summer sun, summer sun we watch as you set
Sending your long arms of light from the west
Summer sun, summer sun you shine so bright
As you begin your return to the night

Celebrating the Summer Solstice is always bittersweet for me. I know the summer has just begun, yet I know it is the beginning of the end. It helps us remember not to get so attached to the way things are, as everything changes.
We always save the top of our Christmas tree to burn in our Summer Solstice bonfire. We planted sunflowers, and did our circle dance around the fire (well, close to the fire anyway- it was about 90 degrees outside)
Then, we offered our gifts to the fairies, who always leave little trinkets..

We came back in and had a yummy summer treat- ice cream followed by a story, To Be Like the Sun about sunflowers.

Garden Bounty

Our organic garden is really producing after 2 weeks of hot, steamy weather. We have collected a handful of pickling cucumbers (which we will be making into pickles & relish) and few red tomatoes, a few cucumbers and a pepper. And there is a lot more on the way.
Our poor zucchini has been infested with zucchini borers (big white worms with black heads that eat the fruit from the inside) so, we may not be able to save them... I guess that is how it goes when you don;t spray.

We also have these tomato bugs (?) that we are handpicking to stay ahead of them this year. The girls actually love to go out and find bugs on the leaves and knock them off (or worse, put them in hot soapy water!) So I leave that job to them!
I have 1 more round of lavender blooming and I will cut it tomorrow before it gets too hot.(Did I mention it was 83 degrees when we got up this morning?)