seed catalog time

Posted on January 30, 2014 by BeSquirrely

Those seed companies really have their finger on the pulse of the Polar Vortex, don’t they? Just when we get buried in another blanket of white, the seed catalogs arrive in our mailbox. Perfect timing! Phoebe has really taken to these catalogs. Like Wren has for the last couple of winters, Phoebe will get to choose a couple things to grow this coming year.

Hopefully there’s some room left for all the different types of cabbage I want to grow this year! I took a class on fermenting earlier this week. We made our own curried ginger sauerkraut and learned how to make kombucha and kimchi. Ferment on!

While I’m not one to lament winter and begin the “days to spring” countdown yet, it’s fun to dream about getting dirt under our fingernails again…

Have you started your gardening plans for the year yet?

the day we stopped composting

Posted on January 27, 2014 by BeSquirrely

Another casualty of the Polar Vortex? Our compost bin. It’s frozen and can’t easily be reached since we’ve received over 150″ of snow this winter. Actually in all fairness to winter, we received a helluva lot of snow before winter even began (just over a month ago!). So the sad time has come to stop composting until the next thaw, err, July. Sigh.

See you in the spring, swings and slide.

It might be about time to refill the feeders for our feathered friends…

ABCs Google style

Posted on January 25, 2014 by BeSquirrely

Have you ever done a quick rundown on your Google searches? I just did one. Pretty interesting! Just type the first letter and the Google search field will fill in what you last (?) searched for with that letter…

Alt Summit

Bleubird Vintage

Candy cane playdoh artful parent

diy snow globe

easy quiche

farmland 5K

great lakes children’s museum

holiday hills traverse city mi

importance of meta data

juan pablo bachelor

kids cookie making kit christmas

low carb family meals

minimalist wordpress theme

northern michigan rocks

original nelson bench

paleo coconut curry chicken soup

quaga mussel

rose bowl 2014 playing on what tv channel

slow cooker cabbage vegetable soup

tcaps

up north ABCs

vasa ski club

waterfall quote

xfinity

yvestown blog

zappos

The Birdies. 4/52

Posted on January 25, 2014 by BeSquirrely

Portraits of my birdies, once a week, for every week of the year.

Wren plants paperwhites. Hopeful!

A mushroom springs up.

Phoebe Jane – having lots of fun with the puppet theatre.

Wren concentrating on her letters.

Impromptu reading time after gymnastics. The birdie sisters. xo

weekending

Posted on January 25, 2014 by BeSquirrely

The “Polar Vortex” continues in northern Michigan and honestly, we are loving it. As Chris likes to exclaim, “now THIS is a REAL winter!” I just shoveled last night and we got another six (or more) inches last night. It’s beautiful, isn’t it? The cold has kept the snow light and fluffy and although it’s been windy today, the snow is still piled high on all the birdfeeders, branches and any other horizontal surface it can find. We’ve been trying to get out and enjoy it as much as we can: XC skiing, sledding, downhill skiing, kicking out the wheel wells, shoveling. Shoveling. Even driving is an adventure with the snow piled so high that it makes it hard to see at the intersections. Luckily everyone is inching out and taking it easy so we’re all in the same boat, err, sled.

This guy loves this snow and cold. Winter is one shared love we’ve always had. I know many people who prefer to hibernate and while we like to do some of that, we prefer to be out in it. There’s nothing like skiing out in the woods, sweating and feeling your heart beat out of your chest from the exertion. And while it’s 7 degrees out, you’re sweating. It makes me feel ALIVE.

Speaking of hibernation, we’re doing quite a bit of that this weekend too. Simmering ribs and making macarons. Friends are coming over tonight! There will be wine and laughter and a feeling of “we’re all in this polar vortex together,” so let’s enjoy each other. We’re thankful to have great food, friends and warmth.