The cutest horse ever

Although I have made my peace with the fact that we will not be moving out to the country to live in a real farm, there is a tiny hurt in my heart because that means that we will never be able to bring our horse, Padji, to come and live with us. I have never mentioned Padji here on the blog, but he is the one and only horse in my heart and, without a doubt, the cutest horse ever!



We got Padji for Victoria, and she rode him for several years in pre-childrens and childrens classes. He is a Selle Francais, and a ham (in case you can't tell by looking at the pictures) :) They are beautiful together, and I am very proud of all their accomplishments as a team. With Victoria preparing to go to college in the Fall, Padji will be leased out, which means that I won't get to see him much. I am really sad about this, but I can't bring him home, and he will be happy to have a dedicated rider. Or so I hope.

In past years I spent a lot of time at horse shows and horse-related events. Thinking about a future that does not include horses feels a bit strange, and very bittersweet. On one hand, I will have time for reading, gardening, and cleaning my house. On the other hand, I will miss the love of the horses, which is like nothing else I've ever experienced. And I will miss my horsey friends. And I will miss the wonderful compost :)

A Paris-themed quilt

Victoria's bedroom is decorated in pink and black and has a Parisian theme. I wanted to make her a soft, fluffy throw for Christmas so she could take it with her when she goes to college, something that would remind her of home.

I got the fabrics a bit at a time, just cottons that made me think of the theme, and finally found a Michael Miller pink fabric with Eiffel towers that was what tied it all together. I pieced the top in a fairly simple way. All rectangles are 6x12", and I staggered them while keeping the order constant (I am going to have to branch out and do a random pattern one day, but I am just scared of randomness!).



Once I had the top put togheter, and I found the fluffy fabric that I wanted to use for the backing, I sent it all to Linda at Long Arm Quilting and she did the rest. She searched for an Eiffel Tower quilting pattern and made the whole thing look just perfect. The throw was quilted with no batting, to keep it from getting stiff. It is beautiful, and it drapes so well.

Victoria has mentioned that the throw is a bit on the small side. I think when she goes to live in the dorms she will appreciate its compact size. I know its nice and warm just the way I wanted it. I hope she will grow to love it too.

The littlest farmer is two!

Our newest addition to the smallest farm may have been a surprise, but we can't imagine life without him now! I can't believe he is already two years old! We celebrated with friends and neighbors, and then we celebrated some more at day care with all his peers. As you can tell by the picture, the boy loves cake, and the more colorful the frosting, the better!



We got him a Thomas the train cake from Harris Teeter, the obvious choice, which made him very happy. Not only did he get to admire the cake and eat it, he got a train and a caboose to play for. Can't argue with that deal.

It didn't take him long at all to understand that all the fuss was about his birthday, and he was a most gracious host for the most part. He even shared his new toys with all of his friends. Of the toys he got he really didn't seem able to pick a favorite. The Thomas tent was a big hit (and it's thankfully not hard to fold at all, because it sure is big and bulky!). Rocking Elmo was, well, rocking! It is really amazing that Elmo can recognize his instruments and pretty much carry a conversation. And the doctor's kit that he received means that now instead of calling him Mr. Daniel we will have to call him Dr. Daniel. Not bad for a guy who is just two years old!

Collards for Christmas (well, for New Year's Day!)

I have wanted to have homegrown collard greens for New Year's Day ever since we planted our home garden. Collard greens are supposed to be a lucky way to start the year, and it just sounds good. However, every single year I've managed to mess it up by planting my collards too late. Collards don't grow fast in cold weather, and there is no way to cook a big pot of collards if all you have are seedlings.
This year I planted collards in the Spring, and nursed them all the way through the summer. Well, if you consider nursing the same as blasting them with water on a regular basis and picking up nasty cabbage moth larvae from them every week. I had collards full of holes marring my perfect little square foot garden landscape this whole gardening season. I did a lot of looking the other way. But look who's looking now!
I have three huge, happy, healthy big collard plants. I will have enough to cook a whole mess of collards for New Year's Day, and then some. It's like my very own Christmas present from my garden. And since it's the only thing in the garden right now (save for my loyal garlic seedlings), I'll take it!

New Year's Day Collards:
A big bunch of collards (8 cups cleaned and torn in little pieces)
A smoked ham hock
4 cups chicken stock
Cook on low in a crockpot for 8 hours. You can start it the night before and have them for lunch on New Year's day, with black-eyed peas.

The big pepper year

2011 wasn't a very good year for tomatoes or squash, but it sure was a good year for peppers! While the tomatoes baked in the sun, the pepper plants got bigger and stronger. As soon as the weather cooled off just a little bit then all the pepper plants were covered with white blooms and then with peppers right away. It's funny how weather that makes one crop miserable will help another one grow.

We planted some green bell peppers, and some jalapenos, but the real star this year were the Pimientos de Padron that we grew from seeds that my dad brought us from Spain. These peppers are like nothing else I've ever seen! They look so innocent, but they do have a secret...some of them are the hottest peppers you will ever eat! It is really weird and random. You're supposed to pick them while they are green and small. Some will be mild, some will be a bit spicy, and some will be worse than a habanero. Not kidding you, there is no rhyme or reason.

If you let them grow and turn red, then they are just too hot for words. Even our friends Jo and Christine, who can tolerate any kind of crazy hot food you can dish out, were floored by the peppers. It was kind of fun to surprise them!

The train quilt on the train bed

This project is a cooperation between mom and dad, and it came together just in time for Christmas! This will be Daniel's surprise as he will be getting his big boy bed on Christmas day :)

Craig made this bed for Nicholas almost 7 years ago. It took him a long time, because he was very careful with the woodworking, carving and painting. The bed is beautiful, but Nicholas is now getting to be too big for a train bed, so it's time to pass it on to Daniel, together with the train station lamp that doubles as a DVD shelf.




I wanted to make the train quilt to be his very own, and I really put my heart and soul into it. The train quilt really came alive with the wonderful quilting done by Linda Lovett (you can find her at www.longarming.com). She is an artist! Once I got the quilt in my hands, I couldn't wait to bind it, and take some pictures. Binding is not my favorite thing to do, but I was so fired up that I got it done in 3 nights.



I can't wait to see Daniel's face on Christmas day when he realizes that he now has a big boy bed!

A quilted receiving blanket

I made this receiving blanket for a friend who just had her first baby. The fabrics were all from my stash, all I had to buy was the chenille that I used for the reverse side. The squares are 6x6", and the whole thing took just two hours to make once I had the squares cut. There is no batting in the middle. The top is mostly flannels and quilting cotton (I think the little cowboy print is the cutest thing!), and the reverse is a light blue chenille. It is lightweight but very cuddly, and it was very well received.

I don't think you can every have too many baby blankets, and this one was handmade but easy to care for, so I hope that Karim and his mommy will enjoy using it! :)