And One More Surprise in the Mail

So the chicks are finally with their rightful owner.  They stayed with us much longer than expected and we even wound up getting them set up to spend the night with a special light we borrowed from a neighbor.

While I was initially delighted to find the unexpected box full of adorable chicks on my porch, dealing with them was increasingly annoying as the day wore on.  I wasn’t happy about having to take them inside the house as the temperature outside dropped in the evening.  Inside the house their little chirps were suddenly much louder and it was getting to be too much.  By the time we finally located the owner and they were carried out of my house at 8 pm, I was ready to celebrate.

And this morning I found another surprise in the mail, but this one was much less stressful.   It was a card and present from the owner of the chicks — the Audubon Field Guide to Wildflowers and a thank you note for keeping his little chicks safe and warm.

And with that, the chick adventure was complete!

Surprise in the Mail

This morning I suddenly heard the sound of lots of birds chirping.  I looked out the window expecting a flock of birds to be passing by or filling a nearby tree but I couldn’t find anything.

I stepped outside on the porch and it was so much louder.  The skies and trees were empty so I started searching around for a nest somewhere on our porch.  Since we use our porch for the farm, there are a lot of places to look like on top of the cooler, and behind it, but I couldn’t find anything.

The chirping was was so loud and so close, but I was stumped.  Finally I noticed a brown box that seemed to  appear out of nowhere on the floor.   When I peaked inside I saw it was packed with the most adorable multicolored baby chicks.   After a little more investigation and I saw that they were delivered by the post office but to the wrong address and according to the invoice there were 55 little bantam chicks packed in that box including 5 roosters.  Since we get a ton of farm related deliveries here, I guess the postman just assumed the chicks were for us.

But our porch floor is too cold for baby chicks, and the instruction sheet said not to let children less than 5 touch them because of disease risk so I did not want to bring them inside. The temptation would be too much, after one little peak my two year old immediately started talking about kissing them (kiss chicken, kiss chicken).

After a couple of frantic phone calls to the neighbor who was supposed to receive them (no answer, cell phone is off) and the hatchery in Texas,   I moved the box into one of our greenhouses which us currently full of flowering tat soi. The folks at the hatchery seemed to think that would be OK for the time being. But by tonight they will need more warmth and water and a little food.

I am hoping they will be OK out there, they really need an incubated box but it is unseasonably warm today and warmer still in the greenhouse.  I really hope that neighbor checks his cell phone messages soon, 55 new baby chicks is a huge unexpected responsibility.   In fact, I better go check on them right now!

7 pm update:

They are still here, no news from the owner (sigh)!  Now they are under a light from a neighbor, in our bathroom and have water. And here is a photo.

Strawberry Summer Cake in February

I love you WORLD

So it turns out Valentines day is a huge deal in preschool.  My son was looking forward to it for weeks and when the day finally arrived there was a party at school complete with candy, presents and yes dinosaur temporary tattoos.  He even brought home his first Valentine with a carefully lettered “I love you” message on the front. Fishing for compliments, I asked, “Is this for Dad or for me, or for the whole family.”   His answer was stunning, and humbling.  “It is for the whole world, I love everyone in the world.”  Four year olds are truly amazing creatures.

I used to be a Valentine’s day skeptic, I would call it a Hallmark Holiday and laugh at the cheap candy on display at the drug store and grocery stores.  And while you still won’t find me wishing for imported shrink wrapped roses, I have definitely come around.  I think it is my increased sense that life is short and we should focus on adding and not subtracting reasons to celebrate.  And if that means adding some extra holidays to the family calendar,  I think we should do it.

So with that in mind I went looking for a special recipe and found this one for Strawberry Summer Cake at the Smitten Kitchen.  We are lucky enough to still have several large bags of our own frozen strawberries from our farm in the freezer.  My husband throws big bags in the freezer during strawberry season, green hulls and all and we eat them all winter, usually just defrosted in a bowl.  But when I saw this recipe it seemed like the perfect fit.

So here it is, our version of Strawberry Summer Cake in February.  You can see mine is not as pretty as the one on the Smitten Kitchen site. That is in part because some of the strawberries were already pinched by one of my youngest valentines before I took the picture.  Plus, I am apparently not a food photographer!

I would definitely recommend trying out this recipe, and it is a great way to use frozen strawberries.  I think since you are cooking them, they are just as good as fresh.  And during the strawberry season,  I think I will stick with my shortcake recipe like this one from Mother’s Day, the other Hallmark holiday that I have decided to embrace.

So happy Valentines Day, I hope you found a way to celebrate too.

Sharing a Friend’s Post

My friend and fellow blogger just posted this beautiful piece remembering her mother on her blog, AbiTravelblog.   It contains some interesting wisdom about parenthood and reminds me of the importance of writing to and about our children.

I loved reading the piece and I want to share it here in case you want to read it too.

Shabbat Shalom!

Happy Birthday to my Blog – A Self-Referential Post

A year ago this week I launched this blog with this nervous sounding post.   I offer my apologies to anyone who has waited for the promised sewing posts, they were few and far between.  And also I apologize to the many who arrived at this site searching for instructions for sewing a lettuce edge, my stats say there were lots of you.  I have sewn some lettuce edging, but my method seems to break machine needles and I am sure you will have better luck looking elsewhere like here!

I had been thinking about starting this blog for a while but I had a whole list of concerns. Do I have time for it? Would it detract from other writing projects? Would it be annoying and naval gazing? Would I find myself in a silly endless self referential loop blogging about my blog (like right now)? Do I really have to choose one topic when there are  so many things to write about? People are so busy, why would anyone ever read it?

I finally decided to give it a try and so far blogging has exceeded all my expectations.  While I don’t have a huge number of readers, those of you who do read this blog have been so supportive, and I will take quality over quantity any day.  It has helped me think through some of my decisions and feel less isolated as a stay at home mom.

I was happy to host a couple of guest writers,landscape designer Cheryl Corson and a jewelry maker Emily Rosenfeld. And I have been posting sort of regularly at a Jewish Parenting blog Kveller.com. I would love to collaborate more with other bloggers, and welcome ideas and guest writers.

Blogging here has helped me write more often, which in turn seems to spur more writing ideas.  I have somehow found time for the blog, during naps or while children dug around in the sandbox.  I have published a few articles here and there and I am gearing up for more magazine type writing and other creative writing.  Rather than distracting from other writing, it seems writing begets writing, so it is win-win on that front.

I am sincerely looking forward to year 2.  I am truly grateful to each of you who read this blog, I wish I could hand you each a cupcake, or a lettuce salad, depending on your preference!  I hope you stick around to see what happens here next!

And thanks to WordPress, for making it all so easy.

Nursing our Fledgling Apple Orchard

The Jewish New Year for trees, or Tu Bishvat is coming up next week. In anticipation, I wrote the following piece for the Jewish parenting blog Kveller.com, which is also running a contest where you can win a package of our organic dates from our small business supporting Israeli farmers. Thanks for reading and Shabbat Shalom!

Years ago my husband and I volunteered on Kibbutz Sde Eliahu in Israel, working in an organic vineyard and vegetable garden. On Tu Bishvat (the Jewish holiday celebrating the new year for trees!) kibbutzniks we had never seen in the fields came to help in the garden for a few hours. When we left the kibbutz, the leader of the vineyard gave us a little farewell blessing. We didn’t understand it all but he definitely said to “have children” and “plant trees with real roots, not just tomatoes.”

So, we returned home and pretty much got to work following his instructions.

Six years later, we are grateful to have two small children and a tiny heirloom apple orchard. The orchard is still very young and vulnerable. The trees are spindly and they had a tough time during last year’s flood. A few of them are no taller than our 4-year old boy and have branches as thin as pencils. I am always happy to see a bird rest on one of these little branches, treating the sapling like a real tree for a moment.

Here in Maryland it is still winter and far too early to plant trees on Tu Bishvat. So we are developing our own little Tu Bishvat tradition. This year, we plan to take our children down to our fledgling heirloom apple orchard to visit the trees and give them some much needed attention. We will bring a nice pile of mulch to each tree, check them for winter damage and possibly add a few bamboo support poles if needed. We will talk to the children (and probably the trees too) about our hopes for a day when the trees are full of fruit and strong enough to climb. We will imagine Tu Bishvat in Israel, where almond trees are blooming. And by then we’ll probably need to go inside to warm up.

This article originally appeared here on kveller.com. Kveller.com offers a Jewish twist on parenting, everything a Jewish family could need for raising Jewish children–including crafts, recipes, activities, Hebrew and Jewish names for babies…and advice from Mayim Bialik.