Some Of My Favorite Things 

::Lavender neck pillows (this is for a doll if you can believe it!)
::Salad and crusty bread
::Yarn (duh!)
::Warm candlelight 
::More yarn! (fab. Luna Grey Fiber Arts!)
::Cookies and coffee on a sunny and brisk autumn day

This & That

Making a dolly for the shop (she has since found a home!) knitting as usual, spinning up cashmere fleece, eating homemade Challah bread, enjoying life.

How is your start to fall coming along? 

Missing & Loving

The grey and dreary days are upon us and I'm feeling reminiscent of when I had a big ol' belly full of baby.  Baby V is our last beautiful baby, making our family of seven complete.  We are very blessed and happy with our little family and we are happy to see what our next chapter will be in life.  One thing for sure--- life is short and of what you make it to be.  I try to spend my days loving on all of our children, teaching them as best I can, appreciating family togetherness, making nursing meals and trying hard not to get crabby or yell ---- even when my coffee cup runs low! I try to knit some everyday, work on some doll orders and add to our shop, carve out a little writing time and design patterns in small little increments.  My hope is that soon enough--- we will have a a growing shop capable of supporting our family's needs.  

In the meantime I appreciate all of you wonderful readers and hope you can find time during the day to love and appreciate all that once was and all that will be in our future.  

Of Working & Burritos 

Pretty much.... slowly getting back into the working swing of things.  And to be honest, its super duper thought.  Social media, blogging, self promotion, the actual ACTUAL MAKING OF THE ITEM.  It is really hard to own a business when your a one women show.  I hope to add passive income in the form of knitting patterns to help on days when I can't actually complete a doll order due to the needs of being a mother (which always comes first). I am also slowly working on some eBooks in the genre of cook books and of crafting and parenting/family and self help/healing to help offset the days of heavy mothering and wife-ing and when I just can't get to my knitting basket.  Of course when our little area starts to grow with extra leftover we'd love to take that to market too.  

Burritos have been a staple around here... mainly because they are so easy to make and you can really incorporate a hefty chunk of fresh greens and herbs to it---very well rounded meal. 

If you have a chance please look over my "Goals" section on the top tabs of this blog... I'm putting out my intentions, so the world knows I intend to support my family using my knowledge, my blog, my books, my patterns and my handwork.  I know I cannot accomplish this goal by myself and that it takes a community of like-minded, beautiful, intelligent, people who are supportive and caring and kind-hearted who can come together for the help of another. 

I have listed some ways you can help if your interested..they are on that goal page.  You may also email me at:

earthsacredseeds@gmail.com if you have read this post and are interested!

First Dolly

Here is my last baby---- a GIRL!  Born at home nearly 7mo ago.  She is beautiful and of course being a doll maker i had to knit her up a dolly... it was quite literally the day after she was born.  I remember recovering in bed with my baby and my large stash of new yarn mail, and well I had the luxury of time. My husband took all four of our other children and I slept, nursed and knit the days away. 

Now Valentina is a big 7mo old and guess what?  Not only is she crawling and getting places FAST, she pulls herself up!  She has gone from a tiny baby to a fun loving and adventure seeking little one--- just like all my others. How wonderful it is to see your family grow and change. 

I think all people big and small should own dolls.  Starting with a first one--- in baby V's case her little knitted teether doll--- such a wonderful companion. 

In a not so distant future i hope to draft up the knitting pattern for the dolly---- its very simple and requires only straights and worsted weight yarn so it is a quick knit! 

Rainbow Chard Chopped Salad

Such a yummy summer favorite--- even the chard here in the fall is being picked to its fullest.  Simply, I chop roughly an entire plant making sure the pieces are large and include the delicious  stems. Then I add the last of the cherry tomatoes and green onions from the garden, hemp seeds and flax powder mixed with some Braggs and yum, yum, yum!

in other news, I spun up a small rainbow wool skein of yarn for something...? I'm not exactly sure, but isn't that the life of a spinner or knitter?  One can never ever have enough yarn for all the projects we dream of! 

The kids are making a mess and having a fight right now, I must clean the kitchen and do some book-keeping and then start on the laundry.  I have some yarn in the mail making its way to my home from Luna Grey Fiber Arts... in such a lovely color way :: Pewter and besides the bright and cheerful rainbow you see above I see myself moving into a more neutral and earth-tone-y yarn hoard. 

Change is good though isn't it? 

Happy Autumn!

A little late, but better late than never!  I love fall.  The colors are so beautiful this time of year!  What I don't like however--is how cold it is in the morning and for the time being we turn our fire on as it's gas, but I'm dreaming of the day I can burn our own wood cut from our own trees!  In the meantime there are campfires, devious restaurants for pumpkin pancakes, the great lakes, and autumn drives.

Gratitude Sunday

Joining sweet Taryn from the wonderful blog titled "Wooly Moss Roots" for her Gratitude Sunday link up! Karyn writes about the most lovely of things and I love her link up on Sundays... it reminds me to slow down.  You should catch up with her, she and her beautiful family are very inspirational. 

I am trying to show happiness and gratitude for even the small and simple things like::

:: Noticing how my oldest is still so very cute and little to me... he will always be my baby.  Do mothers always feel that way?  Even when they are adults?

:: An afternoon of quiet and hand spinning cashmere fiber

:: Fall flowers

:: Yarn and button mail from Luna Grey Fiber Arts and Wooly Moss Roots!

What are you all grateful for? 

In Peach & Pink

Baby longies and wee feet.  The best.  The last zinnia so perfect.  Cool air bring lambswool and cashmere sweaters for re-inventing into longies.  Window stars to brighten up the darker days of the season.

How are you enjoying your fall?

Lagonlook/Mori Style Skirt

If you haven't yet heard of the Lagonlook or the Mori style you are surely missing out!  Its a beautiful blend of layers, textures and textiles and is so so yummy.  Or if your an honest fella like my husband is, you wonder why on earth people would dress in a "bag" like style, or in a style that "looks like you've hemmed a bunch of clothes together and called it a day" look. Well I love it.  

This skirt is made of some of my gorgeous tea stained fabric, sewn with raw gray silk, vintage lace and plant dyes.  Pure and super comfy.  Flattering?  Probably not so much.  They layers lend themselves to each wonderful bump and jiggle spot you might have!  But hey, own it! I'm hoping to add more and more handmade clothes and eventually phasing out store bought clothes for our family.  It makes me happy to re-use, re-purpose and re-design and re-invent pieces to make things new and different. Plus its wonderful for our mother earth. 

I still need to get Pinterest up and running for this new blog, but if you like these pictures please pin them!!!  When I get my pin board up I will surely pin some Mori styles!!!!

Gluten Free/Paleo Chocolate Cake & Cloth Diapers

Sweet little babies in their cloth diapers--- nothing cuter, well until that is they poop.  Like the green/yellow runny exploding kind of poop.  Which is exactly what happened after these cute pictures were taken.  I'm keeping it real to say that the photographs were pitch perfect in the vision I wanted to create for this post, but yeah life happens and we all poop including babies.  And babies have messy poop, the kind that make you hold them at arms length as you walk back from the garden and back into the house to clean nicely spray off with the hose all the poop that came out of the tiny baby.

And anyways, back to the story.... I love my babes in cloth diapers... fluffy soft little butts are the best!  In the case of these lovely warm orange merino wool longies, I made them out of gently felted sweaters I got at the thrift.  And in-fact I have 5 more yummy sweaters to sew up soon!

Longies are super simple to make too, in a nutshell cut the sleeves off of the arms of a sweater using the finished ends of the sleeves as the bottom of the pants and sew an elastic casing at the top--- thread elastic through and sew shut.  I'll show you'll guys "how" someday soon... they are quite easy and I'm sure you can figure them out!

So now onto the cake!

I enjoy all kinds of baking and cooking and Paleo/gluten free are recipes I love exploring and experimenting with.

This cake is DIVINE!!! Super easy to make too!

This cake makes 1 cake (9 inches round) with four layers or a few 12inch long single cakes (as pictured above). 

Cake:

Ingredients:

2 cups pure cane sugar 

1 cup coconut flour

3/4 cups of almond flour

3/4 cups of pure unsweetened Dutch cocoa powder

1 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

1 1/2 teaspoons of baking soda

1 teaspoon sea salt

2 organic eggs

1 cup whole milk 

1/2 cup vegetable oil (we use organic olive oil with no problems)

2 teaspoons almond extract 

1 cup boiling water

Frosting:

3/4 cups of butter (room temp) 

1 1/2 cups unsweetened pure Dutch cocoa 

5 cups confectioners sugar 

2/3 cup milk 

1 teaspoon vanilla extract

a handful of dark chocolate chips

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees 

In one mixing bowl mix all dry ingredients of the cake recipe portion, then slowly add eggs, oil, almond extract and whole milk, lastly adding the boiling water. Mix until wonderfully smooth with a few cellulite lumps and bumps!

Once mixed, pour into two 9 inch cake pans or three 12 inch cake pans, pouring small amounts at a time, evenly in each preferred pan.

Bake for 30 minutes or until a toothpick comes out clean. once cooled split the two 9 inch cakes in half making for thin cakes. Or if you'd made the larger cakes, leave them to cool.

Mix the frosting by mixing butter cocoa and sugar, slowly adding in the milk, the vanilla extract and chips. 

Once the cakes are cooled spread frosting either onto or if you've created layered cakes, in-between also. 

Done!  This cake is heavenly with afternoon espresso -- or hell, at breakfast! 

I'm not going to lie, we ate this cake in one setting and we skipped dinner. It was that good. 

Simple Burritos & A Bridge

These are burritos are a family favorite and make the greatest "I have no idea what to make for dinner, we have no food and the kids are hungry!" type suppers. Plus and this is a HUGE PLUS is that this meal fed our family of seven for under $7!! 

Ingredients: 
1 package of corn tortillas (pack of 12) 
2 cans of mixed beans (black and kidney) 
1 small package of shredded cheese or a small block of cheese grated
1 bunch of cilantro
1 bunch of green onions
1 yellow onion 
1 jar of salsa
1 tablespoon  of butter

In a nutshell, I take the package of tortillas out and arrange them on the counter.  Next I assemble them adding cheese and beans, a dollop of salsa and a handful of condiments (the onions and cilantro) and roll em' up.  Warm up a cast iron skillet with a dab of butter and arrange burritos nicely and fry until golden brown. So so good.  

Alternatively FOR YOU GLUTEN FREE OR GRAIN FREE EATERS you can wrap these burrito with rainbow chard leaves.  They make smaller burritos but the leaves still fry up tenderly yet crispy enough for a small bite! 
This is a big supper staple around here!

Before I cooked up these burritos the other night, we were unpacking our bags from a recent camping trip to MN, and the Upper Peninsula of MI. 

It was so lovely and as you would imagine the boys loved getting messy and extra dirty---above and beyond the normal farm dirt!

Here are some pictures of the Mackinac Bridge... it was so big and beautiful.  Finally made it to the last great lake we've never seen (lake Heron).

and holding up our small campsite are these two tents!  When you have a large family two tents aren't even enough! 

We are excited to be home though---showers!  I am eagerly getting back to the soulful work of growing things.  It is fall, but this year I'm trying a new "all year round' growing.  Starting with the micro greens.  I'm waiting for the trays to arrive and I am anxious to get my hands back in the dirt!