Some photos from around the house and our trip to the national gallery. I love the one of Julia asleep on a bench in the sculpture gallery.

Goodbye November!

Mondays are laundry day. Probably my least favorite household chore but at least I have it over with first thing in the week.

For years we didn't have a drier. I love the zen of line drying clothes. The way you think of each family member as you pick up their clothing, the way you can arrange things on the line, tights hanging in row. Of course in the winter it is not always as fun and I was always the person who would yell out at the first clap of thunder and make a mad rush to get everything off the line.

Then I got pregnant with my fourth. I still really wanted to cloth diaper and there was a free drier in the house next door so we hauled it over here. If I have to use a drier now, and I am resigned that I do, (though some things I still stubbornly hang) at least it is an avocado green drier and it has a pink and blue strobe light in the back that blinks while it is running and it rings a little bell when the clothes are finished that reminds me of the "idea" bell noise in road-runner cartoons.

It also is holding my winter plants on it right now and provides a nice spot for the catfood away from Ronia, who loves a good meal served up on the floor.

Also if anyone has any good disco we could have a fantastic dance party while my clothes are drying.

Okay, okay, I like my drier.

It helps to remind yourself sometimes

Mental note on road to inner peace. . . . . Don't be the screaming lady in her pajamas.

Lately the girls have been playing with the dolls I made them for Christmas. The dolls in our house have a rather varied assortment of names. We have dolls with sensible names like Lucy and Greta (who is I believe is named for the girls' cousin) and then there are dolls with names like Chocolate, Peppa, and my personal favorite, Silverware. Julia has a fetish for flowery sounding words. They make me happy, these dolls who have very much become little personalities in our home.

I am very exited because I found out about a kind of baby doll that you can make that is stuffed with millet and is very heavy. You stitch little sleeping eyes on it and it is a sleeping baby. THey are supposed to be very good first baby dolls and I want to make one for Ronia for Christmas.

Woops I need Ben to fix my picture for me . . . .

Had to share this photo of Angelica with chicken pox! It made the rounds in our house in October.

Baking with Spelt

I'm loving it. I bought a 25 lb bag of spelt when Ronia was born and of course I just had it ground at the Burwell Morgan Mill the last week of October.

Spelt is an ancient grain, more ancient than wheat and the Burwell Morgan Mill the oldest mill still operating in Virginia and entirely water powered. I've been using my sourghdough yeast (also since the baby was born) and cooking in the bread in big Cast iron pots from my mother-in-law. I joked to Ben that if he makes me a wood powered outdoor oven we will have gone to great lengths to eat bread that probably hasn't been eaten on a regular basis for centuries.

But it is worth it for the flavor alone. Spelt is nutty and a little mild and when it was freshly ground it had a really earthy aroma. It also works well in pancakes and cookies so the versatility factor is nice. Down side is that it is a bit pricier. Only thing I haven't tried it yet in is pizza.

Gotta get more coffee. BYe!