by Krista | May 4, 2010 | Spring
It’s not every day you get lost driving through Bosnia and stumble upon a military installation complete with tanks and fighter jets and end up hanging out the window snapping pictures like mad with your heart beating like crazy because you think you’re going to be shot any second but you do it anyways because your brother is in the middle seat and can’t reach the window and thinks this is SO COOL and really needs to be captured. 🙂
He was right, of course. It was terribly cool and utterly terrifying. It was especially invigorating when, just as we got past the last of the tanks, a loud explosion occurred right in front of us. Our eyes bugged out and our hearts leaped into our throats until we realized that it was only a semi-truck blowing out one of his rear tires. 🙂 Needless to say it took a wee bit for our pulses to stop racing. 🙂
We didn’t intend to get lost, of course, but our well laid plans of “stick to the main highway through Bosnia” came to naught once we crossed the border and suddenly the highway was shut down and we were shunted off into the hills with the aid of orange signs that we can only assume spelled “detour.” Unfortunately for us the detour signs disappeared and we were left to wander through the back country of Bosnia trying to find out where in tarnation we were. 🙂
Wherever we were, it was absolutely gorgeous and, barring the whole military/explosion incident, wonderfully peaceful as we wended our way through pastoral farmland, thickly forested hills, watching shepherds in their fields, children playing by the water, women carrying groceries along the road.
This was not the Bosnia I anticipated. My pictures of Bosnia were formed by grainy WW2 photos and, even more recently, the terrible battles of the 90’s that left so many dead or shattered in body and spirit. I confess I was afraid of Bosnia before I went, but I also desperately wanted to see it, to drive over the land that has been torn by so many wars, to see the faces of the people who have survived, over and over again. In reading their history I can’t begin to fathom the horrors they have seen and experienced, yet they are still here. Still getting married, having babies, working the land. We would see evidence of massacres, battles, and death further down the road, but for now there was beauty, life, and peace.
by Krista | Sep 9, 2017 | Spring
It’s a deliciously quiet Saturday morning. The animals are sleeping in, basking in warm puddles of sunshine before they get up and start feeding. Bear and I have had our coffees and chatted about our plans for the day, and I’ve got my to-do list ready.
It’s been a good week of healing and rest and work, with each day bringing along something interesting to do.
I finished building and launching an Etsy shop for a client, Wilde Prairie Rose, who makes beautiful chain maille jewelry. I loved working with her, doing photo shoots of her exquisite work, writing descriptions, and making sure everything runs smoothly. She’s a kindred spirit, so our meetings were held in parks and on verandas, photo shoots conducted in the woods and gardens. It was brilliant, and I’m so excited to see her flourish.
I’ve been doing a lot of product photo shoots lately, and have found it so fun. I love being outside, so getting to spend hours in the sunshine, setting up delicious and beautiful products to photograph, has been sheer delight. I finished a project for Harrow and Finch, photographing their wonderful hampers filled with scrumptious products from the Granite Belt region. If you love things like Spanish Onion Jam, Raspberry Vinegar, and luscious Garlic Olive Oil, you’ll find lovely hampers here to send to friends, co-workers, and employees.
When I’m not working with amazing clients, I’m at home working on our dear ol’ farm.
My first two harvests of elderflowers are dried and stored, looking so pretty in a red-topped jar.
The heaps of pineapple sage and mint I planted are doing so well, lush and green and smelling wondrously fragrant.
This week I spotted my first asparagus of spring, and that makes me so happy.
It’s strawberry season now, and we’ve been eating heaps of them. Yesterday we were so tired and, it must be admitted, a bit cranky, so we stopped everything and had strawberries and cream on the veranda. It’s amazing how something so small can make such a huge difference. We continued on our day with merry hearts.
A couple of weeks ago I put our roosters into the Apple Orchard to clean up all the weeds for me. They did a splendid job, and yesterday I hauled load after load of soybean mulch to cover the ground and keep the roots cool and the weeds down. The roosters are spreading it out for me – they really are fabulous creatures – and today I’ll shift them into the Big Orchard to tackle the weeds there.
My favorite project this week was wood-working with Bear. He is an artist and designer himself, so I love when we can do artsy things together. This time we designed a new cheeseboard/cutting board for my Etsy shop.
Bear etched the design on the wood in pencil, then I cut it out and together we sanded it. I do so love the smell of freshly cut wood, and the look of clouds of golden sawdust billowing in fragrant piles at my feet.
I’m so delighted with the new board, with its curving lines and handle that fits in the hand just right. We use ours for a cheese platter/cutting board, piling it with cheese, sun-dried tomatoes, olives, smoked ham, and crispy crackers, then setting it between us while we watch a movie or have a chat.
Click here to purchase one of your own, and feel free to request personalizing or a custom design.
This morning I spoiled us with sourdough French toast slathered with sour cream and piled with with fresh strawberries. With a big day ahead of us, a decadent breakfast is definitely in order.
As I finish my coffee, I run my eyes down my to-do list: move roosters, water gardens, do laundry, cut out new boards, bottle-feed goat, harvest radishes. It’s going to be a good day.
What work is bringing you pleasure these days? xo
by Krista | Jan 20, 2016 | Summer
Growing up near the exquisitely beautiful Rocky Mountains in Canada made me a lifelong lover of alpine meadows. My childhood was spent hiking them with my parents and three little brothers, assorted cousins, aunts, uncles, and family friends. We young ones would race across the lush expanse, leaping as high as we could off obliging logs and stumps, collect fistfuls of wildflowers, and search the undergrowth for tiny alpine strawberries.
I search out alpine meadows wherever I can find them. I’ve hiked to them in British Columbia, Italy, and Alberta, Germany, Austria, and Switzerland, Slovenia, Bosnia, and Albania. Each one is unique yet boasts the same elements: stunning views, cool, fresh air, and wondrous beauty.
Hiking in the Bunya Mountains was my first experience of an Australian alpine meadow, and I wasn’t disappointed.
The instant recognition in my heart almost hurt with its intensity. Emotionally I was whisked back to my childhood, and wouldn’t have been surprised in the least to see Bighorn Sheep grazing in the distance or a black bear ambling along to the next berry patch.
I couldn’t stop smiling as we wandered through, watching millions of wildflowers dancing in the buffeting winds, stopping to watch a huge goanna waddle across our path and hustle into the undergrowth.
The trees, flowers, and wildlife in an Australian alpine meadow may be different to what I’m used to, but the feeling is the same: freedom, space, unfettered joy.
Sue and I walked slower through the meadow than we did on any other part of our trek through the Bunya Mountains, both of us wanting to soak up the bliss of cool winds and gorgeous vistas. We were so glad we chose the 10 km hike so we didn’t miss out on this treasure of a place.
At last we couldn’t drag our heels any longer and bid farewell to the alpine meadow.
It certainly helped that the next part of our hike was entered through this magical archway. Who could resist such loveliness?
Do you have a place from your childhood that always brings back happy memories? xo
by Krista | Nov 1, 2015 | Summer
I love this time of year when the rains come and the last parched, barrenness of winter is washed away.
My gardens are so pretty right now, filled with flowers and flowering herbs: rosemary, cilantro, yarrow, comfrey, and sage. Hollyhocks and calendula are coming up, lemongrass sprouting, and my bell pepper and tomato plants are covered with tiny fruits.
The wild things are growing beautifully too. As I walk through the fields with my dog, Luna, I find the beginnings of creeping Winter Apple berries and heaps of wild plantain. I continue to pick the plantain to use in quiches, salads, and soups in my kitchen, but last week I picked a bunch to share with a friend who combines it with comfrey and other herbs to make healing balms to treat aching muscles. It’s such a lovely and versatile plant.
This past week I’ve been nurturing seedlings, spoiling them with rain water to get them strong and healthy before being transplanted into the gardens. This week I’ll plant them out, filling prepared beds with more tomatoes, Lebanese cucumbers, capsicums, and elderflowers.
I’ve also been sprouting oca – gorgeous little South American yams in vivid pink and orange – and Jerusalem artichokes, a gift from a dear friend. I’m so excited to get them planted and see how they do.
Yesterday was spent hauling hay, lots and lots of hay, getting our barn filled after our goats finished off the last of the winter hay. There’s something wonderfully satisfying about getting the bales stacked neatly, right up to the roof, knowing our goats will be well fed no matter what the weather does this summer.
After all that hard work, today was for resting and only doing pleasant things. We had brunch at a lovely cafe, found new plants for our gardens, then came home and pottered. I pressed play on a new audio book – “The Curse of the House of Fosket” by M.R.C. Kasasian – which I’m enjoying immensely, and wood-burned a couple of orders. My favorite piece is this custom design I did on a round cheeseboard/cutting board. It makes me smile.
We’ve been eating simply lately, fresh fruit and veggies and slices of our favorite grainy sourdough bread topped with sliced bananas or fried eggs or traditionally fermented Danish salami with ajvar or marinara sauce.
We’ve also been eating entirely too much pizza thanks to a rather hilarious mix-up on Friday night. We were both gone for the afternoon running errands in different cities, and decided to surprise the other with pizza for dinner. How we laughed when we both walked in bearing pizza boxes. On the bright side, I hardly did a lick of cooking all weekend!
Now it’s time to curl up with my book and read a few more pages before falling asleep.
What’s going on in your part of the world? xo
by Krista | Oct 10, 2014 | Spring
As I readied myself to get back to writing this morning, Bear looked at my frazzled self and suggested that I take a break for a bit and just work on things that have been niggling at me, projects that, when finished, would ease so much stress and enable me to write with a clear head. It was a jolly good suggestion and one I’m embracing wholeheartedly.
This morning break is a treasure, truly, with time to clean and air out my office after an unexpected flood earlier in the week, cook all sorts of good things in the kitchen, and maybe even just sit on the veranda for a bit with a book and a bowl of fresh strawberries and cream.
First on my list is a box full of red and green peppers. I roasted them until their skins blackened and bubbled and now they’re cooling and will soon be peeled, sliced, and tucked into jars with herbs, roasted garlic, and olive oil.
This is my first time roasting green peppers and I’m looking forward to tasting them. I think they may be rather scrumptious on tacos or chopped and stirred into chili.
Then I had bowls, buckets, and boxes full of veggies to work through. I snapped a pile of green beans to steam for a zesty salad tossed with feta and lime dressing, roasted carrots with dill for snacking, and make pineapple spearmint smoothies. I boiled up an entire stockpot of eggs to make curried egg salad – good thing we like eggs – and will soon work on the last of my pumpkins, roasting it for a salad with pine nuts and goat cheese. As my compost bucket fills with peels and shells, I take jaunts out to the chook pen to share the bounty with them. The chooks are delighted.
Breakfast this morning was gleaned from the garden: fresh chicken and duck eggs, Italian parsley, dill, and long spears of asparagus.
I made fluffy baked eggs blended with cream and seasoned with fresh dill, salt, and pepper, and roasted the asparagus with olive oil and Parmesan cheese.
I added a little bowl of blueberries and we were set.
Now it’s time to finish up the laundry, start on the pepper-peeling, then tackle the office and see if the carpet can be salvaged after the flood. I’m feeling my stress melt away already. 🙂
Is it hard for you to work when things around you are in mayhem? xo
Baked Eggs with Dill
(serves 3)
Ingredients:
4 large eggs
1/4 cup heavy cream
1 Tbsp fresh dill, chopped
salt and pepper to taste
butter for ramekins
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 F (180 C).
Butter three ramekins and set aside.
Beat all ingredients together and pour into ramekins.
Bake for 15-20 minutes until eggs puff up and brown on top. Serve immediately.
