by Krista | Apr 20, 2017 | Autumn
The wind is howling today, sending leaves and feathers skittering across the farmyard, creating a dance of shadows on the grass as tree branches bend and swoop.
The animals are hunkered down out of the wind, finding calm, sunny spots to snooze the afternoon away.
I’m staying warm under a blanket on the veranda, writing my weekly newspaper column and updating an article on smoking techniques in between dashes to the oven to replace trays of tomatoes and garlic I’m roasting. I marinated a brisket in garlic balsamic vinegar, Worcestershire sauce, olive oil, salt and pepper, and a bit of liquid hickory smoke, and as soon as the tomatoes finished, popped it in the oven to slow roast it for dinner. The house is smelling wonderful.
I’ve been working in my gardens, taking cuttings of my favorite herbs – pineapple sage, spearmint, lemon balm – and putting them in water in tiny glasses all along a sun-drenched windowsill in the kitchen. Most of them have little roots already, and that thrills me to pieces. Soon I’ll transplant them and tuck them into my greenhouse for the winter to grow and strengthen until spring.
Other herbs have made their own starts – tarragon, common mint, and yarrow – and I’ve been dividing them and planting them in new spots so they can grow nice and big.
Yesterday we picked up a few I don’t have yet – German chamomile and lime verbena – and an extra elderflower because, in my opinion, you can never have too much elderflower. Next week I will tuck the first two in my greenhouse and plant the elderflower in my new garden bed where it can spread out into a beautiful hedge that will keep us supplied with flowers and elderberries for many years to come.
Campfires have been our comfort and delight this week. Especially after a big day of medieval projects.
Bear and I have been making, staining, and painting tent poles for our new medieval market stalls. For the past five years we’ve made due with what we had, but every year, without fail, I got sunburn and heatstroke. This year Bear made Sue and I our own shelters in the style of medieval Muslim market stalls we found in an old manuscript. They’re beautifully shady and cool with plenty of room for us to display our wares, do our demonstrations, and talk with people interested in learning about medieval folk medicine, medieval desert tribal food, linen-making, coffee-making, and cheese-making. We’re so excited to get them set up and decorated with the vivid colors favored in the 12th and 13th centuries.
After painting four coats on 28, 8-sided tent poles, dinner by the fire sounds like pure bliss.
Sometimes we just sit and stare quietly into the fire, getting lost in the play of light and heat. Others we visit amiably whilst eating cheeseburgers on homemade buns and watching the sun sink down through the trees.
And one night, when Bear had some writing work to do inside, I had the fire all to myself. I poured a glass of homemade cherry brandy, pulled my chair up close to the warmth of the flames, and let all the stresses of the day melt away.
Our first medieval event of the season is nearly upon us, and we’re so excited. This weekend our Blackwolf friends arrive to pack our trailer with tents and poles, pegs and ropes, rugs and tables, beds and shelves, pots and boxes, chairs and bedding. And plenty of firewood for as many cozy moments around the fire as we can muster. xo
by Krista | Mar 13, 2017 | Summer
Rain is falling gently, making our world quiet and peaceful. I have an unexpected day off and am basking in the utter novelty of a day to myself. Bear and I had a leisurely breakfast, I watched Miss Marple and Poirot, and sipped tea on the veranda then hot chocolate in bed as I basked in the richness of stillness.
It’s been an intense week of hard physical labour in addition to my regular work. After several months of chiropractic work and physical therapy, my body is finally able to handle the demands of getting our farm back on track. I’ve loved every second of strengthening my muscles again as I hauled wood, piled trash, carted rocks, shifted furniture and equipment, dug some holes and filled in others, swept, shoveled, and raked. I could barely move at the end of each day, but it was good pain, the pain of a job well done and a body doing what it is meant to do. By next morning I was ready – albeit creakily – to go again. It’s a lovely, amazing thing to have strength and endurance again, and I’m cherishing it.
After so much work it was sheer bliss to clean off the dirt, straw, poop, and sawdust of the farm and get dolled up and head to the Empire Theatre in Toowoomba to watch the Moscow Ballet perform “Swan Lake.” It was exquisitely beautiful and inspiring, and especially fun shared with Oma and her grandson, Alex, who are always jolly company and great conversationalists. I returned home with visions of sumptuous costumes and soul-stirring music to send me off to sleep.
Next morning it was back to work as we bustled about getting ready for the arrival of our English friends – Gary, Lorraine, and Leah.
I had told Bear I needed a place on our farm where I could sit and only see beauty – no tasks to work on or projects to complete – just peaceful respite. I needed a pretty place. It would never enter Bear’s head to need a pretty place, but he’s a luv and helped me anyway.
We set up a campfire area with logs and stumps for sitting and one of our old medieval fire pits for cooking. We pulled in tables and chairs too because, I don’t care how spry you are, a fallen log is only comfortable for so long, and then you want something with a bit of squish to sink into and a solid back to lean against. We set up a bin to collect and hold firewood and then it was ready. It is a truly happy place for both of us where we can rest and look out on unencumbered views of trees and fields and goats grazing on a nearby hill.
I decorated simply with cheery tablecloths and a cluster of marigolds given to me by Shadrach, a lovely Congolese man I interviewed last week. They make me so happy.
Our friends arrived and we had such a jolly and peaceful day, the sort of day that leaves you totally tuckered out but with a big smile on your face.
We walked around the farm, saying hello to dogs, geese, pigs, bees, chooks, turkeys, and goats, before making a beeline for some shade and cold drinks. We visited long over lunch – slow-roasted beef on soft, buttered bread rolls and potato salad with capers, red onion, and paprika – all of us letting the cares and stresses of the last few months melt away as we laughed and told stories and decided that next time we were going to pitch tents and make a weekend of it.
When we found out they were keen to learn archery, Bear and I hauled out our stash of medieval bows, arrows, and a thoroughly modern target for some training and practice.
It was so much fun, marked with much hilarity as initial attempts sent arrows flopping and dipping wildly. Bear is a great teacher though, and soon arrows were thwack-ing into the target one right after the other, followed by whoops and hollers from the peanut gallery.
The afternoon flew by and before we knew it the sun was setting and it was time for dinner.
I built a fire and let it burn wildly for a bit until there was a good bed of coals. Then we set a grate above the hot little beauties and put sausages on to cook.
I thought I’d give the coals a little nudge with a few bits of kindling when WHOOSH a billow of flame instantly charred one side of the sausages. Thankfully Gary came to the rescue and managed to salvage my burnt offerings and turn them into something edible and downright tasty.
We filled our plates, toasted each other with red wine and cold beer, and sat around the fire visiting and eating and watching the sun sink lower and lower.
At last it disappeared and a luminous moon appeared, casting a pale, magical glow over the farm. As the stars came out we hugged each other good-bye with promises to get together again soon.
It was a good day. xo
by Krista | May 3, 2016 | Autumn
Sometimes the best laid and dearly loved plans run thoroughly and utterly amok.
This past weekend for example. Bear and I had been working hard for months getting ready for a medieval reenactor’s weekend with swarms of our best loved medieval friends. We were looking forward to it so much. Even when my left hand swelled up black and blue after being kicked repeatedly by a feisty lamb, and my right hand swelled up after being pierced by a stray wire that jammed in there, and Robbie cut open both shins when he ran into a rogue piece of iron, and I pulled a muscle in my foot – we were still so excited and hobbled along and got all packed up and arrived in time to get mostly set up before dark.
All was well…until the rain started falling…and falling…and falling. And bit by bit the dirt turned to mud and the tent pegs popped out and in the middle of the night, after a particularly thunderous torrent, the tent fell down on top of our friends, braining them with tent poles and dousing them with water. We woke to their cries of alarm and stumbled out of our tent to find sheer mayhem. Everything was down, drenched, and streaked in mud. Humph. We stood there in the rain wondering what to do and realized…nothing. Our friends took refuge in their van, we spent a sleepless night wondering how to get the camp back together before acknowledging, nope, we simply couldn’t. The sodden ground wouldn’t hold the pegs and the pegs wouldn’t hold the tents and with another storm on the way we knew we’d just have to pack up and head home.
So we did. And it was sad and disappointing and frustrating, but it was the right call. For the rains returned and didn’t let up until Monday. We would’ve been stuck in sodden misery.
Thankfully we had some lovely moments before we left. Starting with sunrise.
Even after a soggy, sleepless night, the sun rising through the trees, shimmering through wood smoke, glistening on the dewy grass, well, it can’t help but lift your spirits.
And when you get to take a break from folding waterlogged tents, tarps, ropes, rugs, blankets, clothing, etc and sit down at a table with good friends and have homemade medieval fruit cake slathered with butter, the world feels rather wonderful.
And when you add a cup of coffee and some good stories and hearty laughs and commiserations from friends stopping by to moan and groan with us and give us big, squishy hugs, all the rumpled feelings and stresses untangled themselves and we made peace with our mayhem.
We were sad to leave, but thankful for the few hugs and visits we were able to squeeze in before we left, for one meal cooked over the fire – is there anything better than hot stew on a rainy night? – and for the chance to figure out how to make our camp storm/flood proof for next time.
Bear and I have learned that when disappointment hits, the best thing is to feel sad then replace it with something good. So we did. And I’ll tell you all about that next time. xo
by Krista | Jul 2, 2015 | Winter
Brrr! Icy winds brought Winter to our farm yesterday and it is shiveringly cold. We’re piling on the layers now, bundling up as we head outside to feed animals, water the gardens, and work on all sorts of projects.
It’s been a project-o-licious week as we get ready for the Abbey Medieval Festival while tackling farm duties that just won’t wait. It’s been really fun but boy, are we ever tired.
Yesterday I made a good start on planting all the garlic my friends and I harvested, and Bear and I stayed up until well after dark sewing the last few hems of a new tent for our medieval encampment. We sewed pillows and bags, tarps and more bags, and it feels so good to cross each item off our list.
One of my favorite projects has been cooking over the campfire, trying out new recipes to make for our medieval group. Some have just been for us – nachos, stuffed potato skins – but others fit the medieval criteria such as roasted pears with caramel sauce and freshly baked spelt rolls. Mmm, so good. Can’t wait to make them for everyone next week.
Today was a baking day, filling up cookie jars so we have something on hand for when friends drop by. Oatmeal Raisin are Bear’s favorites, especially when I cram in as many raisins as possible.
I, on the other hand, had a hankering for peanut butter cookies with a light dusting of Celtic sea salt to go with my hot chocolate.
I also made spelt bread rolls and planned out lunches and dinners and now we’re all set for the weekend.
Tomorrow I’ll be wood-burning, mixing up medieval remedies, getting the rest of the garlic in, and writing two columns for the newspaper. And I’m definitely taking a break over lunch to try a few more campfire recipes I’ve been mulling over.
I sure love this crazy life of ours.
But now I’m going to crawl into my very warm bed and listen to an old time radio mystery and sleep, sleep, sleep.
What are your favorite cookies? xo
by Krista | May 3, 2013 | Bits 'n' Bobs
I can’t think of anything I like better than sitting around a campfire with people I love. So I was thrilled to pieces last night as Bear and I braved stormy skies and cool temps to have our very first campfire of Autumn.
We gathered fallen branches and curly bits of gum tree bark (brilliant fire starters!) and Bear built a cracking good fire while I collected food stuffs, roasting fork, and torch.
I love that campfires welcome you just the way you are, clad in grubby farm clothes, hair wild from the wind, no make-up to be seen, exhausted after a return of the dreaded flu. None of that matters. Just pull up a log, sit yourself down, and be enveloped in the coziness of wood-smoke, crackling flames, and good company.
Sheets of rain fell in the distance as we huddled close to the fire pit, but nary a drop fell on us while we feasted simply but lavishly on good ol’ campfire food.
I stepped things up a bit from traditional campfire fare with gourmet wagyu beef sausages encased in grilled crusty rolls smeared with strong Dijon mustard. It was exquisitely wonderful to cuddle close on a fallen log as the darkness deepened, hearing only wind in the gum trees, the occasional boom of thunder, and sausages sizzling over the fire.
I couldn’t find graham crackers, Kraft marshmallows, or Hershey bars here in Queensland, so I made an Aussie version of s’mores with slabs of dark chocolate, pint-sized pink marshmallows, and homemade vanilla shortbread cookies. I fell into a sugar coma after just one, but it sure was good!
After dinner I hauled chairs closer to the warmth of the fire while Bear made us steaming cuppas of coffee to wrap our hands around.
Then we just sat in companionable silence, dreamily mesmerized by the dancing flames, feeling like the luckiest people on the planet.
It was a beautiful start to Bear’s birthday weekend.
What are you looking forward to most about this weekend?
