How the Hearth does Camping...Fun in Fairview

Do you like to camp?  We do.

First of all, we go to the most remote area we can find.  Thanks to my best, good buddy who invites us every year (two years running), for our annual wilderness fun adventure at her family's plot of land in the vastness of the Manti La Sal National Forest.  This area is amazing for many reasons.  It's off the grid so no cell phones.  It has deer, deer and more deer.  Frogs.  Crayfish.  Regular fish.  Trees.  Rocks. Okay, you get the picture, it's awesome.

My kids get to spend almost a week running wild in the wilderness.  Shooting bows and arrows and BB guns.  Catching frogs, butterflies and pollywogs in their nets.  Playing wolves and fishing to their hearts' content.  The nearest town is called Fairview, it's a good hour down the canyon, but we spent a day there having some small town adventures this time.  We were there for the Pioneer Day celebration...remember, this is Utah, we love EVERYTHING pioneer.   So, come along for a little Hearth Adventuring.  This is the Fairview portion of our vacation.  All the camping stuff will come later.

Fun in Fairview

If you ever were concerned that there wasn't a shrine to love and devotion, worry no more.  Thanks Fairview.

The mammoth they found just up the canyon....pretty darn close to our campsite.  Ummm....they've been officially declared extinct....right?

Operator, hold please.  Let me connect you.  
Okay, a hands-on museum makes museum-ing so much more fun for the littles.

Mom, are you sure this is how phones used to be?  Where's the touch screen?  I stick my finger in and do WHAT?

Oh my gosh, Becky...
Side note, I feel like she could slip right into this time period with her little drop-waist dress and hair pulled back in braids. My little early 20th century girl.

Course, as I'm the mother of two, early 20th century girls, I'd set My Oldest to cooking the supper. Cornbread would be nice, dear.

 Don't forget to do the laundry.

 And get a permanent for your hair!

 All the while My Youngest is busy threshing wheat with Pa.

 Come on, put your back into it.

 Then we'll go for a buggy ride once Ma has finished eating her bonbons and doing her nails....right?  Because I'm sure that's what early 20th century mothers did while they set their young to work.

We also enjoyed the Pioneer Day parade on the 24th of July that was pretty much the best parade around if you ask my kids.  Because???  Mass quantities of candy were thrown. My Youngest used her butterfly net to capture all the goodies.

Good times.

Thanks for reading.

Heather

Summer Update

I hope everyone is having a wonderful summer or winter, hi Mel hi Nat..  This is what the Hearth has been up to for the last month or so...

We 6th Birthday'd.

 Read this.  And babysat that, a bunch.  Squish.

Sister Road Tripped!  Baby brother graduated from UCLA...include a parent or two and leave the husbands home with the babies!!!  PARTY!!!

Went to any fest there was.

 Ate this.  Twice.  It's maybe the only kale I have ever enjoyed.

 IKEA'd and got this.

Built it with this.  And yes, it is a machete...with a magnet attached.  Don't worry, I didn't go crazy with blood lust and slash The Mister's achilles.

 Tried red palm oil for cooking.  It worked fine, a touch spendy though.  We'll see.

7 AM Swim Team'd four days a week.  Mama's tired.

Salsa Garden'd.  If you don't know what a salsa garden is, well, it's a garden where all you grow are tomatoes and peppers.  To be honest, I'm not growing it to make salsa, I just eat more tomatoes and peppers than anything else.

Rasberry'd.  The rule in my house is, whoever spots the ripe raspberry first, gets to eat it.  This unfortunately also includes chickens and dogs.

4th of July'd in Park City.  Tried to get a good pre-fireworks photo.  Ummmmm....could she BE any wigglier?  Or decide to eat a Gummy Bear mid-shoot.  sigh.

Luckily the Older one was easier to photograph...AFTER I made her laugh because she was too busy worrying about how loud the fireworks were going to be.

Hopefully you're having an equally fun and adventurous summer yourselves!

Thanks for reading!

Heather

BBS...I think.

Chicken vs Toasted Marshmallow

The chicken makes it through okay.

Now, I'm just explaining this to you because you look nervous.

Because, we can stop now if you want.

:)

Let's just quickly take a moment to reflect on, how good is The Princess Bride?

The fire pit got some good use last S'more night.  The s'mores were delicious and enjoyed by all...chickens included.

I never imagined I'd Google the phrase: "How to get marshmallow out of a chicken's feathers". Want to know something, Google doesn't have an answer for that.  WHAT?!?!  It's true.  So, here's how the night went down:

Loretta:  Mmmm, you're looking fine tonight.  Let me just have a wee nibble.

Dolly:  Fine, it's really messing up my gorgeous feathers.  Hey, no biting!

Loretta:  Yum!  I never knew how much I love marshmallows!  Hey, Starlight, get the heck out of here you fowl thing (haha), my marshmallow!

Starlight:  Whatevs, Loretta, I already called dibs...and ummmm, you've got a little something on your face...no, not there, over there... no, the other side....

Starlight:  Ohhh yeah, I am all about toasted marshmallows!  Why doesn't Heather give us this for breakfast lunch and dinner instead of that crap chicken scratch, anyway?

Loretta:  Meh, it's all yours.  Hey, anybody got a mirror?  Apparently I've got a little something on my face...anyone?  Where's a parakeet when you need one?

Starlight:  Let me just....grab...get this little bit there.

Starlight:  Ohh, it's stuck just a bit let me pull harder...Soooo yummy.  You know what would really make this?  Chocolate and Graham Crackers...Hey, I just thought up a new recipe.  I'll call them...toasted marshmallows with meltsy chocolate sandwiched between two grahams.  Yeah, that's a catchy name.  HAHA I'm a genius!  Hey, Dolly, get back here...

Ginger: Hey guys, what's going on over here?  Wait a minute, wait a minute...is that toasted marshmallow all over you?!?! Come over here Dolly!  Hey, sorry about all those times I chased you around the yard trying to eat your poop, you're my favorite chicken...hey want some of my dog food?  Come on, sharing's caring you know...

Starlight:  Get the heck out of here Ginger.  Mmm hmmm...you got just a touch back here, let me just get that...Got it!

Dolly:  Well, I feel thoroughly hen pecked.  How's my hair look?

Dolly:  Boss Hen (that's me), can I get a hand here, the gals were no help.  Thanks for nothing, ladies!

And since Google was no help either, I decided to play it by ear, but unfortunately didn't get any pictures to share as I was busy taking care of business.  So I'll paint a picture for you.

Me:  Husband, help me grab her.
Husband: What?  Are you sure that's sanitary?
Me:  Sanitary?  No, but we've got to do something.  Fine, sit there, I'll grab her.  I proceed to grab chicken, making sure to hold tight to her wings so she doesn't smack me across the face with them.
Me:  Okay, now here, take her.  Hold onto her wings! I hand chicken off to husband and run inside and grab a dish towel, get it wet and put some dish soap on it.  Warm water and dish soap gets any mess out, right?  Run back outside and scrub Dolly's feathers as best I could.  Not a great job, but better than it was, I suppose.  And, the Mister only suffered a mildly bad scratch on his hand thanks to her vicious talons.  

Next Day
Feather update: Not a sticky smudge to be found.  Dolly was clean as a whistle and the other chickens in a pleasant sugar coma.   Lesson learned...don't let the chickens get anywhere near a fallen, toasted marshmallow.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

When Kale gets long in the tooth

Ever wondered what happens to kale if you don't pick it and eat it in the summer of 2013 and just let it chilax in the flower beds over winter until spring 2014?

Well, let me enlighten you.

I mean, it can't just be me who finds this curious and interesting, can it?

Anyone?  Interested in kale that's gone to seed?  Hello-oooo?

The Mister, in fact, hates my kale plant and threatens to destroy it on a daily basis.

Here's a close up of the leaves so you'll believe me that it's kale.

It grows incredibly tall and produces loads of petite, jaune fleurs (I am practicing my French).  Of course, now that I think about it, is French like Spanish where the adjective comes after the noun?  Hmmm....fleurs jaune?   Or maybe fleurs de jaune?  At any rate, loads of tiny, yellow flowers.  And guess who LOVES tiny yellow flowers...

Bees!

I think I have discovered how to help the bees that are in peril.  Plant lots of kale and let it go to seed. Bees are flocking to my kale flowers.  I mean, yes, it is a terribly ugly plant, and it is right next to my front porch so everybody has to beeline (haha) through a hoard of bees to get in my house, but, it's for the bees. Come on folks, let's do what needs to be done.

SAVE THE BEES!  NEGLECT YOUR KALE!

It's better than eating the kale, after all.

And now for the blowsy, show-offs of the flower bed...The Peonies.

The kale flowers feel a bit intimidated sitting so close to the peonies, but they have their righteous indignation that even though they might be plain, they're saving the bees and anyway, they like the comfort of their crocs and ponytails versus the 5 inch heels and fluff and spray the peonies have to maintain to look so fancy.

Thanks for reading!

Heather

I say Herb you say Erb

I really do say Herb with an H.

A-Because Martha Stewart says it like that and if anybody knows what they're talking about, it's her.

B-I do it facetiously because I know it is how the lads and lassies from Pride and Prejudice would say it.  I also say Sh-edule instead of sck-edule.  And pri (like pit) vacy instead of pri (like pie) vacy.

C-I don't really like the sound of this sentence though: Let me give you AN Herb.  But, at the same time, I don't like the sound of this sentence: Let me give you A Herb.

D-I guess that means if I ever need to tell somebody I'm giving them....a plant that makes food taste good, I'll have to say: I'm giving you an erb.

If you're thinking this post is about herbs, it is.  Sort of.  It's mostly about Mother's Day though.

Mother's Day this year started on Saturday because The Mister was going out of town on actual Mother's Day.

Mother's Day for me means gardening stuff.  In Utah you are admonished to NEVER EVER NEVER plant your veggies and fragile flowers before Mother's Day.

Everyone chose a special plant for me.  My Youngest, a yellow tomato.  The Mister, a Peanut plant and My Oldest, French Lavender.   It's fun because each one is uniquely them.  My Youngest loves tomatoes, the Mister is just fun and kind of weird and My Oldest loves anything French.  I am actually very excited about the peanut and plan on documenting it's existence here at the Hearth.

These are also what we got.  There's several tomatoes and peppers and herbs and tomatoes and a Brussels Sprout and an egg plant and...heck, I am not even sure what's all there.  I'm just happy it's gardening time. But as you notice none of these are in the ground yet.  Even though Mother's Day has passed...it's was still in the 30's last night.  So they have to bunk in the garage for a couple of days.  Today or tomorrow these'll get planted.

I drove The Mister to the airport at 7 am yesterday.  He does get a big fail for leaving me to my own defenses on this day that celebrates me sleeping in, eating bonbons in bed and not having to do the dishes a single time ALL DAY.

The one good thing about getting up this early on my day, though, was getting to a nice-ish restaurant for breakfast before the masses showed up.  It was actually our second choice as the first was already packed and had a line of people waiting in the rain.  Uhhhh, yeah, no matter how tasty your pancakes are, no way I am waiting in the cold rain for them.

The bad thing about getting up this early is....I cannot take a good photo for anything.

The Mister gave the girls a pile of money so they could pay for my breakfast and they thought they were pretty cool telling the waitress to give THEM the check.

After breakfast it was time for my girls to give me more gifts.  My Youngest made this cute ladybug garden rock (which she has since claimed as her own and refuses to let me put it in the garden) and this gorgeous unicorn for me.

As well as this.  What is it, you may ask?

It's an I-Spy piece of fabric she found/created.  She was so excited to point out all the mystery blotches and have me figure out what they were.

My Oldest wrote out this card listing the reasons in English why she loves me.  I love what kids come up with.  My favorite is that I tuck her in her cosy bed.  :)

And then this one en Francais.  Pour ma mere...For my Mother...ummmmm....fleurs.....something flowers.  Ummm....mon coeur...my heart....that's it.

And finally, a word I never thought I'd say.  Birkenstocks.  I mean, I remember in the late 80's when my Mom had the tragic double-strapped, classic style.  Hippy, not sexy.  But these ones....hippy sexy, maybe?

Happy Mother's Day (a day late) to all the mom's out there!

Thanks for reading!

Heather