thesalemgarden

Dino’s Day

Two weeks ago I posted about our newest addition. I’m happy to report that he’s doing great. Here’s how he spends his day:

He likes the sunny spot on the couch in the playroom.

There’s an occasional stretch.

And then he’s right back to his nap…

When he needs something he’ll come up to the kitchen and yowl until we figure out what he’d like. We think he’s deaf and his vision seems to be pretty limited too. He’s gained at least a pound and the other pets have accepted him easily.

I think he’s happy here. It’s sure an honor to have him.

Here’s a great post about garden-based learning from a blog in Texas that I started to follow recently. Here’s to many more garden experiences for children in 2013!

DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ

Happy New Year from

The Earth-Kind® WaterWise Demonstration Garden

on Joe Field Road.

We hope you will take steps in 2013 to cure Nature Deficit Order.

Book a trip our garden!

Excerpts from the Great American Campout website and American Academy of Pediatrics:

An “indoor childhood” hurts bodies & spirits.
Today’s kids are more likely to “tag” a friend on Facebook than outdoors in a game of “freeze tag.”
Kids today run from school to activities to sports w/ barely a minute to catch their breath. Loss of free time can contribute to stress, anxiety, & depression in children. (American Academy of Pediatrics)
Studies show being outdoors is the perfect anecdote. Time in green spaces reduces children’s tension levels & enhances their social interactions, helping them to feel more connected to self and others.

Learning in the Garden

Sources cited:

Growing Food LiFE Curriculum Series
Botany on Your Plate (Univ…

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2012 in review—Thanks WordPress!

The WordPress.com stats helper monkeys prepared a 2012 annual report for The Salem Garden. A lot of people who are thinking about blogging ask me about WordPress. I haven’t tried any other host, but I must say that I’m a pretty big WordPress fan. There’s always something new to try and I find it to be very, very easy to use. Check out this report that they sent me… I think it’s really cool! Happy New Year!

Here’s an excerpt:

600 people reached the top of Mt. Everest in 2012. This blog got about 7,100 views in 2012. If every person who reached the top of Mt. Everest viewed this blog, it would have taken 12 years to get that many views.

Click here to see the complete report.

Winter Morning In the Salem Garden

Michael took these shots while I was still sleeping. I love the early morning but he’s much better at getting out there than I am…

Waiting for spring…

The asparagus bed…

A cold little girl…

She’s not too happy…

The rest of the ladies preferred to stay in the warm coop (kind of like their mama) 😉

Compost bin, still cooking (I hope)..

The birds need some food. Michael sat down to eat breakfast and glanced out at the feeder. As soon as he was reminded of it he ran outside to give them some seed before he ate. He really takes care of things, unlike me… I would have finished my french toast.

The boys wasted no time… I’m not sure about why their using a wagon. We do have sleds??

I just looked out and the yard is full of kids and sleds. I love these days!

Enjoy Everything~

Michele

Recent Holiday Moments

Hello out there! I miss you!! Just like everyone else, I’ve been so busy with Christmas and lots and lots of people in my house that I haven’t had a chance to post anything. Where did a week go? It’s still the holidays around here… Michael is home from work, the kids are home from school, we’re eating and visiting and avoiding most of the every day routine. I thought I’d just check in and post a few photos from the past few weeks.

Uncle Mark was here a few weeks ago… he’s a fun uncle. My kids think he’s part jungle gym. I’m always a little bit worried for his back and my lamps when he’s around.

These two were dancing angels on Sunday morning then became soldiers, gumdrops and polichinelles in the afternoon. They are busy, busy girls!

My Magi’s Assistant (I love the hat)…

Prepping for the Christmas pageant… our church has a wonderful collection of costumes, so much glitter and gold.

Our beautiful church during the pageant. I love this place.

Winter at the Arnold Arboretum in Boston. We had never been there and really enjoyed a walk one day. I suspect that you’ll be seeing more Arboretum photos in the future.

Is this not the most patient sixteen year old sister in the world? Really. I think she was trying to read something.

Probably the biggest gift hit this year… he loves it!!

Yes, that is the computer and I in the sunroom/office! It still needs furniture and shades and decorations, but it’s almost there. I love, love, love it!!

I won this, along with a basket of other baking goodies from Amy at A Healthy Life for Me. We kind of like to bake around here so it was a great surprise!

We made Linzer cookies for the first time (very fun and surprisingly easy)… along with Gingerbread and Christmas Tree sugar cookies…

Life has been sweet…

Hope it’s been for you too.

Love, Michele

Our Newest Addition

Or perhaps I should call this post “Our Little Old Man”…

Our neighbors on the next street found this guy trying to get into their house the other day.

My son was called to help (he’s well known for helping in these situations) and of course he responded, cat carrier in hand. He and his friends took him to our local shelter at 9:30 pm only to find that the shelter couldn’t take him because he’s too old to be adopted as his estimated age is fifteen to eighteen years old. You can see how skinny he is… there is no fat on his body anywhere. We’re sure that he either lived outside for awhile or was not cared for in the home he lived in. The shelter has record of a man trying to surrender a cat who matches his description over the weekend, so it’s likely that he was dumped in our neighborhood which is right around the corner.

The shelter set us up with everything that he needs and did all of the necessary medical care and testing. Now he’s living in my garage for the 7-10 day quarantine period. I honestly didn’t think he’d live through it when he arrived. He was weak and tired and kind of disoriented. After twenty four hours of food and water he’s come back to life. Two days in he’s filling out and enjoying the jungle gym of stuff in the garage and all of the attention that he gets from seven people who dote on him whenever possible.

He’s extremely friendly and loving… I hope that he does well with the rest of our pets. When he arrived I thought that he might live for a few days, of course the jokes on me. Dino (short for Dinosaur) might be with us for awhile..

Theres a healing factor here for us as well as for Dino. With all of the harshness in the world right now, it feels good to provide some humanity to this little old guy.

Enjoy Everything!

Michele

A Few Scenes From The Nutcracker

Two of my girls performed in the New England Ballet Ensemble’s production of The Nutcracker this past weekend. It’s always wonderful to watch the many, many weeks of rehearsal come together in this beautiful ballet. It was a wonderful show and being part of it made memories that will last a lifetime. I was helping backstage during dress rehearsal so I ran out to the auditorium when I could to take photos…

The party children danced….

The battle scene

The Mouse King and his helpers…

Soldiers marching onward…Two of my favorite toy soldiers. They’ve been friends since they were babies. My Snow Lyrical dancer…The reindeer bringing the sleigh out for Clara.. There’s the choreographer, Joe Istre, with them. He comes from New York to work with the production. The weekends when Joe is in town for rehearsal are a highlight for the dancers. He has a way of using humor to bring out the best in everyone.Here’s my Marzipan dancer, ready to go…And again, with her adorable little lamb partner…
Here come the Gum Drops!There’s my girl!They add so much fun to the show!Marzipan on stage…and dancing with the lambs.Could they be any cuter?

The Polichinelles dancing for Clara…

My favorite Nutcracker photo this year…

And here’s Mother Ginger. This man comes to Massachusetts from his warm retirement in Florida to appear as Mother Ginger. It’s always great to see him! Apparently it’s a tradition that Mother Ginger be a man, dressed as her…

The ballet is over and it’s time to get ready for Christmas. I can still hear the music, I hope it stays for awhile!

Enjoy Everything!

Michele

Quiet

I’m joining with other bloggers and being quiet today. Please pray for the people of Newtown. Here is a link to a post written by a blogger who lives there.

Love, Michele

Keyhole Gardening

There’s always something new and interesting to learn about in the gardening world. I thought I’d share this interesting post about keyhole gardening today. I’ve never heard of this idea which was developed in Africa to conserve water and resources. Wouldn’t this be a great addition to a home or school garden?

DALLAS GARDEN BUZZ

Keyhole gardening is considered an “African survival strategy” in a land of scarce resources and unforgiving climate. According to reports from the BBC, 3 keyhole gardens can feed an African family of 10 for an entire year.

A humanitarian aid organization in southern Africa developed this particular sustainable gardening method. The design originates in permaculture which is a branch of ecological design & engineering that develops sustainable human settlements & self-maintained agricultural systems modeled from natural ecosystems.

A keyhole garden is the “ultimate raised-bed planter.” It consists of a circular shape w/ a 6 foot diameter & stands about waist-high. A notched-in section like a pie-shaped wedge allows access to the plants. It can be constructed from local recycled materials & incorporates a central composting basket into which food scraps/organic wastes are placed. The garden is also watered through this basket. It uses far less water than conventional gardens &…

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Gingerbread

There’s nothing like the smell of gingerbread. Yesterday one of my friends came home to the scent of gingerbread baking and posted a thank you note to her husband on facebook. I thought that was so cute! It really does welcome you in. We love to make gingerbread in our house and my oldest daughter has taken our gingerbread recipe to new heights.

Here she is baking a batch last Christmas.

These days she uses a very simple confectioners sugar and water icing and pipes designs on each cookie. If we make them this weekend I’ll try to share some photos. They are simple and delicious!

Here they are a few years ago with lots and lots of buttercream frosting…the younger the kids the more frosting and sprinkles.

This is last weekend’s creation….

Piping is big right now, Buddy Valestro does lots of this…

We love this gingerbread! Here’s the recipe:

Gingerbread Boys

4 Cups flour

1 Teaspoon ginger

1 Teaspoon cinnamon

1/2 Teaspoon ground cloves

1/4 Teaspoon nutmeg

1/4 Teaspoon allspice

1 Cup molasses (or 1/2 cup molasses and 1/2 cup honey, that’s my preference)

1 Cup sugar

1 Cup margarine, softened (we often substitute butter)

2/3 Cup boiling water

1 Teaspoon cream of tarter

1 Tablespoon baking soda

1/2 Teaspoon salt

1 Teaspoon vanilla extract

Sift the flour with the spices, set aside. Blend the molasses, sugar and margarine in a large bowl. Add the boiling water, cream of tarter, baking soda, salt and vanilla.

Add the flour mixture gradually, mixing well after each addition. Add enough additional flour to make a soft dough. Wrap tightly in plastic wrap and chill for 8 to 12 hours.

Preheat the oven to 350 degrees.

Roll the dough on a lightly floured surface and cut with a cookie cutter. Place on a lightly greased baking sheet. Bake at 350 degrees for 12 minutes or until lightly browned; do not overbake.

Remove carefully from the cookie sheet and place on a wire rack to cool.

Combine powdered (confectioners) sugar with a few drops of water to make icing. Then use a plastic bag with a pinhole to pipe decorations if you’d like to. Or eat without icing, or you can go crazy like my younger kids did in the photo above and embellish away!

Enjoy Everything!

Michele

gingerbread muffins with sweet lemon glaze. (sallysbakingaddiction.com)
Gingerbread Cheesecake Bites (todaysmama.com)

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