Category Archives: Crafting

Sticky Situation

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We did it! We did it! We did it! Hooray! Now that I have Dora the Explorer’s theme song running through my head and yours, let me give you a little update on what exactly we did. If you’ve been following along, you’ll know that we have tapped a few of our maple trees to make maple syrup this spring. Well, our minimal research and best laid, however naive, plans, made me host a “boiling party” this past Sunday. I invited a few friends over to sit by the fire with us and see how the day went. I thought it would be relaxed and fun. Roast a few hot dogs, maybe, get at least half of our sap boiled up, and perhaps bottle a bit.

Photo by Sindre Fs on Pexels.com

As life would have it, our plans don’t always work out as we expect. First, our sap is frozen. Stored in the freezer to keep it fresh. That’s fine… but after an overnight thaw, we still had big chunks of ice. No worries, right? Gonna boil it down anyway. Big chunks of ice don’t fit in my shallow pans. Then it rained the night before. Which means our wood and fire spot was fairly damp. We did save some fuel indoors (because we did check the weather!) but the hubby still had a hard time getting the fire going. And he usually has no trouble starting fires. Wink Wink.

Now remember, we’ve never done this before. We have no idea what we are doing. Yet, we march forward… fire going. Pans boiling. Sap levels start going down. Things appear to be working. Let’s put another pan out and try the bar-b-que. Yeah, that will work. We won’t mention the propane bill. I have fed my guests hamburgers. They are gracious, long time friends whom we love. They don jackets and “check on the fire” and encourage the hubby. We drink coffee and complain about the cold.

Hours have past. So, let’s get to the crux of this story. We have “thickened” sap. Our research tells us we can “finish off” our syrup inside on the stove. Everyone tells you not to do the maple syrup inside because it makes everything sticky, but this “finishing off” part needs to be monitored. The temperature checks and precision is needed to get the sap to the syrup stage… so it is okay to do this part inside on the stove. Okay. Stock pot locked and loaded. Two inches of sap from an entire 12 litre bucket. Candy thermometer marked at 219 degrees F. And then we got distracted. Chit chatting outside. Thinking the other was watching the pot boil. Disaster. Our syrup was burnt sugar.

Disaster

Okay, okay. Let’s fix it. I break out the candy molds. Maple sugar candy… that’s a thing, right? The family says add water… we boiled again. Yes! Syrup! Bottle it in our cute maple syrup bottles… wait. What are the floatie things? Eww. Is it supposed to look like that? Google. Apparently, one must filter the sugar sand or niter that remains in sap-syrup. Coffee filters don’t work. I spilled some. The syrup is now thick and sticky…. and drips and drops are everywhere! On my elbows, on my counter, on the stove, in the sink, in pots, pans and bottles. Sticky rolled up coffee filters with sandy grit are piled and discarded. Spoons and taste testers are left on sticky counters. Our friends have abandoned us. This is why they tell you don’t do maple syrup inside. It becomes a sticky situation!!

After 6 or so hours and all that… we have two 250ml bottles of thick, clear, sweet maple syrup to enjoy! (And 9 or so more buckets in the freezer to do it all over again with!) Seriously though, we had fun. We learned through trial and error. We laughed, we panicked, we yelled a little, but in the end: We did it!

We did it!

And so we come to the life lesson of boiling day. So often, we get ourselves in sticky situations, don’t we? We plan an Instagram worthy party with good friends. We think it is all going to be fluffy and romantic. We underestimate the time needed to invest. We think we will get so much more accomplished than we do. We try. We learn through trial and error and mistakes — and Google? We yell a little. Things get burnt. We waste precious resources and get distracted when we should be focused. We end up with big messes that need to get filtered through the One who is in control of it all.

Psalm 40 shows us how to get out of that sticky situation and stand again on solid ground. The stability (with all the sweet benefits) of being in the hands of the one who has laid out “good plans” for us. God no longer wants our burnt offerings, as sugary as they may be to us. He wants honest, raw worship and obedience. He wants us to call out to Him in those times of trouble, so He can lift us out of the mess, and show others the Way. It’s tough work. Sometimes it’s messy and things don’t go as planned. Sometimes we have a lot of cleaning up to do. Often, we get given the chance to do it all over again — and learn from our mistakes, as we work towards “perfection”.

Keep following along. The Mitton crew has buckets full of more chances at perfection sitting in the freezer. And if you receive a cute bottle of syrup from Itsnotta Farm — ignore the floaties –and enjoy the sweetness! Just know it was painstakingly life lessoned and prepared for you with lots of love and time!

Humble Decorations

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Oh, beloveds! It’s already mid morning on Tuesday and I am just now sitting down to blog. Not that I had anything better to do. I’ve been up for hours already. We had a slow weekend visiting with friends and family. I could have sat down to write yesterday, (or the days before) but I made turkey soup instead. We hauled out the Christmas decorations and my new farmhouse looks like Santa vomited in the living room. I’ve no idea where things are going to go. New house and all. They say life is like that here in the country. You are allowed to take things slower. Revel in the quiet and observe the world around you. You are allowed to have stuff everywhere. People are okay with that. I guess we have come to the right place.

Right now, the world around me is windy. I can hear it howling through our cedar trees outside. I see them bend and sway. The front porch rocking chairs have been rocking on their own all morning like they’ve been taken over by the Ghost of Christmas past. It’s cool, but I suspect winter will bring worse. It’s dark and cloudy out there… which makes the day seem so much heavier, and my mood even more moodier. I wanna snuggle back under the covers. Everything looks the same bleak brown and grey colour under the cloud cover. I’m hoping the sun peaks out later and brightens my day… and my outlook.

So. Let’s curl up together here on the couch and have a chat, shall we? What shall be our muse for the week? I was contemplating Christmas decorations. Country, rustic, Christmas decorations to be specific. We had all the kids over on Sunday to “help” decorate. We didn’t get very far – we ended up visiting and eating and socializing and playing with the dogs and taking a walk up the hill. Hence the still present Santa vomit.

I was hoping my girls would help string together my citrus garland. I also made a cedar swag and “foraged” some dogwood and birch tree twigs. My Pinterest dreams for my front porch and farmhouse windows are going to be Instagram worthy this year! (If I ever get them up!) Keep following along on my social feeds for stories and updates for when those actually happen. I’m not going to post how to’s here as there are much more talented folks out there of which I am learning. I’ll just show you those attempts and you can judge accordingly.

Let’s get back to the muse. I have discovered that the “country chic Christmas vibe” is in fact, one of nostalgia. The red pick up truck with pine tree loaded in the truck bed. The pick up is a working vehicle out here. Everyone has one. Except us city slickers. Citrus garlands -because oranges were rare treats to cherish on Christmas morning. Barn board. Cedar swags, red berries, pine cones, birch bark twigs…. all readily available from the land this time of year. Which pains me greatly to see them in the store with hefty price tags! I made the poor hubby drag those birch branches outta the wood a few weeks back. His fall coat covered in burrs and muddy gloves was worth the price. Slight diversion in thought here… but seriously people, these things are free with a little searching and a willing husband. I love country vibe. It’s good for my frugal mindset.

Happy Poinsettia Day! Photo by Mark Stebnicki on Pexels.com

Today is apparently poinsettia day. I’m sure many of you know the flower originated in Mexico. There are a sprinkling of legends and stories that tell of how the plant became associated with Christmas – taken to evening mass on Christmas Eve and presented to baby Jesus as an offering. Late in 1828, Joel Roberts Poinsett was an American on a diplomatic trip to Mexico when he came across the plant known locally as “Cuetlaxochitl.” Another avid plant guy cultivated the flower and the two made it what we know today as an international Christmas icon. But. It started out as a weed. A Mexican weed whose pretty red “petals” are actually leaves. It’s not even a real “flower”.

As I think and ponder and look back on these “festive decorations” that I have just described, I am struck by the beauty in the everyday. I am again reminded that the howling wind through my cedars can become an icy pot of greens that sparkle and shine when the sun finally does come out. Our Saviour was born in a stable. I now have some experience with hay, straw and barnyard smells. I wonder if Mary cursed the flies and persistent lady bugs. Maybe Bethlehem has other bugs. I bet the shepherds smelled like campfire and urine. Did they hear the coyotes and worry about their pets too?

And so I have come to the realization that Christmas, perhaps, isn’t all Mariah Carey glitz and glamour. It’s humble beginnings, quiet, windy mornings, and seeing the beauty in nature and the everyday. It’s celebrating stinky stables, and being grateful for oranges and warm beds with tattered quilts. It’s seeing the value of hard working machines and pick up trucks and the simplicity of making a living from the bounty God has given us. It’s taking a simple weed and seeing it as a symbol of beauty.

Photo by Jessica Lewis on Pexels.com

Thank you, Lord, for helping me learn these lessons with my reader friends today. Our journey has again reminded me to see the Glory of You in our everyday. I pray that you will help us focus on the Peace that you bring on this second week of Advent. There is so much going on in the world that is so opposite to Peace, that I am grateful for the reminders. Help us to see it. Help us to cherish the little things. To see the weeds as beautiful. To be thankful for our blessings. To take time to listen to the wind and know that you whisper through it. To slow down and be quiet. To remember the humility of a stable. May you send blessings on the readers touched by my words, Lord. May I remember to be thankful for the ability and the freedom to write them. Amen.

Treasures and Time

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Greetings, my beloveds! Another week… thought I’d shake it up a bit and post a day late. Truth is, we had our first power outage last night and no posting was going to get done without power. The winds blew something fierce and we got a bit of freezing rain and then, poof! darkness fell upon the land. Thankful for our wood stove and the hubby’s persistence in purchasing wood, we survived the five or so hours of “living like pioneers”. Minus the data on our phones, and the battery operated flashlights, and the printed card game we played…

Would you like to live like a Pioneer? Photo by dogadakisakal on Pexels.com

I suppose the blackout added to my muse for today, which was prompted by a question I saw posed a week or so ago: What would be an era you would have liked to live in? Take a moment with me. Live in forever? Visit? Future? Past? I suppose the scenario may change if you were stuck there versus time travelling through… so let’s say we were just visiting. I’m hearing many of my generation and the next saying “Oh, if only we could go back to the good old days — live off the land, no pressures, no this or that” Which seems fair coming from a girl who just moved to the country to raise chickens and bunnies and learn to grow her own veggies. Still, there’s a never ending amount of work involved with those things… and no Home Hardware to help in 1800.

Perhaps some of you would say Bible Times would be the ticket. Meet Jesus and the disciples. Get a true feeling for the scriptures and the parables as a people of the time. Still, as a young woman, my life would look very very different. Perhaps my stubborn attitude would’ve gotten me into trouble. Jesus or not. Or swing the pendulum. Future? Automated everything. Convenience extrapolated to the max. What kind of satisfaction, or lack thereof, would that elicit? All fair assessments, and worthy of musing.

Where would you go if you could time travel?

A week or so ago we made an impromptu visit to an old friend who is now living in an old century home in a quaint little town not too far from us. Her place is fabulous! Perfectly accented with antiques and knick knacks that truly bring her showcase home to full beauty. I craved her secrets and sources, and kicked myself for being the realist I am, and that I am entirely too cheap. Besides, our century farmhouse has to be knocked down a notch due to dog hair, house flies and the manure patch next door. Pioneer times, my foot.

Still, I am taken in by things that various people treasure. I marvel at home reno shows and thrift finders who have a gift for finding that perfect thing. That little gem that fits exactly on that shelf and screams I am the G.O.A.T! Perhaps, you’ve DIY’d something or inherited a family heirloom that you display with pride. I found a little egg cup at the thrift store the other day that did me in. Normally, I gloss over the knick knack section (“frugal” remember?) but I picked up this little thing and hummed and hawed at the price tag (a whopping $1.98!) and decided it was too cute. Chickens. Farmhouse. Maybe even bordering on “vintage” … a farmhouse needs a chicken egg cup, right??

And so I enjoyed my hard boiled egg in my new egg cup on Saturday morning. And dream of chickens come spring.

“Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust destroys and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.”

Matthew 6:19-21

Does this mean we cannot collect the goods and find that perfect piece? I don’t think so. It’s a good reminder to stay balanced. To live with Heaven in mind. To treasure our relationships and nurture our love for others not things. I can easily get sucked in to the beauty of “things” (or creatures…) instead of my people, so I must check myself every now and then. A good power failure reminds me that all that I have right now, in this era in history, in this moment in time, was designed perfectly just for me. I am given what I need and blessed with so much more. And so, although it is fun to dream and ponder and muse about this time or that treasure, reality tells me that you can’t take it with you. Be grateful and generous. Be thankful and thoughtful. But dream a little.