What is this, a petting zoo?

Luckily, Tropical Storm Fay gave us nothing worse than cabin fever here at the House at Two Palms. We had four days trapped inside with a six year old and a five year old… It’s a wonder we survived.

More Fay photos here

During our house arrest, we watched movies and played board games – Blokus is a lifesaver! We also spent a lot of time reading; at one point I was reading excerpts from a book on pasture-raised chickens to the monsters. That was when I realized that we had all gone insane.

See, it started with sheep and goats. We want sheep for wool and goats for milk, and both for meat. But, if we have sheep and goats, we have to be prepared to fight parasites. We want to minimize the routine use of medications, so we will need something to help keep the parasite load down. That led us to chickens.

Chickens are perfect for the job; they can graze behind the ruminants, scratching up bugs and fighting the parasite cycle. Plus hens lay eggs, bringing us closer to self-sufficiency!

But chickens need to be protected from predators. Now we’re learning about “chicken tractors” and guard animals. We’re thinking of adding a few guinea fowl to the flock as watch animals; they may be one of the ugliest birds on a farm, but they sound an alert against intruders, and they eat a ton of bugs.

Are you keeping count? When you add the rabbits, cats, and dog that we already have, that makes seven different types of animals. It won’t be a farm; it’ll be a zoo!

Our time together during the tropical storm reinforced the fact that we are all invested in this crazy farm scheme. Even the kids are caught up in the idea: asking questions, learning about the different animals and their care, sketching plans for pole barns and chicken tractors, and just dreaming with us. Seeing the kids excited and involved in our plans is absolutely priceless.

Since no storm can last forever, this week we finally went back to work and school. I am the proud mom of a kindergartner and a first grader. sniff They grow so fast!

Butternut Squash Soup

Get ready to bookmark this post. You definitely want to try this at home!

In defiance of the simmering August heat, I wanted that fall classic, Butternut Squash Soup, for dinner. I made up the recipe on the fly, and it was amazing. It is not for the faint of heart – or anyone on a heart-healthy diet – but it is sooo delicious that I have to share.

Eryn’s Amazing Butternut Squash Soup

2 butternut squash
2 medium red potatoes, sliced
16 ounces chicken stock/broth
1 pint heavy cream
4 Tablespoons butter
½ cup chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic (roughly 2-3 cloves)
¼ teaspoon nutmeg
¼ teaspoon chili powder
salt and pepper to taste

Cut the squash in half and scoop out the seeds. Place in a microwave safe dish with one inch of water and microwave on high for approximately fifteen minutes (until flesh is barely tender).

In a large saucepan, melt the butter over medium-low heat. Add chopped onion, cooking until translucent. Add garlic and sliced potatoes. Sauté until the potatoes are golden brown and the garlic and onion are very fragrant. Add the chicken stock/broth (I used a low sodium name-brand carton), nutmeg, chili powder, and salt and pepper. Bring to a boil and simmer until the potatoes are done.

Carefully (those squash are hot!) scrape squash pulp from the skin and add to the soup. Add the heavy cream and puree until smooth (I used my trusty blender, but an immersion blender would work great). Serve hot with fresh baked biscuits.

I haven’t measured serving sizes or total yield, but I can say this served my family of four until we were stuffed full, and we have a bit leftover. The soup has a delicate flavor and was very filling. It won’t make it into my weekly menu – if it did, eventually I would no longer be able to fit out the door! – but it is being added to my “seasonal favorites” menu.

Mmmm, yummy!

Is summer over yet?

Whoo-hoo! Man, I think I should have just taken July off completely.

Wait, you did take July off…

Oops, I guess I meant officially. Wow, what a month.

My 13-year-old twin stepsons were in town for their annual visit, so the House at (at least) Two Palms was filled with laughter, teen angst, a bit of drama, and a lot of fun. We look forward to their visit every year, but it can feel a bit like a five-week hurricane season – exciting, breath taking, and ultimately unpredictable.

I’ve also been working on Turtle Cove Farm, my new on-line store for knitting with soap. It will be a virtual farm for the next few years, but in 2010 Turtle Cove Farm will be our reality, a small-scale sheep farm on the plains of North Dakota.

Well, that seems sudden…

Mister Man and I had a long talk, and realized that for years we have both had the same dream of a simpler life up North. We were both a little embarrassed to admit it, each thinking that the other loved Florida too much to ever move away. And I do love it here, but I want to give the monsters the kind of childhood I had: a childhood filled with the serenity of wide-open spaces, the slow pace of nature, and a family so big you can never remember whether someone is a first- or second- cousin and you introduce yourself by listing your genealogy.


If you get a chance, wander around the new store and look around. It’s still a work in progress, so if you see something that could use improvement, I’d love to know.


In the meantime, if I get that far-away look in my eye, this is what I'll be thinking of:

Thank you for your patience; have some cake

Guess what - I'm a year older. Can you tell?

I think Ravelry has changed birthdays in the knitting world forever. Yesterday I celebrated the day of my birth (thanks, Mom!) and I was inundated with well wishes from both friends and random people who saw my little cake icon. It was quite lovely!

I love the fact that this year my birthday coincided with knit night. That meant double the cake:


One was from the kids, and was choked down with a smile. The other was waiting for me at knit night, and came back home with me. Can you figure out which one's which?

Enough about me... Drum roll, please: it's finally in the shop!


Turtle Cove - your place for the finest handmade soaps, handpainted yarns, and now knitting salve.

Knitting Salve

Check it out:


Coming soon to Turtle Cove!

I Can't Believe I Forgot a Title!

I have so much to blog about that I’m not even sure where to begin… Today it will be a little knitting. I finished the Striped Hoody from Knit Simple Magazine (Ravelry link), Flower Power, and Magic Slippers for my new baby niece. I was under a deadline, so I didn’t keep the best of notes.

Miss Cutie Patootie

The Details

I had nine months to knit a baby sweater. You’d think I would have had three or four done before the baby was born! Alas, every time I cast something on, I hated it. I either didn’t love the pattern or I didn’t love the yarn.

Finally, when I was down to the wire, I found the Striped Hoody and Classic Elite Summer Set. Summer Set is a cotton alpaca blend with a hint of polyester and lyocel; it isn’t superwash, but otherwise it’s perfect for baby projects: lightweight and warm, with fabulous colors.

It has a pom-pom!

One note of caution with the Striped Hoody pattern: Read the gauge of the pattern very carefully. I assumed it was gauge for a 4 x 4 square… It calls for a 4 x 5 rectangle. That’s a big difference! Luckily, Little Miss is skinny.

I couldn’t find the right zipper for the Hoody, so I improvised a closure with i-cord. It’s cute, but not very practical.

Check out my picot hems!

If you hate seaming, this is not the sweater for you! It has sides seams, shoulder seams, sleeve seams, hood seams, and hems! I was thoroughly sick of seaming by the end. The patterns calls for binding off the edges, then folding back and seaming to get the picot edge. I didn't like how it looked with bound off edges, so I tacked down the live stitches. Much better.

The Hat

A cute little girl needs a silly hat, and my mom practically demanded that I make Flower Power for her first granddaughter.

Cute Overload

This is such a cute pattern! I only knit one strand, so my gauge was waaaay off. I cast on as if for a super-large and went from there.

The Booties

The fashionable baby is dressed from head-to-toe in hand knits, so of course I had to knit some booties. I fell in love with Magic Slippers when Jesh blogged about them; they are quick, easy, and use up all that left over yarn. I knit these with two strands held together on size sixes.

Baby Booties are sooo sweet

Coming Soon

Well, I think this is enough for this morning. I have shop updates, stories from our trip to North Dakota, and even more information on Sears Houses to tell you about, but time is running away from me and I have much to do…

Until later!

I Aten’t Ded

Oh, my dearest loverlies, once again I’ve fallen off the face of the earth. We’ve had four weeks of madness at the (New) House at Two Palms… I hardly know where to begin.

First of all, we did get moved to the new house. A huge thank you goes to annieroo, her husband, and GailinCCB. We couldn’t have done it without your help! The move was exhausting and the less said, the better, although it does chap my ass that our old landlord spent many ten hour days fixing all the things he should have taken care of when we lived there.

The new house is faboo; cluttered, but faboo. We will probably get unpacked just in time to move to this:

What is this, you ask? Well, part of the reason the move was so rushed was that we had plane tickets to go meet a new bundle of sweetness.

Little Miss No Name is as sweet as pie, and it was reassuring to find that I have no desire to have another one of my own. These monsters are enough.

While we were in North Dakota, Dad took us out to look at a few acres of pasture perfect for a few sheep, and this gorgeous Sears Roebuck kit house.

Did you know Sears sold houses? I am still gobsmacked at the idea of ordering your house from a catalog. The house is a mess and it needs tons of work, but it is gorgeous. You just can’t find details like this in modern houses.

So now MrMan and I are imagining that house on this land

With a few sheep, some lilac bushes, and a windmill or two, it would be heaven.