Harvesting Yucca and Sugarcane

[caption id="attachment_1889" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Yucca Plantation"][/caption]

We have much to be grateful for here on our farm.

[caption id="attachment_1892" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sania cutting away the Yucca branches to access the roots"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1893" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Yucca"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1894" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Our overgrown weeds near the sugarcane fields"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1891" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Yucca"][/caption]

Yucca can be used as you would use potatoes, in soups, for stews, chips, mashed into a puree or as fritters.

[caption id="attachment_1895" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sasha"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1897" align="aligncenter" width="533" caption="Sugarcane"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1898" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sania"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1886" align="aligncenter" width="449" caption="Skinning Sugarcane"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1887" align="aligncenter" width="640" caption="Sasha removing the skin of the sugarcane"][/caption]

[caption id="attachment_1899" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sugar cane juice"][/caption]

The juice is so sweet and delicious

[caption id="attachment_1903" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Clementines from our Citrus Field"][/caption]

and so are the clementines

[caption id="attachment_1904" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="The boys indulging in the sweet Clementines"][/caption]

Felt Art, Handmade Holidays, Yarn Along and Orange Pomanders

Pony Boy Felt Art

As many of you all know that I am profoundly inspired by Marie's felt art and aspired to be able to work with felt in such a beautiful, creative way.  It all started out with my little lilac felt girl, then the two little boys. Pondering on what I could do with them and playing around with small bits of magic wool, my first little pony boy felt art revealed itself.

Pony Reins

This is a simple crochet pony reins craft from the Living Crafts magazine. Another gift for Sania's birthday.

Sasha Knitting

Sasha is pretty good at knitting.  Last year he knitted a beautiful little kitten for his brother's birthday and this year he helped me knit the pony below.  He doesn't knit often because it's so hot in the tropics. Winter is the only time he will actually do it and not overheat - it's not a great love of his but he knows how.

Knitted Pony

I'm sure you've all guessed that we love horses and ponies.  This is the little pony Sasha helped me knit for Sania's birthday, the pattern can be found in the First book of Knitting for Children by Bonnie Gosse and Jill Allerton.  Sasha was galloping the horse over our pillows last night whilst his brother was in dream land.

Acorn Baby

Simple little acorn babies in a little felted nest.  I love the fuzzy looking acorn tops that we collected during our stay at the Redwood forest last spring.

[caption id="attachment_1851" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Pink Acorn Baby"][/caption]

Star Decoration

Felting patterns by placing colored wool into cookies cutter shapes are my children's favorite craft.  Last year we made many decorations for the Christmas tree.  Above is Sasha's star decoration from a star cookie cutter but the shape didn't form to well, it almost looks like an autumn leaf.  I added two lines of crochet around to hold the form a bit better.

Boys Felting

The children having fun.  Working with felt always sets a peaceful mood in the home.

Star Ornament

Yet another Living Crafts Magazine ornament I made last year by cutting two star shapes out of red felt.  Sewing them in blanket stitch with red floss and stuffing with wool batting.  I added some beads, shells and a little bell at the end to decorate it.

[caption id="attachment_1872" align="aligncenter" width="533" caption="Angel in an African Violet Pod"][/caption]

A simple little fairy made from magic wool encased in a wonderful pod, dropped down from our splendid African Violet Tree.

Orange Pomander

The sweet, spicy scent that emanates from these delightful orange pomanders is delectable.   A fun little craft to celebrate the holiday season and a pretty, scented decoration.  The children helped embellish these sweet oranges with a pretty arrangement.  A spiral was formed in the orange below, reminiscent of their holiday advent spiral that they love to celebrate.

Spiral Pomander

The oranges in Dominican Republic never have a thick orange skin.  They are ripened at this lime green stage and offer delicious sweet juice.  We have many bitter oranges on the farm that we harvest to make marmalade.

Advent Calendar Bag

Every year we hang our advent calendar bags for the children.  This is a photo from two years ago.  A treasure lies waiting for the children in the morning as they excitedly wake up, thinking they were visited by the fairies.  When Sasha was little he told me the fairies had brought him these wonderful treasures so I have never told him otherwise. Treasures we include are shells, gem stones, little crafts I make, peppermint candy sticks, a small chocolate, bells, some little woodies I found from Michaels, colored glass, stickers. Finding treasures to fill all these bags keeps me very busy.

Farm fun, Cream and Homeschooling days!

[caption id="attachment_1836" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Martinmas board drawing"][/caption]

Recently we had a wonderful Martinmas celebration.  The children made their beautiful paper lanterns which glimmered so elegantly during their evening procession with their friends.  I told the children a story and the next day I presented this board drawing for Sasha's Saints and Hero's main lesson.

Writing on the board is a big struggle for me, I know with a little practice I shall improve. This is a sweet and simple illustration I found at a little garden flower's website.

[caption id="attachment_1837" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Sasha's main lesson book"][/caption]

Sasha is now in grade 2 and although he loves to draw, he's not always keen to write which I feel is quite normal for boys especially at his age so I try to keep the sentences short.

[caption id="attachment_1833" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Tarantula"][/caption]

A little excitement this morning as we were greeted by a beautiful tarantula on our way down the steps towards the swimming pool.  It's the season for these hairy creatures.  Thankfully we don't get many around our home because our wild cats keep them at bay.

[caption id="attachment_1834" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Banana Flambe"][/caption]

Dominican Republic is the land of Banana's.  As you look out into the horizon a great deal of land is occupied by banana and plantano plantations.  Banana flambe is one of our favorite deserts that my husband loves to make. Plantains pierced with cloves and cinnamon, fried or baked slowly in raw cultured butter and topped with raw cream, is oh so delicious!  Sania, my youngest eats about 6 bananas a day,, he loves them.

[caption id="" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Cream after separation from milk"][/caption]

We are grateful to our cows for sharing their rich milk with us.  Our calves stay with their mothers until about 10 months or longer, so we only take a small portion of milk when needed.  We don't pasteurize our milk so it is put directly into a separator and a thick rich cream is extracted leaving behind a skimmed milk which is given to our employees.

[caption id="attachment_1765" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Creme Fraiche"][/caption]

Delicious creme fraiche, is the secret and healthy ingredient in most French cuisine.  We use cream and creme fraiche for dessert toppings, soups, quiche and sauces.

Here is a recipe on how to make it:

1. 1 cup whipping cream mixed with 2 tablespoons buttermilk.


2. Combine well in glass jar and cover.


3. Let stand at room temperature (about 70 degrees F.) for 8 to 24 hours, or until thickened.


4. Stir well and refrigerate.


5. Use within 10 days.

[caption id="attachment_1766" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Raw Cream"][/caption]

Our delicious raw cream that is so rich and creamy unlike any I have bought in a store, it is naturally thick like this we don't need to whip it.

[caption id="attachment_1769" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Coco in the garden"][/caption]

I looked downstairs and saw a pony in the pool garden.

[caption id="attachment_1763" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="Rafting"][/caption]

This is the fun we have when we get tropical storms and our duck pond fills up.  It's a shame my husband didn't stay with the camera because we did fall in after all.

[caption id="attachment_1805" align="alignnone" width="640" caption="The pony boys"][/caption]

More pony fun!  My children have so much fun with their little ponies that we made a few videos.  Parelli Natural Horsemanship added Sasha's to their Parelli tube on youtube it is so cute.

Autumn Flowers in the Tropics!

Handmade Holidays

Felted Toadstool Gnomes

It was very sweet of Marie from Softearthart to send me three of these little Toadstool gnomes to show me exactly how to make them.  I'm now spending many evenings with beautiful soft colorful wool, felting little presents for the children.  Three of these little toadstool figures are what I have made and the other three are from Marie.  I plan to put them in the children's Christmas stocking.

[caption id="attachment_1759" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Hairy Gnome"][/caption]

Sania loves little gnomes so I made this one for his birthday next month.

[caption id="attachment_1760" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Knitting the Lamb with Kitty"][/caption]

Loving the cooler autumn evenings with the cat snuggled up to me whilst I knit for Sania's birthday.

[caption id="attachment_1768" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Lulu the Lamb"][/caption]

and here she is, Lulu the Lamb.  I put her in the washer to felt and fluff the hair but it didn't felt as nice as I would have liked.  I knitted this same little lamb a few years back for Sasha's birthday but one of the dogs had fun with it and so it wasn't a lamb anymore... there is something about dogs, cats and wool.  I've had many nature tables destroyed by my cats so now they are no longer allowed in the family play room unless supervised.

[caption id="attachment_1767" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Granny square blanket from my Grandmother"][/caption]

Grandmothers are so special, how I loved to be embraced and loved by them. The wisdom in their wrinkled faces framed by their beautiful silver hair passed down in generations. They were always so kind and loving to me and I always saw such beauty in them.  My grandmother made a beautiful colorful blanket for my brother and I when we were toddlers.  I feel the warmth of  her crafting hands in the softness of this blanket. The children love it to.

[caption id="attachment_1772" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Crocheted Purses"][/caption]

Crocheting is new to me so I am challenged by many projects and some times I have to take it all out and start over.  This is a simple project for beginners and a wonderful Christmas gift for children.

[caption id="attachment_1761" align="aligncenter" width="300" caption="Papa playing the Guitar"][/caption]

Gathering together at the family table for an early dinner after a long day working about the farm is a wonderful way to celebrate and converse about the happenings of the day. We usually have our dinners around 5pm and after clean up and sometimes a sunset walk we head upstairs to the children's comfortable play and family room. We spend the evening socializing and cuddling and the children play quietly with their papa building with their blocks or setting up a train track. Many evenings Fabien plays the guitar and sings beautiful french and english songs. The children enjoy singing along to.  A French bed time story is read and the children are usually asleep by 7.30 which gives us more time to craft or read.  We haven't had a television in our home for 8 years now.

Beautiful pods opened into a flower

These are enchanting little pods opened up into the shape of a flower, that we found floating along the stream.  I didn't have my camera to capture the beauty when we found them but here they are on the nature table.

Little Knitted Bird

Mine is pink! This is a sweet little knitted blue bird pattern of Linda's from Natural Suberbia.  Knitting on the round is also new to me.  It was a fun little project.

My husband will make a little wooden house/barn and some other wooden toys for the children and I will buy a few more handmade crafts from the local people here in Dominican Republic.

I've also ordered the knitted squirrel from Linda's etsy store, a gorgeous woolie owl and hedgehog from 5 orange potatoes and some little wooden toys from Renee's store called Little Sprouts!

Thanks to all those wonderful ladies for sharing their beautiful handmade projects with all of us on their etsy stores and making birthdays and holidays all the more special. Don't forget to sign up for Marie's giveaway at Softearthart, her felt crafts is so beautiful.