It was a gooder.
Knitting lessons with three eager learners;
the friend who found dropped stitches and finished one of my UFOs (unfinished objects), bless her;
littles taking their knitting to bed with them;
a second stripy hat off needles;
yarn detangled for a sweet boy;
chores completed making for a clean house;
lovely visit from an out-of-town aunt and uncle;
leftovers for dinner, a brief glance of the back of the fridge;
refreshing kombucha;
a late, late night (a guilty pleasure);
a late morning (thank you, sweet children);
hot bath water;
an indulgent afternoon of yarn shopping, tea, and knitting with a sweet friend in town for a long weekend (more on that later);
head swimming in knitting dreams;
just one more rooibos latte (with almond milk, of course);
now couch time with hubby, knitting, and episode three.

and very few photos taken – posting this iphone snap from earlier in the week

Out of towners, milky tea, and lots of wool.

I’m thankful for these at the end of this weekend.

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How was your weekend? Where did you find gratitude? Blessings on your new week!

once again I’m doubling up with these two beautiful friends

:: joining Amanda for weekending:: 

:: giving thanks with Taryn at Wooly Moss Roots for Gratitude Sunday ::

Although half a country apart, Corrie and I often find we take photos that mirror each other. After talking about it longer than we really needed, we’ve decided to make a game of it.

We will choose a word at random each Thursday and meet back the following week with our interpretations of the chosen word. It will be a fun way to share different, or perhaps similar, points of view.

eek! check out this awesome graphic Corrie designed!

And of course – the more the merrier! We’d love to have you join us – either by sharing on your blog, instagram, or flickr. You could even share a photo on my facebook page. We’ll alternate each week whether Corrie or I will host the link-up party but we’ll be sure to let you know where to find us.

This week we’re kicking things off with our first word.

I’ve been so excited to what see our inaugural word will be.

Da da da da…

shadow

We’ll be back here on Thursday to share our snaps. Hope to see you then!

Here’s a handy button if you’d like it for your post or sidebar.

I finally feel like I’m getting my groove back.

I’ve remembered I love blogging. I’m knitting in the evenings again. I scrubbed the floors.

Perhaps it’s all the water, or the diet, or the vitamins but I’m feeling pretty good.

I think I’m gearing up to finish some of the knitting projects I’ve avoided making eye contact with lately. But not quite yet. I need some happy cast-on, cast-off projects to gain some momentum. I think I’ve found them.

I’m still working on the Downton Cowl I began last week as part of Shannon’s knit along. The lacework is coming together beautifully – simple yet elegant. I’m taking my time with it though – not ready for the pattern or tosh vintage to end.

In the meantime I needed some nice stockinette to pick up while playing boardgames or teaching long division. Using the beautiful swift I received for Christmas (!!!!), I finally wound a couple skeins I bought back in the fall for a little girl’s hat. Poor Sarah has been wearing a poorly sized hat after her own was felted. It wasn’t really suitable – not for this Alberta winter when ears need full coverage. I followed notes I made during last fall’s tornado knitting and a stripey design the kids love, and lickety-split she has a hat. Ravelry notes here.

Now all the siblings have placed their orders and argued over which hat needs to be knit next. Little brother won that one since his head has sizeably outgrown his older hats. Orange and yellow stripes are up next!

I had a whole stack of books come in at the library this past week. I’ve been picking my way through them – giving them a test ride to see what I’m in the mood for. So far I’m undecided. Nonetheless, I have a most exciting book to share with you!

My sister, brilliant gift-giver that she is, found an amazing book for the kids for Christmas: How to be a World Explorer. I’d heard tidbits from it such as how to reinsert your eyeball if it falls out (!?!?) but I hadn’t sat down with it until three-year-old Simon showed me the proper defence in the event of a bear attack. It is incredible! Younger siblings keep reminding me that, as the cover states, it is NOT-FOR-PARENTS. The older kids, though, are just too excited to show me how to remove a leach (use your fingernail to loosen it, then flick it away) or instruct me on desert island survival (be warned: sea urchin meat looks like baby poo). I am going to tuck in with this book and a pile of kids tomorrow to see what other gross, disturbing, and slightly frightening things we can learn from it. So much fun!

::

One last thing – I realized yesterday that today is my 2nd blogiversary! I’ve been rather erratic in my posting lately but this space means so much to me because of the wonderful friends I’ve “met” through it. I’ve been incredibly blessed by you – first time visitors and old friends, commenters and wallflowers alike. Since I love you all so much and you’ve been so good to me, I wanted to host a little giveaway to celebrate. I made a few box bags (based on Truly Myrtle’s brilliant tutorial) to send out in the pay-it-forward swap I joined in last year. I ended up with one extra – just the thing to send one of you lovely people. It’s the perfect size for a portable knitting project, toiletries bag, or whatever you can dream up for it.

Leave a comment on this post for your first entry, follow house full of jays on facebook or share this giveaway however you’d like (on your blog, facebook, instagram, tell a friend) for your second! Just be sure to leave a comment for both possible entries!

And don’t forget to tell me what you have on needles and in the reading pile!

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joining Ginny for yarn along

Perhaps I’ve bored you all to tears about the diet I began back in October. I know I’ve bored myself (and surely dear, sweet hubby) with my complaints over giving up wheat and dairy in particular.

After the first miserable month of food detoxing I started to get the point of it. Especially when my candida flared up again after a string of Christmas cheats. A further check-up with the herbalist showed the diet has been working – clearing out the junk and setting things straight.

But I miss baking. Big time.

I think about it far too often. Especially bread dough. Did you know how much I love baking bread? More even than knitting. So multisensory, so delicious, so homey.

Snap out of it, Rachel.

Now that I’m feeling more myself, I’ve been finding my way around the kitchen again. I’ve uncovered and edited and enhanced recipes to work for us. And wouldn’t you know, I’ve been photographing them to share with you.

The kids have taken the change to a wheat free lifestyle with incredible grace. I’m absolutely in awe of how easygoing they’ve been about the whole thing and grateful that Dan encouraged us all to take a break from wheat. But they have missed my baking as well.

Insert these muffins.

After more than a couple failed pancake attempts I discovered these muffins. I don’t remember where I first found the recipe but I’ve changed it in so many ways that I now consider it my own.

They aren’t much of a leap for us in the muffin department. In our kitchen, muffins are not of the sugar laden grocery store variety but whole grain nuggets, low in fat and sugars. These are just that but they don’t trade down in the flavour department. They are moist, flavourful, and the sweetness is just right for us.

Apple-Carrot Breakfast Muffins

Dairy free, refined sugar free, gluten free. For grain free/paleo friendly muffins replace the oat flour with almond flour. For vegan use flax eggs or other egg substitute. 

yield: 18-22 medium-sized muffins

3 cups oat flour (I grind rolled oats for this)

1 cup almond flour (store bought or ground in a Vitamix or food processor)

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp salt

2 carrots

2 apples, cored

3 eggs (or flax egg for vegan muffins)

1/3 cup almond milk (milk or other milk substitute would work)

1 t vanilla

2-3 Tbsp maple syrup (optional: I’ve forgotten and no one noticed)

Preheat oven to 350 F. Grease two muffins tins with coconut oil or butter.

Combine flours with baking soda and salt in a large bowl.*

In a food processor or Vitamix, puree carrots and apple (alternatively, they can be finely grated by hand). Either remove to a bowl, or continue in the food processor, adding eggs, milk, vanilla and maple syrup. Add liquids to the bowl of flour and mix to combine.

Spoon into prepared pan (I use 1/4 cup). Bake for 15-20 minutes – check for doneness with a toothpick.

*A note on grinding flours: I grind my flours in my Vitamix which has a very powerful motor. I think a food processor would work for the almonds and certainly for the oats. Just be careful not to over process the almonds – it can very quickly become almond butter. Unless you convert the recipe to purely paleo, the texture from processor ground almond flour should be fine enough.

::

Let me know if you try them! Do you have any favourite wheat-free recipes for me to try out?

Hey friendly people!

I wanted to check in on those of you who opted to take part in the water challenge. I’ve been so pumped to see how many of you have said you’ll join me in this endeavour. Even Dan, who balked at my suggestion that he partake, has been carrying around a mason jar of water. He won’t commit but he’s been more mindful of it – while muttering about all the additional bathroom breaks.

I’ve been getting my 3L but I’ve been less careful about spreading them out. I just love a good, refreshing chug of water. Too much guzzling though and it will flush through too quickly so I’m trying to remember to sip more regularly.

My morning flush of 750ml is still my favourite part of this whole thing. I’ve learned quickly, though, that if I don’t do it truly first thing I will forget. As soon as I carry that jar of water downstairs, I’m sunk (it is so hard to resist all these deliciously cheesy puns).

While I’ve been keeping track, I came up with what I’m hoping may be a helpful way to keep track of my daily water intake. Based on the idea of a row counter bracelet used for knitting (I’ve always got knitting on the brain), I made a bracelet to count units of water. Because I drink out of a 750ml jar, I need four units a day to meet my daily three litres. My bracelet has four larger beads – when I finish a jar I pass the elastic ring of small beads over the large bead. Pass all four beads and I know I’ve met my daily goal.

I’ve been wildly curious how you are all finding the challenge, and all the while thinking up a little giveaway for you dear teammates (it’s not too late to join us). I thought it would be fun to send a water counter to one of you lovely ladies!

I’ll chose a random name from the comments on this post and I’ll make the winner a custom bracelet. I’ll leave the giveaway open until the end of our challenge, February 4th, so any latecomers can jump in, too.

::

And now, what I really want to know – how are you doing? What changes have you made? Is it harder than you expected? Easier? Are you surviving the bathroom breaks? 

If you’re hesitating about joining us, please don’t! This is a fun challenge to improve our health with this simple step of getting our daily water. Latecomers are welcome! No sticklers allowed, though, this isn’t about feeling badly about ourselves but changing our habits.  We’re all in this together!

If you’re wondering what this is all about check out my original post here. 

P.S. Another exciting something – Corrie and I have cooked up a little game we’re going to play every week. We’re hoping you’ll join us! The details are here and our first round begins on Thursday!