hump day nuggets: little bits of the season in photos and words about the last week
Seriously, I know I have been gossiping a lot about Summer but the bitch didn’t deliver like she promised. And if there is a single trait I most detest it is false promisers.
So since this is my FIRST red tomato of the YEAR,
I am moving on to Autumn.
And in our world, Autumn means food. We harvest, preserve, put gardens to bed. We fill our freezer with meat. Well, I do. Andy enjoys the fruits of my labor but not laboring to make fruit. He has other skills like building or fixing anything. It’s a good trade being that he’d rather get kicked in the shin than dig and I’d rather get up every hour with my baby than do calculus. But, wait, I do have to get up every hour with my baby….looks like Andy needs a kick to the shin to even it out.
Also, in our world, Autumn means outside. We slink about town on bikes with extra intention, knowing it won’t be so easy soon. We hike, camp, fish, plan to ski. There’s something about the squeaky clean air and rosy noses that pulls us outside from the inside where there’s the aforementioned food chaos.
These are two things I am unbending about my kids appreciating: food and how it gets to our table and outside and how it needs our reverence and care.
So. This week’s nuggets are about food and outside because, in looking at the last week’s events in photos, harvest and camping are the highlights. Well, and the dresses but you already know about those.
:: Beans are quite showy.
:: The apricots we harvested last week finally met their destination: lavender apricot butter. The lavender addition was suggested by a friend and it’s GOOD.
Probs should have added more sugar but good grief after four cups I felt scandalous. A bit whorish even.
Come on Virgin Harvesters! It’s a snap.
Also, I had the sweetest little helper.
:: We went camping just a short 20 minute trek away from our front door.
:: It was Ruby’s first camp.
:: And Margot looked like this the whole time.
:: We went for several hikes, each of us adults with a daughter on our back.
:: Alice was beside herself, foraging through the woods like a wild animal stalking prey.
:: Margot drew “M”s in the dirt with a stick and Andy carefully tended the fire. My husband is very particular about two things: packing the car and maintaining a fire. I do not interfere with either.
:: Ruby sang in the tent.
:: Lots of fireside dining, sipping, reading, laughing.
It’s all so simple and perfect when we camp. We have everything we need: shelter, warmth, sustenance and each other. There’s endless connection and discovery in the bare, basic needs of humans and boundless offerings of nature. Good stuff I say.
35 Comments
Nici,
What a great post. I love Margot’s big grin, oh how I love it!! I too just got one ripe tomato. What to do with that lone little girl. The lavender in your preserves….yum. I found some organic pectin that supposedly takes less sugar. I was going to make jelly so I think I will add some lavender in with my peaches and see what happens. I have some good squash and beets from my “High Mowing” organic crop! So my “virgin” garden is somewhat successful. Anyways always lovin on your blog even if you are a little whorish with your sugar. 🙂 XO M.
Okay. Love that last picture of you and your girls! Is it really that chilly already in Montana? Here in the Midwest summer is holding on TIGHT. And while I know it will be changing so very soon, when a cool breeze blows, it makes my day.
Thanks for the fresh post …
Oh, and Happy September!
I love:
“It’s all so simple and perfect when we camp. We have everything we need: shelter, warmth, sustenance and each other.” Good stuff I say too!
Burb~Gorgeous post. with gorgeous photos! I have said this before, but I so love seeing Bug & Ruby wearing articles of clothing that you and you brother wore…..Margot’s hat that her Great Grandmother knit for you & Ruby’s blue hoodie sweater that Uncle Trav wore…SEE I was not crazy for carefully preserving these things for over a quarter of a century!
Margot let’s go camping sometime okay? I would love that! (I am a really good camper too). When I was a little girl we went camping ALL the time in those same mountains! Can you believe how lucky you are to be able to drive to an area like that in only a few minutes?! So many people have to plan a week long vacation to get to your “backyard”…amazing. I love the big smile on your sweet face! AND I Love You A Bushel & A Peck!!!!
Oh Ruby…I close my eyes and can hear you singing in the tent! I remember when Bacca & I took your mama & your uncle camping to the Redwood National Forest in California. Uncle Trav was about your age, it reminds me of it seeing you sitting under that tree…I smile because I also remember thinking then it will be so much easier when Travis is walking instead of crawling around the campsite putting EVERYTHING within reach in his mouth! I wonder if your mama had the same thoughts? You Are My Sunshine!
Love you all SO much!
xoxo Mom/Gram
Love it – ‘specially Bug’s big ole grin & Rubes singing. Have a fun trip!! xoxo, P
Lavender apricot butter. That sounds like heaven.
I am so jealous of autumn weather. Please send some of it down to Texas. Pretty please?
Very sweet. You’ve inspired me to both can and camp!
I adore the last photo!
I am a relatively new reader, and Ive never commented before, but GOSH I love your blog. Your girls are so sweet.
We just took Jack camping for the first time a few weeks ago, and he LOVED it. Being outside is all he ever wants, we have another trip scheduled for next month!
I love your pictures and posts, Nicci!
I agree with your intention of raising your kids to appreciate where food comes from, and that we must take care of our world. We are so lucky to live in such a beautiful, amazing place….even though we sometimes have to contend with Mother Nature and her finicky temperament!!
It is supposed to be warmer this weekend. We, too, will be celebrating the last of the camping season, and connecting through the simple pleasures of family, nature, and food….and of course, music:)
Thanks for letting us into your beautiful world!
I just giggled and teared up when looking at Margot… I know that face, that is how I feel (& my sweet Annica) when camping! Oh I miss it… I have been so tired and we just haven’t gotten out this spring/ summer. But next year, next year we will go camping! I too feel so lucky to drive just a short distance to be in the woods and enjoy nature… my religion.
Love everything you do, and love peeping into your sweetest, sincerest life. xo
P.s. It is all I can do not to enjoy apricot jam all day !!!.. thank goodness my neighbor keeps me stocked. Oh one day I will can, but not this day. xoxo
Nici,
I guess I have been visiting your blog for some time now. I find such warmth in how much connection you create for so many people. Reading how various people relate to certain situations, feelings, opinions, and of course photos that you post, makes me smile with the sense of community.
On that note, I FEEL the picture of Ruby cozy in the tent with the sleeping bags and footies, and adorable blue hoodie. (even better that is was your bros?, which I learned above) Her expression is, well it just is.
Yeah preserves! I made some plum vanilla preserves last weekend from plums from Elke’s yard. I am feeling ya, love fall!
take care
kara
Such an inspiring post, in so many ways. I love the picture of Ruby singing, with light filtering through the trees behind her.
Your girls will have so many wonderful memories to look back on, even if they don’t remember details from when they were very little. Those experiences will stay in their blood.
I wish we could camp together. Col and Rose wear that same gleeful expression throughout all our camping trips. (and *you’re* the badass for camping with a baby)!
And man, do I feel the exact same way about my children having reverence and knowledge for the food we grow and the wild world that surrounds us.
Blessings and onward into autumn,
Rachel
ps: In the world where we could camp together, I would also bring you a bag of luscious sun-ripened tomatoes.
Love it! Thanks for making me laugh this morning (wow, it was a tough night with Mr. Henry ~ poor little guy). I love your lines about Summer being a Bitch that didn’t deliver, how Andy just might just need a kick to the shin and how you felt a bit scandalous after adding four cups of sugar to your apricot butter. Great post… it made my morning!!!
This is one of my favorite pieces. The vibrant colors of your photography just is perfect Nici. And I absolutely love the leg warmers – Margot is wearing.
love this!!!!!
i always figure we need to camp far far away. and forget that sometimes camping nearby might just be good enough.
congrats on that ‘mato.
We are ready for ya!!!
Awww, you make me wanna go camping and hiking tonight! I love the one of you 3 looking up!!
Oh, this makes me SOOO excited to come! Love this post. Love this shift from summer to the coming autumn. Love the pic of Rubes in the tent and that last one of you three. Loved your sewing article. I’m outta loves…except love you xoxo
What a great post ! And may I claim it as a rather lovely birthday present to myself ????
I’m sitting in Australia, basking in the first real day of Spring (yesterday’s rain was an insult to the season) and lanning lots of outdoor dining, planting, admiring, loving and just living.
I love the last photo of you and your lovely girls.
Enjoy your Fall/Autumn…
Dee
Sigh, there’s nothing better than Fall camping. Makes me yearn for those crisp, cool days that we’re not getting yet on the East Coast.
Oh it looks like it’s chilly there already!! I love camping but haven’t been with my girls yet. We usually camp in the Northwoods of Wisconsin but it’s a looong drive.
I just noticed you have one blue eyed girl and one brown eyed girl. Same with my girls and I just love that! 🙂
Your girls are so sweet and precious! Unfortunately my son (15 months) was raised sleeping is silence and alone so I envy that your girls can sleep in a tent!
I am in Seattle and made the shift (in my house) to Autumn a few weeks ago! I broke out my pumpkin candles and started baking…. what a fun family season!
I soooooooooooooo envy you your need for winter coats. *Sigh* We’ve been sweating our asses off here in PA in 93+ degrees for 4 days. BLECH. My kids are hoping for chilly temps for our camping trip in 3 weeks. Camping without needing the fire to keep toasty is not camping!
Boooo! on your one tomato. I’m sorry, doll. Perhaps I ship you some Finny Tomato Love because wowza, we have tomatoes. A lot are canned now, so I could share?
Yaaaaaaaaaay! on your camping trip though! Oh how I love to just be in the simple of nature. How you don’t need a smartphone to tell you what you’re supposed to be doing because, well, nature calls and it takes time to get it answered. I absolutely adore all these photos and you are looking damn hot!
I love that Margot smiled like a fiend the whole time.
So, I love the post… but the dork I am, thought there would be some sort of chicken nugget involved! I seriously read the title and thought, “Nuggets! Those sounds so good right now!”. Oy.
Anyway, great post sans nuggets. 🙂
Wow, looks like such a great time camping. And yeah, looks like Fall is there for you. Don’t know what happened to our summer here in LA either. Started mid-August and today at the beach in Santa Monica it was 66 degrees and foggy.
But, at least you got some other food, beans, apricots, etc. Did the lavender make it taste “soapy?” I’m always a bit nervous about overdo-ing it.
Love the pic of Margot with the huge grin!!! Nice teeth!
Wow, looks like such a great time camping. And yeah, looks like Fall is there for you. Don’t know what happened to our summer here in LA either. Started mid-August and today at the beach in Santa Monica it was 66 degrees and foggy.
But, at least you got some other food, beans, apricots, etc. Did the lavender make it taste “soapy?” I’m always a bit nervous about overdo-ing it.
Love the pic of Margot with the huge grin!!! Nice teeth!
Wow, looks like such a great time camping. And yeah, looks like Fall is there for you. Don’t know what happened to our summer here in LA either. Started mid-August and today at the beach in Santa Monica it was 66 degrees and foggy.
But, at least you got some other food, beans, apricots, etc. Did the lavender make it taste “soapy?” I’m always a bit nervous about overdo-ing it.
Love the pic of Margot with the huge grin!!! Nice teeth!
Wow, looks like such a great time camping. And yeah, looks like Fall is there for you. Don’t know what happened to our summer here in LA either. Started mid-August and today at the beach in Santa Monica it was 66 degrees and foggy.
But, at least you got some other food, beans, apricots, etc. Did the lavender make it taste “soapy?” I’m always a bit nervous about overdo-ing it.
Love the pic of Margot with the huge grin!!! Nice teeth!
Wow, looks like such a great time camping. And yeah, looks like Fall is there for you. Don’t know what happened to our summer here in LA either. Started mid-August and today at the beach in Santa Monica it was 66 degrees and foggy.
But, at least you got some other food, beans, apricots, etc. Did the lavender make it taste “soapy?” I’m always a bit nervous about overdo-ing it.
Love the pic of Margot with the huge grin!!! Nice teeth!
Every year I take my girls berry picking. We always end up giving some to neighbors and making blueberry pie. I’ve never actually made jam or jelly. I need to do this! You inspire me to garden and preserve and I’m SO intimidated by gardening. My girls and I get out there and pick weeds and “pretend garden” but I envy your “real” one.
,,,luv, luv, luv the last photo of you and your girls,,,just B.E.A.U.T.I.F.U.L.!,,,i’m in AZ, wearing my t-shirt! (smile)
AMEN on the green tomatoes… the purdiest tomato plants I have ever planted with the most heavy fruit and all green. Sigh. What do you do with all of the green tomato relish? Will you share the recipe?