Wonderings & Wanderings

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Mapping My Quarantine

20 Apr

I was inspired by City Lab's Map My Neighborhood project, so I sat down to think about my own house. It had just snowed again that morning, so we had the fire going and it was feeling more like winter than spring. But later we let the sheep out to graze and the lambs were running around chasing each ... View Post

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Family
Tags:
drawing, map

One Patch at a Time

29 May

Once upon a time, you would have learned everything you needed to know about mending from a relative or neighbor. You would have learned this as a kid, likely, and now you would already have a system for keeping up with torn knees and unraveling hems. But in this time, our time, mending is on ... View Post

Categories:
Dirt Magazine, Family, Mending
Tags:
dirt, family, mending

Vacations worth the sweat

29 May

When we commit a chunk of money to a vacation, we hope that we will come out of it with some good memories and awakened interests and family connection. I mean, it’s a lot of money. And a lot of work to plan, pack and carry out. So we want some return on our investment, right? We want to have ... View Post

Categories:
Dirt Magazine, Family
Tags:
adventures, dirt, family, nature, travel

Locavore Munchies

28 May

Pumpkin custard baked in 1/2 cup mason jar. Portable and delicious. Trying to eat locally and seasonally seems daunting when you are feeding the picky three-year-old or the perpetually famished 13-year-old. Even trying to explain it to them (and why they don’t get cereal for breakfast) seems ... View Post

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Categories:
Dirt Magazine, Family, Kitchen
Tags:
eatlocal, farmtotable, locavore, lunch, snacks

Fill Your Bookshelf, Fill Your Mind

1 Nov
Blonde kid reading a book about an African American girl.

Recently, I took a look at the news, and took a look at our bookshelves. One made me feel hopeless, and one filled me with hope. The books that we are reading, especially the read-aloud books, spark so many conversations, and become examples we can point to when a 7-year-old is trying to grasp big ... View Post

Categories:
Dirt Magazine, Family

Artists on the Move

1 Jul

The rocks of Joshua Tree, as interpreted by a 35-year-old and a 4-year-old. On our family trip this year we ventured out into the desert for a week of hiking amidst giant boulders and jackrabbits. My husband and I backpacked in Joshua Tree National Park almost a dozen years ago, hauling our ... View Post

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Categories:
Dirt Magazine, Family
Tags:
creativefamily, travel

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Who is this Raheli lady?

Raheli is a creative problem solver and fiber-lover in the Hudson Valley. She sews, knits, mends, spins, homesteads and writes, all while trying to get outside a little more often. (She/her) Read More…

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Popular Posts

Time to make the doughnuts!

This is my favorite doughnut recipe - but surprise! It’s actually a no-knead brioche recipe! This ... View Post

Map No. 1 – The Swamp

I have been captivated by Helen Cann’s book Hand Drawn Maps. My kids and I each take it in turns - I ... View Post

Meanwhile, on Instagram…

raheliharper

Wishing I could curl up in this robin nest for a n Wishing I could curl up in this robin nest for a nap.

We saw the robin build this nest in May. It was on our porch and we watch her sit on four blue eggs. One was taken and one was damaged (by the egg thief - we caught them on video) but two eventually hatched. They were cared for by their father, who brought them worms and other tasty treats, until they finally fledged the nest. 

We left the nest all these months, wondering if anyone else might use it (until it started a slow slide off the beam it was built on). For now it’s on our table, and we finally get to see how dense it is, and how smoothly packed the interior is.
I stitched this a few days ago, after a day when I I stitched this a few days ago, after a day when I was feeling pulled in all directions at once - by urgent tasks, by the daily mundane work, by my own wants, and by a few missed deadlines. I was feeling overwhelmed and stuck even though a step in any of these directions would have been helpful and progress.

But today I am seeing this through a new lens. #inauguration2021
Somehow this year is already feeling harder than l Somehow this year is already feeling harder than last year. I am hoping that this is the tough work of change and reflection that is needed in order to build and heal... but, I don’t really want to finish that sentence.

In other news, we made smoked wings for dinner - these are our home-raised chickens! So, this dinner was started in July when the meat flock arrived. While we had the smoker going, I tried out something I have been wondering about for a while - smoking liquor.
Fixed up my favorite sweater - it’s a cashmere c Fixed up my favorite sweater - it’s a cashmere cardigan that I got at a thrift store, maybe 5 years ago? It has pockets and it’s soft and I wear it all the time and last week I wore through one of the elbows. I have this plaid wool that I got from a woman who was a tailor - I am guessing this bag of felted, woven wool must have come from lined trench coats? I have a few other colors, but i knew right away that plaid elbow patches would have me living the (visible mender’s) dream! 

I may even go ahead and stitch the other elbow now before I lose the rest of the plaid wool... or not, but it would be a really good idea if I was into planning ahead...
This kindling was still a little wet, and I find t This kindling was still a little wet, and I find the moisture boiling out so mesmerizing.

It was hard getting the fire lit in the snow, and just as it caught, the kids wanted to eat their lunch inside. I can’t blame them, since they are soaked from playing in the melting snow... so I brought my lunch out and am sitting here by myself. Not the worst thing... 😉
Morning stitching on a new day. Morning stitching on a new day.
Goodbye 2020! I stitched my feelings, ate my feeli Goodbye 2020! I stitched my feelings, ate my feelings, wrote down my feelings, and took some feelings out on my family. Some feelings even transferred into action. So many feelings. But there was also health and good people and enough money and delicious home cooked meals and four seasons and an amazing family. ❤️
We walked down to see the river after our big Xmas We walked down to see the river after our big Xmas rain storm. It was at least 6 feet higher than it is in August (that tree usually has a bank below it). That storm melted all the snow, plus it dropped a lot of rain (not to mention the strong wind - which seemed like it was coming from the south). We saw some trees down in the woods, but none by our house, fortunately.
This blanket is fixed up. It is a family heirloom This blanket is fixed up. It is a family heirloom (for someone else’s family - this was a commission) and now it has more stories to carry into a new generation.
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