homemade apple cider

This time of year at our house is all about brilliant orange and yellow squash from the gardens, raking leaf piles for the little ones to lose themselves in, cool evening bonfires, and crisp, juicy apples from the family orchard.

Feast your eyes on this visual recap of our recent apple cider pressing, and then visit your local apple orchard to get some for yourself!

Freshly picked from the family's organic orchard
"...Give me spots on my apples, but leave me the birds and the bees. Please!" - Joni Mitchell

We send the apples through a garbage disposal fashioned just for this purpose
(Maybe it's cheating a bit not to grind by hand, but it's much easier on the
 muscles and the end result is just as good)

Crushed apples go first into a cheesecloth bag and then into our 40+ year-old wooden cider press

And out comes the good stuff

Pasteurizing

Then into quart jars for canning

So pretty

And oh-so good

For a little more fall fun, grab a mug of hot or cold apple cider and head on over to 

our toy shop for some autumn baby finds:

autumn-inspired teethers by Smiling Tree Toys

Smiling Moon Balancer in action

Neptune from Montessori Ici was kind enough to share her recent blog post all about our Smiling Moon balancing toy.  Her two little ones are having a blast with it, and they're learning all about balance, colors, stacking, and sorting while they play.  Read on to hear all about Neptune's experience with this toy, and enjoy her gorgeous photos...

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Wednesday, 4 July, 2012

Balancing

For summer, I have tried to find a few toys that I could play with the kids when they either need to get way from the sun, or during a rainy day.  Although these have been scarce lately, we have found ourselves going inside a few times to get away from the heat.

This week, I got this toy out.  It is a balancing moon game by Smiling Tree Toys that I found on Etsy.  I like that it is handmade, with natural material, the quality is outstanding, and it is very inviting to play with.

We have been playing many ways with this toy.  Alone, or together, as a game or just an activity of balancing.  E has even found his way of playing with the parts of this toy: by using the wooden rods to pile them up, and even sort them by colours (and of course, trying to balance them on the moon, with a lot of success I might say!).

X and M have been playing together a lot at this, but I have also seen X trying to make patterns and montage of his own...which are not always successful...but still loads of fun

escaping block on the right

The kit comes in a drawstring bag, and contains the moon and 14 wooden dowels to balance on the moon.

It is simple yet fun, it is open ended enough to be able to make many variation of the game, portable, and playable about anywhere. We are totally happy with this toy, perfect summer game.

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**For more great handmade toys from Smiling Tree, visit our Etsy Shop - you'll find wood teethers, rattles, cars, blocks, personalized toys, and oodles more.  

**NEW** Go behind-the-scenes and get a feel for daily life at our home-based business in our new About Us page.

a new tradition for the holidays

I'm the first to admit, I usually skip over or delete forwarded email messages.  I'm not too worried about seven years of bad luck if I don't forward it on to twelve of my closest friends.  Not to be Debbie-downer or anything, but my inbox is overflowing the way it is. So when a friend e-mailed this message to me the other day, luckily the title caught my eye just before I hit delete. I haven't been able to stop thinking about it. 

We always buy local, organic, handmade, and American-made whenever we're able.  But this year for the holidays, we're taking our pledge very seriously: no big-box retailers, no made in China.  None.  Sure that might mean being a bit more creative for the special ones on our list, but that just makes it all the more meaningful and fun!

So read on and get inspired! (And don't forget about shopping to support Small Business Saturday on November 26th.)

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 As the holidays approach, the giant Asian factories are kicking into high gear to provide Americans with monstrous piles of cheaply produced goods -- merchandise that has been produced at the expense of American labor. This year will be different. This year Americans will give the gift of genuine concern for other Americans. There is no longer an excuse that, come gift-giving time, nothing can be found that is produced by American hands. It's just not true!
 
So it's time to think outside the box, people. Who says a gift needs to fit in a shirt box, wrapped in Chinese produced wrapping paper?

*Everyone gets their hair cut. How about gift certificates from your local American hair salon or barber?

*Gym membership? It's appropriate for all ages who are thinking about some health improvement.

*Who wouldn't appreciate getting their car detailed? Small, American-owned detail shops and car washes would love to sell you a gift certificate or a book of gift certificates.

*Are you one of those extravagant givers who think nothing of plonking down the Benjamins on a Chinese made flat-screen? Perhaps that grateful gift receiver would like his driveway sealed, or lawn mowed for the summer, a driveway plowed all winter, or games at the local golf course.

*Think handmade. Talented artists and crafts people are everywhere and they're selling their wares online - they create beautiful and unique jewelry, wooden items, scarves, toys, pottery, paintings, clothes, and so much more.  (Hint, hint: time to check out Smiling Tree Toys and all the other amazing shops on Etsy.)

*There are so many family-owned and operated restaurants -- all offering gift certificates.  If your intended isn't the fancy eatery sort, what about a half dozen breakfasts at the local breakfast joint. Remember, folks this isn't about big national chains -- this is about helping your home town Americans with their financial lives on the line to keep their doors open.

*How many people couldn't use an oil change for their car, truck or motorcycle, done at a shop run by the American working guy?


*Thinking about a heartfelt gift for mom? She'd love the services of a local cleaning lady for a day.

*My computer could use a tune-up, and I know I can find some young, talented person who is struggling to get his/her repair business up and running.

Honestly, do you really need to buy another ten thousand Chinese lights for the house? When you buy a five dollar string of light, about fifty cents stays in the community. If you have those kinds of bucks to burn, how about leaving the mailman, trash guy, or babysitter a nice big tip?

You see, Christmas is not about draining American pockets so that China can build another glittering city. Christmas is about caring  for our neighbors, and encouraging American small businesses to keep following their dreams.  When we care about other Americans, we're caring for our communities, and the benefits come back to us in ways we couldn't imagine.

This is the new American holiday tradition.