Handmade Gift Giving

Gifts do not need to cost a lot. They don’t need to be mass produced from some foreign land. Most often the very best gifts are those made with love and full of sweet memories! This has more meaning than any fancy piece of artwork I could purchase. It was made for people I love… [...]

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Sunday Photos…It’s Getting Frosty

“One morning the whole world was delicately silvered. Every blade of grass was silvery and the path had a thin sheen. It was hot like fire under Laura’s bare feet, and they left dark footprints in it. The air was cold in her nose and her breaths teamed. So did Spot’s. When the sun came [...]

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Cranberry Apple Relish

Here at Chiot’s Run we LOVE cranberry relish when it comes to Thanksgiving Day meals. I make a big batch each year and we take some to all of our holiday gatherings. It’s a quick and easy side dish and it really adds a great flavor to your turkey meal. Here’s my favorite recipe. CRANBERRY [...]

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Leaf Mold Easy to Make and Use!

We are blessed with a LOT of trees here in the Pacific Northwest.  We have not only evergreens which we are known for, but we also have lots of deciduous trees.  This means we have lots of leaves to use in our gardens each year. The leaves that fall at home I shred and use [...]

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Sunday Photos…Fences

It’s been said that good fences make good neighbors, perhaps they do. I always enjoy seeing fences, there’s just something about a fence that I like. It doesn’t have to be pretty, neat or straight, I just love a fence. I have a fence here at Chiot’s Run, it’s a weathered wooden fence and makes [...]

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Apple Cider Vinegar

Having recently prepared apple cider and frozen apple slices, it occurred to me that I should give brewing cider vinegar a whirl. After all, I’ve brewed plenty of wine and soda pop and both could unintentionally turn into vinegar… why not do it on purpose? Cider vinegar has been touted for its health benefits. Years [...]

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I’ll Take a Tall Stack Please

After making my sourdough starter a few years ago, I make bread all the time. This past year I’ve been working on trying to learn how to make sourdough quick breads, like English muffins, pancakes, biscuits and other things. One reason I like sourdough is because the grains are soaked overnight, this is supposed to [...]

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Frugal Holidays, Budgeting for the Season

My husband and I have scrimped and saved and finally paid off our mortgage…8 years early on a 15 year mortgage! As freeing as this is, it means that we are pretty much broke going into the holidays as every spare penny has gone towards the mortgage for 2 years. We are trying to stretch [...]

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Sunday Photos…Breakfast Edition

“A simple enough pleasure, surely, to have breakfast alone with one’s husband, but how seldom married people in the midst of life achieve it.” Anne Spencer Here at Chiot’s Run breakfast is usually a piece of toast, a scone or something similar along with a cup of coffee. Once or twice a week we have [...]

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Pumpkins – Scones, Seeds, and Clotted Cream

This year my pumpkin vines went the way of the squash – horribly. Neither one seemed to produce any female blossoms, and so I ended up with no orange pie filling or bread sweets produced in my garden.  Instead I picked up a dozen pie pumpkins from a fruit stand (thanks, Mom!), and I’ve been [...]

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