To Do:

Here is the latest draft of our 'To Do' list.

The list of stuff to get done this spring/summer/fall -

Grain bin turned Chicken house - get ready for summer, install false ceiling, electricity, and heater before november
rebuild front porch
remove bees from front porch column
new roof on both porches
repair main roof
repair/replace gutters
paint house
weatherize addition and basement
cut enough firewood to last through next winter
line chimney
fix enough fence for us to get a bred milk cow next spring
clean out haunted chicken house and make sure it's in good enough shape to use as shelter for the cow when necessary
rock driveway (and the casbah)
clean up trash and get a big brush burn done - (last on list since ground can be frozen when we do this)


tentative list for next year (spring/summer/fall 2010) -

Get Bees
replace main roof
change the opening for the old basement garage into wall with exterior bulkhead door and storm shelter
prepare fence and housing for bred sow to be purchased spring of 2011
fence and shelter for sheep in spring of 2011?
expand cow facilities?
prepare for brooding hens to hatch spring of 2011
finish junk cleanup

Bread

I love the 5 minute artisan bread thing. I love that I no longer feel like an idiot who can't make bread. 

I used to have a friend who was a whiz in the kitchen and often mocked me for my fumbling incompetence. Bread, I thought, is only something master bakers can do. There is something magical about the yeast, salt, flour, water combo turning into bread, rising, and then singing. 

And yet, the peasants of France could make it daily. It has been a staple in the diets of humans from the ancient times. Why can't I get this mass of goo to be more than playdough, I often lamented.

Well, now I can make bread. Simple bread. I love this book. I love these recipes. I love that I can share it with others. 

The picture above is the calzone I made last week with the boule. I tried to use the recipe in teh book but it had some problems: my ricotta was spoiled and the recipe used no meat. So I improvised. The stuffing for the calzone is as follows:

1 block of feta cheese

3/4 lb of ground pork, browned and seasoned with black pepper

spinach leaves

2 eggs

Mix eggs and cheese

Roll out floured boule to a large flat circle, layer ingredients on one half, fold over, cut three slits, and bake at 450 until browned.

Today I experimented with size because the complaint at dinner was that it would be easier to eat if made in individual pockets. It is not working in smaller pockets. Today's filling I am using chicken meat and red peppers with the cheese and using pumpernickle bread instead of white boule. Mmmmmmm. I don't care if the cheese busted out of the side. Yum.

* edited to add. Lunch turned out more like a quiche. I am not sure why, but it is still tasty.

Farm Sunday

Mucking out the chicken house. Chicks arrive in three weeks!

Planting shelling peas and sugar snaps. We re-purposed some loose cattle panels for the trellis. 

Lily took it upon herself one afternoon to remove all the corn stalk nubs from the garden beds. I didn't ask her to, as I was going to use them as markers to plant beans by. I like that she decided to do this intense chore, did it, came in and cleaned up, and it was no big deal. Just something that she saw needed to be done, so she did it. 

Diaper Stash, a confession

This lovely dresser is BUILT INTO my bathroom wall. Awesome. 

This is almost my entire pocket diaper stash. Yes, all of it. I am embarrassed to say, I found the missing diapers, clean, at the bottom of a laundry basket of clean clothes that I hadn't processed (folded, put away). I found them about 3 weeks after I posted that I lost them and forgot to update the status. The lovely Tattooedmama gave me the pretties on the bottom right hand side to offset the loss during those 3 weeks.  Thank you J B-B! 

This is my stash of contoured inserts (gifted to us by Laurie B, from park day- Thank you!) and covers: 3 fleece Wallypops, three Thirsties. I also keep the BumGenuis newborn insert soakers in this drawer (on the left). I've started to use a cover with two inserts for overnight because it is less bulky and doesn't leak. To stuff a BG leakproof for overnight (since she sleeps right on through, though still stirs to eat) it is 1 reg + 2 newborns and that is just too bulk for comfort for her, yet still sometimes leaks.....

This is the changing station, at a right angle to the toilet and the dresser. Little can is for poopies and big for just wets. I have not gotton the hang of our new front loader yet for diapers and separating the poops for rinsing in the potty (we are in the sticky poo, soilds+milk transition) and a rinse in the washer before adding the wets to the wash, is helping right now getting them all clean in just that rinse + wash cycle. Other wise it was wash +wash + rinse and diapers take ALL FREAKING DAY TO WASH. Not so good. 

This is the blue drawer in the station. Dry wipes on left, pink wet bucket on right. The station is just too far from the sink to make wetting a wipe each time practical. Only a few go in the wet or it can get musty. Bag balm is in here too, that's what we use if Blueberry starts to get yeast build up in her folds. Works very well and we don't get build up on the diapers. 

So that's the tour of my diaper station! TMI? ;)

The Thrifty Barista

Free coffee recipe e-book. 

An interesting tidbit, when I worked at a Barnes and Noble and filled in at the Starbucks station I had to look at the cheat sheet for every drink but one: the latte. 

The equation in my head is basically this: (latte=4$=coffee + milk)>sucker customer. 

Another equation goes like this: ((coffee=50 cents= free refills)+ free milk or cream)=smart customer.

Seriously.

So now when I go to the coffee shops I still spend 4$ BUT I buy the 50 cent coffee and dress it up, leave a $3.50 cent tip when I can. Or I buy a muffin too. Or get Tot a "milk tea" and the balance is a tip. 

Sometimes I dress it up with honey and cream. That's a cafe breve with honey. Mmmmm. 

Anyway, I like the working guy to get the extra, not the corporation. Plus, 4$ for a cup of coffee with milk? French name or no.....

So there you have it, my frugal tip.

Seed data

This spreadsheet contains data about the varieties we are starting this year. We'll use it to help decide which work, and which don't. I've kept similar records in the past, but that was at another location so while I'm trying out our favorites from there, we'll have to see if they do as well here.

I still need to add a quantity column, but we've got at least 8 of everything, more for peppers and tomatoes.

The long and short of it.....

Ok, Here's the run down of our week:  

Ah lady, up on her feet. 

Art class!

Sunshine! 

Crash boom, Mama P fell through the dock. Bruised up my leg and ego pretty bad, one worse than the other. I also cut my face on my camera lens. Right. I went down like this, "Lil'Bug be sure you don't forget the hole is right here, this missing board. I don't want you to fall through." And, "Ok mama," tot continues to happily fish off the dock.......KaBAM. "Mama did you forget about the hole? You just told me!" Then she ran back to land to set down her pole before racing to help get me out of the water. Baby Blueberry was in the Calyx carrier and completely unharmed. My camera was fine too, I buffered the impact with my face and hand. 

Crash boom, Dearest's hard disk thingy failed. He and Lil'Bug had a good time fixing it while I took Blueberry to a potato bar social I was invited to at the local church. Yum. Oh, and ultimately it was Lil'Bug's magic wand that fixed it, or so the story goes.

Blueberry attempted, for the first time, to climb a stair. And then another. She climbed the entire staircase all by herself (with Mama right behind her cheering!). It was neat. Pawpaw was on the phone with us, Daddy and Lil'Bug at the top cheering too. Yay!

I made a pie for pi day. Then the dog ate it and Dearest didn't even notice. I was mad but got over it. I'll make another. Still, many jokes were made about pi and dog and his growing list of reasons he should live outside (love of skunks is # 1). Ultimately, he sleeps at the end of our bed (just not on it, hey, it is SKUNK season!). 

Nana and Pawpaw came today and helped load the dead tractor up so we can take it to be fixed. Nana also helped me really, really clean and hang curtains. It was fun! Now the house is ready for the slew of Spring Break farm playdates. Not that it matters to any of the guests, but I always feel better welcoming friends to a clean, tidy house. They know it is not always like that, but this week it is! Yippee!

Seeds, seeds, seeds......almost time to plant outside! We are late getting seeds started, but I think in the end it will be alright. 

And that's our week in brief! Ta da!

Click. Whirrrrrrrr. Sploink.

Hard Disk Crash!!!

recovery time - 30 minutes.

Back up your data folks!

This has been a friendly reminder from IT personell everywhere.

PS - it also helps if you run linux (or Macintosh), but no pressure.

Buying Local, Not Just Food

Yesterday I drove 45 minutes to the nearest Target to buy baby shoes and curtain rods. Sure it was cheaper, until you add the cost of gas. So then I thought, next time I'll just order from Amazon, just like the laundry detergent. 

Hmmmmm. Wait a minute there. I talk high and mighty about local food, but what about other things? It's not really cheaper once the cost of the drive and my time are added into the equation to drive all the way into town, even if I were to only go 30 miles to the nearest WalMart. 

Then I remembered. At church on Sunday (yes, church, but that's another post) I met a lady in the nursery that just this week opened a children's consignment store on the square- and she was really excited! If I continue to waste my money and resources driving to the big box stores, it is exactly people and shops like hers that suffer. Funny thing is, I enjoy shopping that kind of store more than the big ones anyway! 

So, I am going to challenge myself in the next month to not shop outside my county. It's going to be hard, but it will challenge us to find the resources that we will need in the long run, make the connections we need to. If our farm is going to work and succeed, we will need to tend the roots first. 

Princesses

Princess cake. I love modeling clay. It doesn't dry out like messy, crumbly playdough. It is awesome.
Every princess needs a hat.

Getting into stuff phase. You know, that phase that never ends, yes it goes on and on my friend, some people started.......anyway. I love mobility in babies!

Fire on the Road

One of the interesting things we encountered last month that really marked a stark difference between our former home and our farm life was this fire.

If this had been in the city, a 911 call would have been immediate. In the country people burn scrap wood and ditches and fields and their trash. However, they don't typically do that in the road. so I hesitated before I called the sheriff and asked about it. It was a round bale on fire.

Another stark difference was that the dispatcher didn't make fun of me. Living in the urban area we did, I called 911 for vandalism, car wrecks, burglaries in progress, fires, etc. Every single time either the dispatcher and/or the responding officer mocked me. "What did you expect living in a ghetto/this neighborhood/ect." It is no wonder that the area is still considered "bad".  Anyway, this time she was polite, I asked questions, and she sent someone to check it out. She promised me that if I was overreacting that she's send someone up to explain it to me. No one came, they actually spread the fire out and watched it until it was out. It is a volunteer fire department too. 

There are so many differences we are encountering out here. 

Five Alive

The first five people to respond to this post will get something made by me. I will try to make these tailored to those five people. The restrictions and limitations:

*I will make no guarantees that you will like what I make.

*What I create will be just for you.

*You will have no clue what it will be

*The catch is that you have to post this as well, if you expect me to do something for you. 

*I have to be able to afford the postage, if you live out of country. :)

* I (you) have until 2009 is up to complete

Please link to your blog, if I don't know you, in case we are new friends.

Since this feeds to my facebook, those of you who see this on FB will have to go to the blogspot to sign up.

Yay! This will be so much fun!

*edit to add the 2009 thing. It really is part of the deal, I just forgot to type it up!

The Opossuble Dream

Opossums were imported during the depression as a food source, for hungry people. They don't carry rabies. They eat small rodents and clean up scraps. Supposedly they do not pose a threat to livestock as a predator, though they do carry a harmful to horses bacteria in their feces. Many farmers have disagreed with this sentiment, claiming that more than once opossums have raided their chicken houses. 

This opossum lives inside of our porch. We had planned on letting her be, but Friday night the skunk met the opossum on said porch. Now both animals are on the "hit list".  At least we don't have to deal with being mocked by animal control. 

Imagination on Fire

Proof that a dragon flew overhead according to tot. This ice formation was found on the bank to the pond. 

View from the South shore.
Off we go on a muddy muddy hike. We've taken several since this picture was taken. One such hike was to go and introduce ourselves to the elves living in the woods. Tot was very excited to try and free Arthur Spiderwick from captivity, but unfortunately the elves are still distrustful of human folk. She explained this to me on our walk. No worries though, she continued, once they realize that Mama and Blueberry are changlings, really swamp elves, then they will stop hiding. (She's talking to the house brownie in faerie right now......asking him to help her with the toysplosion mess....)

Proof that giants tore through the woods. 

I love hiking with Lil'Bug. 

Chicken Stock

Our lovely neighbors from Blue Gate farm have spoiled us since we've moved here. They've brought us jam and bread and stewing chickens. This is the chicken stock bone broth I made with the first of those delicious birds. The stock was too thin, because I added too much water. An interesting observation I made during the process was that when it came time to remove "scum", a step in the bone broth process, there was so little that it was next to impossible to remove the slight bit. Another observation was that it didn't stink. Every time I (or Dearest) have made broth/stock in the past (with store bought birds) the whole house smells awful. This time the smell was heavenly. 

I didn't make the batch to be frozen, so I used the broth to make chicken noodle soup, as stock for beans and ham, and as a base for my pumpkin soup. There was something uniquely satisfying to make these dishes with my own base ingredients, local meat, and veggies from my own garden (deep freeze).  When the chickens and spices are my own and I can claim a zero mile meal, that will be true success!

Garden, Late Winter

There are three beds, two were cultivated and one is the bed of a removed tree. These pictures are of the Western bed, where the Concord grapes and strawberries are. The previous family also planted a lot of corn and squash in these beds, so where there is a corn stalk, I will be planting a bean plant. Yum, beans. 

Actually, one of my problems is limiting to this predetermined space. My seed order has already outgrown it. Neat. I'm going to use another area for melons and squash and I think do a row or two of dry beans over with the squash as well. 

This is what you can do for your family with your tax return.....

Every year I discuss how we buy organic meat and veggies and garden and and and eat soooo much better than most people we know AND SPEND LESS PER WEEK/MONTH.

Every year I hear people make excuses for not doing the same. Even though it is easy, the money just isn't there in the fall when the meat is ready. And there are shiny new toys to buy when tax returns show up (heck, even I WANT A NEW MAC!) and people end up buying trampolines and computers and stuff (waves hello to those who know I've just outed them!)

This year buy a CSA subscription. Find one here. It is more than likely that the first one you pick will be full and you'll have to get on a waiting list. Don't give up. Keep calling/emailing. Seriously. This year buy your meat in bulk, invest in a deep freeze. That freezer will store food that is left over from the CSA too.

The food you eat turns into you, fuels your body and brain. Local food is yummy fresh, doesn't spoil as easily, and is better (often cheaper) for you PLUS you boost your local economy. Let's not overlook the simple fact that you will spend less money on food overall and then can have more money for toys later.

Do it. For you and for your family. No more excuses. Tax money will be here soon. I know it's not the usual for me to sound preachy, but this is something I really, really care about.

Food For Thought

The Chicken Palace

This is the plan: we'll clean out these buildings, construct a run between them, add roosts and nesting boxes, a window or two for light and ventilation and ta da....a chicken palace. The idea was originally Abby's of Life by Sugar Creek, I think.....all my farmer friends have suggested using what we have so we can get the chickens started. This building will be bigger than we need, but easier on both labor and pocket book. 

Thoughts?

Farm Life Photos: Brown

Our first truckload of firewood.

Lil'Bug tracks. 

Farm house couture.....

Pie. Sorry. 

Mystery plant of the day.....need macro lens.....

Farm Life Photos: Orange

What are these? Edible? 

This was edible but not very tasty. Sweet potatoes, bacon, and chard. Missing flavour, the seasoning wasn't right. Suggestions?

I need a macro lens. I do. I do.

Farm Life Photos: Red

Tractor Shy

It finally snowed enough to plow and YAY! out comes the tractor and my camera to document the occasion.......

Vroom. Wait. 
Clearly, I stole the tractor's soul with my camera clicks. Boo.

And so it sat in the driveway, almost but not quite blocking the propane refill. Sigh. Life sized tractor shaped boat anchor indeed. 

25 More Random Things, Jr. High style

 Random Things

1) I once made up an imaginary boyfriend. His name was Zeke and he was a 14 year old olympic skiier.  I even wrote letters in his handwriting and showed them to my friends. Stupid.

2) I was a HUGE fan of Dirty Dancing and permed my hair to look like Baby's, tight rolled my jeans and jean shorts, and wore white canvas shoes.

3) I wore blue and green bonnie bell eyeshadow.

4) I kept make up in a Caboodles.

5) I had an ESPRIT bag, but it was a duffle and not a shoulder bag like the cool kids had.

6) I watcher Beverly Hills 90210.

7) I was a fan of Debbie Gibson AND Tiffany. 

8) I mastered the three way call and once had 15 friends from school on at the same time AND also made calls where the 3rd person didn't know there was a 2nd listening in. 

9) I rode my bike around wearing a walkman listening to Depeche Mode Enjoy the Silence because a boy I was crushing on liked the band. 

10) I also had a huge crush on the paper boy and waited on the porch everyday for evening delivery. He ended up bringing his kid brother along to throw the paper at our house. 

11) I loved 1950's music and had a sock hop birthday party. 

12) NKOTB...I know what that means and they should not reunion. 

13) Lipgloss

14) Sun in. 

15) I was planning on naming any and all future children Taylor. 

16) Ouji boards freaked me out. I, to this day, have never used one and left the classroom when someone used one as a show and tell.

17) I helped stage a protest about our schools cockroach problem. 

18) I was in lots of school plays. I was a drama nerd. 

19) I died my hair red to look like Tori Amos and a red headed popular girl thought I was trying to look like her stalker style. 

20) I was not a "popular" girl.

21) I was in Amnesty International. The host teacher was soooooo cool. She invited me to go out of state to a u2 concert (maybe out of country?) and my parents (rightly, maybe) got really freaked out about it.

22) I was a huge u2 fan, I accidentally got Joshua Tree at a garage sale inside another cassette tape case and I was hooked. It rocked my world.

23) My appendix burst in the midst of a very turbulent family drama and I ended up spending 3 months on my aunt's cattle ranch to recover. I mucked out chicken houses and worked a Ren Faire, took long walks in the back woods listening to Joshua Tree on the walkman. It was that summer that I became a spiritual person.

24) I used this stinky white face cream in a tub to mask and wash my face. I don't remember what it was called but once I forgot to wash it off and everyone at the bus stop got a good laugh.

25) I was in a 1950's band and we practiced in my attic. I even called a Chicago diner to book a gig. Oh yeah, they laughed at me. 

So, that was fun. Now I am sick of memes though. Look for an actual update with photos later today.

Dreams and what they mean

The July before Blueberry was born I dreamt I was 5 months pregnant, on the road assigned to take pictures of pink houses, and I encountered a screech owl in a dead/charred forest. The owl was awake and alert in the daylight after I had knocked on the tree it walked out at eye level and almost nose to nose we stared at it. Then I backed off and took its picture. The baby started kicking and writhing. I walked on past to find the pink house and finish my journey. This dream sequence is still incredibly vivid in my memory almost 3 years later. The conversations I had with people along the way, each pink house I took pictures of, the editor who assigned me the project......

What does this mean?

Pink houses. Let's start with that. My Aunt owns and operates the Villa Bed and Breakfast in Galveston, TX. It is the pinkest house I have ever seen. As pictured. When she was first house hunting I found it for her on Realtor.com. She said no, no way, too pink. Sometimes we reject too quickly based on first impressions what is actually a perfect match.

When I was 4 months pregnant Dearest bought me the camera in the dream.

Owls. I love owls. Blueberry is a watcher. She reminds me very much of an owl in her personality.

I don't know. Dearest often says that the most boring thing in the world is someone talking about their night dreams. Perhaps. But I think for me, it is part of the creative process and part of reconciling reality. You know? Just a thought.

25 Farm/Life Updates

Meme style. I seem to be ok brain function wise to complete memes and facebook "twitter" so lets see if I can squeeze out a farm update that way.......

1) We are all stricken with death flu 2009. 

2) It is the first time Blueberry has EVER been sick. Before Wednesday she had never had any medication other than ora-gel. Now she has had infant Tylenol, but she didn't think it helped.

3) Blueberry decided her binky is evil. (Lil'Bug was 3 when she gave hers up and she cried and cried...it was bitten through and she threw it away herself).

4) The sunrise here never gets old. It is beautiful every day. 

5) It is neat having our Amish neighbors visit us. It's like a rift in time. I get so filled with happiness at the sight of the horse and buggies on our road. 

6) We've been invited to a local Lutheran church by some "Englisher" neighbors (that's the Amish word for what we are) and we have as of yet all been too sick to go.

7) I mentioned to Dearest that the bathtub was still draining slow and he took it apart at bedtime last week only to have the hard to find/replace pieces dissolve and crumble in his hands. Metal pipes can do that!? Luckily American Plumbing Supply in Des Moines had what we needed. I always recommend them for really hard to find things, but they really came through for us this time!

8) It finally snowed enough to get out the tractor and plow the drive!

9) The tractor died 3/4's of the way. Dead. That was the bad news Abby mentioned on FB.

10) Now we are not sure what we'll do next snowfall. Ok, actually we do. We'll be out there HAND SHOVELING.......soooooooo not looking forward to that.

11) The sunrise really never gets old! While I was writing this, it went from deep purple to brilliant pink, to that weird rainbow blue, green, yellow, now blazing ball of fire halo'ed by an ocean of lavender. I really never thought sunrises to be very poetic before living here. 

12) I have yet to capture sunrises or any other of the moments I have really wanted to share because I have been pausing to actually enjoy and savor the moments. I'm sure I'll get over that soon, but I hope not!

13) We have a pregnant opossum living in our outbuilding. They are rabies resistant and eat rodents, play dead (rather than attack) when approached, so we are going to let her stay there....until we get chickens. Opossums are actually not so good around livestock and there feces carries bad news for horses....

14) According to Lil'Bug we have a GIANT troll living in the back field. It lives in (or is?) a gigantic uprooted tree. It does look like a good home for something, maybe an ogre, but she informed me that it is a troll even though trolls usually live in water.

15) I miss baking bread. However, I think I have the kitchen design finally figured out. 

16) I think I can finish unpacking this week.

17) I bought a Calyx. I love it. Seriously. I wanted to buy from a local mom, but when I went to Tattooed Mama's house and tried on various soft structured carriers, none of them fit me secure enough because I am so petite (and in short torso'ed) and yet squishy in the middle plus Blueberry's size. She did not have a Calyx, but suggested that I look into that brand. I am so glad I did. 

18) I am wafting on the idea of retro fitting the grain bin to a chicken coop. It would be easiest, but would it be best long term? Could we change it back? Would  prefer a coup close to the orchard and garden for ease of manure distribution, chicken powered garden pest control, closer to a well pump? Just thoughts......I think we'll still use the grain bin idea though.

19) When the bathtub was out of commission, Dearest got the downstairs shower working! Yay! The drain had consisted of aluminum cans? For a day, I also had no kitchen sink drain. I had to do dishes using my four-year-old's toy storage bins. Nice. Let me tell  you, I was super nice about it. We all do our part.

20) A run down of sinks/drains that currently don't work: just the downstairs toilet and sink.....and the laundry room sink hook up is naked. The washer and dry need to switch positions, but that is not really the same thing, just annoying. Anyway, Dearest redid all the pipes/drains in the basement so that they did not pour out on the floor. That's a good thing.

21) I love this house. I love everything about it. Even the odd things like how high up on the wall the light switches are and how high the door knobs are, as if the first owners/builders were really tall people! I love the wood work, the floors, the built in storage, the fireplace, and the potential and opportunity that this place offers us.

22) Considering 21, I have had a hard time getting back to the Des Moines house to finish packing and cleaning. Now we have an open house on the 15th, so I will have to as soon as the girls are feeling better. Remember, if you know anyone who wants a HUGE Victorian in an urban neighborhood with lots of gardening space, send them that way. ;) 

23) I filled the house with smoke at dinner last night, in true Mama Podkayne culinary style. I did not, however, ruin dinner. Good, considering we had guests. ;) 

24) We bought firewood as a truckload. 

25) Blueberry is also full out crawling. She learned high 5's. I think she's almost got her first sign, more, figured out, though she only uses it when she's excited. 

As soon as I don't look like death warmed over, I plan to blog more about the Calyx with pictures. 

Running Away

A recent meme floating around got me thinking. To be more specific, some of my friends entries got me thinking. It was about sports and running. 

When I was 7 my best friend in the whole world lived behind me, across a clothesline and an alley. We were separated by more than that at school and less than that at home. At school she was athletic and well liked, but not in the gifted program. I was small, picked last at everything, and thriving in the gifted program. These demarcations defined us on the playground. 

The thing was though, I was actually good at sports. Really good. I won the free throw competition for my age group in the 4th grade. I could out shoot the big kids in any game of HORSE or PIG and I was fast. I loved soccer and was an awesome goalie. When PE time came, I was picked last at everything and trailed behind the runners during laps. Why? I think it is obvious. Edited to add****For those who don't know me, I have always been really, really much smaller than my peers. As an adult I am only 4'9". I was also poor growing up and dressed funny. Ok, I still do. Sometimes I don't even bother to match socks and I always wear them inside out, seams are itchy!

Sage asked me why one day. I had beaten her in a long sprint to get to the swings at a park, and out of breath, she wondered why I didn't run like that at school. She just didn't understand. I loved school so much, but at recess I would sit at the fence and read books. I didn't have an answer for her then. 

When we moved away the next summer I had to give up sports because in Illinois the school charged a fee and required camps. My family was too poor to afford that just for a 5th grader to play after-school basketball. So all I was left with was riding my bike around the neighborhood and the humiliating sessions of school PE. I grew to hate sports. 

I still love to run and swim, but I loathe "working out", I will never jog, and the mere thought of going to a gym makes me want to vomit. We don't own a treadmill because the going joke is that we already pay (in taxes) for the public sidewalks plus you get the benefit of fresh air. If I have extra energy to spare, I use it to mop and vacuum and haul bins to storage. Yard work is awesome too. The thought of walking to nowhere seems silly.

And yet, I totally get the whole working out/sports drive. It feels good, it is alone time, and it is lovely to feel so perfectly human. I just can't run on demand. 

So that got me thinking about unschooling. I've mentioned before that I am a product of the public schools and also that I have unschooled myself my whole life. That duality is similar to my friendship with Sage. School was a refuge from my turbulent home life, but so was my own imagination. I could run like the wind when not confined, I devoured books, and loved the sunshine, but in school I did what I had to, excelled, but it was simply a way to spend time in between my other life. It changed how I viewed myself and changed how I found joy in things.

Lil'Bug loves her art classes. She is learning and working with mediums I cannot provide her here at home, but I can't help but notice that her creativity with her at home artwork has changed. It is not as free, not as expressive. Maybe that change would have happened naturally, but I can't help but wonder if the situation of sitting with peers and seeing what they are doing and coloring inside the lines on demand isn't changing her view of herself and her world, much like what happened with me and sports. 

Just thoughts......

25 Random Things, ala Grub House!

Thanks Heather for posting this challenge, though you didn't tag me......I'm in need of a meme that doesn't require full paragraph formation....

1. Kool Aid grosses me out.
   
2. I want to dye my hair purple. Deep, dark, velvety purple. 
3. My favourite colour is blue-grey, but I don't like wearing it or painting rooms with it. I love it in flowers, my daughters' eyes, and in sunsets. 
4. I like using British spellings of words. 
5. I hate talking on the phone and I avoid it whenever possible. I only have 6 contacts in my phone. If I have called you in the last month, you are likely one of the 6. 
6. I love Iowa Chops and my secret seasoning is awesome on them. 
7. It bugs me that people think I am a city creature and will suffer the farm life. I lived on a farm as a kid, burned trash, mucked out chicken houses, shot at things with a gun for target practice, sat in the fire truck during forest and prairie fire calls, and slept outside to watch the stars. Farm life is exactly what I expected. 
8. I would also like to wear interesting jewelry but I hate wearing jewelry. I wear my wedding ring only. Sometimes a watch, sometimes a pendant, but sometimes is so very rare. 
9. I don't wear make up either.
10. I also don't wear sunscreen. 
11. I need a new tea pot. One that I can clean and is big. Then I will also get a tea pot cozy.
12. I love, go weak kneed at, big Victorian mansions. I get breathless. I don't ever want to live in one though. Haunted Mansion was close enough. Farm house is a perfect fit for me, balancing the practical with the beautiful. 
13. I moved to Iowa when I was 16, a junior in high school, and I never got to say goodbye to my best friends in Illinois. One of them contacted me last week after 15 years. Now the other three are also on facebook, but I'm not sure what to say to them now. 
14. My sister is getting married in July of this year! I have no idea what to wear to the wedding or what to get her as a present. I am super happy she did not ask me to be in the wedding party, even though I love her soooo much. 
15. I have a new sewing machine I've never used. I want to. I am afraid of the machine.
16. I love old science fiction. I am giddy that I get to teach it this semester. 
17. My favorite movie is Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. 
18. I've been in a plane crash. 
19. I have little patience with stupid people, less with mean people, and even less with a stupid, mean, know it all that I know. She's smart, but vain about it to the point of being unable to admit she's wrong. I hate this because I recognize it in myself sometimes. 
20. I've had my writing published, poetry and essays. I wish I had time to be more proactive about my work now. 
21. I am fascinated by bees.
22. I drink my tea with honey. White sugar bothers me now in a way that it did not before.
23. My car is currently so dirty the license plate is unreadable. 
24. I once caught and kept a wild snake as a pet. Not a garter snake either. It was a three foot long Bull Snake, that might have actually been a Black Pine Snake. I let it go after a week. 
25. When Lil'Bug and I read the description of a changeling in her faerie field guide she thought the description fit her baby sister (because of the hair) and secretly I felt it fit me. I've always been a bit odd, able to spout information about complicated and historical things (American History, Architecture, educational philosophies) and yet fascinated with the everyday mundane simple things like watch gear mechanics, bread baking, and paper. I have zero fashion sense, often wearing unmatched socks, and bad hair. Add that to my very small stature and I've always been the odd one out.  

There 25 things. That was hard!

OK, I'm back and this is a long one......

Our main obstacle has been the cold outside and keeping it outside. I think the lowest it got was -18F with -40F wind chill...... We had pipes freeze, specifically pipes that were of the hot water kind and related to our brand new tankless water heater. Only 3 (4?) radiators work to heat the main floor and they are all constantly on. Or were, today it was in the 30's and the passive solar-ness of our southern windows helped out. 

Des Moines got LOTS of snow. We got an inch, maybe. 

Sometimes the sunrise here is like a 1970's velvet painting. This picture is crappy, but just imagine the colors more vibrant. 

Sometimes the colors are more like this. 

Blueberry is teething. Drooling and teething. She pulled herself up to standing by biting the coffee table. 
Boxes are fun. So are pirate queens.

Did I mention Blueberry is teething AND crawling. Reason #1 I have no time to blog. Mobile mouthing everything baby in a semi-construction zone box mess? Oh my.

Tina Fey? Messy updo? No, this baby grew her hair in the era of Sarah Palin! 

A beauty queen who can field dress a moose? Maybe. Right now she's more likely to just gnaw on the sash. 

Not funny mama. Mmmmmm that camera looks tasty.....

I wonder what media is in this box?

Agh! It's a flying box attack! Oh wait.....Lil'Bug! Yay! 

Quiet corner of my living room.

Agh! She's on the move again......a sharp, poisonous, on fire thing is spotted and identified as a desired plaything. Time to baby proof the house!

So that's basically been my life for the last two weeks. I lost a box of diapers. For future reference, do not pack diapers currently in use for ease of move. That would be the ONE box we lost. I lost a baby gate due to high winds on the highway, possibly some clothing as well. 

Other things that are different:

Burning our trash. The scientific law that states things that you want to burn will not catch fire applies to trash and firewood. 

It is soooooo quiet out here. I love it. 

Going out to eat is a 20-40 minute drive. 

Clean windows. Our old house had 48 windows and some had not been cleaned in decades. Even when I tried they did not look clean. Here they are like mirrors. So very clean......

Other things......2009 Goals/Revolution. Last year my word was Release. I think I did pretty well with that one. Though a couple of new things happened that I am harboring anger about. Logically I can think them through and I know I should let it go, but the anger is still raw so....anyway ....2009's word will be Root. We will be planting our gardens, planning our farm, and setting our roots in the community. I plan to work on my novels, pick up poetry again (the root of my creative expression), and get back to my expressive roots. This year I am also going to focus my cooking on heritage recipes from the Cajun tradition. 

One last thought....facebook is a time-suck.