To Google
Using pig manure as compost
aquaponic pump and timer
baker's rack prices
why is my auto waterer leaking?
cupcake in a jar recipes
hoop house roosts and nesting boxes
how much garlic for a year's supply?
To Do
Chicks outside permanently
Sand front of door and recoat
clean workshop out and put peg board up
call buck breeder back
staple hardware cloth to grow boxes
plumbing tape the duck waterer
hammer the t posts in for the compost pile
order bareroot trees from the nursery
plant garlic
wash the apples and begin dehydrating them
pick up buck
Set Pan and the buck (now named Capt. Hook) in a temporary pen pending the orchard being fenced next week
Buy the bins for the barley fodder system
plant the honeysuckle and Lady's bank roses next to the hoop house
Oh, yah. It's also Halloween.
Good thing we celebrated last week. Pictures will upload when Blogger gets around to it.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
As I wandered around K-Mart looking for the right sized ruby slipper for Scrunch, an employee asked me how my week was going. I had no idea what to say so I said, "Fine, thank you." What was I supposed to say?
"Actually it totally sucked. I took the kids to Costco by myself, which I mean... who doesn't loooove a trip to Costco with the kids? So, while we were there my daughter slipped on the food court bench and caught herself with her face. We spent the afternoon at Urgent Care getting five stitches. By the time we got home her brother had an asthma attack and we were up the next three nights with the croup. My littlest one tripped on the patio and has a black eye. I look and feel like a total winner mom right about now. I was pregnant and now I'm not anymore, but I still feel like total crap. But I'm not homeless, unemployed, and at least I have a working anus. How was your week?"
I have so much more compassion for the random K-Mart stranger. You just have no idea what is really going on in someone's life. Every day I vacillate between counting my blessings and wanting to pull the covers over my head and wait for someone else to take over my life, or at least mop my kitchen. Gosh, why does it have to be so damn hard? (Rhetorical question, by the way.)
"Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle." -John Watson
"Actually it totally sucked. I took the kids to Costco by myself, which I mean... who doesn't loooove a trip to Costco with the kids? So, while we were there my daughter slipped on the food court bench and caught herself with her face. We spent the afternoon at Urgent Care getting five stitches. By the time we got home her brother had an asthma attack and we were up the next three nights with the croup. My littlest one tripped on the patio and has a black eye. I look and feel like a total winner mom right about now. I was pregnant and now I'm not anymore, but I still feel like total crap. But I'm not homeless, unemployed, and at least I have a working anus. How was your week?"
I have so much more compassion for the random K-Mart stranger. You just have no idea what is really going on in someone's life. Every day I vacillate between counting my blessings and wanting to pull the covers over my head and wait for someone else to take over my life, or at least mop my kitchen. Gosh, why does it have to be so damn hard? (Rhetorical question, by the way.)
"Be kind, for everyone is fighting a hard battle." -John Watson
Tuesday, October 8, 2013
Keeping Busy
"Oooh, Mom! You look fancy." That's the compliment Porkchop gave me because I had make-up on and was wearing something besides my favorite Walgreens fleece lined leggings and a tunic. This week I'm only getting dressed for good causes. Practice for singing in Sacrament on Sunday, taking Scrunch to class, and picking up Grandma from the airport. Oh, and my haircut. Maybe knitting?? The rest of the week it's painting clothes (of which I have several pairs). My distraction project(s) are to finish the playroom and paint the floors.
Have I mentioned the ugly floors in this place? To be fair they aren't actually that horrible and might be someone else's taste, but they aren't mine...so I need to do something to them. I have this great idea that I'm going to paint them.
John has been wanting to take the kids' hiking with his Grandpa. I am not currently up for either a trip or hiking so I'm packing the kids up and sending them with their Papa to visit his family. I will get a little "stay-cation". I can't sit around and do nothing or I'd risk losing my mind so I figure it will be a good time to paint the floors. How else do you paint kitchen and family room floors with three little kids? Only when they are hiking with their Grandpa two states away. My Grandma is flying in on Friday and will keep me company. I will worry and miss the kids like crazy but I'm excited to see if this works. I hope it works. Oh please, for the love, let it work!
I know you want to see pictures of the house in all its "before" glory so after they leave on Thursday I will clean and take some pictures.
Have I mentioned the ugly floors in this place? To be fair they aren't actually that horrible and might be someone else's taste, but they aren't mine...so I need to do something to them. I have this great idea that I'm going to paint them.
John has been wanting to take the kids' hiking with his Grandpa. I am not currently up for either a trip or hiking so I'm packing the kids up and sending them with their Papa to visit his family. I will get a little "stay-cation". I can't sit around and do nothing or I'd risk losing my mind so I figure it will be a good time to paint the floors. How else do you paint kitchen and family room floors with three little kids? Only when they are hiking with their Grandpa two states away. My Grandma is flying in on Friday and will keep me company. I will worry and miss the kids like crazy but I'm excited to see if this works. I hope it works. Oh please, for the love, let it work!
I know you want to see pictures of the house in all its "before" glory so after they leave on Thursday I will clean and take some pictures.
Sunday, October 6, 2013
Our old, yellow house.
When I'm an old lady and I look back on the last two months of my life I am going to be so sad that I didn't blog more. Should've kept a journal or something, but I type faster than I write. That's the excuse I give myself anyway. Still, there are memories over the last few weeks that I can't imagine ever fading. Still wish I'd have blogged more.
It would have been so much more entertaining to hear about my hauling the goats in the minivan and our drive-through experience if I'd written about it right away. Or my having to stand on the IKEA patio chairs to pound in the t-posts for their fencing. The day we discovered electric fencing does not contain baby pigs was classic. And hauling 16 foot cattle panels on the roof of the minivan in the dark down a dark, windy, mountain road is an epic family adventure. We drove over two hours to pick up my special breed of baby ducks and we intended on only getting twelve, but somehow came home with sixteen, baby chicks. September was assigned as 'Animals' for Scrunch's science and I think we've met the standard.
The milking of the goats is going well. Moira, my star milker, is still a wench, but we are making peace. Sparkles is a dream goat and more obedient and more reliable than any dog. Thankfully, the kids and John love the goats as much as I do because it will be years before the "free milk" pays back the investment we've made.
The amount of work it takes on a daily basis to keep things running is about what I expected it'd be. I've never been more tired in my life, but it is good. It is going to be a slow, and painful process getting the property into the shape we imagine it to someday be in. In the meantime, we are surrounded by pine trees and live oaks. You can stand on either the front or back porch and not see a single house. It took me a while to get used to how dark it gets up here. It makes me laugh that a car driving by such an infrequent event that it is met with all three kids running to the porch to wave.
We have moved a lot since being married- twelve times. And I'd moved quite a bit before that. But for the first time in my life I am living somewhere that I never see myself moving from, and not just because this move went a little less than smoothly. The Master bedroom is on the main floor and I've joked to John more than a few times that I'm going to die in this house.
I can't explain what a blessing this old, yellow house has been to me. It is not without some flaws and majorly ugly floors. It was not even my first pick when we walked through it the first time eleven weeks ago. I had watched it since it had gone on the market several months before. At that time it was out of our price range, but I was drawn to it because it reminded me of our Clearfield house with its dormer windows. It is quirky and showed weird which is why I suppose it stayed on the market. On a Friday the investors who owned it dropped the price by fifty thousand dollars. On Saturday we walked through it, listed our home, and I miscarried.
Making preparations to move and subsequently making plans and researching for our soon to be "mini-farm" proved to be an excellent distraction from the miscarriage and my pain associated with it. I often thought to myself, "You could not do this if you were still pregnant." It was true, and I began to feel peace in the timing. We moved and during it and shortly after I became sick. Now my fifth time being pregnant, I knew what it was before it was confirmed. Although overwhelmed and sick and tired, we were excited and I kept working on unpacking even if at a slower pace than I would have liked. Everything fell into place. Life could not be better, but last Friday I miscarried again at ten and a half weeks.
I have been asked if I was sure I was pregnant. I even questioned myself, so I consider it a gruesome blessing that it occurred in such a way as to leave no question. There was surely a baby growing at one time and it was never likely to survive outside my body. I consider it a blessing to have the confirmation of knowing that there was nothing that could have been done differently- not my activity levels, nutrition, or other circumstances would have prevented the end of this pregnancy. While I don't feel any guilt, I feel sad. I feel sad for me, for my body, for my kids, for my husband. We as a family would love to have more children, but we are also painfully aware that what we want it not always what we are blessed with.
I did not initially like or want this yellow house and yet I feel incredibly blessed to look out the window and see my kids in their swimming suits helping their Papa put the tar paper on the pig house. To have Juju incessantly climbing into the window wells of our bedroom to get a better view of the goats. I feel blessed when I sit on the rock to let the ducks eat from my hands. I feel blessed when I sit on the floor of the bathroom and spread my maxi dress as maxed as it it will go to allow room for all sixteen baby chicks to perch on my leg. I feel blessed that even on the least productive of days to know that, "Hey, at least I milked some goats today." I feel blessed to watch the baby pigs pop their heads up out of the straw when they think I might be bringing them something to eat. To sit on the porch with a view that some have to vacation to see. With all the changes that the last couple of months have brought and even the loss, mostly I just feel grateful and blessed for this old, yellow house.
It would have been so much more entertaining to hear about my hauling the goats in the minivan and our drive-through experience if I'd written about it right away. Or my having to stand on the IKEA patio chairs to pound in the t-posts for their fencing. The day we discovered electric fencing does not contain baby pigs was classic. And hauling 16 foot cattle panels on the roof of the minivan in the dark down a dark, windy, mountain road is an epic family adventure. We drove over two hours to pick up my special breed of baby ducks and we intended on only getting twelve, but somehow came home with sixteen, baby chicks. September was assigned as 'Animals' for Scrunch's science and I think we've met the standard.
The milking of the goats is going well. Moira, my star milker, is still a wench, but we are making peace. Sparkles is a dream goat and more obedient and more reliable than any dog. Thankfully, the kids and John love the goats as much as I do because it will be years before the "free milk" pays back the investment we've made.
The amount of work it takes on a daily basis to keep things running is about what I expected it'd be. I've never been more tired in my life, but it is good. It is going to be a slow, and painful process getting the property into the shape we imagine it to someday be in. In the meantime, we are surrounded by pine trees and live oaks. You can stand on either the front or back porch and not see a single house. It took me a while to get used to how dark it gets up here. It makes me laugh that a car driving by such an infrequent event that it is met with all three kids running to the porch to wave.
We have moved a lot since being married- twelve times. And I'd moved quite a bit before that. But for the first time in my life I am living somewhere that I never see myself moving from, and not just because this move went a little less than smoothly. The Master bedroom is on the main floor and I've joked to John more than a few times that I'm going to die in this house.
I can't explain what a blessing this old, yellow house has been to me. It is not without some flaws and majorly ugly floors. It was not even my first pick when we walked through it the first time eleven weeks ago. I had watched it since it had gone on the market several months before. At that time it was out of our price range, but I was drawn to it because it reminded me of our Clearfield house with its dormer windows. It is quirky and showed weird which is why I suppose it stayed on the market. On a Friday the investors who owned it dropped the price by fifty thousand dollars. On Saturday we walked through it, listed our home, and I miscarried.
Making preparations to move and subsequently making plans and researching for our soon to be "mini-farm" proved to be an excellent distraction from the miscarriage and my pain associated with it. I often thought to myself, "You could not do this if you were still pregnant." It was true, and I began to feel peace in the timing. We moved and during it and shortly after I became sick. Now my fifth time being pregnant, I knew what it was before it was confirmed. Although overwhelmed and sick and tired, we were excited and I kept working on unpacking even if at a slower pace than I would have liked. Everything fell into place. Life could not be better, but last Friday I miscarried again at ten and a half weeks.
I have been asked if I was sure I was pregnant. I even questioned myself, so I consider it a gruesome blessing that it occurred in such a way as to leave no question. There was surely a baby growing at one time and it was never likely to survive outside my body. I consider it a blessing to have the confirmation of knowing that there was nothing that could have been done differently- not my activity levels, nutrition, or other circumstances would have prevented the end of this pregnancy. While I don't feel any guilt, I feel sad. I feel sad for me, for my body, for my kids, for my husband. We as a family would love to have more children, but we are also painfully aware that what we want it not always what we are blessed with.
I did not initially like or want this yellow house and yet I feel incredibly blessed to look out the window and see my kids in their swimming suits helping their Papa put the tar paper on the pig house. To have Juju incessantly climbing into the window wells of our bedroom to get a better view of the goats. I feel blessed when I sit on the rock to let the ducks eat from my hands. I feel blessed when I sit on the floor of the bathroom and spread my maxi dress as maxed as it it will go to allow room for all sixteen baby chicks to perch on my leg. I feel blessed that even on the least productive of days to know that, "Hey, at least I milked some goats today." I feel blessed to watch the baby pigs pop their heads up out of the straw when they think I might be bringing them something to eat. To sit on the porch with a view that some have to vacation to see. With all the changes that the last couple of months have brought and even the loss, mostly I just feel grateful and blessed for this old, yellow house.
Wednesday, October 2, 2013
Wednesday, August 21, 2013
Three comments that make me believe homeschooling Scrunch is going to be an adventure.
#1. "Mom, are Queen bees real?" "Yes." "Do they wear crowns?"
#2. "Mom, I have a question." (She says that at least forty seven times a day.) "What's your question?" "What do I do if I see a mountain lion and I'm not wearing my shirt?" (She's been taught that you pull your shirt up over your head to make yourself look bigger. Also, she was not wearing a shirt when she asked me this."
#3. "We have to find a screech owl Mom! I need to hear what it sounds like. We just have to!"
Tomorrow is the "first day" of school. I hope the schultute's are a hit. How did I not know about these before last week?!? They are a German tradition for the first day of school. Like a Back to School stocking- how can you not love that?
This is going to be a trip. Porkchop is being included. After a couple trial runs last week it became very clear that if he isn't, he will turn my house on its head. Juju naps for most of our planned "school" time and the rest of the time she is content to rock her babies and throw popcorn or carrots at Jango.
We met Scrunch's CT (certified teacher) last week and so far she is awesome. I'm very impressed. She is young, super sweet, a mom of kid's the same ages as mine so she totally gets it, an experienced teacher, and super organized. Scrunch seemed to like her and has been asking when she's coming back. Because we are with a public homeschool charter we will meet with her every 20 days. She has been very easy to work with and ordered my curriculum right away. It showed up on my porch tonight- which was awesome.
Not that you care, but in case you do....here's my plan.
Each morning we will do Copywork and work on memorization.
Penmanship- Handwriting Without Tears
Phonics- I have two different Hooked on Phonics sets. Also Explode the Code workbooks.
Five in a Row- (You read the same book every day for the week and do activities correlating with the book. We'll also incorporate lapbooking with this.
Math- Life of Fred Apples and Right Start Math
Our Island Story for history.
Burgess Bird Book for Children- part of our nature studies. I plan to do the Outdoor Hour Challenges each week.
Art- Child Sized Masterpieces. My kids love art so we'll continue with doing artists studies and some projects like we did for art camp.
I also ordered Math Card Games.
Science will be worked in with Five in a Row as well as each month we have a theme. We have a family read aloud that we're working through too.
I have a planning binder that use to help plan the year. My most helpful portion of it was the schedule with the little quarter sticky notes. I have a page for the kids and one for me. This is more of a routine than a schedule, but it helped me find a place for everything I needed to get done in a week and if changes need to be made I can move them around or put in a new sticky.
I decided to leave most of my homeschooling supplies accessible until the very last minute. They will be the last thing packed and the first thing unpacked.
So, this is my plan. I'm sure it's going to need lots of tweaking and flexibility for things like, um..moving and such but I like routine and I like labels so for tonight, it works.
#1. "Mom, are Queen bees real?" "Yes." "Do they wear crowns?"
#2. "Mom, I have a question." (She says that at least forty seven times a day.) "What's your question?" "What do I do if I see a mountain lion and I'm not wearing my shirt?" (She's been taught that you pull your shirt up over your head to make yourself look bigger. Also, she was not wearing a shirt when she asked me this."
#3. "We have to find a screech owl Mom! I need to hear what it sounds like. We just have to!"
Tomorrow is the "first day" of school. I hope the schultute's are a hit. How did I not know about these before last week?!? They are a German tradition for the first day of school. Like a Back to School stocking- how can you not love that?
This is going to be a trip. Porkchop is being included. After a couple trial runs last week it became very clear that if he isn't, he will turn my house on its head. Juju naps for most of our planned "school" time and the rest of the time she is content to rock her babies and throw popcorn or carrots at Jango.
We met Scrunch's CT (certified teacher) last week and so far she is awesome. I'm very impressed. She is young, super sweet, a mom of kid's the same ages as mine so she totally gets it, an experienced teacher, and super organized. Scrunch seemed to like her and has been asking when she's coming back. Because we are with a public homeschool charter we will meet with her every 20 days. She has been very easy to work with and ordered my curriculum right away. It showed up on my porch tonight- which was awesome.
Not that you care, but in case you do....here's my plan.
Each morning we will do Copywork and work on memorization.
Penmanship- Handwriting Without Tears
Phonics- I have two different Hooked on Phonics sets. Also Explode the Code workbooks.
Five in a Row- (You read the same book every day for the week and do activities correlating with the book. We'll also incorporate lapbooking with this.
Math- Life of Fred Apples and Right Start Math
Our Island Story for history.
Burgess Bird Book for Children- part of our nature studies. I plan to do the Outdoor Hour Challenges each week.
Art- Child Sized Masterpieces. My kids love art so we'll continue with doing artists studies and some projects like we did for art camp.
I also ordered Math Card Games.
Science will be worked in with Five in a Row as well as each month we have a theme. We have a family read aloud that we're working through too.
I have a planning binder that use to help plan the year. My most helpful portion of it was the schedule with the little quarter sticky notes. I have a page for the kids and one for me. This is more of a routine than a schedule, but it helped me find a place for everything I needed to get done in a week and if changes need to be made I can move them around or put in a new sticky.
I decided to leave most of my homeschooling supplies accessible until the very last minute. They will be the last thing packed and the first thing unpacked.
In a perfect day in a perfect world this is my daily plan. Look Jess! Visual schedules! Jess is my sister who teaches special ed. She suggest visual schedules for me a while ago and they totally work for my ADD. I found the pocket folders in the dollar section at Target. I used letter stickers and my laminator and it's hanging on the side of our workbox.
The magnet board is another visual schedule we've been using for a few weeks. Each magnet is a different job. Most of them are pet related so I know everyone gets fed and my plants are watered.. They get moved to the bottom when they are completed.
On the other side of the workbox is a list of elective subjects. Every day we'll do handwriting, phonics, reading, and math and then add a fun elective or two. This is a reminder for me so I don't forget what I have planned.
On top of our workbox is a calendar and a caddy for each kid with supplies they might need. This is to hopefully prevent the need to get up and down and up and down and up and down. The workbox system is something I heard about a long time ago and I just like the idea. I'm hoping it will work with Scrunch to eliminate some of the "when are we done?" "how much more?" that is bound to come up. Each box contains everything she will need for that activity. Start with #1 and when it's done move the velcro-ed number to the other side and go on to #2. Obviously most of these we'll be working through together. There are snacks in a couple of the boxes. At #4 she's done till lunch.
I've found that the days we are home go so much more smoothly when I pre-pack or make our lunch ahead of time, that's why it's on the routine before school even starts. I spent the afternoon bagging carrots and other snacks so they are pre-prepared for the week. All the fruit is washed and veggies cut. I read about a woman who uses boxes on the counters to manage snacks and I started doing it. I have a basket on the counter with three dry snacks for each kid and then another in the fridge with three fresh snacks. It works and I don't hear, "I'm hungry!!" all day long.
So, this is my plan. I'm sure it's going to need lots of tweaking and flexibility for things like, um..moving and such but I like routine and I like labels so for tonight, it works.
Monday, August 19, 2013
Oberhasli.
It's not a medical term.
Or a fancy chocolate.
It's a goat. And I am obsessed. Like to the point of emailing all the major local breeders, and even one in Arizona and two local smaller farms to find what I'm looking for. And I've found them!
We're taking a field trip to see them in a couple of days and if I love them they will be ours. Their current owner will keep them until mid-September when I will bring them home and we will have the beginnings of own little herd. And I will milk my goat! Husband is just as excited to go check them out because with them is a little wether kid who will make a nice little backpacking and camping buddy when he gets older. Plus, they'll all help clear the brush from the property.
I know this seems like I've gone off my rocker, but this has been something we've been thinking about for months. I was planning on waiting till, oh you know, we moved..but I found what I'm looking for and they aren't the easiest to come by.
So, there you go. You learned a new word. Oberhasli. Now, I need some good goat names. Or I'll just ask Porkchop. Today he asked me if I can start calling him 'Carlos'. I dunno...I don't ask questions. I'm thinking Magic Schoolbus might have had something to do with it.
It's not a medical term.
Or a fancy chocolate.
It's a goat. And I am obsessed. Like to the point of emailing all the major local breeders, and even one in Arizona and two local smaller farms to find what I'm looking for. And I've found them!
We're taking a field trip to see them in a couple of days and if I love them they will be ours. Their current owner will keep them until mid-September when I will bring them home and we will have the beginnings of own little herd. And I will milk my goat! Husband is just as excited to go check them out because with them is a little wether kid who will make a nice little backpacking and camping buddy when he gets older. Plus, they'll all help clear the brush from the property.
I know this seems like I've gone off my rocker, but this has been something we've been thinking about for months. I was planning on waiting till, oh you know, we moved..but I found what I'm looking for and they aren't the easiest to come by.
So, there you go. You learned a new word. Oberhasli. Now, I need some good goat names. Or I'll just ask Porkchop. Today he asked me if I can start calling him 'Carlos'. I dunno...I don't ask questions. I'm thinking Magic Schoolbus might have had something to do with it.
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