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Published On: Apr 20, 2009 05:21 PM
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Published On: Apr 20, 2009 05:21 PM
Mon - April 20, 2009
Spring Break Down
I'd love to get some more planted around the farm this week, but the rain will help along what's already in the ground, so we'll sit here and watch it fall and try not to get too stir crazy. The peas are up and growing, as are the radishes and scallions. Still waiting on the potatoes, kale, beets, swiss chard, and carrots, but this stretch of rain should have them up in no time. We have 150 hens out on pasture now who have *mostly* figured out how to roost at night, and a few stragglers left in the barn we need to round up and add to the mix.
We had a great vacation - J and C's wedding, Easter at my folks, days trips to the quilt shop, a family breakfast in Princeton, an all day outing to Longwood Gardens and the Pop Shop for dinner, a wild edibles hike with Avery, a play-date for the girls, and a big dog brunch :) with our friends' two grayhounds Gabbi and Opi, Rips, and Harri. On to more pictures....
Posted at 05:20 PM Read More
Mon - August 18, 2008
Back from the Lake, Part II
The girls and I have been busy these past few days, catching up from our vacation in Cape Cod. WIth enormous thanks to Sarah and Ryan, everyone on the farm was 100% happy and healthy when we came home, which was a relief after a few rocky years of farm-sitters. Saturday was a slow day at market, but we still sold over 40 dozen eggs, which emptied out the fridges from the week we were away. Some tomatoes split on the vine, but the pigs and chickens were more then happy to take care of them for me. The winter squash and second plantings of beans, broccoli rabe, and kale are coming along pretty well too. I'm not sure if I'll have any prepped room for radishes or lettuce but we'll see.
I go back to work in less then two weeks, so I try to cut us plenty of slack as far as fall planting and fall farmer's markets goes - we'll go to market until we sell most of our hens off, probably the end of September. We are still planting on raising our own replacemtns, using the barn as a big brooder, so I need to see what company can ship us a October order. I gave in to a few broody hens too and we'll see what they hatch out as well. Should be in a week or so.
Since my quilts have been selling well, I'm hoping to pick up some extra sales from the returning university students, and I've signed up for one craft fair so far, and will hopefully will get into a few more. One advantage of Etsy is that I already have nice photos of all my work for when I need to submit an application to a juried show. The alchemy orders are picking up, so much that I barely have time to work on my other planned projects, but that's a great problem to have! I'm still under-charging, as E keeps reminding me, but I'm getting better at pricing my work more competitively.
After a couple of failed attempts by different companies to find and pump our septic since the electric company has shredded a few years worth of wood chips over the likely location, we're calling in the big guns today. An inspection company is going to "flush" a sensor down into the tank and pick it up with a radio transmitter, and then the pump truck will come a few hours later. One more item checked off my summer to-do list hopefully. Update: So then inspection guy found the tank but the cover is busted up and he doesn't want to try removing it until he replaces it. Yet another bill, but he re-scheduled the pump truck and it looks like all this poop drama will finally! be wrapped up tomorrow. I'm sure glad we didn't wait till we were having plumbing problems!
We're also working on Georgia's thank you notes - I wanted her to be involved somehow, so I ended up having her color all over some big pieces of paper and stamp them with a "thank-you" stamp. I'll cut them into squares and write her thank-you's on the back. Once she takes a nap I'm painting a "goats for sale" sign to put up outside tonight and hopefully we can sell our little doeling ASAP. I'll probably have E put up our laying hens sign as well - with an extra week of eggs, we can afford to start sales a bit earlier then last year. The less birds we have to bring to the livestock dealer the better!
Posted at 10:42 AM Read More
Mon - March 26, 2007
New Arrival!
I'm just coming up for air after week-long baby
immersion. Alexandra, A and L's brand new cute as a button little girl, decided
to come out and meet everyone this past Tuesday, and I've been up to my ears in
baby cuddling. :) I'm eagerly awaiting the arrival of my Wee Wonderfuls bunny
pattern so that I can start on stuffed bunnies for Gi and her new cuz but no
sign of it yet - maybe I'll double check with Hillary to make sure my order went
through.
The Slow Food market day was nice - we didn't sell as many eggs as we normally do, but we made a ton of new connections. We may be growing wheat grass for a new juice bar, which will be a cool new side project. I had some wheatgrass Easter baskets on sale, which is what caught the spa manager's attention. Our table was also next to the NJ mycological association, and a retired plant pathologist gave E the lowdown on mushroom culture - it sounds like oyster mushrooms may be more feasible then shitakes - I'm not sure if the work-profit ratio is there with the shitake logs... We'll be looking into setting up some straw bags for the oyster mushrooms soon - I may order some culture this week, since he estimated we should start them about a month before we want our first harvest.
I made a mess of pysanky and sold most of them, so I'll make some more once I feel up to it again (too many hours looking into a candle flame, lol) - I'm digging the blue toile ones I made, and would like to make a dozen in different shades of blue. Crocus are up here, and daffodils are just starting to open up. Daylilies are up and growing, but no sign of asparagus yet (which is a GOOD thing, since I'm hoping our asparagus season overlaps with the farmer's market a bit). Between babies and the farmer's market, potatoes aren't in the ground yet, but they will go in under a layer of straw this week. I was out looking around today and the garlic is gearing up, so I thin k it's safe to say that spring has finally settled in around here. Hugs all! What have you been up to?
The Slow Food market day was nice - we didn't sell as many eggs as we normally do, but we made a ton of new connections. We may be growing wheat grass for a new juice bar, which will be a cool new side project. I had some wheatgrass Easter baskets on sale, which is what caught the spa manager's attention. Our table was also next to the NJ mycological association, and a retired plant pathologist gave E the lowdown on mushroom culture - it sounds like oyster mushrooms may be more feasible then shitakes - I'm not sure if the work-profit ratio is there with the shitake logs... We'll be looking into setting up some straw bags for the oyster mushrooms soon - I may order some culture this week, since he estimated we should start them about a month before we want our first harvest.
I made a mess of pysanky and sold most of them, so I'll make some more once I feel up to it again (too many hours looking into a candle flame, lol) - I'm digging the blue toile ones I made, and would like to make a dozen in different shades of blue. Crocus are up here, and daffodils are just starting to open up. Daylilies are up and growing, but no sign of asparagus yet (which is a GOOD thing, since I'm hoping our asparagus season overlaps with the farmer's market a bit). Between babies and the farmer's market, potatoes aren't in the ground yet, but they will go in under a layer of straw this week. I was out looking around today and the garlic is gearing up, so I thin k it's safe to say that spring has finally settled in around here. Hugs all! What have you been up to?
Posted at 05:04 PM Read More
Tue - November 14, 2006
Deep in the heart of Texas....
Last night, as we all snuggled up surrounded by
the dogs, I was so grateful to be home - and to know we don't have to travel
again for a LONG time! Dave's wedding and reception were both a blast, but we're
exhausted and have a list a mile long of things we'd like to get accomplished
here on the farm before snow fall.
We arrived in San Antonio, TX on Thursday afternoon, and Geogia was pretty good for her first plane ride. The biggest problem was that our seats were all in different parts of the plane, so we had to stake out the two next to hers and then try to get people to switch with us. It worked for all four of our filights, but next time we all fly somewhere I'm going to try to arrange to have our seats together beforehand. We stayed in a gorgeous hotel right on the riverwalk, and once we un-packed we met up with Dave, Karen, and everyone else who was in town to go to El Siete Mares, a local mexican seafood place outside of the city that had awesome fish, says E. He had a whole red snapper....he's still talking about how good it was. :)
The next day we went to the Alamo and explored the Riverwalk - what a beautiful place. It was definitely more impressive then I had imagined. It's a bit surreal though, since down in the Riverwalk it's lush, tropical, full of busy restaurants and tourists, and then up on street level the rest of downtown San Antonio is a whole different universe. The class/racial differences are astounding.
A chocolate covered apple and a trip to the pharmacy for diapers later, we met up with everyone and headed over to the San Antonio zoo...it was nice, under a lot of construction, but it was cool to see the different types of animals you can keep when the weather is temperate all year round - LOTS of rhinos, I think the most we've ever seen in one place! I used the opportunity to practice with my camera - I'm slowly getting the hang of it, though we realized when we got back that the lowest quality setting turns out grainy in many pics, so I'll be changing that setting...it's not worth it for 20 extra pictures.We had planned to go to Seaworld, but they were closed on weekdays, which is how we ended up at the zoo.
Dinner was at Boudro's , a bistro near the hotel where they had great garlic mashed potatoes, and delicious made-at-the-table guac. Before dinner we went to Penner's , which was probably the highlight of the trip. E wears guayaberas to work whenever he isn't in court, and his, originally his grandfather's, are showing their age. Dave and Karen had gone to Penner's for guyaberas for their wedding, and Dave had been talking it up ever since. It was great - we walked in and there were guayaberas in every style, size, and color. The little boy ones made me wish I had a little boy to wear one - so tiny! E came home with two nice new ones, as did Dave and Nick.
Saturday was the reception at Karen's uncle's house on base - a Texas BBQ. It was nice to see everyone again, and Dave's sister Sarah was able to come down for it too. The whole thing waqs very liad back, and afterwards we met up with everyone on the Riverwalk, ate at a cool vegetarian/Tex Mex place, and went to the Amy's in town fro dessert - I guess the first one is in Austin, and that's where Karen always went for ice cream. A few hours of sleep and it was back on the plane to come home.
Everyone fared well while we were away, and by Sunday night we had retrieved Harri and the goats so things are slowly returning to normal. Lots of eggs to wash, lots of leaves to rake (once it dries out around here), and lots of sleep to catch up on. :) I also cut off all my hair, but that's a whole other story. *grin*
Posted at 11:23 PM Read More
Sun - August 22, 2004
Our whirlwind mini vacation...
We did so much today that E felt like we had gone
away for the weekend. :) After meeting, we had our monthly potluck (I forgot and
had to run back home and whip up some bruschetta from the garden - it turned out
delish, rushed as we were) and a baby shower for B and family.
We were hoping to catch my dad playing at the local town fair, so we headed that way after the baby shower - no dad in sight, turns out they weren't playing till 4 and we arrived around 2. We did make time for a paddle boat ride on the stock pond - I LOVE paddleboats! - and, of course, a funnel cake. Lately, even at the county fair, I have been deeply saddened at the rise in zeppoli popularity to the exclusion of funnel cakes - but they did have a stand at this fair - god bless 'em.
Since it was so beautiful today - one of those great sunny, crisp breezy days that make me look forward to fall - we headed over to our local Clearwater festival next.... Clearwater festivals usually draw every environmental group out of the woodwork - right up our alley. We bought the cookbook from our favorite vegan restaurant from the Vegan Society's book tent, and I'll tackle the (rather complicated) Southern Chicken Fried Gluten that is E's absolute favorite on Tuesday. We're having two birthday dinners for E's 25th due to scheduling conflicts, so I made veggie lasagne with kale and tomatoes from the garden for tomorrow's festivities with my folks and C.
We talked to three different solar/wind energy contractors who work all over NJ - nice to know we'll have so many options. Even though that step is a few months down the road (at least!) we got lots of great info we didn't know about - NJ has a 70% rebate program on solar - the best in the country! If we have enough land (which we hopefully will) we can also do wind....either way, you get a rebate every year from the energy companies for any extra you give into the system - pretty cool all around.
The flurry of solar/wind discussions were prompted by our newly invigorated farm search - two great listings - we'll try to get a look at them this week before I start up teaching again. I'll keep you posted :)
We were hoping to catch my dad playing at the local town fair, so we headed that way after the baby shower - no dad in sight, turns out they weren't playing till 4 and we arrived around 2. We did make time for a paddle boat ride on the stock pond - I LOVE paddleboats! - and, of course, a funnel cake. Lately, even at the county fair, I have been deeply saddened at the rise in zeppoli popularity to the exclusion of funnel cakes - but they did have a stand at this fair - god bless 'em.
Since it was so beautiful today - one of those great sunny, crisp breezy days that make me look forward to fall - we headed over to our local Clearwater festival next.... Clearwater festivals usually draw every environmental group out of the woodwork - right up our alley. We bought the cookbook from our favorite vegan restaurant from the Vegan Society's book tent, and I'll tackle the (rather complicated) Southern Chicken Fried Gluten that is E's absolute favorite on Tuesday. We're having two birthday dinners for E's 25th due to scheduling conflicts, so I made veggie lasagne with kale and tomatoes from the garden for tomorrow's festivities with my folks and C.
We talked to three different solar/wind energy contractors who work all over NJ - nice to know we'll have so many options. Even though that step is a few months down the road (at least!) we got lots of great info we didn't know about - NJ has a 70% rebate program on solar - the best in the country! If we have enough land (which we hopefully will) we can also do wind....either way, you get a rebate every year from the energy companies for any extra you give into the system - pretty cool all around.
The flurry of solar/wind discussions were prompted by our newly invigorated farm search - two great listings - we'll try to get a look at them this week before I start up teaching again. I'll keep you posted :)
Posted at 10:48 PM Read More
Sat - February 28, 2004
She's Here....
Ripley has arrived! It took some doing, but we
got our sick pup outta' lock up before she got any worse...she is a VERY happy
little lady... We figured out the reason she hasn't been eating is because of
her teeth coming in - now we're soaking her food and she's wolfing it down. She
lost one tooth this AM in her food dish, so hopefully she'll have a less tender
mouth soon. Two accidents (#1 - could have been worse!) last night but she's
been fine ever since. She hasn't figured out yet to whine if she needs to go
out, but she made it through the night - very good! She really doesn't cough, so
I'm thinking her kennel cough may in fact be an upper Resp. Infection -either
way the Clavamox she's on still should help. We'll get her spayed when she's
better, and then get our deposit back from the Humane Society in Newark. We're
so happy to have her home - she is getting LOTS of attention, but most
importantly, she's getting food, medicine, baths, and a warm, clean & dry
place to sleep - all of which will hopefully lead to a quick recovery! She had
a bloody nose last night, and has opened it several times since, which is a
little scary, but we put a humidifier by her crate which will hopefully help
ease her dried up puppy nose over the next few nights. Harri is "on vacation",
being spoiled rotten at Mama's house - once Ripley gets the clear from the vet
he'll come home to play (and I'm sure get in a few tussles) with his sister.
Once she's better we'll also start puppy pre-school! Can you believe this lug is
only 13 weeks old? This will certainly be an adventure!
Posted at 12:43 PM Read More
Thu - February 19, 2004
Hello all...
Today was better - incrementally. Thursdays are
indulgent days here, though, and even though E stayed home from school today
we're recovering through our version of "luxury" - a day spent outside, making a
new lasagne bed in the garden, losing, and then corralling the chickens, letting
the rabbits out to graze (and realizing Ginger is frightfully thin - she's lost
so much weight since she came - must be all the calories staying warm. I'll be
going out to get a monster bag of pellets tomorrow- obviously, the hay isn't
cutting it, although she's still bright eyed, and eating a drinking well.
We watched Survivor, and now E is puttering in his record room and I'm flitting between here and the bedroom where "Without A Trace" is on. The new doc said the reason I only watch, and read, non-fiction is because of AS - since the emotional-unspoken subtext is so difficult for me to grasp in any situation, I avoid it when I can. I had never thought of it like that. Like I said, I'll check in more with y'all as things get calmer around here - thanks for the comments, they mean the world. Hugs!
We watched Survivor, and now E is puttering in his record room and I'm flitting between here and the bedroom where "Without A Trace" is on. The new doc said the reason I only watch, and read, non-fiction is because of AS - since the emotional-unspoken subtext is so difficult for me to grasp in any situation, I avoid it when I can. I had never thought of it like that. Like I said, I'll check in more with y'all as things get calmer around here - thanks for the comments, they mean the world. Hugs!
Posted at 10:44 PM Read More
Wed - February 18, 2004
We are Here
And we are healthy, and we are together. But
today was really hard. Drama, sickness, and not enough sleep from the night
before. Days like this, I just need to step back at the end of the day and say
"Ok, we ate food from our own land, we are all healthy, we are together, the dog
is walked, the chickens fed, dishes washed, and tomorrow will be a better day."
So that's what I'm doing.
I saw a new doctor yesterday - he took me off the Class D meds (yay) so that won't be an issue come September (attempts at baby-making begin then if you haven't been reading lately :) and upped my other meds a little bit. He knows quite a bit about AS, was candid with me about my options, and supported the reality that no baby will be healthy if I'm not eating/sleeping/staying sane so the meds will do more good then stopping everything and spiraling back down to my malnourished, housebound 100 lb. self, so yeah, I like him.
And although I can't find my pedometer currently, we went to the dog-park, where Harri was a bit growly/roughhousing with two absolutely adorable great danes, and at that point I had walked 2200 steps - less then I thought. If I find it tomorrow A.M. (car maybe?) I'll have to work on walking more.... Been reading tonight, but don't really have the emotional energy to comment - I will be by later this week though when the storm settles. Everyone have a good night's sleep - that's the goal around here.
I saw a new doctor yesterday - he took me off the Class D meds (yay) so that won't be an issue come September (attempts at baby-making begin then if you haven't been reading lately :) and upped my other meds a little bit. He knows quite a bit about AS, was candid with me about my options, and supported the reality that no baby will be healthy if I'm not eating/sleeping/staying sane so the meds will do more good then stopping everything and spiraling back down to my malnourished, housebound 100 lb. self, so yeah, I like him.
And although I can't find my pedometer currently, we went to the dog-park, where Harri was a bit growly/roughhousing with two absolutely adorable great danes, and at that point I had walked 2200 steps - less then I thought. If I find it tomorrow A.M. (car maybe?) I'll have to work on walking more.... Been reading tonight, but don't really have the emotional energy to comment - I will be by later this week though when the storm settles. Everyone have a good night's sleep - that's the goal around here.
Posted at 11:34 PM Read More
Sat - February 14, 2004
And we're off...
The V-Day run went well - we left the treats
in AUnt N's mailbox b/c nobody was home, but the folks enjoyed the treats and
the visit. N and P, who just had their baby, well - they looked like they just
had a baby. :) LOL. Tired and happy - and now they have some cookies - all's
well :). Their dog - a St. Bernard rescue pup that is actually in my esteemed
opinion an akita/beagle, is really good thus far with Maddie - very cool. I'm
not an Akita fan, but their pooch definitely has a beagly personality...and now
that's she's loving on the baby, she's solidly in my good graces!
And, on the subject of dog,s one of our favorite new ways to entertain ourselves....via the dog. The ear on the left is "Flops", the other one "Mr. Pop". They are useful as puppets to act out furious debates over politics and social change. Welcome to our house!
And, on the subject of dog,s one of our favorite new ways to entertain ourselves....via the dog. The ear on the left is "Flops", the other one "Mr. Pop". They are useful as puppets to act out furious debates over politics and social change. Welcome to our house!
Posted at 01:00 AM Read More
Sun - February 8, 2004
Hello Madeline
OK - so I'm not sure about the "e" at the end, but Madeline (Madelynn? Madelin?) Wanda was born at 4 this morning - my cousin N was already several days overdue and I'm thankful they didn't rush her and let her have the baby - it's her first and she was only in labor for six hours - WOW! Small episiotomy, and they used forceps for a few seconds, but mom and baby are healthy, and they didn't induce, which amounts to a good outcome to me! She's 19 inches and 7 lbs. - my mom is a bit miffed that her prediction about the sex was wrong :) We'll go see the new family this afternoon.
I was going to quickly make something up -an embroidered baby blanket or something (I'm not THAT Martha - I would buy the actual blanket :) but I don;t want to spell it wrong! Maybe a onesie, and I can stencil her monogram on the front - that might be cute. I have time for all this excessive craftiness because of all my busywork last night - E is still OUT like a light - he crawled in at about 5. I just wrapped up my lesson plans as well, so all's well here. I may go wake him up soon though....
Posted at 12:52 PM Read More
Mon - February 2, 2004
So talented....
Just one of those days when I'm
counting my blessings to have met y'all. :) Not to mention how kick -ass
talented y'all are....
And today, THIS arrived in the mail
from Mamarama
Wow mamas - not only do you keep me company, and keep me sane, you continue to inspire me. Hugs!
Wow mamas - not only do you keep me company, and keep me sane, you continue to inspire me. Hugs!
Posted at 06:11 PM Read More
Sat - January 31, 2004
The best laid plans...
"Snow football. Here, the back field, 3 pm. I'm
thinking I should probably get E to help me clean the bathroom, change out of my
PJ's, and think about lunch for the gentleman - I'm thinking tomato soup and
grilled cheese sandwiches..." Didn't happen. Oh well, daytime activities are
never really the guys' cup of tea - E is the only early riser among them, and
mostly because he has to be to do farm chores and catch the train into the city
for class.
They are all going over to Dale's, home of the largest tv in our known universe, to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. I don't come from a sporting family (especially football) - my G-Pa died watching the Superbowl, and my mom called the police to break down the door, found him - drama and grief ensued, and any football inclinations my family MAY have had were erased when I was two. I think it still bothers my mom that I married a guy who actually watches sports. So my current interaction with sports is mostly cooking for the guys when they all are watching sports here at the Homestead. So I may stay home tomorrow.... I'll think about it some more, I'd feel better about being antisocial if I had definite project plans - that said, I could work on finishing my BIG quilt top (in progress for HOW many years now? I am determined to finish it and get it on a bed so I can move on to other things. ) Maybe get Mama to help me fix my sewing machine or learn to use my grandmother's - Mama learned how to sew on it, so she could show me how (right now it's a double decker arrangement - my machine on top of the sewing table that contains G=Ma Bennie's electric one...) They are coming over for lunch since Dad and G-Ma just got in from Florida, so may be she can stay here and help me with that...
OK - E wonders why I ask him a half hour early to help me clean the bathroom. Get the cleaning supplies - then I hear him start puttering around down there, he shows up with the stuff, and now on the phone with Nick talking about god knows what, most likely to be distracted by the turntables on his way back here.... (He did clean the bathroom, very thoroughly - props to E) Speaking of my husband, did I mention he rearranged his turntables after being told - no joke - in a dream by ----- that he should put them that way, Oh, the man loves his records. He also wants a name, you know, like the Big Cowboy or Mr. Pear .... He says the first initial is not doing it for him, and even his full name is so yesterday.... I'll think about it - no promises.
I'm halfway to my savings goal for the summer! Yay! It will not be easy to get the money and keep it there, but I'd really like to "Take off" this summer - train as a doula, and maybe teach summer school - I just don't want to feel like I HAVE to find a summer job.... It's all about perception, you know? My folks just called - it looks like they will be getting an offer on their house, finally. I'm glad - this way they can buy the house they put a bid on way back when in the fall, which my dad adores, and is two doors down from my mom's sister's new house - I think they will be a good support system for each other...
So now it's grilled cheese and tomato soup for E, and I will change the address on my license, and register to vote here.... I also need to remember my goal of getting lesson plans done on Saturdays, although I procrastinate to all lengths possible. :)
They are all going over to Dale's, home of the largest tv in our known universe, to watch the Superbowl tomorrow. I don't come from a sporting family (especially football) - my G-Pa died watching the Superbowl, and my mom called the police to break down the door, found him - drama and grief ensued, and any football inclinations my family MAY have had were erased when I was two. I think it still bothers my mom that I married a guy who actually watches sports. So my current interaction with sports is mostly cooking for the guys when they all are watching sports here at the Homestead. So I may stay home tomorrow.... I'll think about it some more, I'd feel better about being antisocial if I had definite project plans - that said, I could work on finishing my BIG quilt top (in progress for HOW many years now? I am determined to finish it and get it on a bed so I can move on to other things. ) Maybe get Mama to help me fix my sewing machine or learn to use my grandmother's - Mama learned how to sew on it, so she could show me how (right now it's a double decker arrangement - my machine on top of the sewing table that contains G=Ma Bennie's electric one...) They are coming over for lunch since Dad and G-Ma just got in from Florida, so may be she can stay here and help me with that...
OK - E wonders why I ask him a half hour early to help me clean the bathroom. Get the cleaning supplies - then I hear him start puttering around down there, he shows up with the stuff, and now on the phone with Nick talking about god knows what, most likely to be distracted by the turntables on his way back here.... (He did clean the bathroom, very thoroughly - props to E) Speaking of my husband, did I mention he rearranged his turntables after being told - no joke - in a dream by ----- that he should put them that way, Oh, the man loves his records. He also wants a name, you know, like the Big Cowboy or Mr. Pear .... He says the first initial is not doing it for him, and even his full name is so yesterday.... I'll think about it - no promises.
I'm halfway to my savings goal for the summer! Yay! It will not be easy to get the money and keep it there, but I'd really like to "Take off" this summer - train as a doula, and maybe teach summer school - I just don't want to feel like I HAVE to find a summer job.... It's all about perception, you know? My folks just called - it looks like they will be getting an offer on their house, finally. I'm glad - this way they can buy the house they put a bid on way back when in the fall, which my dad adores, and is two doors down from my mom's sister's new house - I think they will be a good support system for each other...
So now it's grilled cheese and tomato soup for E, and I will change the address on my license, and register to vote here.... I also need to remember my goal of getting lesson plans done on Saturdays, although I procrastinate to all lengths possible. :)
Posted at 02:34 PM Read More
Thu - January 8, 2004
In other news.....
Ranger
* The biggest news is the mutual decision to have
Dave (E's best friend, currently flying back to Guatemala for another 3 months)
move in with us. It will be temporary, but I know E and he will have a blast,
he'll be so much help with farm stuff, and we get along really well, so that's
all good. He's starting a PhD program in September, but coming back to the
states in April so... one of the little rooms up here (Adam's un-used office)
will be reinstated as a bedroom. It's tiny, but that's by middle class US
standards, and Dave is certainly coming from a much more spartan space! It will
be very fun to have the copacetic company. AND he's working at the historic farm
so he can bring home lots of fresh milk (oooh, I can make butter - yay!), any
eggs if we need them, and veggies from their gardens (just an oh so subtle hint
:) !
* Questions/responses to a few posts ago, mostly regarding babies. :) We ARE so close, I know that - and I know that's why it's especially frustrating. I plan to teach as long as I can do it comfortably (physically that is). It really depends on the course my pregnancy takes when and if it happens. I'm thinking we'll start trying once E is confident he's staying at his new job for awhile, maybe September-ish, and then I'll work till I feel like it's time to leave. We are both hoping that once E finds a decent job, I won't HAVE to work - we know we can live on one modest income, and are perfectly comfortable with that, and I'm not doing something I really love, so if I could do something that I love more but that paid less, well, we'd all be better off.
So, hopefully, I'll only "have" to work till the end of this year - the 17th of June. I don't mind the school I'm at, and will probably stay on till the time is right, but it will be easier when it's more of a voluntary decision instead of one E and I both feel sort of forced into. If we do get pregnant this fall, I'd like to just use nursing as BC from then on and have the kids (when we plan it's four, maybe another one or two adopted- we want a big family) pretty close together. It's what my grandma did, and I think it's right for our family.
My main worry about leaving my job is the loss of my good, state health insurance that covers all of us. But with E's reassurances I'm slowly letting go off my vice grip on that issue. My dad has always been a self employed musician, and my mom has brought in the insurance (as well as the steady income and pension), so she has always drilled it into my brain that it was my responsibility to keep my family insured, and that if I didn't, god knows who would. (visions of my children hobbling down the alleyway) But I know E will have insurance with his job. So I still worry. But less. :) Thanks for all the support, mamas.
* E is a bee keeping maniac - he brought home a pile of books from the library and has been researching furiously. I'm glad he's so excited.
* I'm paying off the majority of a major loan tonight - hooray! We're far from debt free, but easing the burden this much is SUCH a relief, and a blessing!
* The hair will be rethought. There is too much stuff on the back - N, the hair lady next door, convinced me to go with this flippy thing, but now the flip is growing and out becoming a fluffy creature which is unwanted round these parts. So new haircut.
* No seed catalogs yet - come on! Let's go - I have garden planning to do! And didn't E promise me one more raised bed frame before he goes back to school? So far, my gardening goals are more, and less wormy, sweet corn (although I haven't researched how to do that organically), enough tomatoes so that I can can them to keep us through the winter, enough basil to make a winter's worth of freezer pesto, and sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, onions, and carrots (I'm going to try seed tape this year) to put in the root cellar. Of course, I'll grow some of everything else too, but that's what I'm measuring "success" by this year.
* Questions/responses to a few posts ago, mostly regarding babies. :) We ARE so close, I know that - and I know that's why it's especially frustrating. I plan to teach as long as I can do it comfortably (physically that is). It really depends on the course my pregnancy takes when and if it happens. I'm thinking we'll start trying once E is confident he's staying at his new job for awhile, maybe September-ish, and then I'll work till I feel like it's time to leave. We are both hoping that once E finds a decent job, I won't HAVE to work - we know we can live on one modest income, and are perfectly comfortable with that, and I'm not doing something I really love, so if I could do something that I love more but that paid less, well, we'd all be better off.
So, hopefully, I'll only "have" to work till the end of this year - the 17th of June. I don't mind the school I'm at, and will probably stay on till the time is right, but it will be easier when it's more of a voluntary decision instead of one E and I both feel sort of forced into. If we do get pregnant this fall, I'd like to just use nursing as BC from then on and have the kids (when we plan it's four, maybe another one or two adopted- we want a big family) pretty close together. It's what my grandma did, and I think it's right for our family.
My main worry about leaving my job is the loss of my good, state health insurance that covers all of us. But with E's reassurances I'm slowly letting go off my vice grip on that issue. My dad has always been a self employed musician, and my mom has brought in the insurance (as well as the steady income and pension), so she has always drilled it into my brain that it was my responsibility to keep my family insured, and that if I didn't, god knows who would. (visions of my children hobbling down the alleyway) But I know E will have insurance with his job. So I still worry. But less. :) Thanks for all the support, mamas.
* E is a bee keeping maniac - he brought home a pile of books from the library and has been researching furiously. I'm glad he's so excited.
* I'm paying off the majority of a major loan tonight - hooray! We're far from debt free, but easing the burden this much is SUCH a relief, and a blessing!
* The hair will be rethought. There is too much stuff on the back - N, the hair lady next door, convinced me to go with this flippy thing, but now the flip is growing and out becoming a fluffy creature which is unwanted round these parts. So new haircut.
* No seed catalogs yet - come on! Let's go - I have garden planning to do! And didn't E promise me one more raised bed frame before he goes back to school? So far, my gardening goals are more, and less wormy, sweet corn (although I haven't researched how to do that organically), enough tomatoes so that I can can them to keep us through the winter, enough basil to make a winter's worth of freezer pesto, and sweet potatoes, yellow potatoes, onions, and carrots (I'm going to try seed tape this year) to put in the root cellar. Of course, I'll grow some of everything else too, but that's what I'm measuring "success" by this year.
Posted at 11:08 PM Read More
Thu - December 25, 2003
P.S.
On our way out the door to north Jersey for
Papa's family christmas shin-dig..... A wonderful holiday surprise from Santosha (thank you Mama - wonderful!) made me
realize I should probably let all concerned know that your
solstice/yule/christmas gifts are still waiting to be sent - one of the
casualties of the flu that hit the homestead. Soon on their way to bring smiles
in the New Year - enjoy!
Everything here has gone more then well - a real blessing, from our Japanese dinner last night to brunch this morning... It's nice to have a relaxed small scale family christmas. God willing, there will be a baby on the way next time this holiday roles around...... Everyone stay safe and warm - hugs!
Everything here has gone more then well - a real blessing, from our Japanese dinner last night to brunch this morning... It's nice to have a relaxed small scale family christmas. God willing, there will be a baby on the way next time this holiday roles around...... Everyone stay safe and warm - hugs!
Posted at 02:43 PM Read More
