I had a perfect day today. Really perfect.
We woke up with the sunshine, and a sweet girl whispering "The sun woke up again today!"
We had soaked oatmeal with raw honey, bananas and cinnamon for breakfast. Topped with coconut oil and raw heavy cream.
We went to a new church that was small, only twenty people, but the teaching was amazing and the people were sweet.
We came home and had quesidillas for lunch with cheese I made from raw milk, and tortillas I made from freshly milled wheat and spelt. Plus homemade salsa that I made last summer all from my garden.
Then we had a kazoo concert. The bee has a particular love for The Beatles, especially "I am the Walrus"
I put a roast in the oven.
Huck took a nap. And the bee and I worked out, and the sailor went to lowes.
We looked at paint colors when he returned.
We colored for a while with some markers and made up stories to go with our drawings.
We went into the backyard and looked at the first tiny shoots coming up in the asparagus patch on the side of the house, hoping that we get more than two this summer and picked a few weeds that are invading the strawberries. We checked the raspberries, and are worried they won't make it.
We finished dinner. We had creamed spinach, roast, and mashed potatoes. The kids loved it all. The bee "helped" me cook, as she loves to cook.
We then read books, nine books to be sure. Brushed our teeth, and then the sailor and I put the kids to bed.
Then the sailor and I came downstairs and did some chores together and he decided to turn on the television to watch a TV show that he loves.
We spent no money, we just spent time together.
I cannot for the life of me think of a better day.
Sunday, January 17, 2010
Friday, January 1, 2010
New year, new prep lists
Jan 1 isn't a huge deal in my world. I love the gentle flow of season into season and while I do love holidays, for some reason the new year has never been a huge deal for me. It is just another day. Of course this year I'm watching the Buckeyes in the Rose Bowl, but aside from that, not a lot going on.
However it is a good time to make some lists and do some cleaning out of the old. January is typically a slow month around the house, and the time of year when everything is dormant. Nothing much grows, at least where I live. I usually find some yummy citrus and make a few batches of marmalade, but no more than that.
But the lack of anything going on, gives us ample time to do stuff. I try to clean out my pantry in January. Anything that expires in six months or less I donate to a food pantry and buy replacements. I make lists of what I need to expand in the next year, and what I had to much of the year before. Last year I came across an amazing deal on canned corn, and bought far to much. Nobody in my house aside from me likes corn. If we aren't going to eat it, we shouldn't buy it.
Here is my current pantry list that I need to buy ASAP:
Black beans #300
Wheat #200
Honey 15 gallons
Oatmeal #100
Dog Food #200
This of course is just the beginning of my pantry, but these are the most important staples that I need to keep building. I'm also hoping to add some freeze dried meals to the pantry this year that stay good for 20 years. NO they aren't the healthiest or most delicious food, but they will keep you going.
I am also pouring over my seed catalogs this month to get ready to place my spring order. Where I live, I can plant peas and broccoli at the end of next month! Of course this is an incredibly cold winter and the ground is frozen solid and covered with snow right now, so this year might be a little later than usual. I try and garden according to two things. What I can can, and what we will eat. Not to mention what will grow here ;) Last year I learned that corn does not fare well in a backyard garden here. It is just far to windy here, and we get hail. I was seriously depressed when my corn was hailed out last year. But tomatoes thrive! My tomatoes last year were amazing, and I got hundreds of pounds of tomatoes off my vines. I know that I have vine borers and that I need to use floating row covers to keep them from getting into pumpkins and other vining plants. My zucchini was lost early, so I'm hoping to remedy that this year.
Currently I'm planning on growing in the backyard garden:
Early spring:
Peas
Spinach
Lettuce
Broccoli
Radish
Onions
Carrots
Potatoes (In a trash can)
Chard?
Cabbage
Late Spring:
Green Beans
Black Beans
Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Pumpkins
Zucchini
Butternut Squash
Cucumber
Fall:
Lettuce
Peas?
Radishs
Garlic
Chard?
I'm also going to try and lacto-ferment carrots, cabbage, and cucumbers this year in an attempt to preserve some food without canning. Not to mention that lacto-fermented food is amazing for your gut.
I'm also working on updating the car kit and our bug out bags. In fact we are going to go buy a new hunting knife today for the car kit. Stay tuned
However it is a good time to make some lists and do some cleaning out of the old. January is typically a slow month around the house, and the time of year when everything is dormant. Nothing much grows, at least where I live. I usually find some yummy citrus and make a few batches of marmalade, but no more than that.
But the lack of anything going on, gives us ample time to do stuff. I try to clean out my pantry in January. Anything that expires in six months or less I donate to a food pantry and buy replacements. I make lists of what I need to expand in the next year, and what I had to much of the year before. Last year I came across an amazing deal on canned corn, and bought far to much. Nobody in my house aside from me likes corn. If we aren't going to eat it, we shouldn't buy it.
Here is my current pantry list that I need to buy ASAP:
Black beans #300
Wheat #200
Honey 15 gallons
Oatmeal #100
Dog Food #200
This of course is just the beginning of my pantry, but these are the most important staples that I need to keep building. I'm also hoping to add some freeze dried meals to the pantry this year that stay good for 20 years. NO they aren't the healthiest or most delicious food, but they will keep you going.
I am also pouring over my seed catalogs this month to get ready to place my spring order. Where I live, I can plant peas and broccoli at the end of next month! Of course this is an incredibly cold winter and the ground is frozen solid and covered with snow right now, so this year might be a little later than usual. I try and garden according to two things. What I can can, and what we will eat. Not to mention what will grow here ;) Last year I learned that corn does not fare well in a backyard garden here. It is just far to windy here, and we get hail. I was seriously depressed when my corn was hailed out last year. But tomatoes thrive! My tomatoes last year were amazing, and I got hundreds of pounds of tomatoes off my vines. I know that I have vine borers and that I need to use floating row covers to keep them from getting into pumpkins and other vining plants. My zucchini was lost early, so I'm hoping to remedy that this year.
Currently I'm planning on growing in the backyard garden:
Early spring:
Peas
Spinach
Lettuce
Broccoli
Radish
Onions
Carrots
Potatoes (In a trash can)
Chard?
Cabbage
Late Spring:
Green Beans
Black Beans
Tomatoes
Cantaloupe
Watermelon
Pumpkins
Zucchini
Butternut Squash
Cucumber
Fall:
Lettuce
Peas?
Radishs
Garlic
Chard?
I'm also going to try and lacto-ferment carrots, cabbage, and cucumbers this year in an attempt to preserve some food without canning. Not to mention that lacto-fermented food is amazing for your gut.
I'm also working on updating the car kit and our bug out bags. In fact we are going to go buy a new hunting knife today for the car kit. Stay tuned
Monday, December 7, 2009
I long for snow
I do. I love snow. I love the soft sound, the quiet. I love the way it looks, and the way it feels.
But most of all, I long to see how the bee responds to the joys of snow in her fourth winter, and how Huck enjoys it in his second.
My children are absolute joys to me. I can't wait to see their response to so many things.
But most of all, I long to see how the bee responds to the joys of snow in her fourth winter, and how Huck enjoys it in his second.
My children are absolute joys to me. I can't wait to see their response to so many things.
Alcohol
I love a good beer. Ambers are my favorite, and I like to discover local breweries and sample their beers.
I like wine, but am not a wine snob. I'll drink two buck chuck with pleasure.
I don't like hard liquor that well, but it is fun for cooking, and sometimes cocktails.
But one of the things that we include in our food storage is whiskey and vodka. Now, we don't drink whiskey or vodka, though my husband does enjoy a bit of makers mark once in a while.
IMO alcohol is essential for food storage and especially a TEOTWAWKI situation. Alcohol is incredibly useful, especially high proof alcohol. It can be used for cleaning wounds, knocking someone out if they need a splint put on or bones readjusted, making extracts and tinctures, and even currency.
I store cheap whiskey and vodka. NO need to store high quality alcohol as the cheap stuff will do the job just as well.
I like wine, but am not a wine snob. I'll drink two buck chuck with pleasure.
I don't like hard liquor that well, but it is fun for cooking, and sometimes cocktails.
But one of the things that we include in our food storage is whiskey and vodka. Now, we don't drink whiskey or vodka, though my husband does enjoy a bit of makers mark once in a while.
IMO alcohol is essential for food storage and especially a TEOTWAWKI situation. Alcohol is incredibly useful, especially high proof alcohol. It can be used for cleaning wounds, knocking someone out if they need a splint put on or bones readjusted, making extracts and tinctures, and even currency.
I store cheap whiskey and vodka. NO need to store high quality alcohol as the cheap stuff will do the job just as well.
Tuesday, December 1, 2009
Christmas and the meaning behind it
I'm not a big "Keep Christ in Christmas" type of gal. I couldn't care much less if a retailer has up holiday signs rather than Christmas signs. I don't expect a secular world to live a Christian lifestyle, and have Christian principles. But in our home we aren't huge into the whole birthday of Jesus thing either. Christmas to me isn't about the birth of Messiah, that is what Sukkot (Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year) is all about. But the fact is that we wouldn't be celebrating Christmas if Jesus wasn't born, despite the fact that he wasn't born anywhere near the time of Christmas.
What Christmas is though, to our family, is a time of giving and loving on as many people as we are blessed to do. I want my children to not only have fond memories of the gifts they get on Christmas morning, but also experience the thrill of giving and sharing with our friends, neighbors, and those who are less fortunate than us.
One idea that I'm incorporating this year to pick a family and sponsor them for christmas without them knowing. We are going to drop off a small gift, food item, card or whatnot every day today through Christmas day. I know this family, they are friends of ours, and they are really struggling financially this year. I'm excited to have the bee help out making small things, and dropping them off. Teaching her that it really is more blessed to give than to receive.
What Christmas is though, to our family, is a time of giving and loving on as many people as we are blessed to do. I want my children to not only have fond memories of the gifts they get on Christmas morning, but also experience the thrill of giving and sharing with our friends, neighbors, and those who are less fortunate than us.
One idea that I'm incorporating this year to pick a family and sponsor them for christmas without them knowing. We are going to drop off a small gift, food item, card or whatnot every day today through Christmas day. I know this family, they are friends of ours, and they are really struggling financially this year. I'm excited to have the bee help out making small things, and dropping them off. Teaching her that it really is more blessed to give than to receive.
Sunday, November 29, 2009
Christmas and why my parenting is different
I love Christmas. Like really really really love it. I cannot wait until Christmas morning to see the looks of joy on the faces of my children as they come downstairs and see the lit tree, the presents and their bikes!
I have so few good memories from my childhood, but Christmas was almost always one. I want my kids to have that joy, that magic, that complete delight that I did.
My mother was not a good mother. She was just not. I'm not going into specifics publicly, but it wasn't a good childhood. I had absolutely no trust for her by the time I was four.
The memories of Christmas is part of why I wanted to change the way I parented my children. Christmas was such a joy for me as a child, at least until I was about ten. It was a day when I wasn't scared, or angry, or sad, or lacking trust in my mother. It was a day that I knew that she could be counted on. And that is a wonderful thing.
But it is so sad that there was only one or two days a year that I could feel that way about her. The fact that Christmas and my birthday were so hugely different than the rest of the year is not a good thing. I looked forward to those holidays with such a passion because they were safe days. I don't want my children to look forward to safe days, I want every day to be a safe day.
So I comfort them when they cry, I don't scream at them, I don't hit them, I feed them healthy foods and wear them when they need some extra snuggles. Every child deserves those basics in life, to live a life where they trust their family.
I have so few good memories from my childhood, but Christmas was almost always one. I want my kids to have that joy, that magic, that complete delight that I did.
My mother was not a good mother. She was just not. I'm not going into specifics publicly, but it wasn't a good childhood. I had absolutely no trust for her by the time I was four.
The memories of Christmas is part of why I wanted to change the way I parented my children. Christmas was such a joy for me as a child, at least until I was about ten. It was a day when I wasn't scared, or angry, or sad, or lacking trust in my mother. It was a day that I knew that she could be counted on. And that is a wonderful thing.
But it is so sad that there was only one or two days a year that I could feel that way about her. The fact that Christmas and my birthday were so hugely different than the rest of the year is not a good thing. I looked forward to those holidays with such a passion because they were safe days. I don't want my children to look forward to safe days, I want every day to be a safe day.
So I comfort them when they cry, I don't scream at them, I don't hit them, I feed them healthy foods and wear them when they need some extra snuggles. Every child deserves those basics in life, to live a life where they trust their family.
Saturday, November 21, 2009
Where will they go
My three year old is obsessed with being a doctor. She talks about it frequently. When people ask her what she is going to be when she grows up she always says a doctor. She loves to read the pages in her books about doctors, and asks what schools she has to go to to become a doctor. When she goes to the doctor she asks the doctor to look in her ears with the otoscope.
Sometimes she'll also talk about when she is grown up and is a ballerina, or a farmer, or a mommy, or a dog. Yup. A dog.
As we are looking on a new and unexpected phase of education for our kids next year, we are thinking about their future in different ways. Something we have always said is that we don't want them to be pushed toward college. There is an unhealthy push to get a college education in our country. Some people probably question that, but college is overrated. Not all children are cut out to go to college. Some kids aren't designed to do four years of post high school education and work in a cubicle, but that is where our American society is leading kids.
I want my kids to have the freedom to go to college and excel if they choose. Even if they choose a major that doesn't seem to have a lot of job potential like art history, if they are passionate about that, they can make a wonderful life and career out of that. But I also want them to have the freedom to go to trade school, or start a business, or become an apprentice or go to ten years of college and medical school.
I am sure at this point that God is calling us to send our kids to school. At least for a few years. Just like homeschooling families we say we will take it year by year. This might only be a season, and it might be a long term venture. Who knows. But there are a few more worries with sending my kids to school rather than keeping them home.
The biggest worry I have is that my kids will feel forced and pressured into college. The school that we are sending them to has a 100% college matriculation rate. And the kids who go to this school don't go to east handkerchief state either. They go to tier one schools. I want to set up an environment in our family where they know college isn't the end all be all and there are other paths they might follow. I want to guide them toward their strengths and interests and callings, not push them toward college.
How can my children still explore freedom when they are being tunneled toward college?
And these big questions honestly make me wonder if school is going to last beyond the elementary years, and they will be homeschooled in high school. I know that is the opposite of most homeschooling worries. Many parents wonder if they can teach the upper division stuff, and don't worry about the lower division stuff. But not me. The elementary stuff does NOT interest me, and in fact I have never been sure if I could teach my littles the three Rs. But I have never worried from about sixth grade up. From that point on I was quite sure I'd be able to teach.
It is going to be interesting to watch this unfold.
Sometimes she'll also talk about when she is grown up and is a ballerina, or a farmer, or a mommy, or a dog. Yup. A dog.
As we are looking on a new and unexpected phase of education for our kids next year, we are thinking about their future in different ways. Something we have always said is that we don't want them to be pushed toward college. There is an unhealthy push to get a college education in our country. Some people probably question that, but college is overrated. Not all children are cut out to go to college. Some kids aren't designed to do four years of post high school education and work in a cubicle, but that is where our American society is leading kids.
I want my kids to have the freedom to go to college and excel if they choose. Even if they choose a major that doesn't seem to have a lot of job potential like art history, if they are passionate about that, they can make a wonderful life and career out of that. But I also want them to have the freedom to go to trade school, or start a business, or become an apprentice or go to ten years of college and medical school.
I am sure at this point that God is calling us to send our kids to school. At least for a few years. Just like homeschooling families we say we will take it year by year. This might only be a season, and it might be a long term venture. Who knows. But there are a few more worries with sending my kids to school rather than keeping them home.
The biggest worry I have is that my kids will feel forced and pressured into college. The school that we are sending them to has a 100% college matriculation rate. And the kids who go to this school don't go to east handkerchief state either. They go to tier one schools. I want to set up an environment in our family where they know college isn't the end all be all and there are other paths they might follow. I want to guide them toward their strengths and interests and callings, not push them toward college.
How can my children still explore freedom when they are being tunneled toward college?
And these big questions honestly make me wonder if school is going to last beyond the elementary years, and they will be homeschooled in high school. I know that is the opposite of most homeschooling worries. Many parents wonder if they can teach the upper division stuff, and don't worry about the lower division stuff. But not me. The elementary stuff does NOT interest me, and in fact I have never been sure if I could teach my littles the three Rs. But I have never worried from about sixth grade up. From that point on I was quite sure I'd be able to teach.
It is going to be interesting to watch this unfold.
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