Wherever I am is where I'm at...

double combs on a top bar hive

2011-07-16T21:19:00.001-04:00

Finally a bee post!

The inside view of one of our top bar hives. This is the back of it.

Bees on new comb, it's very light in color.

Bees on older comb, the comb is more of a yellow/gold. There are some larvae, and capped brood in this photo.

A close up of capped brood and larvae.

More capped brood and larvae on comb that's not so brand new. The raised bullet shaped cells are drone brood.

Since we started with the top bar hives we had a couple bars that the bees had double comb on. Initially our philosophy was to leave it bee. The bees won't do anything that isn't good for them right?! Right. Well eventually we had 4 and in some cases 5-7 bars that couldn't be lifted individually. Not so bad for the bees, but really problematic for us, and totally uninspectable. Here's some pics of what was going on. We figured out that out top bars were too wide and have started replacing all the original bars with narrower bars.

Notice the long peanut shell looking cells at the bottom of the comb, those are queen cells.

Closer view of the queen cells.

As I saw it, we had a few options;

leave them alone - least invasive, but this would have made the hive inaccessible eventually
slowly move these double combs out by adding new smaller bars in front of them - less invasive, but it could take awhile and in the mean time the problem is getting worse.
cut off the double combs and reattach to new narrower bars - involves an incredible amount of intrusion, and as we found out, carnage.

The other situation was those queen cells.....swarm cells, supersedure cells, just in case cells (some were not capped), or was the queen gone entirely and they were trying to replace her? To be honest, I have no idea, initially we thought swarm cells due to their placement on the comb. Our plan was to do a split, moving the old queen and some bees to a new hive and letting the old hive raise a new queen. Simulating what would happen in a natural swarm. Lots of folks say once the bees decide to swarm they'll do it, so we figured on trying to work with it.

Problem was, once we got in the hive we couldn't find the queen, and realized there weren't any eggs, plus we didn't give ourselves enough time to do what we wanted to, and we forgot our smoker, and the bees were incredibly grumpy that day(it was a cloudy day so that probably didn't help). It was a disaster, and after only seperating one bar of double comb we gave up for the day. I also dropped a whole comb full of bees, it was awful. We never did find the queen and have since realized that our hive is queenless, no eggs no new larvae. Good thing we didn't do that split, or maybe they were ready to swarm and we killed the queen during one of our inspections,at any rate it was a disastrous first attempt at cutting off the double combs.

We left them alone for awhile to settle down and to fix all the damage we caused. I was worried that they'd be furious when we went back, or that they'd have left the hive altogether, I wouldn't blame them if they did.. In the meantime, we re-evaluated our plans, for one we realized we should give ourselves double the time we think we need, and if conditions aren't right to mess with the hive we need to just not do it, also don't forget the smoker. We also picked different hair clips, the ones we initially chose were too wide and the bars wouldn't sit right next to each other, causing the bees to have too much space, and yes again make double comb on those bars.....

When we went back the bees were still there, queen cells were all still capped, but no eggs or larvae, so we're hoping they're well on their way to making a new queen. We finished off the job of seperating all the bars with double comb in just a few minutes, and closed the bees up to continue their work.

We'll figure it out eventually, it's a learning process, I just felt bad the bees had to suffer. Still it seems that they are resilient little creatures.

Garden 2011- Progress

2011-07-06T22:14:00.001-04:00

So far so good.

Here's a couple things we figured out so far.

Just laying some dirt on top of the hay and putting seeds or tiny seedlings into it means you have to water constantly. Until the roots are established enough to draw moisture from the soil beneath you risk them drying out and dying. Solution-put in bigger seedlings, deeper in the compost.

Don't just pile grass on as a top layer because it mats up and forms this impenetrable barrier that water runs off of. Solution- mound grass on and then put hay on top of that.

This method isn't work free, but it is nearly weed free! I hate weeding and by this time every year my garden is over run with weeds, but not THIS year. Every couple days I pull a blade of grass or two, that's it.

Letting go of all the ideas about rows and how far apart things have to be is liberating. This garden may not be traditionally beautiful, but I've really found the beauty in how certain plants grow together. How the close growing plants help keep the weeds down, and how much the worms and other insects love our undisturbed soil.

Companion planting works! See brassicas in the following photos....

Ok done with the words time for PICS.....

Directly in front is horehound, to the right is our sage, and in between the two is lavender. Somewhere in there is some rosemary, dill, lemon balm, and persistent mint growing through many layers of cardboard and mulch.

Swiss chard, egyptian onions gone wild, and peppers getting killed by slugs!

Baby tomatoes and pole beans, mixed in there are onions and carrots.

Broccoli and cauliflower

Broccoli in the herb bed....noticed it is untouched by the slugs...

More brassicas (kohlrabi) not in the herb bed, getting murdered by slugs... companion planting seems to be working.

Again hardly touched by slugs in the herb bed.

Pumpkins..... I think...

Our first head of broccoli forming.

lavender blooming

Sage blooming

Side note:
We gave up TV again this summer. Cable's off today, hopefully this summer is as busy and productive as last.

Next up:

That sauerkraut post I promised you, AND bee updates....seriously..... now that I have no TV I have more time to blog....=0)

Garden 2011 - no till/permaculture

2011-06-23T21:50:00.000-04:00

Last year we didn't have much of a garden, but over the winter Aaron and I did some reading and planning.

In late February I started planting seeds, this was my first batch. I planted more and more throughout March and April...and nurtured them alot... they were needy little seedlings.

This year we decided to use raised beds, since our previous attempts at no til were kind of a mess/failure.

So we designed some beds, bought some fir, and Aaron got to work setting up our "no till/permaculture/lasagna gardening/no dig/sheet mulching/whatever you wanna call it" raised beds. It's called so many different things and there's alot of variations. The idea we're working on here is creating some natural balance, not digging up and disturbing the soil, using the compost to keep the weeds down and feed the plants.

In early April we set up the beds right over the grass,and put cardboard around any of the perennials (hopefully killing the very invasive oregano and peppermint that had taken over), and layered it on top of the grass in the other beds.

Going around the sage and lavender.

Next came the layers of wet newspaper, going around the egyptian onions.

On top of that went some sawdust and then some composted goat manure that we got for next to nothing.

then lots of old, bad hay (hoping all the seeds are dead at this point), which was also dirt cheap.

Then a layer of grass clippings from our lawn. (We haven't used pesticides or fertilizers other than chicken manure in over 2 years on our lawn, so the clippings are safe to use) That's pretty much it, there's no set group of materials to use. The idea is to use what you have/can find. the only guideline we've been following is to layer "brown" (carbon) and "green" (nitrogen) materials at about a 3:1 ratio. If you're interested here's a list of what's brown and what's green.

I pushed aside the top layer of hay/grass and planted my seedlings directly into the hole I made, along with some compost, then tucked it in.

Seedlings hardening off outside.

The socks that took forever = DONE!

2011-05-24T21:59:00.000-04:00

I finally finished them while I was on vacation in South Carolina.

......uh but I forgot to take a picture....yeah seriously......

So glad to be done, sent these off to my mom, and have already started a new pair.

what....

2011-05-24T21:57:00.002-04:00

well....

we have been busy....

soon will posting about no til gardening, sauerkraut, and bees....

Bees Bees Bees

2011-04-09T22:29:00.000-04:00

So today we went and picked up our bees from warm colors apiary, and installed them in our top bar hive.

This is not a how to, we messed up a few things.

One: we didn't uncork the queen box.

We ended up going back in and uncorking the queen's box, and we decided to shake the bees into the hive, they were just not coming out.

Also we're going back tomorrow to give them more sugar water.

They were very gentle, no stings at all. And I had so much fun, and they seemed to like their new home, they settled in very quickly.

Yogurt FAIL

2011-02-25T21:58:00.000-05:00

So I tried my hand at making yogurt, it was....interesting.... and the results were edible, I think. The dogs didn't get sick at any rate........

I started out with 1 quart of raw milk, stuck it in the crockpot, turned it on low for 2 1/2 hours.

Then I turned off the slow cooker and let it sit for 3 hours.

I then added my store bought yogurt culture. (this could have been my problem, because I think I should have taken some milk out, mixed in the starter, and then mixed it all together)

Lid back on, and wrapped it all nice and cozy to keep it warm, and let it sit for 8 hours.

(yeah, it felt weird to let warm milk just sit out on my counter, kinda skeeved me out to be honest)

In the morning I ended up with this beige, runny, lumpy mess.

I refrigerated it in the hope it would firm up, and it did, a little....

However, it remained beige and lumpy...

Icky yogurt FAIL

Fed it to the dogs, they loved it....

Not making yogurt again..........until I get an actual yogurt maker, hint hint Santa...

the socks that took forever.....

2011-02-22T11:00:00.001-05:00

See these socks? These pretty knee socks?

They are taking FOREVER, I started them sometime in early December and have yet to finish them. Granted I haven't been knitting every day, but still, I'm sort of "done" with them.

Except...... they're a gift for my Mom, a Christmas gift actually, I gave her a promise of socks for Christmas, LOL. So I can't be "done" just yet. Once I get to the heel on the second sock I'll feel like I'm almost there...

When they are FINALLY done, I may have a hard time giving them away.

I love this color, and I love knitted knee socks.

I'm just not fond of knitting them right now.

Is it Spring yet?

2011-02-21T21:33:00.001-05:00

Well it might not be Spring yet, BUT I started some seeds last night.

Just some early flowers, but it's so exciting, every day is longer, and the sun feels a little warmer. I love Winter but every year around the end of February I get to a point where I can't wait to start digging in the ground, and I'm so there right now.

We've got big plans for a garden this year. 4 raised beds using the no-till gardening method (I'll explain more later), lots of companion planting, and hopefully very litle weeding. We both hate weeding, and we're hoping we mulch enough this year that the weeds are not able to grow.

Take a look:

Pretty exciting; petunias, scabiosas (prettier than it sounds), pansies, a variety of herbs, snapdragons, and yes some apple seeds. We'll see what happens. They have a nice sunny spot on our sun porch, and a nice little heating mat to keep that soil warm enough to quickly germinate.

I'm still here!

2011-02-09T21:05:00.000-05:00

It's been busy. I got a new job last week, and it really cuts into my blogging time. ;0P I do have some updates for you.

Grocery Challenge is on hiatus, because I had some complaints from my dear husband that he was starving because we had no food. ;0) So I am recalculating and will begin again 2/18/11. I may be stocking up this week, but chicken thighs were .68/lb....how could I not? is that cheating?! hmmm... maybe, don't tell anyone.

Get Fit Challenge 2011 is in full swing. Was sick 2 weeks ago, so I hopped off the wagon for a couple days, and then 2 Mondays ago I hopped right back on. This past Monday I got sick again, so I've not gone to the gym this week, but continue with the food changes. Tomorrow I'll be going back to the gym. Luckily I can still go during lunch at my new job; very helpful with staying on track.

......and.....yesterday was 5 weeks since I started........

I lost SEVEN pounds, and 3.5 inches overall....I'm pretty excited about that!

Coming soon, I promise-----sauerkraut, yogurt fails, awesome knitting pics.

New doctor update

2011-01-23T11:39:00.001-05:00

So, I met with my new doctor, and I have to say I really like her.

I've been having trouble with my hashimoto's thyroiditis. Some of you may not know what that is, and to save you the google search....

Hashimoto's thyroiditis is an autoimmune disease in which your body makes antibodies that attack and gradually kill/destroy your thyroid by killing the follicles. The disease generally results in the person becoming hypothyroid (deficient in thyroid hormones). The thyroid hormones are important because one of their functions is the regulation of metabolism, controlling how quickly the body uses energy, makes proteins, and how sensitive the body is to other hormones. The pituitary gland controls the thyroid by sending out thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) when it determines that there's not enough thyroid hormones in the body. In my case my thyroid isn't dead yet, so sometimes it makes hormones and sometimes not. My pituitary gland keeps sending out TSH telling my thyroid to make more T3 and T4 (the thyroid hormones).

Some of the lovely symptoms of the hypothyroidism caused by the Hashimoto's are:

•Goiter

•Difficulty losing weight

•Low thyroid hormone level

•Mental slowness

•Physical slowness

•Esophageal compression

•Cold sensitivity

•Weight gain

•Coarse skin

•Dry skin

•Fatigue

•Depression

•Muscle weakness

•Brittle hair

•Constipation

•Muscle cramps

•Neck discomfort

•Periodic paralysis

•Thyroid enlargement

•Myxedema

•Musculoskeletal symptoms

•Rheumatoid arthritis

•Reduced thyroid hormone level

•Hoarse voice

•Pale skin

•Facial swelling

•Muscle tenderness

•Muscle stiffness

•Joint pain

•Joint stiffness

•Excessive menstrual bleeding

•Mania

•Sensitivity to cold

•Panic attacks

•Bradycardia

•High cholesterol

•Reactive hypoglycemia

•Migraines

•Cramps

•Memory loss

•Infertility

•Hair loss

Luckily I don't have all of those. Phew, right? could be waaay worse. =0)

The biggest issues for me when my levels are off are: dry skin, menstrual issues, infertility, hair loss, esophageal compression (food/pills get stuck in my throat constantly), being TIRED all the time (literally I can sleep 14 hours and still take a 3 hour nap), headaches, bradycardia (slow pulse). At one of the visits that I went to, when I was trying to get a diagnosis, my resting pulse was 43 bpm, and the doctor said it's because I was in the Marines and running alot. Even today with my relative inactivity my heart rate is usually about 60.

Sorry if that was confusing, I barely understand how it works myself. At any rate, went to my new doctor because I have been having ear issues. It sounds like I'm under water, and cracks and pops, very annoying. She was great, checked out my ears, explained the diagnosis (eustachian tube dysfunction) and the treatments. She's very western medicine, BUTwas very open to hearing my concerns, and did suggest a neti pot when I said I'd rather not use OTC medicines or nasal steroids. It was great to be listened to, and to have a doctor that explained things so in depth.

I mentioned to her that I had Hashimoto's and subclinical hypothyroidism (meaning my TSH is high but bound T4 is within normal range, and I'm symptomatic) and that I needed a refill on my script. She understood exactly what I meant and said it's only a matter of time before your thyroid stops working so we should keep an eye on it, ordered tests, and a few days later I got the results at my house ( my old doc I had to call and request the actual levels) along with a letter from her saying she'd upped my dosage because of the results, called in a new script to my pharmacy, and we should retest in 2 months. It's nice to be listened to and I'm hoping we get the right levels soon.

=0) She's a keeper.

Get Fit Challenge Week 2 and my much wished for SNOW

2011-01-14T20:45:00.000-05:00

So Week 2 is almost over, I lost 5 pounds, and have continued going to the gym 4 days/week. I'm feeling much better about doing the classes and am really enjoying the stress-reduction benefits. Next week will probably be 5days/week, but since we got TONS OF SNOW on Wednesday I stayed home.

And I mean alot of snow, 20+inches...It took a few hours to get it all cleaned up.

As you can see, Aaron's happy. =0)

Shoveling off the roof!

Anja looooved the snow, even if jumping through it was a lot of work!

I had to make her go in or she would have stayed out until she was a rotticicle.

This is her saying "please, please can I stay out just 5 more minutes?"

and.....I did that spinning class again today; it was less painful than last Friday. =0) I might not need a cushier bike seat., we'll see!

Week 1&2 Day 2 shopping & stupid spinning

2011-01-07T23:33:00.003-05:00

Went to four stores tonight: I used to laugh at my mom for doing the same thing, now I know why she did it...
At any rate, done shopping for the next 2 weeks.

Fairway Beef

Hard to see but:

~2.5 lbs chicken gizzards @ .99/lb (dog food)
2 bags macaroni @ .73
~24 lbs chicken thighs @ .99/lb (dog food) -not enough chicken for the dogs for 2 weeks, but we have turkey, other chicken, and organ meat in the freezer.

Total = $27.86

Big Bunny

Organic yogurt 3 @.50
mushroom pieces 2 @ .67
kidney beans .89
tomato sauce (spanish style) .45
pepperoni $2.99
Boneless chicken thighs ~4lbs @$1.39/lb
carrots 2lbs @ .50/lb (dog food)
bananas .99lb @ .39/lb
broccoli $1.31 (partially dog food)
squash 2.19lbs @ .39/lb (dog food)
cabbage 14.96lbs @ .35/lb (partially dog food)
cantalope $1.50
yams .40 (reduced=dog food)
overipe bananas ~3lbs @ .19/lb (banana bread)
red pepper .40lb @ $1.99/lb
tomato .53lb @ .99/lb
TP (12 double rolls) $3.99 (w/$1 off coupon)
Total = $29.79

Big Y

navel oranges 10 $5.98
organic baby carrots $1.78
Organic romaine lettuce (3 heads) $2.48
Flour tortillas $1.59
organic vegetarian fat free refried beans $1.29
kidney beans .89 (yes I forgot I bought the last can)
Quaker Oatmeal $2.99

Total = $16.96

Price Chopper

2 red potatoes 5lb bag (B1G1) $3.99
salsa $1.50
spaghetti sauce 4 @ $1
granola bars $3.09 w/coupon
nut cluster $2.50 w/coupon
mayo $2.99
string cheese $3
Cottage cheese 2 @ $1.99
Cheerios 2 @ $2 w/coupon
wisconsin sharp cheddar $2.42
baby swiss cheese $3.99

Total = $35.46

Grand Total of all trips= $144.92

woohoo, I did a little dance, we're set for 2 weeks and under budget.

BUT WAIT....ummm we'll need milk in a couple days

Robinson Farm

Milk $7

New Grand Total = 151.92

So, that's how you spend $150 on 2 weeks of groceries for 2 people and 3 dogs...hahaha I have some work to do! This 2 week period I was lucky and could buy half the chicken I needed for the dogs, but the next shopping period I'll probably have to buy closer to 40/50lbs of chicken, so that's going to be challenging. Still, I'm committed to keeping the dog's food in our weekly grocery budget.

Now I suppose I coud buy regular milk, carrots, lettuce, and yogurt, but for me the flavor difference is worth the price, so I compromise.

The good thing is I learned there are lots of areas I can improve, and I thought I was a way better shopper than this.

Examples:

I bought 2 cans of kidney beans (only need 1), and when I was putting them away I found one hiding! So make a better list.
Also I could have waited to buy a couple things, like chicken thighs, TP, tomato sauce.
I could have also skipped things entirely, the book from yesterday, granola bars, elbow macaroni, etc...
Biggest issue was Big Y not having sales that I expected. The prices I found on their website were very different than the in store prices, BECAUSE I made my list on Monday, the sales ended Wednesday, and I shopped on Friday. DUH! So I ended up paying full price for certain things that I thought were on sale, and bought things other places that ended up being on sale in Big Y.

As for the gym, went again and I learned a couple things there too. I'm liking list styles today so here ya go:

Spinning class HURTS my bottom, the seats are too narrow and by the end of class it felt like I was sitting on a pointy rock. I need a wider cushier bike seat for my fat butt.
The instructor is loud and even thinner than the aerobics instructor, she's very perky and encouraging, and way too nice to dislike.
Five finger shoes are not the best shoe for biking, toes get caught in the stirrups, soft soles feel every bump on the pedal.
I love being able to close my eyes and workout without worrying about falling over, running into someone, or otherwise hurting myself. I imagine a nice warm beach. =0)
"The beach" in my head is so relaxing I slooooow way down.
The instructor loudly encourages me because of #5, I can almost dislike her for calling me out.
I'm very happy I'm not going to spinning class again until next Friday.

Week 1&2 Day 1 Thrifty Shopping

2011-01-06T22:38:00.001-05:00

SO...today was the first trip of week 1&2 of the Grocery Challenge. Since we get paid biweekly, I shop every other week for 2 weeks of food. I have a few stores I go to. This first trip was Walmart, which I avoid in general, but certain stuff is cheaper there. I try to keep Walmart to under 30% of my total shopping dollars, and spend the other 70% at local stores.

Healthy Choice 6 @ $1.78 (lunch for me)
Healthy Choice 2 @ $1.98 (lunch again)
split peas 2@ $.73
sugar $2.68
french onion dip (Aaron uses this as veggie dip for work snacks)
ranch dressing $3.20 (Aaron uses this on everything, and only likes this brand, LOL)
parmesan cheese $2.76
brown sugar $2.24
eggs (18) $2.43
Book $3.72 (all me because my little brother loves to read, so I have books in my car for him to read when we're going somewhere.)

Total = 34.85

roughly 25% of my budget

Looks like this trip sucked =0). The lunches are expensive, BUT I consider the alternative, which is me going out to lunch everyday, to a fast food place, and every lunch is under $2 and healthy. The good thing is these meals are not super high in sodium like others, so it's a compromise. The book? Could've totally skipped it, but it's a book dang it! Hopefully I do better at the other stores. The dip and ranch, well seriously I have to get Aaron stuff he likes to eat sometimes or he'd rebel, he didn't marry an earthy crunchy Sarah, I just evolved. =0) On a good note, I totally did not buy yarn at knitting group tonight, which required me to exercise extreme willpower!!

As for the gym, went again today, AND it was that step class again. Not so bad, I got a spot in the middle this time, FAR from the mirrors, it was better. I also think the instructor can probably eat whatever the heck she wants, that lady has some crazy energy. =0)

Day 2 is ...better?!

2011-01-05T19:28:00.000-05:00

Just so you know, I went back today (to the gym), and it wasn't as bad as yesterday. I only used the elliptical, since there wasn't a class scheduled when I could go. There was, again, TONS of mirrors everywhere, but it was easier today, I almost felt like I should be there. Although, seriously, I swear that some guy walking the track, looked at me and shook his head, seriously, I'm pretty sure. I resisted the urge to run after him yelling "what are shaking your head at?!?!", although I have to admit...I did visualize doing that... just sayin'.

Hopefully it keeps getting easier, tomorrow is the step class again, we'll see.

Get Fit Challenge 2011

2011-01-04T19:44:00.000-05:00

Soo....as is my usual habit, I've started more than one thing at a time, and..... here it is...Big Thing # 2, the Get Fit Challenge 2011. So I've got some strategies...counting calories, cheering on my friend Kelly, and being cheered on, and keeping track of my weight at my fitness pal .

Also I joined a gym...yes remember the whole I hate Bally's Total Fitness post from 2006? Well, yeah, I went back last night for a tour of that place, it's improved a little, more cardio equipment, they test the pool 4 times a day, no more contracts, and their hours are MUCH better (5am-10pm M-F), and whatever the weekends are... I have no intentions of going there on Sat/Sun. The best thing ever about the gym membership?! My insurance reimburses me for the entire cost, so it is, in essence, FREE!, for the whole year!

It was a little sad, the kid giving me the tour told me how to turn on the treadmill, and explained what an elliptical was, and everyone was sweaty and fit, I left feeling fat. I left thinking "The good thing is they have group classes that I think I'll enjoy, and will keep me motivated".

Tonight was the first group class, step aerobics, I used to do step about 3 times a week, and I was awesome, hardly missed a step. This morning, I got my gym bag ready, with my old lock, yes my lock from MCT at least, possibly boot camp, which made me a little sad, I used to be awesome and very fit, ok well mostly I'm still awesome, just fatter. That little minute of sadness was a precursor for the flood to come.

After work I headed to the gym, and the minute I walked in, I felt like I didn't belong there. In general I'm a pretty confident person, but I felt it all melt away, and when I ever walked into that studio with all those mirrors, well let me tell you, I felt laid bare. I tried to find my confidence somewhere and smiled and explained when the teacher asked about my five finger shoes, she loved them by the way! I could do the steps, but not anywhere close to what I used to be ble to do. Each time I saw myself in the mirror I cringed on the inside, me wearing my t-shirt and pajama pants, the other people all fit and pretty in the nike workout clothes, and about halfway through I felt a good cry coming on.

I finished the class, got my stuff from the locker, went to my car and had a good cry. That cry was part humiliation, disappointment, and sadness. It was pretty devastating, that realization of how out of shape, and let's say it, fat, I've allowed myself to get. Then I called my husband, and after that a good friend, I felt better pretty quick. (thanks!)

On the way home I vowed to find my confidence when it comes to the gym, I do belong there, and I know I'll see results as long as I keep going. Plus I reminded myself that I am awesome in so many ways, and I really do love the person I've become, just not the size, and I'm working on that.

Thanks for everyone's support, I love you guys!

Thrifty Grocery Challenge 2011

2011-01-03T22:32:00.002-05:00

So here's what it is:

The USDA has a website of "food plans", the average cost for couples, families, etc to buy food in the US. They do one for each month, the latest is Nov 2010, and they have four levels: Thrifty, low-cost, moderate-cost, amd liberal. For a couple aged 19-50 the thrifty plan averages 80/week.

Aaron and I have decided to try to keep our bi-weekly grocery bill to under $150, which is a little under the "thrifty" designation. We'd like you to try the challenge too!

We're defining groceries as:

food,
beauty & personal care products,
household items like trash bags, batteries, and aluminum foil,
dog food*
also any time we buy food outside the home it counts as well, so McDonald's, Dunkin's, they all count.

*we feed raw, although recently took a couple month break from grinding etc. We have been feeding a high quality grain free kibble in the meantime and our dogs look and smell awful, and have been shedding LIKE CRAZY so we're going back to raw. I have all the supplements still, so only need to buy the chicken, vegies, and rice when we need it.

I think this will be tight, but we'll see how it goes. Obviously we're not starting from a bare pantry, and I'm assuming you aren't either, right? You'll also notice there are some items we don't buy, including paper towels (we use rags or dishcloths), paper napkins (we use cloth napkins and wash them), and feminine hygiene products (check out the diva cup). We're also committed to buying as many whole fresh foods as possible, including our $7/gallon raw milk! To accomplish this we decided to use an envelope system. Each pay period we'll put $150 in an envelope marked "groceries", and once it's gone, it's gone....

Sound like something you'd like to try? Burning to flex your frugal muscles? Well go for it, figure out the "thrifty" amount for your family, define "groceries" and get to it. Each week on Thursday, starting January 6, I'll be posting what I bought, what I paid, and what kind of deals I got where, if you have a blog I'd love for you to post your weekly or bi-weekly shopping trip!

We'll be re-evaluating at the end of February to see if we're willing to go on... there may be a prize, for thr thriftiest blogger, likely knitted socks. =0)

2011 goals

2011-01-03T13:19:00.002-05:00

Our goals for 2011 are really a continuation of the 2010 mission.

Live a simpler, more frugal, natural, and sustainable life.

Last year we made some big shifts towards a better life, as defined by us.

Aaron now makes all of our bread, including pitas
Aaron makes most of our pasta
more canning, including tomato sauce,and relish
our first wild harvest resulted in elderberry jelly
more knitting = homemade gifts, and homemade wool socks
got rid of extra "stuff"
ditched cable for the summer

This year we're hoping to:

make buckskins
buy little to no processed foods- this is a big one
plant a bigger garden with raised beds
can more stuff
make sauerkraut
make our own cheese
ditch cable again in the summer
BEEES!!
wild harvest more
keep our grocery budget under $150 every other week. ($75/week) That's below the USDA's "thrifty" budget for a family of 2
get to a healthier weight
fast once a month
knit Aaron a wooly pully (big green wool sweater)
finish our mid state trail hike
have "date night" once a month

Making butter from unhomogenized raw milk

2011-01-01T21:55:00.000-05:00

I've been experimenting with milk; making butter, and boy have I learned alot, so I'm gonna share it with you!

Let's start at the beginning...MILK, well actually it's the cows, but to shorten this up we'll start with milk. The milk you buy in the store is homogenized and pasteurized. What do those two words mean?

Well...homogenization is essentially breaking up the fat globules in milk into smaller sized globules so the cream doesn't seperate from the milk. Here's a much more interesting in depth discussion of the why's and how's of homogenization.

Pasteurization is basically a heat sterilization process. It's used to kill the "bad bugs" in milk. It also kills the good bacteria, vitamins, minerals, enzymes, and other beneficial ingredients found in raw milk. There's a whole debate about raw vs. pasteurized milk going on, and it's so lengthy that it warrants a whole post of its own. At any rate, this link will give you some more info about the pasteurization of milk. As far as legality, in Massachusetts it is legal to sell raw milk right from the farm, but you won't find it in a store. The farms that sell it are also subject to monthly imnspections and tests, far more frequent than mainstream commercial dairies.

Now another factor is what the cows eat...do they eat grain, grass, hay? Does it really make a difference? Well I'm no cow expert, but here's what I knew starting out, the feed affects the butterfat content of the milk, and milk from grass fed cows has more good fatty acids (CLA) than milk from grain fed cows.

So I found myself 3 kinds of milk, all unhomogenized, some pasteurized, some unpasteurized.

So far I have no churn, just using the "mason jar + milk + lots of shaking" method, which takes alot of shaking. I figured I'd enlist some help, but first I wanted to make sure it worked.

I let the cream rise, sucked it off with a turkey baster, and let it sit out and come to room temperature. Then Aaron shook it alot...

Aaron's test batch, it actually worked!!

I grabbed 2 little family members with lots of energy and put them to work shaking.

This one liked to shake under my desk..

Having fun?

...they were great on clean up, including dishes.

I even made them make their own supper!

Mmmmm...calzones.....

But wait this post is about butter... so here ya go..

Here are my findings:

Butter from grain fed, organic, unpasteurized, unhomogenized cow's milk- From Cook Farm in Hadley, MA

Color: very light color
flavor: good, but margarine-like, almost oily

Butter from grass fed, organic, pasteurized, unhomogenized cow's milk- From Natural by Nature, purchased at The Living Earth in Worcester, MA

Color: much brighter yellow, clearly much yellower than grain fed
Flavor: creamier, more buttery

Butter from hay fed*, organic, unpasteurized, unhomogenized cow's milk- From Robinson's Farm in Hardwick, MA

Color: yellow, darker than grain fed, but not as bright as grass fed
Flavor: Creamy, very buttery and smooth tasting, the best of the three

*The cows are usually grass fed but in late November, early December they start getting hay.
I'd be interested to see how the color/flavor changes when the cows are back on grass in the Spring

The butters shown in the same order as above from left to right: grain fed, grass fed, hay fed

This picture shows the color differences pretty well.

The Verdict: the last butter is the best.

As for the leftovers from making butter; the buttermilk

...the first 2 times there wasn't much left so the dogs got it. The third time I saved it and will be making Sunday morning whole wheat buttermilk pancakes! YUM

In general, making butter with a canning jar is fun, but not something I'd consider doing to supply all of our butter needs. It's time consuming, messy(especally if the lid comes off), and a lot of work for very little butter. I did try using our food processor for the last batch, and I didn't like the results, the butter got too hot and was hard to seperate from the buttermilk. In the future I have hopes of buying a real butter churn which makes the idea of making larger batches much more conceivable.

http://www.lehmans.com/ sells a churn similar to a Dazey churn that I think would serve us well.

one day....one day..hee hee

you will live in my house and I will make butter with you.

and I will have my own cow, and some chickens, and bees, and turkeys and sheep....and a big old broken down farmhouse with land and stone walls...

But until then I buy my raw milk, make my butter, and dream.

=0)

More Knitting..Cable scarf with attached convertible mittens.

2010-12-30T21:49:00.000-05:00

So I made this scarf with attached convertible mittens thing as a special order for a customer,

it's um... awesome....

Notice that the thumb is convertible too, you know for texting.

Thanks to "the other Sarah" for being my model.

Hmmm... wait...this feels funny....

2 right mittens....FAIL...

I ripped one out and re-knitted it, good thing "the other Sarah" noticed!!

Improved Horehound Drops

2010-12-28T22:51:00.002-05:00

I made horehound drops again this year, with some minor improvements. (Last Year) I used a buttered pyrex dish, that didn't work out. This year I did the cookie sheet with parchment paper on top, WAAAAAY better for getting the drops off.

New improved drop remover design

Scored drops

The scoring didn't work so well, out came the big guns (notice the hammer).

Used confectioner's sugar again this year to coat them, it helps with the bitter flavor, at least at first...

Also I may have slightly burnt it, it got to 300 degrees and a little over, FAST this time, but this stuff is so bitter, you can't tell. =0) The one good thing is these drops are far less sticky than last years, I'm guessing because they for sure got to 300 this year? (the hard crack candy stage)

By next year I should be a pro! =0)

If you'd like some drops, let me know, they're an acquired taste, but great for colds, sore throats, and asthma.

Drops packaged, labeled, and ready to go.

Hopes and Thanks

2010-12-28T12:03:00.003-05:00

I hope you all had a Happy Christmas, I surely did!

We have some exciting things to do with our wonderful gifts...

Namely... making sauerkraut with the awesome new crock and lids from my wonderful hubby!

and new bread with our fantastic new breadmaker (our $3 breadmaker finally lost the war)

and buckskin for Aaron, from the instructions in his deerskin to buckskins book. Which means the 2 hides and the deer head (and brain, yeah did you know you can tan a hide with brains?) will be gone from our freezer... More on that later, I promise photos and possibly a guest post by Aaron!

Speaking of gifts, I can't say it better than I did last year, and I wish the same for all my family and friends this year, and I remind myself of these truths.

"So I decided that if I could, I would give everyone the strength to experience their whole range of emotions, the courage to reach out if they need help, and the knowledge that they are loved, and that time passes and situations change. Nothing lasts forever, and each life is precious and short so enjoy it. Be present in each moment even the painful ones, because that is what makes the wonderful moments so.... wonderful."

And thank you to the Universe for listening and providing us with 12 inches of after Christmas snow! It was windy and wonderful. Once the roads cleared we went sledding with my brother and nephew.. as soon as I can I'll post the awesome video of our wipeout.

those dark, dreary days- let it snow!

2010-12-20T16:29:00.000-05:00

I love living in New England, and not just because I grew up here. I've lived in 3 other states and one other country and although they each have their own wonderful characteristics, for me, nothing beats New England. And although I pronounce my R's, except for the word Sattaday (Saturday), I've even grown to love that wonderful non-rhotic accent and occasional epenthetic r's I used to despise as a kid.

We have wonderful seasons, our springs are beautiful rewards for a long winter, summers are warm but not hideously hot, and the leaves of fall are my favorite, winter is fluffy and white, cold but not too cold. But there's a time of year in New England that I find depressing. It's that time after all the leaves have dropped from the trees, when they're naked and look like they'll never bear another leaf. The days are short, and everything is gray and brown.

This year that dead naked time seems to be lasting longer than usual. We've not really had any measureable snow and I'm eager for it. Being that tomorrow is the shortest day of the year I have to say I'm ready! Ready to break up the browns and grays with some gorgeous white fluffy snow, ready to start hiking the dogs through the woods and being the first prints in the snow, ready to start the sledding and yes, even the shoveling already!

What we've been up to....

2010-12-12T22:55:00.002-05:00

Alright so here's some photo evidence of what we've been up to; lots of knitting, christmas shopping, working, and cooking. What more could I ask for really?

As promised, knitting pictures!!

Boot socks

These socks in progress, made with soft soy/wool yarn turned into:

These beautiful knee socks! (these aren't on the website, as I'm afraid this yarn will felt without much help.) We'll see what happens and I might offer socks in this soy wool blend.

Simple scarf...

Knee socks for Kelly

And......we roasted some chestnuts, harvested from a friend's tree, to use in this GREAT recipe for venison casserole.

Yummy, fruits of our labor! Love free food.

Aaron made pita bread, it was delicious!!

I think it's so neat how they puff up and end up with pockets.

Some of these will turn into pita chips, YUM.

And of course, more knitting.

Cute little fingerless mitts, for the lady with the tiniest hands. I will knit her any mitts she wants, they were so FAST, 3 days, about 4 hours total, not bad.

Next up......a post about homemade butter, and maybe more knitting pics, we'll see.

=0)

most of the knitted items are available for purchase at www.crocushillfarm.com

New Doctor Victory

2010-11-29T14:45:00.001-05:00

woooo hoooo

Well...... remember this post? I got the doctor that they e-mailed. Even though she's officially not taking new patients, she agreed to take me on.

Now, next step is to meet with her and see if we get on well.......fingers crossed.

Updated

Skillllzzzzz

2010-11-16T18:12:00.000-05:00

I have been knitting a lot, lots of orders for socks and the like, YES! (sorry no sock pics, later, ok?) Anyways, currently working on reading while knitting....yep my newest skill....Being that it's a whole new level of multitasking and fantasticness, my new skill deserved its own post.

Don't be jealous......

Choosing (Hiring) a new doctor

2010-11-13T23:31:00.004-05:00

It's time, I'm in the market for a new doctor. The last time I picked a new doctor my criteria was a female who'd be upfront with me. My new doctor certainly didn't beat around the bush and in general I wasn't unhappy with her. Still it did take years for her to finally diagnose my Hashimoto's Thyroiditis, and then she needed some convincing to treat my hypothyroidism.

So now I'm looking to hire someone new. Yep, I said hire, because really that's what I'm doing, hiring someone who will collaborate with me.

So I clarified what I was looking for in a new doctor.

has some knowledge of Hashimoto's
understands that I know my body and I know when something is wrong
is holistic leaning and open to alternative therapies (reiki, homeopathy, herbs)- although they don't have to prescribe or recommend them, just be open to them.
is willing to collaborate with me rather than order

This entails:

taking time to discuss options with me
not being offended if I ask for evidence/research to backup suggestions about treatment options
a willingness to listen to suggestions I may have about possible treatments

Also, I have some practical requirements

has to accept my insurance
currently accepting new patients
within 30 minutes of my home or work

I guess I have a long wish list this time around.

So I started by checking my insurance website to see what doctors accept them. Then I called my mom who has worked with a number of doctors, and asked her what she thought of each doctor and who she recommended. Next I asked my friends and family about what doctors they liked and used.

At the end I had a short list of people that included 2 doctors and 2 nurse practitioners. Of those 4 people, 3 were not accepting new patients, but I figured I could try anyways, maybe there's a waiting list or something I could get on.

So I called my insurance company.

They took my name, updated my address, and informed me that there was one doctor in my town who takes my insurance. Then the lady proceeded to tell me she'd change my doctor in the system, and I could make an appointment with him.

Me: Wait, wait, what's his name?

Insurance Lady: Dr. so-and-so

Me: Well how will I know if he's a good fit? I'm really looking for someone who's going to work with me, rather than direct me and will be open to alternative therapies. I want someone who isn't going to be offended if I bring in articles or ask about a treatment. I don't want a doctor with a huge ego that thinks I should blindly do as they say since they went to medical school and I'm just a patient.

Insurance Lady" *laughs* well, umm most doctors are like that.

Me: That's my point exactly. So I have some names of people that have been reccomended, can you see if I can get in with them?

So we went on and she sent an e-mail to the one doctor who isn't taking new patients, that I really wanted. Hopefully the doctor will respond, if not I'll be going with the nurse practitioner who is taking new patients.

Update 1 and Update 2

The whole point of this story is: even with all the news coverage doctors practicing defensive medicine, over medicating patients, overtesting, and overcharging patients, the recommendations about patient education and advocating for ourselves, and doctor and patient collaboration, it still seems to me that the status quo hasn't really changed. "Do what the doctor says, they know best." Having an opinion about what kind of doctor, or which doctor you'd like is an anomaly. It took me a number of years to come to realization that doctors are not infallible, and there isn't always just one correct solution to a problem. There can a variety of solutions to the same problem and your doctor should be willing to talk options, statistics, and outcomes with you. Doctors are only human, they make mistakes, and sometimes they miss things. I don't want a perfect doctor, I want a doctor who knows they're not perfect.

So think about it, does your doctor work with you? or do you follow all of their directives without question? Does your doctor take the time to answer questions and discuss options? Are you really happy with the care you're receiving?

Processing Grease Fleece or why it smells like sheep in here....

2010-11-08T19:41:00.002-05:00

Over the last year I've mentioned I'd love to learn to spin wool into yarn a few times, and being me I wanted to start from the beginning. Well, Aaron took me seriously and a few weeks ago, came home with a surprise. Three bags of unprocessed sheep's fleece, also called grease fleece. One of his customers mentioned they had some sheep and couldn't even give away the fleece.

I didn't quite know what to do with this stuff, so it went in the attic for a couple weeks. My philosophy is, with enough time, books, googling, and rarely, some hands on instruction, I can learn anything. So online I went and I found a pretty comprehensive how to. I gathered my supplies (lingerie bags, long rubber gloves, and dawn dish soap), oddly enough I didn't actually own any of these things. Although, I'm now a fan of rubber gloves. Especially long pink ones. =0) Then I set out on my journey..

The first step is to pick out most of the debris, and since these fleece were free.... well let's just say the price was reflected in the quality. There was a lot of debris (vegetable matter, dung, urine, etc..) and I had to get rid of the really matted /dirty sections. I assume those were the belly/neck areas. Most people who have sheep and sell the fleece will "skirt" the fleece before they pack it away, which means take out the major debris and also the belly, leg, and neck sections (mostly done in shearing, but then again before the fleece are packed away). Also some folks have their sheep wear special coats to keep vegetable matter off them. These particular fleece were shoved all willy nilly into black trash bags, which is a bad idea, but free is free and the lanolin didn't seem to have set in, so I figured might as well try it out..

This thing smelled bad, like a dirty sheep.

Skirting the fleece....

The nasty sections we had to cull out.

Then I started the washing process, basically a tub of hot hot water, some dawn dish soap, let soak, drain and spin (never agitate, or the wool will felt, they mean it too. I had some felt on me, because I was impatient and swished it around to clean it faster).

Take the wool out, refill with hot water, no soap, put the wool back in and soak again for a few minutes. Drain and spin.

Repeat until water is clear, which takes awhile.

I didn't use the lingerie bags the first time around, but I did the second time and that made the whole process much easier.

Then lay it out to dry, I put mine on an old screen thingy on top of a dog crate, Roxie loved having a sheep on top of her.

Here's a closer look.

Next up, combing wool.....

and then.....

spinning...

Neither of which I know how to do, but remember what I said about time, google, and books.

Music I love

2010-11-05T15:20:00.004-04:00

I grew up listening to a huge variety of music. My Dad was a fan of old rock, country, reggae, funk, and blues. He really opened my ears up, and hearing all those different genres helped me to appreciate more than just the rap I loved when I was younger. I even professed a hatred for country and hard rock, I have since changed my mind, what did I know as a teen anyway? My mom loved rock, old motown, and popular music. She also listened to public radio and every weekend when she cleaned, our house was filled with classical music. Dad's parents listened to big band music and even calypso; I remember first hearing harry Belafonte singing 'Banana Boat' in Grampa's car. Mom's parents didn't usually play music but when they did , it was classical records and 8 tracks full of great old German songs. My step-father's mother introduced me to irish folk music, and I fell in love. One of my best friends as a teen was puerto rican and her mother introduced me to merengue and salsa music. I discovered reggaeton with the help of my friends. Living in the south for 3 years helped foster a new appreciation for country music. Along the way I've discovered some of my own favorites, but one thing I learned is that I really do enjoy any kind of music, ok maybe except for GWAR...

I figured I'd share some of my favorites from a variety of genres. There are many many more I could share, but in the interest of space, I'll limit myself. Maybe another post...

Aaron and I lurve this song.

This is my "relaxation song". On the rifle range I hummed this to relax and steady my breathing, now it's my default relax tune...but only the da da dada part. =0)

cake is.... well, just awesome...

Daddy Yankee, the video's kind of weird,and the words may be objectionable if you understand it, but I can't help myself, love it...it's like chocolate.

and Johnny Cash... because he's always been amazing..

...but he's even better with June Carter.

and how could I forget slick rick? hahaha "stolen nova" ?!

of course, Pink rocks. I must admit to having a bit of a girl crush on her. =0)

This is a beautiful song from a wonderful singer.

and one more from Liam Clancy, little more upbeat, love it.

John Prine, who has been singing about my dream, since before I was born. =0)

And of course, Bob Marley. Who, besides my dear husband, doesn't love him?

and his son Ziggy is almost as good.

Damian Marley is also pretty good, must run in the family.

and lastly, my favorite song of all. Johannes Brahms - wiegenlied

Whenever I hear this melody I can hear Omi singing softly to me in German.

Guten Abend, gute Nacht, mit Rosen bedacht,
Mit Näglein besteckt, schlüpf unter die Deck!'
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt
Morgen früh, wenn Gott will, wirst du wieder geweckt

Guten Abend, gute Nacht, von Englein bewacht
Die zeigen im Traum, dir Christkindleins Baum
Schlaf nun selig und süß, schau im Traum's Paradies
Schlaf nun selig und süß, schau im Traum's Paradies

Making Traditional Bavarian Sauerbraten

2010-10-29T19:29:00.001-04:00

As some of you may know my mom's family is from Germany; Bavaria more specifically. My mom was born in Munich in fact. I've grown up eating some really great, filling, traditional German foods, and now that I'm older I like to try my hand at our recipes. I had a bunch of family over recently for Sunday dinner. Cooking German food for my mom's side can be tricky, they know what it's supposed to taste like, and everyone has an opinion, of course, on how sour or salty or sweet it should be. I've compiled the best recipes and advice from everyone and here's what we get for sauerbraten. It's mostly a secret family recipe, you lucky people you.

Ingredients for marinade:

4lb pot roast (with fat trimmed off)
1 1/2 C Red wine vinegar
2 1/2 C red wine
12 peppercorns
1T mustard seed
4 bay leaves
4 whole cloves
1 1/2t salt
1/4t pepper

Ingredients for cooking:

marinated roast
3T butter
12 carrots, sliced thin
6 onions, sliced

First combine all marinade ingredients (except meat) in a large saucepot, bring just to a boil. Let cool slightly.

Put meat in large bowl and then pour mixture over meat. Let cool, cover tightly, and put in fridge. Marinate for 5 days, turning meat daily.

On day 5 remove from marinade (save it, you'll need it later), drain and pat dry. Melt butter in a dutch oven, then brown meat on all sides.

I made 2 because I had a number of guests. Here's the browned meat and the other one just getting started.

Once browned, add 1C marinade, and the carrots and onions. Bring to a boil, cover tightly, and simmer for 2 hours. If you need to, add more of the marinade as it cooks.

Then strain the liquid in the dutch oven and use it to make gravy.

I'd love to tell you how, but I can't, it's secret, and umm... actually I'm not even sure how to do it right, that's Omi's department.

Along with sauerbraten we had semmelknodel, blaukraut, and creamed spinach. For dessert we had American favorites: pumpkin and apple pies. I think in the end everyone was pretty happy and full.

ummm ok I'm hungry now!

Carving Pumpkins

2010-10-24T20:54:00.000-04:00

Today was pumpkin carving day!!

Going to town on his pumpkin!

Working hard.

Dad working on his pumpkin.

Haha love the tongue, look at the concentration!

Haha what can I say?

My brother and husband screwing around.

Aaron poking Seth

Small pumpkin headed child

Headache honey?

Putting the pumpkin on my nephew's head.

Hula hooping with the pumpkin.

Trying to put it on my stepmom! Haha she's not having it.

Just some of the pumpkins we carved today!

The whole gang after carving!

MAKING APPLESAUCE

2010-10-21T19:48:00.001-04:00

The title of this is all in caps because: it was the best applesauce ever!!!!!

I made applesauce a couple times last week and I had some AWESOME help, thanks you guys.

We found that our first step was to play with the Rottweiler and then let him sit on you, and hug him*.

Then wash the apples, we used a variety, some Northern Spy, Cortlands, and even a Granny Smith or two.

Nate, the little cook's helper.

In one batch we cored the apples and put them in the pot whole, with a bit of water on the bottom so they didn't burn. The next batch we cored and quartered them. Squishing the quartered apples was way easier, so next time that'll be the plan.

Umm Bri's job was to bring the cored apples and put them in the big pot, she stopped and ate some on the way. =0)

Next step-hug and pet the Bear*

Next step break for more apples..."What do you mean I have more work to do?"

Then we squished the apples up with my ricer, a food mill would probably work better. There's no photos of this because I was trying to make sure no children were injured in the process of squishing hot hot apples and then putting them into a hot hot pan on a gas stove.

So in goes the apple mush (I cooked it in my dutch oven, but you could use a saucepot), cook down to applesauce consistency, stir in sugar and cinnamon to taste.

Bri kept saying more sugar! =0)

Then Bri and her Mom helped pour the sauce into jars and took out all the bubbles, while I explained what botulism is. hahaha

Look at goldilocks' concentration!

Then I wiped the rims off, put the lids on and processed in a hot water canner for 15 minutes.

Bri with the fruits of her labor, both kids were super patient, listened well, and no kids were injured! Kelly did good too! =0)

*PS: I don't advocate dog hugging, especially kids hugging dogs. No strangers hug my dogs and please don't you try to hug them, even if you're not a stranger =0) BUT Bear does love a side hug, tolerates kids very well, and knows Brianna and loves her.

I repeat, no randomly hugging the rottweilers.

;0)

marriage, no rings

2010-10-20T21:13:00.000-04:00

Well after my anniversary post, and even before really, I've had people ask about Aaron and I not wearing wedding rings. So here's the answer....

When we first got engaged we talked about rings, and what they meant to us. We both decided they were more about letting other people know we were married, and (to some people) showing off how much money we might be willing to spend, than about how much we love each other.... so, we decided we didn't want rings. There are a few other reasons we decided against rings.......

-we both knew we were married, and didn't need a visual reminder.

-we both knew all the same people and mostly didn't want to advertise that we'd gotten married. We were in the Marines, in the same unit, and it was very possible that they would move me somewhere else if us being married became an issue..... so we were DISCREET...well as discreet as I know how to be..

-I think we both looked at rings as a leash and neither of us felt we needed one.

-we knew that fancy jewelry doesn't make a good marriage.

-neither of us wore jewelry, partly for safety reasons.

BUT, when I was sent to Japan for a year, a little over a year into our marriage, we decided leashes might not be a bad idea. Mostly because it would be easier for me, wearing a ring is alot easier than saying a million times, "go away jackass I'm married.".

So off we went to JCPenney.. haha yes... you read that right....and we bought two very simple rings.... for a total of $160! I knew I'd probably destroy / lose a ring so there wasn't much sense in buying a fancy ring. I wore my ring, when it wasn't so hot that my fingers swelled, and he wore his when it didn't fall off or get in his way... and when the year was up and we were living together again, we figured we might as well keep on wearing them since we bought them.

That lasted all of a year or two....then Aaron's kept falling off and getting caught, so he stopped wearing his and put it away. A couple years later mine kept pinching my finger and it itched when it got wet so I took it off and put it with Aarons. They sit now, happily tied together with a twist tie, in my mostly empty jewelry box.

And we walk around leashless, and it works for us. =0)

Maybe one day I'll develop an affinity for jewelry and we'll get fancy rings, but that's not where we are right now.

What does a ring mean to you and your spouse?

Making Horse Chestnut Soap

2010-10-19T15:22:00.002-04:00

So I like to experiment with things. This year I've been trying out different wild foods. Some have been pretty successful, and others were an absolute bust.

Here's another experiment...

My neighbors have this huge Horse Chestnut tree, and this year it's dropped a TON of nuts. It seems like such a waste. Now these nuts aren't edible, they contain the saponin aescin and also tannin, both of them would give you a pretty nasty case of the "green apple trots", or worse, for toddlers could be fatal.

I've read that Horse Chestnuts can be used to make a soap, that's not lye-based, to use on linens. Supposedly it whitens and brightens them. Really?!

So here goes...... gather some inedible horse chestnuts.....

They're kind of pretty, some folks use them in decorating, in wreaths and such. I'm not a big decorator, so I'll make soap.....

I needed to crack this thing to get at the nut meat, so I tried a potato masher...

No luck

...maybe my meat smasher flattener mallet thingy..

Nope still fine...

Out comes the hammer, the trick was holding it still without hitting my fingers, which I eventually accomplished.

Peel the nuts

Slice meat into boiling water

Let sit in boiling water for 10 minutes or so.

Ok now I have boiling soap water, that I have to say looked and felt like it was not going to work, and smelled like potatoes. I was pretty sure I'd wasted my time at this point. Well except for the hitting the nuts with a hammer, that was fun.

Now for the experiment. I took one of my linen towels and dropped wine on them (ps this was a bad idea, I love this towel, I should have used a towel I didn't like).

Then I soaked one side in the horse chestnut soap, the other side I washed with woolite.

Here's the result, can you see that the horse chestnut soap side is better?

I was amazed actually, really surprised!

Then I washed the whole thing in horse chestnut soap to get the stain out of the woolite side too. Once it was dry the linen towel was pretty as ever, but stiff, like I'd starched it (which I guess I technically did, right?).

So the verdict is:

On new stains it works better than woolite, smells like potatoes, and starches your linen. Is a little bit of a pain to make, and not sure how I'd store it. Also I've no idea if it'd work on old stains.... an experiment for next time I suppose. Overall, if I had some stained linens that I loved and wanted to resurrect without using harsh chemicals, I'd make it again.

Newly knitted and work in progress

2010-10-18T21:56:00.000-04:00

I loooove knitting socks, I just do, and I like wearing them too! So for all you knitted sock lovers, here's a fix!

Aaron's socks

I loved these sugary pink ones, but they weren't easy!

A client ordered these, but I night just make a pair for me, they're so pretty.

And these are the socks I'm working on now. Wool knee highs for someone's birthday. As soon as i finish these, I'm making a pair for me, I loooove these!

If you'd like your own socks, or socks to give as a gift, check out our website:

Crocus Hill Farm

Why I protest Ringling Brother's Circus

2010-10-13T23:14:00.003-04:00

Last Thursday I protested the circus in Worcester, MA. I don't protest often, and I wouldn't say I'm an animal rights activist, or a PeTA supporter. I crate my dogs, I eat meat and so do the dogs, I've hunted and I think responsible hunting still has a place. I love animals and I believe that they deserve to be treated respectfully and humanely.
Having said all that, there are really 2 reasons that I protested yesterday....

1. Many circus elephants have been exposed to and are possibly infected with M. tuberculosis, which can be transmitted from elephants to humans and vice versa. Ringling does not remove infected elephants from shows, and does not warn circus-goers about the potential risks.

2. Ringling has a number of violations from the USDA, for violating the Animal Welfare Act. These violations range from failure to provide proper medical care to the death of a tiger from heatstroke.

Let me say, I have gone to the circus, and enjoyed the circus, I have brought many family members to the circus, BUT that was before I saw the following video.

After seeing this video, I just could not ever give Ringling anymore money.

Now while I oppose animals in circuses, I don't agree with all of the assertions made by animal rights activists. More importantly I don't agree with some of their tactics. Attacking people, yelling, getting in their face, targeting young children, none of these actions are most effective at changing people's minds and some are reprehensible. Many people just don't know, they need to be educated and they are far more likely to listen to and be educated by calm reason and logic. It's important that people don't dismiss the message because of poor delivery. I'm not interested in scarring some little poor kid and making them feel awful. I'm interested in getting more and more people to boycott the circus.

So I organized my own protest, with like minded people. We made our own signs, telling people about the violations and the possible dangers of tuberculosis. We respectfully protested and had a few people come talk to us. We didn't yell at people, or chant, we stood and held our signs. We answered questions for those who asked, and we generally had a great time. We had very few rude comments, which we ignored; most people were either supportive, or they ignored us, a couple people pledged to never return to a Ringling circus. I have to say it was the most fun I've ever had at a protest, and I believe the respect we received was a reflection of the respect we gave.

I'll be protesting Ringling Brothers again in Springfield, MA on October 14, 2010. I'll be bringing my own signs, and my respectful attitude. =0)

making crabapple sauce

2010-10-05T23:36:00.000-04:00

OR......... how to waste a few hours..................

Everytime we walk the dogs we walk by this really neat crabapple tree, and for the past 2 years I've been thinking about trying to make crabapple sauce.

So this year, we finally tried it.

We picked the crabapples, washed them, cut out the bad spots and put them in our dutch oven with a little bit of water so they didn't scorch. Cooked them, covered, until soft.

Don't they look pretty? They smelled good too.

Once they were soft enough I used my ricer to mush 'em up good.

PS...hot apple mush burns....

Then back in the dutch oven they went, and I cooked it down to a good consistency, and added my sugar. It tasted pretty sour and bitter, so I added more sugar, and more, and more, and more..... pretty much I added more sugar than apples....... nothing helped, it tasted awful, so it all went in the garbage! YUCK

The only good thing was, this was a test batch so I didn't pick a ton.

So.... I discovered those crabapples up the road, are not so good for applesauce....

Hiking the Midstate Trail Day 4- update on VFF's

2010-09-28T21:04:00.002-04:00

After sitting on our butts most of yesterday, drying out everything, and sleeping in our warm dry bed, we figured out 2 things.

We are glad we live inside, in a house, because it sucks to be outside in rain, or lots of sun, or cold.....
We still have quite a few days of vacation left and we're feeling pretty good.

So, we decided we'd do a little hiking today, despite the rain, because hiking in the rain is totally different when you know you'll be home in a couple hours, in dry clothes and shoes.

We kept going where we left off, except we skipped Crow Hill and Mt. Wachusett. We'll return to those 2 later.

Today was a nice short section of trail, about 4 miles, mostly on roads.

It was pretty boring at first, and mostly looked like the pic above.

It drizzled a little but mostly we stayed dry. We found a good spot and had lunch about halfway through.

I love Aaron's face, I told him to smile so he made a goofy face.

I realized I haven't said anything about how my five finger shoes faired on our hike. So here goes:

I wore mine about 75% of our 22 miles. My boots felt like concrete blocks, and the only time I got a hot spot was with my hiking boots on. Overall I really liked the Vibram five fingers (VFF), BUT they did slow me down on certain types of trails.

This type of trail SUCKS with the VFF shoes. The big rocks aren't big enough to put your whole foot on, but not small enough to not hurt. A couple of these in your arch and you feel it.

Trails like this, however, are AWESOME. I could maneuver around the smaller rocks and had no problems at all. The best solution for me ended up being: hanging my boots from my pack, with a pair of socks shoved in them. That way I could easily change shoes if the trail got too rocky.

We saw about 6 of these little guys! I had to look him up when I got home.

He's an Eastern Newt (Notophthalmus viridescens) in the "red eft" stage.

And this gorgeous tree in full fall color. I'm pretty sure it's a sugar maple.

A little after it started raining we made it back to the trusty beater truck, patiently waiting. We drove back to our other car, and both agreed that day hikes are way better than long wet through hikes.

Hiking the Midstate Trail DAY 3

2010-09-27T16:52:00.002-04:00

6:30a.m.-still raining

Good Morning!

SARAH:"Honey, go get the food out of the tree, please."

AARON: "No, you."

SARAH: "No, you go, I'm cold and wet, and the food's probably soaked, and getting wetter, we have to dry it out before we put it back in your pack. Plus don't you have to pee?"

AARON: " Fine"

The picture's blurry from me shivering....LOL

This is me, in the tent.... which was mostly dry, except for the corner where my head and shoulders were.

We both got back in and debated what to do, then we heard some jingling and felt a couple bumps on the outside of our tent. Seconds later there were 2 happy, wet, and muddy German Shephards in the opening of our tent, ready to come in and cuddle. The owner showed up and grabbed them by the collars just before they ran in. I was debating whether or not I'd mind. I kind of missed my dogs, and I was cold, so.... lol. We chatted a little bit, and asked her about the forecast. When she told us rain all day today and tonight, and some tomorrow, we pretty much knew we were done.

Still we ate breakfast, packed up all our wet stuff, getting more wet in the process. We talked about our planned route for the day, which included Crow Hill and Mt. Wachusett, both of which are steep, and slippery when wet.

We figured

wet rocks + heavy packs + tired legs = injury

So we called Kelly, asked her to come get us, and started hiking the mile or so out to our pickup spot.

Aaron, wet, cold, and not happy.

yep, he's flipping me off. =0)

That's what I call a happy camper.

The rescue vehicle, complete with HOT coffee, Kelly we love you!

Midstate Trail = 1 Sarah and Aaron = 0

To be continued......

p.s. we ordered a pizza when we got home, and wings.....

Hiking the Midstate Trail DAY 2

2010-09-27T16:51:00.002-04:00

7:30 a.m.

We got up and said hi to the Boy Scouts, stretched, made breakfast, washed up, packed up, and filtered water. By that time the Boy Scouts were gone, and I have to say they left the shelter spic and span! Now that it was daylight we could appreciate the beauty. This is a gorgeous place that I am sure we'll return to.

Our Good Morning view of Muddy Pond, which was not very muddy at all.

We were feeling a little stiff but ok. I was ready for more, we planned to get to Crow Hill by tonight, so we powdered our butts, and set off about 8:45 a.m.

The first 3 miles were cake, nice and flat and we both warmed up our muscles and were feeling better, a little sore but ok.

We went through some really pretty areas, including the backside of this farm.

And then we hit some hills, which caused some sweating, which exacerbated some problems we were having, namely Aaron's chafing, but also the failure of my legs to do as they were told.

Here's his rendition of the situation:

There are no more pics after this, we were a little too worn out, although we did keep laughing, and entertained ourselves. I remember this little gem.

SARAH: "When we feet, my stop hurt."

AARON: "What?"

SARAH: "Whatever, you know, the, well, my... it hurts, my feet I mean, when we stop."

AARON: "Was that English?"

We kept going, and chatted to keep our minds off our feet. Eventually we started talking about food.

AARON: "You know, I've wanted pizza since you mentioned it last night."
SARAH: "mmm, sounds good, we'll have to get some when we get home."

AARON: "yep and wings, and a cold beer... pizza, wings, and beer.."

SARAH: " yeah and water that doesn't taste like lake..."

AARON: " haha, yep, listen to us, we sound like castaways, we've been in the woods for a day and a half, we're soft."

We stopped at about 6.5 miles for lunch at the side of Rt. 2A. We were sitting on the side of Round Meadow Pond filtering water and eating Ramen Noodles like hobos. We were laughing and joking about taking off our shoes, eating lunch, and filtering lake water on the side of the road. I laughed and somehow breathed in a noodle. I swore I aspirated it. A few minutes later I blew a snot rocket, and out flew a piece of ramen noodle, ha there it was! I laughed so hard, and then...... well then it turned into crying, like sobbing really. It was not my best moment. I was feeling a little embarassed about crying, and Aaron confided, he'd cried a little too, about his ass, and then I felt better.

I love him.

He asked if I was ready to go home yet, I said no, and we kept on going...

...until it started sprinkling.

Then we found a nice grassy spot off the trail at about 8 miles, pitched our tent, set up the tarp, took a little nap, made supper, and hung our bag of food in a tree.

It was about 7pm, and neither of us could sleep. So we laid there, listening to light pitter patter of the rain on the tarp, and talked.

AARON: "I can't sleep, I keep thinking about tomorrow"

SARAH: " Don't think about it, just rest, we'll decide what to do in the morning."

AARON: "I just don't want one of us to get hurt. That's how you know I'm old, I never used to think about that stuff."

SARAH: "We're not hurt, we're just bruised and sore, we'll be fine, go to sleep, and we'll see how we feel in the morning."

AARON: "I love you, I couldn't think of anyone else I could do this with."

SARAH: "awww, love you too, ~~let's go home NOW~~" haha ok I didn't say that last part, but I should have. =0)

Eventually we fell asleep, and sometime during the night the pitter patter of rain turned into huge drops that woke me up because they were so heavy and loud. I also noticed at some point that I'd gotten wet from some leaky drippy part of the tent. This was one of the most miserable, uncomfortable nights I have ever spent. Sleeping in a hole in the ground was better than this.

Hiking the Midstate Trail DAY 1

2010-09-27T16:32:00.002-04:00

Aaron has wanted to go on a long overnight hiking trip for a few years, and with our vacations coming up, we decided to hike the Midstate Trail. It's about 92 miles North-South, through the center of Massachusetts.

We've been getting ready for this trip for a few weeks and we're super excited!!

Dad picked us up a 7:30 am and drove us up to Ashburnham to the parking lot of Mt. Watatic and off we went, starting at about 9am. Our goal was to get to the shelter at Muddy Pond in Westminster by night fall, which is about 9 miles from the parking lot where Dad dropped us off. BUT we wanted to start right at the beginning of the trail, which is the N.H./MA. state line. Sooooo....

We hiked up Mt. Watatic, which was steeeeep! With our packs (mine 50 lbs with water, his 60 lbs with water), which we considered ditching in the parking lot, but figured it'd be cheating.

This is the beginning of our hike.........

And 1.5 miles from the parking lot we found the state line.

We then took an almost 2 mile long detour to try and find the actual "granite monument" with no luck. So back over to Mt. Watatic we go, and then down to the parking lot we started at with 5 miles under our belts, and 9 more miles to go until we get to the shelter. No pics of the summit because it was so hazy.

Us at the state line.

We climbed up Fisher Hill, which was higher than Mt. Watatic, at 1548ft. It was an easier hike, a much more gradual incline. We saw a creepy potential serial killer. He was hiking in the middle of the woods with no water, no day pack, just a cell phone, and bad hiking shoes. So we postulated that he was A. an idiot,

B. a serial killer, or C. a super hiker who didn't need a day pack and water. Aaron says maybe a combo of the 3, guess we'll never know.

This was taken going down Fisher Hill, and starting up Blueberry Hill.

Still having fun almost 7 miles in.

RESTING. =0)

And then... after Fisher Hill and Blueberry Hill, there was Mount Hunger, or as I renamed it; Mt "I have a splitting headache" or "fuck you, up", which is what I said every time we went up AGAIN.

This is the top of Mount Hunger, yep 2 mountains, one big ass hill in one day, starting to get tired here, at a little over 9 miles and still have almost 5 miles to go.

It was a beautiful view, the water in the back is Stodge Meadow Pond.

We kept going, and going, and going. At one point we stopped to pee, and I took off my pack and almost fell over. I was so used to leaning forward that it made me dizzy to stand up straight. It got dark, we put on our headlamps and we kept going. I smelled pizza and campfires, I swear I did. The next time I caught up to Aaron I mentioned it to him, and he decided he wanted some pizza, lol. We hiked in the dark for about an hour, a few times we considered stopping, but it was dark and the underbrush was pretty heavy, plus we were hoping to sleep in the shelter, so we wouldn't have to set up a tent.

I kept hearing voices in the woods, but I figured a. they were carrying from someone's house or b. I was hallucinating, so I ignored it. When we finally got the shelter at about 8pm, 11 hours after we started, I realized why I heard voices and smelled campfires. There was a group of Boy Scouts camped at the shelter. It made me feel loads better to know I wasn't hallucinating, except there was no pizza, so that .... well who knows. The Boy Scouts, however, were a little weirded out by the two lights coming out of the woods.

We went and said hi, and dropped our packs. We set up the tent, made supper, and went to bed. I was exhausted, and my feet throbbed, but overall I felt ok. We'd gone about 14 miles, but I knew we were going to have to revise our itinerary. We had a 16 mile day planned for day 2 and I didn't think there'd be enough daylight to do it all in. Aaron declared he'd not be hiking in the dark anymore. So I suggested we try and make it a 14 mile day, Aaron suggested we go home. He went to sleep, I plotted a new route, and tried to sleep, but my feet hurt, so it took awhile.

Harvesting and making elderberry jelly

2010-09-24T11:02:00.003-04:00

"Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries."

Monty Python and the Holy Grail

A few weeks ago, while walking the beasties, I saw some bushes loaded with berries that I suspected were elderberries. So I did some research, consulted with all my books, and a few folks I know and these are indeed Elderberries (Sambucus Canadensis).

Note: Be careful when foraging. Make sure you have correctly identified what you are picking. Elderberries do have some poisonous look alikes. Some people confuse them with poke berries which are poisonous, and there's a red variety of elderberries that aren't edible. Also the leaves and stems of the elderberry are poisonous.

I'd recommend buying a few books or even taking a class with a wild edible food expert.

Now Aaron had his doubts about making jelly out of berries we picked on the side of the road (or "crazy berries" as he called them). So I "correctly" labeled a couple jars just for him.

This is an elderberry, tiny aren't they?

So, once you have correctly identified plants, it's time to pick berries. Make sure you get ripe berries, not green (green makes you sick). Don't bother picking individual berries, just pop off the whole cluster at the joint. (gather about 3-4 pounds) Gather the rest of your ingredients.

4 1/2 C sugar
1/4C lemon juice
1 packet of pectin

Gently rinse. Take the berries off the stems, this is a little time consuming, but I found the best method was to pick off and discard any undesirable berries (these were a little late so some clusters had little "raisins" and some wrinkly berries). Once those berries are off, then hold the cluster upside down and rake your thumb over the berries.

Then I rinsed the berries about 3 times, twice letting debris float to the top and pouring it out with the water.

Next mash the berries in a saucepot over medium heat. While it comes to a boil keep mashing to release the juices. When it reaches a boil, lower heat and simmer for 10 minutes.

Then place berries in a jelly strainer, or a fine sieve would work, maybe even a few layers of cheesecloth. Let it strain out for a few hours. In the meantime you can prepare your canning jars. I used about 10-12 4oz jelly jars.

Measure about 3C of elderberry juice into a saucepot (use a big one this stuff foams up). (I found I got about 1C juice from each pound of berries) Stir in lemon juice and pectin.

Bring to a boil. Add sugar. Stir with a wooden spoon (this will stain your spoon purple, be ready)

Bring to a boil again, stirring continuously. Once it reaches a rolling boil that doesn't diminish when you stir, start timing. At 2 minutes remove from heat and ladle into hot jars, leaving 1/4 inch of headspace.

Wipe rims of jars, position 2 piece lids.

Process in a water canner for 15 minutes.

Remove and let cool. Listen for the pop that means the jars have successfully sealed.

Enjoy your jelly!!! It tastes a little like grape, but with a wilder flavor.

How to make peach pie filling

2010-09-22T09:13:00.001-04:00

I loove peaches and peach pie, and I was tired of canning. So, I searched through my trusty, wrinkled, and stained copy of the Blue Balls Book of Canning, or whatever it's called, and found this recipe for peach pie filling that you FREEZE.

Here goes

Gather ingredients. (which I did first this time.)

6 pounds peaches
1 lemon (for 2t of peel and 1/4C juice)
2 1/4Csugar
1/2C flour
1t cinnamon
1/2t nutmeg

Wash peaches and blanch them in boiling water. This makes it MUCH easier to peel.

Peel and pit them, and cut into slices. Now the book says "treat to prevent darkening", I sprinkled lemon juice on them, but they probably meant their "fruit Fresh produce protector". Whatever, lemon juice worked for me.

Combine sugar, flour, and spices.

Rinse and drain peaches. Stir into sugar mixture. Let stand 30 minutes or until juices begin to flow. LEMON!!

Stir in lemon peel and juice.

Cook over medium heat until it begins to thicken. That took about 10 minutes.

Ladle hot mix into freezer jars, let cool off for no more than 2 hours. FREEZE This was easy peasy lemon squeezy (lol, get it?)

AND

Shop at Klem's!

How to make Dill Relish

2010-09-20T21:45:00.000-04:00

Please note this recipe is from the Ball Blue Book of Preserving.

Gather ingredients:

8lbs pickling cukes
1/2C salt
2t turmeric
1qt water
1lb yellow onions
1/3C sugar
2T dill seed
1qt white wine vinegar

Wash cukes, drain, chop in food processor.

Place cukes in bowl (not a white bowl like I did, because turmeric stains it yellow), sprinkle on salt and turmeric. Pour water over top and let sit for 2 hours.

Curse and drive to store because you didn't listen to the advice at the beginning (gather ingredients), and you've now discovered you only have a cup of vinegar and no dill seeds. =0)

Peel and finely chop onions. Drain cukes, rinse, drain again. Combine vinegar, dill seeds, onions, cucumber mush, and sugar in large saucepot.

Notice my bee-u-tee-full glass saucepot in the pic below?! I got a whole box of 'em at a yard sale for $12!! No aluminum, no teflon, just glass, and very breakable.

Anywho back to relish, bring it to a boil, reduce heat and simmer 10 minutes.

In the meantime prepare your jars and lids, plus make sure your water canner is close to boiling.

Ladle hot relish into hot jars, leave 1/4 inch headspace, and remove air bubbles. Process for 15 minutes.

Then you get this!!!! A very nice dill-y relish that people seem to love.

TV's baaaaack.......

2010-09-20T21:02:00.003-04:00

So for the fall and winter we decided to get TV back. It started again today. It's been about 3 months without it and though the first couple days were rough, I have to say I miss not having it already. It's an awful waste of time. We've gotten a whole lot more done without it. We started eating at the kitchen table, going for walks, and reading in bed instead of watching TV. I didn't feel like we were missing much. I still got the news by listening to NPR and reading the paper online. I even still heard that Lindsay Lohan was in jail, and Randy Moss is a big baby. It's amazing what filters its way in even without TV, or looking for it. I think getting rid of cable for the late Spring and Summer will be a tradition for us.

I did miss the History channel, and Aaron missed Sons of Anarchy. Hopefully we'll watch less TV even now that we have it back....

Overall it's something I'd totally do again.

Update: It's been about a week since we've had TV back and we've barely watched it, maybe 2 hours total, where before it was sometimes more than 2 hours a day. It's just not part of our day anymore, it seems like we've broken our TV habit, and I really like it.

How to: Seasoned Tomato Sauce

2010-09-13T22:05:00.002-04:00

Please note this recipe is from the ~~Blue Ball~~ Ball Blue Book of Preserving.

Comments and snarkiness are all me!

Ingredients:

45 pounds tomatoes
6C chopped onions
12 cloves garlic, minced
1/2C olive oil
2T oregano
6 bay leaves
1T black pepper
1 1/2T sugar
PATIENCE
1/4C salt
bottled lemon juice

Saute onions and garlic in olive oil in large saucepan.

Looks good right? Smells good too!

Now here's the ~~bitch~~ fun, remove core and blossom ends of 45 pounds of tomatoes then quarter them, this is a lot of work, and MESSY!

Then add the tomatoes,oregano, bay leaves, black pepper, salt, and sugar.
Simmer for 20 minutes, uncovered, stirring occasionally.

Remove bay leaves and puree using a food processor. Now if you're lucky like me, the nice hot liquid tomato juice will pour down the side of the food processor and run all over your counter and floor before you notice. Be prepared for a mess!

Then strain puree to remove seeds and peels. I used a fine mesh strainer, which did not work well at all. I also tried cheesecloth, that sucked too, then I tried my spaghetti colander which worked ok but let in lots of seeds and peels. At this point I did not care, so I proceeded with the strainer and seeds and peels.....

Cook the pulp, uncovered, on med-high heat until sauce thickens. Stir occasionally to prevent sticking. Reduce volume by half (this part took about 6 hours).

In the meantime, clean up your kitchen (this could take awhile), and prepare your canning jars.

Place 2T lemon juice into each quart jar. Funnel sauce into jars leaving 1/2 inch headspace. Adjust caps. Process quarts for 40 minutes in boiling-water canner.

And then proceed to promise yourself that you'll never make sauce again when you realize all that work and mess made 9 jars of sauce!!

Although, it does taste pretty good....

How To: No-Can half sour refrigerator pickles

2010-09-13T19:52:00.004-04:00

Anyone who has lived with me knows I LOOOOVE pickles, I mean love them, like could eat a whole jar of pickles, like my fridge is rarely out of pickles. My first memory of awesome pickles, is eating some of Gramma's home made canned pickles. I've been chasing that taste ever since, but canning pickles is a pain, so I like to make these No-Can half sour refrigerator pickles. They are so easy and taste nearly as good.

Now the key, as I see it, to good pickles, is good pickling cucumbers. They should be pretty uniformly green and ripe, not over ripe(bloated and yellowish with few warts is over ripe), firm, and mostly free of defects.

First gather your ingredients.

Large Jar (I use an old gallon pickle jar)-which has been sterilized (you can run it through the dishwasher, OR you can immerse it in boiling water for 15 minutes)
Pickling cucumbers roughly 3-4 pounds, but it's hard to say because I eat alot of the cukes on the way home....
1 grape leaf (if you can't find one it's ok, but it does help keep them crunchy. I found mine growing wild at the beach in RI. If you pick 'em wild make sure you are sure about what you're picking!)
1 piece rye bread with seeds
1 onion
5-6 cloves garlic peeled
dill (some use heads, I prefer sprigs, but whatever you have works)
1/4C canning salt
1C white vinegar
2 qts. water

Heat the water, vinegar, and salt until the salt is dissolved. Let the liquid cool.

In the meantime wash all the ingredients.

Peel and quarter the onions.

Place the onions, grape leaf (well washed), garlic cloves, and a handful of dill sprigs on the bottom of the jar.

Then wash and quarter your cucumbers, and pack them straight up and down in the jar.

Whatever doesn't fit, I eat!!!

On top of the pickles add more sprigs of dill and the piece of rye bread.

Then pour the now cooled liquid over the pickles. Go slowly.

Put the lid on and set the pickles aside, out of direct sunlight, for 2 days and then refrigerate.

At that time I remove the rye bread.

Then eat, they are best at 1 week, but who can wait that long?! They won't keep forever, but these don't last long around here.

How to preserve butter and sugar corn:

2010-09-04T22:18:00.003-04:00

We love butter and sugar corn. It's just about the best part of late New England summers. It's tasty and messy and I could eat it every day.

......and if you freeze it you can eat it in the winter too!

So I bought 3 dozen ears of corn, husked, and rinsed them all. Then I cut off any funky ends.

Immersed them in boiling water for 3 minutes. (this is called blanching I'm told) =0P

And once the timer went off I quickly put them into a big bowl of ice water to stop the cooking process.

Then I packed them all tightly into large freezer bags. About 8 ears to a bag. The next step is important. I close the bag up except for a teeny slit and insert a straw, then I suck out all the air, quickly remove the straw and completely seal the bag.

The top bag has had the air sucked out, the others haven't and you can see the difference. This helps eliminate freezer burn and the corn lasts longer.

How to make and can SALSA

2010-09-01T21:49:00.000-04:00

Here's the recipe! Go to it! Notice all the crossing out and additions? That just makes the recipe better!!!=0) Note I use TWO jalapenos not SIX, because Aaron can't take the spiciness. I also leave out the chilies, the red pepper flakes, and add a little lime juice. Instead of pureeing the chiles I puree the jalapenos, that way you don't get any really HOT bites. Now if you have never canned before, well go read this first. It has a little intro on canning.

I love clinatro!! I hate peeling seeding and dicing tomatoes, so Aaron did it.

Here's everything all mixed and in the pan. I tasted it a few times and it was like the best pico de gallo EVER!!

And here it is..... a while later we have our finished product. Seven teeny jars of salsa, but it's worth it!

How to make rose hip oil

2010-09-01T21:13:00.002-04:00

Well it's a little early for harvesting rose hips, usually they are best (especially for tea) right after the first frost. However, we've spent quite a few August weekends down in Rhode Island at a beautiful beach in the Narragansett Bay. They have wonderful beach roses (rosa rugosa), and I felt the urge to make some rose hip oil. It's great for scars and moisturizing super dry skin.

If you want to make your own, here's the recipe. Make small batches because this stuff does have a shelf life.
First pick your rose hips, then wash them thoroughly.

Then cut off both ends and place rose hips into a jar, then pour in your carrier oil. In this case I chose sweet almond oil for it's pleasant mild aroma and lightness. You could use safflower oil, grapeseed oil or any other light oil. I wouldn't recommend using olive oil.

Let sit in a warm darkish place for about 2 days. You can cover it with a towel to keep it dark if you need to.

After 2 days put the oil and hips into your crockpot and let simmer on low, uncovered for about 10-12 hours.

When your oil is done strain out the rose hips. Squeeze them well to get the oil out. (be careful they are likely HOT!!!)

Then pour the strained oil back into the original jar or whatever container you like. Glass is best, and the darker the better, but you can always use what you have. Date and label and keep in a dark cool place. It will last for about 6-8 months before it goes stagnant.

busy end of summer = few postings

2010-08-25T22:25:00.000-04:00

We have been BUSY. The last few weekends we've gone down to Rhode Island and dug clams and quahogs much. Lots of fun and loving the five finger shoes as water shoes/beach shoes.
Plus putting away lots and lots of produce. Most donated from friends' and families' gardens, but some purchased at local places.

I have a bunch of posts that I'm getting ready. Some good recipes for salsa, and tomato sauce, and of course some pictures. Just wanted you to know there's good stuff coming. =0)

We're looking forward to fall time, our upcoming vacation, and apple season!!!!

Healthier, happier me, and a new gadget

2010-08-19T15:53:00.001-04:00

so.... as usual I am hoping to lose some weight. There have been many efforts over the years, for a variety of reasons. Sometimes I've been wildly successful other times, NOT so much. Since my diagnosis of Hashimoto's thyroiditis and starting on levothyroxine I had hoped that losing weight would just happen, the thyroid meds would just make the weight come off, haha that was kind of silly.

So here we go again, but in a different way for a good reason. The plan is to do SOMETHING, any exercise for 40 minutes a day, could be dog walking, gardening, lawn mowing, jogging, tennis, anything! the reason is because I want to feel better. So far (knock on wood) I'm healthy, no high BP,good cholesterol, no diabetes, no health problems, nada. I want to keep it that way so here goes.

And this time I am enlisting help. Looking for encouragement from all my online and in real life friends. To help you keep up with my progress I've included a cute new gadget on the bottom of my page.

Check it out, and keep fingers crossed that it keeps showing losses.

love, poem

2010-08-11T22:09:00.003-04:00

In Us All

In a world full of wonder

In a sleep full of dreams

In a heart full of laughter

In us all, it would seem

In the awe of a rainbow

In the clouds floating by

In soft ocean breezes

In us all, you and I

In the song of a sparrow

As it welcomes the sun

In the mist of the morning

In us all, everyone

In the Earth beneath us

In the heavens above

At the core of our being

In us all, there is love.

~Dan Coppersmith

Portabella Burgers

2010-08-04T20:10:00.002-04:00

Tonight we had Portabella mushroom burgers. They are so good and so easy! They have lots of niacin, potassium, and selenium, and only about 30 calories per mushroom. Here's my recipe so you can have some too. I swear even Aaron says they taste like burgers.

Ingredients:
4 Portabella mushrooms
1/2 onion minced
2 cloves garlic minced
2 T. canola oil
1/4c. balsamic vinegar

Wash and de-stem mushrooms

Mince onions and garlic

(note: I am a sucky mincer...it's ok. also, I like garlic ALOT, maybe you might want to use just one clove)

Mix water, oil, & vinegar thoroughly and then add onion and garlic.

Flip Mushrooms and pour mixture into gills. Then grill the mushrooms cap side down, don't flip them over.

Put on bun, add what you want, and eat like a burger! If you're lucky you'll find some good local corn. (from Petruzzi's in East Brookfield, in our case)

Vera Hall.........life..... and my job

2010-07-30T21:47:00.005-04:00

Who is Vera Hall and what does she have to do with my life, or my job, for that matter?

First Vera Hall.... she's an American folk/blues singer, from Alabama. She was recorded in the 30's and 40's by John Lomax and her recordings are stored in the Library of Congress. She has a powerful beautiful voice. Check her out....

You may know her rendition of Trouble So Hard - Moby sampled in his song "Natural Blues".

When I hear her voice, I know she's seen alot, experienced alot of pain. I don't think she could sing like this without it. It's cathartic just listening to her sing.

So what does that have to do with life and my job? My job teaches me lessons about life, some I already know, some I need reminders of, some I could never have imagined. I make it a point to leave work at work, and remember that to care for others I have to care for me first.... but some lessons stick....

I learn...

that children die...

and are abused and neglected by people who are supposed to protect them....

homelessness does not discriminate, neither does tragedy...

addiction is a horrible thing, it doesn't discriminate either....

elderly people are left to die alone, or abused by those they once cared for...

people become homeless, and in the process lose all they have, this happens every day, many times....to people just like me and you...

sometimes people end their lives to avoid losing all they have...

people go hungry.... every day....

prostitution does have victims, talk to them, they'll tell you...

people relapse, and lie, and steal, and die...

you can't force anyone to help themselves, you can just stick around until they're ready.... which may be tomorrow....or it may be never...

sometimes there's no right answer....

sometimes there is no happy ending...

BUT ... I also learn...

about the amazing resiliency and tenacity of people....

and that love can thrive in unimaginable situations...

some people with almost nothing will share all that they have...

giving people the tools they need to help themselves, and watching them use those tools, is incredibly uplifting...it's a gift...

supporting people through whatever choices they make isn't easy, but it's important and appreciated...

anyone can recover....

just planting a seed can make a difference...

often listening to someone's story means more than telling them what to do...

a simple kindness can mean more than you'd guess...

a hug does wonders....

people deserve respect and dignity no matter their circumstances...

everyone has their own story and troubles.....

and there is always hope, even if it's a tiny glimmer...

so when it gets to me and the sad lessons seem too prevalent... I listen to Vera Hall and let out whatever it is that has crept in.....

and take some time off....

and thank the Universe for all of my blessings.

Religion-what I believe

2010-07-26T15:24:00.004-04:00

I have lots of friends and family, lucky me! Some are religious, some more spiritual, some agnostic, some atheist, but I love them all, and surprise, they love me too. Occasionally I've had people ask me what I believe, but we usually keep it light. I like to talk about things in a positive light, and I think there are so many things we have in common that it would be helpful to talk about it..... so for those of you burning to know, let's talk about what I DO believe in.

I do believe that love is wonderful and marvelous, it makes the world go round.
I do believe the more you give, the more you receive.
I do believe that things happen in such a magnificent way that it's hard for me to imagine that the Universe has no intent, no purpose.
I do believe religion can fulfill people, help them find purpose, and open their hearts.
I do believe in angels and guides.
I do believe in physics, and the law of conservation of energy-it can neither be created nor destroyed, so it only makes sense that the energy within us moves into another form when our physical bodies die.
I do believe that whatever higher power exists, it is everywhere, all around us, and in each of us.
I do believe positive thoughts attract positivity, as negative thoughts attract negativity.

If you were to put a label on it, I guess it would be called agnostic theism.....
I showed you mine, now it's your turn.....

What do you believe? Of course, let's keep it positive. I don't usually moderate comments, but in this case nastiness would ruin the intent of the post. So, you are warned, nastiness will be promptly deleted. =0)

More Hiking!!- Quabbin- Dana Center- Gate 40

2010-07-25T22:36:00.000-04:00

We hiked more of Quabbin today with my cousin, her husband, and children. We parked at gate 40 and hiked the 1 3/4 miles in to Dana Center. It's the town common of the old town of Dana, which is one of the 4 towns that was removed to make the Quabbin Reservoir in the 1930's. The houses were torn down or moved, and the cemeteries were emptied, but it's still evident that people once lived here. You can see a number of cellar holes, the roads are pretty much still paved, and the common is still clearly a common. It's beautiful, but knowing the history and how 2,500 people were forced out of the 4 towns, it's also a little sad.

Then we hiked another 3/4 mile down to the water to this neat spot and had our picnic lunch. The sun had disappeared and we had some clouds, but no rain!

Sam, me, Aaron, Meg (with Emma on her shoulders), & Andy

Then we started back

Meg needed a push! =0)

Andy doing all the work while we're messing around!

All in all we walked 5 miles, Sam rode his bike pretty much the whole way, what a trooper. Towards the end he was a little tired, but we all were. =0) I have to say I ended up with some sore feet and a blister right at the root of my big toe. The five finger shoes take some getting used to on hard roads, and 5 miles of it kicked my feet's butt.

But it was still a good day!!!

Hiking Mount Grace

2010-07-18T22:36:00.004-04:00

Yesterday, for our anniversary, we decided to hike Mount Grace. Mount Grace is in Warwick, MA and is part of the Mount Grace State Forest (over 1400 acres). Mount Grace is said to have gotten it's name from the daughter of Mary Rowlandson. They were captured during King Phillips War in 1676, and during their 11 weeks of captivity Mary's daughter Sarah (Grace) died. It's said that Sarah (Grace) was buried at the base of the mountain. Although from all reports I've read, Mary's daughter was named Sarah, so not sure where the Grace came from, at any rate....It's also part of the Metacomet-Monadnock (M&M) Trail- marked with white blazes.

It was a hot day, high 80's if not low 90's. We both carried day packs, Aaron's weighed 25 pounds and mine weight about 19. Most of that weight was water, but we also had our picnic lunch, first aid kit, camera, and our tripod. We started off planning to hike for about 4.5 miles, but we didn't go quite so far. We wore our five fingers shoes and again found them to be very pleasant on the trail!

The hike up to the summit of Mount Grace was listed as "moderately steep", but it really kicked my butt. When we were almost at the top the nice soft pine needle laden trail turned into a gravel access road, and that made for even slower going as I carefully placed my feet. Halfway through the last part of our hike to the summit we heard some singing behind us. It sounded like gospel music, in harmony, it was a little creepy at first.

Shortly we saw the source of the singing, it was these three fellows.

We stopped and chatted for a bit, it turns out that one of them was a chaplain in the Navy for 20 years, and he also marches in the North Brookfield Memorial Day Parade. (what a small world) They also asked about our five finger shoes and then they were off singing (in harmony), and frolicking (yes literally) the rest of the way to the summit.

We finally made it up maybe 25 minutes later, with no frolicking at all 'cuz I was BEAT. Sat down and had our lunch, then we took some pictures of the guys in the fire tower,and got to hear them sing while they were up there. They were really good and it was a nice addition to our picnic. This is an annual hike for them. One of them bikes from Colorado every year (not surpisingly, he was the one frolicking up to the summit) =0)

Then we went up to the fire tower ourselves and saw the wonderful view.

Mount Monadnock in the distance

Aaron and I on the 2nd landing of the firetower

Aaron at the top of the firetower with Mount Monadnock in the distance.

We hung out and chatted a little more, and then decided to got going back down to the car. We didn't do the other half of the trail as we intended because we were running out of time. I think our hike ended up being about 3 miles or so. Going downhill was much faster than up, probably because we practically ran down in order to make our dinner reservations for 6pm.

It was a great day, and a great hike, with wonderful people.

Today I don't feel sore at all, although the poison ivy I got from our last hike is ITCHY!!!!

8 Years of Marriage

2010-07-16T17:52:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow Aaron and I celebrate 8 years of marriage. It has been wonderful and challenging and more than I'd ever imagined, mostly it has been downright fun. I am so lucky to have married my best friend, someone that I love and LIKE. What better way to celebrate than to write and share some of our story? (Ok well I can think of better ways, but here goes anyway...) I guess I should warn you now, this might not be your normal love story, we didn't get where we are the traditional way. Nevertheless, I think it all happened just the way it was supposed to....

Aaron in his hotness... er ... uniform....

We met in the Marines while stationed at Cherry Point, NC. At the time, we were engaged to other people. We were both bulk fuelers (if you're wondering what that is, we pumped gas, good times), and we worked in the same shop. He thought I was bitchy when he first met me, I thought he was a jerk and of course, being me, I liked it! He called me Swampass (thanks Matt) and Dodge, and I saw him do slapnuts. We became friends, watched movies, I watched him play pool, and I think he tried to teach me to play. We wrestled and even though I thought I was bad ass, he pretty much always won. We bought sock-em-boppers and beat the crap out of each other in the barracks day room. That is, until he punched me in the kidneys so hard he popped 'em. No more sock'em boppers....

He listened to my bitching, as I tried to figure out my relationship with my fiancée. Eventually I decided I needed some space, and my fiancée told me I could have all the space I wanted, and dumped me. (That totally worked out) Shortly after that, Aaron broke up with his fiancée. I helped him return her engagement ring; I mean what are friends for, right? I stalked him, yeah I really did...like sitting outside my room "reading a book" just so I could see when he got back to his room (2 doors away). We worked, hung out, and sometimes I snuck in his room at night and slept over. I remember telling him it's as if we each had a different half of the same brain, we were so in tune with each other. (ha-ha did I mean we each only had half a brain?)

He came with me to get my stuff from my ex's place. We drove from North Carolina to Massachusetts to Buffalo, stopped in Canada, (he wanted to show me Niagara Falls and I wanted to say we left the country on a 72), and then drove back down to North Carolina.... in 3 days.Me at Niagara Falls...

I met some of his family, he met mine, and it was fun! Seriously, I had never ever had so much fun driving in a car. We talked about being exclusive and then he changed his mind about an hour later. We were working through it and trying to figure "us" out. This was a pretty awful time in my life, I struggled with a really nasty depression but Aaron (and my other friends) stuck with me.

I took lots of pics like these, of us on raod trips and driving around...

Eventually we decided to be exclusive, a couple, albeit as discreetly and secretly as possible, since we worked together and I didn't want to get sent across the street to work in the office, BORING. (Although, looking back through my journal I see I was ~~pissed~~ bothered that we were so secretive about it.) We drove around a lot, and talked about our past relationships, what went wrong, what we'd do differently, and what we wanted in the future. We talked about how we'd raise our kids if either of us had any, our money habits, our outstanding debts, our families, and everything else. We had some bumps and lumps to figure out, it wasn't all roses and candy ...actually it was never roses and candy, not really our thing. We both had issues and a history of fairly ~~suckish~~ ~~awful~~ unhealthy relationships.

Our days went like this: we'd get up, go to PT, work all day, go to chow, usually together, hang out at the barracks, and then I'd sneak in his room at bedtime, and share his twin bunk bed. His roommates were awesome about it, (thanks, I owe you guys).I only got caught once, by the duty staff NCO, luckily he didn't make a big deal and just yelled at me and sent me back to my room 2 doors away. Awkward much?

At some point Aaron mentioned he'd never ask another girl to marry him, they'd have to ask him. I'm not sure when I started asking him to marry me, but I do know I asked at least 50 times, seriously it was like this:

Sarah: "hey, Palmer, marry me"

Aaron:"no Dodge"

2 hours later....
Sarah:"wanna get married yet?"

Aaron:"umm no"

3 days later

Sarah: "Palmer, change your mind yet?"

Aaron:"not yet"

and on and on....

I do remember the day he finally ~~gave in~~ said yes!

I have the beach boys (no not THE Beach Boys), to thank for Aaron finally saying yes. We went to a party at their apartment in Atlantic Beach. It wasn't our scene really, neither of us was much of a drinker at that point, and we decided to leave early. On the drive back to our barracks, we had a chat:

Aaron:"Hey Dodge, you serious about that getting married thing?"

Sarah: "yeah, why?"

Aaron: "After that party... I just kind of realized... my partying life is over...”

Sarah: "yeah mine too, kind of depressing"

Aaron:"we might as well get married then"

Sarah:"are you serious?! Yessssssss (said like yessssss I just won the lottery)"

(side note: I don't think we used first names until right around when we got married....)

Aaron on our way to get married

I was all about it, we told our Gunny we were getting married, took leave, and 2 weeks later (before Aaron could change his mind) we were married. We drove 800 miles to Massachusetts, went before a judge to ask for a waiver of the 3-day waiting period for a marriage license (at which time, Aaron will tell you, I rudely told the Judge "we're in a big hurry"). We got married that day, in the gazebo on the Sturbridge common, witnessed by my dad and stepmom. It was July 17, 2002, about 13 months from the first day we met, I was 22 and he was 23. There was no glitz, no glamour, no fanfare, no rings, no name changes. The justice of the peace said it's the only ceremony she's done without rings, but it was just right for us. We had Chinese food afterwards and honeymooned at my Auntie Susan's place.

Wedding pictures... This one is my favorite! Aaron showing us how he feels after getting married,,,

This is Aaron's favorite, as you can tell we were appropriately serious for the occasion...

Some of the more normal wedding pictures...

Aaron the first night in our first apartment!

We drove back to Cherry Point and moved out of the barracks and into our first apartment. At work, it was Cpl Palmer and Cpl Decoteau, and we made ourselves some rules: No talking about work at home and no talking about home at work. We were able to continue to work in the same unit together until Aaron got out.

Over the years we have; lived in 2 separate countries, only seeing each other for 10 days in one year. We've bought 2 houses, sold one, lived in 3 states, had 10 jobs between us, and moved 7 times. We've gotten out of the Marines, gotten pregnant and had a miscarriage, adopted some dogs, and made many road trips. There have been a lot of changes and bumps, sad times and happy times, and through it all, we've grown up together and had lots of fun because we work at it, respect each other, argue politely (yes really), and make each other laugh.

I like to think we're good for each other, I KNOW he's good for me, and I try to be good for him. We complement each other well. Where I'm ready to run headlong into something, he slows me down. When he's hesitating, I encourage him to just do it! My optimism tempers his pessimism and vice versa. He's calm when I am frantic, and I'm confident when he's unsure. When I'm stubbornly unyielding, he helps me to find the right path. His unending patience inspires me! My love of life encourages him. He loves me unconditionally, no matter what, and I love him in the same way. I know I can always be me, and that he loves me for it. I can say that I love him more now than when we first married and I hope our love continues growing every day.

Happy Anniversary Aaron and thank you for helping me to become the incredibly happy woman that I am today.

Comments... to moderate them or not?

2010-07-12T15:18:00.001-04:00

I spend ~~alot of~~ some time reading blogs. Some blogs allow comments, some don't. Some bloggers moderate comments, others allow the conversation to flow how it will.

My personal philosophy here is to allow comments and not moderate them unless they are spam, or get to a point where they are simply harassment. I'm not talking about people disagreeing with me, or even calling me on my stuff. That's not harassment, it's discourse, it can promote growth and I think it should be encouraged.

Most of the blogs I read are about birth, food and/or politics and they almost all allow heated discussions. I have to say through those discussions I've learned alot. Three blogs I sometimes read are basically mommy bloggers, and it's about their lives, trials, and tribulations. One has never had comments, another had comments but recently shut them off, and this one continues to have comments, but does some minor moderating.

The one that doesn't allow comments is called the nienie dialogues. I've always wondered; why call it a dialogue if no comments are allowed? I then found another of Stephanie Nielson's blogs, called Nie and You, which was/ is essentially a photo blog. It did allow comments, and shortly people began posting comments about her main blog at the photo blog. Most of the comments were kind, some gushy, some disturbing in their desire to be "besties". A few commentors asked about Mormonism, and some questioned it's premises. Some commentors did make rather nasty comments about her and her kids. Others pointed out issues they saw, things regarding safety, and more personal issues like vanity and privilege... In the last couple days comments were closed on that blog. Stephanie has a sister, Courtney, who also blogs and has left her comments open, although she does some moderating. I have to say I don't read any of these three blogs anymore. I don't like not being able to comment, it's not an interaction anymore. It's just a monologue and that's not what I'm looking for...

So what I've been wondering is: What are others philosophies on blog comments? If the blogger puts it out there should people be able to comment on it? What's off limits? If they put only a part of an issue out there, is it ok for a commenter to try and pull the whole thing out into the open? Will you read a blog that doesn't allow comments?

Five Finger Shoes so far...couple runs and a hike through Quabbin

2010-07-11T22:58:00.003-04:00

Some things I noticed about the Five Finger Shoes right off the bat:

the soles are thicker than you might think
you can feel more than you'd imagine: grass, rocks (so be careful), and HOT asphalt (makes you walk fast)
I definitely don't feel barefoot, but I feel them much LESS than a shoe
my foot muscles are WORKING, so if you don't go barefoot much, wear these in small increments
people don't notice them as much as you'd suppose, OR it could be they all expect it from me. =0)

Today we took our five fingers on our first hike, starting at the Women's Federated Forest and into Quabbin Reservoir. It was supposed to be a quick 2 hour 4 mile hike. We each had day packs, mine 16 pounds, and Aaron's about the same. (mostly water) We've used 'em on a couple short runs, and have been wearing them daily. Here's what I've noticed so far:

running in them makes my calves SORE
do too much and your feet, knees, and back will be sore!
If the ground is wet and muddy, your feet will be wet, but my feet didn't get muddy at all
walking on trails is GREAT
going from trails to asphalt, makes your feet sore
I'm more careful about foot placement because small rocks and sticks can hurt.

This will happen if you walk through grass/weeds

Also, no ankle protection like hiking boots and socks would provide..

I also learned to get an updated trail guide; we had one that was 11 years old. We thought we'd be hiking on trails, so we wore shorts, and instead we ended up bushwhacking through some sharp grass and thorns to find some long gone trail. That is how our short 2 hour, 4 mile hike turned into: almost 4 hours, undetermined length, but felt ~~pretty damn far~~ much farther! But that's not the fault of the shoes. Good thing we can both read a map.

We also learned that deer flies in July ARE AWFUL!!

This was Aaron's solution and it seemed to work for him. Although, they went for his arms after. Overall we had a really enjoyable hike, even with the bushwhacking and flies. It was pretty and meditative and I love Quabbin Reservoir. Aaron even said this was worth not having TV. =0)

It was a good day!

five finger shoes OR hideous frog feet shoes

2010-07-05T20:29:00.004-04:00

Today Aaron and I drove out to Evans on the Common in Townsend, MA and bought our very own Vibram Five Finger Shoes . The lady at Evans was super nice and helpful with picking the right shoes and the right size. They are not sized like regular shoes so it's important to try them on before you buy them.

Aaron got the nice neutral black KSO,while I got the slate colored Sprint

If you like to be barefoot, but worry about sharp objects and hygiene check these out.

I know, they look kinda goofy, but who cares?

These shoes are supposedly just like being barefoot, but with some protection. Basically the idea is, our feet were made to be barefoot, and all of those pointy heeled shoes force our feet to be what they aren't. Which in turn can cause back, knee, and foot problems. I always think of it in terms of back braces. If you wear a back brace, the brace supports you and your muscles do less work and atrophy. The same thing happens in your feet. The shoes provide all the support and your muscles get weak.

We plan on slowly working our way into wearing these alot of the time, and Aaron wants to run in them. The Plan: take your time, do it slow, listen to your body.

I'll update when we've been wearing them for a bit, and let you know how it's going.

FYI this was all Aaron's idea..... I think he's coming to the crunchy side. =0)

Updated here and here

at some point about 2 months after buying them, the seam on my big toe gave out. It was a very simple fix with a needle and thread. Aarons however are going strong with no signs of wear.

No cable week 1

2010-07-03T19:22:00.001-04:00

Yesterday marked the end of our first week without cable.

Here's my synopsis of how it went.

Day 1-totally awesome, I love having no TV!
Day 2-sucks big hairy tennis balls, wicked bad idea to get rid of TV
Day 3- it's ok, I'm getting alot done
Day 4- eh, so far so good
Day 5- not a big deal, liking all the free time
Day 6- spent alot of time online and reading books
Day 7- what's TV?

At this point I am settled in to the idea of no TV. Maybe this winter we'll get it back, but for now it's working out pretty well.

So you are probably wondering what about my poor husband who has to suffer along with me.

Well Aaron's comment is "I don't miss it, but I also worked 60 hours last week. I do like that we're going to bed earlier, although I miss my stories" (what the hell does he mean by stories? LOL )

The House, The End

2010-07-02T18:45:00.001-04:00

The House project is officially dead. It breathed it's last breath this morning with the 2nd suggestion, from a contractor, that we "walk away".

We were approved by the bank yesterday, and have a committment letter with 3 pages of contingencies, which isn't a committment at all. They want to know where every deposit >$500 came from. They also want a letter of motivation saying why we want to move, etc... Those I can get easily.

Next hurdle was finding a new contractor. So I set up appointments with 2 new contractors. One for Thursday night and one for friday morning. We met with one contractor last night, small company, local, very nice guy, and we showed him the work write-up that the HUD consultant completed, and walked through the house. He told us right away that there's no way that we could complete this project in the range that the HUD consultant had quoted. And also suggested we just walk away. He made alot of good points about issues that haven't really been brought up before, plus he's my cousin and I know he's looking out for us.

So this morning I met with a 2nd contractor. Another local guy, good reputation, very nice. He literally said almost exactly what my cousin said. He said even if he did this project at cost, it would be more than $128,000 and he also said "get out of this, it's too far gone" "I can demo it for $10,000 and then you can build a new house" =0) he was a super nice guy and very practical.

This house has termites, lead, asbestos, mold, needs a new roof, plumbing, heating system, electrical, and some foundation work. That's just the basics, never mind the other issues.

So, as much as it saddens me, we're gonna walk away. This isn't our next house, not right now anyways.

I think there have been some efforts to make this clear to me, but I've been a little.... ~~stubborn~~ determined. =0) So I'm listening and we're moving on, which is as it should be, I think.

Also, I looove Aaron, he's hardly even saying he told me so.

The House news

2010-06-28T18:07:00.001-04:00

Today, 18 days before we're supposed to close, our lender called and informed me that our contractor cannot be verified. That means for some reason they will not approve him, and they can't say why because of privacy laws....

SO.....
A little less than 3 weeks before we should be closing I am looking for a new contractor.....

and happy that we found this out now, rather than halfway through the work...

and I wonder if it's providence...

and I'm a little stressed....

and I wonder if I should call it quits.....

but then I remember that if this works out it willl be AWESOME...

and in the end it will all work out the way it's supposed to...

so I carry on......

and if you know of a general contractor in central mass who is licensed, insured, has good credit, and is looking for work, LET ME KNOW.=0)

bye bye cable bye bye

2010-06-25T21:47:00.002-04:00

I have been ~~threatening to~~ contemplating turning off our cable on and off for years. I've never been quite brave enough. I kept thinking what would we do? How will I fall asleep without watching the History Channel?!

Well today was our first day without cable, not even basic cable, no channels at all.....

Some people are probably thinking (along with my long suffering husband) WTH?! WHY?!

Well here's why:

TV is a time waster
Cable is a money waster
we have so many other things we could be doing: reading, visiting family, working on our house, walking, cleaning, talking, having sex (who put that in there?), playing board games, ~~doing laundry~~ (unlikely), playing with the dogs, swimming, hiking, napping, the list goes on and on....
you can watch the shows you really like online anyways... try Hulu or youtube
we have tons of movies to watch

We actually sat down to dinner at the table tonight, for the first time in like 2 years... It was great.

While we were eating, we were chatting away and listening to music. It was very nice. Here's a snippet of our conversation.

Sarah:"I'm so glad we did this. I feel so free, it's like an uninvited house guest has finally left."

Aaron: "I wouldn't go that far. But everyone has their own opinion."

I love him, he's so willing to put up with my shit! =0) (most of the time)

Then we talked about baby names, because we have talked about baby names since we got married...it's what we do.

Picking berries....

2010-06-24T22:47:00.000-04:00

Still no word on The House.... still waiting....

So no Thankful Anyway Thursday post, I don't even want to think about the stresses right now..

When we bought this house there were some wild black raspberries on the side of our shed, and we decided to keep them and nurture them a little bit. So we trimmed them and fed them with a little organic fertilizer.

They are coming into season and boy am I glad we kept these guys!! This is their best season out of the last 3 seasons we've had them!!

There were a ton of ripe berries, so I spent some time picking berries while Roxie hung out in the yard. I left some on the top for the birds, and some on the bottom for the rodents. I of course forgot a bowl, so I used my shirt...

They ended up in a fruit salad, along with mango, orange, watermelon, grapes, and blueberries.. YUM

The off her rocker hitchiker

2010-06-21T13:17:00.002-04:00

A few years ago while driving up from North Carolina to Massachusetts I picked up a woman somewhere in Pennsylvania on the freeway, pretty late at night. She was walking on the shoulder of the fast lane, so we didn't talk much before she got in the car. She was an older lady maybe in her 60's and I have to say when I saw her I was pretty worried about her safety. She threw her bag in the back, hopped in and buckled her seatbelt. As I pull into the fast lane I ask her where she's heading. "To the ocean", she says. So I ask her what state or town, and she says "to the ocean, there's a boat there and Jesus is waiting for me."

At this point I become a little concerned, although I think maybe she is using a metaphor. After awhile I realize she is totally off her rocker. She has no idea where she is going, where she came from, or what her name is. So now I have this ~~crazy~~ very ill old lady in my car, who won't tell me where she's going and I can't just drop her off on the side of the road. She refuses to go to any police station or hospital and I'm afraid she'll jump out of the car if I drive to one. The whole time we're driving she's telling me about Jesus waiting for her at the ocean. It's pretty obvious she's really mentally ill.

Somewhere in New Jersey I pull off the highway in the hopes of finding a cop somewhere besides a police station. I am getting more and more lost, in the middle of nowhere New Jersy, it's almost 3am, and I am feeling pretty concerned about this lady. FINALLY I see a cop car, I convince the lady I'm lost (which by this point I absolutely was) and I need to ask the cop for directions.

For the past hour I've been trying to figure out what I'm gonna say when I get this lady somewhere. I figure I'll tell the truth, even though I kinda feel like a kidnapper. I still have no idea what this cop is gonna think, but I know I can't drive around with this lady forever and I don't think driving her to Massachusetts is a good idea. So I park behind the cop and walk up to his window. I explain the jist of the story, picked up a lady in Pennsylvania on the freeway, she's nuts, don't know what to do with her, think she might need some help. I have to say, to his credit, he was an incredibly nice guy and took it all in stride. He talks to the lady and after awhile he convinces her to go with him to the hospital.

I have no idea what happened after.....

Although I've always wondered. Did she ever get back to Pennsylvania? Who was she, did her family worry about her, did I make things worse, where is she now?

Happy Father's Day: Yes I Pick Up Hitchikers

2010-06-20T21:46:00.006-04:00

This morning I had plans to stop by my Dad's, give him his gift, visit for a bit, then stop by Grampa's, visit, then off to my Mom's for a late lunch.

It didn't QUITE work out that way.... and boy am I glad. While driving through town I saw a couple of younger folks (19 maybe) heading down main street with packs on their backs. So I offered them a ride. Yes, I sometimes pick up hitchikers.

So let me give you a little back story. When my dad was about 17, he left home (worrying poor Gramma to no end, I might add) and hitchiked all over the country. He eventually returned, but even as he got older he still hitchiked back and forth from Vermont, and even up from Alabama with our dog Mabel. I'd heard all his interesting stories and I have to say for awhile I didn't think much of doing it myself. So there I was 16 and hitchiking from Charlton to Southbridge and even once out to Lowell. Luckily nothing bad ever happened to me, although I think I shortened my Mom's life by a few years (sorry Mom). So I have a little soft spot for hitchikers and if I see someone walking especially if they have a pack, I often pick 'em up if we're heading the same way. I kind of think of it as paying it forward.

Now I know, it could be dangerous, I could encounter a Ted Bundy or some such character. I admit it, there is certainly some inherent risk in picking up hitchhikers, and boy would it suck to meet my death by a hitchhiker, 'cuz lots of folks would get to say "I told you so". I also think there's risk in everything we do, and each of us gets to choose how much risk we accept. You might decide to do something crazy like, oh I don't know, climb onto a roof, and I choose to pick up hitchers... I use my instincts about people and if they creep me out I don't pick 'em up. It's still possible they could be bad people, but in all the years I've picked up hitchikers I've never felt in danger. They have all been incredibly interesting, kind, and wonderful people. The stories I've heard and the people I've met have all been worth it, at least to me.

Except once... but you can read about it later, and it wasn't dangerous, more like me being akin to a kidnapper.

Now back to my two hitchikers today. Their names were Nicholas and Rosemary, she started in Portland, Oregon and he started in Arizona. She's been hiking since February and he's been hiking since December. They were heading to Amherst, then Northampton and on to Vermont to visit friends. Starting in July they'll be heading back to Western Mass to work on an organic farm. In the fall Rosemary plans to start college here in Mass. After a little chatting I decided I could change some plans around and take them to Amherst, as long as they didn't mind a short pit stop.

I called Aaron and said " honey, guess what?" Aaron is used to my ~~craziness~~ eccentricites by now, but when I told him my plan he said "are you kidding me?" and later something along the lines of "~~Don't get ass raped by your hobos~~ Be careful". He's used to me calling and telling him I picked someone up, which I always do, that way at least someone knows. Although I don't always drive them so far. Anyways I dropped them off at a pond to explore and have lunch. It so happens that Aaron, my little brother, nephew, and stepmom were fishing there. I stopped by Dad's with Aaron and he decided to come up and meet the travelers, along with my other brother and his girlfriend. So most of my family got to hang out with them and we all had a fun time chatting and hanging out at the pond.

Once Aaron met them he decided they weren't going to kill me, steal the car, and hide my body in a pond, he really liked them, so he figured he could keep on fishing while I drove them out to Amherst. Dad suggested I take them through Quabbin to see the reservoir. My brother gave them some snacks and I stopped and bought them more water and then we were on our way. What a great drive. We talked about organic farming, letting go of material things, who they've met on their journey, what their plans are, and what our plans are. It was really wonderful and the whole experience left me with a full heart and feeling really great.

We did stop at Enfield Lookout, like Dad had suggested, to see what we could see. Along with the view I noticed something sad. A family eating their lunch at a picnic table kept shooting dirty looks and staring at Rosemary and Nicholas. They didn't seem to notice the rude behavior, but it bothered me a little. Yes they were a little dirty, and their clothes were stained and ragged after so much time on the road. Still they were the happiest two people I've met in awhile. Their calm and cheerful nature was contagious and I feel so grateful that the Universe placed them in my path. At that moment I also realized that my family, my little tribe, had accepted these "strays" into their midst, if even for a short time, without scorn. I was so proud that they are so welcoming and loving.

Once I dropped them off in Amherst I continued with the rest of my plans. I had to call my Mom to tell her I'd be late, and I explained that I'd picked up some folks on the way and driven them to Amherst. She replied, "Don't worry it's happened to me before too. Once, I was on the way to the store for butts and I ended up driving someone to Holyoke." So maybe it's genetic? =0P

At any rate I was glad to take those few hours out of my day to be a part of their story, and for them to be a a part of our story. Nicholas said he's amazed and happy that there are people out there like me and my family, but I think I'm more happy that there are people out there like him and Rosemary. I wish them adventure and a safe journey.

Thankful Anyway Thursday: Rollercoaster

2010-06-17T18:52:00.003-04:00

Not easy to do this post, but here goes...
The House project has hit a potentially devastating snag. Now that the new repair costs have been added in the bank wants us to have more reserve money. Yes they want to see that we have more money just sitting in the bank. They want to see over $5000 more. I asked the lender a couple weeks ago if this would happen, he said "don't worry".... frickin wrong buddy.....

Anyway yesterday evening I mostly mourned the loss. It's not the house, but more about what the house represents. The fulfilling of our dream to have more space for babies, and chickens, and a huge garden, privacy, more financial security. Some people said, "there will be other houses", "maybe it's a good thing, that would have been a lot of work" and other craptastic sayings along those lines. Thanks, and I know that it comes from a place of love and wanting to help.

So basically I am thankful that I learned what not to say when someone is grieving. Saying why it's a good thing, or God's will, meant to be, or for the best might not be very helpful. Really all you need to say is, "that sucks, I'm so sorry that happened."

I am also thankful that I have learned to give myself time to grieve, to feel my feelings. Even if it seems silly or childish to others. These are my feelings, and I need to acknowledge them, feel them, and move forward. Yesterday I took a nap, went to bed early, and gave myself permission to feel sad, mad, and generally crappy. By this morning I was feeling much better.

There's still a very small chance that we can save the deal by doing something with the interest rate, we're waiting to hear from the underwriters.... so I get more practice being patient...and continue to ride the emotional rollercoaster.

Stuff, and the space it takes up...

2010-06-17T18:37:00.001-04:00

At the beginning of 2010 Aaron and I decided to make a concerted effort to move in a specific direction. Following that decision, in our preparation for moving to a new house, and the process of spending way more money than we have, we are selling, donating, and getting rid of things. I feel this is one of the steps in moving towards a more natural (simple), frugal, sustainable life. We have worked hard on not bringing new clutter in, not buying things that we don't need or absolutely love. Some habits we already practice:

I sort all mail as soon as I get it. Bills go to the bill pile, junk mail gets recycled, and stuff that needs attention gets put in the to do pile.
We try hard not to buy anything we don't need or love.

This is the next logical step. Now this is not an easy project for me. I am a collector of things. I don't buy alot, but I have lots of interests and I certainly attach value to things that have been given to me by people I love. These things often just end up getting in my way and cluttering up my space which makes it hard for me to relax. I know that less stuff helps me focus on the important things in my life: those that I love, and living and experiencing life as it comes.

The rough categories we have developed are:

It isn't useful to us
We don't love it
We don't need it
It's broken
I have no idea what it is
It doesn't represent who we are

Now I imagine I won't be able to let go of everything that fits in those categories, BUT I'm trying. Aaron is truly inspiring in this aspect. He could easily walk away from all of his "stuff". For as long as I have known him all of his stuff has been for sale for the right price. =0) He can go through his old clothes and donate almost all of them, although I am usually going through the bags and putting things back in the closet.

So I'm following Aaron's lead and trying to let go of things. We have managed to sell some very large items so far, and donate a few small things.

Our treadmill which I only used a few times. How nice to have all that space again, and to not have to move it.
Our bedroom set that we bought almost 8 years ago. It was a hasty purchase, and neither of us really cares for it. It's large and bulky and pressed wood. It doesn't really represent us, so it will be gone this Saturday.
One bag of clothes, mostly mine, and mostly stuff that no longer fits.
One box of assorted toys and BOOKS....7 to be exact

BYE BYE

News, News, Finally

2010-06-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

Well I have been afraid to jinx myself, but here goes....

Last Friday we finally heard from the HUD consultant about our report on the property. Note to people using this program in the future, please allow 2 weeks or more. Our guy was very slooooooowwwww, hopefully not all consultants are that slow. I had actually started VERY early in the process finding a consultant and a contractor, and people were telling me to slow down. I actually wish I had started even earlier.

It looks like we're going to move forward. The total amount for repairs is around $130,000. Yep it's alot of money, I think it's worth it. We'll see.

We've met with the contractor, the consultant, and the attorney...lots to do still, so I'll be holding my breath, and doing lots of yoga to relax....

Thankful Anyway Thursday

2010-06-10T19:18:00.003-04:00

The idea for the Thankful Anyway Thursday Challenge came from Holistic Mama's blog. As she says it's easy to be thankful for the good things, the happy things. But what about the crappy things? Can we be thankful for those things? Is there anything to be thankful about? It reminds me of PollyAnna's The Glad Game. I've always liked that game and I love to challenge my self to find the silver lining.

Today I felt pretty stressed out by The House buying project. Well not actually the project, but the people involved. Some people haven't been living up to my expectations. Things like: not filling out paperwork properly, not calling me back in a timely manner, not completing tasks quickly. It's slowing down the process and we are in a HUGE time crunch. If we don't close by July 16 the seller will charge us $50 a day. It pisses me off, and every time someone is late or slow or wrong I see my money flying out the window.

So here goes....

I am thankful for these stressors because it gives me the opportunity to practice my coping skills. I am thankful because it pushes me to rely on my loved ones for strength. I am thankful that I am being forced to re-evaluate my expectations of people. I am thankful for getting practice in manifesting positive things. I have a pretty good life, and I don't get stressed that often, so I don't have tons of challenging opportunities to practice my skills.

If you'd like to participate in Thankful Anway Thursday just go to her blog and get the widget and start your own Thursday habit.

The Parsleyworm

2010-06-09T18:48:00.000-04:00

We don't really have a garden this year because of "The House", but I did keep certain perrennial or biennial plants, some still in the ground and some in pots, in the hopes of moving them once we are settled.

I have parsley on our back porch in a pot, and one afternoon when I came home I noticed 2 of these guys on our parsley.

My first thought was "wow is he pretty", my next thought was, "what are they?" and then I thought. "will they kill my parsley?"

So of course I went to Google... and discovered these guys are called parsleyworms. They are the larvae of the black swallowtail butterfly. They also do little damage unless there's a bunch of them. So I figured I'd be happy to share my parsley with them. So everyday Aaron and I have gone out to see our little buddies, and they've done some damage but not much.

However, the other day I noticed this poor parsley has aphids. I usually leave aphids alone in outdoor plants because my garden has had a pretty good balance of beneficial insects that will kill the aphids, or slow them down. For houseplants or potted plants I generally use diluted Dr. Bronners peppermint soap in a spray bottle. I don't want to spray anything on the parsleyworms so in the hopes of not killing the parsley I decided to take a little pressure off and evict one of the two parlseyworms.

I gently pinched off the piece of parsley he was on and walked him across the yard to a very nice Queen Anne's Lace (who is a member of the carrot family, and another of their preferred plants).

So here he is, in his new home, hopefully happy and enjoying the less crowded conditions.

Learning about the pendulum.

2010-06-03T22:57:00.006-04:00

Everyday we make choices about our lives, and what we allow into our emotional and physical space, what we allow into our bodies. Each time we make one of those choices we have an opportunity to enact some change, to make a difference. We don’t always have to choose change, but sometimes it’s what helps us grow.

Today is not yesterday: we ourselves change; how can our works and thoughts, if they are always to be the fittest, continue always the same? Change, indeed is painful; yet ever needful; and if memory have its force and worth, so also has hope.

-Thomas Carlyle

I choose to buy soaps, shampoo, conditioner, deodorant, cleaning products, detergent, and hair care products that are biodegradable when possible, and that have no parabens, perfumes, aluminum, or sodium lauryl sulfate. However, if I'm traveling I use what I have. It's not the end of the world. =0)

I grow my garden without pesticides and added chemicals. I don't treat my lawn with anything. I don't put pest repellent on my dogs. I buy organic when possible, but mostly I don't. I try to avoid Wal-mart, and shop locally as often as possible. I feed my dogs raw, but sometimes if we're traveling, they get kibble. I try to eat food as close to natural as possible, but sometimes we have mac & cheese and hot dogs for supper. I drink water almost always, but sometimes it's Dr. Pepper.

I use homeopathic remedies, aromatherapy, and herbs for my dogs and myself, and provide them with minimal vaccines. I don't get the flu vaccine or any other vaccine at this point in my life. I avoid taking antibiotics or any other pill, unless absolutely necessary. If I am ill, I sleep, I rest, drink lots of fluids and take lots of Vit C. I am a Reiki master and I practice on myself and dogs often, I believe; it works. However, I don't abhor western medicine. I've used doxycycline to treat lyme in my dogs (as well as ozone therapy), and take a medication daily to treat my thyroid disorder. I do however ask questions of my doctors and veterinarians, and I do some research. We decide TOGETHER on a course of action. We find a middle ground and the ways in which western medicine and alternative medicine complement one another.

I made most of these changes because I thought/think it's healthier for me, my dogs, and for the environment, not because I had to, or it was cool, or because someone said I should. I arrived here on a twisty turny road, and have learned so much on the way. I also reserve the right to change my mind, or revert to old ways. While I do most of these things, most of the time, I certainly don't expect to be able to do it all, all the time. One thing I have learned, and thank goodness I have, is that good enough is, just that, good enough. No one has to be perfect, or even strive for perfection, and I always try to give myself and everyone else slack. Nothing is black and white; it’s really all just shades of gray.

The purpose of learning is growth, and our minds, unlike our bodies, can continue growing as we continue to live.

-Mortimer J. Adler

I know, like, respect, and am friends with lots of people who are different and hold different views. The only discrimination I practice is to avoid negative folks. I try not to force my views on anyone. I mention them if appropriate, but I don't really try to sway one way or the other (unless you're Kelly H. and I give you crap about drinking 8 cups of coffee a day). I try to not make judgments either, this is not the "best" way, the "only" way, my ways are just that, mine. Ultimately we all have to make our own choices in life and I respect that everyone has a different road to walk.

Being willing to change allows you to move from a point of view to a viewing point -- a higher, more expansive place, from which you can see both sides.

-Thomas Crum

I do actively try to encourage people to QUESTION the status quo, and to ask questions. Ask questions of your doctor, your vet, your plumber, your teachers, and your colleagues, everyone really. If you find that anyone is unwilling to answer, you might want to consider finding someone who's willing to have a dialogue with you about the whys and the best course of action. Someone who's willing to take into consideration your knowledge, desires, and who's also willing to teach you a little.

For me learning about all the other options and possibilities out there has been eye opening, and I'm still learning. Some things I take, and others I leave, but I know that I am making informed choices for myself and my family. Venturing into what some think of as earthy crunchy territory can be scary and daunting. Just remember it’s not all or nothing, you don’t have to accept it all as gospel, I sure don’t. Do what works for you, within your budget, and your time frame. I encourage you to take a look and see what's out there..... you might be surprised. =0)

Be aware of wonder. Live a balanced life - learn some and think some and draw and paint and sing and dance and play and work every day some.

-Robert Fulghum

Saturday...

2010-05-19T19:03:00.000-04:00

So we are meeting with the general contractor, the HUD consultant, and the realtor on Saturday.... and then we will still have to wait a couple days for everyone to type up their estimates.... but at least I am hopeful that we'll know whether or not we can move forward soon....

until then here's another cute dog pic......

Spoiled rotten foster dog Roxie, yes she's on the couch with a stuffie and a blanket. =0) Bad, bad foster mom, but she's an old lady and after 7 years of living outside and being abused, sometimes I spoil her, and she never gets cocky about it. Always hops right off when I tell her to so..... you know.. we've had her for 18 months and it's tough to not make her part of the family....Enough excuses, isn't she cute???

no news...

2010-05-18T17:48:00.003-04:00

We were supposed to meet with the HUD consultant, realtor, and general contractor today..... weeeeellll not so much........

Apparently we had some scheduling misconceptions... so we are waiting to set a new date for everyone to meet. Hopefully soon.

I'm still hopeful.

And here's a cute bat dog for you......

Anja playing with her rope.