Although the link I'm going to provide is a bit heavier on the preaching than I normally care for I quite enjoyed the sentiments of this particular post from Thy Hand Hath Provided.
http://www.thyhandhathprovided.com/2013/10/divide-or-unite.html
So very true on so many things. I wonder what it is about us humans that always makes us compete, divide, argue, and so on.
~~~~~~~~~
Besides random blog readings, carving pumpkins, the kids watching Charlie Brown and the Great Pumpkin, and everyone having the first good sick of the school year there isn't a ton going on. With both boys having been sick I'm all sorts of out of my routine and it looks like Miss Mia is joining the ranks of being sick since she is off her feed and running a fever this evening. Always a bummer when the littles are sick.
We have a Halloween party tomorrow for Bear's class. I'm a little worried about taking Mia now. I hadn't even thought about that a few hours ago. Rats. We'll figure something out. I still have to peel and chop carrots for that tonight. Ugh. I'll do it tonight though because I know I won't get to it in the morning. Besides, I have celery etc. to take care of then.
Oops. It got dark all of a sudden and I need to shut the chickens in.
Wednesday, October 30, 2013
Sunday, October 27, 2013
Fall weather and winter preperations
We have had a beautiful October. Yes we had close to 8 inches of snow at the beginning but that melted off and we've had some really nice 70 something degree days most of the month. We've had frosts at night but that is to be expected. It is October after all. I have most of the garden, yard, and chickens ready for winter. I can certainly do more work on the garden. A garden is never done. I think since it is predicted to be really nice today I'll do some playing out there and save the inside stuff for later this week when it is supposed to be cold and snowy.
Now that October is mostly over I'll switch to the winter market schedule. That will be nice. It will give me most weekends with my family and I'll only be at market the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month.
My boys are sick. I hate when they both catch something. Neither one can quit coughing. They've been at it long enough that I may end up taking them to the doctor. Knock on wood, but Mia and I are good so far.
Let's see, what else is going on? It was my birthday yesterday so we had a nice little family get together. Tom made dinner and baked a cake. The kids got me some great presents. Barrett had been very secretive for about two weeks. He came up with a great coffee cup for me. Mia apparently needed a little more help but she got me a yummy smelling candle. They made my birthday cards too. It made my day. I can hardly wait to see what they do with Christmas. They are both at a great age for Christmas.
Both kids are growing like weeds. I don't think that stops until they are 20 something. We measured the kids in July and we've had them stand next to their measurements a couple of times. I bet Bear has grown two inches in four months. Mia probably has done and inch and a half. I'm excited to see where they are going to be at in January when we make the next mark. Since the kids are six months apart on birthdays we figure it will be the perfect separation on the growth chart.
We had parent teacher conferences the other day. It went well. I was very proud of Bear. He's apparently a good kid in school. Also, his teacher thinks she'll have to give him and a couple of other boys some extra stuff to do so they don't get bored. She said she'll be happy to make it to Christmas without it but kind of doubts she'll be able to. I'm glad he has a teacher that recognizes that Bear will need more. He and a couple of other boys are tired of counting by ones to 100 so they've been working on counting by 5s and 10s. His teacher figures at the rate they are going they'll be working on counting by 2s before the year is up. Not something they are generally able to get to in Kindergarten. The best part is that it sounds like there are a couple of other kids right there with Bear so he won't be singled out. He'll have a group to work with. It makes me glad we didn't hold him out of Kindergarten for another year. Because of his age we could have but he's been so ready to go we sent him.
Little things like when I kept him home for being sick the other day he was worried he was going to miss class work. So I printed up a bunch of worksheets for him. He worked on them for a little bit each day for about two days. They are all done and he wants to take them back to his teacher. He seemed to enjoy doing them so much that we may make that a weekend habit. I'd like to keep it all fun stuff so he continues to enjoy it.
Well, I'd better get some of my Fall chores done before the snow flies. With a nice day today I just might make it.
Now that October is mostly over I'll switch to the winter market schedule. That will be nice. It will give me most weekends with my family and I'll only be at market the 2nd and 4th Saturdays of the month.
My boys are sick. I hate when they both catch something. Neither one can quit coughing. They've been at it long enough that I may end up taking them to the doctor. Knock on wood, but Mia and I are good so far.
Let's see, what else is going on? It was my birthday yesterday so we had a nice little family get together. Tom made dinner and baked a cake. The kids got me some great presents. Barrett had been very secretive for about two weeks. He came up with a great coffee cup for me. Mia apparently needed a little more help but she got me a yummy smelling candle. They made my birthday cards too. It made my day. I can hardly wait to see what they do with Christmas. They are both at a great age for Christmas.
Both kids are growing like weeds. I don't think that stops until they are 20 something. We measured the kids in July and we've had them stand next to their measurements a couple of times. I bet Bear has grown two inches in four months. Mia probably has done and inch and a half. I'm excited to see where they are going to be at in January when we make the next mark. Since the kids are six months apart on birthdays we figure it will be the perfect separation on the growth chart.
We had parent teacher conferences the other day. It went well. I was very proud of Bear. He's apparently a good kid in school. Also, his teacher thinks she'll have to give him and a couple of other boys some extra stuff to do so they don't get bored. She said she'll be happy to make it to Christmas without it but kind of doubts she'll be able to. I'm glad he has a teacher that recognizes that Bear will need more. He and a couple of other boys are tired of counting by ones to 100 so they've been working on counting by 5s and 10s. His teacher figures at the rate they are going they'll be working on counting by 2s before the year is up. Not something they are generally able to get to in Kindergarten. The best part is that it sounds like there are a couple of other kids right there with Bear so he won't be singled out. He'll have a group to work with. It makes me glad we didn't hold him out of Kindergarten for another year. Because of his age we could have but he's been so ready to go we sent him.
Little things like when I kept him home for being sick the other day he was worried he was going to miss class work. So I printed up a bunch of worksheets for him. He worked on them for a little bit each day for about two days. They are all done and he wants to take them back to his teacher. He seemed to enjoy doing them so much that we may make that a weekend habit. I'd like to keep it all fun stuff so he continues to enjoy it.
Well, I'd better get some of my Fall chores done before the snow flies. With a nice day today I just might make it.
Wednesday, October 16, 2013
I thought Fall and ended up with 4-H.
I do love this time of the year. The days are getting shorter and the nights are getting longer. The mornings are crisp with the bite of Fall. There is no better time. I like the subtle (sometimes not so subtle) push of winter coming. It reminds me to get things done. Some things just can't be left undone before the snow flies. Our first load of wood is next to the garage. I'm sure we'll need another load at least. We'll also need to get a chainsaw and an axe. Despite the grumbles about hauling wood I have always enjoyed that Fall task of gathering wood. We've yet to poke holes in our ceiling or roof yet but we have the hearth laid. I should finish sealing the grout and tiles tomorrow. Then we should be able to move the stove inside and work on taking measurements for the pipe. Little by little we'll get there.
The garden is progressing toward a cool weather garden. I still have parsley producing along with new lettuce, the carrots, and the parsnips. I'm storing the potatoes, parsnips, and carrots in the ground. We'll dig as needed. I still have beets too that I'll store in situ. Someday I'll build a small greenhouse with old windows and doors. First I have to figure out where I want it. Right now I can't even figure out where I want my clothesline. I didn't like where it was. I disliked the location enough that I ended up not using it a good portion of the time. I need to get it closer to the house and easier to use.
We have lots of projects going all the time. They are usually prolonged by lack of funding or lack of time. Like all good projects. At some point we'll get enough time, money, and motivation to at least get some sort of shelving or something in the garage and basement to make those storage areas work better too. I'm sure Tom would appreciate not having to dodge a hundred pound bag of wool in order to get to the door. I know I'll be happy when the stove is out of my way.
Besides indoor projects there are always the outdoor ones too. All of our gutters leak. A lot. Our siding will need replaced before too long as well. The siding isn't one I look forward to paying for. I do look forward to some color besides white though. The house is a very boring white ranch house. We just did some seeding for the yard today. By "we" I mean Tom and the kids. I was fixing supper so didn't get in on it too much. The kids were great help though. They each got their own seed bags (like farmers did in the old days) and they broadcast the seed by hand all through the yard.
That makes me think about something. I think Bear will do 4-H next year. He is old enough to be what is called a Clover Kid. They are the kids who are younger than 8 years that still want to participate. They can't qualify for the state fair but they can show at their local county fairs. They have some pretty cool projects for them. Bear is also talking about wanting to have goats or something. He doesn't want to have anything butchered so we'll see what he ends up doing. May not be much in the way of market animals. His choice. The only bummer is that if he doesn't do the market animal he was see a hefty chunk of change at the end of the year when it sells. I understand not wanting your pet butchered though. At least fiber and dairy animals wouldn't be sold off every year. He may decide to do chickens or rabbits too. I'm excited for him to participate. Mia too when she gets old enough. I loved 4-H. I would have kept doing it except that I aged out at 19. I think I started at 7 because I know I wasn't old enough to go to the state fair my first year even though I qualified by my placement.
For those that don't know 4-H is an agricultural education program. Clubs are run through the year and that club's work culminates in the county fair and then the state fair competitions. You can participate in something like 150 different categories. Anything that could possibly pertain to farming/ranch/agriculture can be done. The main focus is to teach the kids leadership skills, record keeping, and time management. Every project has several requirements that must be met each year. A record book kept by each kid for their individual project along with the club has its own responsibilities and officers (positions held by the club members not leaders). Your local extension office is the best place for the information on what is available in your area.
Okay, I'll get off my 4-H soapbox. I'd probably have one for FFA too if I had done that for more than one year. Not sure why I didn't as I always kind of wanted to. Oh, and FFA is Future Farmers of America. The four "H"s are your head, heart, hands, and health. And in case you want to see what the choices for a Nebraska kid are: http://4h.unl.edu/web/4hcurriculum/pickyourproject
I think I'd better try to keep going on some of those projects I have going.
The garden is progressing toward a cool weather garden. I still have parsley producing along with new lettuce, the carrots, and the parsnips. I'm storing the potatoes, parsnips, and carrots in the ground. We'll dig as needed. I still have beets too that I'll store in situ. Someday I'll build a small greenhouse with old windows and doors. First I have to figure out where I want it. Right now I can't even figure out where I want my clothesline. I didn't like where it was. I disliked the location enough that I ended up not using it a good portion of the time. I need to get it closer to the house and easier to use.
We have lots of projects going all the time. They are usually prolonged by lack of funding or lack of time. Like all good projects. At some point we'll get enough time, money, and motivation to at least get some sort of shelving or something in the garage and basement to make those storage areas work better too. I'm sure Tom would appreciate not having to dodge a hundred pound bag of wool in order to get to the door. I know I'll be happy when the stove is out of my way.
Besides indoor projects there are always the outdoor ones too. All of our gutters leak. A lot. Our siding will need replaced before too long as well. The siding isn't one I look forward to paying for. I do look forward to some color besides white though. The house is a very boring white ranch house. We just did some seeding for the yard today. By "we" I mean Tom and the kids. I was fixing supper so didn't get in on it too much. The kids were great help though. They each got their own seed bags (like farmers did in the old days) and they broadcast the seed by hand all through the yard.
That makes me think about something. I think Bear will do 4-H next year. He is old enough to be what is called a Clover Kid. They are the kids who are younger than 8 years that still want to participate. They can't qualify for the state fair but they can show at their local county fairs. They have some pretty cool projects for them. Bear is also talking about wanting to have goats or something. He doesn't want to have anything butchered so we'll see what he ends up doing. May not be much in the way of market animals. His choice. The only bummer is that if he doesn't do the market animal he was see a hefty chunk of change at the end of the year when it sells. I understand not wanting your pet butchered though. At least fiber and dairy animals wouldn't be sold off every year. He may decide to do chickens or rabbits too. I'm excited for him to participate. Mia too when she gets old enough. I loved 4-H. I would have kept doing it except that I aged out at 19. I think I started at 7 because I know I wasn't old enough to go to the state fair my first year even though I qualified by my placement.
For those that don't know 4-H is an agricultural education program. Clubs are run through the year and that club's work culminates in the county fair and then the state fair competitions. You can participate in something like 150 different categories. Anything that could possibly pertain to farming/ranch/agriculture can be done. The main focus is to teach the kids leadership skills, record keeping, and time management. Every project has several requirements that must be met each year. A record book kept by each kid for their individual project along with the club has its own responsibilities and officers (positions held by the club members not leaders). Your local extension office is the best place for the information on what is available in your area.
Okay, I'll get off my 4-H soapbox. I'd probably have one for FFA too if I had done that for more than one year. Not sure why I didn't as I always kind of wanted to. Oh, and FFA is Future Farmers of America. The four "H"s are your head, heart, hands, and health. And in case you want to see what the choices for a Nebraska kid are: http://4h.unl.edu/web/4hcurriculum/pickyourproject
I think I'd better try to keep going on some of those projects I have going.
Monday, October 14, 2013
Cold and dreary
We went from beautiful Fall days to a cold and dreary day. I know the land needs the water so I won't complain too much. I am not thrilled about driving on the slick, slimy, gumbo mud that makes up our roads. You sure don't take things too fast when the roads are soaked like this.
This weather makes my chickens not very happy too. And of course it soaks their food. That is frustrating since I just put out fresh food for them yesterday. They don't eat fast enough when it is wet to not have it get moldy so usually after a day it gets tossed into the compost so they don't end up eating yucky food.
We now have enough wind to make the rain go sideways. Days like this always make my motivation go. Not sure where it goes but it means I sure don't have it. These days make me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate and do nothing else. Sadly I can't do that for long before something else needs done.
I have a little girl requesting that I go play so I'd better do that. It sounds much more fun than the laundry I have been doing.
This weather makes my chickens not very happy too. And of course it soaks their food. That is frustrating since I just put out fresh food for them yesterday. They don't eat fast enough when it is wet to not have it get moldy so usually after a day it gets tossed into the compost so they don't end up eating yucky food.
We now have enough wind to make the rain go sideways. Days like this always make my motivation go. Not sure where it goes but it means I sure don't have it. These days make me want to curl up with a good book and a cup of hot chocolate and do nothing else. Sadly I can't do that for long before something else needs done.
I have a little girl requesting that I go play so I'd better do that. It sounds much more fun than the laundry I have been doing.
Wednesday, October 9, 2013
Beautiful Fall day
And yet I can't seem to get myself in gear. It is one of those days that I just can't seem to wake up. Yes, I've had coffee, eaten breakfast, and even had ginger and lemon water. I just don't want to seem to get moving.
I'm sure part of it is that I've let everything go for too long. I didn't do the few dishes last night so now I have a few from yesterday and today. The bathrooms need cleaning, the garden needs dealt with, tile needs sealed, we need to vacuum, laundry (like always) needs done, and I still haven't gotten my little office/studio/bedroom to where I want it. Of course there are always things like dusting and mopping that need done and please don't try to look out my windows.
Somehow it all just runs away with a person. You leave things for a day or two thinking you'll get back to something and it seems like it becomes some sort of monster in those couple of days. Growing to ridiculous proportions overnight. Then along comes a day when you can't seem to light the fire and they seem even bigger. Dumb.
A problem I have with it all is that I really don't like most house chores. I think I cleaned a few too many hotel rooms to care for cleaning. Not that anyone really enjoys cleaning but I think some people like the clean house enough to actually accomplish the cleaning. I can live with some mess before it drives me crazy enough to clean. Of course my definition of some mess according to some is a disaster and to others it isn't even a mess yet. My brother thinks I'm a total slob. More lazy than anything. I have my pet projects and cleaning isn't one of them.
So, what else is going on this fine Fall day? Bear is liking school and seems to be doing well. We should be coming up on parent/teacher conferences. Those are always interesting. I'll find out just how much of a talker he is. :) I know I was horrible about talking in school. Poor kid came by it honestly at least. Otherwise I don't think we'll have too much to worry about. I hope not anyway.
Mia is an interesting kid. She seems to just kind of go along in her own little make-believe world. She loves the story. Princesses are a fascination right now. My semi-feminist beliefs make me think I should worry about that but at the same time my own girly side takes over and says let her enjoy dressing like a princess while it is adorable and she doesn't need to be practical. At least she'll put on her frilliest dress and then go play in the dirt outside. I can handle a princess that isn't afraid of getting dirty or being a tough girl. Besides, being a princess she is completely involved in stories. She can play with a doll house and little people and animals for hours. Maybe we'll do something like that for Christmas for her. Bear has never really been interested in stuff like that so we've never gotten around to getting some of that kind of stuff for the kids.
Bear is much more the science kid. Bugs and animals and their habits seem to hold his interest longer. Space and rockets are right up there as well. Dinosaurs are cool but I really can't think of a five-year-old boy that doesn't think that. I wonder why we don't do any sort of paleontology in middle school or high school science. Plenty of kids I know would love to check out fossils and dinosaurs instead of dissecting worms or sheep eyes.
So we have our princess girl that loves sparkly stuff and wants to play in the sandbox and have her kitty around at all times, and then we have Bear that is ready to go explore and find bugs and learn as many big words as he can to stump Mom and Dad with.
We are working our way into the Fall season as well. I'm mostly done canning (thank goodness). I need to put the garden to bed and do some more winterizing. We are installing a wood stove mostly as a just-in-case the power goes out source of heat and a way to cook. My wool/yarn business has picked up and then slowed down as well but seems to remain somewhat steady so that keeps me always busy. One of these days we'd like to re-paint a bunch of stuff in the house but that is going to have to wait until some of the other more important stuff gets done and paid for.
Well, despite me not wanting to do it I suppose I'd better get this load of laundry folded before the other piles get done washing and drying. Maybe I'll bribe myself with something?
I'm sure part of it is that I've let everything go for too long. I didn't do the few dishes last night so now I have a few from yesterday and today. The bathrooms need cleaning, the garden needs dealt with, tile needs sealed, we need to vacuum, laundry (like always) needs done, and I still haven't gotten my little office/studio/bedroom to where I want it. Of course there are always things like dusting and mopping that need done and please don't try to look out my windows.
Somehow it all just runs away with a person. You leave things for a day or two thinking you'll get back to something and it seems like it becomes some sort of monster in those couple of days. Growing to ridiculous proportions overnight. Then along comes a day when you can't seem to light the fire and they seem even bigger. Dumb.
A problem I have with it all is that I really don't like most house chores. I think I cleaned a few too many hotel rooms to care for cleaning. Not that anyone really enjoys cleaning but I think some people like the clean house enough to actually accomplish the cleaning. I can live with some mess before it drives me crazy enough to clean. Of course my definition of some mess according to some is a disaster and to others it isn't even a mess yet. My brother thinks I'm a total slob. More lazy than anything. I have my pet projects and cleaning isn't one of them.
So, what else is going on this fine Fall day? Bear is liking school and seems to be doing well. We should be coming up on parent/teacher conferences. Those are always interesting. I'll find out just how much of a talker he is. :) I know I was horrible about talking in school. Poor kid came by it honestly at least. Otherwise I don't think we'll have too much to worry about. I hope not anyway.
Mia is an interesting kid. She seems to just kind of go along in her own little make-believe world. She loves the story. Princesses are a fascination right now. My semi-feminist beliefs make me think I should worry about that but at the same time my own girly side takes over and says let her enjoy dressing like a princess while it is adorable and she doesn't need to be practical. At least she'll put on her frilliest dress and then go play in the dirt outside. I can handle a princess that isn't afraid of getting dirty or being a tough girl. Besides, being a princess she is completely involved in stories. She can play with a doll house and little people and animals for hours. Maybe we'll do something like that for Christmas for her. Bear has never really been interested in stuff like that so we've never gotten around to getting some of that kind of stuff for the kids.
Bear is much more the science kid. Bugs and animals and their habits seem to hold his interest longer. Space and rockets are right up there as well. Dinosaurs are cool but I really can't think of a five-year-old boy that doesn't think that. I wonder why we don't do any sort of paleontology in middle school or high school science. Plenty of kids I know would love to check out fossils and dinosaurs instead of dissecting worms or sheep eyes.
So we have our princess girl that loves sparkly stuff and wants to play in the sandbox and have her kitty around at all times, and then we have Bear that is ready to go explore and find bugs and learn as many big words as he can to stump Mom and Dad with.
We are working our way into the Fall season as well. I'm mostly done canning (thank goodness). I need to put the garden to bed and do some more winterizing. We are installing a wood stove mostly as a just-in-case the power goes out source of heat and a way to cook. My wool/yarn business has picked up and then slowed down as well but seems to remain somewhat steady so that keeps me always busy. One of these days we'd like to re-paint a bunch of stuff in the house but that is going to have to wait until some of the other more important stuff gets done and paid for.
Well, despite me not wanting to do it I suppose I'd better get this load of laundry folded before the other piles get done washing and drying. Maybe I'll bribe myself with something?
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