First off I have to thank everyone for their support and suggestions about crying Meeps. We are trying lots of things to get her over the wicked car seat blues.
Secondly, I love blogs. It’s a great way to keep up with my friends and share information. I think it’s really important to remember the cardinal rule of blogging though: If you don’t want to talk about it, don’t blog about it. For me that means I would love to engage in dialogue (or debate) about everything I write. I know we’re into some different stuff and I’m really passionate about all of it. If you’re thinking about trying EC with your baby and don’t know where to start, or think you might decline all vaxes but tetanus and want to discuss that with another mama, or you think you would enjoy fresh eggs from hens of your own but don’t know how to get started…. email me! I’m no expert, and I don’t have hoards of free time, but I love feeling connected to other people with similar interests.
We have had some really wonderful warm weather lately and have been taking advantage of every second. We’ve spent the last two days at the park with friends. And we’ll be there again tomorrow for hours weather permitting.
Scott made great leaps and bounds with the goat hut today. They now have a little manger. Their food bins are all up off the ground so they are sure to not poop in them now (not that they did before – they practically inhale their sweet feed). It’s no longer just the goat hut – oh no, it’s the goat chalet.
I can now sniff the difference between dead chicken and dead coon from the malodorous wafts that are emitted from my dear husbands clothing. And I have learned to GENTLY plunge my hands into my hubby’s pockets – the last time I did so without much care my fingers were met with sharp jabs from a quiet handful of nails that was resting within. Ah the unexpected joys of laundry duty!
Bob was a chicken again this year for Halloween. We only did a touch of trick or treating, but he enjoyed it. “I go out like a chicken and people give me treats? Can we do this again tomorrow night?” He rarely stands still for me for pictures anymore. He used to pose or at least oblige. Now I have to chase him. Though I am sad that it is unlikely my children will ever experience the joys of film (I’ve spent countless hours in the pitch blackness of film closets, feeling by memory, thumbing film into reels and even more in the dark red glow of the print rooms, measuring fix and basking in the glow of my images created in light and silver) I am thankful for the digital era because I must take 50 pictures of Bob to get 1. He’s wearing Daddy’s hat above and showing off one of his hilarious Ministry of Silly Walks shuffly dances. He has never seen Monty Python but I have seen it so many times that I think I passed it to him via cord blood.
These pictures are for my friend Annie in Texas. Her adorable daughter Luna has been sending up her hand me downs and Meeps sure loves them. I wish I could find those little leopard booties in every size – I think I’d keep her in ‘em for years. And the Tina Turner Raccoon hat rocks so hard. I was quite mindful bringing her into Grandpa Ken & Grandma Kates house with it on in case any of their working terriers got excited.
Haba toys are great. Not only are they non-toxic and BPA free, they’re fun for all ages. Bob is demonstrating his great big brother “here let me poke you in the eye with that” skillZ and Meeps is giving a clutching demo on her colourful toy.
There are very few things that get under my skin. Cluster flies are one of them. These shots are for my friend Corrie, another country mama. I am sure this sight looks familiar to a lot of you, actually. They are finally nearing the end, though it feels like I have spent endless months enduring their dozy buzzing. God it shreds your nerves. And no, it’s not that I don’t clean my house or vacuum. I have a Cluster Buster (fly dedicated dust buster jobby) and regularly suck the little bastards out of my windows, but it’s not enough. Cluster flies don’t need dead animal or other tasty snacks, they’re born from the soil and plaster themselves all over the outside of ones house where ever the sun hits it. And then they sneak inside, through the tiniest of holes, to over winter. And they like to return every year. Lucky me.
Here’s me. I’m doing really great. On the surface, my skin is still clear – I had terrible skin through high school but changing my diet (I try to follow what I like to call the DES Diet – Don’t Eat Shit), hardly ever having time to use soap on my face, and having two babies has done me wonders. No more cystic acne. No more foundation. Hallelujah. I’ve been dying my hair for years too and I stopped when I got pregnant with Maggie. My hair has now grown enough that my roots don’t look stupid, and a summer of sun helped blend everything all together. I don’t plan on dying my hair again, ever. As soon as you do it, you have to keep doing it. Or give yourself a buzz cut. Or completely disregard your physical appearance for months on end because you’re busy growing a human being. That helped. Anyway. No more hair dying. The contents are terrible – I mean, I don’t even use toothpaste or shampoo with SLS and there I was slathering chemical slurries all over my noggin once every 4-8 weeks. Watching my mom growing out her hair to a lovely full grey mane after years of chemical treatments was pretty trying and I want to learn from her example and not follow in her footsteps on that one. I’m back into even my skinniest pre-pregnancy jeans and I am excited over the idea of doing some yoga or pilates over the winter while we are all stuck indoors and I am not getting my exercise by way of gardening. So yeah! Feelin’ pretty good over here!
Bought a bushel of apples from a nearby orchard and have been busy making apple cider. I need to make some sauce too. I’ve been drinking the apple cider as fast as I have been canning it though so I only have five 1L containers on the shelf. I’m hoping I can restrain myself with this next batch and actually get some more on the shelves for winter. Made mozzarella & ricotta with my #1 Cheese Pal and we have plans to try making soap as well. Soap seems a bit more daunting than cheese… I guess it’s the fact you have to use LYE! Ah well. We’ll have to make sure to have husbands on hand for kid duty on soap day.
I’ve had to shop at the grocery store lately, and it makes me really quite disheartened. It reminds me how wonderful it feels to be in charge of your own food production and procurement, that’s for sure. The the cow is dry until January, the milking sheep are dry until February and our goats won’t be milking until spring. So I’ve had to buy pasteurized (yuk!!!) milk from the grocery store. At least it’s goat milk. I can’t wait for fresh milk so I can make butter and yogurt as well as more cheese. Delicious cheeeeese….
With such a poor turn out with our garden this year and not having put away much from our neighbours bounties either, I am buying produce at the store too. And it’s expensive and comes from far off places and I find the whole thing quite unfortunate. It’s not hard to be enthusiastic about gardening, but this is only going to add fuel to next spring’s fire. And I am hoping next fall Scott gets us a deer for the freezer for the winter. Wild meat, the best kind. While I think we do a great job keeping our chickens and goats happy, but no doubt an animal from the wild would bequeath unto us the happiest meat.
Scott taking a break from his new passion (firearms) to nibble toes; Bob drawing cats; Bob with Nono Goo Eyes, aka NonoGwise. It’s eyes haven’t cleared up entirely but they are better than before. It is an exceptionally friendly cat, I’m glad it’s here. Especially given that CatCat is growing more crotchety every day that NoNo gets fluffier. She’s really turning back into her old sourpuss self. That’s OK I guess, she’s elderly and between Bob & the dog & the new cat she’s likely on her last nerve. Been reading a little bit about raw food diets for cats, as well that if you’re not feeding raw, that wet food is far better than dry. If anyone out there knows anything about this stuff, please email me.
Here’s one of Bob’s hi-ho drawings. We have to coax the MagnaDoodle out of his hands regularly to snap pictures before he erases them. Great that we’re saving paper, but unfortunate that so many drawings get zippily un-magnified in seconds. Bob has been big into forts lately. Our kitchen chairs get covered with sheets every day for loads of fun. Meeps is doing her flying baby schtick there on the right.
We are very happy Obama is the president elect. I voted for him, absentee. My mom is American and filed for citizenship for me when I was born, so I get to do fun things like work, file taxes and vote in the US of A. He’s got some mess to contend with after the last 8 years of complete chaos at the hands of a dimwit. I heard an interview with him this morning where he was asked about that topic; if he has any apprehension about taking over the presidency when the country is so deeply troubled. And his answer was no, that he it was the best time to be president. And I thought, all right man. I like your message. I don’t care if you want to call it spin, or schtick or total bullshit, but I like it, being a glass is half FULL girl myself.
I don’t know what I am more pleased about – the fact that my kids’ first memory of an American president won’t be a memory of yet another old white dinosaur, OR that the president ISN’T a dimwit, but an intelligent, educated fella. On the topic of intelligence, though I was pleased when Obama pulled ahead of Clinton in the presidential race, I do really feel for Hilary after the Palin debacle. She must have required plenty of valium to get to sleep at night after that. Oy.
I truly believe in a global consciousness and I am very hopeful for change. In Canadian political news, it sure is a hot race here… which old white guy will take over the Liberal party? Wooooooo. We’re all glued to the news coverage on that one.
I am head over heels in love with my husband. And I love him for a lot of reasons, one being that he is hilarious and makes me laugh a LOT. Like last night when he tried going to bed without brushing his teeth.
I was being a bit of a rat “Okay my cavity ridden compadre, let’s brush… You know your dental office calls me ALL the time? [Which they do]. They must be hard up or something. They called again yesterday, they called the week before that, some weeks they call three times a week…”
He goes “Yup, it’s a real game of cat and mouse!”
I was laughing at him until I had tears in my eyes and he was laughing at the You Did NOT Just Say That look on my face and we laughed so hard we nearly woke the kids.
On a different note, check out the International Rescue Committee if you get a chance, eh.